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“Ah, say no more,” Ray said, waving his hand then bring it under his chin to bat his eyelashes at Seong. “I am so stunning that one look upon my face has stirred memories of even the most intoxicated men.” He grinned as he dropped his hand. “No reason to potentially bring up negative memories. Nate and I were just heading out anyway. We only stopped in for a coffee to go.”
“You never did say what you were doing on this side of town,” Seong noted, relieved.
“Hm, no, I didn’t,” Ray said, tapping his finger against his pouting lip. “You want to tell him, Nate, ya big softy?”
Nate snorted. “A breeder a few states away contacted me about some fuckwits who should have never gotten a dog needing to surrender a puppy.” He looked neither soft nor pleased about the situation. “I’ll be rehoming the dog. Ray comes along for puppy cuddles and to make sure I don’t take my frustration about bad dog ownership on the previous owners.”
Seong looked Nate up and down, fulling taking in the rainbow effect of his hair, sweater, short shorts, knee high socks, and running shoes. “How lucky for the owners,” he said, knowing that Nate was not a man to piss off, though he wondered if Ray knew how much that was the case.
Nate smirked at him. “Nice to meet you, Songbird. Ray speaks highly of you. Remember what I said about being a dick and I think you’ll be fine.” He looked at Ray. “Ready, Ray-Ray?”
“Ready,” he said, kissing Seong’s cheek again. “Call me later, Songbird!”
* * *
Thomas jogged to the cafe, his backpack bouncing against his back and his fingers going numb.
He slowed as two men walked out ahead of him, blinking at them. One of them was dressed in weather appropriate clothes but every bit of fabric was the same red as his lipstick. Fashion statements of bold colors and breaking gender norms were something that Thomas was used to seeing. Marcus once said something about The Three Rings becoming a haven to the queer community and being openly and proudly yourself. He said it helped that men like Fergus and the Cat were about as straight as a paperclip. Thomas hadn’t known anything different: people had always had interesting ways to wear their queerness on their sleeves, at least as far as he knew.
It wasn’t the rainbows that made him stare at the second man as they continued to walk. He might have been the most colorful person Thomas had ever seen outside of a pride parade but it had a lot more to do with the fact that there was snow still on the ground and the man was wearing a crop top and short shorts.
“Hang on, Ray,” the rainbow man said as he passed Thomas. Thomas turned to look at him. He twisted around, fixing Thomas with dark eyes that could have turned anyone to ice. “Can I help you with something?”
Thomas blinked then blushed. “I-I-” he stammered, gesturing to the crop top. “I like your hoodie.” He swallowed. “I have one like it but it’s black. I don’t like it as much as yours.”
A smirk immediately quirked on the lips, the hardness seeming to melt away. “Look up bleach tie dye. Just make sure you neutralize once it gets to the color you want otherwise it’ll keep eating the fibers. You can re-dye most clothing once it’s been bleached but check your fibers and dyes.”
“Huh,” Thomas said, frowning as he thought about that. “I’ll look into that. Thanks!”
“No problem.” He waved a hand. “Now get inside. It’s cold out here.”
“Right,” Thomas agreed. “Thanks for the suggestion.”
* * *
Danny’s jaw tightened as he scanned the crowd. He had told Thomas that he didn’t have to come to the signing, but he didn’t think Thomas wouldn’t actually come. He didn’t think that he’d actually ditch him for an afternoon with the Snake. Wasn’t Thomas supposed to be honest now? Shouldn’t he have stopped contact with anyone with the mafia?
His eyes fell on Sean, who was frowning at him. His older brother mouthed “You okay?”
He forced himself to smile, his eyes drifting down to the clover on Sean’s neck.
Okay but that’s the Clover, he tried to reason. The Clover wouldn’t— He thought about Andy, about what he knew about Finnegan O’Riley, which admittedly wasn’t much.
He should still be here with me and not with Snake, he thought moodily before pushing all of it out of his mind as the camera turned on.
* * *
Thomas sat back, staring at his computer in such open bewilderment that Seong almost laughed.
“What’s up,” he asked instead, leaning closer.
“I- I think I’m done,” Thomas said uncertainly. His eyes brightened, filling with the same life Seong had seen that first cafe visit but intensifying until Seong was sure he’d go blind if he tried to look him directly.
And it would be a sight worth going blind to, Seong thought as Thomas turned to look at him, a smile widening.
“I’m done,” he breathed, so full of joy that Seong nearly leaned across the space to kiss him, to taste that joy. Then Thomas blinked and his eyes widened in sudden horror. “Oh fuck, what do I do now?”
That Seong did laugh at, tossing his head back as a throaty laugh filled the air. “I’m sorry,” he chuckled immediately, reaching over to stroke Thomas’s hair. “That was just very adorable and relatable. Now you need to upload the app onto your device and try to break it.”
