“Oh.” Luka looked disappointed and Reno was ready to reassure him he’d play for as long as Luka wanted in the morning to make up for it when Luka said, “So I need to be kinda quiet then, hm?”
“Wait, what?”
“If you’re worried about the neighbors," Luka said, “I’ve never had to watch my volume with you before.”
“What do you—” Reno paused and felt his cheeks warm, “You’re so devious.Trouble.”
Luka hummed. “Show me your bed, Reno.”
Reno couldn’t help himself as he leaned into Luka’s space and stole a kiss from him, excitement and nerves bubbling up into his chest as Luka pressed back against him. “Let’s go," Reno mumbled against Luka’s lips before pulling away and out of the booth, giving Luka a hand to help him up.
Luka held onto his hand until Reno had to pay Conner, who was polite enough to not comment on the way they leaned against each other and when they stepped out into the brisk night together, Reno’s fingers itched to reach out to Luka and hold him close. By the time Reno let Luka into his building and closed the door behind them, Luka was shivering.
Reno grabbed Luka’s hands to warm them up, making Luka laugh and say, “I’m pretty sure you don’t live in a stairwell.” Before pulling his hands away and motioning for Reno to guide them up the stairs.
Inside his flat, Reno toed out of his shoes after Luka did, locked the door, then stood frozen with his back against the frame watching as Luka stood in his living room.
A million overlapping images of Luka, ofthem—living together, existing together, of waking up together in this space—rushed over Reno as Luka timidly stepped deeper into his home. Luka’s fingers brushed over the pink blanket draped over the couch, the sheet music open on its stand, the plant by the window, then the framed photo of Arnaud and Amelia on the bookshelf. Reno’s hands trembled as Luka touched his possessions, his patience starting to wear thin, and a desperate need to crawl into Luka and stay there running through him.
“You’ll play for me tomorrow?”
“I promise,” Reno replied, as Luka ran a finger over one of the violin’s strings. “Will you reward me?”
“What do you want?”
Reno hummed, padding closer to Luka where he stood. Luka’s frame looked lovely against the window, the city lights behind him framing him through sheer window curtains. “Applause, in the form of a kiss.”
Luka smiled. “You can’t be serious with all that.”
“All of what?”
“You don’t realize how over the top your flirting is, do you?”
Reno reached for him, pressing a hand against his high cheekbone and said, “I mean it.”
“People don’t talk like that. It’s not realistic.”
Reno wondered how Luka got it into his head that he wasn't worth genuine affection, that it wasn’t his reality to be showeredwith attention. “I’m sorry someone made you feel like that’s truth.”
“Many someones.” Luka’s smile turned sad and Reno wanted to kiss it away. “Will you try to prove to me otherwise?”
“Can I start now?”
Luka rolled his eyes, looking so sincere it made Reno shake. Still, in a faint voice, he said, “Yes.”
Reno took in Luka’s pale skin, his overcast eyes, his light magenta hair, his slender but solid frame, and led him by the hand to his room. He pressed his lips against Luka’s, marveling at how well they slotted together, then took his time pulling Luka apart and putting him back together again and again until Luka looked moments from falling asleep.
Reno remembered how Luka said it was difficult for him to fall asleep in unfamiliar places and felt a surge of pride—looking down at Luka’s flushed face as his breathing evened out into deep sleep—that he’d become someone and some place, that Luka decided was safe and familiar.
1 Morning, beloved person,
2 Morning,
3 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
4 Good morning, my captain,
5 Yes, my angel.
