“I’m sure you will. Now go. I’m gonna finish up in here.”
“Uh huh.” Reno knew whatfinishingwas and would think about that all day. He said so. “I will think of that all day.”
“Don’t, you probably shouldn’t look like a thirsty freak on camera too much.”
“Yes, I should.” Reno kissed Luka’s cheek and finally left the shower. “I’m sure the photographer would love it.” His alarm went off again; he was officially running late.
He dried off as fast as he could, said a final goodbye to Luka, who told him to stop fooling around and go to work, found his clothes in the living room and was out the door in a matter of minutes.
He put his mask and sunglasses in place, and, as he walked to the bus stop, he roped his damp hair into a braid, knowing the stylist could fix it once he arrived at the studio. By the time he dropped into their chair, he was a little breathless from nearly running down the block from the bus stop to the building.
“You beat me here.” Arnaud plopped down beside him. “Impressive.”
“Bonjour, mon capitaine?4,” Reno huffed. “Not so impressive, I was up early, you see. Seb gets back tomorrow, right?”
“Oui, mon ange?5. I hear he and Angel have beenwriting, making all kinds of beautiful sounds in Sweden.”
Reno hummed, watching as the stylist approached. “I’m sure whatever song he’s been writing with Angel is—um, Hello, Andi, how have you been?” Reno beamed at the stylist who looked too curious for Reno’s comfort.
“Good, good. Just you two today?” Andi asked and Arnaud made an affirming noise. “Okay, Reno, we have a few dresses picked out for you to pick from. Zana, would you like something more feminine or masculine? Seeing as how it’s just you two, we could go either way for these promotional images.”
Arnaud thought for a bit before responding, “Let’s play with dresses today.”
“Oh!” Reno cheered, “I love when you get all gender with me.”
“Shut up.” Arnaud sat back in the chair. “Make sure it’s black, though.”
“Of course,” Andi said before sweeping away in search of their wardrobes.
“Has he finished the new track?” Reno asked as soon as Andi was out of earshot. “He sent me a sample, but not everything.”
“No, I think he needs your input.” Arnaud shrugged. “You know he doesn’t like writing guitar for you.”
Reno grunted. “Speaking of, how’s your practice going?”
“Good. Since you’ve left me alone for a few days, I’ve had nothing else to do.”
“Gomen ne?6, I’ve been busy.”
“Don’t, babe. I’m happy for you.” Arnaud flashed him a smile. “You owe me details.”
“You sure you’re okay with all this?”
Arnaud hummed, his eyes trained on the room behind them to ensure they weren’t overheard. “What did he say about us?”
“He wishes he could have watched.”
“What?” Arnaud’s mouth fell open. “Freak.”
“I know," Reno sighed, dreamily, “he’s made for me, I swear. But, he did say none of that can happen now, or at least not until he knows I’m being real. I think… I think he’s had a lot of trouble with his exes not being very faithful.”
“That's kind of shocking.” Arnaud’ssharp brows creased in the middle. “He’sextremelyattractive, and if he keeps up with you, then he’s—forgive me for speaking of your man like this—a fucking kinky piece of work. Why would anyone cheat on that?”
“It’s beyond me.” Reno shook his head. “Do you think it has something to do with, um, gender stuff? I mean, men can be really fucked up about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, even in my experience, since I don’t exactly stick to normal masculine stuff, men can be really….weird… towards me. Placing me into roles I don’t want to fill, making me feel less than them for being feminine. When I don’t conform for their comfortability they can get strange,aggressiveeven. I can’t imagine what it’s like for Luka.”
