“I wasn’t planning on that,” Rus sighed. “I was thinking of something else, something bigger.”
“Aauuuugh,” Kaiden whined. “My heartbreak knows no bounds.”
“Will I ever recover from this letdown?” Dylan collapsed onto the other side of the couch, dragging Kaiden with him as the pair feigned defeated depression.
Rus stared at them silently, then let out a deep huff of annoyance. “Fine, I will share my name, with a few stipulations.”
“Anything.” Kaiden immediately perked up.
“You’re not allowed to call me by it. You’re not allowed to share it with anyone—”
“Our secret,” Kaiden interrupted.
“Even under threat of death.” Dylan crossed his heart.
“You’re not allowed to laugh,” Rus continued. “You’re not allowed to make jokes. I don’t want any Greek mythology innuendos or references or any of that bullshit.”
“Greek mythology?” Dylan and Kaiden turned to each other with puzzled expressions.
Rus let them dwell in their confusion, practically groaning as he went to answer them. “Rus is short for Icarus.”
“Who?” Dylan quirked a brow.
“The sun god, I think,” Kaiden replied. “Right?”
“That’s Apollo, which I would’ve preferred,” Rus sighed. “My folks have a big obsession with Greek mythology and tragic figures.”
Rus explained a summed-up story of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, lost his wings in the process, plummeted into the sea, and drowned. A tale of foolhardy arrogance met with a swift demise.
“And your parents thought that was a good name?”
“A cautionary tale, for sure.” Rus shrugged. “You should hear what they named my siblings.”
Dylan and Kaiden both stared quizzically.
“No, we’re not doing a full-blown roster on my siblings and which mythical metaphor their name is a moral for.”
“Amoral or a moral?” Kaiden asked, teasingly.
The coy grin on his face gave him away, and Rus almost immediately regretted divulging that piece of himself.
“Okay, so what are we doing?” Dylan asked, nudging Kaiden playfully. “You had something else you wanted to talk about, aside from a name that we shall never speak aloud.”
“Well, I was thinking we could have a little fun tonight,” Rus said a bit sheepishly.
This was why he leaned into the truth behind his name. Despite how difficult that was for him, Rus found it far easier than what he intended to bring up tonight. Rus had found himself becoming more and more curious sexually speaking. Normally, he dove right into his curiosities, eager to explore something new, but when it came to bottoming, he didn’t know where to begin.
It didn’t help that Kaiden and Dylan eyed him. Speaking the words aloud to one guy was hard enough, but to say it in front of both the men he cared for made his face flush.
“I’ve been thinking about exploring… Well, you know.” Rus gestured wildly, in the most non-descriptive manner that certainly implied no one would ‘you know’ what he meant.
That much was made clear by Kaiden’s dumbfounded expression as his eyes followed Rus’ hands. However, Dylan merely cocked his head, seemingly studying Rus’ scrunched face, which in turn made Rus blush more.
“Oh.” Dylan perked up. “So when you said you wanted to be more open, you meant you wanted to be opened up?”
Rus coughed. “I wouldn’t exactly phrase it that way.”
“I would,” Dylan teased.
