Chapter Text
Before the elevator doors closed between them, Sekh turned back and smiled at Gohma, wiggling the fingers on his free hand in goodbye. He saw the slightest lift on the corners of Gohma's lips, before his view was severed by the silver, gliding doors. Sekh stood there for a moment, his heart doing something funny in his chest and his veins practically buzzing, before he pressed the button for the fourth floor on instinct. The elevator began to rise, humming softly, and now alone in his temporary coffin, Sekh slumped back against the glossy, metal wall and took a breath.
He'd come back.
Those words kept playing on repeat, like a song stuck in his head.
He'd come back.
Gohma had come back.
For their second date, and had promised more. It made his heart dance like a frenzied ballerina in his chest, and it took several deep breaths, a gulp from his melting milkshake, and the rest of the elevator ride to make it settle.
There was nothing he could do about the smile that was stuck on his face, though.
Sipping on what was left of his milkshake, he made for his apartment door once the elevator's jaws finally released him. He dug his keys out of his pocket, smiling fondly at the flowers painted on the door as he did, then unlocked it and slipped inside.
He took a look around and hummed happily around the straw in his mouth; his apartment wasn't anything grand, most of his furniture was second hand, and despite being a two-bedroom space it was still quite small. But, in the low light of his end table lamp and the light that peeked through his curtains, it was cozy- it was home. Just about every surface had a plant or collection of knickknacks on it, and he thought he did a decent job of keeping it tidy. (Never mind the multitude of takeout boxes in his trashcan...)
Tossing his empty milkshake cup into the trash, Sekh went to dress down for the evening. Kicking off his boots by the door, he made his way down the hall, and passed the second bedroom on his way to his own, the one he'd converted into his studio for filming his OnlyFans videos. Entering his actual bedroom, he stripped, leaving his clothes on the floor and tossing his phone on his bed as he made his way to the adjacent bathroom.
He did turn on the lights, there- even with darkvision, showering in the dark made it hard to read bottle labels- and turned on the shower. He waited impatiently for it to heat up, pulling his hair out of his ponytail as he did, before finally stepping under the spray when his mirror began to fog up.
Hot water cascaded over his lithe, bare form, and Sekh sighed, content, ducking his head beneath the spray and feeling the sweat and grime of the hike wash away. After a moment's thought, as memories of the hike crowded in, he twisted the knob for more cold water.
Half an hour later and his routine complete, he was getting out, a fluffy towel around his waist as he brushed his teeth. He finished drying off, brushed out his hair, and threw on something comfortable- a black tanktop and a pair of flannel pajama pants, decorated with little red dragons.
At last, after slipping on his Hobgoblin Heartbreakers hoodie, he collapsed on his bed, grabbing his phone as he toppled onto his pillows with a happy grunt.
For a while, he just laid on his stomach and scrolled through various social media, the room around him dark and blissfully quiet, other than the sounds of the city outside his window. He glanced towards it as a car went by, the rumble reminding him of Gohma's van. For a moment, he debated texting him, chewing on his lip. He did say he would...
Just as he went to open his texts with him, though, a text came in, his phone buzzing in his hand. He quickly opened it, his heart leaping into his throat at the thought of Gohma having messaged him, only for him to calm when he saw it was from Drada- his "aunt" that raised him after his parents passed.
Hey, sprout. How are you? Her message said.
Sekh smiled, touched at her reaching out, and quickly typed out a response- I'm well <3 I just got back from a date!
A date? Was the swift reply.
His name is Gohma. He's amazing. We went hiking! :)
Glad to hear it. When do I get to meet him?
Lolll. Soon, maybe. He's shy.
Oh, well- you'll break him of that soon, I'm sure.
Sekh laughed aloud, a giddy feeling bubbling in his chest. He closed the texts and pulled up the photos he'd taken on the hike instead, swiping through them.
Unique leaves, flowers, the sun dappling on stones, cool trees and bugs- and then, covertly, photos of Gohma and Scratch on the trail.
Most of the Scratch photos were blurry, but Sekh had managed to get a good one of the dog standing on a tumble of rocks, looking back at the two drow with what Sekh swore was impatience. Sekh grinned as he remembered his first date with Gohma, when he'd first met Scratch, and commented that he was excited to share the date with two handsome boys. Gohma had blushed all the way to his ears, then, too.
He was smiling at his phone, and he realized he was smiling at his phone, but he couldn't stop as he flipped to the photos he'd taken of Gohma-
Of his back as he walked ahead, his muscular shoulders on display beneath his backpack.
Of his quietly awed face as he stared at a massive spiderweb that had been woven in a bush.
A blurry one of him in motion, riling up Scratch and dodging to the side as the dog ran at him when he first took off Scratch's leash. For all the motion blur, Sekh could still see the smile on his face.
Then, one he'd taken in the van of Gohma at the wheel, a side profile of his face as he drove, lips slightly parted as he mouthed along to a song on the radio.
He was so handsome, Sekh thought fondly, putting his phone down and just staring into the dark, not really registering what his gaze landed on. So handsome and sweet and just... good. There was so much behind that soft spoken visage that Sekh was eager to dig into, to learn about and get to know- but the fear of scaring Gohma away kept him in check. Slow, he reminded himself; he didn't do slow, but for Gohma?
For Gohma, he'd pump the brakes. Or, he'd try, at least.
... He didn't want to break Gohma of his shyness, he realized, and his fingers clenched in his pillow. In all of his minuscule attempts at relationships- that never lasted more than a week- and flings, Sekh had been bold, and he went for the equally brazen.
And while he believed Gohma to be brave... those were not the same thing. He didn't want to drag Gohma out onto a club dance floor and grind on him; such a scene with Gohma in it didn't feel... right. Sekh felt as disinterested in dancing at a club as he did when he rejected an offer to do a collab with another video creator. It was just utterly unappealing.
But... he did still want to dance with Gohma. Slowly. Twirling around in the living room. To a cheesy romance song, even.
He wondered if Gohma could dance.
He wondered if he could teach Gohma to dance.
He buried his face in his pillow, and for the second time that day, Sekh groaned aloud, a sound of frustration and despair.
He didn't do this. He didn't do dating. He didn't do slow dancing.
So why did Gohma make him want to?
... He knew the answer, of course. Sekh was no idiot. He'd read the books and seen the movies, he'd heard the songs and he'd felt this once before.
He was in love with Gohma.
The revelation gave him no relief.
Sekh rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of his room. His plan for the evening had been to lay exactly where he was, scroll through his pictures, and remember the feeling of Gohma's lips on his own. He was going to reminisce on the date, the whole evening and then dream about it all night...
But he didn't want to dream about it. He... didn't want it to end.
Sekh bit his lip, indecision tearing at his chest. He turned his head, looking over at his phone, laying next to his hand.
It didn't have to end, he realized; he'd promised that he'd text him.
In one motion, he rolled over to sit up and snatched up his phone, hunching over as he unlocked it. Bangs falling into his face and fingers shaking so hard he could barely type, he quickly pulled up his text chat with Gohma, the last text sent in it a simple, "here," from Gohma when he'd pulled up to pick up Sekh, before he'd come up to meet him at his door and walk him back to his van.
Three words. That was all Sekh needed to type.
I love you. He wrote, and his thumb hovered over the send button, before his throat threatened to close up on him.
He clicked backspace individually, nine times, and rewrote the last two words.
I need you.
Better.
Safer.
And no less true.
He hit send before his heart could burst, then dropped his phone and scrambled out of bed, as if he had lit a fuse. ... In some way, he supposed he had, but that thought didn't occur to him in that moment as he left his room like he was ducking for cover. He wasn't sure which he feared more- the buzz of a response, or no response at all.
Either way, he padded into his kitchen to get a drink a water, gulping down a glassful in a futile effort to dampen the wings of the butterflies that had erupted in his stomach.
He wasn't sure how long he stood, pacing his dimly lit living room. His fingers combed through his hair restlessly, and his ears strained to pick up if he could hear the buzz of his phone, all the way down the hall.
He didn't hear it, but after what couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes, he did pick up the sound of a car down in the parking lot. Barely daring to hope, Sekh crossed the room in three strides and pushed the curtains on his glass balcony door aside, looking out into the lot. And there, whipping around the corner and rushing into the nearest empty parking spot, was a familiar black van. Sekh's heart was officially up his throat as the driver's side door flung open, and a tall, muscular, black-clad figure scrambled out, fighting seatbelt and keys in his desperation.
A white, blurry, four-legged creature followed him, leaping out of the door that was slammed shut a second later, and both Gohma and Scratch jogged towards the apartment's front doors.
He was coming, Sekh thought, and his knees nearly went weak as he realized, for the second time that night-
Gohma had come back.
He didn't even register crossing the living room until he was standing before his front door, with half a mind to run out and down the hall to meet Gohma at the elevators. Before it could become a full-minded thought, though, he heard footsteps- heavy, steel-toed footsteps- quickly approaching his door. Sekh instinctively reached for the knob, and then-
The steps stopped, right outside.
A beat, one that was like a crescendo of a cacophony, the buzz in Sekh's head and the thrum of his heart becoming a whine in his ears, a sound that shattered at the sound of a knock from the other side of the door.
Sekh wrenched the door open so hard he was sure he was going to pull it off its hinges as he lurched out towards the figure standing on his doorstep.
He fell, and Gohma caught him.
Leather and smoke and earth and iron filled Sekh's lungs as he was brought into a crushing embrace, and Sekh breathed him in like that first breath one takes when stepping back into their home after so long gone. He wrapped his arms around Gohma's waist, fingers tightening on the back of his jacket, a silent plea for him to stay.
No words needed to be said; Sekh stretched up on his toes and Gohma leaned down, their mouths crashing into one another like a stellar collision. Gohma's fingers carded through his hair, cupped the back of his head as his arm around Sekh's waist clutched him close, like he could keep him close and would never let go.
Sekh's eyes were squeezed shut, his whole world reduced to Gohma, Gohma, Gohma- until his lungs began to burn and the need for air became too sharp to ignore.
He finally pulled back, gulping in a breath and panting. He stared up at Gohma, his eyes wide as he clutched at him, tighter.
"Stay with me." He pleaded, his voice shaky, desperate, barely above a whisper.
"I'm with you." Gohma said, his voice low and husky, and Sekh grinned as he felt the rumble of it, felt his knees threaten to go weak.
Before they could, he reached up, grabbing Gohma by the edge of his jacket and hauled him towards himself, yanking him into his apartment. They stumbled in, unable to let go or get their hands off one another, and Sekh was only just aware that Scratch made it inside, too, before he slammed the door shut.