sorserer | ( office hours & overflow )

[Compared to most people he knows, Hakkyuu catches the pre-dawn dark into the morning light more often than not, though with the seasons making a tilt toward longer nights there's a point where that stops being quite as unique.

He sees what Stephen is doing though and a fond little smile creeps across his lips, safe in the knowledge that he won't be seen yet.]

Few hours out from dawn yet.

[Reaching an arm back, he lets his fingers blindly find the front of Stephen's hair to fold through the short, sleep-tousled strains slowly.]

I can always come back later with coffee if y'want.

S’fine.

[ it’s as good as don’t go. stephen can easily call nearly all the amenities of the realm to his living room, via app or petty theft; there’s no really good reason to send hakkyuu off, not when stephen’s suddenly much more comfortable now than he was a few minutes ago in dead sleep. his hand flexes against hakkyuu’s belly again, his usual tremors easier to handle in witching hours. ]

You busy later? [ later today. for the rest of the day, maybe. stephen was going to have a working lunch. it seems rather less necessary now. ]

[The way Stephen's fingers traverse their way across Hakkyuu's stomach makes the muscles there flex tight with an inhale that barely staves off a warm shiver, though it doesn't stifle the way Hakkyuu's hips and legs shift against the mattress to slide back and tuck in closer to Stephen's in what can only be described as a form of covert warfare.]

I dunno. Figured it would come make your life hard for a while. Disturb some time-sensitive work you had on the go. Maybe make a client yours feel really uncomfortable and distract. You know, all the shit I'm good at. Why, are you actually busy later?

Not remotely.

[ is he? hakkyuu’s closer to the nightstand where his phone rests, but it’s not as though stephen wants to check anyway. if he had plans he’s not sure they seem relevant, at least from the nest of his four-poster bed, the scent of hakkyuu’s hair a temptation that he’ll be breathing in from the pillow after he leaves. his mind unspools gently with possibilities; he waits until they extend past what if we fucked all day before he gives them voice, even if the way hakkyuu’s legs tangle more firmly with his is only additional distraction.

he huffs. he can enjoy, in his mind’s eye, the lightness of hakkyuu’s hair even in the dark; how it wisps out when he breathes against it funny, like sprigs of dandelion in a breeze. ]

We could ... [ equivocating, his voice husky with the remnants of sleep. ] Order in. [ yeah, there we go. there’s something. ] Hang out. Between ... clients. [ okay, that’s nothing. he’s going to cancel his appointments, he can already feel it. ] Arena later. And ... whatever else.

[Maybe for someone else these would all sound like wildly mundane, insignificant points on an typical day. For Hakkyuu, and indeed Stephen, they're some of his favourite things to do specifically for the company. It's the kind of day that slows Hakkyuu's experience of time to a crawl, something that would typically drive him nuts and leave him itchy and twitchy and yet he knows if he could make time to even slower then he would do it in a heartbeat. Sure, some people use time magic for practical or universe-saving reasons, but we can't all hold the moral high ground.

Tilting his head right back, Hakkyuu turns slightly to let his teeth lightly close around Stephen's earlobe for just a moment before softening up further for a slow, sucking kiss and a thought hum.]

Sure. But I bet I can make your muscles feel the strain long before we get anywhere near the Arena.

Ugh.

[ but it’s an amused sound, reluctant and self-directed. the problem is that hakkyuu is his best friend in the city, someone who only pleasantly surprises him, and hakkyuu is just like this, and so can’t be held completely accountable for when shoot-from-the-hip lines murmured in the dark and a clever tongue against his ear go straight to stephen’s dick. that’s all stephen, the slight piqued-interest pulse of his cock against the delicious warmth of hakkyuu’s skin; all stephen’s yearning lust for him, apparently easier to awaken than stephen himself, that makes him want something aimless in the immediate. ]

God. [ still rough from sleep, rougher now from poorly timed desire. this is, possibly, extremely, fuckboy brain kicking in. ] Gonna make you warm me up all day.

[There are so many ways Hakkyuu can make himself notably unavailable to others with no particular effort involved. His humour can lean crude, his outlooks caustic, and his overall energy cool at best and outright hostile at worst.

And yet Stephen pulls all the warmest laughs out of Hakkyuu, the kind that makes his eyes close and brings his smile out wide at both sides and makes his shoulder shake from pure fond amusement.

That's exactly what arrives with Stephen's noises of exasperation as Hakkyuu noses along the other man's jaw and let's his arm drop to find the line of Stephen's flanks.]

Sounds like you don't plan on getting much done then. [His fingers drag slow, blunt nails along Stephen's hips as he heaves out a slow sigh just shy of a hot, teasing groan purely to be a little bastard and for no other reason at all.] Well... Except for me.

... maybe. Yeah.

[ he full-body shivers at the drag of hakkyuu’s nails, the soft tease of a sound that reverberates against his jawline, slight but obvious enough to be felt when they’re pressed up together so closely. he’s, yes, much more awake now than he was a few minutes ago. there’s no guarantee he’ll get it out of his system before they both pass out again, though, and the warmth rising under his skin stays languid rather than urgent. his mouth is turned down at one corner like he’s still considering going back to sleep, but he’s also shifting his own hips, bare and filling cock sliding absently against the back of hakkyuu’s thigh. ]

I’ve done it before. Cleared my calendar to put my cock in you. [ this is the kind of confession he’d normally be more strategic about. his hand, on hakkyuu’s skin, has gone decidedly covetous, sliding down his side, his hip. ] I want to fuck you all the time.

[For as much as Hakkyuu seemingly catches Stephen off-guard, the same can always be said in reverse. The tactics are different, Hakkyuu tending to opt for methods that equate to throwing the fox in among the chickens. Stephen does something different, almost effortlessly spinning Hakkyuu's world upsidedown with only a few words whispered out, equal parts secret and acting like he's just asking for the pepper across a table.

This is one of those moments, a time while Hakkyuu goes still, a mix of the heat rushing through his veins and an breath-stealing kind of shock that is becoming increasingly familiar. Another one of those experiences that is uniquely Stephen and the only other things that even approximates the sensation are far more dire.

Before sliding into the bed with Stephen, Hakkyuu shoved his pants into a pile on the floor at the foot of the bed, leaving him in just boxers and a dark undershirt. It makes every shift and sigh and swell easy to feel in a heated feedback loop with very little space to hide. Not that any of that seems to bother Stephen one bit and that's the most infuriating thing as Hakkyuu grapples with the molten heat under his skin, the way he feel his pulse through his cock, and the near-fearful beating of his heart.

Maybe in the sleepy haze Stephen won't register Hakkyuu's pause as much as Hakkyuu experiences it as he reaches up to press his palm right up against Stephen's face to give a slow, deliberate push.]

You're so full of shit, Strange.

[He really should know better than to say things like that by now...]

[ against the skin of hakkyuu’s palm stephen laughs, another thick sound that reverberates in the narrow space between them. there’s a part of him, remote and inert, that recognizes the gesture and the words for what they are: a small and harmless imposition of distance for when stephen pushes too hard, intentionally or otherwise.

honestly stephen doesn’t think what he said was that bad: it could’ve been passed off as horniness only, the morning wood he probably would’ve been cursed with having arrived a few hours early. but he goes willingly, no harm done, and shifts onto his back again. he’s reluctant to give up being pressed against him but the recognition of his presence is enough for now. they should probably sleep, right? they’re getting breakfast soon. they have all day to have sex. ]

Just saying. [ with a subdued smile in his voice, the tone of someone ready to drift again. ]

[Substantively, very little that comes out of Stephen's mouth is actuallythat bad. In fact, and Hakkyuu is keenly, painfully aware of this, some of the things Stephen says to him that he has a knee-jerk reaction of panic to, so many other people would fall over themselves to hear in that voice. It's a complex, complicated thing caught between something Hakkyuu fiercely wants and feels far too hot for him to hold.

When Stephen rolls back, it gives Hakkyuu some space to breathe, his eyes closing for a protracted second before he exhales heavy and rolls over to sling an arm across Stephen's middle along with a hard shift to drag himself up against the length of Stephen's body. For someone repelled by words of direct endearment, Hakkyuu sure does want to be as close to Stephen as physically possible. That remains very consistent. Especially as he nudges himself against Stephen's chest and beneath his chin.]

Guess I better make it worth your time then, huh.

[It's mostly thinking aloud, not even really teasing or flirting. Hell, it might be edging into the very genuine: Stephen's time and company is precious, after all.]

[ there’s that scent again when hakkyuu tucks himself in against stephen’s body again. stephen tightens his arm back around him, then lets his hand drift up to curl loosely in hakkyuu’s soft hair, the allure too difficult to ignore.

tenderness twists loosely in him like an open wound. he doesn’t hold anyone else like this, either. he knows what’s at the endpoint of that revelation and in his waking hours he knows he’s ready. ]

Mmm. You will.

[For Hakkyuu, space has always been fairly transient, something he moves in and out of without settling down for any extended period and the people he tends to gravitate around most consistently don't take his coming and going personally.

It's one of the things he is afforded about Stephen, a complete understanding that he'll spend chunks of time dipping in and out of the house for a variety of reasons related to Hakkyuu's own comfort and Stephen's need for privacy. It's an easy balancing act.

So it's unusual then when Hakkyuu finds it increasingly difficult to slip free from Stephen's heavy, sleep-induced hold, not because its physically too tight but because Hakkyuu gets lulled into listening to the sound of Stephen's breathing in the quiet darkness in a way that just melts minutes and hours away.

He does manage it though, because routine is important to him and it's necessary to keep himself from going too much off the rails or losing his edge. He can use the area surrounding Stephen's house for a morning workout and meditation, the sort of body and mind based work that at a glance looks easy but engages many minute muscles and lots of control to maintain. It helps settle and refocus his mind, even as thoughts of Stephen creep warmly around the edges.

It means also when he slips back inside it's with the full expectation of stealing time in Stephen's shower, washing off the now-cooled sweat from his body while Stephen is probably, maybe still asleep or at least rolling around in his sheets.]

[ stephen did wake up earlier than anticipated, mostly so he could cancel his appointments while hakkyuu was out. he knows his priorities, and as novel as it’s been to have hakkyuu staring impassively at his clientele in a third armchair that doesn’t necessarily have to be there, he’d much rather have hakkyuu’s time in isolation these days. at least until the new novelty of his own feelings wears off, and hell if he knows when that’s gonna be.

so he’s on the couch, then, tapping out a last few messages on his phone in sweatpants. he has a cup of coffee ready, which means there’s more in the kitchen if hakkyuu wants any; he’s sleep-mussed, yawning, and barely even looking up. ]

You think about what you want for breakfast?

[ a lazy question. he’s happy to let hakkyuu come and go as he pleases. ]

You know I could really unhelpfully say you're probably plenty protein-filled if it came right down to it.

[It's all very relaxed and sweeping, meshed in with a little sideways glance and a smile as he makes his way through to the kitchen to steal a cup of coffee that he's completely permitted to get for himself.

The first sip is long and after a brief moment to just inhale the scent, the perfect way to subtly watch Stephen over the edge of his cup with a faint mask of steam before he shrugs.]

You up for something egg-based?

[ stephen makes another mild noise at the protein comment, an amusement he can’t help for all that he’s a self-serious wizard in his mid-forties. in a city with mandatory intimacy stephen’s dry humor can’t help but underscore their circumstances--besides, hakkyuu brings it out in him too. ]

Sounds good. C’mere and order.

[ he’s holding his phone out. come and get it. ]

[There should be no secret now that Hakkyuu enjoys Stephen's brand of humour immensely, probably because it aligns with his own in a much drier form that people who have cultivated a Very Serious Persona can get away with and a secret little joy of Hakkyuu's is watching when Stephen's sharp humour flies right over someone's head to lodge into the wall.

But more than that, he just likes seeing and hearing Stephen amused, wants to be a witness to it as often as possible, and better still when he's the source for it.

Wandering over with his coffee cup dangling from his fingers, Hakkyuu plucks Stephen's phone from his hand, flicks through a few times and selects something from the list before offering it back along with a brief sip from the cup, his stare lingering on Stephen more than just in a friendly conversation sense but in a way that's pretty much the default way to look at him now.]

You been up and stumbling around long?

[ stephen takes the phone, taps the order button and tosses the phone unceremoniously back on the center table before he leans back on the couch, scrubbing his scarred hands over his face. again, a terrible morning person. his hair, ungelled, is just this side of overgrown. ]

Just long enough to make coffee.

[ he’s a man with his own rituals. in this case he’d breathed in, again, the touch of hakkyuu’s hair on his pillowcase; he reached a blind hand out to the space and found it empty, and then when he sensed him still on the premises he figured he could either wait for him or try and wake up enough to get those appointments canceled. he opted for the latter. coffee helps: it took the sharp edge off his first round of text messages. ]

I told the delivery guy to leave the stuff outside in case I pass out again. Just a heads up.

Could've left it with me to pick up. I'm not as prone to just giving up on the day as you.

[There have been times where the idea of letting his fingers graze past Stephen to make contact of any form has felt forbidden, something he's wanted and refused to indulge in for a variety of reasons. Most of those reasons don't exist now, or have changed shape so drastically they no longer resemble their former self.

So he lets his fingers brush casually over the back of Stephen's hand as he puts in his own order--fleeting, without agenda and no particular plan beyond the fact he just wants to let the pads of his fingers ghost across the scars lining the thin skin there.]

Honestly I'm surprised you're even doing an impression of someone awake now. It's still kinda early for a wizard of leisure still, huh?

I have no idea what you mean.

[ he absolutely knows what hakkyuu means. stephen will wake up to attend to a time-sensitive experiment at 8 am, butcher it by 9 and then go back to bed in a show of disgruntled defeatism till noon.

he reaches for hakkyuu’s hand before his fingertips can draw away completely and--tugs him down, onto his lap. his other hand shoots out, a flash of magic steadying the coffee mug. look, he’s thought this all through. ]

I could still change my mind.

[Something sparks up in Hakkyuu's eyes, bright and pleased as he feels the secure shape of Stephen beneath him--far and away his favourite seat of virtually any venue even if he'd never admit it aloud.

He flicks a brief glance at the theatrics of the coffee-save, eyes closing with a faint eyeroll that lands more affectionate than exasperated even though it is really fucking ridiculous in so many ways. Not so ridiculous he doesn't drape a]

What, about the delivery guy? You wanna go out and greet him after all? Check if he's hot while bringing you your breakfast burrito?

About staying awake.

[ he takes hakkyuu’s coffee, helps himself, hands it back so he can wrap both arms around the slightness of his waist and keep his face mushed somewhere indeterminate. ]

The delivery guy could be a fifteen out of ten for all I give a shit. We’ll do that porno some other time.

[There's that little squirming feeling in Hakkyuu's belly again. Not just the sense of arousal, but something else very distinct to Stephen and the way he talks and handles him. Like he's fully entitled to everything Hakkyuu has. Like Hakkyuu won't shove him away or snap when things get too close.

Which is absolutely correct.

He shifts slightly in Stephen's lap, holding the coffee while also kind of throwing it to the back of his mind as lightly rubs one of his upper canines with his tongue in thought.]

I had no idea you were thinking of releasing our footage to the city. [Then, a reluctant correction:] Willingly. Everyone would catch you pulling corny porn phrases. And, look, I thought you making awful puns was our super secret thing.

[He leans in then, stealing a brief teasing kiss at the corner of Stephen's lips.]

I should really get a shower in.

You think so?

[ he even turns his head before hakkyuu can pull away there too, answering with a lingering close-mouthed kiss of his own. he isn’t lying--he likes hakkyuu post-workout, the way his skin tastes salted with dry sweat, the way his fine hair gets tacky at the nape of his neck--but he also knows he’s only putting up a halfhearted fight against what hakkyuu would prefer to do with his morning. ]

You could hang out here. [ with a touch of his tongue against the taste of coffee on hakkyuu’s lip. ] Help me get my workout in.

[There are worse states to be in, for sure, more dirt, grim, sweat and much more that could be caked into Hakkyuu's skin and hair, so in reality it's unusual to ask, to assume Stephen isn't already doing precisely what he wants, as he wants, in the way he wants it.

The teasing little flick of tongue against Hakkyuu's lips encourages a little chuckle through his teeth as the smile spreads, his arms reaching back (including coffee) to loop around Stephen's shoulders to brush their noses together. If Hakkyuu were watching this in his mindseye, he'd think this was disgustingly out of character for him. Or at least it would be if he were perched on anyone else's lap.]

Guess I did promise to keep you warm, didn't I? So how about this, I help you warm up, we fuel up a bit, and you take me on a guided tour of the shower. I mean--[He slides his hips closer, head tilting to catch Stephen's upper lip briefly between his teeth.]--I already know my way around, I just wanna hear you narrate it.

( office hours & overflow )

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