At least the carpet is new.
When the kettle whistles, James takes it off the burner and, using his free hand, akwardly dumps three scoops of loose leaf tea into a teapot. From the old wooden cupboards, he produces a nondescript white teacup that could have been bought from IKEA or stolen from an unsuspecting hostel. It was hard to tell sometimes where things in the flat came from.
Most of it belonged to his flat mate Noah. For example, the futon and the old sofa in the living room were Noah's. James had supplied the coffee table after a spur of the moment trip to a boot sale in Northolt. He had also supplied the end tables and a majority of the pots and pans, obtained in a similar fashion. The only thing that he hadn't gotten second hand was his mattress, the cutlery, and the unusually conspicuous crucifix which hung by the entryway. Noah never asked about the crucifix, or when something was misplaced and later replaced. They usually stayed out of each others business.
Usually.
Some nights, when James was considerably drunk, he would bring people home from his nightly rendezvous. One particular incident found him coming home with what he considered to be a respectable young woman. She was some sort of STEM major, maybe in medicine or math. It started with an 'M.' What James remembered most clearly about that night was her jet black hair and micro bangs.
Maybe the 'M' stood for micro bangs.
Noah had come home at the end of his shift to them shagging in the kitchen. The next morning, he made polite conversation about hygiene and the necessity of sanitation in places where food was often eaten and prepared.
James made sure to make it to his bed room with his partners after that incident.
The door to the flat opened and James listened as Noah struggled out of his shoes and stomped up the stairs. James was already pulling another teacup from the cupboard when Noah came up on the landing.
Noah was pretty enough, though he wasn't exactly James' type. He had pale skin and lips that were more purple than pink. His hair was blond and satiny, longer on top and cropped just above the ears. His eyes were the color of storm clouds. Such a description might lead one to think that Noah was an angelic being, but that wasn't quite it. James likened him to a fairy prince. His appearance was flawed in the way that something pretending to be human might be. His eyes just a bit too wide, his hair a bit too thin, his pale skin a bit too translucent. There was almost an inherent oddness about Noah.
"I thought you had a lab to teach?" Noah said, breathless. He was just starting to shrug off his coat. Judging by his bookbag, haphazardly slung onto the floor and spilling its contents like an open wound, he had just gotten out of lab himself.
James turned to him, two cups of tea in hand, and offered the less full one to Noah.
"The professor cancelled lecture this week."
Noah took the offered tea cup from James' hand and blew softly at the steam wafting above it. James watched him, watched the way his lips pressed together and his lashes fluttered. Then he looked away, taking a sip of his own tea even though it was practically still boiling. When he looked back, Noah was watching him, one of his pale brows lifted quizzically up on his forehead.
"Are you working tonight?" James asked, going to sit on the sofa, and pretending that Noah hadn't noticed him looking longer than usual.
Noah drifted into the living room and sat across from him on the futon. He blew softly over the rim of his cup again before answering.
"Yes, only, I don't think I will be there very long. I'm only working two tables, so I'll be the first sent home."
James nodded, sipping his too hot tea. Noah was a full time graduate student and a part time waiter at an overpriced restaurant near campus. He was perpetually late to work and class because one would always bleed over into the other. James had come home once to Noah on the phone with his advisor, fitfully asking them to remove the demerit on his record regarding the constant lateness. James had the honor of being a full time teaching assistant, so didn't share in his misery.
"How about, if you get out early enough, I'll make us both dinner. You're vegan, right?"
Noah laughed airily, finally taking a sip of his own tea and smiling. Even his smile looked wrong. A little too much teeth.
"I'm surprised you even know that about me," Noah says, "It can't have dairy in it, just so you know. Or eggs. Or honey."
James waved his hand, "Right, I got it, I found this tofu recipe that I think you'll like."
Noah was still smiling, "You know me well enough to know what I like? James, we barely see each other."
James scoffs, "It's vegan, you're vegan, how hard could it be."
Noah laughed again and James let himself relax.
The truth was, he had been avoiding Noah. Not because there was anything wrong with Noah, well, there might be something a little off about him, but his personality was fine. Mostly, he was avoiding Noah because he didn't want to get attached. Since he left the convent and went off to university, he had gotten into the habit of not being much of a people person. He had friends, of course, acquaintances, people he talked to regularly, but nobody he kept up with if they moved away. The only reason he had gotten a roommate after completing his masters was because he couldn't afford a single room flat on a graduate students salary anymore. Back then, the assistantship barely covered the electric bill and groceries. Now it barely covered anything.
Noah got dressed for work. His uniform consisted of black dress pants and a white button up shirt, his apron had been folded and stuffed into the pocket of his jacket. Nonslip shoes on and out the door he went, leaving James to search for the third time since Sunday the recipe for vegan sesame tofu. He waited for Noah to text him that he would be getting out early, and then braced for the grueling task of actually cooking.
The recipe wasn't particularly challenging, all he had to do was make the rice, heat up a bag of mixed vegetables, make the sauce, and bake the tofu. Unfortunately, James was terrible at multitastking, and by the time he was finishing up Noah had already returned home. The walk must have been cold because when he emerged from the stairs his cheeks were redder than James had ever seen them. He found himself entranced long enough for the sauce to start smoking in the pan and quickly turned the burner off to an accompaniment of cursewords. Noah had disappeared into his room, returning a few minutes later in his pajamas to help James fix the plates and get settled in the living room.
"It's good." Noah said through a mouthful of salty, sticky rice. He used the back of his thumb to wipe a bit of sauce from the corner of his mouth and then licked it clean in a way that was probably not meant to be sexy.
James' body didn't care whether or not it was meant to be sexy. The peak of Noah's pink tongue from between his now mostly pink lips was enough to ensure that everyone was paying attention. He swallowed his own mouthful of tofu-rice-vegetables before setting his fork down.
"I'm glad you like it." He said, and his voice was maybe a bit rougher than he wanted it to be.
Noah looked at him with his brow raised, round eyes wide and strangely intense.
"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Noah asked.
James chewed his lip, putting his hand through his own mahogany colored hair. Really, he was Noah's antithesis. Where Noah was soft and pale James was sharp and tan. A Greek Statue juxtaposed by a water color painting.
"Have you ever dated a guy before?"
†††
James was glad he had gotten a double bed when he moved into the flat. A double bed could comfortably fit two fully grown adult men. Even if Noah was frailer than most adult men. Presently, Noah's face was buried in the crook of James' neck and his breath came out in soft, stuttering puffs. James put his fingers through Noah's hair, letting the soft blond wisps slip through them.
The truth was, James had wanted to sleep with Noah the moment that they met in person. This desire contradicted just about all of James' other instincts. The instincts that told him never to get close to anyone, to stick to one night stands and two week flings, mostly with women. James had been with other dudes before, but most gay men looking for a fling weren't his flavor. Most of them assumed James would be on the receiving end of their dicks.
And for the right person, James might have let that happen, but he hadn't come across the right person just yet.
Noah stirred in his arms and blinked his too round, oddly intense eyes up at him. James offered him a smile and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
"Did you sleep at all?" Noah murmured, rubbing his legs together beneath the sheets. James didn't need to see what was going on down there to know that it was in both their interests to go for round two while basking in London's dreary morning light.
"I slept just fine." James lied, hand finding Noah's waist and rolling him over onto his chest.
Noah huffed a laugh, experimentally wiggling his hips, "I think you'll need to loosen me up again."
James made a noise, patting his hand around his nightstand for the lube they had used the night before. He twisted until he could open the drawer and retrieve another condom.
"Are you clean?" Noah asked suddenly, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him last night.
"I am." James said, "You know I get tested regularly."
"With how many people I find in our kitchen the morning after? Definitely."
"I get it, I'm a man whore, you don't have to rub it in."
Noah laughs, a little incredulously, "I can't believe it took you this long to sleep with me."
James took Noah apart slowly this time. Slow enough for it to be a little cruel. When it was over, they both decided to skip their lectures in favor of scones and mediocre coffee. At last, James thought his years of transience might be over. That he could defend his dissertation and graduate with his PhD.
That he could properly date someone and they could settle down. He could finally have the normal life he didn't know that he wanted until it was too late.
Until the cold London air turned overwarm and alive with something magical.
Until he was reminded that men weren't the only ones that lurked in the dark.
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