Deviation Actions
Description
Thanks for letting me use Mister Tanga Anaconda!+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
His tongue moved slowly inside his mouth and then moistened his lips. They were so dry! Damn this freakin’ cold snap. It made everything so chapped. His nervous mood sure didn’t help the dryness within his mouth either.
Rubbing his large hands together to combat the numbness in them, he reached into his pocket to grab the tiny tube he kept there for these freezing days. The scent of shea butter reached his nose as he opened it and squeezed some of the lotion onto his fingers and proceeded to rub it into his skin.
He was stalling. He knew that.He really needed to put on a shirt. He glanced down. Okay, something more decent than what he was wearing now. The old, worn out tee just wouldn’t do. Not with its bright cartoony manatee which stared up back at him with too-big eyes. Wiping the excess lotion onto his neck (hey, it wouldn’t hurt to smell nice in that spot), he quickly peeled off the tee and grabbed the silky, navy blue collared shirt lying next to him. He shoved it over his head before his brain could fully acknowledge that it was OH MY GOD TOO COLD FOR THIS SHIT. He thought that he probably should turn on the heater before he left so it would be nice and toasty for later.
He did the obligatory preening in the mirror, making sure his pants looked okay on his frame and tried to get his messy hair to stay down. He sighed deeply as he gazed at his hair’s reflection. He didn’t own any gel to shape it, so he had to make do with using the moisture from his shower to press it close to his skull. Not that it mattered. When it dried, it’d just poof out. He’d then just have a big poofy head.
A soft buzz from the bedside dresser alerted him to an incoming call. Before getting too close to the mobile phone, he could already see the name. Manny.
His lips turned up into a small smile, then fell. He had thought of giving his friend (Lover? Boyfriend?) a cute nickname, but every time he went to edit his contact info, something inside himself stopped his fingers. Weren’t pet names meant for very serious couples? Something agreed upon by both parties even though the very thought of cutesy names could be potentially embarrassing?
Ben didn’t think they were at that level yet, if they ever would be. He knew he hesitated to take it too far with Manolo. The other man had quite a few admirers (dubbed his “harem”) who he could choose from, and Ben was already the jealous sort when it came to boyfriends. He was aware of Manolo’s proclivities and that at their core, they were two fundamentally different people when it came to relationships. Ben understood that their affair wouldn’t last perpetually. He wouldn’t be able to tolerate any other lovers in his friend’s orbit and he definitely would not ask Manny to change himself just for him. Ben knew that some people were just wired differently, and he wouldn’t permanently ruin a friendship by throwing a hissy fit. Or at least he’d try not to. It could turn ugly.
As he stood there ruminating, the phone ended its bzzzzzing and went to voicemail. Damn.
Ben grabbed it, his thumb hovering over the Call Back button. He quickly switched to text:
Sorry, was in another room.
Ben rolled his eyes. So much for honesty. But he didn’t want Manny to hear his hoarse voice, whether it was caused by the cold or his troubled mind.
Ya! Ben texted in return.
K. On your block. Are you coming out, or should I come up?I’ll be down.
Depositing the phone into his pant pocket, Ben grabbed his keys and headed out of the bedroom towards the front door. At the last second, he walked over to a window and pressed his hand to the glass pane. It was bitingly cold.He knew it would only get worse after the last sliver of sunlight disappeared, which would be in- what?- 15 minutes? He quickly grabbed a dark sweater from the closet and put it on over his nice shirt. Like a dumbass. It would rumple, but at least he wouldn’t be a teeth-chatterer tonight.
Finally ready, he went to the front door at a brisk pace, bypassing the mirror. It would only annoy him to look at himself and his dang hair.~~~
After exiting the building, he immediately glanced around before he sighted Manolo just entering the property. Ben grinned automatically and jogged towards the dark-skinned man, ending up on his tiptoes as he wrapped an arm around Manolo’s shoulders and pulled him in. After planting a soft kiss on Manolo’s right cheek, he nuzzled it. He was acting like a teenager! But Manolo didn’t seem to mind the attention, smirking as he felt Ben’s short ginger facial hair on his skin. Manolo reached up and placed his hand on the back of Ben’s neck, rubbing the base of his friend’s head. Ben let out a low moan.
Manolo’s eyebrows shot high as he felt a little more hair than had he expected, hanging over Ben’s nape.
“Benny,” he started while he laced the hair through his fingers. “You’re growing this out?”
Ben suddenly moved away from Manolo, so that they were no longer touching, and grabbed his own newly-grown hair. The other man made a sound of disappointment but Ben was already explaining.
“It didn’t bother me like usual. Didn’t seem to notice it’s gettin’ long.” He cleared his throat. “I guess cuz I’ve...had it like this before. When I was…”
He stopped, but Manolo already understood what was unsaid: When Benny was alive thousands of years ago. Or when his soul was alive, rather. When he lived as a woman, as the first Monoceros.
He knew Benny was adjusting to regaining his memories as, as Ben called her, “an Amazonian-esque knight.” They weren’t NEW memories, but Manolo could see how getting old memories of a very distant past would be disconcerting. Especially when you felt as if you rid yourself of one body to take on a new one, and there was a huge time gap in-between (and it being the opposite sex). Ben said he didn’t feel any sort of gender dysphoria. He had no word to describe his situation. He just knew that he was “changing” in some ways to make room for the old Monoceros’ habits. He wasn’t changing TOO much, however, to the relief of the rest of the Constellation team.
Manolo watched his friend fidget with a concerned look, but smiled when Ben grabbed his hand and pulled in a new direction.
“Ready?” he asked the taller man, then he pressed his forehead to Manolo’s shoulder and said in a low tone, “I have something inside for later.”
“What?” Manolo asked, also speaking softly just to play along.
“Uh, it has to do with a massage. Shhh, it’s a surprise.” A small nudge was given.“So I’m giving you a massage?” Manolo wouldn’t refuse that. He knew of Benny’s love for them. He’d let anyone give him one. Hell, he’d get one during a fight if given a chance. Once in a drunken stupor, Ben called himself “a hand whore.” He’d be into helping Ben out with it, and maybe it’d lead to something more. Manolo mentally shook his head to clear his thoughts.
“Nah, I mean me. No, you,” Ben tried to say, flustered. “Agh, I mean I’m giving you one. A ‘deep’ one. Unlessyouwantsomethingelse.” That last part was spoken too fast. Before Manolo could respond, Ben continued hurriedly in a murmur, “Have some new oils in the drawer. Wanna try ‘em.” His cheeks grew darker. Manolo couldn’t see his friend’s face, it still being buried in his shoulder, but he could practically feel the heat of the blush.
“Very curious now,” Manolo said, honestly. He really couldn’t wait to see how tonight progressed.
Ben cleared his throat, “Yeah. Less’go.” Manolo let himself be led away with a huge internal smile, falling in step beside his friend.It wasn’t until they had reached their destination that Ben remembered that he hadn’t turned on the heater. Dagummit.
Eh. Oh well. If the evening went well enough, he’d be able to take advantage of Manolo’s natural heat.+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
Author's Note: I tried? 8D
Anyway, I wonder what sort of "massage" this is gonna be. *nudgenudge*
I should post part 2.
...
Nah.
The facial shading is amazing and the hair is just wow. So much patience for the intricate texture in Manny's dreads! And I love Benny's swooshy locks! 