FIC: Fast Forward To a Few Years Later (AI RPF, Kris/Cassidy, NC-17)
At last, my plaguedbymen story. In true Kris stan fashion, just a couple of weeks late. No big deal, it got here in the end, right? This is for the prompt "Kris/Cassidy. Kris is back in LA recording his second album. He's having a rough time, ends up going to a bar by himself. Cassidy's there, and recognizes him" only I took a few liberties with it because when it came time to write it I just didn't have that much angst in my heart.
Disclaimer: No disrespect intended to any of the persons depicted herein, who I hope are all living happy and fulfilled lives with their partner(s) of choice. This is purely fictional, and not in any way intended as an accurate representation of reality.
Banner by chosenfire28!
Fast Forward To a Few Years Later
AI RPF. 6000 words. NC-17. Kris/Cassidy, Kris/OMCs.
The club is playing Adam's latest single, bass thumping and vocals soaring, and Adam's music always gets Kris going. He's even wearing the shirt Adam got him for his last birthday - the tight one, not the other one, though that describes most of his wardrobe these days - and he doesn't mean to unbutton it, it just happens. He still hasn't figured out quite how it always seems to happen all on its own.
The guy he's dancing with is taller than him, but then most guys are. Taller than him with shaggy, sandy hair and a wide, goofy smile. Kris still feels a little out of place in clubs like this, but this guy looks like he feels a little out of place too, and somehow they managed to gravitate towards one another in the middle of it.
"Hi, I'm Tre," he introduces himself in an unexpected and brief moment between songs when their voices are audible without having to leave the dance floor completely.
"I'm Kris," he says, and doesn't pretend otherwise.
"I know," he admits, biting his lip for one endearing moment. "Is it okay that I know, or is that a dealbreaker?"
"Totally okay that you know," he says, and then the bass kicks back in again and there's nothing to do but dance, until Tre takes his elbow and nods towards the door and Kris gets what he's asking. He nods back.
He's waiting for Tre to come back from the men's room when he feels a tap on his shoulder, which is something that isn't exactly unusual for him anymore but this is just not a great time to sign an autograph. When he turns his head, though, it's not an autograph seeker after all.
"I thought that was you," the guy says, hand slipping off Kris's shoulder almost as quickly as it arrived.
"Cassidy, right?" says Kris, even though he's about ninety-nine percent sure of that, and the one percent is just because it's kind of dark and he's on his third drink.
"Yeah, that's right," he says. "Of all the places to run into you."
"Just caught me, too," says Kris. "I was about to head out. "
"Getting late for you?" says Cassidy just as Tre comes back and puts a possessive hand on Kris's shoulder.
"Ready to get out of here?"
Cassidy looks more than a little surprised, which Kris can't blame him for. There are, after all, a number of surprising-to-him factors at work here: that Kris as at this club in the first place, that Kris is into guys, and that Kris is obviously on the verge of going home with one.
"Yeah," he says, but his eyes stay on Cassidy. "Hey, I'll see you around, right?"
"Keep coming to places like this and I'm sure you will," he says, then Tre kisses the back of Kris's neck, sending a shiver down his spine, and they're off.
:::
So Kris actually kind of likes drag queens. Not likes likes, in a sexual way, but enjoys spending time with and around. He doesn't want to try it or anything, it's not his thing, but he likes the attitude. He likes how bold they are. He even likes that they usually treat him like he's the most precious thing that ever graced their presence; from other people it's annoying, but from drag queens who more often than not tower over him, it's just fun.
It's some kind of event tonight, one that brings even the amateurs out, and Kris likes that too. Still not his scene, but there's a part of him now that likes to be surrounded by people who are comfortable expressing themselves. There was always that part of him, actually, he just wasn't always able to find it.
He meets Dag at the bar where he's nursing a screwdriver, which is pretty much never a cool drink no matter when or where you drink it. Dag teases him about his drink and he teases Dag about his Madonna t-shirt, while quite blatantly noticing how tight it is and how much it clings to his pecs.
"How about I buy you a real drink?" he says.
"How about you buy me one of what I'm drinking, and I don't end up on my knees in the men's room," says Kris, then rethinks that and laughs. "And not in the way you're thinking."
"Too bad," he says, and sticks around for that drink.
Kris is surprised when he recognizes someone up on the stage, actually kind of gorgeous in his wig and dress but obviously just here for the fun of it and not to make a name for himself. "Cassidy, hey," he says later when he passes. "You look good."
Cassidy blinks his false eyelashes a couple of times, then gives Kris a broad smile. "You just keep turning up, don't you? Enjoying the show?"
"Always do," he says. "Oh, this is, uh, Dag."
Dag holds out his hand, and Cassidy looks a little less taken aback this time. "Your left tit's a little crooked."
"Shit, it always does that," says Cassidy, taking his hand back so he can fix it. "I've gotta go, but it was good seeing you!"
"Yeah, you too," says Kris, and drains his drink as he watches Cassidy's ass as he goes. He really does look great in that dress.
"So, I was thinking," says Dag. "Do you maybe want to get out of here?"
Kris ducks his head and grins. "Was just waiting for you to ask," he says.
:::
Some people are saying Kris hasn't been making a lot of good decisions since the divorce, but Kris feels pretty good about his decisions, actually. He's never done this part of being single before, and he's not being stupid about it. He's just having fun. And if he wants to pick up guys in bars, that's kind of his business. He doesn't need people telling him it's not him. How would they even know that? And how do they expect Kris to if he doesn't even try it out?
He knows there've been a couple of blind items about him, but so far everyone he's actually been with has been great, and he doesn't think that's just luck. He's just attracted to nice guys who are looking for the same thing he is and don't feel the need to go talk to the press about it later.
And ultimately, even if it does get out, Kris isn't doing anything wrong. He's not out doing hookers and blow. He's just having a few one night stands, like lots of other single twentysomethings out there. He's actually okay if the gay thing gets out. Bisexual thing. Whatever. There's even a part of him that hopes it does, even though it'll be a bigger deal for everyone else than it is for him.
He's not going out every night or anything anyway, he's got too much work to do. Even though he's recorded enough songs to fill it twice over, his album's not even close to being done. If he filled the album with just the songs he has recorded right now, he'd probably have everyone in tears by the fourth track, and that's not really what he's going for.
If Kris's first album was inadvertently full of break-up songs, the desperate pleas of someone who can see the end of his relationship coming and is still trying to fight for it, his second has been going into darker places, places with less hope and more resignation, and then places that explore the aftermath of the end, too. He thinks the songs are actually kind of amazing, rich and deep and heartbreaking, but immersing himself in it every day is something that takes its toll.
Maybe that's part of why he's been going out when he gets the chance - when you work hard like that, you want to play hard too. And if he's reminding himself of the recent pain of a relationship that fell apart during the days, during the nights he's reminding himself that he's still a person with a lot of life ahead of him yet who deserves to be happy.
:::
He meets Axel in the bathroom of all places, which isn't really somewhere you're supposed to meet people (Kris is under the impression that they're good for quickie blowjobs, but he's never been looking for that) but then Kris never really does things like everyone else. It does mean, though, that he's seen Axel's dick before they've even had a drink together, and vice versa.
It actually kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off.
"So what are you drinking?" he says, and Kris orders himself another beer, because it's that kind of a night. Axel orders a martini, which doesn't seem to suit him at all, but he doesn't seem to care the slightest bit or make any apologies for it. Kris likes that about him.
Axel, it turns out, has no idea who he is.
"So what do you do, Kris?" he says, leaning one elbow on the bar and seemingly intensely interested in the answer.
It's been so long since anyone asked that Kris almost stutters over the answer. "I’m a musician," he ends up saying, and rubs the calluses on his fingertips idly with his thumb. "What about you?"
"Lawyer," he says with a little smile, "but if that's not impressive to an artist-type like you, I also write bad poetry."
Kris laughs and twists around to grab his beer and he's hardly even surprised to see Cassidy around the bend of the bar, chatting with some guy with flaming red hair. When Cassidy looks up and sees Kris, he rolls his eyes and then grins at him. Kris can't help but grin back and raise his beer, and then turns his attention back to Axel.
"Just a friend," he explains before it can be taken the wrong way. "Is this the part of the night when you invite me back to your place for a poetry reading?"
"Well, I was going to wait until you finished your beer," says Axel, "but that's the general idea, yes."
"Mm, good," says Kris, and isn't sorry he has a bottle of beer in his hand, given what it seems to do to Axel's pants the next time he puts his lips around it and swallows. "Won't be long, then."
:::
Some days are rougher than others. In general Kris is pretty okay, he's actually pretty happy. It's kind of an exciting time for him in general. But some days are still rough, some days he comes out of the studio and just doesn't have the energy to do all that much, because sometimes it's really work, dealing with some of that stuff.
He's starting to really understand what people mean when they say therapy is exhausting, because who would think that talking would be quite so much work. Or singing. But it's not really about the physical effort so much as the relentless emotional wringer.
He feels like once the album is finally done it's going to be some kind of giant catharsis, and he'll be able to sing all of these songs live with all the energy and emotion they deserve without returning to those dark places himself, but until it's done, he's just wallowing in them. Until it's done, he's not quite over it.
So tonight he finds a quiet sort of a bar. Well, not quiet, but not packed with people and pulsing with music either. It's a place where Kris can find a table for two in a corner and sit at it alone, beer in hand and watching the tiny stage where a redheaded girl with an acoustic guitar - Kris would swear she couldn't be more than eighteen - is jamming her way through some Hendrix. (She's got the voice to carry it off, but she doesn't have the life experience yet and you can tell by the lack of rough edges.)
He's on his second beer when he feels a hand on his shoulder, and he puts a smile on his face even though he's not really in the mood to greet fans tonight (he always does, though, even when he's not feeling it) but it's not a fan, it's Cassidy.
"Oh, hey," he says, and he thinks about making a stalking joke but then he bites his tongue because, given who he is, it's not actually that funny. "Hey."
"I'm not bothering you, am I?" he says. "I couldn't believe that was you. It's like I have some kind of radar for you or something these days."
"Thank God you're the one blessed with it then," says Kris, cracking a smile, "because I can think of a lot of people I wouldn't want to run into every other week."
"Do you mind if I...?" he gestures at the empty seat across from him. "You can tell me to fuck off if you want. I won't be offended."
Kris smiles at him, or something like a smile anyway. "I'm not going to do that," he says. "I'm not sure I'm great company, but you're welcome to it if you want."
Apparently he does, because he sits down with his half-full drink - something mostly clear with a blue plastic sword sticking up out of it that probably once speared a cherry - and pulls the chair up to the table.
"You're a long way from home, aren't you?" he says. Kris isn't sure if he was speaking literally or metaphorically, about the bar or the city or something else entirely.
"I'm getting used to it," he says. "I read somewhere that it takes three years in a new place before it really feels like home. I guess I've got some more time to put in yet."
"So you think this is home, then?"
"I think I'm interested in finding out," says Kris, which is really all he can say with that much certainty. In the end he doesn't ask if Cassidy is talking about the bars or this bar or LA. The answer's more or less the same. "I guess I've got time to figure that out, though, right?"
"I think it's worth taking your time," he says, leaning back. "I like to come here sometimes, when I'm feeling mellow. It's pretty laid back."
"I'm generally a pretty laid back kind of a guy," says Kris, glancing towards the stage again and remembering playing on stages just like it, cover after cover until he thought he could sing them in his sleep. It's not really all that long ago, but it feels like forever. "I almost asked my buddy to come with me tonight. We haven't hung out in a while."
"But you didn't?"
Kris shrugs. "I want to have a good time with him," he says finally, after sorting through just what his reasoning had been. "I don't want him to feel like he needs to worry anymore. And if he was out with me like this, he'd worry."
"You think he's not worried just because he's not out with you?"
Which is not unfair, Kris has to admit. "He means well," he says finally, "he just doesn't understand. It's hard to find anyone who understands it all. Both the divorce and...everything else. The coming out part. People understand one, or the other, but not both."
"You might be surprised," says Cassidy, but Kris isn't saying that there aren't people out there in the same situation, he's just saying that no one he knows is. "Can I buy you another drink?"
For some reason the offer comes as a surprise, but a pleasant one. "Thanks," he says. "I should probably be buying you a drink for putting up with me tonight, but I accept anyway."
"Sometimes I like to just sit and be mellow too," says Cassidy. "It's not exactly a hardship."
And that sort of describes just what it's like to kick back with some company who seems to want just what he does out of this night - a bit of silence, a bit of conversation, and a bit of alcohol. Cassidy's company is definitely not a hardship, and Kris enjoys it for the next hour or so until they both decide to call it an early night and part with a kiss on the cheek on the sidewalk outside the bar.
:::
So one of his friends said to him once that if he's going to be slutting around - he actually said 'slutting around' which Kris wasn't exactly happy about but he let it go - then at least he could hook up with someone he knows he can trust. Someone like Adam.
Kris thought that was the dumbest thing he ever heard. He could never just hook up with Adam. It would always be more than that.
Adam's the one who hears all about it, though, the successes and the failures and the details he knows none of the rest of his friends, no matter how supportive they are, would be interested in. Adam's the one who knows about the night Kris tried out handcuffs with Maksim, the time he did it with Val up against a wall and nearly sprained something, the evening up on Dare's rooftop when they had sex under the clouds and stars.
Kris's exploration of dating and sex and new relationships is his own, and if Adam influenced it in any way it's only in that he gave Kris a safe environment in which to really examine himself, but in Adam he has someone he can talk to about anything and everything. No matter how awkward, no matter how intimate, no matter how dark.
He likes to think he offers the same thing in return, even if Adam takes him up on it in different ways.
So he tells Adam about having drinks with Cassidy, in a sort of a casual way, and Adam both laughs at how they managed to meet up again and tells Kris that Cassidy is a good guy. That Cassidy is someone who can always be trusted, even when he's full of wine and broadcasting in his underwear on ustream. (Kris has yet to catch one of those shows, but he makes a point of trying one of these days because that certainly sounds intriguing.)
"How's the album coming?" Adam asks, and Kris grunts a little bit, because somehow his sex life has become easier to talk about than his music, which is an unanticipated turn of events.
"It's everything I could want it to be," he says, "and it breaks my heart a little."
"The best music does," says Adam, "but you must have some more upbeat stuff on there, too. I mean, your life's actually been pretty upbeat lately."
Kris's life has been pretty upbeat lately, he just hasn't written any songs about it. And maybe he's not going to write a dance track about his favorite positions or a ballad about the joys of shotgunning, but there's a lot of material to mine there, too, and maybe juxtaposing that against what he already has is exactly what he needs to do.
"I'm in a writing session tomorrow," he says, after a long silence that Adam just waits out and doesn't interrupt. Somehow he just seems to know when Kris is working shit out. "I'll let you know how that goes."
And suddenly he's really interested in how that's going to go himself.
:::
"I know a guy who knows a guy," says Cassidy, slipping into the space next to Kris at the bar, "who carries actual Kris Allen detectors. I got mine for twenty bucks and a blowjob."
"I hope it was a fantastic blowjob," says Kris, "because I'm worth way more than that."
"You have no idea," says Cassidy, before ordering himself a drink. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"Not this time," says Kris, stirring his drink with its little straw and watching the liquid swirl. "I've only been here for about a half an hour. I usually need at least twice that."
"I wouldn't think you'd need more than about five minutes, actually, if you set your mind to it," says Cassidy, wiping some moisture off the bar with his thumb.
"Well, I like to make good decisions," says Kris, smiling into his drink, or what's left of it, anyway. "That takes a little more time."
Cassidy looks at him sideways as his drink is delivered, and Kris can't quite read that look on his face. "You know, I believe you," he says. "And since the only reason I know you're getting around is because I keep running into you, it seems like you've been pretty successful."
Kris definitely prefers "getting around" to "slutting it up".
"So wow, it would probably be really inappropriate if I tried to pick you up right now, huh?" he says with a laugh, sucking the end of his straw.
"Well, there's one mystery solved," says Cassidy. "I wasn't sure if you were doing the picking, or the one being picked."
"A little of both," said Kris, "depending on the night, and my mood."
"And what's the mood tonight, then?"
Kris kind of chews on the straw a little before dropping it back in the glass. "There wasn't one tonight," he admits, "until you got here. I don't know, do you think it's a sign, we keep seeing each other? LA's not that small."
"It can be, depending on what circles you run in," says Cassidy, "and I guess that depends on whether you believe in signs or not. We're at least a couple of meetings past coincidence, if you ask me. "
"I'm not looking for--" Kris starts, but then he has to laugh because given what's just been pointed out, Cassidy knows exactly what he's looking for. "I'm just having fun right now."
"Don't worry, just because we're bound to see each other again doesn't mean I'd expect you to call," says Cassidy, smiling as he signals for a bartender. "Sometimes a hook-up is just a hook-up. But no pressure or anything. Fun isn't supposed to turn into uncomfortable."
"Might be nice to have someone who I'd get to see again," admits Kris. "Wouldn’t want you to think I'm using you or something, though."
"Hey, you've been completely upfront about your intentions," says Cassidy. "No misunderstandings there. I am no stranger to the walk of shame, and I actually do know all about being used for sex so I know this isn't. It's just...rebound sex."
"A lot of rebound sex," says Kris, then laughs again. "That was probably inappropriate too. I'm just not even close to ready to actually date again, I think."
"No timeline for these things," says Cassidy. "Another drink?"
"Sure, maybe one more," says Kris. "For the road?"
"For the road," agrees Cassidy, and Kris is pretty sure he's on the cusp of another good decision.
:::
Kris has actually been here once before, for a party a while back, so it's a bit of déjà vu being back. It's different this time around, though. More like a home and less like a party space, and it must be kind of nice to have a place that doubles as both.
Cassidy moves to get them something from the kitchen, but Kris manages to snag a beltloop with his finger and pull him back towards himself instead, slipping a hand up under Cassidy's shirt over his abs and turning him to claim a kiss. Cassidy obviously wasn't expecting him to be quite that forward, but he equally obviously doesn't mind.
"My room," he says as Kris nips at his jaw. "Blaise is home."
"Yeah," says Kris, and tugs on Cassidy's beltloop again, even if it's Cassidy who leads the way. In the absence of a roommate Kris totally wouldn't have waited to find the bedroom, would probably have dropped to his knees right there.
After all, he's a giver.
Once the door is closed, though, once they have that nominal privacy, Kris goes back to the original plan. He reaches for Cassidy's belt and doesn't waste any time getting it open, one of the first skills he picked up. It's actually a lot easier than a bra, so there's that. Cassidy takes his own shirt off in one practiced motion, and as soon as Kris gets his pants open he does drop to his knees right there.
"Oh, hey," murmurs Cassidy, but it's not in any way a dissuasion and Kris hooks his thumbs in Cassidy's briefs and pulls those down too, leaving both his pants and his underwear around his ankles before taking his first lick. Cassidy's fingers come to rest in his hair, his thumb stroking tiny circles on Kris's scalp as Kris finally takes the head into his mouth and sucks at it gently the way he's been thinking about since before they left the bar.
Cassidy has a nice cock, not huge but solid in Kris's hand, a comfortable size. He can't swallow it all down, but he can make it good anyway, he likes to make it good. One of the things Kris has discovered about himself, that wasn't really as much of a surprise as some other things, is that he really does like to suck cock.
"Yeah," says Cassidy as Kris takes more of him into his mouth, as much as he can, stroking the rest in a tight fist. "Fuck yeah."
Kris closes his eyes and gets comfortable and only stops when he feels a gentle nudge at his shoulder, a reluctant signal.
"Let me take these off," says Cassidy as Kris rocks back on his heels to look up at him, then pushes himself back to his feet. Cassidy kicks off his pants and Kris takes the opportunity to strip down too, pants first, kicked over on top of Cassidy's, then shirt off over his head to expose the rest of him. Kris always felt like he had an okay body, but it was never something he really made a point of showing off. These days he likes the reaction it gets.
Cassidy strokes his hands up Kris's chest even as Kris does the same to him, learning the lines and planes of his body, feeling hard muscle beneath his fingertips. He likes learning people's bodies, all of them uncharted territory. In that way, it's a whole new experience every time.
He doesn't have to be prompted to crawl up on the bed with Cassidy, following every move that he makes. Kris is something of a follower by nature, fairly easygoing and open to suggestion, particularly in the bedroom where he knows a lot of the guys he goes to bed with know a lot of tricks that he doesn't. But he's been around the block enough times to have a pretty good idea what he likes, too. He brings something to the table here.
"I want to fuck you," he says, choosing his words very deliberately as he says them in Cassidy's ear. Cassidy lets out something like a moan when he does.
"I guess that answers that question too," he murmurs, and Kris moves a little lower, smiles against Cassidy's throat before licking it. He doesn't believe in rigid roles, in bed or anywhere really, but yeah, he's figured out what he likes and what he likes is to top.
Kris has his own supplies, tucked away in his pants pocket and ready for a good time, but Cassidy's are closer at hand and a lot easier to get. And Cassidy not at all hesitant to get them. Kris isn't quite ready, though, and leaves them in reach as he straddles Cassidy's body, cock to cock, and kisses him for a while. Kissing, well, kissing is still and always one of Kris's favorite things, and he doesn't skimp now.
"I want to..." Cassidy says, and then shows instead of tells, running a hand back down Kris's body and then wrapping it around both of their cocks, learning the shape and size of Kris's and then learning how they fit together. Kris just hisses in pleasure and moves his hips so that he's fucking Cassidy's hand, and fucking up against his cock, and he's actually done this as the main event before - and liked it - but he really wants to fuck him tonight, it's sort of all he can think about.
Kris leans in and kisses him some more and only after his lips feel a little raw and swollen - from the blowjob as much as the kissing, to be fair - does he back off again.
"Okay," he breathes, and reaches down to stroke his own cock a couple of times just to make sure it's primed before reaching for the condom that Cassidy set out. "How do you like it?"
"I'm flexible," says Cassidy, but as he does it he rolls over onto his stomach and Kris preps him just like that, drizzling lube between his cheeks and making sure everything is right slicked up, both on Cassidy and on himself.
He kind of loves this part, even through the awkwardness of it. He loves the first push inside someone's body, the tension of it, the slow stretch, the way he has to hold himself back. The anticipation makes actually sinking inside him even better, he thinks.
"Ohhhh," Cassidy exhales as Kris makes that final slide inside him, burying himself inside his body for a moment before beginning the slow pull back out again. Kris always starts out a little worried about the noises he's making, if not the expressions, but once he gets to this point all bets are off. Sex is supposed to sound a little out of control.
He pushes back inside again, a little faster this time, and Cassidy adjusts his hips just a little bit so that the motion is smoother for both of them. Then they've got it, and Kris braces himself with one arm on the bed as he starts fucking him in earnest.
It's by mutual, if silent, agreement when Kris pulls out and lets Cassidy roll over beneath him. But instead of pulling his knees up Cassidy pushes Kris over onto his back and straddles him, grabbing hold of Kris's cock to guide it into himself. Kris hasn't done it like this with a guy before - with a girl sure, but that's a little different - and he loves the way that Cassidy's thighs are tight around him, the way the angle's all different now, the way he can jam his heel on the bed and grip Cassidy's hips and thrust up into him as soon as they're situated.
"Yeah," says Cassidy, reaching back to grab his own ankle for balance and then riding him hard, completely uninhibited. Kris looks at the line of his throat for a long time, that perfect arch as Cassidy throws his head back, then he finally reaches for Cassidy's cock and strokes it with quick flicks of his wrist as Cassidy fucks himself with Kris's cock.
It's all kind of awesome.
Kris's mouth is open, practically forming an O as he sucks in breath after breath, holding off orgasm until Cassidy gets off. He rubs his thumb over the slick head of his cock and all at once Cassidy changes position, leaning forward and bracing himself on the bed and letting Kris push his knees up to almost cradle Cassidy's body again. And then slowly, carefully, without ever stopping, they manage to kiss for a little while longer.
When Cassidy comes it seems like it's a surprise for him as much as for Kris. His breath catches and he lets out a soft cry and he spills hot and slick all over Kris's hand. Kris can smell it and that turns him on almost as much as feeling it, almost as much as the look of rapture on Cassidy's face. He ends up smearing it all over Cassidy's hip as he grips him hard and drives up into him, a little reckless and very ready to get off.
Cassidy takes it easily, rolling with the thrusts and bearing down on him, squeezing tight until Kris gasps and comes inside him, and coming inside someone is his favorite way to do it, bar none.
They don't talk as they clean up but there's a kind of fondness to it, little looks and touches and the occasional stolen kiss, the kind of affection it's hard to get with strangers no matter how much you enjoy their company.
They doze a little bit afterwards, so it's probably about an hour or so before dawn when Kris finally slips out of bed and looks for his pants. By the time he finds them, Cassidy is awake and propped up on his elbow, watching him.
"I'm really not expecting this to be anything else," says Cassidy. "In case you were worried."
"Maybe one day," says Kris, because Cassidy is a friend, and that alone makes this a little different from his other one night stands. "Maybe not today, or this month, but...maybe one day it could be. I mean, don't wait for me, because I don't know where I’m going to be at tomorrow let alone a week or a month or a year from now. But maybe."
"If we find the right place and the right time," says Cassidy, moving so that the blankets are just barely above his waist. Kris resists the temptation by tightly belting his pants. "I won't lose your number."
"You couldn't lose my number," says Kris with a laugh as he pulls his shirt on. "Am I going to wake anyone up when I go?"
"Not if you don't knock anything over on your way out," says Cassidy. "I'll see you around, Kris."
"I'll see you around," says Kris, and even gives him a kiss good-bye.
:::
Some guy who hasn't quite embraced the fact that he's six foot four with an armspan to match knocks a drink over on Kris's shirt with one overly-enthusiastic gesture. He apologizes and all, but the shirt is beyond saving and Kris is left with the option of going around all night in a beer-stained shirt, or just taking it off.
Kris takes it off.
He does ask the bartender if he happens to have anything behind the bar for Kris to wear, but he just laughs and says the last thing they want to do is help boys cover their bodies. But he does offer Kris a new drink on the house, and Kris knows enough to know it's not just as an apology.
Jin gets off at two, and Kris thinks it'll be worth waiting around.
He mostly splits his night between alternating beer and water at the bar, and throwing himself shirtless onto the dance floor, and it's kind of nice to just get out there with a sure thing waiting for him at the end of the night. It's kind of a nice night in general.
And when he sees Cassidy dancing with some guy a few feet away from him, he just smiles.
Disclaimer: No disrespect intended to any of the persons depicted herein, who I hope are all living happy and fulfilled lives with their partner(s) of choice. This is purely fictional, and not in any way intended as an accurate representation of reality.
Banner by chosenfire28!
Fast Forward To a Few Years Later
AI RPF. 6000 words. NC-17. Kris/Cassidy, Kris/OMCs.
The club is playing Adam's latest single, bass thumping and vocals soaring, and Adam's music always gets Kris going. He's even wearing the shirt Adam got him for his last birthday - the tight one, not the other one, though that describes most of his wardrobe these days - and he doesn't mean to unbutton it, it just happens. He still hasn't figured out quite how it always seems to happen all on its own.
The guy he's dancing with is taller than him, but then most guys are. Taller than him with shaggy, sandy hair and a wide, goofy smile. Kris still feels a little out of place in clubs like this, but this guy looks like he feels a little out of place too, and somehow they managed to gravitate towards one another in the middle of it.
"Hi, I'm Tre," he introduces himself in an unexpected and brief moment between songs when their voices are audible without having to leave the dance floor completely.
"I'm Kris," he says, and doesn't pretend otherwise.
"I know," he admits, biting his lip for one endearing moment. "Is it okay that I know, or is that a dealbreaker?"
"Totally okay that you know," he says, and then the bass kicks back in again and there's nothing to do but dance, until Tre takes his elbow and nods towards the door and Kris gets what he's asking. He nods back.
He's waiting for Tre to come back from the men's room when he feels a tap on his shoulder, which is something that isn't exactly unusual for him anymore but this is just not a great time to sign an autograph. When he turns his head, though, it's not an autograph seeker after all.
"I thought that was you," the guy says, hand slipping off Kris's shoulder almost as quickly as it arrived.
"Cassidy, right?" says Kris, even though he's about ninety-nine percent sure of that, and the one percent is just because it's kind of dark and he's on his third drink.
"Yeah, that's right," he says. "Of all the places to run into you."
"Just caught me, too," says Kris. "I was about to head out. "
"Getting late for you?" says Cassidy just as Tre comes back and puts a possessive hand on Kris's shoulder.
"Ready to get out of here?"
Cassidy looks more than a little surprised, which Kris can't blame him for. There are, after all, a number of surprising-to-him factors at work here: that Kris as at this club in the first place, that Kris is into guys, and that Kris is obviously on the verge of going home with one.
"Yeah," he says, but his eyes stay on Cassidy. "Hey, I'll see you around, right?"
"Keep coming to places like this and I'm sure you will," he says, then Tre kisses the back of Kris's neck, sending a shiver down his spine, and they're off.
:::
So Kris actually kind of likes drag queens. Not likes likes, in a sexual way, but enjoys spending time with and around. He doesn't want to try it or anything, it's not his thing, but he likes the attitude. He likes how bold they are. He even likes that they usually treat him like he's the most precious thing that ever graced their presence; from other people it's annoying, but from drag queens who more often than not tower over him, it's just fun.
It's some kind of event tonight, one that brings even the amateurs out, and Kris likes that too. Still not his scene, but there's a part of him now that likes to be surrounded by people who are comfortable expressing themselves. There was always that part of him, actually, he just wasn't always able to find it.
He meets Dag at the bar where he's nursing a screwdriver, which is pretty much never a cool drink no matter when or where you drink it. Dag teases him about his drink and he teases Dag about his Madonna t-shirt, while quite blatantly noticing how tight it is and how much it clings to his pecs.
"How about I buy you a real drink?" he says.
"How about you buy me one of what I'm drinking, and I don't end up on my knees in the men's room," says Kris, then rethinks that and laughs. "And not in the way you're thinking."
"Too bad," he says, and sticks around for that drink.
Kris is surprised when he recognizes someone up on the stage, actually kind of gorgeous in his wig and dress but obviously just here for the fun of it and not to make a name for himself. "Cassidy, hey," he says later when he passes. "You look good."
Cassidy blinks his false eyelashes a couple of times, then gives Kris a broad smile. "You just keep turning up, don't you? Enjoying the show?"
"Always do," he says. "Oh, this is, uh, Dag."
Dag holds out his hand, and Cassidy looks a little less taken aback this time. "Your left tit's a little crooked."
"Shit, it always does that," says Cassidy, taking his hand back so he can fix it. "I've gotta go, but it was good seeing you!"
"Yeah, you too," says Kris, and drains his drink as he watches Cassidy's ass as he goes. He really does look great in that dress.
"So, I was thinking," says Dag. "Do you maybe want to get out of here?"
Kris ducks his head and grins. "Was just waiting for you to ask," he says.
:::
Some people are saying Kris hasn't been making a lot of good decisions since the divorce, but Kris feels pretty good about his decisions, actually. He's never done this part of being single before, and he's not being stupid about it. He's just having fun. And if he wants to pick up guys in bars, that's kind of his business. He doesn't need people telling him it's not him. How would they even know that? And how do they expect Kris to if he doesn't even try it out?
He knows there've been a couple of blind items about him, but so far everyone he's actually been with has been great, and he doesn't think that's just luck. He's just attracted to nice guys who are looking for the same thing he is and don't feel the need to go talk to the press about it later.
And ultimately, even if it does get out, Kris isn't doing anything wrong. He's not out doing hookers and blow. He's just having a few one night stands, like lots of other single twentysomethings out there. He's actually okay if the gay thing gets out. Bisexual thing. Whatever. There's even a part of him that hopes it does, even though it'll be a bigger deal for everyone else than it is for him.
He's not going out every night or anything anyway, he's got too much work to do. Even though he's recorded enough songs to fill it twice over, his album's not even close to being done. If he filled the album with just the songs he has recorded right now, he'd probably have everyone in tears by the fourth track, and that's not really what he's going for.
If Kris's first album was inadvertently full of break-up songs, the desperate pleas of someone who can see the end of his relationship coming and is still trying to fight for it, his second has been going into darker places, places with less hope and more resignation, and then places that explore the aftermath of the end, too. He thinks the songs are actually kind of amazing, rich and deep and heartbreaking, but immersing himself in it every day is something that takes its toll.
Maybe that's part of why he's been going out when he gets the chance - when you work hard like that, you want to play hard too. And if he's reminding himself of the recent pain of a relationship that fell apart during the days, during the nights he's reminding himself that he's still a person with a lot of life ahead of him yet who deserves to be happy.
:::
He meets Axel in the bathroom of all places, which isn't really somewhere you're supposed to meet people (Kris is under the impression that they're good for quickie blowjobs, but he's never been looking for that) but then Kris never really does things like everyone else. It does mean, though, that he's seen Axel's dick before they've even had a drink together, and vice versa.
It actually kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off.
"So what are you drinking?" he says, and Kris orders himself another beer, because it's that kind of a night. Axel orders a martini, which doesn't seem to suit him at all, but he doesn't seem to care the slightest bit or make any apologies for it. Kris likes that about him.
Axel, it turns out, has no idea who he is.
"So what do you do, Kris?" he says, leaning one elbow on the bar and seemingly intensely interested in the answer.
It's been so long since anyone asked that Kris almost stutters over the answer. "I’m a musician," he ends up saying, and rubs the calluses on his fingertips idly with his thumb. "What about you?"
"Lawyer," he says with a little smile, "but if that's not impressive to an artist-type like you, I also write bad poetry."
Kris laughs and twists around to grab his beer and he's hardly even surprised to see Cassidy around the bend of the bar, chatting with some guy with flaming red hair. When Cassidy looks up and sees Kris, he rolls his eyes and then grins at him. Kris can't help but grin back and raise his beer, and then turns his attention back to Axel.
"Just a friend," he explains before it can be taken the wrong way. "Is this the part of the night when you invite me back to your place for a poetry reading?"
"Well, I was going to wait until you finished your beer," says Axel, "but that's the general idea, yes."
"Mm, good," says Kris, and isn't sorry he has a bottle of beer in his hand, given what it seems to do to Axel's pants the next time he puts his lips around it and swallows. "Won't be long, then."
:::
Some days are rougher than others. In general Kris is pretty okay, he's actually pretty happy. It's kind of an exciting time for him in general. But some days are still rough, some days he comes out of the studio and just doesn't have the energy to do all that much, because sometimes it's really work, dealing with some of that stuff.
He's starting to really understand what people mean when they say therapy is exhausting, because who would think that talking would be quite so much work. Or singing. But it's not really about the physical effort so much as the relentless emotional wringer.
He feels like once the album is finally done it's going to be some kind of giant catharsis, and he'll be able to sing all of these songs live with all the energy and emotion they deserve without returning to those dark places himself, but until it's done, he's just wallowing in them. Until it's done, he's not quite over it.
So tonight he finds a quiet sort of a bar. Well, not quiet, but not packed with people and pulsing with music either. It's a place where Kris can find a table for two in a corner and sit at it alone, beer in hand and watching the tiny stage where a redheaded girl with an acoustic guitar - Kris would swear she couldn't be more than eighteen - is jamming her way through some Hendrix. (She's got the voice to carry it off, but she doesn't have the life experience yet and you can tell by the lack of rough edges.)
He's on his second beer when he feels a hand on his shoulder, and he puts a smile on his face even though he's not really in the mood to greet fans tonight (he always does, though, even when he's not feeling it) but it's not a fan, it's Cassidy.
"Oh, hey," he says, and he thinks about making a stalking joke but then he bites his tongue because, given who he is, it's not actually that funny. "Hey."
"I'm not bothering you, am I?" he says. "I couldn't believe that was you. It's like I have some kind of radar for you or something these days."
"Thank God you're the one blessed with it then," says Kris, cracking a smile, "because I can think of a lot of people I wouldn't want to run into every other week."
"Do you mind if I...?" he gestures at the empty seat across from him. "You can tell me to fuck off if you want. I won't be offended."
Kris smiles at him, or something like a smile anyway. "I'm not going to do that," he says. "I'm not sure I'm great company, but you're welcome to it if you want."
Apparently he does, because he sits down with his half-full drink - something mostly clear with a blue plastic sword sticking up out of it that probably once speared a cherry - and pulls the chair up to the table.
"You're a long way from home, aren't you?" he says. Kris isn't sure if he was speaking literally or metaphorically, about the bar or the city or something else entirely.
"I'm getting used to it," he says. "I read somewhere that it takes three years in a new place before it really feels like home. I guess I've got some more time to put in yet."
"So you think this is home, then?"
"I think I'm interested in finding out," says Kris, which is really all he can say with that much certainty. In the end he doesn't ask if Cassidy is talking about the bars or this bar or LA. The answer's more or less the same. "I guess I've got time to figure that out, though, right?"
"I think it's worth taking your time," he says, leaning back. "I like to come here sometimes, when I'm feeling mellow. It's pretty laid back."
"I'm generally a pretty laid back kind of a guy," says Kris, glancing towards the stage again and remembering playing on stages just like it, cover after cover until he thought he could sing them in his sleep. It's not really all that long ago, but it feels like forever. "I almost asked my buddy to come with me tonight. We haven't hung out in a while."
"But you didn't?"
Kris shrugs. "I want to have a good time with him," he says finally, after sorting through just what his reasoning had been. "I don't want him to feel like he needs to worry anymore. And if he was out with me like this, he'd worry."
"You think he's not worried just because he's not out with you?"
Which is not unfair, Kris has to admit. "He means well," he says finally, "he just doesn't understand. It's hard to find anyone who understands it all. Both the divorce and...everything else. The coming out part. People understand one, or the other, but not both."
"You might be surprised," says Cassidy, but Kris isn't saying that there aren't people out there in the same situation, he's just saying that no one he knows is. "Can I buy you another drink?"
For some reason the offer comes as a surprise, but a pleasant one. "Thanks," he says. "I should probably be buying you a drink for putting up with me tonight, but I accept anyway."
"Sometimes I like to just sit and be mellow too," says Cassidy. "It's not exactly a hardship."
And that sort of describes just what it's like to kick back with some company who seems to want just what he does out of this night - a bit of silence, a bit of conversation, and a bit of alcohol. Cassidy's company is definitely not a hardship, and Kris enjoys it for the next hour or so until they both decide to call it an early night and part with a kiss on the cheek on the sidewalk outside the bar.
:::
So one of his friends said to him once that if he's going to be slutting around - he actually said 'slutting around' which Kris wasn't exactly happy about but he let it go - then at least he could hook up with someone he knows he can trust. Someone like Adam.
Kris thought that was the dumbest thing he ever heard. He could never just hook up with Adam. It would always be more than that.
Adam's the one who hears all about it, though, the successes and the failures and the details he knows none of the rest of his friends, no matter how supportive they are, would be interested in. Adam's the one who knows about the night Kris tried out handcuffs with Maksim, the time he did it with Val up against a wall and nearly sprained something, the evening up on Dare's rooftop when they had sex under the clouds and stars.
Kris's exploration of dating and sex and new relationships is his own, and if Adam influenced it in any way it's only in that he gave Kris a safe environment in which to really examine himself, but in Adam he has someone he can talk to about anything and everything. No matter how awkward, no matter how intimate, no matter how dark.
He likes to think he offers the same thing in return, even if Adam takes him up on it in different ways.
So he tells Adam about having drinks with Cassidy, in a sort of a casual way, and Adam both laughs at how they managed to meet up again and tells Kris that Cassidy is a good guy. That Cassidy is someone who can always be trusted, even when he's full of wine and broadcasting in his underwear on ustream. (Kris has yet to catch one of those shows, but he makes a point of trying one of these days because that certainly sounds intriguing.)
"How's the album coming?" Adam asks, and Kris grunts a little bit, because somehow his sex life has become easier to talk about than his music, which is an unanticipated turn of events.
"It's everything I could want it to be," he says, "and it breaks my heart a little."
"The best music does," says Adam, "but you must have some more upbeat stuff on there, too. I mean, your life's actually been pretty upbeat lately."
Kris's life has been pretty upbeat lately, he just hasn't written any songs about it. And maybe he's not going to write a dance track about his favorite positions or a ballad about the joys of shotgunning, but there's a lot of material to mine there, too, and maybe juxtaposing that against what he already has is exactly what he needs to do.
"I'm in a writing session tomorrow," he says, after a long silence that Adam just waits out and doesn't interrupt. Somehow he just seems to know when Kris is working shit out. "I'll let you know how that goes."
And suddenly he's really interested in how that's going to go himself.
:::
"I know a guy who knows a guy," says Cassidy, slipping into the space next to Kris at the bar, "who carries actual Kris Allen detectors. I got mine for twenty bucks and a blowjob."
"I hope it was a fantastic blowjob," says Kris, "because I'm worth way more than that."
"You have no idea," says Cassidy, before ordering himself a drink. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"Not this time," says Kris, stirring his drink with its little straw and watching the liquid swirl. "I've only been here for about a half an hour. I usually need at least twice that."
"I wouldn't think you'd need more than about five minutes, actually, if you set your mind to it," says Cassidy, wiping some moisture off the bar with his thumb.
"Well, I like to make good decisions," says Kris, smiling into his drink, or what's left of it, anyway. "That takes a little more time."
Cassidy looks at him sideways as his drink is delivered, and Kris can't quite read that look on his face. "You know, I believe you," he says. "And since the only reason I know you're getting around is because I keep running into you, it seems like you've been pretty successful."
Kris definitely prefers "getting around" to "slutting it up".
"So wow, it would probably be really inappropriate if I tried to pick you up right now, huh?" he says with a laugh, sucking the end of his straw.
"Well, there's one mystery solved," says Cassidy. "I wasn't sure if you were doing the picking, or the one being picked."
"A little of both," said Kris, "depending on the night, and my mood."
"And what's the mood tonight, then?"
Kris kind of chews on the straw a little before dropping it back in the glass. "There wasn't one tonight," he admits, "until you got here. I don't know, do you think it's a sign, we keep seeing each other? LA's not that small."
"It can be, depending on what circles you run in," says Cassidy, "and I guess that depends on whether you believe in signs or not. We're at least a couple of meetings past coincidence, if you ask me. "
"I'm not looking for--" Kris starts, but then he has to laugh because given what's just been pointed out, Cassidy knows exactly what he's looking for. "I'm just having fun right now."
"Don't worry, just because we're bound to see each other again doesn't mean I'd expect you to call," says Cassidy, smiling as he signals for a bartender. "Sometimes a hook-up is just a hook-up. But no pressure or anything. Fun isn't supposed to turn into uncomfortable."
"Might be nice to have someone who I'd get to see again," admits Kris. "Wouldn’t want you to think I'm using you or something, though."
"Hey, you've been completely upfront about your intentions," says Cassidy. "No misunderstandings there. I am no stranger to the walk of shame, and I actually do know all about being used for sex so I know this isn't. It's just...rebound sex."
"A lot of rebound sex," says Kris, then laughs again. "That was probably inappropriate too. I'm just not even close to ready to actually date again, I think."
"No timeline for these things," says Cassidy. "Another drink?"
"Sure, maybe one more," says Kris. "For the road?"
"For the road," agrees Cassidy, and Kris is pretty sure he's on the cusp of another good decision.
:::
Kris has actually been here once before, for a party a while back, so it's a bit of déjà vu being back. It's different this time around, though. More like a home and less like a party space, and it must be kind of nice to have a place that doubles as both.
Cassidy moves to get them something from the kitchen, but Kris manages to snag a beltloop with his finger and pull him back towards himself instead, slipping a hand up under Cassidy's shirt over his abs and turning him to claim a kiss. Cassidy obviously wasn't expecting him to be quite that forward, but he equally obviously doesn't mind.
"My room," he says as Kris nips at his jaw. "Blaise is home."
"Yeah," says Kris, and tugs on Cassidy's beltloop again, even if it's Cassidy who leads the way. In the absence of a roommate Kris totally wouldn't have waited to find the bedroom, would probably have dropped to his knees right there.
After all, he's a giver.
Once the door is closed, though, once they have that nominal privacy, Kris goes back to the original plan. He reaches for Cassidy's belt and doesn't waste any time getting it open, one of the first skills he picked up. It's actually a lot easier than a bra, so there's that. Cassidy takes his own shirt off in one practiced motion, and as soon as Kris gets his pants open he does drop to his knees right there.
"Oh, hey," murmurs Cassidy, but it's not in any way a dissuasion and Kris hooks his thumbs in Cassidy's briefs and pulls those down too, leaving both his pants and his underwear around his ankles before taking his first lick. Cassidy's fingers come to rest in his hair, his thumb stroking tiny circles on Kris's scalp as Kris finally takes the head into his mouth and sucks at it gently the way he's been thinking about since before they left the bar.
Cassidy has a nice cock, not huge but solid in Kris's hand, a comfortable size. He can't swallow it all down, but he can make it good anyway, he likes to make it good. One of the things Kris has discovered about himself, that wasn't really as much of a surprise as some other things, is that he really does like to suck cock.
"Yeah," says Cassidy as Kris takes more of him into his mouth, as much as he can, stroking the rest in a tight fist. "Fuck yeah."
Kris closes his eyes and gets comfortable and only stops when he feels a gentle nudge at his shoulder, a reluctant signal.
"Let me take these off," says Cassidy as Kris rocks back on his heels to look up at him, then pushes himself back to his feet. Cassidy kicks off his pants and Kris takes the opportunity to strip down too, pants first, kicked over on top of Cassidy's, then shirt off over his head to expose the rest of him. Kris always felt like he had an okay body, but it was never something he really made a point of showing off. These days he likes the reaction it gets.
Cassidy strokes his hands up Kris's chest even as Kris does the same to him, learning the lines and planes of his body, feeling hard muscle beneath his fingertips. He likes learning people's bodies, all of them uncharted territory. In that way, it's a whole new experience every time.
He doesn't have to be prompted to crawl up on the bed with Cassidy, following every move that he makes. Kris is something of a follower by nature, fairly easygoing and open to suggestion, particularly in the bedroom where he knows a lot of the guys he goes to bed with know a lot of tricks that he doesn't. But he's been around the block enough times to have a pretty good idea what he likes, too. He brings something to the table here.
"I want to fuck you," he says, choosing his words very deliberately as he says them in Cassidy's ear. Cassidy lets out something like a moan when he does.
"I guess that answers that question too," he murmurs, and Kris moves a little lower, smiles against Cassidy's throat before licking it. He doesn't believe in rigid roles, in bed or anywhere really, but yeah, he's figured out what he likes and what he likes is to top.
Kris has his own supplies, tucked away in his pants pocket and ready for a good time, but Cassidy's are closer at hand and a lot easier to get. And Cassidy not at all hesitant to get them. Kris isn't quite ready, though, and leaves them in reach as he straddles Cassidy's body, cock to cock, and kisses him for a while. Kissing, well, kissing is still and always one of Kris's favorite things, and he doesn't skimp now.
"I want to..." Cassidy says, and then shows instead of tells, running a hand back down Kris's body and then wrapping it around both of their cocks, learning the shape and size of Kris's and then learning how they fit together. Kris just hisses in pleasure and moves his hips so that he's fucking Cassidy's hand, and fucking up against his cock, and he's actually done this as the main event before - and liked it - but he really wants to fuck him tonight, it's sort of all he can think about.
Kris leans in and kisses him some more and only after his lips feel a little raw and swollen - from the blowjob as much as the kissing, to be fair - does he back off again.
"Okay," he breathes, and reaches down to stroke his own cock a couple of times just to make sure it's primed before reaching for the condom that Cassidy set out. "How do you like it?"
"I'm flexible," says Cassidy, but as he does it he rolls over onto his stomach and Kris preps him just like that, drizzling lube between his cheeks and making sure everything is right slicked up, both on Cassidy and on himself.
He kind of loves this part, even through the awkwardness of it. He loves the first push inside someone's body, the tension of it, the slow stretch, the way he has to hold himself back. The anticipation makes actually sinking inside him even better, he thinks.
"Ohhhh," Cassidy exhales as Kris makes that final slide inside him, burying himself inside his body for a moment before beginning the slow pull back out again. Kris always starts out a little worried about the noises he's making, if not the expressions, but once he gets to this point all bets are off. Sex is supposed to sound a little out of control.
He pushes back inside again, a little faster this time, and Cassidy adjusts his hips just a little bit so that the motion is smoother for both of them. Then they've got it, and Kris braces himself with one arm on the bed as he starts fucking him in earnest.
It's by mutual, if silent, agreement when Kris pulls out and lets Cassidy roll over beneath him. But instead of pulling his knees up Cassidy pushes Kris over onto his back and straddles him, grabbing hold of Kris's cock to guide it into himself. Kris hasn't done it like this with a guy before - with a girl sure, but that's a little different - and he loves the way that Cassidy's thighs are tight around him, the way the angle's all different now, the way he can jam his heel on the bed and grip Cassidy's hips and thrust up into him as soon as they're situated.
"Yeah," says Cassidy, reaching back to grab his own ankle for balance and then riding him hard, completely uninhibited. Kris looks at the line of his throat for a long time, that perfect arch as Cassidy throws his head back, then he finally reaches for Cassidy's cock and strokes it with quick flicks of his wrist as Cassidy fucks himself with Kris's cock.
It's all kind of awesome.
Kris's mouth is open, practically forming an O as he sucks in breath after breath, holding off orgasm until Cassidy gets off. He rubs his thumb over the slick head of his cock and all at once Cassidy changes position, leaning forward and bracing himself on the bed and letting Kris push his knees up to almost cradle Cassidy's body again. And then slowly, carefully, without ever stopping, they manage to kiss for a little while longer.
When Cassidy comes it seems like it's a surprise for him as much as for Kris. His breath catches and he lets out a soft cry and he spills hot and slick all over Kris's hand. Kris can smell it and that turns him on almost as much as feeling it, almost as much as the look of rapture on Cassidy's face. He ends up smearing it all over Cassidy's hip as he grips him hard and drives up into him, a little reckless and very ready to get off.
Cassidy takes it easily, rolling with the thrusts and bearing down on him, squeezing tight until Kris gasps and comes inside him, and coming inside someone is his favorite way to do it, bar none.
They don't talk as they clean up but there's a kind of fondness to it, little looks and touches and the occasional stolen kiss, the kind of affection it's hard to get with strangers no matter how much you enjoy their company.
They doze a little bit afterwards, so it's probably about an hour or so before dawn when Kris finally slips out of bed and looks for his pants. By the time he finds them, Cassidy is awake and propped up on his elbow, watching him.
"I'm really not expecting this to be anything else," says Cassidy. "In case you were worried."
"Maybe one day," says Kris, because Cassidy is a friend, and that alone makes this a little different from his other one night stands. "Maybe not today, or this month, but...maybe one day it could be. I mean, don't wait for me, because I don't know where I’m going to be at tomorrow let alone a week or a month or a year from now. But maybe."
"If we find the right place and the right time," says Cassidy, moving so that the blankets are just barely above his waist. Kris resists the temptation by tightly belting his pants. "I won't lose your number."
"You couldn't lose my number," says Kris with a laugh as he pulls his shirt on. "Am I going to wake anyone up when I go?"
"Not if you don't knock anything over on your way out," says Cassidy. "I'll see you around, Kris."
"I'll see you around," says Kris, and even gives him a kiss good-bye.
:::
Some guy who hasn't quite embraced the fact that he's six foot four with an armspan to match knocks a drink over on Kris's shirt with one overly-enthusiastic gesture. He apologizes and all, but the shirt is beyond saving and Kris is left with the option of going around all night in a beer-stained shirt, or just taking it off.
Kris takes it off.
He does ask the bartender if he happens to have anything behind the bar for Kris to wear, but he just laughs and says the last thing they want to do is help boys cover their bodies. But he does offer Kris a new drink on the house, and Kris knows enough to know it's not just as an apology.
Jin gets off at two, and Kris thinks it'll be worth waiting around.
He mostly splits his night between alternating beer and water at the bar, and throwing himself shirtless onto the dance floor, and it's kind of nice to just get out there with a sure thing waiting for him at the end of the night. It's kind of a nice night in general.
And when he sees Cassidy dancing with some guy a few feet away from him, he just smiles.