Fic: A Kiss That You Want With Your Whole Life - St RPS [Chapter 2/11]
Click on the story tag for the other chapters.
Ch 2
“Tonight is gonna be epic,” Chris announced, swinging into Karl’s car on the passenger side and slamming the door closed. He looked good, hair a stylish mess and his dark jeans and snug top looked sharp.
“Lean in for a selfie,” Karl said, holding up his phone.
Chris eyeballed him. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, I want to send Natalie a picture.”
“This isn’t going to end up on TMZ is it?”
Karl rolled his eyes. “Get real. I wouldn’t feed the trolls for a million dollars.”
Chris grinned. “That’s because you already have a million dollars.”
Karl laughed. “Come on, lean in.” Chris did, throwing a peace sign, and Karl took the picture. He’d send it later when he got a chance, with an update on the night.
“Come on, forget about home and let’s worry about the people who are here that need to get some action!” Chris put his seatbelt on and lent forward to rap out a drumroll on the dashboard. “Drive on, the night is young!”
Karl rolled his eyes, as he clearly wasn’t going to forget his wife, but he laughed. “As you wish, since I’m your lowly driver tonight. How do I get to this place?”
“Just head like you’re going to the studio, I’ll direct you when to turn off.” They pulled out and Chris pointed to the radio. “Do you mind?”
“Help yourself.”
Chris flipped around until he hit a dance station, the beat heavy and driving. After a while Karl looked over and saw Chris tapping his foot and nodding his head, staring intently out of the window. He was practically vibrating with energy, all that frustration and movement from earlier in the day honed and focused to a high-frequency hum that was more intense than Karl had seen from him yet. It was an interesting contrast with his typical loose and easy manic-puppy-dog energy.
Hours later, after Karl had danced and made the rounds to chat with everyone, he realized that he hadn’t seen Chris for a while.
“Hey, has anyone seen Chris lately?”
Zoe looked over from where she had Zach tight by the leash and was whispering in his ear. “I saw him over around the play area an hour ago or so. I think he may have been talking with a top.” She was in a tight, corseted leather suit that laced up the crotch and showed off her breasts to perfection, with her tattoo just peeking out over the top. From the looks of him, Zach was ready for Zoe to take him home and ravage him. She said, “Hey, we’re going to head out. Catch you tomorrow?”
Karl grinned. “Yeah. You two have fun.”
Zoe winked and headed out, pulling Zach purposefully by the leash. John whistled as he watched her go. “She’s one hell of a woman. I’d chase after her if my wife wouldn’t have me by the balls for it.”
Karl laughed. “I think she’s very good at what she does.” Just then Chris walked up and leaned on the table next to Karl. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a couple of hours.”
Chris grinned, a wide, dopy smile that instantly put Karl on alert. “I found someone interesting to entertain me.”
“Interesting?” Karl looked him over quickly. He definitely looked affected by something, his face and posture relaxed and his gaze a little spacey. Karl couldn't tell if it was subspace or alcohol. He was holding his back unusually straight, so Karl guessed he’d participated in some sort of impact play there.
“Yeah, her name was… Well, I’m not sure what it was but she was amazing with a strap.” Chris threw his arm around Karl’s shoulders, and spoke into his ear. “Just between you and I, most tops are way too light with the strap. It’s not worth it if there isn’t some pain involved, you know?”
Chris was heavy, leaning all his weight against Karl, and he was listing off to the side a bit. Karl reached around to steady Chris with a hand on his upper back without thinking, because that's where he always touched Chris. Chris hissed and looked up at him with eyes as wide open as the blue sky, moving into Karl to get away from the pressure. He was startlingly close, and something in Karl had to resist the urge to do it again and watch the expression on his face when he did. Karl was sure Chris would be gorgeously responsive. He moved his hand to Chris' lower back where he didn't expect anything, but Chris jumped anyway. Chris moaned, a low breath that made Karl’s stomach flutter. Karl spread his fingers across Chris' side to test and see if he had more marks there and Chris pressed up against him, yielding to his direction with a little sigh against his neck.
“Yeah, I think you’ve had enough for tonight,” Karl said, his voice coming out far more husky than intended. He was affected by Chris’ state, the top in him pulled to the surface and itching to see just how Chris would respond to more touching. It wouldn’t be appropriate to take advantage, though - Chris has never shown any indication he’d like that, and he certainly wasn’t in any state to properly consent. He was strung out, and Karl couldn't just leave him; at the club or by himself in his apartment. “How about you crash at my place tonight, yeah?”
“Sure. You making breakfast?”
He was still far too close and far too vulnerable for comfort’s sake, so Karl shifted as far away as he felt he could without disrupting his balance. “Whatever you want.” He turned to Bruce to say goodbye, and found him eying them with a little more perception than Karl was comfortable with. “I’m the ride, so duty calls,” he said, nodding his chin at Chris. “Can you let the others know we’ve split?”
“Sure thing, chief,” Bruce said, his expression just the slightest bit knowing.
“Thanks, man,” Karl said, and turned to the task of getting Chris out the door and into his car without having to carry him.
Chris lent against the window the whole way home, and Karl couldn’t tell if he was asleep or just zoned out, but when he’d parked and gone around the other side of the car he was sitting up and struggling to get out of the seatbelt.
“Here, let me,” Karl said, and lent over to disengage the belt and help Chris out. Chris threw an arm around him again and they fumbled their way up the front steps. “God, you weigh a ton.”
“’M solid muscle,” Chris murmured. “Worked hard on that.”
Karl smiled and got the front door open and Chris inside.
Chris headed to the couch, but Karl pulled him back by his belt loop. “Not tonight. You’ve got the bed and I’ve got the couch tonight.”
Chris barely seemed to register that, just turned and headed to the back of the apartment. Karl kept a hand on his shoulder for balance, and got to the bed first to pull back the blanket. He was glad he’d changed his sheets yesterday. Chris sat and bent to his shoes, fumbling with the laces for a moment before Karl sighed and knelt down.
“Lean back, let me.”
Chris flopped back on the bed, then groaned and sat up as the pain registered. “Guess I won’t be doing that for a few days, huh?”
Karl chuckled. “Woke you up, did it?”
Chris yawned so wide his jaw cracked. “Thanks for letting me sleep over, but you didn’t have to.”
Karl pulled his second shoe off and set it to the side and looked up at him. “Yeah I did. You’re my friend, I couldn’t leave you alone.”
Chris shrugged one shoulder a bit. “It’s not like I haven’t done it before. Zach loves me like a brother, but even he doesn’t dote on me after every night out.”
The idea of Chris stumbling home alone after what was apparently a hard session just didn’t set right with Karl, and he struggled not to frown or comment. Instead, he patted Chris’ knee. “Are you going to be able to sleep after such a hard night?”
“I’ll toss around a bit, but it’s not anything I haven’t done before.”
“Want something to ease the pain so you can sleep better? You have a long day scheduled for tomorrow.”
It was dark enough in the room that he couldn’t see Chris’ expression well, but he thought he might have smiled a little. “I’ll be fine, but if you really want to do something go for it.”
“Shirt off, lie down on your stomach. I’ll look around for something.” Karl wasn’t planning on playing with anyone while he was here filming so he had no flogging creams on hand. After raiding the bathroom the best he could come up with was aloe vera with lidocain. It would have to do.
When he came back into the bedroom Chris was stretched out on the bed with his face buried in Karl’s pillow, arms tucked up underneath it. His pale skin gleamed in the dim light from the window, and Karl didn’t quite know what to make of the soft, protective feeling in the pit of his stomach from looking at him. He turned on the soft bedside lamp and sat down beside Chris.
Chris scrunched up his eyes and rolled his face into the pillow. He had overlapping red welts from his upper shoulders all the way down to the top of his jeans, and there were a few areas that were already bruising up. “I’m going to feel around on your sides here, Chris. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
Chris sounded sleepy, not wary or tense, albeit muffled by the pillow. “Because I want to see if anything is damaged internally.”
“Oh. Knock yourself out.”
Chris sounded a little bewildered, and Karl frowned. Did Chris’ dominants not usually check him after a hard beating to make sure he wasn’t hurt? Karl rubbed his hands together to warm them and placed them on Chris’ mid-back, just over his kidneys. He pressed, starting softly then pressing firmly. When Chris hissed Karl asked, “Does this hurt?”
“A little. Mostly just stings from the welts.”
Chris was well-muscled, and apparently ticklish as Karl pressed all the way down to the top of his jeans, squirming and even giggling a little. Everything felt as it should, though, firm muscle that wasn’t too hard or too soft, and with no overtly painful areas. Satisfied, Karl grabbed the bottle of aloe and squirted out a huge dollop, warming it in his palms before laying his hands on Chris’ lower back and spreading the gel up.
Chris gave a little half moan, half hiss of pleasure and relaxed, the last bit of tension leaking out of him. Karl smiled. Nat sounded almost the same when he tended to her after a good session. He loved that sound, of a submissive completely wrung out and worn down to pure sensation and no longer thinking, only responding. He reached the top of Chris’ shoulders and massaged his neck a little, thumbs working at the knots of muscle at the base of his skull.
Chris moaned and Karl smiled, slowly dragging his hands over Chris’ skin and off. It was on the edge of improper, and time for Karl to stop touching him.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” He went out to the kitchen and washed his hands and got a glass of water and some Tylenol and went back to the bedroom. “Take this, Chris.”
All he got in response was a soft snore. Chris was out, mouth open and breathing deep. Karl left the water and pills and turned out the light.
~~~
Karl woke some time later to the sound of Chris rustling around in bed. He threw off the blanket he’d pulled over himself and went to make sure he was ok.
He was sitting up in bed when Karl came in. He turned on the soft bedside light and handed Chris the water and pills. “Take this, you’ll feel better tomorrow if you do.”
Chris tossed back the pills and drained the water in a series of long swallows. Karl guessed all the beer chugging at Berkley had done him good after all.
“Still thirsty?”
“Nah, I’m good. Your bed is seriously comfortable.”
Karl shrugged lightly. “Old men like me need their beauty rest. How’s your back?”
Chris rolled his shoulders and twisted a little. “Sore, but not too bad. What did you put on me?”
“Aloe vera with Lidocain. Want some more?”
“Yeah, that’s good stuff.” He laid back down and Karl again squirted out a huge dollop, this time starting at his shoulders.
"You shouldn't play with tops who won't play right, Chris."
Chris slowly shifted to look back at him. "What do you mean?"
"You shouldn't be flogged so hard over your kidneys like this," he said, smoothing aloe across Chris' side. "It's not safe."
"Hmm. Well, I don't have the luxury of the perfect top right now." He closed his eyes and nestled a little deeper into the pillow.
I would never harm you if you came to me was almost out of Karl’s mouth before he realized what he'd be saying and bit it back. He felt unusually protective of Chris, but he had no right to expect anything from him. Instead, he asked, "You going to be able to work tomorrow?"
"I'll get through it." Chris said, voice sleepy and quiet.
He looked like he could sleep for a week, and totally different from the vibrating, restless body he'd been the last few days. He moaned a bit when Karl rubbed over a particularly tender spot, so Karl lightened his touch and applied more gel and contented himself to caring for Chris just in that moment.
Back out on the couch, Karl stared at the ceiling instead of sleeping. He missed his wife. He pulled out his phone to text her.
Karl: I miss you.
Natalie: Miss you too love. Shouldn’t you be asleep?
Karl: Can’t sleep.
Natalie: How was your party?
Karl: Pretty good, it was nice to hang out with everyone outside of the studio. John and Bruce are a riot, we laughed all night.
Natalie: Want to Skype? We still haven’t tried out that new dildo you left for me ;)
Karl grinned, pleased that she’d found it and the note he’d left as a surprise for her.
Karl: As tempting as that sounds we probably shouldn’t. Chris is sleeping over.
Natalie: On a Sunday night?
Karl: Some top took him pretty far under then dumped him back on the group. I couldn’t just drop him off at home alone.
Natalie: Aww, sweet Karl, always looking out for your buddies
Karl: You know me. As nice as he is I’d rather be taking care of you though :)
Natalie: You can take care of me all you want when you get home. Love you :)
Karl: Night. Love you too.
Chris stumbled out of the bedroom the next morning without Karl even having to go and wake him up. “Look who’s up with the birds!”
“Shut up, Urban. Coffee?”
“You’re in luck, the pot just finished brewing.” Karl poured him a mug and set it down in front of him with the sugar and milk.
Chris eyed it suspiciously.
“Some of us know how to make our own coffee, you know,” Karl said pleasantly, lifting bacon and eggs out of their respective pans and onto waiting plates already loaded with toast. He set a plate in front of Chris, who glared at him.
“Hey, I know how to make coffee, okay? It’s just that Lamil’s is superior to everyone’s. Including yours.”
“Insult my coffee and I may take it back.”
Chris pulled his coffee closer, as if Karl might actually take the mug back. He closed his eyes and breathed in the aroma, then took a sip before grinning at Karl. “Not so bad.”
“Good. Here we are, breakfast as promised.”
“Seriously, man, you didn’t have to do all this. Thank you for letting me crash last night.”
“Don’t worry about it, it was my pleasure.”
Chris waved his hand at Karl. “See, you say shit like that and I can understand why all the interviewers call you a gentleman. It’s a little disturbing.”
Karl frowned. “What’s wrong with being nice to a friend?”
Chris smiled a small smile against the rim of his mug before taking a sip. “Nothing’s wrong with it. Forget I said anything.”
“Well, eat up. We leave for the lot in forty five minutes. You want the shower first?”
“Wow,” Chris said, voice awed and impressed. He was leaning over Karl to peer out of the cut out window of the shuttle, and up into the camera for the scene where Kirk and Bones see the Enterprise in space for the first time. He was close enough that Karl could feel his body heat over the short distance between them.
“Cut!” JJ yelled, and Chris flopped back into his seat.
This had to have been at least the tenth take, and Chris’ proximity was starting to get to Karl.
“I’m so sick of that word. I’ll be shocked if I say it again in the next month.”
Karl laughed. “How are you feeling?”
Chris shifted in his seat a bit. “I really wish we weren’t shooting a sit-down scene today,” he said ruefully.
Karl laughed again. He wanted to make a comment about wise submissives timing their play better, but he held off. “Anything hurt too much to keep sitting? If you need to stand we could always ask for a cigarette break.”
“Everything hurts.” Chris gave him the eyebrow, then shrugged. “I’m fine, though. I’m actually feeling pretty good, and I enjoy the day after a good beating anyway. I like remembering it.”
Karl wondered if Chris was one of those subs who wanted to be touched constantly after a beating, to feel something against their welts. If he’d take a couple of extra minutes in the bathroom with every trip to admire the marks on his skin- Karl shook his head to clear that completely inappropriate line of thought.
“Just asking. We’ve been sitting here for almost four hours and you haven’t gotten up once.”
“Feeling lazy, I guess, and I’m not Jonesing for one.”
“Lucky for you we’re not doing an action scene today.” Karl thought the sub hangover was helping to sell the mudflea vaccine sickness. Chris had been far too twitchy and worked up last week to hold still long enough to film this scene had it been on the schedule.
“I will be happy to get home and lay down on my stomach, though,” Chris said, leaning forward in his seat to lean his elbows on his knees.
Karl lent his head back on his seat and closed his eyes, and resisted the urge to rub Chris’ back soothingly.
Originally posted at http://pslasher.dreamwidth.org/65915.html. Read
comments over there.
Ch 2
“Tonight is gonna be epic,” Chris announced, swinging into Karl’s car on the passenger side and slamming the door closed. He looked good, hair a stylish mess and his dark jeans and snug top looked sharp.
“Lean in for a selfie,” Karl said, holding up his phone.
Chris eyeballed him. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, I want to send Natalie a picture.”
“This isn’t going to end up on TMZ is it?”
Karl rolled his eyes. “Get real. I wouldn’t feed the trolls for a million dollars.”
Chris grinned. “That’s because you already have a million dollars.”
Karl laughed. “Come on, lean in.” Chris did, throwing a peace sign, and Karl took the picture. He’d send it later when he got a chance, with an update on the night.
“Come on, forget about home and let’s worry about the people who are here that need to get some action!” Chris put his seatbelt on and lent forward to rap out a drumroll on the dashboard. “Drive on, the night is young!”
Karl rolled his eyes, as he clearly wasn’t going to forget his wife, but he laughed. “As you wish, since I’m your lowly driver tonight. How do I get to this place?”
“Just head like you’re going to the studio, I’ll direct you when to turn off.” They pulled out and Chris pointed to the radio. “Do you mind?”
“Help yourself.”
Chris flipped around until he hit a dance station, the beat heavy and driving. After a while Karl looked over and saw Chris tapping his foot and nodding his head, staring intently out of the window. He was practically vibrating with energy, all that frustration and movement from earlier in the day honed and focused to a high-frequency hum that was more intense than Karl had seen from him yet. It was an interesting contrast with his typical loose and easy manic-puppy-dog energy.
Hours later, after Karl had danced and made the rounds to chat with everyone, he realized that he hadn’t seen Chris for a while.
“Hey, has anyone seen Chris lately?”
Zoe looked over from where she had Zach tight by the leash and was whispering in his ear. “I saw him over around the play area an hour ago or so. I think he may have been talking with a top.” She was in a tight, corseted leather suit that laced up the crotch and showed off her breasts to perfection, with her tattoo just peeking out over the top. From the looks of him, Zach was ready for Zoe to take him home and ravage him. She said, “Hey, we’re going to head out. Catch you tomorrow?”
Karl grinned. “Yeah. You two have fun.”
Zoe winked and headed out, pulling Zach purposefully by the leash. John whistled as he watched her go. “She’s one hell of a woman. I’d chase after her if my wife wouldn’t have me by the balls for it.”
Karl laughed. “I think she’s very good at what she does.” Just then Chris walked up and leaned on the table next to Karl. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a couple of hours.”
Chris grinned, a wide, dopy smile that instantly put Karl on alert. “I found someone interesting to entertain me.”
“Interesting?” Karl looked him over quickly. He definitely looked affected by something, his face and posture relaxed and his gaze a little spacey. Karl couldn't tell if it was subspace or alcohol. He was holding his back unusually straight, so Karl guessed he’d participated in some sort of impact play there.
“Yeah, her name was… Well, I’m not sure what it was but she was amazing with a strap.” Chris threw his arm around Karl’s shoulders, and spoke into his ear. “Just between you and I, most tops are way too light with the strap. It’s not worth it if there isn’t some pain involved, you know?”
Chris was heavy, leaning all his weight against Karl, and he was listing off to the side a bit. Karl reached around to steady Chris with a hand on his upper back without thinking, because that's where he always touched Chris. Chris hissed and looked up at him with eyes as wide open as the blue sky, moving into Karl to get away from the pressure. He was startlingly close, and something in Karl had to resist the urge to do it again and watch the expression on his face when he did. Karl was sure Chris would be gorgeously responsive. He moved his hand to Chris' lower back where he didn't expect anything, but Chris jumped anyway. Chris moaned, a low breath that made Karl’s stomach flutter. Karl spread his fingers across Chris' side to test and see if he had more marks there and Chris pressed up against him, yielding to his direction with a little sigh against his neck.
“Yeah, I think you’ve had enough for tonight,” Karl said, his voice coming out far more husky than intended. He was affected by Chris’ state, the top in him pulled to the surface and itching to see just how Chris would respond to more touching. It wouldn’t be appropriate to take advantage, though - Chris has never shown any indication he’d like that, and he certainly wasn’t in any state to properly consent. He was strung out, and Karl couldn't just leave him; at the club or by himself in his apartment. “How about you crash at my place tonight, yeah?”
“Sure. You making breakfast?”
He was still far too close and far too vulnerable for comfort’s sake, so Karl shifted as far away as he felt he could without disrupting his balance. “Whatever you want.” He turned to Bruce to say goodbye, and found him eying them with a little more perception than Karl was comfortable with. “I’m the ride, so duty calls,” he said, nodding his chin at Chris. “Can you let the others know we’ve split?”
“Sure thing, chief,” Bruce said, his expression just the slightest bit knowing.
“Thanks, man,” Karl said, and turned to the task of getting Chris out the door and into his car without having to carry him.
Chris lent against the window the whole way home, and Karl couldn’t tell if he was asleep or just zoned out, but when he’d parked and gone around the other side of the car he was sitting up and struggling to get out of the seatbelt.
“Here, let me,” Karl said, and lent over to disengage the belt and help Chris out. Chris threw an arm around him again and they fumbled their way up the front steps. “God, you weigh a ton.”
“’M solid muscle,” Chris murmured. “Worked hard on that.”
Karl smiled and got the front door open and Chris inside.
Chris headed to the couch, but Karl pulled him back by his belt loop. “Not tonight. You’ve got the bed and I’ve got the couch tonight.”
Chris barely seemed to register that, just turned and headed to the back of the apartment. Karl kept a hand on his shoulder for balance, and got to the bed first to pull back the blanket. He was glad he’d changed his sheets yesterday. Chris sat and bent to his shoes, fumbling with the laces for a moment before Karl sighed and knelt down.
“Lean back, let me.”
Chris flopped back on the bed, then groaned and sat up as the pain registered. “Guess I won’t be doing that for a few days, huh?”
Karl chuckled. “Woke you up, did it?”
Chris yawned so wide his jaw cracked. “Thanks for letting me sleep over, but you didn’t have to.”
Karl pulled his second shoe off and set it to the side and looked up at him. “Yeah I did. You’re my friend, I couldn’t leave you alone.”
Chris shrugged one shoulder a bit. “It’s not like I haven’t done it before. Zach loves me like a brother, but even he doesn’t dote on me after every night out.”
The idea of Chris stumbling home alone after what was apparently a hard session just didn’t set right with Karl, and he struggled not to frown or comment. Instead, he patted Chris’ knee. “Are you going to be able to sleep after such a hard night?”
“I’ll toss around a bit, but it’s not anything I haven’t done before.”
“Want something to ease the pain so you can sleep better? You have a long day scheduled for tomorrow.”
It was dark enough in the room that he couldn’t see Chris’ expression well, but he thought he might have smiled a little. “I’ll be fine, but if you really want to do something go for it.”
“Shirt off, lie down on your stomach. I’ll look around for something.” Karl wasn’t planning on playing with anyone while he was here filming so he had no flogging creams on hand. After raiding the bathroom the best he could come up with was aloe vera with lidocain. It would have to do.
When he came back into the bedroom Chris was stretched out on the bed with his face buried in Karl’s pillow, arms tucked up underneath it. His pale skin gleamed in the dim light from the window, and Karl didn’t quite know what to make of the soft, protective feeling in the pit of his stomach from looking at him. He turned on the soft bedside lamp and sat down beside Chris.
Chris scrunched up his eyes and rolled his face into the pillow. He had overlapping red welts from his upper shoulders all the way down to the top of his jeans, and there were a few areas that were already bruising up. “I’m going to feel around on your sides here, Chris. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
Chris sounded sleepy, not wary or tense, albeit muffled by the pillow. “Because I want to see if anything is damaged internally.”
“Oh. Knock yourself out.”
Chris sounded a little bewildered, and Karl frowned. Did Chris’ dominants not usually check him after a hard beating to make sure he wasn’t hurt? Karl rubbed his hands together to warm them and placed them on Chris’ mid-back, just over his kidneys. He pressed, starting softly then pressing firmly. When Chris hissed Karl asked, “Does this hurt?”
“A little. Mostly just stings from the welts.”
Chris was well-muscled, and apparently ticklish as Karl pressed all the way down to the top of his jeans, squirming and even giggling a little. Everything felt as it should, though, firm muscle that wasn’t too hard or too soft, and with no overtly painful areas. Satisfied, Karl grabbed the bottle of aloe and squirted out a huge dollop, warming it in his palms before laying his hands on Chris’ lower back and spreading the gel up.
Chris gave a little half moan, half hiss of pleasure and relaxed, the last bit of tension leaking out of him. Karl smiled. Nat sounded almost the same when he tended to her after a good session. He loved that sound, of a submissive completely wrung out and worn down to pure sensation and no longer thinking, only responding. He reached the top of Chris’ shoulders and massaged his neck a little, thumbs working at the knots of muscle at the base of his skull.
Chris moaned and Karl smiled, slowly dragging his hands over Chris’ skin and off. It was on the edge of improper, and time for Karl to stop touching him.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” He went out to the kitchen and washed his hands and got a glass of water and some Tylenol and went back to the bedroom. “Take this, Chris.”
All he got in response was a soft snore. Chris was out, mouth open and breathing deep. Karl left the water and pills and turned out the light.
~~~
Karl woke some time later to the sound of Chris rustling around in bed. He threw off the blanket he’d pulled over himself and went to make sure he was ok.
He was sitting up in bed when Karl came in. He turned on the soft bedside light and handed Chris the water and pills. “Take this, you’ll feel better tomorrow if you do.”
Chris tossed back the pills and drained the water in a series of long swallows. Karl guessed all the beer chugging at Berkley had done him good after all.
“Still thirsty?”
“Nah, I’m good. Your bed is seriously comfortable.”
Karl shrugged lightly. “Old men like me need their beauty rest. How’s your back?”
Chris rolled his shoulders and twisted a little. “Sore, but not too bad. What did you put on me?”
“Aloe vera with Lidocain. Want some more?”
“Yeah, that’s good stuff.” He laid back down and Karl again squirted out a huge dollop, this time starting at his shoulders.
"You shouldn't play with tops who won't play right, Chris."
Chris slowly shifted to look back at him. "What do you mean?"
"You shouldn't be flogged so hard over your kidneys like this," he said, smoothing aloe across Chris' side. "It's not safe."
"Hmm. Well, I don't have the luxury of the perfect top right now." He closed his eyes and nestled a little deeper into the pillow.
I would never harm you if you came to me was almost out of Karl’s mouth before he realized what he'd be saying and bit it back. He felt unusually protective of Chris, but he had no right to expect anything from him. Instead, he asked, "You going to be able to work tomorrow?"
"I'll get through it." Chris said, voice sleepy and quiet.
He looked like he could sleep for a week, and totally different from the vibrating, restless body he'd been the last few days. He moaned a bit when Karl rubbed over a particularly tender spot, so Karl lightened his touch and applied more gel and contented himself to caring for Chris just in that moment.
Back out on the couch, Karl stared at the ceiling instead of sleeping. He missed his wife. He pulled out his phone to text her.
Karl: I miss you.
Natalie: Miss you too love. Shouldn’t you be asleep?
Karl: Can’t sleep.
Natalie: How was your party?
Karl: Pretty good, it was nice to hang out with everyone outside of the studio. John and Bruce are a riot, we laughed all night.
Natalie: Want to Skype? We still haven’t tried out that new dildo you left for me ;)
Karl grinned, pleased that she’d found it and the note he’d left as a surprise for her.
Karl: As tempting as that sounds we probably shouldn’t. Chris is sleeping over.
Natalie: On a Sunday night?
Karl: Some top took him pretty far under then dumped him back on the group. I couldn’t just drop him off at home alone.
Natalie: Aww, sweet Karl, always looking out for your buddies
Karl: You know me. As nice as he is I’d rather be taking care of you though :)
Natalie: You can take care of me all you want when you get home. Love you :)
Karl: Night. Love you too.
Chris stumbled out of the bedroom the next morning without Karl even having to go and wake him up. “Look who’s up with the birds!”
“Shut up, Urban. Coffee?”
“You’re in luck, the pot just finished brewing.” Karl poured him a mug and set it down in front of him with the sugar and milk.
Chris eyed it suspiciously.
“Some of us know how to make our own coffee, you know,” Karl said pleasantly, lifting bacon and eggs out of their respective pans and onto waiting plates already loaded with toast. He set a plate in front of Chris, who glared at him.
“Hey, I know how to make coffee, okay? It’s just that Lamil’s is superior to everyone’s. Including yours.”
“Insult my coffee and I may take it back.”
Chris pulled his coffee closer, as if Karl might actually take the mug back. He closed his eyes and breathed in the aroma, then took a sip before grinning at Karl. “Not so bad.”
“Good. Here we are, breakfast as promised.”
“Seriously, man, you didn’t have to do all this. Thank you for letting me crash last night.”
“Don’t worry about it, it was my pleasure.”
Chris waved his hand at Karl. “See, you say shit like that and I can understand why all the interviewers call you a gentleman. It’s a little disturbing.”
Karl frowned. “What’s wrong with being nice to a friend?”
Chris smiled a small smile against the rim of his mug before taking a sip. “Nothing’s wrong with it. Forget I said anything.”
“Well, eat up. We leave for the lot in forty five minutes. You want the shower first?”
“Wow,” Chris said, voice awed and impressed. He was leaning over Karl to peer out of the cut out window of the shuttle, and up into the camera for the scene where Kirk and Bones see the Enterprise in space for the first time. He was close enough that Karl could feel his body heat over the short distance between them.
“Cut!” JJ yelled, and Chris flopped back into his seat.
This had to have been at least the tenth take, and Chris’ proximity was starting to get to Karl.
“I’m so sick of that word. I’ll be shocked if I say it again in the next month.”
Karl laughed. “How are you feeling?”
Chris shifted in his seat a bit. “I really wish we weren’t shooting a sit-down scene today,” he said ruefully.
Karl laughed again. He wanted to make a comment about wise submissives timing their play better, but he held off. “Anything hurt too much to keep sitting? If you need to stand we could always ask for a cigarette break.”
“Everything hurts.” Chris gave him the eyebrow, then shrugged. “I’m fine, though. I’m actually feeling pretty good, and I enjoy the day after a good beating anyway. I like remembering it.”
Karl wondered if Chris was one of those subs who wanted to be touched constantly after a beating, to feel something against their welts. If he’d take a couple of extra minutes in the bathroom with every trip to admire the marks on his skin- Karl shook his head to clear that completely inappropriate line of thought.
“Just asking. We’ve been sitting here for almost four hours and you haven’t gotten up once.”
“Feeling lazy, I guess, and I’m not Jonesing for one.”
“Lucky for you we’re not doing an action scene today.” Karl thought the sub hangover was helping to sell the mudflea vaccine sickness. Chris had been far too twitchy and worked up last week to hold still long enough to film this scene had it been on the schedule.
“I will be happy to get home and lay down on my stomach, though,” Chris said, leaning forward in his seat to lean his elbows on his knees.
Karl lent his head back on his seat and closed his eyes, and resisted the urge to rub Chris’ back soothingly.
Originally posted at http://pslasher.dreamwidth.org/65915.html. Read
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