His chest ached. It took a second to realize he was holding his breath again, and that he had to force a slow and steady intake of air, lest he pass out right here. Unless that was his self-preservation instinct, whatever was left of it. Willing him to tap out completely, to remove the urge he had at that second to see Vince’s face. His reaction. To understand what that gasp for air meant, to close the distance between them.
Are we both drowning? the inane thought filtered in somewhere at the back of his mind, entire body shivering as he felt the ghost of a touch against his sleeve. Cassian knew it was his fault he put Vince there. In a headspace where he’d be afraid to reach out like this, to touch him. Where he walked on eggshells around Cass, beaten into submission. The fact that Vince could at least express himself truthfully afforded a paltry comfort. His suggestion, whispered as it was, betrayed exactly what the Slytherin still felt for him. And it gave Cassian a biting sense of satisfaction that disturbed him, the same kind he got when he’s on the losing end of a fight but he still drew blood from the opponent.
Not that Vince was his opponent.
“But we have to fight it,” he let out, voice shaking with anguish he failed to bury. “To survive against a world where no one would understand us. For us to survive, too, to stay companions–” Beyond friendship, beyond family. His mind shut out the questions, what are you saying, what are you doing. He turned swiftly to meet Vince as he went on, “This… it complicates everything…” His hand captured the one that touched him just a moment ago and he looked at it, as though that’s what he meant by this.
The silence dragged between them, impossibly dense for two bodies so close. So near now, Cassian had nowhere else to look, and he could see the markings he’d left on Vince’s neck, visible just below his loosened collar. It stirred something predatory in him, and his gaze finally turned to bore into Vincent’s. It was a look that already knew the mistake he was about to commit.
“So this has to be the last time. It has to be,” he murmured, more to himself than the other. One hand still clasped firmly on Vince’s wrist, he pressed forward into a reckless kiss.
Are we both drowning? the inane thought filtered in somewhere at the back of his mind, entire body shivering as he felt the ghost of a touch against his sleeve. Cassian knew it was his fault he put Vince there. In a headspace where he’d be afraid to reach out like this, to touch him. Where he walked on eggshells around Cass, beaten into submission. The fact that Vince could at least express himself truthfully afforded a paltry comfort. His suggestion, whispered as it was, betrayed exactly what the Slytherin still felt for him. And it gave Cassian a biting sense of satisfaction that disturbed him, the same kind he got when he’s on the losing end of a fight but he still drew blood from the opponent.
Not that Vince was his opponent.
“But we have to fight it,” he let out, voice shaking with anguish he failed to bury. “To survive against a world where no one would understand us. For us to survive, too, to stay companions–” Beyond friendship, beyond family. His mind shut out the questions, what are you saying, what are you doing. He turned swiftly to meet Vince as he went on, “This… it complicates everything…” His hand captured the one that touched him just a moment ago and he looked at it, as though that’s what he meant by this.
The silence dragged between them, impossibly dense for two bodies so close. So near now, Cassian had nowhere else to look, and he could see the markings he’d left on Vince’s neck, visible just below his loosened collar. It stirred something predatory in him, and his gaze finally turned to bore into Vincent’s. It was a look that already knew the mistake he was about to commit.
“So this has to be the last time. It has to be,” he murmured, more to himself than the other. One hand still clasped firmly on Vince’s wrist, he pressed forward into a reckless kiss.
![[Image: BC4TW0z.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/BC4TW0z.jpeg)
eyecandy by fox<3