The force of his grip on Theo’s arm was more than enough reassurance, so it was - stupidly easy to lose himself in this, though he bit back, as best he could, some of the noises elicited by the feeling of Lestrange’s mouth working down his neck. And then - he was maybe more focused on the physical first, as he let Lestrange finish and caught his own breath; he pressed his forehead lightly to his and then his mouth to his again for a fleeting moment before propping himself against the wall beside him. As Theo leant sideways there, he rummaged loosely in his other pocket for a handkerchief and tried to tamp down the guileless smile, feeling a little pleased and a little shy and - oh. There was a sudden flood of warmth in his chest when he at last digested it, the kind of warmth that might keep spreading through his whole body if he let it. He called me Theo.
He might not know what the hell they were doing here, but Theodore could well enough guess that it was advisable to keep his distance, for his own sake (he would say for professionalism’s sake, but that ship had, uh, definitely sailed beyond return) if nothing else; but amongst all the things he wanted was suddenly some desperate desire to hear Lestrange, Cassius Lestrange, say his name like that again.
That was weird, right? He hadn’t expected to feel like that, and couldn’t explain it either. Other people called him Theo. Calling someone by their name was a normal thing - had always been a normal thing before - but if it was normal then he was the weird one, because that meant he was absolutely overreacting. And of all the things to be overreacting about, of all the things that were wrong about this - namely, that Lestrange was a man, Jesus Christ; or that Theo was his employer and paid him a salary and that this was his work office (and never even mind that in his head it was still mostly his father’s job and his father’s office) - being on a first name basis was probably not the one to get hung up on.
So that was worrying. Still, he tilted his head against the wall and looked at him from under his eyelashes, pretending to make light of it. “Does that mean I can call you Cash?” There, it sounded teasing, it was a joke, it was fine. But calling him Cash, even just once, felt forbidden and discomfiting and almost on the verge of dangerous, the same way he’d felt last month when Lestrange had held his hand.
He might not know what the hell they were doing here, but Theodore could well enough guess that it was advisable to keep his distance, for his own sake (he would say for professionalism’s sake, but that ship had, uh, definitely sailed beyond return) if nothing else; but amongst all the things he wanted was suddenly some desperate desire to hear Lestrange, Cassius Lestrange, say his name like that again.
That was weird, right? He hadn’t expected to feel like that, and couldn’t explain it either. Other people called him Theo. Calling someone by their name was a normal thing - had always been a normal thing before - but if it was normal then he was the weird one, because that meant he was absolutely overreacting. And of all the things to be overreacting about, of all the things that were wrong about this - namely, that Lestrange was a man, Jesus Christ; or that Theo was his employer and paid him a salary and that this was his work office (and never even mind that in his head it was still mostly his father’s job and his father’s office) - being on a first name basis was probably not the one to get hung up on.
So that was worrying. Still, he tilted his head against the wall and looked at him from under his eyelashes, pretending to make light of it. “Does that mean I can call you Cash?” There, it sounded teasing, it was a joke, it was fine. But calling him Cash, even just once, felt forbidden and discomfiting and almost on the verge of dangerous, the same way he’d felt last month when Lestrange had held his hand.
The following 4 users Like Theodore Gallivan's post:
Angelica Selwyn, Angie Swan, Cassius Lestrange, Reuben Crouch
Angelica Selwyn, Angie Swan, Cassius Lestrange, Reuben Crouch
