Chapter Text
“Well, here we are,” Galo said. He and Lio stood before the entrance to the art gallery. The opening had just begun and they could already see people beginning to mingle from the windows. “So, what’s the plan? You’ll meet your classmates, and I’ll meet Kray? We can regroup and talk over free wine and fancy cheese then in some corner.”
Lio stared at Kray in the window, and looked down at he and Galo’s hands, barely touching one another. The heat from Galo’s radiated outward and into Lio, making him feel all the more nervous. “So like, make our appearances and bolt after some freeloading?” Lio asked.
“Yeah, something like that. Maybe go bar hopping if this gets too boring.”
“Deal,” Lio said as they entered the crowded showing. Lio looked to Galo and nodded as they parted according to plan.
“Lio, you made it!” Thyma beamed, giving him a hug. “We were getting worried when you didn’t meet up with us.”
“We were meeting up?” Lio blinked, taken aback as he looked to his classmates.
“Yeah, you were there, weren’t you?” Thyma asked. “When you didn’t meet up, we waited a little, but it was getting too late. We assumed you ended up sick again or didn’t want to show up because of… you know.” She then motioned to Kray who was warmly welcoming Galo to the show, introducing him to some of the more wealthy patrons attending.
“No, what?” Lio asked, snapping himself back to reality. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Oh no. Lio internally panicked.
“Well, asides you talking back to Kray, there was the… you know, the fainting?” Thyma motioned towards Galo. “It’s just weird and talk about super awkward coming with him in at the same time. That’s the worst timing.” She paused for a moment and pressed her finger to her lips. “Oh that’s right, we had made plans to meet that day too… sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Lio sighed as he looked over at his classmates. “It takes more than that to freak me out.
“True,” Thyma laughed as she turned to the gallery paintings. We’re hanging for like, ten minutes so Professor Foresight sees us and then go for Karaoke. Come with us!”
“I’ll think about it,” Lio said before turning his attention to the paintings on show. “What the fuck?” Lio’s face contorted and stomach did flips as he stared at the works hanging before him.
Galo, fully nude stood depicted in the painting before him. Palms outward, fully on display, and palms out with only a sheer cloth precariously draped over him, failing to provide any modesty. The painting was beautifully rendered, intimately, with an explosion of cubist rage. Lio stepped closer, trying to register what he was seeing. The spirited look in Galo’s eyes were missing, replaced with fatigue, devoid of the luster he’d warmed to.
“Weird, right?” another student snickered awkwardly. “You should check out the rest of the paintings.”
“What do you mean?” Lio asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste for his peers’ immaturity.
“Seriously, take a look for yourself.”
Lio shrugged quietly separated himself from his class chattering amongst themselves about the work, making inappropriate comments as they went. The next painting depicted deep purple and greens in an array of squares, rectangles and dissipated outlines against fleshy canvas. Lio winced as his stomach wrung itself into knots so terribly he helped himself to the available wine at the refreshments.
Painting after painting Lio saw depicted Galo in various stages of undress, poses and closeups of various parts of his body attacked with garish cubes and sickly purples. “Jesus,” Lio muttered to himself as he explored the gallery. Nearly every piece had a large red dot next to the title - all sold, likely for thousands. Lio stared hard at one piece titled “Solace” - a closeup portrait of Galo’s face wrought in an expression he struggled to discern. Was it lust? Shame? He stepped closer, squinting to study the strokes of Galo’s half-lidded eyes. Was it… sexual? He swallowed the dry lump in his throat he leaned forward to study the rendering of Galo’s eyes further.
“Enjoying the show, Fotia?” Professor Foresight’s smooth voice flowed from behind, jolting Lio from his thoughts.
“It’s interesting,” Lio said, trailing off.
“Is that so? Do tell.”
“Yeah, first your composition is lacking and your color choices are weak,”
“...”
“Second, off you made his dick too small. Our class could have spent their time elsewhere and not your ego-stroking gallery showing.”
Slowly Kray opened an eye and peered down towards Lio, anger seeming to bubble underneath the cool facade. “Trust me, my choices were made purposely, unlike amateur mistakes done by certain students. Remember the rules, Fotia…”
Lio pursed his lips into a frown as he watched Kray turn his back towards him and walked off to greet his other patrons with a smile so fake it made Lio want to vomit. Looking around further and feeling slightly disturbed, Lio downed another glass of free wine before stepping outside. The space in the gallery was tight, and the air quickly grew stale with the heat of bodies and warmed finger foods.
The brick felt cool as Lio leaned his back against it, taking a breath free of gallery air as he pulled out his phone. The late winter air hung low and chilled Lio to the bone. There hadn’t been snow for weeks and the cold dried everything it touched. Letting out a sigh, he scrolled through his group text with Meis and Guiera.
M:
Lio. are you eating
L:
yes mom
M:
Fuck you too. who was that douchebag you were talking to at work
L:
Nobody you need to worry about.
M:
A;lkdsjf Lio dude just no. dish. he aint my type but he sure seemed yours
L:
I promise it’s nothing you need to worry about
M:
if he pulls shit let me and Guiera know so we can bury the body
L:
NO
He shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked up and down the darkened streets followed by small trails of steam. Leaning forward, Lio peeked into the gallery show window to see Galo graciously saying good-bye to Kray Foresight’s patrons. Finally after what felt like an eternity, Galo hopped out of the building and a wide smile returned to his face as his eyes met with Lio’s
“There you are,” he said, beaming with a tone of relief as he approached. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Yeah, I’m still here,” Lio smiled nervously, brushing his bangs away and giving a smile. “It’s a big reception. I started to feel a little suffocated in there.”
“Fair enough. I was scared you were going to run off on me with your friends or something after seeing those paintings,” Galo began as they began to walk down the street. “You still want to hang out, I hope?” The fidget in his earlier confident movements gave him away.
With a clasp of hands and a gentle squeeze, Lio reassured, “I know. It’s only been what, a week? I think you’re alright.” The small laugh he let out was light, lifting into the air as they exchanged warmth through their fingers. “I can think for myself, you know.”
A red dusted Galo’s face as they walked onward, feeling the additional flush outside of the cold air. “Thanks,” he said visibly more relieved. “I wasn’t sure what to think of them either at first when I saw them.” He rubbed the back of his bare neck as they went on. “Are you still up for bar hopping?”
Lio snorted into his smile and looked around, trying to ascertain their location. “Not too many bars in this area,” he trailed off. “Mostly smoky dives with loud music and shit. I don’t know if that’s my thing.” Not completely, he thought to himself, often finding the stories of patrons interesting, and after seeing Meis’ messages, he wasn’t interested in having Guiera ask him twenty questions about Galo, either. He hummed, adjusting his hand in Galo’s so they would intertwine. The feeling of that alone sent his heart racing. Lio’s hand nearly was lost in Galo’s as he thought of the muscles in their shape in size in comparison to his own.
God, he was hot, Lio allowed himself to think. It wasn’t even because of how attractive Galo was at first blush, but the kindness he exudes in his simple nature. It was refreshing, and Lio felt like he wasn’t in any form of competition with him, either. They walked together in comfortable silence hand in hand as Lio continued to mull on what they could do as the evening crept later into the night. Another huff through his nostrils sent Lio’s brain nearly into overdrive, feeling stuck until he heard Galo hum intermittently when inspiration struck.
“How do you feel about karaoke?” Lio asked, turning to face Galo.
“Karaoke? Like bar karaoke?”
“No, I actually know a place that does proper karaoke in private rooms! I don’t know why it didn’t come to mind earlier. I want to blow off some steam there.”
“Is it nearby?”
“Just a few blocks down! What do you say, Galo Thymos? Do you have stage fright for an audience of one?”
“You wish!” Galo laughed, bumping shoulders with Lio as they headed in the direction Lio pointed to.
A little further down, they finally reached the karaoke bar Lio described, tucked away in a dusty alley surrounded with shops closed for the night. After settling in and receiving their orders, Lio felt himself warm to Galo as he leaned over his shoulder, paging through the song options they had.
“How about this?” Galo said, pointing to another Jpop song after Lio turned a new page of the catalog.
“Dude, another anime opening?” Lio laughed, looking at a poorly aged 90s metal cover. “You’ve already sang two! They weren’t even good shows to begin with!”
“So?” Galo pouted, leaning forward. His breath was heavy with some independent craft stout he ordered mixed with whatever wine was at the earlier opening. It was grainy and heavy with alcohol, infiltrating the oaky aura he carried. Lio closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as he felt the flush returning.
“I’m glad to see you having fun,” Lio said as he turned to Galo. His expression was soft, warmed by cheap drink and good company. It wasn’t much for Lio to admit to himself that he needed this just as much as Galo probably did. There was something about screaming death metal and clapping along to Galo’s cutesy anime opening tunes that felt like the cathartic escape the both of them needed. He leaned back on the couch, finally feeling relaxed, bumping foreheads with Galo. “I kinda get the feeling we both needed this.”
“Thanks,” was all Galo could manage out before tilting his head just enough to make soft contact with Lio’s lips. He lingered, not wanting to pull away as Lio let out a soft gasp and returned the motion, leaning forward as he placed the book down to cup Galo’s face in his hands.
Fuck it, Lio sighed into Galo’s mouth. It hadn’t even been a full week, and he wanted this. It was happening now regardless in spite of himself. Any and all sense flew out the window, leaving impulse unsupervised. Lio went in again, tentatively sliding his tongue into Galo’s mouth and running his hand through his buzzed hair, coaxing a moan from the back of the man’s throat. Getting into a better position, Lio found himself guided onto Galo’s lap. Something inside lit a fire in his belly and Lio dove in again into Galo’s waiting mouth, their tongues moving in time together.
Lio soon felt a hand cradle the back of his hand and another on his ass, gripping for dear life as though he was going to float away. In response, Lio gave a gentle roll of his hips, making a point to apply additional pressure on their clothed erections. Lightning coursed through their bodies with a simultaneous stuttered gasp. Everything in Lio was ablaze, ready to consume his entire body. He rolled his hips again, feeling Galo press his hips into him as they made contact again. Pleasured moans poured out in harmony between them when Lio pushed himself away, yet kept their hips pressed against one another.
“Ah! Galo, no, not here,” Lio said, coming up for air. “We can’t…” He was breathless as he looked up at Galo, eyes still dreamily hooded.
Galo paused, studying Lio quickly before giving a reply. “No, you’re right,” he sighed finally, giving Lio’s ass a firm squeeze making Lio reflexively grind into him harder.
“Hng- ah, We should probably take this slow…,” Lio said, catching his voice as he kissed Galos jawline and releasing a rumbly moan. “...can’t let Professor Kray know.”
‘Y-yeah,” Galo sighed. “Let’s do that…another round of PreCure okay?”
Lio nestled his head into the crook of Galo’s neck and his shoulders began to shake as he laughed. “Sure,” he said, feeling the anxious knots from the gallery in his stomach melt away. “Let’s do that.”