Chapter Text
"Dragon! We're home!"
You follow Julian into his apartment, the two of you immediately assaulted by a screaming black ball of fluff. Julian huffs and moves to the kitchen to fill Dragon's food bowl. She's quick to follow him, while you giggle and join him in the kitchen.
"Daddd, you were gone forever!! I'm gonna starve in seconds, feed meee!"
Julian looks at you questioningly, but from the slight upwards curl of his lips you can tell he's ready to laugh.
"What was that?"
"I'm translating! Right, Dragon?"
Dragon looks between the two of you and meows, more likely begging for food more but it's enough to send you and Julian into a giggle fit. He sets her food bowl down while you raid the fridge. You feel him rest his chin on the top of your head while you look, finally settling on leftover pizza.
While Julian is turned around getting the pizza out of the microwave, you scramble trying to lift yourself up onto the countertop. He looks over his shoulder and quirks an eyebrow, setting the warm plates down.
"Having trouble there?"
"I wanna be tall!"
He chuckles and moves closer, grabbing underneath your armpits and lifting you up to sit on the edge of the counter. His hands splay against the countertop near either side of your butt and he leans in, grinning smugly.
"Hate to say it, dear, but the counter can only do so much."
You pout and glare at him while he chuckles, and it doesn't take long before you huff and playfully shove his shoulder. For a long moment, the two of you just stare at each other, smiling and lost in a comfortable silence. You swear that he's staring at your lips for a moment, but you blame it on the alcohol and wishful thinking. Feeling silly, you stick out your tongue playfully and boop the tip of his nose. Julian seems to come to, his face starting to flush, and he offers you one of the plates of warm pizza.
Julian leans against the counter next to you while you kick your feet, the two of you talking and laughing about nothing around mouthfuls of food. You're munching on a slice thoughtfully when a question pops in your mind.
"Are lap dances fun?"
He quirks an eyebrow, looking amused.
"I mean it's for work, but yeah I think so."
"I wanna try."
Julian sputters, choking on air and flushing to the tips of his ears. He wants to protest, even though there's a part of him that desperately wants that sort of intimacy with you, but the look in your eyes and childish pout tell him you're stubbornly set on the idea. Julian sighs dramatically, shaking his head, and helps you down from the counter. He chuckles as the height difference between you goes back to normal and dodges your playful punch, walking off to set up.
~~~
Music blares throughout the apartment, probably loud enough for the neighbors down the hall to hear but neither of you care. You've been taking turns dancing to random songs from Julian's laptop. Whatever playlist you found was pure gold, because there's no commercials and it's played songs from all sorts of genres. So far the favorites of the night have been "Peacock" by Katy Perry, which Julian straight up owned while you laughed at the utter ridiculousness and his exaggerated hip movements, and "Go Tell it on the Mountain", which you attempted for less than a few seconds before falling into Julian's lap as the two of you curled into each other laughing hysterically. While it's obvious you don't really know what you're doing, you're having fun bouncing around and shaking your hips. Julian, on the other hand, absolutely does, reminding you of the night you met at the strip club and leaving your face flushed.
You land in Julian's lap as the song ends, feeling somewhat light-headed and laughing breathlessly as you lean back against his chest. Julian rests his chin on your shoulder and wraps his arms around your middle, holding you close while you catch your breath. The song fades out to the next, the slow, sensual rhythm hard to ignore and scorching your face in a wave of heat. You feel Julian's arms shift a bit tighter, almost possessive, and you get the feeling he's noticed too. Acting on a whim, you brace your hands against the chair and roll your hips in a small circle. You hear him try to muffle a noise and on the second roll his hands shift to grab at your hips, helping to guide your movements to the song's rhythm. On one particular roll, you become very aware of something hard beneath you, but it's only on the repeat that your drunk brain clicks what it is. Julian, meanwhile, is trying extremely hard not to moan. Maybe it's the alcohol or the heat suffusing your face mixed with exhaustion or the feeling of Julian pressed so close, but whatever the reason the room feels as though it's spinning around you. Your hips still and your fingers clench at the arms of the chair. Julian goes stiff behind you, shifting you a bit to see your face.
"Are you alright?"
"'M dizzy.."
Your words slur together slightly and you vaguely notice the worried look on his face. Julian picks you up, standing on shaky legs, and brings you to his bedroom. He lays you down gently on the side of the bed not occupied by Dragon (who's sleeping on her favorite pillow - Julian's, because it smells like him). You hear him leave the room while you close your eyes, caught up in how nice it feels to lay down. You sigh at the cool relief as he lays a wet rag across your forehead, the dizziness fading away steadily. You hear shuffling next to you and open your eyes, seeing Julian gathering a pillow and extra blanket in his arms. He turns around to check on you, relieved you look less flushed.
"Feeling better?"
"Mhm. Why're you leaving? How do I take care of you if I can't see you?"
He chuckles, noting that your cute childish pout is back. You're in no condition to take care of him tonight, but he's not going to argue with you over that.
"I'll just be on the couch tonight. I'll be fine. Besides, Dragon is taking up the other side. You don't wanna wake her up, do you?"
You falter slightly, shaking your head. Julian smiles and is one foot out his bedroom door when he hears you whine his name, drawing out the end. You're fumbling to sit up and follow him. He comes back to your side and gently pushes your shoulders, encouraging you to lay back down and sleep. You comply for a second, but as soon as he turns around you're up and wrapping your arms around his shoulders whining for him to stay. After a moment, Julian huffs, laying the pillow back and putting the extra blanket on the floor to deal with in the morning.
You scooch over under the covers to let him in, but you can't go far without edging into Dragon's space. He slides into the space next to you and notes how little distance there is between the two of you. You're laying on your side watching him while he shifts the same way, trying to give you more room. The effort seems to go to waste, however, as you curl in closer, hands balled near his chest. Julian can't help the smile on his face and wraps an arm around your waist, thankful the dark can hide his blush. After a moment of getting comfortable he goes back to watching you, noticing you peering back at him. The distance between you slowly closes and you share one small, sweet kiss before you drift off. Julian melts, curling the tiniest bit closer before nodding off as well.