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Langa had never stayed in a hotel anywhere near as luxurious as this one.
He could practically see his reflection in the marble floors as he wandered past the reception desk in search of the elevators.
Elegant classical music drifted down the corridor, and Langa turned to see a small piano bar nestled in a corner of the expansive space. There were people in suits clustered around its tables and lounge chairs, with orange lanyards bearing plastic-covered badges hanging around their necks.
That’s right, Langa remembered. Adam was here for a conference. He eyed the piano bar patrons curiously. Were these people Adam worked with? Did they have any idea who Langa was, who he was here to meet? He thought about sidling up to the bar, ordering something, trying to blend in with these people from Adam’s other life and listen to the kinds of things they talked about, but he quickly dismissed it. He didn’t have extra cash for a random drink, and even if he did, he’d have no clue what or how to order, and that would immediately reveal him to be underage. And besides, Adam was waiting.
He pulled himself past the delicious smell of steak from the hotel restaurant, suppressing a growl from his stomach. He’d just eaten dinner before leaving the house, but maybe later he could convince Adam to order them room service. If he was hungry now, he’d definitely be hungry after. Maybe Adam would be too.
Finally locating the bank of elevators, Langa pushed the up button and waited. Standing next to another apparent conference-goer, a businessman in a suit and tie with a leather briefcase, Langa felt a little underdressed in his jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers, messenger bag slung over his shoulder, but if Adam had wanted him to come dressed any particular way, he would have mentioned it.
Like always, Adam’s text message was a clear, concise directive: “Room 1203, 9pm 🌹” and a pin dropped on the hotel’s location.
“Omw,” Langa had texted back.
“My Eve, how I long for you after this trying day. I’ll be counting down the seconds until your arrival. ❤️ XOXO. “
What followed was a photo message that Langa now knew better than to open on the bus, but when he sneaked a peek later while checking the directions from the bus stop to the hotel, he was treated to a close-up of Adam’s throat, one finger hooked in his tie, unbuttoned collar starting to reveal the broad expanse of his muscular chest. He could never understand how Adam could take selfies at these angles. Langa had tried a couple of times but he never managed anything decent, although Adam seemed to enjoy them nonetheless.
The elevator dinged to announce its arrival at the twelfth floor, and Langa wandered out into the hallway of guest rooms, following the signs until he reached room 1203. He rapped his knuckles against the door and it swung open almost immediately, the door held open for him by Snake.
“Hey,” Langa said by way of greeting, but Adam’s secretary just nodded silently in response, looking at the wall somewhere past Langa’s head. Langa wondered if Tadashi talked more when he wasn’t around. Or maybe he was always a man of few words, his silence a counterpoint to Adam’s tendency to monologue (Langa was pretty sure Adam enjoyed hearing the sound of his own voice. After all, he didn’t just put on performances for S. In the real world, he gave speeches for a living).
Across the room, Adam was draped out across the king-sized bed, wearing a crisp white shirt, slacks, and that tie from the photo, loosened but not removed. Langa couldn’t figure out why he didn’t just take it off. When a tie had been part of Langa’s school uniform back in Canada, he couldn’t wait to fling it off at the end of the day. Maybe Adam wanted Langa to take it off for him.
“My dear Snow,” Adam purred, sitting up against the pillows, beckoning Langa with a curved finger.
“Did you give a speech today?” Langa asked, toeing out of his sneakers and dumping his bag in a corner of the room.
Adam scooted to the side slightly to make more room for Langa on the bed, wrapping an arm around Langa’s shoulders as soon as he sat down beside him. With the other hand, he counted off the day’s events with his fingers. “The keynote address, ‘Love for Our Oceans: Public policy initiatives to unite generations in the fight against climate change, a case study from Okinawa.’ Speaking on a panel of ‘Japan’s next generation of change makers.’ The perennial shaking of hands and rubbing of shoulders. But I would hate to bore you with something so tiresome.” He took Langa’s hand in his own, caressing a thumb along the back of Langa’s hand. “It’s you I’ve longed to hold, Little Langa, and no other.” He brought Langa’s hand to his lips for a chaste kiss.
But Langa hadn’t come all of this way looking for chastity. He swung a leg over Adam’s body to straddle him, dipping his head low to hover just above Adam’s lips. “Then touch me, don’t hold back. I wanna feel everything you were thinking about while you were stuck giving all those speeches.”
“Ooh,”Adam trilled. “We are eager today, aren’t we?”
Before Adam brought their lips together, Langa heard the click of the hotel room door opening and then closing again, and he realized that in his eagerness to be close to Adam, he had forgotten about Tadashi again. He was dimly aware that he should probably be embarrassed, but this wasn’t anywhere near the most compromising position Adam’s secretary had seen him in since he started doing this thing with his boss, so any shame he was probably supposed to be feeling barely registered. He focused instead on kissing Adam, warm and deep, lips and tongues dancing together in a choreography of need. He hooked his fingers under Adam’s tie like Adam had done in that photo and tugged it free from its knot, licking and mouthing at Adam’s throat as soon as the skin was revealed.
Adam’s fingers tightened in his hair, forcing him to slow his pace. “Careful, Little Langa, no marks above the collar.”
“You left one on me last time I couldn’t cover up,” Langa complained.
“Oh, I did, didn’t I? That was very bad of me,” Adam said, as if it was of no consequence. “And how did you explain that to your little red-headed friend?”
“Reki,” Langa reminded him. “He has a name, you skated against him twice. I told him it was a mosquito bite.”
“Is that what I am to you?”Adam cooed. “A big blood-sucking mosquito?”
“You do bite,” Langa replied.
Adam nipped at his earlobe and whispered low in his ear. “You like it when I bite.”
Langa growled low in response, and Adam brought their mouths together again, one hand at the back of Langa’s head, the other working its way under the hem of his shirt. Langa’s hands scrabbled over the buttons on Adam’s dress shirt, desperate to make contact with more skin. Once he got the buttons undone, he pushed the fabric aside roughly, mouthing his way down Adam’s body, sucking one of Adam’s nipples into his mouth. He grinned against Adam’s chest when he felt him shiver at the brush of Langa’s teeth against sensitive skin.
Adam snaked a hand between Langa’s mouth and his own chest, pressing his fingers into Langa’s mouth. “My feisty little snow angel,” he smiled approvingly as Langa’s tongue pressed Adam’s fingers against the roof of his mouth, “you were quite pent-up on the way over here, weren’t you?” His other hand drifted lower, ghosting along the waistband of Langa’s tight jeans, which were feeling tighter by the minute against his hardening cock. Adam hummed approvingly, tracing light fingers over the bulge in Langa’s jeans. Langa whined, the sound muffled by Adam’s fingers in his mouth.
“So vocal today,” Adam sounded pleased. “I do love the sounds you make. Talk to me, baby. Tell me everything you want me to do to you.” He removed the fingers from Langa’s mouth, wiping the trail of Langa’s saliva on the bedclothes.
“I want…” Langa breathed. “I want everything you’ve got.”
Adam laughed delightedly. “A lovely answer.” He traced his hands up Langa’s sides under hs shirt. “Let’s start by getting you out of those clothes.”
Langa didn’t need to be told twice. He climbed off of Adam so that he could shimmy out of his t-shirt and jeans, tossing them to the floor where they were quickly followed by his socks and underwear. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, waiting for Adam to remove his dress shirt and slacks and drape them over the desk chair. Once fully nude, Adam sat beside Langa, using one hand to gently push him into the bed so that he was lying on his back. Adam followed after him, draping his larger body over Langa’s and interlacing their fingers together so he could pin Langa’s hands at either side of his head.
“I love when I can have you all to myself like this,” Adam purred.
“I want you too,” Langa squeezed Adam’s hands, trying to loosen his grip so he could touch every inch of Adam’s skin, but Adam didn’t let up. “You’ve been thinking about fucking me all day long, right?”
“Ooh, and such a dirty mouth on you too.” Adam responded with a scorching, open-mouthed kiss that took Langa’s breath away and made him cant his hips up against Adam’s, chasing the heat and friction as their bodies connected.
“You want my mouth?” Langa asked. He got like this sometimes when he was with Adam, barely aware of what he was saying before he said it, the words coming out of him unbidden from a dark, nasty place deep within him. “I wanna taste you, want your cum in my throat. Let me suck you off.”
“Not tonight, Little Langa. Tonight, I want to savor you.” Adam kissed and caressed a trail down Langa’s body, pausing to roll the pad of his finger against one of Langa’s sensitive nipples, making Langa squirm under his touch. He traced a circle around Langa’s other nipple, touch light and teasing, before flicking it with his tongue. “You don’t need to do anything tonight except lose yourself in me and feel.”
Langa let out a little whine that was as much from Adam’s touch as it was from the heady promise in those words.
“Good,” Adam told him. “Keep talking to me, darling. I want to hear you.” He reached past Langa to pull something out from under the pillow, and when Langa tilted his head to look, he saw that it was a bottle of lube and a condom packet.
“Yeah,” Langa told him, anticipation rising in his belly. “I’m ready for you.”
Adam smirked back at him, an oddly mischievous look in his eyes. He tore open the foil and Langa watched as instead of rolling the condom onto himself like Langa had expected, Adam placed the condom in his own mouth. Langa didn’t understand what his intentions were until Adam was looming over him again, face level with Langa’s hips. He guided the tip of Langa’s cock into his mouth, sliding the condom down over it with his lips and tongue.
“Whoa,” Langa gasped as Adam’s hand wrapped around his cock to finish rolling the condom down to the base.
Adam slid off of his cock, propping himself up to smirk down at Langa. “Impressed?”
“Yeah, teach me how to do that!”
“I think we have more, mm,” Adam ground the heel of his hand over Langa’s cock and Langa gasped, “pressing matters to attend to. Don’t we?” He stroked along the shaft, making Langa shudder.
“Yeah, god, yeah,” Langa breathed in time with Adam’s strokes. Adam slid down lower on the bed so he was between Langa’s legs, pushing Langa’s thighs apart with his hands so he could bite the pale flesh of his inner thigh.
Langa whimpered as much from the sting of Adam’s love-bites as from the sensation of having him so close, but not close enough to where he wanted to feel Adam most. He wanted to touch in return, to grasp as much of Adam in his hands as he could, but in their current positions he could only barely reach the top of Adam’s head. He tried to lever himself up anyway, trying to get a better look at Adam and a better angle to touch him, but Adam’s strong hands pushed back against his hips, pressing him into the mattress.
“Don’t fight it, Little Langa,” Adam told him. “Surrender yourself to me.”
“I’m not, I just, I want—“
“I know, I know you do, love.” Adam’s breath was hot as he hovered just above Langa’s cock, and Langa shuddered. “It’s plain for anyone to see how very much you want.” He licked and kissed along the length of the shaft before sucking the tip into his mouth again.
Adam’s tongue on the most sensitive parts of his cock was a flood of white-hot pleasure, and Langa fisted his hands in the sheets as he threatened to be swept away. Just like Adam could predict his moves when they were skating against each other, Adam seemed to know exactly how to touch Langa to send him hurtling towards bliss.
Just when Langa felt he was at the edge of a precipice, Adam pulled off suddenly, drawing out a needy whimper from Langa. “What? Don’t stop—“
“Oh Snow, I’m far from finished with you yet.” Adam reached for the bottle of lube and uncapped it, pouring a generous amount onto his fingertips. With one hand, he continued his ministrations to Langa’s cock, while the other stroked ever lower until Adam slowly and carefully pressed one slick finger inside of him.
“More,” Langa gasped, rocking his hips back against Adam’s finger.
“Not yet, baby. Today I want to open you up nice and slow.”
“I need you in me.”
Adam curled his finger inside of Langa’s body, stroking in gentle circles. “Oh but sweetheart, I am in you, you’re so hot and good for me.”
“Not enough,” Langa breathed. “I need more, I need all of you.”
“You’ll have exactly as much as you need, you dear, filthy little thing,” Adam told him affectionately, pressing a light kiss to the sensitive tip of his cock. Langa moaned. Adam took Langa’s cock into his mouth again while he continued to stroke him from the inside, his fingertip connecting over and over with the spot deep in Langa’s body that made him see stars and writhe beneath Adam’s touch. Adam’s other hand moved between stimulating the length of his cock and fondling his testicles, and Langa felt unmoored in a sea of too much and not enough and oh god, Adam. He felt his hips buck involuntarily and his cockhead bump roughly against the roof of Adam’s mouth. “Adam, god, I’m gonna—“
Adam released Langa’s cock from his mouth but did not let up on his assault of Langa’s prostate. Langa wanted to scream as Adam brought him to a shuddering, toe-curling crescendo. Maybe he did scream, he had no idea if anything coming out of his mouth was words. When he came back to himself, panting and sweaty, Adam lay beside him, one hand tracing gentle patterns on his stomach. “My Eve, you’re so gorgeous like this,” he said, kissing Langa’s cheek.
“God, I… you…” Langa couldn’t find words for what had just happened to him, so he just settled for a muttered “Thanks.”
Adam laughed, and Langa could tell it was a little mocking, but a little sincere too. “My dear Snow.”
Langa sat up awkwardly to remove the condom and tie off the end. Legs still a little shaky from his climax, he shuffled as far as the desk trash can to dispose of the condom before flopping back onto the bed. Adam leaned over him again, and Langa reached for him, cupping the side of his face, tilting his head so he could meet those crimson eyes. “What about you?”
Adam shook his head. “There’s nothing you need to do for me, my sweet. I’ve told you before, I’d rather love than be loved, and I’m in a giving mood tonight.” He levered himself to his feet, extending a hand to Langa to pull him up. “Shall we have a shower?”
Langa followed Adam into the bathroom, a brightly lit space tiled with sparkling white and gray marble. The glass-walled shower looked spacious enough to comfortably fit two people, even when one of them was as tall and broad as Adam. Adam retrieved the hotel-provided soap and shampoo from the countertop by the sink and went into the shower, leaning away from the spray from the rainfall shower head while he adjusted the faucets to the right temperature and waited for the water to warm up.
As Langa glanced around the room, he couldn’t help noticing the accoutrements of Adam’s travel—a sleek-looking electric toothbrush sitting beside the sink, a zippered leather toiletry bag stamped with the monogram “A.S.,” a miniature bottle of cologne, a small tube of toothpaste. Most of the time when Langa and Adam met up like this, it was at a love hotel, in a room rented by the hour. Not the sort of place where you brought your own toiletries and made yourself at home. Langa had seen Adam in and out of business suits, dressed up in his lavish matador costume for S, and fully naked in all manner of positions, but it was novel to think of him as someone who rolled off of a flight from Tokyo with all of the same baggage as anyone else, who maybe even got hassled by airport security for forgetting to take things out of his pockets like Langa sometimes did. It was a nice reminder that Adam was a regular human, as much as he probably wanted Langa and everyone else around him to think otherwise.
“Oh, Langa dear!” Adam called from the shower, snapping Langa out of his reverie. “You’re not going to leave me all by myself in here, are you?”
“No, I’m here,” Langa replied, stepping carefully into the shower so that he wouldn’t slip on the wet tile.
Adam stood directly under the shower head, rivulets of water tracing paths down his muscular chest and back, droplets clinging to his lips and eyelashes. He ran his hands through his hair, letting the water loosen the gel so that damp curls dripped over his forehead and treating Langa to a nice view of his flexed triceps in the process. The sight of Adam’s body on display before him sent heat curling in Langa’s belly all over again despite his earlier release.
Adam opened his arms as Langa stepped under the shower spray with him, and Langa let himself be wrapped in Adam’s embrace. The water cascaded around them both, soaking Langa’s hair, as Adam brought their mouths together in another deep kiss. Langa thought for a moment that if this were actual rain falling on them, their current pose would be like something out of a cheesy romance movie, and he smiled against Adam’s mouth at the image. He trailed his fingers down Adam’s back until he could rest his hands on the soft, muscular curve of Adam’s ass, enjoyed the wet slide of their two bodies against each other and the sparks of sensation as their mouths and tongues intertwined.
In spite of himself, Langa felt his cock stirring to arousal again, and he couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed at his body’s eager response. It wasn’t like Adam hadn’t satisfied him earlier, but his appetite for the older man was not so easily sated. Whenever he thought about Adam, whenever he could sneak a chance to be with him, whether it was skating against him, kissing him, fucking or being fucked by him, it left Langa wanting more.
Adam licked his lips as he eyed Langa’s burgeoning erection. “Oh, Snow, I just love how insatiable you are.” He turned Langa to face away from him and draped his arms over Langa’s shoulders, pulling their bodies flush, and Langa could feel Adam’s half-hard cock against his ass.
Langa twisted to glance at Adam’s face. “You sure you don’t want me to—?“
“No,” Adam told him firmly, fingers caressing across Langa’s chest. “Tonight, my focus is on pleasing you, my Eve.” He rested his chin on Langa’s shoulder, letting the warm water sluice over their two bodies as he held Langa close. “My one and only. The way you respond when we’re together like this, it really is like you were made for me. Carved from my flesh, from my rib.” Adam walked his fingers one by one down the ladder of Langa’s ribs, and Langa squirmed under his ticklish touch, grinding his hips back against Adam’s groin, trying to elicit a response of his own out of Adam.
“Little Langa,” Adam cooed in response, resting strong hands on either of his hipbones, holding him fast. “I told you, you don’t need to work so hard tonight, my sweet. Let me take care of you.” One of those hands strayed from his hip to squeeze lower, eliciting a little whine out of Langa. “What do you say?”
“Yeah,” Langa nodded, and as Adam stroked him from base to tip he gasped out another enthusiastic “Yes!”
It wasn’t long before Adam had his fist around Langa’s cock, Langa’s hips pistoning against it, fucking into the tight hold of Adam’s fingers while his head lolled back against Adam’s shoulder, his skin flushed pink from more than just the heat of the shower. His second climax of the night built in him hot and heavy until his vision went white and he splattered his release across Adam’s fist and his own belly. He leaned his full weight against Adam, panting, feeling loose and pliant and boneless and spent, while Adam held the both of them upright beneath the shower spray until the last aftershocks of orgasm rolled through Langa’s body. “There, now doesn’t that feel better?” Adam combed a dripping lock of hair away from Langa’s forehead.
“God, yeah…” Langa breathed. “I guess we should… wash up now, eh?”
“You made quite a mess of us both, didn’t you?” Adam replied, letting the water rinse away the remains of Langa’s cum from his hand and then reaching for the bar of soap.
They showered properly after that, soaping every inch of each other’s bodies and massaging shampoo into each other’s hair, letting the warm water wash away any remaining dirt and grime from their two very different days. When they finally stepped out of the shower and toweled off, Langa couldn’t remember a time that he had ever felt so cleansed and refreshed, and even Adam looked a little softer and lighter around the edges than he had before, like maybe some of the weight of his long day had been lifted, too.
“Do you feel better?” Langa asked.
“Better?” Adam let the towel he had finished drying himself with fall to the floor and pressed a kiss to the top of Langa’s head. “Little Langa, I feel positively redeemed.”
Langa wasn’t too sure what Adam meant by that, but he smiled at Adam’s words anyway. “Good.”
After leaving the bathroom, Langa bent over his bag, fishing around for the change of underwear he’d brought with him. Adam swatted his ass playfully as he passed by on the way to his own suitcase, set neatly on the luggage rack on the other side of the room. As Adam turned his back to him, Langa smiled and turned to watch blatantly, his eyes following the movements of Adam’s legs and ass as he stepped into a pair of sleek, expensive-looking boxer briefs.
“See something you like?” Adam asked, a coy lilt to his voice, when Langa was still staring even after he had finished dressing.
“I like your ass,” Langa told him.
“Little Langa, you are such a charmer,” Adam replied with a laugh, cupping the side of Langa’s face with one hand and tilting Langa’s chin upward to press a quick kiss to his lips. He walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers to slide into them, making himself comfortable against the pillows. “By all means, don’t feel like you have to get dressed on my account. I, too, can appreciate a view.”
Langa blushed and focused on locating his own underwear at the bottom of his bag, hurriedly pulling them on. He crawled into bed beside Adam, resting his head against Adam’s bare chest, where he could hear the steady drumbeat of his heart. Adam rested his chin atop Langa’s head and wrapped his arms around his chest, slotting their two bodies together like nested puzzle pieces. They lay quietly like that for several moments, Langa listening to the thud of that powerful heartbeat until his own inhales and exhales seemed to synchronize with the rise and fall of Adam’s chest beneath him. Adam smoothed back Langa’s hair to kiss his forehead, sweet and butterfly-soft, and Langa let his eyes drift closed, losing himself in the clean herbal-mint smell of the hotel soap with the warm musk of Adam’s scent beneath it.
Until Langa’s stomach growled, the noise seeming impossibly loud amidst the quiet of the hotel room. Adam gave a soft, surprised laugh and caressed down Langa’s side to lay a hand across Langa’s stomach. “My dear insatiable Eve, did you work up an appetite?”
“Yeah.” Langa didn’t move from where he lay against Adam’s chest. “Do you wanna order something?”
Adam searched out Langa’s hand beneath the covers, twining their fingers together and bringing Langa’s hand up to his lips to kiss the tips of his fingers. “You do have the most tempting ideas. After such a delectable main course, it would be only fitting to finish off with dessert. Now then…” He propped up Langa’s shoulder so that he could slide out from underneath him, slipping out of bed to retrieve the room service menu from the desk across the room. When he climbed back into bed, he settled behind Langa with his legs on either side of him, and Langa shifted agreeably so that he was in Adam’s lap, his back against his chest. Adam wrapped his arms around Langa, pulling him closer and holding the menu open in front of both of them, and rested his chin on Langa’s shoulder. “Enlighten me, my sweet. What tasty temptation does your little heart desire?”
Langa studied the menu. “What do you think ‘millionaire’s cheesecake’ is?”
“Mmm,” Adam peered over Langa’s shoulder to study the menu, his warm breath tickling Langa’s ear. “Chocolate and caramel and shortbread? It sounds positively sinful.”
“I’ll get that,” Langa decided.
“I’ll have, ooh, which one, which one, they all look so yummy.” Leaning over Langa, he traced his finger down the menu. “The dark chocolate raspberry torte, that sounds absolutely to die for. I’ll have that one. Any coffee for you, Langa dear? Decaf of course, unless you’d rather we keep each other up all night long?”
Langa was pretty sure that was meant to be an innuendo, but he didn’t think Adam was really serious about going another round. “I have a shift at the skate shop tomorrow, so I should at least get a little sleep.”
“Pity, youth is truly wasted on the young,” Adam sighed dramatically. “Should we order anything else?”
As Langa skimmed down the menu one last time, he suddenly remembered the door clicking shut earlier, and how Tadashi had refused to meet his eyes. “Does Snake, uh, I mean your… would Tadashi wanna eat something too?”
“Little Langa,” Adam combed his fingers through Langa’s damp hair, “it’s so sweet of you to be concerned with even the lowliest of creatures. Tadashi is perfectly capable of fending for himself, and you wouldn’t want him to interrupt our date, would you?”
“No, but I feel kinda bad kicking him out all the time,” Langa replied. “Doesn’t he mind?”
Adam laughed. “It’s not his job to mind, it’s his job to obey. But that said,” Adam put a finger to his chin in an exaggeratedly thoughtful pose, “maybe he does deserve a treat. He’s been working awfully hard. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Langa shrugged. “Sure.”
“That settles it then!” Adam reached behind Langa to retrieve his phone from the bedside table, tapping the number at the top of his speed dial. The phone rang once and was quickly answered with a soft, somewhat tired-sounding “Mr. Ainosuke?”
Adam took the phone off of speaker and held it against his ear. “Tadashi? Langa and I were just about to order some dessert, can I tempt you? …’No thank you’? Puppy, are you sure? The creme brûlée looks stunning. …No, as a matter of fact, it was his idea. …Both. …Oh you are? Well we don’t mind, we’re barely decent ourselves; it’s very come-as-you-are over here. …Vanilla?” Adam leaned around to make deliberate eye contact with Langa, gesturing to the phone and pulling a face. “Puppy, I know that’s not how you like it, you don’t need to be so coy. …Don’t be ridiculous, of course I’m still talking about dessert. …Tiramisu? Excellent choice, I’ll put the order in. See you in ten. Bye-bye.”
Langa could only guess at what Tadashi’s side of the conversation had been, but evidently he was on his way back to their room, because Adam leaned over to the bedside table again to pick up the room phone and place an order for their desserts and a carafe of decaf coffee. A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door, and then the little electric whine of a keycard in the lock.
When Tadashi stepped into the room, Langa almost didn’t recognize him for how casually he was dressed. He realized he had all but assumed Adam’s secretary slept in a suit and tie, but of course it made sense that Tadashi would dress down when he was off-duty. He wore soft-looking gray sweatpants, a striped t-shirt, an oversized cardigan, and, incongruously, running shoes, which he untied and lined up neatly out of the way near the door.
Seeing Tadashi’s comfortable-looking loungewear, Langa remembered that he and Adam weren’t wearing much at all. Maybe he should have been embarrassed, but the room was warm enough that he wasn’t uncomfortable in just his underwear, and Adam made no move to put more clothes on, so Langa didn’t either.
Tadashi stood stiffly in the entryway, watching Adam for further instructions and decidedly not looking at Langa, which was probably more than a little difficult considering Langa was still in Adam’s lap. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Adam told him. “Dessert should be here soon, have a seat.”
Tadashi walked past the bed to the desk chair. He picked up Adam’s clothes from where they had been left draped across the back of the chair and folded them in quick, precise motions, setting them down on the desk so he could sink awkwardly into the desk chair.
“Oh, he’s sulking,” Adam told Langa conspiratorially, bottom lip sticking out in an exaggerated pout as he played with Langa’s hair. “Do you think he wishes he was getting pets from his master?”
Before Langa could figure out if he was supposed to answer that, there was another knock at the door, this one accompanied by a voice announcing “Room service!”
Langa made to spring out of bed for the door, but Adam’s strong arm around his waist held him back, and Tadashi was faster. “I’ll get it.”
It probably did make sense for the most-dressed and least-underage member of their party to interact with the public, so Langa let Adam pull him back to rest against his chest again.
“Thank you, I’ll take it from here,” Tadashi told the hotel employee at the door, and he backed a little cart covered with a tablecloth into the room. Apparently the serving role fell to Tadashi automatically even when he was in pajamas, because as soon as he parked the cart across from the bed, he went to work. He served Adam first, somehow knowing as soon as he removed the silver cloche from each of the plates that the chocolate torte was for him. “Mr. Ainosuke,” he said with a small bow, handing Adam the plate and a set of silverware wrapped in a cloth napkin. He repeated the same process with Langa’s slice of cheesecake and then began pouring coffee from the carafe into their three porcelain cups. He poured a measure of cream into the first cup and added a packet of turbinado sugar, then gave it a stir and carefully handed the cup and saucer to Adam. Then he turned to Langa and asked, his face completely devoid of expression, “How do you take your coffee?”
“Uh, black is good, thanks,” Langa replied. He gratefully accepted the cup and saucer from Tadashi.
Lastly, Tadashi prepared his own coffee (cream with no sugar) and brought his cup and saucer and the little plate of tiramisu over to the desk, where he sat down again, keeping his distance from Langa and Adam.
Tadashi and Adam both seemed to have no trouble holding a cup and saucer steady, and Adam seemed to be managing sitting in bed with his without spilling, but Langa’s hands shook a little when he tried to figure out the best way to balance both his cheesecake plate and his coffee. He ended up setting the coffee cup on the bedside table and the cheesecake plate on top of the comforter, moving carefully so he wouldn’t knock over either. He unrolled his silverware from the napkin and scooped up a bite of cheesecake with his fork. The rich creamy texture and the sweetness of chocolate and caramel melted against his tongue. ”Mm! This is really good.”
Adam smiled at Langa over his coffee cup. “I’m so glad you like it. Care to try a bite of mine?”
“Oh, sure. Wanna try this?” Langa held up his plate in Adam’s direction.
“Don’t mind if I do!” Adam chirped, but instead of trading plates with Langa, he speared a little bite of torte on his fork. Langa lifted a hand to reach for it, but rather than pass the fork, Adam kept it level with Langa’s face, and Langa quickly figured out his intentions. He opened his mouth and let Adam feed him the bite of chocolate torte, closing his eyes to focus on the taste of bitter chocolate and tart raspberry. “That’s really good too.” He figured that meant it was his turn to return the gesture and sliced off a bite of cheesecake for Adam.
Adam made an exaggerated “A—n!” sound as he opened his mouth to receive the cheesecake, and his expression looked practically ecstatic as he chewed. “Oh, that’s lovely. Snow, you have impeccable taste.”
“…Thanks.” Langa blushed a little at Adam’s over-reaction, suddenly remembering that Tadashi was in the room with them.
Adam’s secretary had a knack for making himself invisible. He sat at the desk chair, body facing Langa and Adam but eyes fixed alternately on his plate and on some point on the other wall above their heads. His ramrod-straight posture as he took delicate bites of tiramisu, washed down with prim sips of coffee, was at odds with his casual clothing. Even if this guy was naked he’d probably look like he was wearing a uniform, Langa found himself thinking, and then quickly shook his head and shoveled cheesecake into his mouth to clear that distracting image from his mind.
“Puppy, relax, you’re off the clock,” Adam told Tadashi. His tone was teasing, but Langa recognized a hint of gentleness underneath it. “How’s the tiramisu?”
“It’s very good, sir,” Tadashi replied, a bit stiffly.
It occurred to Langa again that his presence might be contributing to the awkward atmosphere in the room. “I can uh, put on clothes,” he muttered, setting his cheesecake plate aside so he could separate himself from Adam’s lap and climb out of bed. He shook his discarded jeans out of the knot he’d left them in on the floor and pulled them on, followed by his rumpled t-shirt. He made a face when he realized what was left on the floor was a tangle of his socks and underwear, and he tried to ball them up and carry them over to his messenger bag without Adam or Tadashi noticing. When he turned around, though, Adam was smirking at him, so he probably hadn’t succeeded in being discrete.
“Langa, would you be a dear and get my robe for me while you’re up?” Adam asked, taking advantage of Langa’s absence to slide back under the covers. Although technically that covered more of his body, Langa couldn’t help but think Adam looked more naked with the white comforter pulled up to his waist.
“Mr. Ainosuke—“ Tadashi started. He moved to get up from the desk but Adam stopped him by holding up a hand.
“Tadashi, I told you, relax. You’re off duty. We’re all off duty.” Tadashi frowned slightly but stayed in his seat, and Adam continued, “Langa, it’s in my suitcase, should be near the top. The red robe.”
“Okay,” Langa took a deep breath and propped open the suitcase on the luggage stand. Going through Adam’s things, just like seeing Adam’s toiletries in the bathroom, was a new experience, a level of intimacy they didn’t usually have in their interactions. Another person might have been annoyed that Adam didn’t get up and find the robe himself, but Langa didn’t mind. Somehow, he sensed that this request actually meant Adam trusted him quite a lot. He quickly located the red cotton robe, neatly folded under a dress shirt and a set of silk pajamas Adam seemed intent on not wearing tonight, and pulled it out of the suitcase, draping it over his arm.
“Ah,” Adam sighed, stretching out under the covers. “The only thing I’m missing is a cigarette.”
“Are those in your bag too?” Langa studied the zippered compartment on the inside of the suitcase, searching for the outline of Adam’s cigarette case.
“This is a non-smoking property,” Tadashi reminded him.
“I know, but not being able to smoke after a day like today…”
“What happened anyway?” Langa asked, tossing the robe to Adam and sitting back down on the bed beside him. “You said a couple times that it was rough.”
Adam ran a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t rough so much as long.” He slipped his arms into the robe and pulled it around himself under the covers. “Tadashi, tell Langa what today’s itinerary looked like. Just the high-level details, we don’t need to relive all the specifics.”
Tadashi set down his dessert plate and cleared his throat, finally making eye contact with Langa. “Mr. Ainosuke’s workday began at 7:30 am this morning with a breakfast meeting with several prominent members of the Diet. He took the 10:15 am flight out of Haneda, landing in Naha at 1:05 pm. From there, he arrived at this hotel to attend a conference on environmental policy, where he was a highly anticipated keynote speaker. His keynote was at 2 pm, followed by a panel appearance at 3:30 pm. From 4:30 pm onward he attended various conference-sponsored networking events including a dinner meeting, before retiring to the hotel just after 8:30 pm. …I trust you’re familiar with his itinerary after that.”
“Wow, that’s a lot…” Langa was tired just listening to Tadashi rattle off the day’s events. He couldn’t imagine having to talk to so many people in one day, but then again, talking was one of Adam’s specialities. He speared a big bite of cheesecake on his fork. “I’ll hurry up and finish this if you wanted to go to sleep…”
“Don’t be ridiculous, take your time. Dessert should be savored,” Adam said firmly. “And after a day like today, there’s nothing quite so invigorating as having you beside me.” He turned to Tadashi. “Having both of you by my side. Oh, puppy, won’t you come closer?”
Tadashi had just brought his last bite of tiramisu to his mouth, so it took him a moment to swallow it and respond. “Mr. Ainosuke, I hardly think it would be appropriate—“ He glanced pointedly at Langa.
In the middle of the bed, Adam spread his arms against the pillows, resting one hand on Langa’s hip. He patted the open space on the other side of the bed with his other hand. “Look around, who’s here to tell us what is and isn’t appropriate? I won’t tell if you won’t.”
“I won’t either,” Langa piped up around a mouthful of cheesecake, not too sure what he was agreeing to but figuring it was important to help Tadashi feel comfortable. He never told anyone about his hookups with Adam, why would he suddenly start talking about Snake behind his back? And besides, Langa recognized a rare spark of feeling beneath the pouty, wheedling expression on Adam’s face. This is something he really needs right now, he thought to himself, as Adam said, gently but firmly, “Tadashi, come sit.”
“As you wish, Mr. Ainosuke.” Tadashi returned his empty plate and coffee cup to the room service cart and walked over to the bed, sitting on the side opposite Langa.
“There’s a good dog,” Adam said softly, reaching up to gently stroke Tadashi’s hair, and Langa watched as Tadashi leaned ever-so-slightly into the touch. “You worked hard today. You deserve to rest. Oh, and Tadashi?” His hand drifted to cup the side of Tadashi’s face. His other hand slipped away from Langa’s hip so he could lean closer to Tadashi. His voice dipped low and suggestive, his fingers trailing closer to Tadashi’s mouth. “I can tell how much you enjoyed your dessert; it’s written all over your face. White and creamy, right… here.” He tapped one finger at a spot at the corner of Tadashi’s lips, where Langa had just noticed a small splotch of whipped cream from the tiramisu still remained. Adam swiped the cream off of Tadashi’s face and popped his finger into his mouth, sucking lewdly while a subtle blush crept across Tadashi’s normally placid expression. “Ooh, yummy.”
“Sir, I apologize for my slovenly appearance.”
“Don’t,” Adam told him indulgently. “You’re just a pup, you can’t help it. It’s your master’s job to clean you up when you get messy.”
Langa watched the interaction between Adam and Snake, perplexed. He knew they had some kind of history together thanks to the drama during the S tournament (although he had missed most of it because he was worried about Reki), and he’d heard Adam call Tadashi “dog,” or “puppy” before, but he figured it was sort of like how Adam called him “Eve,” or “Snow-bunny.” Adam liked weird nicknames, and it didn’t really bother Langa, so he just let Adam do his thing. He hadn’t really thought about how Tadashi might feel about Adam’s nickname treatment, but judging from the slightly watery look in Tadashi’s eyes as he looked at Adam, he clearly didn’t hate it.
More to the point though, there was something Langa wanted to help clean up. Adam had set aside his plate with a bite or two of chocolate torte remaining, and Langa kept eyeing it where it sat between them on top of the comforter, wondering if Adam had abandoned it for good. He seemed pretty distracted now that he had Tadashi sitting next to him. “…Hey Adam?” Langa ventured. Both Adam and Tadashi turned to look at him, Tadashi with a tired, sheepish expression on his face. “Are you gonna finish that?” He pointed at the remains of the torte.
Adam laughed, fingers still carding through Tadashi’s hair. “Our Eve’s insatiable appetite strikes again. By all means, Langa dear, it’s all yours.”
Tadashi glanced at Langa, frowning slightly at “our Eve,” and Langa shrugged in response, picking up the torte plate. He leaned against Adam’s chest and let Adam drape an arm over his shoulders again while he helped himself to the last bites of dessert. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Adam press a quick kiss to Tadashi’s forehead, but the torte captured more of his attention.
When he had finished the torte and stacked the empty plate on top of his own on the bedside table, he glanced over at Adam and Tadashi again. Tadashi’s eyes had grown heavy-lidded, and he leaned further into Adam’s touch, face nuzzled up against Adam’s shoulder. He must be worn out, Langa thought.
“Being an adult seems hard…” he muttered aloud.
Adam’s smile was uncharacteristically soft as he pulled Tadashi closer to him. “It has its perks. You can create moments like this, where the rules need not apply.” This time, Langa did see the gentle kiss Adam placed on the top of Tadashi’s head. “Pleasant dreams, sweet pet,” he whispered into Tadashi’s hair, as Tadashi’s breathing relaxed into the rhythm of sleep.
Adam shifted in bed so he could reach for Langa. Long fingers tucked Langa’s hair behind his ear. “How do you do it, Little Langa?”
“Do what?”
“Before you came into my life, I was certain I was in hell. But today, I think I might be the luckiest man alive. Stay with me until my luck changes?”
Langa nodded. “I’m just gonna go brush my teeth.”
Adam let his hand fall back to the pillow so Langa could slide away from him. “But you will come back to me, my Eve?”
Langa nodded, and on a spur of the moment impulse, brushed the haphazardly-dried waves of Adam’s hair back from his forehead and pressed his own light kiss there. “Yeah, I will.”
He could feel Adam’s eyes on him as he dug his toothbrush out of his bag and made his way to the bathroom. When Langa returned a couple minutes later, Adam’s head had slumped forward, nose resting against Tadashi’s hair. Both of their chests rose and fell in sleepy unison.
There was still space in the king-sized bed for Langa to crawl in beside them, but Langa didn’t love the idea of sleeping in his tight jeans. He thought Tadashi would be uncomfortable if he stripped down to his underwear again, but then he remembered the pajamas in Adam’s suitcase. Surely Adam wouldn’t mind if Langa borrowed them for the night. Langa pulled the silk pajama pants out of the suitcase and quickly changed into them. They hung low on his skinny hips and pooled a little at his ankles, but they felt soft and light against his skin. After one last glance at Adam and Tadashi’s sleeping faces, he found the light switch near the door and made his way back to bed in the dark. He pulled back the covers and curled up under them, tucking his pillow in close to Adam’s where he could let the sounds of Adam and Tadashi’s quiet breathing lull him into slumber.
“‘Night,” he whispered, careful not to wake them. “Sweet dreams.”