Chapter Text
Phainon wasn’t the delusional type. He knew very well that the relationship he had built with the top host Dawn club was purely transactional. The subtle touches, their closeness, everything was directly tied to the fact that Phainon had a lot of money.
So much so that he was able to buy his favourite host for a whole night. Yet there was one thing the money could not get him. While other hosts would do some favours for expensive gifts or insane sums of money, this host would never be shaken by any of Phainon’s whims.
That much was very clearly stated during the first time Phainon had tried to make a move on the other man.
No intimacy, no outside dates. Phainon could be desperate as much as he wanted and still be unsuccessful. He’d be content with just a day out, that's how much the host had him wrapped around his finger.
Phainon got out of the car, signaling to his driver to drive off. He’d prefer it to be evening already, so he could be at other places but he had some responsibilities to take care of. As in to go shopping for some jewelry.
After all, he hadn't gifted him that yet.
Thinking about his polite smile, made Phainon feel already great as if he was in his presence, even as if he was smelling the fragrance the other male was using…
That snapped him out of his fantasy, confused, he looked around. This wasn’t any regular scent, he knew that this was a custom made blend and there was only one person in the whole world wearing it.
Phainon gasped when he spotted the familiar messy hair with a specific small braid on the right side. For a second he thought that he was seeing wrong… But after a moment he knew for a fact that he wasn’t wrong.
“N-Nikador…” As much as he wanted to yell out to him, somehow his name came out only as a barely audible whisper.
Phainon noticed a man walking beside Nikador, a man with a familiar slim figure and pale green hair. Jealousy surged up within him when he figured that Nikador was here maybe on a date. Why else would he even step into this luxurious department store when Phainon was showering him with tasteful gifts of clothes, accessories and many more?!
W-wait, he would always refuse my requests for dates but… but… Phainon pursed his lips together, frustration mixed with jealousy and he decided to follow after the men while trying to be sneaky. He was still trying to figure out who the other man was, even though he had a faint idea because there was only one person with pale green hair.
Why was Nikador hanging around with this person out of all the people in the world? With the controversial model Anaxagoras…
******
Anaxagoras let out a soft scoff, his hand mindlessly fisting and playing with another man’s blonde hair. He closed his eyes, relaxing his body more into the driver’s seat, feeling the wet tongue sliding up and down his hard cock.
“You’re feeling quite brave today,” Anaxagoras muttered, his voice low and laced with pleasure. “Mydei...” His hand continued playing with Mydei’s hair. The other man pulled away and Anaxagoras opened his eyes, looking at him with the silent question why he’d stopped.
“It’s a VIP part of the parking lot,” Mydei grinned at him. “And I thought you give zero fucks about papparazis anyway.” He grabbed Anaxagoras’ hand, pulling him over to the passenger’s seat. It was very easy for him to manhandle the model, after all his bare palms were enough to almost hug around his thin waist.
Anaxagoras didn’t smile back at him, he wasn’t really keen on showing his emotions that much anyway but Mydei understood and that was enough. He ducked his head down, grinding his exposed crotch against Mydei’s still clothed.
“You’re hard.” The model stated the obvious before pressing their lips together.
Mydei chuckled, playfully biting Anaxagoras’ bottom lip before his hands squeezed the model’s firm ass. He pulled away, licking his teeth and grinned wildly. “Who wouldn’t be,” As much as he wanted to see Anaxagoras bouncing on his cock, today he felt more that he wanted to take the lead and initiative. He reclined the seat and changed their positions, pinning Anaxagoras under his firm body.
Anaxagoras just softly laughed, arching his back to grind against Mydei’s hard cock which was still in pants. “Wow, you must be impatient today.” His hands started swiftly working on Mydei’s wine red button shirt. As much as he wanted to rip the buttons open, he knew that he wouldn’t hear the end to it. Once he pulled down Mydei’s shirt together with the white suit jacket, he took the moment to take in Mydei’s impressive physique.
After all that was one of the few qualities that Mydei had. Anaxagoras touched Mydei’s ridiculously defined abs, tracing alongside the chest tattoos until his finger teased Mydei’s nipple.
“Hey,” Mydei leaned a little bit back, his hand opening the storage slot. “You expected we would get to it one day here didn’t you.”
Anaxagoras flinched slightly as something small and hard was thrown on his stomach. When he looked down, he smirked. It was a pack of condoms and lube.
“Hah,” Anaxagoras just shrugged his shoulders. “Or maybe you sneaked it there.”
“W-what?!” Mydei blushed, though his face was already red, now his ears were too. Anaxagoras just lifted himself up, he was getting impatient, his cock was weeping precum and it was wet from Mydei’s saliva.
“Hurry up,” Anaxagoras whispered as he grabbed the button on Mydei’s pants, opening them. He gently stroked the hard cock which was wet just as his if not even more. “You want it too,” He pressed their lips together, pushing his tongue into Mydei’s mouth, still palming his cock. The other male just whimpered into his mouth, almost desperately rutting against his hand. Without him really noticing Anaxagoras’ pretty skillfully put a condom on his dick.
Adorable.
“C’mon,” Anaxagoras pulled back, leaning against the reclined seat with his back, spreading his legs wide as the SUV allowed him to. “Fuck me like you always do,” He offered Mydei the bottle of lube.
******
Phainon couldn’t believe his eyes. Shocked, he stared into the passenger’s seat of the car right next to him.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT NIKADOR WAS GETTING FREAKY RIGHT IN THE NEXT CAR?! AND WITH ANAXAGORAS OUT OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!
Phainon didn’t know what he felt at the moment. Was it anger, jealousy… lust?! The third one was definitely a part of an answer because as much as he felt shitty about it, he got hard just from watching Nikador making out with someone else.
And he couldn’t keep his eyes away because they seemed to not notice him.
Well, they were very busy after all and he had a very good look at what was happening there until Nikador reclined the seat, now they were partially hidden under the toned glass. Still Phainon was able to clearly see tattoos Nikador had on his defined back, shoulders and arms. Something he wouldn’t be able to see when spending time with Nikador in the host club…
It was hot.
“Fuck,” Phainon cursed through his teeth. He was aroused. Extremely at that and that made him feel incredibly embarrassed but there was no denying it. He squeezed himself through his black slacks, his eyes wandered back to the window of the other car. There he could see Nikador moving rhythmically, the car was slightly shaking too.
He… shouldn’t be doing this.
Phainon bit his bottom lip. Yes, he shouldn’t but who was there to stop him…
Definitely not his conscience.
“I want to be there,” Phainon muttered, his voice laced with jealousy. “I want to be under Nikador… Why is it not me?” He felt prickly tears in his eyes, they were hot, just like his cock when he finally undoed his slacks and started stroking it.
His mind wandered places as his eyes stayed fixated more or less on Nikador’s back. He wanted to trace those tattoos, kiss them and nibble on the skin. He wanted to be the one who was to make temporary markings with his nails… Not that… that…
Phainon huffed, now offended but his hand didn’t stop moving. He leaned more into the driver’s seat then had the great idea to recline it slightly, so at least once they were done they hopefully wouldn’t notice him peeping as some pervert. He ducked his head back a little too while arching his back.
He wanted to be ravished like that by Nikador… Or maybe he wanted to…
His mind wandered, he imagined himself on top of Nikador’s body, pushing his legs apart as he was slowly driving himself into him. The host cried under him in pleasure, softly muttering his name together with the moans. He wanted to squeeze those pecs which were always bulging under the button up shirts, teasing his nipples until they were all red and sensitive…
“N-Nikador,” Phainon whimpered, pleasure slowly rising in his lower abdomen. His hand fisted his cock now with added urgency. His other hand touched his lips, his eyes now fully closed as he was immersed in the fantasy, he made up for himself.
His climax was so sudden that it almost startled Phainon, he wanted for it to last a little bit longer… Nikador surely would but disappointed if Phainon would present such weak stamina in the bed. Curious, his eyes looked over to the other SUV but the spot was already empty.
When did they leave? How long was I here like this? Phainon had many questions but all he could feel was being flooded with embarrassment once again. The cum was on his hand and the steering wheel as well, his clothes were disheveled and his cock laid spent against his palm.
“Shit.”
Honestly this wouldn’t be the first time he had touched himself while thinking about Nikador like this but this was the first time the post nut clarity hit him hard.
Nikador must have been refusing all of his advances and clients outside of the host club hours because he was in a real relationship.
With a different man.
Crying, Phainon just quickly found a handkerchief to clean the steering wheel off. He knew that he would still need to properly clean it at home but this was enough for now. Doing so he felt even more shitty about what he had just done… About what he had just witnessed.
Once he put himself back together, he didn’t drive off, instead he got out of the car. As he checked his appearance once again in the toned glass, he quickly walked back into the department store with a clear idea of what he wanted to purchase as a gift.
******
Phainon sat at the leather couch in the open area with loud music and people swarming around him. Each and every host wanted a piece of him, they all knew the stories of his expensive gifts he has given to Nikador so far and his generous nature. It didn’t matter for how long Phainon would decide to entertain their greed as he was known for being a very generous patron of their top host Nikador.
Still Phainon didn’t mind buying expensive drinks for the whole room if he felt like it but today he was more on the edge.
“Where is Nikador?” He scanned the room, hoping that Nikador would emerge through one of many doors.
“He is still with another client, but in the meantime please do enjoy our company.” Their eyes glinted, mouths curled up in almost unnatural smiles.
Phainon tsked under his breath. An answer he didn’t want to hear at all. Nikador would usually clear up his whole schedule if he knew that Phainon was coming. Someone hesitantly stroked Phainon’s thigh, giving it a small squeeze as they leaned closer to him.
This is annoying. Cheap cologne was now stuck in his nostrils and Phainon felt like he was about to choke himself on it. He turned his face away from the host, slapping his audacious hand away before it could travel further.
“Don’t touch me.” Phainon gritted through his teeth, his eyes now fixated on the door which led into the floor where the VIP rooms were.
It feels disgusting.
“I think I can wait for Nikador in the VIP room just fine.” But before he could get up, the door he so close watched, opened and a familiar figure emerged from them. Phainon squeezed his lips tightly together, anger surging inside of him.
“What is he doing here?”
The familiar figure had pale green hair, Phainon curled his right hand into a fist, trying to keep himself calm. Immediately after him, NIkador followed, clearly disheveled, laughing softly about something that Anaxagoras must have said to him.
“Oh,” someone said behind Phainon’s back and laughter followed. “They couldn’t be even more obvious, huh?”
“I don’t understand why the owner lets it slide.” Someone else tsked. “If it were any of us, we would have been fired already.”
Phainon felt that the world in front of him blurred and suddenly swayed.
Let… Let him do what. He wanted to ask but at the same time he didn’t want to know. He had a hunch already. Even digging his nails into the palms of his hands wasn’t helping to keep him grounded. He didn’t notice that Nikador noticed him and offered him a polite smile while still entertaining Anaxagoras. Once the model left the bar, he made his way to Phainon who had to sit down in the moment.
“You’re a bit early today, Phainon.” Nikador’s voice was soft and gentle as he stood in front of the younger male. Other hosts immediately left before Nikador could berate them for trying to steal his client. One could argue that Phainon was the sole reason why Nikador became so popular and the number one host in their club.
“N-Nikador,” Phainon lifted his head up, there was a saddened expression on his face.
“Are you okay?” Nikador was perceptive, quickly picking up on Phainon’s sad mood, after all that was a part of his job. Though he knew that Phainon preferred to be alone with him in the VIP room, it seemed that Phainon needed a moment for himself to recoup. Nikador quickly gestured to one of their bartenders to bring over the water to their table. He couldn’t possibly make Phainon drink alcohol when he looked so sickly.
“Um,” Phainon didn’t know how to answer this question. This whole thing felt like a bad joke. “I’m just a bit tired, sorry.” He forced himself to smile. There was a sweaty and musky smell around Nikador, his white button up shirt was open and sleeves rolled up, his usually perfectly styled hair out of place. Phainon could smell it even though they were right now in the main open bar of the host club.
“But I still wanted to see you,” Phainon added quickly before Nikador could say something about him staying at home and coming at another time. “I know how precious time is for you and clearing up the whole schedule isn’t easy…” Absentmindedly his hand touched Nikador’s, caressing it softly.
Nikador usually didn’t let others touch him but he would often indulge Phainon more because he was his top spending patron who often brought him gifts. The moment he came to the table where Phainon sat, he already knew that today was a day when he would receive another one, given the not so subtly hidden bag with a big orange box in it.
When Nikador wouldn’t push Phainon’s hand away, the younger male moved himself closer, brushing their shoulders against each other’s. In the meantime the other male offered him water but Phainon declined. “I want to go to the VIP room, Nikador.” He got brave and leaned more into Nikador, his face now resting on Nikador’s collarbone.
Fuck. Phainon swallowed a bitter grimace, like this he could really faintly smell the other man’s cologne on Nikador.
“I want to be alone with you.” He muttered, his expression still sad, almost puppylike.
Nikador lifted one of his eyebrows, Phainon’s behaviour today was a little bit out of ordinary. Yes, there were times when he would cross the line but he was never audacious like this.
“Sure,” Carefully Nikador helped Phainon to sit up properly again and then he tidied up his own appearance while standing up. “But before that, you finish this water, it seems that you are quite drunk and forgot some rules we set up.”
For a moment Phainon wanted to say something but instead he stretched out his hand and took the glass. Emptying its content rather quickly, maybe even forcing a small smile to appear on his face.
“Let’s go,” Phainon grabbed the bag with the orange box in it, blatantly ignoring Mydei’s quiet warning.
******
“Are you dating someone?” Phainon couldn’t help himself. That question just flew out of him without thinking the moment Nikador closed the door of the VIP room.
Nikador’s eyebrow just twitched but he kept his face professionally neutral. It wouldn’t be the first time when Phainon was asking this question but today it felt as if there was a certain urgency for Nikador to confirm it.
“While you might feel as if you are entitled to the answer to this with how much time we spent together if you keep asking me this question after today, I will drop you as a client Phainon. This is no business of yours.” Nikador’s expression was still neutral but his voice was stern.
Phainon expected the answer, still he had hoped that Nikador would tell some white lie instead of telling him that it is none of his business. This could only mean one thing.
“Mn,” it just soured his mood even more. “I apologise, Nikador. I won’t ask again,” he finally sat down on the leather couch, clutching the bag in his hands, nervous if he should even offer the gift to Nikador. He felt that it would only make Nikador mad, even though Phainon took a great time to pick it up.
Before he could do anything a light knock at the door interrupted the train of his thoughts. Nikador would usually pick up alcohol before Phainon’s arrival but given today’s events he couldn’t do that.
“I ordered the usual, is that okay with you?” The question was more or less just a formality, as long as the alcohol was paid for, it didn’t matter much if it was consumed. Mydei sent the handler away after all of the alcohol was put down on the table. He would be the one serving it to Phainon if asked. Though he still asked for some water.
Just in case.
He wasn’t as greedy as others.
Skillfully, Nikador opened one of the bottles and poured some of the golden liquid into the empty glass. After he filled up two of them, he offered one of them to Phainon who silently accepted it, unsure if he should give Nikador the gift now. His not so subtle glances were targeted at Nikador’s chest area. There were red lines running down under the clothes, similar were on Nikador’s hands.
“Hey,” Phainon vaguely remembered, it had something to do with Nikador’s cultural background.
“Hm?” Nikador looked at him, there was a flush on Phainon’s face, yet his glass was still full until the other male suddenly emptied it.
Phainon softly grimaced, he didn’t like to drink alcohol all in one go but he needed some for the courage.
“You promised to show me your tribal tattoos,” Phainon leaned closer to Nikador, his hand caressing over hand, fingers tracing one of the red stripes running across it. As much as Nikador wanted to push him away, once again he decided to indulge the other man. “So… I got you a gift.” He turned and grabbed the bag with an expensive box in it. “I think your tattoos will look so good in this.”
“Well,” Nikador accepted Phainon’s gift. “I could show you the top part…” Though I don’t really remember promising you that I will show them to you one day. Then he knitted his eyebrows together, confused as he opened the box and there was… a women’s lingerie. His face reddened with fury.
Not only was Phainon pushing the boundaries today, he was as well trying to embarrass him. No, insult him with this vulgar behaviour!
Nikador wanted to throw the box away and scream at Phainon but…
“Hm? You don’t like your gift?”
Nikador looked at Phainon, his expression was already of a kicked puppy but now the guy looked as if he was on the verge of crying if Nikador would not accept his thoughtfully picked gift.
“I even consulted the assistants to pick the best option,”
By the Gods.
“Um, I…” For the first time in his career Nikador was visibly taken aback. Unsure what to say, he carefully inspected the fabric under his fingers. Its material was soft, it was an expensive brand after all. “Eh, it’s pretty…. Thanks, I guess…?”
There was a long moment of silence between them when Mydei would carefully close the box and put the bag into the back. He then set it aside. His expression was unreadable as he tried to think of an appropriate way to get out of this situation.
Phainon nervously played with his fingers while holding a glass full of alcohol. His chest was tight, the silence was killing him and Nikador’s stoic face was something new and anxiety inducing to him. Nikador would usually smile at him even if it was just a small smile, he would always accept the gifts with it.
Did I cross the line? Did I push too far today?
“This isn’t appropriate but I’ll let this slide,” Nikador finally broke the silence, calm and collected. “There will be no more chances.”
Relief flooded Phainon so fast it made him dizzy or maybe it was the alcohol because suddenly the glass in his hand was once again empty.
“But tonight ends early and after today, we reset boundaries between us.” Nikador added, his tone allowed no protests.
Phainon avoided Nikador’s eyes. This didn’t go the way as he planned and it made him only feel miserable.
Nikador wasn’t his. Nikador wasn’t even real.
There was a man behind this stage name, a real person with a real partner and Phainon so desperately wanted to get there too. He didn’t want just Nikador anymore, he wanted to know who Nikador was when he wasn’t being paid to care. He wanted to go out on dates with Nikador…
He wanted to know his real name.
******
After that night Phainon had been hesitant to come back to the club. He simply felt the time was just not right yet and so instead he spent his days holed up in his apartment, ignoring the real world as much as he could.
To put in simple words, he has been bedrotting.
In his life he held no real responsibilities, he didn’t need to lift a finger as his adoptive mother took care of everything for him.
One would expect that in such a situation the place where he was living would slowly become uninhabitable space which was not exactly the case. There was a hired person who would come in everyday and make sure that Phainon’s apartment was spotless. When Phainon would emerge from his room, there would always be food prepared for him because another person was hired specifically for that. If Phainon needed anything else, he just simply needed to make a call.
Such was the life of someone who didn’t need to be concerned about mundane tasks of normal people.
So far the worst thing that happened to Phainon in his life was Nikador refusing his gift and Phainon away, firmly reinforcing the boundaries of their transactional relationship.
Phainon sighed, lying on his side with phone in his hand. He was scrolling through social media with no purpose as posts of his friends and people he followed started blurring together. He wasn’t really interested in what others wanted to share with the rest of the world but there was nothing better for him to do.
He just preferred to be cowardly hidden in his room for now.
Eventually, without thinking he ended up on one particular profile.
Nikador’s.
He wasn’t brave enough to face him in person but he could at least check what new things he posted or little glimpses of his actual life through stories. It would be usually just Nikador hitting the gym which made the most sense because how else would he have the killer body otherwise.
He wanted to get out of the profile when he noticed that Nikador had added a new post. Most of his profile consisted of promotional photos regarding the club Dawn, things he was hired for to be as ambassador for, modelling or videos from various events. In each one of them Nikador looked flawless and perfect but this particular photo didn’t catch Phainon’s attention because of Nikador.
There was a man with pale green hair in it, Phainon narrowed his eyes, an annoyed expression flashed on his face.
Anaxa.
It wasn’t a photo friends would post, it seemed to be a part of a modelling campaign but when swiping right, Phainon could find several backstage photos and selfies of them together.
Phainon curled his fingers around the phone tightly, feeling the thorn of jealousy stabbing into him repeatedly. He swallowed hard, suddenly his heartbeat was all he could hear at the moment and the jealousy within him only sharpened, twisting deep inside him, refusing to leave.
There was a particular photo which caught his attention. Anaxa was way too close to Nikador in it. Leaning too close into him. Nikador looked so relaxed, his hand was on Anaxa’s waist while the other one was in his pocket. He wasn’t looking at the camera at all. His full attention was on Anaxa, mouth curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile, but softer than neutrality.
All people in the comments talked about was this particular shot. They were speculating about their relationship and Nikador wasn’t responding to them. He wasn’t trying to set the record straight and it bothered Phainon.
Fuck.
For a moment he had to lock his phone or else he would throw it against the wall. When he unlocked the phone again, he clicked in one of the photos, checking if the other person was tagged in a photo.
He was.
KingAnaxagoras. What a stupid name! Phainon cringed at the moment but hesitated. His thumb was hovering over the name for a bit before he clicked on it, opening Anaxa’s profile.
The first thing he noticed immediately was how different the profile was from Nikador’s. Anaxa seemed to post on his social media a lot. Professional campaign photos mixed together with photos taken at odd angles and candid shots. For someone who was living as a model, it was less curated and professional.
Maybe it was Anaxa’s way of trying to communicate with his followers, appearing more relaxed than Nikador. After all, Anaxa’s job wasn’t directly linked to how he was perceived by individual but by companies.
Before Phainon could proceed and scroll through Anaxa’s profile a particular selfie caught his attention. He had to open it just to make sure and almost immediately he regretted doing so. The photo was captioned with a simple sentence: Had lots of fun last night!
It made Phainon’s stomach drop and he had to use fingers of his other hand to zoom in on the selfie.
Anaxa filled most of the frame with a mischievous grin on his face, his hair disheveled, face seemingly still flushed. It looked like a careless selfie and there were straps around his body. Phainon had to blink once then twice to make sure if he wasn’t just seeing things but Anaxa was most definitely wearing lingerie in that shot.
Phainon’s breath caught up in his throat. It was that lingerie. Something he had carefully picked with sales assistants, putting immense effort into it… Imagining it on Nikador’s muscular body.
It wasn’t fitting Anaxa perfectly but still he was the one wearing it. Not the person the gift was intended for.
“Ah, Nikador… you can be so cruel sometimes.”
Anaxa wasn’t looking into the camera but somewhere behind it and there in reflection of his healthy pale coloured eye was a way too familiar shape of a body. Thing that could be easily missed.
Realisation hit Phainon like a truck. Not only did Nikador discard his gift like it was a garbage, he gave it to the very man Phainon hated and then fucked him in it! And there was nothing Phainon could do!
Phainon let go of his phone but the image seemed to be burned deep into his brain now and he still saw it in front of himself. It was not only jealousy he felt right now but hot sinking humiliation…
An idea quietly surged up in his head.
If he couldn’t reach Mydei directly then maybe he didn’t even have to.
He just needed to swallow his pride.
******
What Phainon learned in the next few days was that Anaxa was incredibly elusive. Probably due to his busy schedule and so it seemed that electronic communication won’t really work with him, so he needed to meet the man in person. He knew that he had to face the other man head first.
Finding out which places Anaxa frequented wasn’t that hard but Phainon knew that he was awkward with people he disliked, so he needed a different type of place or maybe an event.
The opportunity presented itself soon after. A fundraiser for dromases, Anaxa wouldn’t pass on that. From what Phainon had gathered through his sources that man seemed to be obsessed with them.
Phainon adjusted the cuff of his suit as he slowly got out of the car. He parked a little bit farther away from the museum where the event he was headed to took place. He pulled out the invitation once again to check, eyes scanning over the golden letters on white paper.
Conservation. Health. Awareness.
Dromases are worth saving.
Phainon had only his adoptive mother to thank for this. She made it happen by the simple fact that he was her son.
Usually he would rather pass on these events in favour of Nikador. People still invited him but it was more of a formality or hope that they could get connected to his adoptive mother through him. This time it worked in his favour because he was certain that Anaxa would appear on this event.
Phainon held the invitation in his hand, expecting people to check that he wasn’t an uninvited guest but nobody seemed to care. He wasn’t sure if it should flatter him that they either knew who he was or simply didn’t care that much about their job and so he put the invitation back into the inner pocket of his suit.
He didn’t have a coat, so he moved past the cloakroom and got into the museum hall, following the signs until he finally made it into the largest hall with an exhibition dedicated to dromases. The museum hall was glowing under soft spotlights with carefully selected models and preserved specimens of wild dromases. Nowadays there weren’t many of them out in the wild, only their domesticated counterparts seemed to settle very well into this modern world order.
He didn’t expect much, so of course he was taken aback when suddenly a lot of people flocked around him, talking to him as if they were old friends.
“Phainon, it’s been ages.” One said.
“You look well. Have you been traveling?” Someone else cut in before Phainon could acknowledge the first person.
“I heard your mother’s foundation -” The voices seemingly mixed together, overwhelming Phainon for a moment. At first he might have been a little bit slow and confused but there was a certain expectation from him and he would fulfill that. He was polite, he would smile and answer as expected. Even if he didn’t attend such events too much, he underwent training on how to behave in higher society.
The little village runt would probably laugh his ass at him.
While he might have appeared to be present with the people around him, his eyes quickly glossed over the room looking for Anaxa. Finding such an eccentric person wasn’t that hard. Even the clothes which were definitely toned down from his usual style still screamed I’m trouble.
Once Phainon located Anaxa, there was no reason for him to entertain people who very obviously were just after networking with him.
Annoying.
“If you will excuse me, I would like to look around.” Phainon shifted his weight and quickly grabbed one of the many champagne glasses the waiters would offer him during the evening.
Surprisingly Anaxa was alone, probably one of the few who seemed to be truly captivated by the exhibition. Carefully he read the glowing blocks of floating text under each piece, smiling to himself but looking concerned at times.
Phainon approached the glass container where Anaxa so devotedly read something about dromases but he didn’t walk right up to the man. Instead he stopped on the other side of the container, seemingly checking whatever was placed inside that until his eyes met with Anaxa’s.
At first Phainon was startled by that because he didn’t expect the other man to stare so intensely then he stiffened when the model started walking around the glass cube towards him. Phainon’s fingers grasped strongly the champagne glass in his hand before he took a sip.
For courage, one would say.
Anaxa stopped a step away from him, his eyes narrowing as he scanned over Phainon’s body. It almost looked as if he was measuring Phainon with curiosity.
“You don’t usually come to events like this, do you?” Anaxa asked finally, voice quiet but clear. “I would have remembered such eye catching….” His eye slid across Phainon’s slightly exposed chest in the suit. “...individual.” His lips curled upwards, voice playful and hand gently caressing over Phainon’s where he held the champagne. Carefully Anaxa took it out of Phainon’s hand, taking a big and deliberate sip out of it. For a moment his gaze still lingered on Phainon as if expecting an answer.
When that didn’t come, Anaxa turned back to the glass cube, studying the contents of it.
“They’re remarkable, aren’t they?” Anaxa murmured, almost to himself. “Pure… beautiful creatures. Everytime I see them, I can’t help but want to protect them.” It felt like a confession. Would he and Nikador talk often about dromases together?
A wave of jealousy washed over him and his grip tightened around half way empty glass.
“You seem to care about them a lot.” Phainon muttered without thinking in response. He was forcing himself a little bit to even try to hold a conversation with a person like that. Mentally beating himself over the fact that Anaxa probably approached him because of his looks but Phainon already missed the timing.
What a pathetic loser. Anaxa glanced over Phainon who seemed to be in some mental distress. It was amusing to him. He decided to toy a little bit with the kid, maybe it was one of his fans…
“So, you came here for the dromases. Not the people.” That was the best Phainon could sweat out and it made Anaxa laugh. Lightly and genuinely.
“Is it that obvious?” Anaxa was still laughing, his tone playful and flirty. “But if I knew that someone like you was coming, maybe I’d consider coming for the people too.” Anaxa snorted in amusement, he was still looking at the fossils of dromases. From the times before humans walked the Earth, sullying its pure beauty with the way of their lives. His expression got suddenly serious, because of them the wild dromases suffered loss of their natural habitat… Because of them the only way for dromases to survive nowadays was claiming certain pieces of lands as reservation. Anaxa sometimes hated the fact that he himself was a human even with him trying to lessen his impact on the environment.
What could one person do against the big corporations which were all employing him for their trashy campaigns?
Without thinking one of his hands stroked the glass cube. “They don’t belong here everything about them to be put on display and for what?” He turned back to Phainon, his voice suddenly serious. “For some rich people to…” Frustration swelled up in his chest.
What a quick switch up.
“Aren’t you one of these rich people though?” Phainon joked, finishing the glass in his hand. Like a miracle a waiter with a plate appeared and so Phainon exchanged his empty one for two now, offering one to Anaxa.
“Unfortunately.” Anaxa answered while accepting the glass from Phainon. Immediately he sipped a little bit of the expensive champagne. “But people seem to forget that I have founded one of many sanctuaries for dromases but I guess charity work is nothing if you are a controversial person.” Soft laugh followed as if he was trying to hide away something else. Maybe frustration or the pain of irony.
Phainon took a deep breath, thinking. He truly missed the timing because now the mood moved further away from any chance Phainon could have had before.
“Perhaps you’d be interested in talking more about dromases to me… In a less crowded place?” Phainon pulled out of the inner pocket of his suit a wallet, skillfully fishing out his business card with just one hand. Yes, surprisingly even a person like him who was sitting the whole day and doing nothing, had business cards to offer to people in case he attended an event like this.
“I don’t think there is anybody who wants to listen to me talking about them.” Anaxa’raised an eyebrow but he accepted the business card, checking the name on it. It was familiar to him for some reason.
“Well, you just found one,” Phainon forced the most heartwarming smile on his face. His fingers caressing against Anaxa’s as the other man accepted his business card. “The card has my number, so don’t throw it away and call me... When you feel like talking about dromases that is.”
“Well then.” Anaxa put the business card into pocket, smiling back at him. “I shall think about your offer.”
That evening ended completely differently than what Phainon had expected but he felt that retreating was the best he could have done as Anaxa didn’t seem entirely present or interested. Instead his attention was split between him and many of the artifacts and exhibition pieces about wild dromases.
Maybe expecting to get in touch with Nikador through Anaxa wouldn’t be as easy as he thought.