Work Text:
The overhead light hummed the same fluorescent buzz it always did around midnight, and Namgyu had his black hair tied back with a scrunchie, a textbook open in his lap that he hadn't turned a page of in twenty minutes. His knee bounced under the shared desk. Thanos watched him from the bottom bunk, sprawled on his stomach, purple hair mussed against the pillow.
"You're gonna wear a hole through the floorboards," Thanos said.
Namgyu's knee kept bouncing. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You've been vibrating like a phone on silent since dinner."
Thanos was right. Namgyu had been on edge for days. The kind of restless that lived in his bones, that made his skin feel two sizes too small. Midterms had him wired, caffeine jackhammering through his veins, and somewhere underneath all that was a different kind of pressure. The kind he didn't have a name for when they were studying together at midnight.
"Just stressed," Namgyu said, and his voice came out rougher than he meant.
Thanos rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand. His tshirt had ridden up, showing a strip of pale stomach. "Stressed how? Like, exam stressed, or stressed stressed? Because I've seen you pull all nighters before and you didn't look like you wanted to crawl out of your skin."
Namgyu closed the textbook. The snap of it was loud in the small room. "I don't know. Both. Everything."
"Talk to me."
It was the way Thanos said it. soft, patient, the way he always did when Namgyu got in his own head. They'd been roommates since freshman year, and somewhere in the mess of shared ramen and late-night confessionals, they'd become each other's person. Thanos knew when Namgyu hadn't eaten. Namgyu knew that Thanos's purple hair was a rebellion against a father who wanted him to be a lawyer. They knew each other in the ways that mattered.
So Namgyu exhaled, long and slow, and said, "I haven't... done anything in a while. With anyone. And it's making me crazy."
Thanos's eyebrows went up, but he didn't laugh. "How long's a while?"
"Since before the semester started. And before you say anything, I know. It's not that long. But I'm twenty-two, and I'm sharing a room with you, and I can't even…" He stopped, ran a hand through his hair, pulling the black strands loose from the scrunchie so they fell past his shoulders. "I can't even jerk off without feeling like you're gonna walk in."
"I've walked in before."
"And you made a joke about it and left. Which I appreciated. But also made me feel like a teenager hiding in his childhood bedroom."
Thanos sat up fully, crossing his legs. The fluorescent light caught the silver in his ears, a line of small hoops up both lobes. "You know I've had sex in this room, right? More than once. With you in the other bunk pretending to be asleep."
Namgyu's face went hot. "I wasn't pretending. I was being asleep. There's a difference."
"Sure there is." Thanos grinned, and it was the crooked one that had made Namgyu's stomach do things freshman year that he'd carefully, deliberately not examined. "Look, man. I get it. The frustration thing. It builds up. Gets into your muscles, your head. Makes everything harder than it needs to be."
"Yeah."
"So what do you usually do? When you're alone and the pressure gets bad."
Namgyu looked at the ceiling. The same crack had been there since September. "I don't know. Think about stuff. Touch myself. Get off. Fall asleep."
"What stuff?"
"What?"
"What stuff do you think about?"
The question landed like a stone in still water. They'd talked about sex before, casually, the way friends do. But never like this. Never with Thanos's full attention on him, dark eyes steady, like he genuinely wanted to know.
Namgyu swallowed. "Just... things. Scenarios. People."
"Anyone specific?"
Namgyu's pulse jumped. Because yes. There was someone specific. Someone who was sitting three feet away from him with too many earrings and purple hair that he'd been growing out for six months. Someone who knew how he took his coffee and that he couldn't sleep without a fan on. Someone who was looking at him right now like he was the only thing in the room worth seeing.
"Maybe," Namgyu said, and his voice cracked on the word.
Thanos tilted his head. The movement was slow, deliberate. "Maybe? That's all I get?"
"That's all you get for now."
"Okay." Thanos leaned back against the wall, and the movement pulled his shirt tight across his chest. "Then let me tell you what I think about. And you tell me if it matches."
Namgyu's mouth went dry. "Okay."
"I think about being in control. Not in a mean way. Just... having someone trust me enough to let me take over. To let me decide what happens next. I think about taking my time. Making them wait. Making them need it before I give them anything."
The textbook slipped off Namgyu's lap and hit the floor with a thud. Neither of them picked it up.
"I think about mouths," Thanos continued, his voice dropping lower. "What they can do. How they feel. I think about having someone on their knees for me, and how their eyes look when they look up."
Namgyu's hands were gripping the edge of his desk chair. His cock was half-hard in his sweats. It was impossible that Thanos couldn't see it.
"What about you?" Thanos asked. "What do you think about?"
"I think about..." Namgyu's throat was tight. "About being wanted. About someone wanting me so bad they can't think straight. About them pushing me against a wall and just… taking. Because they need to."
"Who's doing the taking?"
"You," Namgyu said, and the word was out before he could stop it.
The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on. Namgyu stared at the crack in the ceiling, his heart hammering so loud he was sure Thanos could hear it. He waited for the laugh, the joke, the deflection that would let them both pretend he hadn't just said that.
Instead, Thanos said, "Come here."
Namgyu looked at him. Thanos was still leaning against the wall, but his hand was patting the mattress beside him. An invitation.
"I'm serious," Thanos said. "Come here."
Namgyu's legs carried him across the room before his brain caught up. He sat on the edge of the bottom bunk, close enough to smell Thanos's laundry detergent, something clean and faintly floral.
"You've been driving yourself crazy for weeks," Thanos said. "I've watched you do it. And I kept waiting for you to say something. To ask for what you need."
"I didn't know how to ask."
"I know." Thanos reached out, and his fingers brushed the back of Namgyu's hand. Light. Barely there. "You can ask me now. For anything. And I'll say yes or I'll say no, but I won't make it weird. I promise."
Namgyu's breath was shallow. "Anything?"
"Anything."
"Will you..." He stopped, started again. "Will you help me? With the frustration? Just… I need to get it out of my system. I need you to help me get it out."
Thanos's hand closed around his. "Yeah. I'll help."
The first kiss was nothing like Namgyu had imagined. It wasn't urgent or desperate. It was soft. Thanos's lips were warm, and he tasted like the peppermint tea he'd been drinking earlier. His hand came up to cup Namgyu's jaw, thumb tracing along his cheekbone, and the gentleness of it undid something in Namgyu's chest.
"Lie back," Thanos murmured against his mouth.
Namgyu lay back on the mattress, and Thanos moved over him, one knee on either side of his hips, straddling him without any weight. His purple hair fell forward, brushing Namgyu's forehead.
"I'm gonna take my time with you," Thanos said. "We've got all night. And I want to hear every sound you make."
He kissed down Namgyu's jaw, along his throat, teeth grazing over his pulse point. Namgyu's hands found Thanos's hips, holding on because he needed something to anchor him.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted this," Thanos said against his collarbone.
"Tell me."
"Since freshman year. Since the first night you fell asleep with your head on my shoulder during a movie." He tugged at the collar of Namgyu's tshirt, kissing the skin he exposed. "I wanted to kiss you then. But I thought you were straight."
"So did I."
Thanos laughed, a low sound that vibrated against Namgyu's chest. "Takes one to confuse one, I guess."
They stripped each other slow. Piece by piece. Thanos's tshirt went first, then Namgyu's. Thanos's sweatpants, Namgyu's shorts. Until they were both in nothing but boxers, pressed together from chest to thigh, and Namgyu could feel how hard Thanos was against his hip.
"Fuck," Namgyu breathed.
"Not yet." Thanos rolled off him, onto his side, and pulled Namgyu with him so they were face to face. "But soon."
Their cocks were straining against the cotton of their underwear, and Thanos reached down, palming himself through the fabric, watching Namgyu's face as he did it.
"Touch yourself," Thanos said. "I want to watch."
Namgyu's hand slid down his stomach, under the waistband of his boxers. His cock was hot and hard in his palm, and he hissed at the contact. He stroked himself slowly, the way he did when he had time, when he wanted to drag it out.
Thanos's eyes tracked every movement. "How do you like it? Fast? Slow?"
"Slow at first. Then fast when I'm close."
"Show me."
Namgyu pushed his boxers down to his thighs, letting his cock spring free. He was already leaking, precum smearing across his fingers as he wrapped his hand around himself and stroked, slow and deliberate. His breath caught on each upward pull.
Thanos watched with his lips slightly parted. Then he pushed his own boxers down, kicked them off, and his cock was right there. hard, curved slightly to the left, the head flushed dark. He wrapped his hand around himself, mirroring Namgyu's rhythm.
"We're gonna do this together," Thanos said. "And you're gonna tell me when you're close. But you don't come until I say so."
"Thanos…"
"Say okay."
Namgyu's hand stuttered on his cock. "Okay."
They stroked themselves in the dim light of the room, the only sounds their breathing and the wet slide of skin on skin. Thanos's hand moved faster, and Namgyu matched him, their eyes locked.
"I want you in my mouth," Thanos said.
Namgyu's hips jerked. "Fuck."
"Lie back. Head on the pillow."
Namgyu shifted, lying flat, and Thanos moved between his legs. He took Namgyu's cock in his hand first, licking a stripe from base to tip, and the heat of his tongue made Namgyu gasp.
"You taste good," Thanos said, and then he took Namgyu's cock into his mouth.
He started slow, just the head, circling it with his tongue, and Namgyu's hands fisted in the sheets. Thanos's mouth was wet and hot, and he knew what he was doing. took Namgyu deeper, inch by inch, until his nose was pressed against Namgyu's pelvis.
"Shit, Thanos…"
Thanos hummed around him, and the vibration sent sparks up Namgyu's spine. He bobbed his head, setting a rhythm that had Namgyu's hips lifting off the bed, chasing the friction.
"Close," Namgyu gasped. "I'm close."
Thanos pulled off, mouth slick, chin wet. "Not yet." He crawled up Namgyu's body, kissed him, and Namgyu tasted himself on Thanos's tongue. "Your turn."
They switched positions, and Namgyu's mouth was trembling as he lowered himself between Thanos's legs. Thanos's cock was thick, and Namgyu wrapped his lips around it, tasting salt and skin.
"Yeah," Thanos breathed, his hand finding Namgyu's hair. "Just like that."
Namgyu worked him slow, learning the sounds he could pull from Thanos's throat. A particular flick of his tongue made Thanos's hips buck. Taking him deeper made his breath hitch. Namgyu wanted to catalog every sound, every reaction, map them all out.
"I'm gonna come if you keep that up," Thanos said.
Namgyu pulled off, his lips numb. "Good. I want you to."
Thanos sat up, pulling Namgyu with him. Thanos reached for the lube in the bedside drawer. the one Namgyu had heard him use late at night when he thought Namgyu was asleep. He coated his fingers and reached between Namgyu's legs, pressing against his hole.
"I want to make you come so hard you forget your own name," Thanos said.
Namgyu spread his legs wider. "Do it."
Thanos's finger pushed inside, slow and careful. Namgyu gasped at the intrusion, the stretch, the heat of it. Thanos worked him open with practiced patience, one finger, then two, scissoring them until Namgyu was begging.
"Please. Thanos, please, I need…"
"I know what you need." Thanos positioned himself between Namgyu's legs, his cock pressing against Namgyu's entrance. "Tell me you want it."
"I want it. I want your cock inside me. Please."
Thanos pushed in, and the stretch was blinding. Namgyu's back arched, a cry torn from his throat. Thanos went slow, inch by inch, until he was fully seated, his hips flush against Namgyu's ass.
"You feel…" Thanos's voice broke. "Fuck, you feel incredible."
"Move," Namgyu begged. "Please move."
Thanos started a rhythm, slow and deep, and Namgyu wrapped his legs around his waist, pulling him deeper. The angle shifted, and Thanos's cock hit something that made stars burst behind Namgyu's eyes.
"Right there," Namgyu gasped. "Don't stop. Right fucking there."
Thanos didn't stop. He fucked into that spot again and again, his forehead pressed to Namgyu's, their breath mingling in the small space between them.
"I'm gonna come," Namgyu said. "I'm gonna…"
"Come for me. Come from my cock."
Namgyu's orgasm hit him like a wave, pulling him under. He came hard, his body arching, his release painting his own stomach and Thanos's chest. Thanos followed a breath later, buried deep, his hips stuttering as he filled Namgyu.
They collapsed into each other, slick with sweat and cum neither of them caring about the mess. Thanos was the first to speak, his voice muffled against Namgyu's shoulder.
"I love you."
The words hung in the air, heavy and fragile.
Namgyu's hand came up, threading through Thanos's purple hair. "Say it again."
"I love you. I think I've loved you since you told me I looked like a radioactive dandelion and then offered me half your sandwich."
Namgyu laughed, "I love you too. I think I've loved you since you stayed up all night helping me study for a class you weren't even in."
Thanos lifted his head, and his eyes were bright, his cheeks flushed. "So what do we do now?"
"We figure it out." Namgyu pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "But first we shower. And then we cuddle."
"Deal."
They showered together, sharing a bar of soap and trading soft kisses under the warm spray. Thanos washed Namgyu's hair, fingers gentle in the long black strands. Namgyu traced the lines of Thanos's ribs, memorizing them.
They changed the sheets with the window open to let in the cold night air, and then they crawled into the bottom bunk together, limbs tangled, skin warm and clean.
Thanos's head rested on Namgyu's chest, and Namgyu's hand was in his purple hair, and the fan hummed its familiar hum.
"Nervous about tomorrow?" Thanos asked.
"About midterms? Terrified."
"About us?"
Namgyu considered it. The fear was there, quiet in the back of his mind. But it was smaller than the warmth spreading through his chest, smaller than the weight of Thanos against him.
"No," he said. "Not about us."
Thanos tilted his head up, and Namgyu kissed him, soft and slow, the way you kiss someone when you have time. When you know they'll be there in the morning.
"I'm still gonna make you study," Thanos said.
"Shut up."
"Cram session starts at eight. Sharp."
"I'm not gonna be awake at eight."
"You will be. I'll wake you up."
"How?"
Thanos's hand slid down Namgyu's stomach, and he grinned against his mouth. "I'll think of something."
Namgyu laughed, and Thanos laughed, and they held each other in the narrow bed until the laughter faded into breathing and the breathing faded into sleep, their legs tangled together under the clean sheets, the fan humming, the night wrapping around them like a promise.