[ They stop existing to Enri the moment Darius draws close - the "Kennel Club", the Ramseys, the party, all of it. None of it matters and never did.
He doesn't often have the chance to be in public alone, then be approached by Darius; they always arrive together, leave together, stay together, so on the rare occasion when they have to separate and reunite, Enri has the singular experience of seeing just how much of his world his love occupies.
One moment, it's all too loud, too pressing and harsh, and the next, there's Darius. (Darius, and commands. Darius, and steps to take, rules to follow. That always helps. Everything gets so much easier.) One moment, he's flanked by Darius's exes, and the next, they've fallen back and Darius is embracing him.
Kissing him after expectantly offering his cheek - which Enri kissed dutifully and happily, because being dutiful and being happy are never mutually exclusive with them. One of his hands lingers at Darius's hair after they part, a privilege others never got to enjoy because others never enjoyed much about him. Certainly not caressing his hair. (They lost out, Enri has thought so many times.)
He's fascinated by Darius's mouth when he drinks, when he smiles. Enri can still taste him, mint and good cigarettes and whatever he drank earlier, and the traces of what they did earlier, and beneath all that, the familiar essence of Daddy. He feels his cheeks grown warm from the secrets still on his tongue.
It isn't until Darius speaks of rabbits that Enri realizes the two men are still there. A glance tells him maybe Joyce was trying to leave, but unwilling to leave Preston or unwilling to be on his own. Preston is standing in the same place, staring at Darius the way a hungry dog stares at food. But - awkwardly, too. And enviously, yeah, that's there.
Joyce has that hungry dog longing in the darted glances, but -
But there's something else with both of them and it's got them nailed to the floor.
It strikes him then that the reason they haven't left is because they're still obeying. They're waiting to be told what to do, like they're still part of Darius's games. Like he gives half a fuck about them. (Almost expectant, those looks. Like he owes them his attention.) And like the world vanishes for Enri, Enri has vanished for them.
(Has this happened before? Has Darius been with a would-be-puppy and left him for another, more interesting one?)
He doesn't laugh. His expression shifts to one of both pity and disgust.
Darius can treat him like a Puppy. Those two, though - they can't. Tightening his arm around Darius's waist to pull him closer, Enri straightens, then Young, Dumb Puppy look gone from his face and bearing. He lets the other thing creep forward, the thing Darius calls Lovely, just a little.
Just enough.
Darius might've shown favor like that a thousand times in front of them. He never would've let them show possessiveness. Never let them stand as his equal.
He has their attention now, so he takes a slow drink from his glass (tasting honey, whiskey, and Darius, oh-) and, as though he's only waiting for them to leave - then, in a tone very much like the one Darius uses to level orders, he drawls - ]
Walk away.
[ He sounds more like his father than Daddy.
Well. Good.
People are watching, either stealing discrete glances or staring openly, conversations gone stilted. The two men look wrong-footed, Joyce sweating and Preston fixating now on Enri, trying to work something out that doesn't have an answer he'll ever know.
Joyce says something that doesn't quite become audible, then grabs the other man's arm and pulls him into retreat.
He doesn't relax. He doesn't need to; he never really tensed up. When he finally sees their backs, he brushes a kiss to Darius's temple, then lingers there, breathing in his mate until "Lovely" retreats back into dormancy.
no subject
He doesn't often have the chance to be in public alone, then be approached by Darius; they always arrive together, leave together, stay together, so on the rare occasion when they have to separate and reunite, Enri has the singular experience of seeing just how much of his world his love occupies.
One moment, it's all too loud, too pressing and harsh, and the next, there's Darius. (Darius, and commands. Darius, and steps to take, rules to follow. That always helps. Everything gets so much easier.) One moment, he's flanked by Darius's exes, and the next, they've fallen back and Darius is embracing him.
Kissing him after expectantly offering his cheek - which Enri kissed dutifully and happily, because being dutiful and being happy are never mutually exclusive with them. One of his hands lingers at Darius's hair after they part, a privilege others never got to enjoy because others never enjoyed much about him. Certainly not caressing his hair. (They lost out, Enri has thought so many times.)
He's fascinated by Darius's mouth when he drinks, when he smiles. Enri can still taste him, mint and good cigarettes and whatever he drank earlier, and the traces of what they did earlier, and beneath all that, the familiar essence of Daddy. He feels his cheeks grown warm from the secrets still on his tongue.
It isn't until Darius speaks of rabbits that Enri realizes the two men are still there. A glance tells him maybe Joyce was trying to leave, but unwilling to leave Preston or unwilling to be on his own. Preston is standing in the same place, staring at Darius the way a hungry dog stares at food. But - awkwardly, too. And enviously, yeah, that's there.
Joyce has that hungry dog longing in the darted glances, but -
But there's something else with both of them and it's got them nailed to the floor.
It strikes him then that the reason they haven't left is because they're still obeying. They're waiting to be told what to do, like they're still part of Darius's games. Like he gives half a fuck about them. (Almost expectant, those looks. Like he owes them his attention.) And like the world vanishes for Enri, Enri has vanished for them.
(Has this happened before? Has Darius been with a would-be-puppy and left him for another, more interesting one?)
He doesn't laugh. His expression shifts to one of both pity and disgust.
Darius can treat him like a Puppy. Those two, though - they can't. Tightening his arm around Darius's waist to pull him closer, Enri straightens, then Young, Dumb Puppy look gone from his face and bearing. He lets the other thing creep forward, the thing Darius calls Lovely, just a little.
Just enough.
Darius might've shown favor like that a thousand times in front of them. He never would've let them show possessiveness. Never let them stand as his equal.
He has their attention now, so he takes a slow drink from his glass (tasting honey, whiskey, and Darius, oh-) and, as though he's only waiting for them to leave - then, in a tone very much like the one Darius uses to level orders, he drawls - ]
Walk away.
[ He sounds more like his father than Daddy.
Well. Good.
People are watching, either stealing discrete glances or staring openly, conversations gone stilted. The two men look wrong-footed, Joyce sweating and Preston fixating now on Enri, trying to work something out that doesn't have an answer he'll ever know.
Joyce says something that doesn't quite become audible, then grabs the other man's arm and pulls him into retreat.
He doesn't relax. He doesn't need to; he never really tensed up. When he finally sees their backs, he brushes a kiss to Darius's temple, then lingers there, breathing in his mate until "Lovely" retreats back into dormancy.
Nuzzling then, he murmurs, ]
Sorry, Daddy.