Archive of Our Own

He wakes up still drunk, which is bad enough without the pounding headache that comes along with it. He winces as he sits up, holding his head gingerly in his hands, squinting against the light streaming in through the blinds that someone forgot to shut last night.

He’s surrounded by a sea of bottles, most of them empty, though the one he’d apparently fallen asleep holding has been drizzling beer over his shirt all night. He sniffs himself, almost hacking as he’s assaulted by the stench of cheap beer.

He pushes himself to his feet, groaning as blood rushes to his head, nearly tripping on one of Laurent’s expensive wine bottles as he does, and makes it to the kitchen without falling on his ass. He pours himself a glass of water, downing it in a handful of long gulps, before refilling it twice. When he’s drunk as much as he can stand, he sets the glass aside and leans against the counter, closing his eyes and fighting against the nausea flaring up in his gut.

He notices, for the first time, that the apartment is quiet. Very quiet. Not even the sound of Damen’s obnoxiously loud snoring disturbs the silence. He worries, briefly, that Damen has managed to throw up and drown in a pool of his own vomit during the night, though he figures that Laurent -- who had been the most reasonably sober of them all and who had put Damen to bed himself -- for all his faults, wasn’t likely to have let his boyfriend die such a humiliating death. Probably.

He goes to the bathroom off the main hall, peering into Laurent’s and Damen’s bedroom as he walks past, finding it empty. They must have gone out, the bastards. They never seemed to have hangovers quite as bad as his.

He takes a piss in the toilet, leaving the door open behind him cos fuck it, not like either of them were around to complain about it.

In his defence, he’s still half asleep when he stumbles from the toilet to the bathroom across the hall, so it’s not really his fault that he doesn’t notice that the bathroom door, normally left open, is closed. Perhaps less forgivably, he also manages to miss the rather obvious sound of running water emanating from inside the room.

He pushes the door open, yawning as he walks over to the sink, and begins to wash his hands. It’s the sound of someone clearing their throat that finally manages to penetrate his sleep-induced fugue.

He stops dead, hands held still under the running water.

He hopes against hope, for a brief and whimsical moment, that perhaps Damen hadn’t left-- that it is him taking the shower that Nik has just walked right in on. It isn’t like they hadn’t shared bathrooms before, or seen each other’s stuff. They could laugh it off, it wouldn’t even be weird, really. Damen of all people wouldn’t give a fuck.

But of course, Nik isn’t so lucky.

It’s blue eyes he meets when he turns his head, not brown; golden hair turned a nutty colour under the spray of water, not black.

Ok, this is fucking awkward.

Barging in on his best friend’s boyfriend in the shower might not be the most uncomfortable thing he’s ever done, but it’s definitely up there. But it’s fine, Nik tells himself. He can salvage this with both their dignities intact. As long as he doesn’t look down, it’ll be fine-- he’ll cover his eyes, shout some sort of apology over his shoulder and high tail it out of there. Laurent will hold it over him for maybe a week or two before they can go about pretending this never happened.

Except, Nik doesn’t have that kind of self-control.

His eyes drop, he’s only human. It’s not like he hasn’t wondered.

He expects Laurent to be… well endowed. A man with an ego like that has to be packing something special, magical, even, to have Damen so thoroughly obsessed. He’s not surprised by what he finds. What does surprise him, though, is the hand Laurent currently has wrapped around his cock, and the fact that it looks very, very hard.

The realisation that Nik has walked in on Laurent jacking off in the shower should send him running. He should look away, avert his eyes, at least turn around. Except, he doesn't do any of those things. Instead he stands there, staring at Laurent’s hard cock, and he swallows.

All the blood in his body seems to rush to his own cock, because he feels mildly delirious for half a moment. He feels almost outside of himself, like he’s dreaming, because he can’t seriously be doing this, can he? His best friend’s boyfriend. He can’t even be thinking about this.

Except, his cock definitely is. He can feel it hardening, pressing at his jeans in a way he knows must be painfully obvious. Any chance he had of sparing his dignity over this is gone. Laurent is never going to let him live this down.

He manages to pull his eyes away, lifting them to meet Laurent’s instead. He expects to find outrage, for Laurent to be looking at him with disgust, betrayal, hatred. He braces himself for the shouting, the insults, for things to start flying in his general direction. Except, that’s not what happens. Instead, Laurent is looking at him with narrowed eyes and an expression that Nik can only define as calculating.

For a long moment, Laurent doesn’t say anything. The only sound in the bathroom is the pattering of water splashing against the tiles. Nik tries not to watch the rivulets of water that run down Laurent’s body, spilling over his jutting collarbones and over his chest.

Finally, Laurent speaks.

“Well?”

Nik blinks. “Uh…”

Laurent rolls his eyes like it should be obvious. Nik would scowl at any other time, mutter some choice insults under his breath, because even now Laurent would take the opportunity to be a smug bitch. Except, Nik can only stand in mild shock and watch as Laurent’s hand starts to move on his cock.

He’s touching himself slowly, leisurely, hand sliding back and forth in one long, languid stroke. He’s watching Nik, eyes as keen as a hawk, and Nik can’t look away.

After a few moments of this, Laurent snorts, in something like exasperation. He pushes open the glass shower door, and makes a sweeping gesture inside.

“Are you getting in or not?”

Nik’s brain short circuits. He opens his mouth, and finds himself utterly speechless.

Laurent scoffs, a sound that has irritated Nik countless times before, except now it goes straight through him, almost like it has a direct line to his cock, and steps out of the shower. He drips onto the bathmat and shivers as his skin makes contact with the cool bathroom air. Nik practically gapes as a gorgeous, dripping, naked Laurent stalks towards him.

Laurent stops before Nik half an arms span away, and reaches out with his wet hands to take hold of the hem of Nik’s shirt. Nik lifts his arms up without thinking, and lets Laurent pull his shirt over his head.

For a brief moment, Nik thinks that he should stop this. It’s not too late, they haven’t yet gone too far, they haven’t done anything unforgivable. They can still salvage this.

But Nik doesn’t stop it. Maybe it’s the part of him that’s still half drunk from the night before, caught up in a moment without enough inhibitions to stop himself. Or, maybe it's a part of him shoved deep down and ruthlessly ignored that’s wondered about this from the day he met Laurent. Maybe it’s the part of himself that shamelessly wants, and now that what he wants is being so readily offered, he doesn’t have the strength to refuse.

It could be any number of those things, but Nik doesn’t stop to think. He’s hypnotised by the cocky smirk on Laurent’s smug face that slowly spreads as his hands fall to Nik’s jeans. The sound of the zipper makes Nik swallow hard.

Laurent pushes his pants down, and Nik bends over to take them off, kicking them behind him. He’s naked, naked in a bathroom with an equally naked Laurent standing half a foot away , and his cock is harder than it’s ever been in his life.

Laurent is looking at it, and Nik feels it throb when he starts to bite on his lower lip, cocking his head before looking up through his eyelashes at Nik in an expression that’s too shamelessly seductive to be anything but deliberate.

“You shit,” Nik says.

Laurent laughs. He steps forward, closer than he’s ever been, and lets his hands rest on Nik’s broad chest. He’s half a head shorter, the perfect height to kiss, Nik thinks. Laurent tilts his face up, breath cool on Nik’s cheeks. He lingers there for a long moment. Nik desperately wants him to close the distance, to be the one to kiss Nik first. At least then, Nik thinks, like the absolute piece of shit he is, this isn’t entirely his fault.

Laurent doesn’t though. Instead he smirks, and leans away, something worryingly mischievous behind his eyes. He turns around, returning to the shower, looking over his shoulder at Nik as he does.

“Well?” He repeats.

This time, Nik knows exactly what to do.

He follows him, blindly, obediently, and closes the shower door behind him.

As soon as he is inside, Laurent shoves him against the shower wall. It would have been hot, were the tiles now pressing flush against his back and ass not fucking freezing. He yelps, back arching away, only to be pressed firmly against the freezing tiles as Laurent plasters himself to Nik’s front.

“What the--”

“Shut up.” Laurent’s takes a fist full of his hair and yanks it back, pinning his head back against the wall. Nik swallows, feeling his throat bob, shivering from more than just the freezing cold. “Don’t say a word,” Laurent says.

Nik closes his eyes when he feels hot lips press against his throat. An open mouthed kiss, right over the swell of his Adam’s apple, and then the tip of a wet tongue as Laurent licks a trail to the right, until he finds Nik’s pulse. He stops there, lips lingering in a filthy kiss, before his scrapes the sensitive spot with his teeth.

“Fuck,” Nik moans.

“I told you to shut up.”

“Fuck off.”

As though in punishment, Laurent’s hands tighten in his hair, yanking back hard enough that his head bumps the wall. Nik curses, though the anger quickly fades when Laurent’s lips return to his throat.

Laurent kisses down to his chest, the thumb of one hand finding one of Nik’s nipples, painfully hard in the frigid cold of the shower. He flicks it idly while taking his time working across Nik’s skin. Nik hopes, distantly, that he isn’t leaving any marks. Nothing he wouldn’t be able to hide with a shirt, anyway. The thought of Laurent leaving bruises on him makes his traitorous cock jump.

Nik tries to close his eyes and enjoy it. It’s been a long time since he’d been with someone even half as attentive as Laurent seems determined to be, but the freezing cold of the shower keeps drawing him back to reality. It hasn’t warmed at all since he’s been pressed against it, and he’s beginning to worry that it might affect his… performance.

“For fuck’s sake, can you angle the water or something? This wall’s fucking freezing.”

Laurent, rather disappointingly, stops what he’s doing to glare up at Nik.

“Must you always complain about everything?”

“I’m just saying, the cold doesn’t exactly do a man wonders in this kind of situation.”

Laurent regards him with a faint amount of incredulity for a moment, before tilting his head back and laughing.

Nik squirms. It’s never fun to be on the receiving end of one of Laurent’s ‘you’re an idiot and I’m enjoying this at your expense’ laughs. Again, his cock doesn’t seem to get the message, and jerks in response to the subtle humiliation.

“Fine,” Laurent finally says. He reaches up and takes hold of the shower head, angling it slightly so that the spray falls over them instead. Nik, expecting hot water, like most sane people would be, is entirely unprepared for the barely lukewarm water that assaults him.

“For fuck's sake,” he yelps, shoving Laurent out of the way and darting out from under the spray.

Laurent is laughing again, leaning back against the wall that Nik has just vacated, not even flinching as the cold water hits him. Nik shakes himself like a dog, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to conserve heat.

“You’re fucking weird, you know that?”

Laurent just smirks, tilting his head back against the wall and looking at Nikandros down his nose. “It’s not weird to enjoy the cold.”

“Fucking snake.”

That earns him a scoff.

“Pussy.”

Nik glares. “Bitch.”

Laurent crosses his own arms. “Coward.”

Oh, that’s how he wants to play it, then? Nik steels himself before moving back under the spray. He props his hands up on the wall on either side of Laurent’s head, looming over him with as much intimidation as he can muster while shivering.

“You know, I can’t tell whether I want to punch you or fuck you half the time.”

Laurent’s eyes flash. “By all means, don’t hold yourself back on my account.”

“Like that, would you?”

“You have no idea.”

The compulsion to kiss him is, ultimately, stronger than Nik’s desire to hit him. Though only just. He surges forward, one hand fastening around Laurent’s neck, keeping him still as he slams his lips against Laurent’s. It’s not gentle, but neither of them want it to be. Nik forces Laurent’s lips open, sucking the bottom lip into his mouth and biting hard. Laurent gasps, and Nik seizes the advantage, letting his tongue press into Laurent’s mouth. He tilts his head, deepening the kiss, taking control and giving Laurent no quarter.

For a man who seems to enjoy, above all else, being contrary, Laurent seems to revel in Nik taking control.

Nik’s other hand grabs a hold of Laurent’s waist, yanking the slim blond against him roughly. Pressed flush, Nik can feel Laurent’s hard cock pressing into his thigh, slipping against wet skin. Laurent shivers, presumably at the contact, and grinds forward. He breaks from the kiss, eyes falling shut as he enjoys the friction Nik’s thigh offers. Nik lets him retreat, instead transfixed by the pink flush on his pale cheeks, the puffiness of his kiss-bruised lips and the way his ragged breath breaks on little moans.

Nik pushes him back into the wall, slotting his thigh between Laurent’s legs, letting him rut as he pleases. He expects Laurent to have some reaction to the tile, but instead the shiver induced by the freezing contact makes Laurent moan. His skin raises in goose bumps, hands tremoring slightly, but if anything he seems to revel in the sensation. Nik studies his reaction, eyes travelling down goose pimpled skin to his chest. His nipples are rock hard, so sensitive Nik needs only to lightly brush them with the pad of his thumb to have Laurent arching against him.

“Like being dominated, do you?”

Laurent’s eyes fly open, snapping out of his haze. “Do you have to ruin every moment with your inane chatter,” he drawls.

Nik offers him a shit eating grin. “But you enjoy it so much,” he smirks. As if to punctuate his point, he grinds his thigh against Laurent’s cock while cruelly pinching hard on Laurent’s pebbled nipple. Laurent yelps, squirming at the dual sensation.

“Shut up.”

Laurent surges forward, swallowing his retort with a kiss, biting hard on Nik’s lip, harder than Nik had bit his own, and sucking it into his mouth.

The pain is brief, sweetened by the soft warmth of Laurent’s mouth, soothed by the gentle tip of his tongue. A contrast of hard and soft, as Laurent is with all things.

Laurent grinds on Nik’s thigh, his hips shifting back and forth in little circular movements. His hands fist in Nik’s hair, sliding through the long strands and using them as a handle with which to pull Nik where he wants him. Where he wants him is his neck, kissing and sucking on ivory skin. Nik is careful not to leave any marks, but he’s never been with someone quite as pale, with skin as delicate as Laurent’s, and so when he pulls away and sees a red mark starting to bruise, he looks up in mild alarm.

Laurent, annoyed by Nik’s distraction, flashes him a dirty look.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says.

Well, if Laurent isn’t worried, Nik reasons, it must be fine.

Nik kisses a trail down Laurent’s throat, having to duck his head awkwardly to reach. His hands hold Laurent’s hips still as he makes his way down to one peaked nipple, hard as a rock from the cold, and presses the flat of his tongue against it.

Laurent’s rhythm falters, his cock jumping against Nik’s belly, and he makes the smallest, most breathless sound, one that Nik imagines he’d be terribly annoyed with himself for letting escape, which only makes it all the more enjoyable.

“Sensitive?” Nik asks.

Laurent’s hands tighten in his hair, pulling hard.

In retaliation, Nik sucks the hard bud into his mouth and, with care, grazes his teeth against it.

The reaction is immediate; Laurent’s back arches off the wall, his hands nearly pull out the chunks of Nik’s hair that he’s holding, and his cry echoes around the bathroom devastatingly loud.

Nik doesn’t stop, keeping Laurent’s peaked nipple in his mouth, sucking harder as he shoves Laurent back against the wall. He pins him there, holding him down when he struggles, ignoring the desperate tugging at his scalp as he continues to torment Laurent.

“Fuck, fuck,” is the litany he hears above him. He smirks, around his task, and moves to the other side.

He’s half crouching to make the angle work, which is a strain on his thighs, but worth it by Laurent’s reaction. Laurent’s cock rubs against his belly now, leaking pearly strings of pre-come across his chest as his hips fruitlessly jerk, only to be washed away by the stream of cool water.

“Do you think you could come like this?” Nik asks, between circling the pink bud of Laurent’s left nipple with his tongue. “Do you want to try?”

Laurent growls under his breath. “I want you to fuck me,” he says.

Nik chuckles, flicking the bud with his tongue. “Are you sure?” He asks. “You seem to be enjoying this so much.”

Laurent yanks his head up, forcing Nik away from his chest to meet his eyes instead. Nik might have been swayed by the heated conviction in them at any other time, but paired with the hot flush of his cheeks and the hard rise and fall of his chest, the intimidating effect Laurent was aiming for is utterly ruined.

Nik smirks.

“You can fuck me,” Laurent says, Laurent demands, like he’s in any position to. “Or you can fuck off.”

“Don’t be like that, sweetheart,” Nik drawls.

Rather unexpectedly, Laurent slaps him.

Nik blinks in surprise. The slap wasn’t hard, per se, but his cheek stings where it landed. Of all the things he expected to get a violent rise out of Laurent, it wasn’t that.

He expects to feel anger, indignation, he would if anyone else had struck him. Instead, the simmering he feels under his skin isn’t anger, or, at least, it isn’t just that . It’s a challenge. His cock throbs as he licks his lips.

If Laurent wants to play it that way, Nik thinks, he’s met his match.

Nik surges upright, crowding Laurent back against the wall, practically slamming him into it, before wrapping his hand around his throat. The other flattens over his mouth, containing the shout Laurent had made at Nik’s sudden movement. Laurent’s hands fall from his hair, instead they clutch at his wrist, trying to pry him away. The heat in his eyes is searing, and Nik thinks it must be a reflection of his own.

When this had gone from sex to a war, Nik doesn’t know. Between them, he thinks, it couldn’t really be any other way.

Nik leans in close, using every inch of his height to make Laurent feel small. “I’ll decide whether I fuck you or not,” he drawls in Laurent’s ear, “Right now, I don’t think you deserve my cock, sweetheart.”

Laurent struggles hard against him, briefly, and ultimately ineffectually. The grip around Nik’s wrist eventually laxens, and Laurent seems to slump against the freezing wall behind him. Nik knows better than to think it’s defeat, given Laurent it could simply be an attempt to lull Nik into a false sense of security before taking him off guard. Everything about Laurent is calculated and dangerous, and having him, effectively, at his mercy, is heady.

Nik smirks, pressing closer, flush against Laurent now. “You want this, don’t you?” The hand covering Laurent’s mouth falls away, travelling down Laurent’s body instead, trailing his fingertips to leave goosebumps in its wake, before reaching Laurent’s cock. Nik grabs it, squeezes it once, and watches Laurent’s eyes flutter. “I think you do.”

Laurent could cuss him out, insult him, say anything in his defence. Instead, his mouth falls open wordlessly, emitting only half stifled gasps, as Nik begins to stroke his cock.

“Fuck you,” he eventually spits out, the words dripping with contempt.

Nik’s hand tightens around his throat, squeezing just tight enough to let Laurent know he would be capable of a lot more with very little effort. He watches Laurent’s throat bob as he tries to swallow, and he feels in his hand the way Laurent’s cock responds eagerly. He leans in closer, breath ghosting along Laurent’s lips. “Only if you’re nice.”

He kisses him, bruisingly hard, a contrast to the comparatively gentle way he strokes his cock. Laurent hips jerk, trying to seek more, which Nik steadfastly denies him. He brings him to the edge, to the point where Laurent’s entire body tenses, his balls drawing up tight, his breath hitching at the peak of unimaginable pleasure.

And then Nik stops.

Laurent crumbles. He makes the most pitiful, desperate noise and his entire body goes loose, Nik’s hand around his throat the only thing keeping him upright. “Please,” he croaks, his hands finding purchase on Nik’s arm, trying to make him move. “Don’t fucking stop.”

Nik bats his hands away, and quickly and carefully flips him around, shoving him against the shower wall. Laurent makes a startled sound, hands pressed to the cool tile on either side of his face to hold his balance. He nearly stumbles when Nik jerks his hips back, making him arch, as his other hand keeps a firm hold of the back of Laurent’s neck, keeping him pinned.

The spray of water falls directly over Laurent’s arched back, dripping down his shoulders and running in thick rivulets over his ass. He looks beautiful like this. He looks helpless, desperate, the near constant shivering making him seem so much more vulnerable.

“I think I like you like this,” Nik says. He strokes a hand down Laurent’s spine, his skin icy to the touch. “You sure you still want my cock?”

Laurent snarls something unintelligible under his breath. Nik ignores him, choosing instead to spit on his fingers and press two against Laurent’s exposed hole. Laurent jerks, pushing against the hand around his neck like he’s trying to stand upright, but Nik holds him down and carefully pushes past the barrier of resistance, lodging the tip of his spit-slick finger inside Laurent’s body.

Laurent is so hot inside, a startling contrast to the coolness of his skin. His hole tightens sharply around Nik’s digit, almost like it’s sucking him, wanting more, wanting to be filled and fucked.

“Shit,” Laurent moans. His forehead is resting on the tiles, his hands curled into claws against its surface. “Oh shit.”

He tries to move his hips, but Nik keeps him still, lodging his legs in between Laurent’s thighs to keep them spread wide.

“You’re pretty loose,” Nik taunts, as he starts to wiggle his finger. “You get fucked a lot, don’t you? You fucking love it, isn’t that right?”

He slides his finger all the way inside before Laurent can respond. He curls it, searching for that soft spot that’ll make Laurent’s thighs shake. He finds it quickly and isn’t disappointed. Laurent cries out, back arching, body like a vice around Nik’s finger. He curses, moans echoing off the tile, so much more vocal than Nik ever dreamed he’d be. His breath hitches when Nik’s second finger pushes inside.

He fingers Laurent slowly and thoroughly, pulling his fingers out to wet them with more spit every so often, until he’s good and ready. Laurent isn’t silent for a moment, protesting at the stretch and burn and demanding more in equal measure. A contrary slut.

Nik pulls his fingers out a final time and ruts forward, pushing his cock between the globes of Laurent’s ass. The friction is harsh, water clings to Laurent’s skin and makes the slide difficult, but the imitation of what Nik is about to do is so satisfying. His fingers dig into Laurent’s hips, keeping him still.

“I’m going to fuck you,” Nik says, letting his cock rest heavily against Laurent’s hole, like a threat.

Laurent moans, pressing back, before he seems to remember himself. “Wait, we need--”

“I’m not getting out of here to go and find it. Besides, someone as loose as you? I think spit will be more than enough.”

Nik almost surprises himself with that. It’s not something Nik has ever said to anyone before, especially not someone he’s about to fuck. But there’s something about Laurent that brings out a mean streak in him. Something about him that makes something darker rear its ugly head.

“You piece of fucking shit,” Laurent snarls. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

But he’s pressing back. He’s angling his hips down, letting the head of Nik’s cock catch against his hole. He’s looking over his shoulder, eyes dark, wide, finding Nik’s and burning. His lip quirks, a flicker of something flashes over his face.

“Let me go,” he says. His tone is positively taunting. “Get off of me.”

Nik growls, hand tightening on the back of Laurent’s neck, pressing his face hard into the tile. He spits on his palm a couple of times before wrapping his hand around his cock, wetting the skin cursorily.

“You’re going to fucking take it,” he growls, and starts to push.

Laurent gasps, body going rigid. “Oh my god,” he moans, voice a higher pitch than usual, as Nik’s cock pries him open. “Oh my god, oh my god.”

His eyes are screwed shut, his mouth open and slack. He’s breathing short and quick, his palm beats against the shower wall once.

When Nik is all the way inside, hips pressed flush, Laurent keens. “ Oh my fucking god.”

He’s a marvel, like that. Hanging off of Nik’s cock, speared open and fucked deep, thighs shaking. It has to hurt, Nik isn’t small, he’s thicker than Damen, but Laurent seems to be revelling in it. He’s grinding back on Nik’s cock, small stuttering movements that keep Nik deep inside.

“Are you just going to fucking stand there?” He gasps after a short while. “Or are you going to actually fuck me?”

Nik lets go of his neck, both hands now taking a bruising hold of his hips. He barely pulls out, the friction is too intense, but he slams forwards hard, forcing Laurent to the tips of his toes. Laurent keens, arching back off the wall. He leans back, arms reaching up and looping over Nik’s shoulder. He takes a fistful of his hair and pulls Nik down, biting his lip hard as Nik slams inside again.

The water runs down Laurent’s front, splashing against his hard cock, bobbing with each one of Nik’s ruthless thrusts inside him. He’s so hot inside, so deliciously hot as he squeezes around Nik’s cock, even as he shivers under the spray.

“That’s it,” Nik grunts. He drives Laurent to his toes again on his next thrust. “Just take it.”

Laurent lets out a sound akin to a sob, and Nik feels his hole tightening, squeezing him so harshly it almost hurts.

“I’m going to-- I’m going to--”

“Not yet,” Nik says. He takes a hold of Laurent’s cock, fingers tightening around the base hard. Laurent shouts at the sharp sensation of it, and quickly realises just what Nik has done when his orgasm clearly doesn’t come.

“Fuck, fuck, stop, let me come,” Laurent snarls. His hips jerk forward into Nik’s hand, drawing his cock further out of Laurent’s hole which makes Laurent hiss. “You stupid fucking cunt let me come.”

“Don’t be like that, sweetheart.” Nik’s hand moves fast, coming up under Laurent’s chin and wrapping tight around his neck. Laurent jumps in surprise, head falling back onto Nik’s shoulder, neck bared and encircled by Nik’s large hand. He squeezes, just a little, and Laurent groans.

Nik keeps him on the edge for a while. There’s nothing more satisfying than denying Laurent when he’s so desperate, when he’s reduced to nothing more than ineffectual insults and barely there struggles. By the time Nik gets close himself, Laurent is red-faced and teary-eyed, and begging for it.

“You think you’ve been good enough to come?” Nik growls in his ear, punctuating it with a sharp, hard thrust. “You think you deserve it?”

Laurent mewls, rising to his toes again before Nik pulls him ruthlessly down, impaling him deep.

“God please, please, please.”

He does it on a whim, a moment of inspiration, remembering how Laurent had reacted to the cool tiles earlier. As he lets go of Laurent’s cock, properly thrusting into him now, hard enough that his hand on Laurent’s neck is the only thing keeping him upright, he reaches for the tap. He feels Laurent’s body tightening, like a coil strung with no slack. At the moment the tension snaps, Nik slams the cold water on quick and fast, and Laurent is belted with an icy torrent as he starts to come.

For anyone else it’d be torture. In a way, Nik supposes it must be somewhat similar for Laurent, though for wildly different reasons. As the freezing water pelts down on him, hitting him from his chin to his cock, Laurent’s body shakes and he comes and comes and comes. His cries echo deafeningly around the tiled shower, he starts to thrash in Nik’s arms, his hole tightening so much it’s painful, but Nik holds him still. Nik holds him still, directly under the spray of the water, and fucks Laurent until he comes.

Nik holds them there, for a while. Laurent is still shivering in his arms, still occasionally convulsing from an aftershock, but he’s limp in Nik’s arms, no fight left in him. His head is slumped back against Nik’s shoulder, his arms hanging uselessly by his sides. He’s still impaled on Nik’s cock, still keeping that one part of him warm even in the now freezing shower.

“You liked that, didn’t you?” Nik says quietly.

Laurent makes a humming sound. He turns his head on Nik’s shoulder, bumping Nik’s chin with his forehead. “Yes,” he says. “You’re rather good at that.”

“And you’re completely fucking insane. Who likes cold water?”

Laurent laughs. He pushes himself forward, Nik’s cock sliding out of him. They both wince, the friction is distinctly unpleasant, and Laurent cringes at the dry, sharp slide. Nik turns the hot water back on. Laurent scoffs at him.

For some reason, Laurent doesn’t kick him out after that. He’d assumed that once Laurent was done with him, he’d be banished from the bathroom and they’d never speak of this again. Instead, Laurent hands him the washcloth and some soap, and gives Nik his back.

It’s extremely weird. Being in the shower with Laurent, washing Laurent. It’s… intimate. More intimate than being balls deep in Laurent’s ass. It’s one of the strangest things Nik’s ever done. He isn’t sure what to make of it. He isn’t sure what to make of any of this.

It wasn’t something he’d ever thought about, beyond some half-baked curiosities. It’s not hard to do, with a man who looks like Laurent. But it’s never something he’d expected to happen. Never something he wanted to happen. For reasons he… can’t quite bring himself to think about. Not here. Not now, in the last moments of… whatever this is.

But it’s nice. He hates himself for the thought, but it’s nice.

Laurent’s skin is rosy pink by the time they turn the water off. He steps out of the shower, dripping onto the bathmat, and takes the only towel hanging on the rack. He wraps it around his waist, before turning to face Nik again.

He just stands there, for a moment, looking at him. His mouth is open, like he was planning on saying something, but got caught out at the last second. He closes his mouth. He cocks his head, smiling

“Sorry, last towel,” he says.

He leaves the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Nik standing naked and dripping wet in the shower.

“You fucking bitch,” Nik says. Then, he throws back his head and laughs.

Laurent is so much more agreeable when he’s being fucked.