Reza Mansour (aswritten) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-01-14 19:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, reza, reza x shane, shane |
Who: Reza & Shane
Where: out and about in town, back home
When: Saturday night, June 2
Status: complete
Shane hadn't been nervous exactly about living with someone, that just wasn't the right word for it. He had been something about it, something he couldn't name, but living with Reza had been easy so far. Maybe it helped that he didn't see it as living together, they were just on vacation. A longer vacation than he'd expected to be fair, Reza was still there; Shane had no desire to send him back home and Reza didn't seem in any rush to get back to Chicago so their vacation stretched out day by day, week by week. They'd gone to Bangor a couple of times now both to party and to shop so Shane had more clothes in his closet than he'd originally brought. There were some kitchen appliances in the house now that in Shane's mind belonged to Reza because there was no way he was bringing this much stuff back home. The house was a dream and Shane was kind of unironically loving the country club; he was even having some unspoken semi-rivalry with a neighbor that amused him to no end and made his morning jogs a bit more entertaining. The scary thing was, he felt like he could get used to this all. Living in Overlook felt right, weirdly so, and living there with Reza was easy. Of course Reza was exceptionally good at not smothering him, Shane had plenty of time to himself and Reza never made him feel guilty about it which was good when he regularly slipped away to meet Jane or the others. It probably also helped that they knew each others' secrets by now and being so completely himself in front of other people was new to Shane, so far it always felt like he was hiding one thing or another whenever he socialized.
AIR was still off limits and he kept Reza in the dark about his past for a variety of reasons, one of which he told himself was Reza's safety. As soon as things started heating up, Reza had to go home. It was just fortunate that it hadn't happened yet and some days Shane almost believed they had all the time in the world. Living in the moment was beneficial that way.
It was Saturday evening and he'd mostly recovered from their late shenanigans from the night before, cured his hangover with some food, gotten in his daily workout and taken a hot shower. He was pretty much good to go again and found himself regretting that Point Pleasant didn't have a happening night club. That was about the only downside to the small town, the night life was pretty tame in comparison. He was sure they could make their own fun though and he tracked Reza down in the big house - the fact he had to do that probably made this whole living together thing smoother - and flopped down next to him on the couch. "I'm bored," he announced, stretching and wiggling until he had his head in Reza's lap, gazing up at him. "Do you want to do something tonight?"
Reza wasn’t quite thinking of this as living together either, though there was part of him that was sorely tempted to do so. He knew that even though this was turning into the longest ‘vacation’ of his life, it was still not Real Life. They weren’t splitting bills, they weren’t making plans for the future together, they weren’t adopting a dog or anything ... they were just sharing space, sort of indefinitely. He was able to conduct enough business online to keep himself from panicking about work, and so far he was enjoying the hell out of this time up north. There was nothing wrong with taking a sabbatical if he could afford it, right?
He was aware there were still parts of Shane’s life that he wasn’t privy to, in spite of knowing what he could do with fire. On one hand it drove Reza quietly crazy, on the other he kind of liked the intrigue of it all. Sharing space certainly hadn’t been boring, even with a lot of time on his own. Reza had figured Shane out enough to know he was like a cat -- he was particular about how much attention he wanted and when. Given enough time and space, he always came to Reza.
He set his phone aside when Shane did just that, smiling faintly as he looked down at him. “Allah forbid,” Reza murmured, in regard to Shane’s boredom. He slid his fingers through his hair. “Do something like go out? Or do something like stay in and dirty up another set of sheets?” He was feeling pleasantly lazy and relaxed today himself, having done some of his own self care that morning, but Reza thought he could perk himself up into going to Dragonfly or something if Shane wanted to.
Much like a cat, Shane liked being petted like this. It was something he didn't really get on a daily basis in his normal life and he was beginning to wonder if he was in part such a slut because he was touch starved and the only people who touched him like this were people he fucked. Then again those were the only people he let touch him like this so it was very much the bed he himself had made and all that. He certainly wasn't touch starved these days, Reza always petted him when Shane pulled up on him like this and it was - like so many other Just Reza Things - addictive. "Let's go out," he decided because he was also kind of addicted to Dragonfly and the karaoke bar, though he didn't know why as well as Reza did. He wanted to feel good and he wanted to feel admired and he also wanted to get high but he still hadn't found a reliable drug dealer in town.
Reza kept stroking Shane’s hair, equally hooked on the affection that kept growing between them. It was something that had been missing from his own life for a long time, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to give it up once they went back to Chicago. Reza had no illusions that they would be moving in together or anything like that, at least not yet. That was probably another reason he was in no hurry to go back home. He selfishly didn’t want this honeymoon phase or whatever it was to end. “Out we go then,” he murmured, still smiling faintly. “Dragonfly? Or you wanna drive all the way to Bangor?” Bangor had a bit more of a nightlife than Point Pleasant did, but if they were just in the mood for some music and atmosphere and drinks, Dragonfly had proven to be an excellent spot. Overlook was full of its own magic, but it was concentrated at the club, and it always made Reza feel a little high himself.
"That's our spot," Shane all but purred at him even if for a moment he felt like he could be content just sprawled out like this, letting Reza card his fingers through his hair. It was super nice, but it wouldn't last, Shane didn't do well with sitting still for long at a time. "Unless you wanna go belt out another song at the Orchestra." It had a different vibe to it, not quite as intoxicating as Dragonfly but it did stroke Shane's ego because he could get on stage and look hot - even if he wasn't a strong singer. He'd gotten some flustered smiles from some girls when they last went there and that sort of thing made him thrive. They could do both of course, roam between the two places at will if they chose to, so there was no pressure to pick before they left.
“You mean unless I want to show you up at the Orchestra?” Reza teased, smirking down at him. His power allowed him to have perfect pitch, which was probably cheating, but it came in handy for karaoke. Shane certainly had a better stage presence than he did, he couldn’t argue that, and he hadn’t missed some of the admiring looks Shane got from the audience. It wasn’t quite jealousy that sparked up in Reza’s chest when that happened, but it was close. Probably too close. “Let’s start with Dragonfly, see how we feel.” He leaned over to press a quick kiss to Shane’s lips, then bounced his legs a little to get him up.
Shane grumbled softly but sat up when urged to, sprawling by Reza's side. He did still want to go dancing but not enough to drive all the way to Bangor and back just to lose himself on a dancefloor for a couple of hours. "You may be able to show me up in singing but I'm pretty sure I've got you beat in fire play," he murmured, well aware that Reza had a gift that made him master of sounds so it really didn't chafe his competitive side the way some other things might do. "I mean, can you even juggle?" He had rested his head on the back of the couch and now let it lull to the side as he grinned at Reza. He usually got decent at things if he practiced and he was sure he could learn to sing pretty well if he put his mind to it, but like most hobbies he got bored of it all before he got great.
He grinned back and reached over to give Shane’s crotch a playful little squeeze. “I can juggle ... but not in public,” Reza murmured, and planted a kiss against the side of Shane’s neck. He pulled away a second later and stood up with a soft groan. He’d been sitting still for too long, it would probably do them some good to get out and stretch their legs a bit. Reza glanced down at his clothes and decided he just needed to throw some better pants on. “Is that what you’re wearing?” he asked Shane, glancing him over. There was no judgement in the question, just curiosity. Reza liked for them to dress on the same level of effort so they didn’t look mismatched while they were out.
Shane laughed softly and shook his head. He was quite used to Reza's strong sense of fashion by now and he'd been shopping with him so that recognition was even stronger. He hadn't needed words when Shane picked up something he disapproved of, his face too expressive for even Shane to miss the hints. "What are you wearing?" he asked because he might laugh at Reza for being a bit of a snob but Shane was too so he appreciated it. He couldn't slum it anymore, it reminded him too much of shitty times years and years ago so even at home, even 'slumming it' meant his clothes were at least high quality and a nice color scheme.
Reza was glad they’d come to an understanding on clothes -- his style was very important to him, and he was glad it was important to Shane too. They both liked to look good, even if so many other aspects of their personalities were different. “Mmm, something casual,” he said. Now that he was thinking about it more, he wanted to change his shirt too. Reza turned to head out of the room so he could go upstairs -- the only complaint he had about the house was that the bedrooms seemed so far away from everything else. At least now they had lube bottles stashed around everywhere, but the same couldn’t happen for his wardrobe.
"It's Saturday night," Shane called after him before grinning to himself. Casual was for weekdays, they should look fucking amazing on a Saturday night. Of course they were in a small town but he'd been surprised to find Point Pleasant also had a lot of class. Sure, that whole lot of class was sprinkled over a small percentage of the population but it was still there, ever present and rich in the air. He got to his feet and ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing out some imagined imperfections Reza might have left him with, then followed him upstairs. "I'm gonna wear my new black jacket," he informed Reza when he caught up, leaning against the doorframe to the room they most frequently slept in. "So you're gonna have to match that." The new black jacket looked almost tailored on him, he wouldn't have gotten a much better fit from having it specifically made and he was dying to wear it somewhere. It was Saturday night and he wanted to look pretty, damn it.
Reza grinned to himself as he heard Shane’s protest, but kept on walking. It was Saturday night, and he knew it wouldn’t take much convincing to get him dressed up as well. He was just being lazy. Reza was opening up the closet when Shane declared his plans, and he glanced over with a grin. “So the gauntlet is thrown, then,” he mused, then disappeared into the closet. He could match a black jacket, that was for sure. After rooting around a bit, Reza pulled a couple of hangers down and emerged into the bedroom proper to start to strip. He’d picked out some tight dark brown jeans, a shirt with a light-colored breezy sort of pattern that always struck him as summery, and a jacket of his own. He peeled his shirt off and tossed it on the foot of the bed, shooting Shane another smile. “So how often do you have to go to a place to be considered a regular?” he asked lightly.
"I think we're getting there," Shane replied as he sauntered into the room, letting his gaze travel over Reza's body. Sure he'd seen him naked plenty of times but it was always a treat. "We haven't done shots with the boss so we're not quite there yet but it's a small town, it's just a matter of time." He stepped up behind Reza, too tempted to touch to just walk on by so he wrapped his arms around his waist and rubbed his nose behind his ear. "Haven't even done shots with any of the bartenders. Maybe we should do that tonight," he muttered. "Find out who the boss really is."
He hadn’t meant to tempt Shane into coming over to get handsy, but Reza certainly appreciated it, a little shiver running down the back of his neck at the nuzzle in such a sensitive spot. He stroked his fingers over Shane’s arms around him and leaned back into all that nice warmth. Maybe they wouldn’t be out barhopping for long tonight -- though there weren’t really that many bars to hop around here. They had fun no matter what they did, at least. “I’m sure you could give him a few pointers,” Reza murmured with a smirk. “Though Dragonfly’s a lot more ... sophisticated than I would expect in this town. It’s got a good atmosphere. Maybe you could ask for some pointers.” His tone was teasing, and he grinned as he turned in Shane’s arms to face him. Reza gave his chin a little nip.
Shane let his hands slide down to Reza's ass almost automatically once he'd turned, frowning softly at his words though it was mostly a joking response. "You don't like the atmosphere at Firelight?" he asked with feigned hurt. "At least we have a VIP section." Dragonfly wasn't big enough for something like that and it was a completely different place from Shane's club so it was hard to compare the two. He had to admit that he liked the vibe better at Dragonfly, there was something about that place that always put him at ease, even when he was fretting over AIR or when to get Reza out of town to keep him safe or just how much he didn't want to do that. A whole lot of fretting seemed to fade away when he was in Dragonfly with a good drink in hand.
Reza didn’t want to out anyone, especially if Shane was aiming to have drinks with Dragonfly’s owner, but it was so tempting to explain the difference. That kind of feel-good magic wasn’t something that Reza could re-create, it just wasn’t his forte. He was very curious about who could, though, so he was eager to have drinks with the owner too. He did think he could create a lingering effect to enhance the music at Firelight, he’d just never experimented with that kind of long-term charm. “You know I love it,” he murmured warmly, grinning at Shane’s pouty expression. “Especially when you’re there.” Reza stole a soft couple of kisses, then sighed. “Better get changed before I try to talk you into staying.”
Shane was good with Reza only loving Firelight when he was there. It wasn't even really his own stomping ground outside of work even if it did have a kickass dance floor. It was just a little too straight for the most part, a certain type of crowd that Shane could easily get along with but they'd never make him feel at home. He was pretty sure Reza would have an easy time talking him into undressing instead of getting dressed but he did want to go out so after those sweet kisses he let go of Reza and stepped back to head to the closet. He didn't need to change his pants but he wanted a different shirt to go out in, something more nightlife friendly.
They started at the Empty Orchestra, which Shane for some reason kept thinking of as the Electric Orchestra and some online sleuthing confirmed that it was indeed partially the name of a band so that made sense he guessed and he wondered where he knew it from. The Empty Orchestra was a great place for peacocking and since they'd both dressed to the nines it made sense to get an outlet for some of those exhibitionistic feelings there before sitting down for a drink at Dragonfly. They had a few drinks and Shane was feeling nice and loose as they walked the main street, doing a little window shopping on their way to their next destination.
It was funny how he could not be in the mood to sing, but once he was in the company of a microphone and karaoke setup, Reza was more than happy to perform. He and Shane showed off for one another and the other patrons of the Empty Orchestra, getting a few rounds of applause here and there, which was always a boost. When he wasn’t singing, Reza was ogling his man -- because Shane was his, at least for now -- and enjoying himself. Dragonfly was as chill and vibey as ever, the drinks were delicious, and by the time they left to wander a bit, Reza was feeling good and buzzy. He wasn’t even sure where they were going now, just that he was enjoying being out with Shane. Though he was definitely looking forward to getting back home too, considering how good he felt. He had just slipped his hand into Shane’s when a scream pierced through his happy haze. It was incredibly loud and distinctly female, and it made Reza jump, his hand clenching Shane’s by instinct. Reza stopped short and immediately started to look around.
Shane had no real destination in mind, he was curious about what other places there might be and sometimes the best places to hang out weren't the most obvious ones so roaming around and chatting up the locals seemed like a fun plan for tonight. Going to the pier next seemed like the optimal plan, there were a lot of restaurants there but maybe they were hiding some happening little space too. If not, then home was the obvious destination, they could make their own fun. He was about to say something about a store they passed when Reza jolted and whatever Shane had meant to say was instantly forgotten.
"Whoa," he said softly and for a second he thought Reza had just tripped or something - until he saw the look on his face. "Hey," he added in a questioning and concerned tone, unable to help looking around too before realizing it looked like Reza was looking for something and he had no idea what that might be so he wouldn't be helpful. Rather than ask he just gave Reza a puzzled look because he looked honestly shaken at that moment.
In spite of the tight grip of his hand, Reza wasn’t focused on Shane at all. The first scream had barely faded before another one came, this shriek even louder and more desperate. It was followed up by a couple of cries for help that made all the hair on Reza’s body stand on end. The noise sounded close enough that it could’ve been coming from across the street, but Reza saw nothing but a couple of other people meandering around. No one seemed alarmed, and Reza finally noticed that Shane was looking at him instead of for the source of the sound. He couldn’t fathom that no one else was hearing what he was hearing, and his quick instinct was to find the source and help. “Come on, I think it’s this way,” he said in a breathless rush, lurching into motion again to cross the street. The woman screamed again, and something turned over uncomfortably in Reza’s stomach, because the voice sounded familiar now.
"Reza," Shane said quietly but he followed and not just because Reza was still clutching his hand. "What is this way?" He was halfway smiling again, wondering if Reza was pulling his leg but there was uncertainty there because he did look genuinely shaken. Maybe he was that good of an actor but he hadn't come off as someone who liked pranks so far. That left the other option, that Reza could hear something Shane couldn't and that would make sense given his abilities. He could manipulate sound to his heart's content, what if he could pick up sounds that normal people couldn't? In that case, what exactly was he hearing? Shane hoped it was a prank because if it wasn't, then something was obviously wrong.
“What?” Reza asked, distracted, glancing back at Shane and frowning. He could barely hear Shane’s words over the screaming, but he definitely didn’t look like he was alarmed at all. Reza stopped again once they were on the opposite sidewalk, turning his head like a radar dish until the woman shrieked for help again. Why was no one running? Why was there no commotion? And fucking hell, where was she? Why couldn’t he get a bead on where the sound was coming from? “Can’t you hear that?” he demanded of Shane, panic starting to set in. Reza’s head whipped from one side to the other as he tried to place the direction the cries were coming from. His heart was already racing with adrenaline and when the next shrieking cry for help was in Arabic, he thought it might stop altogether. “That’s --” He was interrupted by another piercing scream, it sounded like she was dying, and Reza dropped Shane’s hand and started to run down the sidewalk. “Farah!” he called.
"Whoa," Shane called after him, hesitating only for a second before sprinting to catch up, grabbing Reza's arm once he did. "What's gotten into you?" he asked as he physically stopped him from running on, suddenly worried he was going crazy and would run in front of a car or something. Not that there was major traffic here but he wasn't exactly looking around and assessing their environment either right now. His focus was fully on Reza, alarm and frustration humming through him as he pulled him back. "There's nothing there, who the hell is Farah?" Or what? He'd learned a few words in Arabic by now, most of them dirty, and Farah wasn't one of them.
She was still screaming, still calling for help, and Reza couldn’t understand why Shane was grabbing at him and asking stupid questions. The sound was hugely loud to him, filling his brain, making him panic and forget that it didn’t make any sense for his sister to be in Point Pleasant. He hadn’t even told his family where he was going on vacation, just that he was out of state. But it was Farah, he was absolutely sure, and someone was hurting her. Killing her, by the sound of it. “My sister, she needs help! Listen!” he growled, shoving roughly at Shane’s chest to get him to let go. He was strong and the grip on Reza’s arm started to hurt, but he still fought against it, twisting and pulling. “Farah!” he yelled again, his head swiveling again as the scream seemed to change direction. People were stopping now, but looking at Shane and Reza instead of anywhere else. “Let go!”
Shane tightened his grip on him and forced him to turn around to face him and be able to grab both his arms. "There's nothing-" he started loudly before thinking it through and lowering his voice again. "Why would your sister be here?" Reason, maybe reason would get through to him. "And why can't I hear her?" Was it possible that AIR had her? That she had some sort of a psychic gift too and was projecting this at Reza? That they'd caught up to Shane and found out about Reza and were now fucking with them in some bizarre way? Yes. Yes it was all too damn possible but Shane wasn't going to jump to those conclusions, not when he couldn't hear a damn thing except for Reza's freaking out.
Reza was breathing hard with fear and effort, and he flinched as another screech made his ears ring. Gods, that was a horrible sound, a wrenching sound he felt down deep in his chest. She sounded so terrified and in so much pain and he couldn’t get to her. But the sense in what Shane was saying was getting through, and there was something so wrong about the sound itself, how it kept changing locations and he was the only one hearing it -- was she being hurt somewhere else? Was he picking up on it magically or psychically in some way? Was he just completely losing his shit for no reason? Reza gave another couple of weak pushes against Shane, fear and helpless desperation making his eyes tear up. “Let go,” he repeated, quieter this time, his voice ragged. “Let go, I -- I need my phone.” He had to call her. And if she didn’t pick up? Then he would really freak out.
Shane had no idea what exactly Reza thought he was hearing but it was clearly nothing good so he was relieved that he seemed to listen instead of making more of a scene. It was late, closing in on midnight, so he hoped Reza's sister was awake and that this wouldn't fuck something up for either of them. Family was a weird thing and what little he knew about muslims he couldn't imagine they were happy enough with Reza's lifestyle to put up with him calling at random hours, freaking out like this. "Okay, yes, call her," he muttered, letting go of Reza before slipping his hand to his back to lead him to somewhere a little more private. "Take a breath first, you don't want to scare her when she picks up." He put a little emphasis on 'when' because Farah was not here.
His shoulders high and tight, everything stiff with agitation, Reza started walking where he was guided. He wasn’t paying attention to that, he was focused on unlocking his phone -- something he failed to do the first couple of times because his hands were trembling so bad -- and pulling up Farah’s number. Even as he hit the green button on the screen, he heard another shriek, though it sounded further away. He couldn’t help but imagine her being assaulted, her phone ringing uselessly in her purse or smashed on the ground or -- Reza’s breath caught as the line connected, and his sister’s voice was there, her tone questioning as she greeted him. “Farah?” Reza asked, not taking Shane’s advice about breathing very well. He switched to Arabic as he veered away from Shane slightly, all of him still buzzing with adrenaline. Farah told him she was fine and asked him what was wrong and Reza stumbled over his words, not having any good excuse ready. He ended up telling her he just had a nightmare and it shook him up. Even as he was talking to her, he could hear the screaming, but it seemed to be getting farther away, and by the time they hung up a few minutes later, it had faded completely.
Shane had never seen him like this and it cut deeper than he wanted it to. He'd had his share of people freaking out and crying but they were usually people he didn't give a shit about, drunk people at parties, someone freaking out on a bad trip. This was Reza and he wasn't even that drunk. He listened intently as Reza spoke to his sister on the phone, lied to her about the nightmare, looked confused and lost and still jumpy like something was still wrong even if he had her right there on the phone. When the call ended he watched him a moment longer, brows furrowed and jaw set. "She's okay," he said though there was a hint of a question there even if he'd heard Reza clear enough that he knew she was. "You wanna tell me what the hell just happened?"
Reza still felt like a taut wire as he pocketed his phone again. His steps slowed to a stop and he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths to try and slow his heart down. Farah had been just fine. A little worried about him, but otherwise fine. He heard Shane’s question and it was a completely reasonable thing to ask, but Reza wished he hadn’t. He didn’t want to explain it, he just wanted to go home and get away from here. If the screams hadn’t been coming from his sister, where the fuck had they come from? Why was he the only one to hear it? “I don’t ... I don’t know,” he admitted, letting his hands drop. He glanced around them helplessly, then started to walk again. “I heard screaming, it was -- I can’t believe you couldn’t hear it, it was so loud. It sound-- sounded just like my sister.” His brow furrowed deeply, he glanced behind them at nothing in particular.
Shane wet his lips and looked around as if the things he could say might somehow magically appear to him if he just looked hard enough. It sounded insane, but so did his whole life story and what they were capable of was plenty crazy all on its own. He didn't want this to be AIR, and he didn't want this to yet another Point Pleasant ghost story so he scrambled to find something - anything - else to pin it on. "Did you take anything? Have you only been drinking?" He wasn't here to monitor Reza's every move, he could be rolling on hard drugs half the time and Shane doubted he'd notice. "No judgment, I once rolled so hard I thought I was made of sticky tack." He didn't expect Reza to think he'd ever judge him for something like drugs but it was worth noting. "Can you still hear it?"
“No, I didn’t take anything,” Reza said, more defensively than he meant to. He didn’t have anything against drug experimentation, but he hadn’t been doing any of it lately. He wouldn’t even know where to start looking in this tiny ass town in Maine. Had someone slipped something into one of his drinks at the bar? Why would it take so long to kick in, and in such a weirdly specific manner? He felt a little drunk, but not stoned or like he was tripping. Drugs didn’t make sense. “I don’t, it kinda ... faded out while I was talking to Farah. But I could still hear it while she was on the phone, so I don’t ... I don’t know what the fuck it was.” He looked around again, as if he might spot a murdered woman who’d been the source, but it was still just the normal street with people ambling around. Was his magic going haywire? “Maybe ... maybe it came from somewhere too far for you to hear, but I picked it up somehow ...”
Shane ran his fingers through his hair, agitated as well and absolutely hating not feeling in control of the situation. "Let's go back to the house," he said but even as he said it he wondered if they should stay in a public place. What if it was someone fucking with them, what if there was something worse waiting for them in Overlook. He'd meant to take an uber home but this whole thing made him feel sober enough to drive so he figured they could walk back to the Orchestra and at least get in the car. They needed privacy and they needed shelter. "We'll figure this out," he muttered, already wondering if there was someone in town who had gifts like theirs, someone who could project things at people, make them hallucinate. But why Reza? For all anyone knew he was just a tourist, Shane was the one with roots in this damn place.
Going back to the house was the only thing Reza wanted to do. He didn’t know enough about what Shane was mixed up in to think it had anything to do with him, but he had sensed so many things weird about this town. Maybe it was Point Pleasant. There was so much magic around, maybe it had distorted his own somehow, made him more sensitive to ... something. Or maybe that had been a haunted section of sidewalk or some other unfathomable thing. Reza just hoped he’d been hearing an echo of something that happened long ago, and not a woman who sounded oddly like his sister and spoke Arabic being murdered in real time ... It occurred to him then that maybe he’d been hearing the future, and his stomach gave a sick lurch. Reza’s head spun in terrible circles until they got back to the rental car and climbed inside. He rubbed his hands over his face and tried to get himself together. He was so tempted to call Farah again, maybe every thirty minutes to make sure she was okay. For the first time he felt too far away from home, and he didn’t know what to do about it.
Shane had no idea how to deal with this, half his theories about what had happened were connected to things he did not want Reza to know about, the rest hinged on Reza having taken something and he was adamant he hadn't. Drugs didn't work like that either so even if he had, well, it made no sense. The night was ruined, that much was clear and he kind of wished he did have something to take the edge off. "If you've ever dropped acid, it could have been a flashback," he mumbled after sitting inside the car in silence for a little too long. "Or some of those damn ghost stories are true." He eyed Reza curiously, wishing he could wave a hand and make them forget all about what had happened. "Whatever it was, it wasn't real."
Reza didn’t think it was drugs. He’d only been mildly drunk when they’d started walking, happy and buzzy, and it wasn’t like he was having other hallucinations, or losing consciousness or anything like that. Nobody had drugged him, and he’d never had an acid flashback in his life. He knew Shane wanted to figure it out and dismiss it, but Reza really wished he would just shut up and drive. “It sure sounded real,” he muttered, the heels of his hands still pressed to his eyes for a moment. Reza finally let them drop and looked over at Shane. “Let’s just go, okay? I just ... want to be somewhere else.”
That was at least a feeling Shane could relate to as it was something he felt all the damn time and now was no different. It was also something he could do something about so he started the engine and got them moving, dark thoughts swiveling around in his head. Some of those were that this thing with Reza had definitely run its course now, that this was Not Fun and it was time to cut him loose. He didn't have time or energy for more crazy shit in his life so close to what might be his demise and still the thought of Reza leaving made him feel sulky as hell. Damn it. Maybe if Reza was this upset all the time it would be easier because he sure as hell wasn't making Shane feel good at the moment. He thought of something to say a few times but swallowed it back because Reza was giving off the sorts of vibes that said talking wouldn't be very welcome and Shane didn't think the things he had to say were helpful in any way so the driving back was quiet and uncomfortable.
Until they reached their street that is, where it got decidedly not quiet. There was a party next door and it had spilled out onto the street with some very drunk and scantily clad teenagers doing drunk-teenager things like yelling, babbling and of course, no teenage party was complete without a crying girl or two. Fantastic. Normally Shane wouldn't mind but tonight it was annoying. Thankfully the houses here were far enough apart that they probably wouldn't hear all the noise once they went inside. Shane tested the theory by getting them inside the garage where it was already more peaceful but he almost wished they were at a loud party themselves, he needed a distraction and he had no idea how to handle Reza when he was upset.
Unaware that reacting genuinely to something so terrible that he had no control over had all but sealed the fate of their non-relationship, Reza stayed quiet throughout the drive too, his gaze turned out the window. He kept half-expecting them to drive past a horrible bloody scene with a woman in a hijab in the middle of it. There was no such thing, of course, just the quiet streets of Point Pleasant at night rolling by. Once they were near the house, the noise from the party caught his attention too, and Reza frowned faintly as his head turned to glimpse the teenagers on the front lawn. Luckily Shane pulled into the garage, so they didn’t have to engage at all. It was just high schoolers being high schoolers, he just didn’t want to deal with them. Hopefully nobody other there got it into their heads to fuck with the neighbors. Once the vehicle was parked, Reza sighed and ran a hand through the top of his hair. “I’m sorry that, uh ... it was a scene,” he murmured, feeling like he owed that much at least. Shane knew him well enough by now to know how collected he usually was. “Nothing like that has ever happened to me before.”
When it came to causing scenes in public Shane had dealt with far worse and when it came to Weird Shit - yes, that too. It was just harder this time because he didn't know what was going on and it was Reza and not some random drunk twink throwing a hissy fit outside a club. "Really?" he asked quietly when Reza spoke. "You can manipulate sound and you've seen me do what I do, I would have thought you dealt with weird shit all the time." He wasn't exactly fishing now, but there was always a part of him that wondered if Reza had any sort of interactions with AIR or similar without realizing it. Maybe he was an experiment, they just kept tabs on him from afar. That definitely spelled trouble, that would explain why they targeted him now. Only no, it didn't make sense. Shane did not feel smart enough for this and it was a rude reminder that he wasn't equipped to fight AIR with anything but fire.
Reza glanced over at him with his brow furrowed a bit. “I mean, yeah I’ve heard and seen some strange shit, but nothing like that,” he said. He knew some witches, he believed in a lot of supernatural things, and Reza was pretty sure he’d heard some sounds that weren’t of the natural world, but nothing as disturbing as that had been. Nothing so personal. “I mean, I’ve never heard someone screaming for their life before, have you? A family member, no less?” Maybe Reza lived a sheltered life in Chicago, only associating with a few witches he trusted and just living the rest of his life as normally as possible, but he was pretty sure that anybody would have been upset by what he’d heard.
Shane had no idea what Reza had really heard, if the familiarity was a projection of his own or if it was something deliberately fucking with him. He liked to think it was just Reza being a little hysterical but he worried that wasn't it at all. "No," he admitted. "That's pretty out there on the fucked up scale. Maybe it was- someone watching a movie somewhere and your thing just went a little crazy. You didn't hear the voice scream your name, did you? Did it say anything at all?" He almost wished it had happened to him instead. Sure, his paranoia would be blowing up by now but at least he knew he was a potential target, he could go to Jane or the psychic guys in his group and try to figure this out. With it happening to Reza, he felt helpless and in the dark. Second hand encounters were never detailed enough to assess a situation and he had no idea what was going on in Reza's head.
His frown deepened even further. It was appealing to think that there was some innocent explanation behind it such as Reza tuning into someone’s violent movie, but he didn’t think so. That just didn’t sound right. It hadn’t been Farah though, he’d checked. And while his fingers itched to text her even at that moment, his gut said she would be fine. That didn’t negate how shaken up he was over it all though. “No, not my name,” he told Shane, his tone doubtful. “But she was speaking in Arabic, calling for help. Screaming for it.” Reza sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Seems like a weird type of movie for somebody in Point Pleasant to be watching ... and the most convenient timing for me to tune in. I don’t know, man. It was weird.”
"Maybe it was a psychic fucking with you," Shane said and it felt like he was showing yet another card in his deck, no matter how general it might be. He sighed and tilted his head back, feeling those damn gears in his brain grinding painfully. Tell him, don't tell him, tell him... He wanted to make it make sense, he wanted to make it go away. "I've met people who can do all sorts of fucked up shit so maybe it was a ... homophobic psychic attack." He huffed, knowing that didn't make a whole lot of sense but that's where he was leaning now. Maybe he'd ask Mal and Toby whether there were more people in town that they knew of. Hell, maybe Mal could do something like that, maybe underneath the pleasantries he really was a religious zealot who lashed out when he saw a queer muslim wandering his streets. Could he do something like this though? Shane had no idea. He knew worryingly little about what all everyone could do and he hated it.
It didn’t sound so far-fetched to Reza. He obviously believed in psychics -- real ones, not the charlatan palm-reader types -- since he was semi-dating one, and had met a few others in his life. People who had powers that had nothing to do with magic. He wasn’t sure what he could’ve done to one of them in town that was bad enough to warrant this kind of emotional attack ... unless Shane was right and it was just a demonstration of homophobia. Could a psychic pluck the sound of his sister’s voice right out of his head and use it against him? That made more sense than Farah actually being in that sort of trouble, he supposed. “Yeah, maybe,” he murmured, his tone less doubtful than before. It was still concerning, though. “There’s a lot of weird shit in this town, I feel it around, everywhere, all the time. Even that party next door, I picked up on a pop of magic coming from some of those kids, you know? It could’ve been anything, maybe ... I don’t know, maybe we walked through a pocket of cursed sidewalk or something. It’s over, at least, hopefully it’ll stay that way.” Reza reached for the car door handle.
Shane wasn't sure what to make of that because he sure as hell couldn't feel it when other people had gifts like his own and magic was a whole different thing from whatever it was that roared inside the kids from AIR. It was such a blurry line though, did that mean Reza was a witch and not a psychic? The idea was disappointing in a weird way and he frowned a little as he considered it. Of course Reza's powers were so different from his own, he picked up on soundwaves, manipulated them, maybe he could pick up on other things too and 'magic' was just a throwaway word. At least Shane knew for sure that one of those teenagers next door was Jules Cooper so that might be what Reza was picking up on. But he'd said there was magic all around town and Jane had said AIR was manipulating the whole place. If it wasn't literally magic, this could come in handy but... Magic. All those thoughts rolled through his mind like a damn steamroller - magic, witches, psychics, cursed sidewalks, AIR, the plan - "When you say magic- you mean just, strange shit?" he said finally as Reza opened the door. "Are you a witch or a psychic?" He kind of didn't want to know and so the words came out a touch stunted.
Reza realized his mistake too late. They knew what one another could do now -- at least to an extent -- but they hadn’t delved into the whys and hows of it all. Reza knew that Shane’s power didn’t come from the same source as his own, but that didn’t bother him. It hadn’t really occurred to him that it might bother Shane. Something in Shane’s tone just then made him wonder though, and he looked around with his brows drawn together again. “I’m a witch,” he answered after a pause of his own. “So, yeah, I mean magic.” He was tempted to ask if Shane had a problem with that, because he had a not-great look on his face that Reza didn’t know how to interpret, but he bit it back.
Shane had a very limited experience with witches, he knew they existed, he'd met one at AIR who occasionally came and healed him when things got bad, everything else he knew he'd heard from Jane. The fact Reza was a witch wasn't a bad thing per se, but he'd been operating under the assumption that they were the same so there was a rush of disappointment. Of course that also meant that if AIR came by with a nul to quiet his powers, that shit wouldn't work on Reza. And then he remembered he needed to stop involving Reza - even in theory - in all this bullshit. "Guess I don't have you all figured out yet," he said with a small, crooked smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Witch."
It was obvious that Shane had some feelings about that, and they weren’t all good. Reza felt exhausted and alone all of the sudden, the first time he hadn’t felt like he was where he was supposed to be since they’d arrived. It came with its own disappointment, and after the way the night had gone already, it stung a little. He tried to tell himself that they were both just tired and rattled from whatever-the-fuck had happened, but Reza wasn’t sure he really believed that. Had Shane had bad experiences with witches before? Had he just been assuming Reza was psychic like he was? What a shitty end to a good night. “That’s a good thing, right?” he murmured, giving his own wan smile. “Keeps the mystery alive.” Maybe it was too flippant, but it wasn’t like they made a habit of talking seriously, and he didn’t know if he had the energy for much more. Reza waited a beat, then moved to climb out of the car. He wanted to be inside and unwinding.
Shane didn't really want to go inside, he wanted to go for a drive, park the car somewhere and be alone. It was alarming to him that he felt reluctant to do just that, reluctant to leave Reza by himself after what he'd been through. Just tell him you'll be back later, he thought to himself as he watched Reza get out. Just leave. He tapped his fingers on the wheel, then jerked the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. He could leave later. He could always leave later. "Hey, come here," he muttered as he caught up with Reza by the door, lightly gripping the back of his jacket to tug him back. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but Reza turned around easily enough and Shane grasped him by the arms and leaned in to press a little kiss on his lips. He didn't know what to say, but physical affection came easy.
Reza expected Shane to follow him in, but the tug on his jacket was a small surprise. He turned and was further surprised when Shane leaned in close to kiss him. It felt nice though, and eased a bit of the tension in his chest. Reza lifted his hands to touch Shane’s arms, lingering with his lips on Shane’s for a moment. Affection didn’t make everything better, but the connection the two of them had was so based in the physical realm that it seemed meaningful to Reza. If Shane truly wanted to pull back, he would do it in all ways. Once their mouths had parted, Reza squeezed Shane’s arms a tiny bit. “Have another drink with me?” he murmured. “We can hit the reset button on the night?”
Shane nodded and that was honestly the best reaction he could hope for right now. It wasn't like they'd had a fight, but there had been weirdness and he had a lot more things to be concerned about now. He knew Reza needed to go back to Chicago, tonight had made that more than clear, but that was something they could talk about tomorrow. Or the day after. He wanted to keep pushing it ahead. "You can tell me about this magic you've been feeling around town," he suggested and this could come in handy. If AIR had some sort of magic going on, Reza could pick up on it. Jane had said she knew witches but she didn't know if they were on their side or not. The problem was to figure out how to get Reza to tell him every little detail without knowing how important it was.
“Fuck, I definitely need a drink, then,” Reza said with a little huff. He snuck one more kiss to Shane’s lips and then turned to go inside the house. He stripped his jacket and toed his shoes off near the door, then headed toward the kitchen. The house was big enough that there were a couple of wet bars scattered around with alcohol, but the kitchen was the closest, and Reza felt like he needed something in his hand to sip on. He pulled the bourbon down from the cabinet, fetched a couple of glasses, and went to plunk some ice into them. “Do you know much? About magic in general?” he asked Shane over his shoulder as he poured them each a drink.
"Not a whole lot," Shane replied. "I know there's different types and some witches can heal physical damage." They were also not affected by Nuls, which probably made them harder to manipulate but Shane didn't really know if AIR was actively kidnapping and selling witches or not. "I know it's a completely different thing from what I do, but I don't know why or how." He took his drink when Reza offered it, savoring it despite the urge to throw it all back. "I can't feel it when other people around me are like me, but you can because... Magic." He shrugged, took another sip and then pushed himself from the counter. "Let's take this somewhere else. Bring the bottle."
That was an oddly specific thing to know about witches, and Reza wondered if Shane had been healed by someone in the past. It didn’t quite sound like a bad experience, that was interesting. Reza nodded slightly and grabbed the bottle as he followed Shane out of the kitchen. Part of him wanted to suggest they sit outside, where he could be around the fresh air, but he was slightly worried about hearing that screaming again, and how he might react to it a second time. Once they’d settled in the living room on one of their favorite couches, Reza spoke again. “It has a resonance, magic. Like, it radiates waves, to those who are sensitive to it. I can feel it inside of me, but I think of it more as an outside force that I happen to have a personal chunk of that can tap into the rest that’s just out in the universe. Or, or I’m set to a different frequency that lines up with it, you know? I dunno, studying the magic itself isn’t my expertise.” He took a swallow from his drink. “Yours comes straight from you, all of it.”
Shane felt a rush of pride at that statement and had the mood been lighter he might have grinned. It wasn't necessarily a better thing, witches could apparently tap into some infinite resource whereas Shane only had what was within him, but it was still kinda awesome to hear it was all his. "Have you met people like me before?" he asked and he definitely felt calmer now, settled in by Reza's side with the bourbon burning down his throat and it made him relieved he'd resisted his urges to run. "Or were they all witches?" He'd been operating under the assumption that Reza was Like Him for so long, it felt almost weird to feel those ideas about him shift and change in his mind. He was nothing like the one witch Shane had personally met which was neither a good nor bad thing, it just was. Then again Reza wasn't like anyone Shane had ever met, he was pretty sure about that.
He smiled faintly. “I’ve met a few like you before,” Reza answered. “Nobody with your particular gift, I don't think there’s a lot of pyrokinetics running around the world, at least not being loud and showy about it. But a few psychics with other abilities, one or two who got far-sight visions and a telekinetic. Maybe more I didn’t even know were psychics. Witches tend to gather in loose communities, since we can sense each other, and I met all of them through witch friends.” He felt a little like he was spilling state secrets, even if he wasn’t being specific. Reza didn’t want Shane to mistrust him now, though. It had been such a long road for them to even admit to having abilities at all. So he thought the best thing to do now was be more open and honest. Maybe it would help him learn more about why Shane hadn’t looked happy at the news he was a witch. “Do you know many? From either side?” he asked, eyes on Shane as he took another sip from his drink.
Shane was honestly surprised Reza had met a single psychic since they were hard to suss out and he felt an eagerness well up inside him to ask for names or drop some to see if any of them matched up. "Not a lot," he replied instead, smothering that naive urge to share too much. "People like me hide what they can do and I'm not a mind reader." He shrugged softly and gave Reza a somewhat sad smile because it was sad, damn it. It sounded so nice, having a community that was based on their abilities and not on the fact they were fucking hunted and caged like labatory rats. "You said this place was teeming with magic," he said. "Can you tell where it is? Like locations and people? And what kind?"
A lot of the witch circles Reza had known had been full of young hipsters who tended to hang around with the neo-pagan types of people who were into crystals and reiki and astrology, and the genuine psychics he’d met had come from those circles. They weren’t loud, but not hiding either. They hadn’t been very powerful, certainly none like Shane. Reza had always known there were more in the world, but he definitely hadn’t expected to be falling for one of them. Reza thought about Shane’s questions as he took another burning sip of bourbon. “There’s a lot of it around us, here in this neighborhood,” he answered, hoping that wouldn’t freak Shane out. “I get the sense that there’s like ... a general bubble of protection around Overlook, but a few houses have a higher concentration of it. Not usually next door, but I felt some as we drove up, guess we’ve got some Sabrinas in this town.” He smirked faintly, not sure that Shane would get the reference. “But anyway, uh ... some is easier to identify than others, I feel air magic more than anything, because that’s my element of focus too. If I had to pick a witch out of a line up or find one at the grocery store, I could. Like, the spice shop downtown? Run by witches, no question.”
Shane only knew the Sabrina references from cultural osmosis so his knowledge of it was 'witch' and 'talking cat' and that was about the extent of it but enough that he got the jist. "No wonder you liked that place so much," he said of the spice shop and it felt like asking about this had been the right call. It was both fascinating and Reza seemed a little calmer just talking about it. Shane could relate, it was something familiar and something that didn't include hearing some horrible screaming nobody else could hear. He wanted to ask if Reza had picked up on any dark magic in that spot but decided against it, why bring attention back to the horrible thing when they'd managed to move away from it, even if just a little. He shifted in his seat to reach for the bottle, pouring himself a little more bourbon as he spoke. "And I'm glad I picked Overlook then. Added security we don't have to pay extra for? Sign me up."
Reza was calmer now, which was a good thing. He was still fairly close to being shaken up, and could probably work himself up into being upset again if he thought about it too much, but they were ‘home’ and safe now, cozied up somewhere comfortable with drinks, and he knew his sister was safe. He would likely call her again in the morning just to double-double check, but Reza felt secure enough for the moment. Something Else had happened, and he had no idea what it had been, he was just glad it wasn’t still happening. Once Shane was done refreshing his glass, Reza shifted in closer and leaned against him, his temple dropping to Shane’s shoulder. The weirdness had passed, and now he just wanted some more of that physical comfort. He was tired, it had turned into a stressful evening. “Start a fire for us?” he murmured.
Now that Shane could do and he was glad for the request. He'd probably need to add some logs later if he wanted it to burn for long but for now there was enough there for him to leave it unattended. He wrapped his arm around Reza and kissed the top of his head as fire slowly started crackling to life in the fireplace and just for show, Shane made his own hand a little warmer where he rubbed at Reza's arm. "Better?" he asked in a hushed voice, not expecting Reza to be right as rain so soon but at least he seemed calmer and the bourbon was for sure helping with that. Shane couldn't count the times when he'd walked out on drama, unwilling to deal with other people's emotions and unsure even how to. Then again that drama hadn't been this weird and those people hadn't mattered to him at all. He still felt a bit like he was performing a play he didn't know the lines in but at least he hadn't been booed off the stage yet.
It was so nice and peaceful to be held and watch the fire gradually come to life across the room from them. It would have just seemed like some clever engineering within the fireplace itself, but Reza knew where it came from, and that made it more beautiful to him. He noticed the way Shane’s hand had heated up, and it made him smile a little. It was soothing, probably more than Shane even knew. “Much better,” Reza murmured. He didn’t feel all the way better, but his mood was definitely improving as they settled in. Reza might not have known the extent of Shane’s emotional intimacy issues, but he did recognize that this probably wasn’t something he ordinarily did with the people he was fucking. They were getting closer, whether they liked it or not. Reza quietly watched the fire for a few moments, then turned his head up to kiss Shane’s jaw.
Shane's mind was racing with other things, mainly an argument he was having with himself, spoiled toddler mood vs. logic. He shouldn't have brought Reza here, he should ask him to leave now, but he didn't want to, oh fuck how much he did not want to. Jane was right and he hated her for it. He wanted her to be wrong about him on principle but also he didn't know what to do with having feelings for someone beyond lust. It inevitably brought about some old fears about having to meet the family, about having to lose him, about having to do all sorts of things he didn't want to do and he was kind of stuck in a loop until Reza kissed him. That quieted it all down a little and he hummed softly as he turned his head to catch Reza's lips for a brief but soft kiss.
Reza may have been more in touch with his emotions in general, but it wasn’t like he’d had a hundred relationships or anything, so a lot of this was new territory to him too. He hadn’t fallen this hard for someone in years, and those relationships had obviously ended. A guy like Shane wasn’t the easiest person to figure out, either, so Reza felt a bit out of his depth. He wanted to be there and trying though, and that felt more important than his fears around it. He kissed Shane back, his free hand settling lightly on his chest. “I like being here with you,” he murmured quietly. “Just ... so you know.” In spite of the weirdness tonight, Reza didn’t want to bail on whatever this could be.
"I figured you would have left by now if you didn't," Shane replied with a faint smile before kissing him again. "I like you here," he admitted then, quiet and almost followed up with that insistent voice that he shouldn't stay much longer. Shane couldn't bring himself to say it, a petulant feeling stopping him. He was allowed to have Reza for a little longer, damn it. "We've had a good time." Up until now at least, that weirdness had really brought the mood down but he was relieved that Reza wasn't angrily packing his suitcase already, ready to haul ass out of there. It was a very selfish feeling because of course he should be leaving by now.
It was good to hear out loud that Shane liked having him there, especially after tonight. That ought to be obvious, probably, considering that they were having a good time, and Shane seemed to want him there, but Reza was glad for the reassurance at the moment. He couldn’t help but feel there was something unspoken between Shane’s statements though, and it caused a bit of anxiety to flutter in his gut. Reza didn’t want to turn weird and clingy though, already feeling kind of unsettled. “Mmhmm,” he murmured, moving to kiss Shane again. It seemed easier to smooth things over that way than verbally, considering the nature of their relationship.
It did sound like the start of a break-up, and it wouldn't have been the first time Shane ended a fling with those exact words but the rest of it just wouldn't come. He didn't want it to be over, even if the events of the night had made it clear that sending Reza away was not a selfish thing to do - quite the opposite! He kissed Reza back, gently coaxing him to move closer, hoping to get him up on his lap for the ultimate closeness and certain Reza recognized his predilection for that particular position, at least outside of sex where he preferred having more freedom of movement. This was different though, it always felt good to have someone contently curled up on his lap when they were just making out.
Reza knew very well by now what that soft tugging meant, and he shifted himself around until he had moved to sit sideways into Shane’s lap. He’d been surprised before by how comfortable he was there, given that they were just about the same height, but now it just felt natural. He draped his arms around Shane’s shoulders and kissed him again, his fingers curling in the hair at the nape of his neck. He didn’t know that Shane intended to send him away even then, and sinking into some unhurried kissing was making him feel better about everything. The night had been a pop of weirdness in their cozy little bubble, but that had to happen eventually to everyone right? Maybe not like that, sure, but he didn’t think it would doom what they had. Because there was something real here between them, Reza could feel it.
Shane might not like it but he could feel it too, a powerful feeling growing inside of him alien to him and terrifying while at the same time weirdly soothing and attractive. He didn't know what to do with it, didn't know what to do with Reza and sure as hell didn't know what to do without him by now. It pretty much sucked and there were moments where he felt incredibly stupid for it, like he was allowing himself to be lured into a trap. Maybe not one set by AIR, but a trap nonetheless. Right now he didn't feel stupid or much of anything but calm. Reza fit nicely in his arms and it was so easy to get lost in that kiss and in touching him, like it was the only thing that mattered. He'd never done well at calming someone down and while he couldn't really take the credit for Reza not being upset anymore, it still felt adjacent to helping and that made him feel warm inside, more human.
He was helping, whether he knew it or not. Reza had settled down enough to be calm already, but that wasn’t the same as feeling better. Sitting across Shane’s lap was both soothing and distracting, surrounded by heat he was creating in the fireplace and between them. Reza was in no hurry to move, though he was starting to feel a certain kind of restless, deep in his stomach. Shane’s lips felt as good as they always did, and Reza let himself drift into that thoughtless space where he was just feeling. It was a relief, after how the night had turned, just to turn his brain off and his body on. He slowly rubbed his hand against Shane’s chest as they kissed, wanting him to feel the same.
Shane steadily stopped thinking about all the problems he had to deal with later, that's what later was for anyway, and simply let himself Be in this moment, breathing in the delectable scents Reza used and the softness of his own expensive clothes. It was an easy moment to get lost in, even if the questions he had for himself were still there somewhere on the outskirts, hovering and waiting to be let back in. He didn't care right now, not about why Reza made him feel the way he felt, just that he did. The kiss was slow, intimate and soothing but it was still waking up parts of him as easily as ever. "Do you wanna go upstairs?" he murmured against Reza's lips eventually. "Or stay here by the fire."
Reza had plenty of worries and questions of his own, but he’d gotten used to keeping them on the fringes by now. It was much more pleasant to let himself get lost in moments like these, where all that he needed to do was feel. Living this lifestyle where he was doing that so often was more than a little seductive, and it was probably a factor in the length of this ‘vacation.’ Reza could feel Shane’s crotch stirring underneath him, and it was only encouraging. He gave a soft huff at the question, then let out a teasing whine in the back of his throat. “Why couldn’t you have rented a mansion with fireplaces in the bedrooms,” he faux-complained, then smirked and nipped at Shane’s bottom lip. “Upstairs.” They could make it cozy up there too, where the lube and bathroom were more convenient.