Band Sinister - Guy/Philip/Corvin/John (Amused & Crushed)
When John spoke up, it was not in the way that Guy had braced for.
“I want to paint you,” he said one night over sherry, abruptly; then added, with a sardonic nod at Philip, “if you’ve no objection, Phil, of course.”
Guy, who’d been feeling half amused and half crushed, got his hackles up at that; as if he was some tart who could not dispose of his own time without his lover’s say-so. He sat up and said sharply, “And why should his objection matter?”
Phil had his hands raised already, palms out. “Leave me out of it.”
*
That was them, then: Guy chagrined without quite knowing why, Philip amused and half-wary, saying “Christ, love, tell him no if you want to; God knows the bugger thinks too highly of himself and his art”; and John Raven watching, inscrutable, not seeming overly invested in the outcome.
Corvin, naturally, was laughing at them all. “It’s only a painting. I don’t blame John, Guy; you’re a picture to look at, so why shouldn’t he? Don’t scowl at me,” and he pressed a kiss, harmless but alarming, on Guy’s cheek near his mouth.