Lito "El Caido" Rodriguez (lito) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-01-21 21:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | lito rodriguez, will gorski |
Who: Will Gorski and Lito Rodriguez
When: December, during the mistletoe event
Where: The Mall
What: Talking, kissing, shopping, whatever they feel like it.
Status/Rating: Low
Will had never spent Christmas outside of Chicago before, and he had to admit that he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. On one hand, it would probably be nice to not have to deal with his father getting drunk and passing out in the living room for the twentieth year in a row, or listen to his yearly Christmas rants, but on the other hand, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with himself if that wasn’t part of his Christmas tradition.
At least the snow helped make California feel a little bit more like home - having a green Christmas felt strange somehow. And with Kala and Lito around, he didn’t feel entirely alone. In fact, having Lito there with him made him not want to just give up entirely when faced with the crowds at the mall.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Will said, looking at the sea of people before them bleakley. “I would have done my shopping earlier, but work…”
Crowds were Lito’s specialty. He liked them, appreciated their energy and enthusiasm, and half of the fun of the holidays was dealing with people. Naturally there would always be people who were rude and for whom the holidays brought out the worst in, but Lito didn’t personally know those types of Grinchy people. Christmas in Mexico was always a little different than in America. In his family, the person who brought presents was baby Jesus. Santa was a relatively newer construct brought on by more American influences.
“It is my pleasure,” he said, eyes wandering over the window displays in front of the stores. He could have done with less snow, and less strange things, but that had simply come with the OC, and Lito was actually getting used to such strange things happening now. “Do you know what you’re looking for, or do you think you’ll know it when you see it?”
Personally, Lito didn’t like Christmas shopping with lists unless he knew the item was specifically what someone wanted. He preferred to window shop until something called his attention, and when it did, that was what he purchased.
“I’m not sure,” Will said. “I think I’ll know it when I see it,” he said. Generally, he was the same way. Unless he knew exactly what he was getting someone, he usually just wandered around the stores glancing at things until something jumped out with him. Back home, he’d grown to know Diego well enough that he knew exactly what he’d get him every year. But this year, with his new partner, he wasn’t nearly as confident. Plus, there was the matter of shopping for Lito and Kala. He’d only just met them months ago, and in the normal course of things, they’d still be acquaintances. But with the dreams, he felt as though he knew them better than he knew nearly anyone else.
Somehow, that didn’t make shopping for either one of them any easier. “I’m probably going to do my Christmas shopping for people back home online. It’s easier when I can ship it straight to them,” he said. “So it’s really just my partner and Kala that I need to get something for here.” And Lito, but he wasn’t going to say that. He suspected that would just make Lito extra vigilant. “Who all are you shopping for?”
However it was that this connection worked, because while Lito had had a fair number of dreams, he was still a bit confused as to some of the specifics, but it seemed some traits were the same across the cluster. Or at least, the pieces of the cluster that had found each other. He grinned at the statement, having thought that perhaps he should have gotten Kala something as well. Though what, was beyond him, as well. Interesting that knowing someone so intimately made things so difficult.
“Just need to get something for my agent.” He shrugged easily at the words. “Most of my family was easy to shop for. My Mamá is usually the hardest as she’s amassed quite a collection over the years and has prohibited me from buying her any more jewelry. Instead I got her some old home movies edited together in a nice DVD. And my Tias all specifically gave me their list of what they wanted. It’s nice playing Santi Clos.” His accent would never really allow him to pronounce that name accurately, and he laughed at how much he didn’t care that the accent was terrible.
The corners of Will’s lips twitched at the endearing way Lito spoke of his family, and his pronunciation of Santa Claus. “I’m sure your mom will love it,” he said. Moms usually did like that sort of thing.
From the corner of his eye, Will detected motion, and he turned toward it. “Is that a mistle-” he started, confused, but before he could finish the sentence the mistletoe was over them, and suddenly, inexplicably, Will placed his hand on Lito’s cheek, and pulled him in for a kiss.
Considering that Lito was her baby penguin, he was sure his mother was going to love it. First because it was a sentimental gift, but second because he had selected videos mostly of her birthdays and past Christmases. He was in the middle of considering a lovely stationery set in a window behind Will for Kala when the man’s lips were on his own.
Lito entirely forgot himself in that moment. Whether because of the unseen mistletoe, or because it had just been that long since he had done something like kiss a person, he couldn’t tell. It was different, he noted, than it was in the dreams. There things felt like memories of memories. Some of which were incredibly detailed and vivid, but not quite as intimate as this somehow seemed.
That they were in such a public place, didn’t register at first to Lito as he found it very easy to kiss back. He was easily swept up in the sudden feelings, and uncertain if they were his own or Will’s for a moment until he remembered himself. Panic began to set in in that moment. The conflict was simply that while Lito’s head was suddenly on high alert and terrified someone might see him, he didn’t entirely want to pull back either.
Will had never kissed a man before, if one didn’t count the occasional dream orgy, but this, he suspected, was something else, like no kiss he’d ever had before. It was as though he was Lito, and Lito was him, and everything felt so intense. It was enough to make him completely forget where they were.
At least, he completely forgot until the tightness started in his chest. His heart beat faster, and not entirely from pleasure, and suddenly, it felt as though the entire world was staring at the two of them. Will didn’t usually feel anxious. He broke the kiss. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I don’t know what came over me.”
For a moment, Lito hadn’t realized how tense he had gotten, nor did he realize that he had actually been holding his breath when the screaming in his head began. Reminding him that if anyone saw him, for whatever reason, his career would have been dead before he and Will had finished their shopping for the day. What just happened had been a lot more intense in real life than it had ever been in any of those dreams, even those odd orgy ones that had felt very real. Except that in the same moment, he seemingly felt very at ease and sure of himself As though the anxiety had been a silly thing that he couldn’t begin to understand.
“Don’t apologize,” he answered a bit hoarsely, his forehead scrunching as he stood there trying to pick apart the strange mess of emotions and feelings he had just had. In his dreams, he had never physically kissed any of the others. Not yet, anyway. “It was a good kiss.”
“Yeah,” Will agreed. He was smiling now, but he had to sheepishly look away from Lito for a moment so he could collect himself. It was hard right now to not think about the Dream that they’d all shared on their birthday. He supposed it was probably strange to have been in an ten-way with someone before actually kissing them, but then again, it was probably less strange than sharing a telepathic connection with two people that shared your dreams.
It only took a moment for him to feel like himself again. “Yeah,” he said. “It was, wasn’t it?”
Lito’s bravado returned almost instantly. He smiled, his shoulders squared, and he held his chin up. There was nothing to see here, was the message he was hoping to portray. Except that he wasn’t entirely sure that was what he wanted, anymore. Lito would never have to explain his sexual orientation to Will, or any of the others in the cluster, they’d all just accept him the same way he accepted all of them. Even the more questionable things that some of them did. Would it really be that much different if everyone else knew? “Where should we go first?”
Will himself had never thought too much about sexuality. Up until now, he had only ever been interested in women, but, if he ever were to have thought of it, he wouldn’t have discounted the possibility that some day, he might fall for another man. Lito was right; no matter what happened, everyone else in the cluster would have accepted them for who they were whether anyone else did or not.
“Let’s try Sephora,” he said after a moment. He still didn’t know what he’d get for everyone, but that seemed like a good place to start.