They're both prolonging it at that point. Did they truly want to do this? Elliott's body screamed yes, as he could feel that tightness in his pants that always annoyed him.

His mind kept reminding him that this was Cian. What if Cian made fun of him later? What if Cian didn't want to be friends after this?

"Yeah. Over here."

The trek to the room was abandoned as he walked over to the bar, a small display of liquor and other alcohol open for his choosing.

CIAN MAHER

☉

From the way Cian had talked about previous endeavors before, Elliott was wondering if he was lying or not. But, he didn't question him, for the sake of his own nerves.

Really, he wished he had an eggant berry or something, to get rid of these feelings. Or did he?

"Yeah, it's not really what I wanted. But the company wanted me to have something pretty nice, for home shoots," he said, leading the way to his room.

CIAN MAHER

☉

Elliott looked back at him, swallowing hard. Was it that obvious? Shit. He needed to calm down.

"I don't... really do this a lot..."

It wasn't often he'd admit something like that to Cian. But he felt like he should be transparent and open with him if this was actually about to happen.

"You can come to my room."

CIAN MAHER

☉

Did Elliott Jenkins ever believe that something like this would happen? That he'd kiss his best friend of literally a life time and be taking him to his, albeit new, apartment in Sootopolis for more?

Absolutely not.

His nerves were firing, sending nervous energy throughout his entire body as he fumbled with the key to the door. His hands, which were usually calm and strong, were shaking with anxiety and anticipation alike as he finally managed to unlock the door and remove the boundary keeping them privacy.

Because he could feel CIAN MAHER's gaze on his back as he had tried to open the door, as he entered. Eli swallowed, kicking off his shoes before turning to him.

"W-welcome?"

CIAN MAHER

☉

The position, the way Cian grinned up at him...

Fuck. Elliott was in danger.

However, with one last peck, he stood. Eli covered his mouth, looking to the side before gaining the courage to speak again.

"You can take me to my place. If you want."

CIAN MAHER

☉

Elliott should know better by now, he really should. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise when his friend knelt down and licked his stomach.

But he stiffened, blushed, and felt his stomach flip in that strange way he'd only really felt once or twice in his life before. It was so provocative, and the thought of someone catching them there...

"C-Cian... not here..." he said, his voice almost like a whine as he tugged on his hair.

CIAN MAHER

☉

"Why not? My abs are posted in a bunch of ads across Hoenn. Not like no one's seen these before," he said with a snort, crossing his arms.

However, chills ran up his spine as Cian's hand brushed over his abdomen, the expanse of his muscles.

"You want a piece of that too?" he teased.

CIAN MAHER

☉

The way the crystalblooms seemed to light up the dimming area, lighting up Cian's face and highlighting his features, made Eli weak.

Why now? He didn't know.

Elliott grimaced, then stuck out his tongue when he poked his cheek.

"Shut up..."

He was tired of being stuck, so he decided enough was enough. Shimmying carefully out of his shirt to make sure none of his other items of clothing got stuck on the honey, he stripped it off, watching it stay stuck to the tree. He sighed.

"Good thing I have more shirts like that one."

He looked back to Cian, raising one of his eyebrows.

CIAN MAHER

☉

At this point, Elliott couldn't tell if this was all a game or there was something behind all of this. Maybe it was a joke to Cian. But to him...

Arceus, why was everything confusing as fuck?

Because when he kissed him, he kissed him back, and then another time. Like he enjoyed it, wanted more. He didn't know what to think.

"I have to be able to take hot pictures, you know," he said, a shit-eating grin crossing his lips before Cian could kiss it off.

"I guess you aren't too bad..."

A lie. He was good at it.

CIAN MAHER

☉

What he noticed, in the shock of their kiss, was Cian tasted faintly of honey. Thank Arceus that the honey didn't glue their tongues together, or else they'd be in a really fucked up situation.

But, when he drew back, giving a teasing comment, Elliott started thinking as he caught his breath...

He couldn't help but want more.

"You- I- motherfucker," he growled, reaching to grab his face and kiss him again.

CIAN MAHER

☉

Cian insisted he would, and his hand comes to his shoulder. Elliott felt himself being pushed further back against the honey, sticking him back harder into the sticky substance.

Almost like Cian was making sure he had no escape.

"Don't push me all the way in-"

But he was interrupted, Cian's lips meeting his and cutting him off. Eli had honestly believed that he'd stop just before, say "ha, gotcha!"

But they were kissing. Cian Maher was kissing him.

CIAN MAHER

☉

Elliott spotted him taking the pictures, just like he had when Cian got his tongue stuck. Except, he made sure to throw a middle finger or ugly face in there in the middle of it.

"You know, I could just take my shirt off and be free. No biggy," he said, the smart ass.

However, he approached closer, closer, invading more and more of his space. Leaning in and whispering. Of course, Eli was a blushing mess, but this was his best friend. He couldn't back down without a fight.

"Yeah? Would you really? Prove it."

A game of chicken, at least on Eli's part, had begun.

CIAN MAHER

☉

Kiss other things...

"Like what?"

It was probably really stupid of Elliott to ask, to prompt Cian to move further on the topic of kissing. That was a line that hadn't been crossed between the two. Sure, acting like they were boyfriends and stuff wasn't unusual.

But nothing physical had happened.

What was with the Maher twins all of the sudden? First caden maher, and now Cian...

"L-Like what...?" he said, almost nervously, blushing as he backed up-

Into the sticky honey tree.

CIAN MAHER

☉