afternap [s][c]

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park

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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 29, 2022 23:14:03 GMT
Alexei Ivanov Avatar


“How much longer would you have waited for me?”

He felt his arms wrap around the other, watching him as he lazily made up ‘star patterns’ from the marks he’d left all over his body while they were going at it like horny teenagers. Fuck, were they acting like teenagers all over again? After tonight?

Definitely.

“I… wanted to ask you something.”



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
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1,176 posts
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Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 29, 2022 23:30:26 GMT
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[attr="class","samcam"]

“Forever, if you’d let me,” Memo promised, tilting his head up so his nose nuzzled into the pulse at Alex’s throat, taking a deep, measured inhale, exhale; feeling safe, feeling comfortable, feeling warm, sleepy, lovely, home. "If that's what it took."

Hoping that when this time rolled around next year this memory could help stave off some of the nightmares that lurked in Alex’s closet.

His eyes peeked the tiniest bit open-- he was already heading on his way to sleep. “What’s up?”

[newclass=.samcam] [/newclass][newclass=.samcam b] color: #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam i] color: #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam u] text-decoration: none;border-bottom: dashed 1px #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam a] text-transform:uppercase!important;font: 800 15px Poppins!important; [/newclass]
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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 29, 2022 23:40:18 GMT
Alexei Ivanov Avatar


“I wanted to ask…”

Here we go again with his bravado. Why did it strike at the most unexpected times? Like now?

“What…what would you really want out of this. Out of…” he trailed off, raising one hand and indicating the two of them, before nestling it back down again around the other man’s back.

“Out of this. You. Me. …us.”

He let the silence fall between them for a few moments.

“And I want to know your true answer.”



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
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1,176 posts
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Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 29, 2022 23:55:44 GMT
Guillermo Marceliño Avatar
[attr="class","samcam"]

Memo’s gaze tracks up to Alex’s face, stomach pulsing just a little bit with the tiniest fraction of fear.

"I want to make you happy."

He snuggles back into Alex’s chest, smile turned up for maximum adorableness, desperately hoping that this answer was good enough and knowing, with a terrible sinking feeling, that it isn’t.

But he has to try. He wouldn’t be Guillermo if he didn’t try to deflect before facing any sort of real feelings.

[newclass=.samcam] [/newclass][newclass=.samcam b] color: #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam i] color: #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam u] text-decoration: none;border-bottom: dashed 1px #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam a] text-transform:uppercase!important;font: 800 15px Poppins!important; [/newclass]
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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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5,062 posts
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 0:08:13 GMT
Alexei Ivanov Avatar


Why did he have a feeling the other was going to say that?

With no explanation whatsoever.

“Memo,” he replied quietly.

For the first time after their impromptu make-out session, the mood in the room turned serious again.

“I want to know your real answer. If there’s something I value just as much as stability… it’s honesty. We… can’t start off on the right foot if one of us is lying, right?”



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
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1,176 posts
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TAG WITH @memo
Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 0:18:20 GMT
Guillermo Marceliño Avatar
[attr="class","samcam"]

He tried not to let the disappointment show when his flimsy slap-dash answer was shot out of the air like a cheap clay skeet. He did, however, visibly twitch a little, like he’d been struck with the ghost of a slap.

If there was anything Memo didn’t really want to talk about, it was this.

“I’m not lying,” he insisted, trying really hard to not let his tone get defensive. "I--," he started, then paused, because he was starting to realize that I want to make you happy was the canned response he'd employed with all his partners, such as they were.

And, yeah, this time he meant it-- but it was still the same thing he said to strangers in a bathroom stall for a buck or bent over the back of a couch in exchange for a place to sleep. And Alex deserved better than that.

He frowned. "I don't-- understand the question," he confessed, chin on Alex's chest, staring into his beautiful lavender eyes. "Why can't I just want to make you happy? I don't need anything else."

[newclass=.samcam] [/newclass][newclass=.samcam b] color: #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam i] color: #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam u] text-decoration: none;border-bottom: dashed 1px #d49736; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: .5px; [/newclass][newclass=.samcam a] text-transform:uppercase!important;font: 800 15px Poppins!important; [/newclass]
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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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5,062 posts
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 0:26:42 GMT
Alexei Ivanov Avatar


A minute sigh escaped him.

“See, I can tell when someone's just saying words without meaning them. I know you're better—infinitely better—than that.”

Call it a gay man's intuition, but between them both he was the one who had so much more experience to bring to the table in terms of being in a relationship.

“It is, what it is. What do you really want out of… out of this. This… you. Me. This… this thing. Between us.”

He stared calmly at the other, waiting for his answer.

It was time to tackle the Copperajah in the room, as it was.



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
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Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 0:36:21 GMT
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[attr="class","samcam"]

It’s like a dam breaking.

"I-- don't know?" he said, panicking a little. "I-- I want this?” He set a hand on Alex’s hip, thumb skating along the skin of his lower abdomen. “Togetherness? I want to-- take care of you? And, just, I don't know. Be allowed to love you? Be yours? Belong?" The words are falling out of him now, stream of consciousness, old hurts finally allowed to fester and heal.

"I don't-- I don't need-- if you're talking about, sex, I don't. Need anything other than to make you happy, and I mean that. I've never--," never felt reciprocated pleasure before "--needed to. Receive, from anyone, and I don't honestly know if I can."

Maybe that was what Alex was looking for?

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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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5,062 posts
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 0:42:43 GMT
Alexei Ivanov Avatar


His suspicions were right, after all.

The way Memo balked, and then panicked as he gently pressed onward with his questioning—there was something hidden underneath.

“What made you say that you don't need to receive from anyone? Why the hesitance?”

He didn't mean to be unkind, but fact of the matter is, he'd already started to notice the deflecting when he came zooming in, ready to care about the other (in more ways than one, if he was being honest with himself).

“Did… did something… happen, before me?”

Now he really wanted to get to the bottom of this for himself and see why the other man was going on the defensive.



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
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1,176 posts
part of
TAG WITH @memo
Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 2:19:37 GMT
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[attr="class","samcam"]

"I--,"

He felt like he was drowning. Like if Alex wasn't holding him he'd flow away-- transient, formless, terrified.

"N-no. Nothing important. Nothing that matters." He forced a smile and to his credit it was only a little pained. "Just-- kids being kids, right?"

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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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5,062 posts
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 2:27:42 GMT
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“Oh, Guillermo.”

He didn't mean to bring out the full force of The Name™️, but the way the other smiled at him… there was something decidedly off about it.

Unlike the other, most of his own relationship experiences happened here in Hoenn, not back home in Unova—although there was a certain pinkette and a certain boyfriend one of his sestras had to thank for the realization that he really wasn't that straight after all.

“Everything matters, you know. Especially… honesty. For me, at least.”

He hoped the other would understand where he was coming from—it didn’t seem really fair, that Memo knew so much about him, while he knew so little about the other.

The… the drive, the personal feelings, the—the everything, if he was going to be honest.



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
awards
1,176 posts
part of
TAG WITH @memo
Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 3:37:46 GMT
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[attr="class","samcam"]

Oh, god.

"I-- that is honest. None of what I did mattered."

And he desperately needed it to be true, because if it wasn't, it fundamentally changed him as a person.

He heaved a breath. "I did-- I did a lot of stupid shit, okay? I was broke, and on my own, and angry. And the first time--," his voice breaks, and he forces himself to look into Alex's eyes, anchoring himself there--

"Alex, I-- I'm so scared you'll hate me. Please."

Please don't make me say this.

Because that would be admitting, acknowledging.
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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
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5,062 posts
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 3:42:01 GMT
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“It does… between us, you and me, you know almost everything about me. But I know so little of what makes you, really you. Why you turned out to be like this.”

He fell silent, letting the other talk. The moment he brought up the fact that stupid shit had happened before, well, he wasn’t going to let go of that now.

“Try me. I’ve heard a lot worse.”

Which in fact, he really had.

Six and a half years of hearing drunken stories whispered his way in the wee hours of the morning made him much more perceptive when it came to listening to the lurid, sordid tales of deep, dark, personal secrets the patrons of Trashy Rascal’s would spill their guts out to him while under the influence.



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath


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Ceej

Memo
He/him
28
August 26
Spikemuth, Galar Region
Homosexual
Ranger Captain
Elite Ranger
it gets lonely in this gangster's paradise
awards
1,176 posts
part of
TAG WITH @memo
Guillermo Marceliño
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 3:56:16 GMT
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[attr="class","samcam"]
tw 4 suggested noncon, drug use

He makes a sound halfway between a whine and a sob because he wasn't getting out of this, was he?

"I--," oh, god, he was going. He was going to have to say this. "My-- fuck, I don't-- I don't know. I kissed a boy at school (in a bathroom! I thought we were safe) and my parents found out and I guess they were tired of me-- transgressing, so my mom looked me in the eye and said I was dead to her and my dad had already hit me so I just."

He was not going to cry, he wasn't. "Left, and I was outside and alone and, it's a community, right, everyone knows everything (so stupid of me to think I was safe) so no one would take me in. So I-- I slept at the bus stop or under a bridge and. The first time, it was raining sooo bad and I. was so hungry. I snuck into a shitty dive bar and was planning on dining and dashing when a bunch of people about my age came in."

And now that he'd started he couldn't stop. "And we got to talking and I followed them to a couple clubs and there was this guy, who was clearly into me, and-- I don't know, I got really drunk and went back to his place and. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I didn't really care, all that mattered is I was warm and dry and I didn't have to worry about waking up with a knife at my throat. So I-- I just did what he wanted." He squeezes his eyes shut, voice breaking. "I don't-- I'd never done anything before so I just. Let him do what he wanted. Over and over. He was drunk. And then when he finally passed out I stole some cash out of his wallet and skipped town."

He laughs, and it comes out the tiniest bit unhinged. "And then it was just. Just that. Over and over and over again for years. Eventually, I learned-- hah, learned, that's a funny verb-- what was easiest, if I got really good at it I could just do that, in the bathroom, get the fifty bucks for the motel. And-- I let people give me drugs or buy me drinks because it was easier. Easier to pretend. Easier to ignore. To rise above it."

He swallows, a little bit more under control. "And I'm pretty sure I got roofied at least twice but-- it doesn't matter because what was going to happen just happened. You know, a lot of university towns have free STD testing."


"And I was really-- I. Was in a really bad place. Like, bad bad, when my cousin messaged me and suggested I come to Hoenn. So I did. And the Rangers-- saved my life. Meeting you saved my life."

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Ven

Alex / Lexy
he / him / his
thirty
december 22
Mistralton, Unova
homosexual demiromantic
fortree gym leader
gym leader
חקל דמא
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5,062 posts
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Alexei Ivanov
afternap [s][c]
POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 4:17:06 GMT
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He's quiet all throughout the other’s explanation, letting him talk, letting him say what he wanted to say.

It was at this point he realized how… wildly different things had been for him as compared to the other. While he was able to find the bartending work alongside another job to keep himself out of trouble (and have a roof over his head) Memo's story… was just, so much to take in.

After a few moments of silence, he let out another minute sigh.

“That still doesn’t change who you are, you know.”



takes place the same day as ‘leave the light on’, basically: the aftermath