/ˈpəʊɪtri/

Harry’s hand shoots down to his pocket and for a minute he’s curious if Lucien swiped it. “No, it should be on the bar.”

He reminds himself, looking past his shoulder and seeing a caseless google phone, hanging out next to an empty shot glass.

“Why, did you need it?”

His giggles sneak past his teeth,  surprising himself.

“Oh, I’ll drink to that.” Harry grabs the entire bottle and takes a quick sip, hardly even filling his mouth by the time he pulls it away from his lips. As Lucien passes by him Harry follows a few steps behind and stops to meet at his side.  The water temperature is warmer than the air, causing this mist. 

“It has to be.” 

He leans in, watching the water gently splash against the side of the pool and return back towards the center. The fog disperses, never passing his shoes  before it fades into the air.

“Yes, to us.” He lightly taps the shot glass to Lucien’s with a clink. It’s already down his throat and he decides then to cut off for now, by pushing the glass away and off to the side. Steam rises off the water of the gently rippling pool, lit up by underwater lights. It would be nice if he actually brought clothing to swim with. When he looks back to Lucien he’s definitely enjoying that shot. A cheeky grin widens on Harry’s face and he licks away the dryness on his lips. 

“How’re you feeling?”

Harry understands why Lucien left. The house was too quiet after the holidays. Harry had business and put Julius to work until he parted to go with Jason to Mexico. Also his confrontation with Andrew almost cost him his life, Harry considers that it was quiet in an unconventional way. Then again, it usually is.

He couldn’t forget Lucien Carr. Never entirely. He’d forget maybe the curl of his lip or the way he rolled his eyes at Harry, but those were the easy things to let go of. 

He’s repulsively sentimental tonight, drinking alone in the kitchen. His phone shoots a twitter notification that Lucien just tweeted. He jumps upright in his chair and urgently smacks his phone’s keyboard and sends out a reply.

Are you home??? A few minutes pass. Yes, he is.

Harry straightens himself out in a hallway mirror, tucking in bits of his shirt that got free and he rubs his tired face. His eyes adjust at his own reflection instantly when he hears the door, shoes, and wheels traveling along hardwood floors.  He’s home. 

Harry stares back to the mirror. Why is my heart racing?  He leaves his section of the hallway and can see the back of Lucien’s jacket, his hair, and ears peeking through the blond locks. ‘Miss me?’  You know I did.

“Lucien.” 

Harry glares hard into the back of Lucien’s head, ouch. He takes in the rooftop decor and finds it’s far too average for Harry’s tastes. However, the bottle Lucien’s reaching for makes Harry’s tongue go dry. 

“Please.” He stands side by side with Lucien at the poolside bar, listening to the fading music in the distance from partiers below their feet. The base travels up his soles, up his legs and through his torso. It finds itself in his chest thudding along, pumping the intoxicating rhythm through his veins. God, he’s drunk. 

“Just another and then I’ll be ready to deal with you.”

[ with the feeling of their first meeting coming to an  end, julius takes a mental note of which page he is  on before closing the book. standing up, naked feet  to the ground, he feels relieved. in the beginning of  this he had felt himself compete with the intelligence  of this man (something about him had given julius  bad vibes) but now he realizes that it most likely  was nothing but a misunderstanding. maybe next  time they talk they’ll even be friendly. julius scoots  the chair back to its original place by the desk. the  cat, looking up at him curiously, receives a light  stroke as farewell. it lets him and might even linger,  but later it moves to lucien’s side. ]

I will. Thank you.

[ julius moves to the door and closes it after saying goodbye. lucien seems interesting, he has to admit. hopefully they’ll be able to build some kind of relationship. but that comes later. right now, julius has a book to finish. ]

[end.]

[ in the light from the christmas party julius  makes sure that lucien is aware of how  grateful he is by nodding, gaze lingering  on him when he walks back in. the warmth  is somehow different all of a sudden — it’s  more welcoming. it seeps into his skin like  tea makes your stomach blossom. it’s heavy  and drowsy and julius finds himself walking  slowly throughout the whole house, thumbing  through the pages. he recognizes almost every  word he reads and he’s a bit disappointed that  he couldn’t come up with a better gift for him.

oh, well. there’s always next time. ] [end.]

Dude, it’s from Star Wars –

[ but lucien is clearly uninterested in the nerdy disguise, so he rolls his eyes and places it back on the shelf. he’ll come back and try it out later – maybe even buy it. kylo ren would make a pretty cool costume for the party, right? shuffling toward the entrance instead, he mutters,  ]

Fine, let’s go home.

[ he passes him to open the door for him, grimacing but not startling when the automated screech rings out again. a half-smile soon returns to his lips again, however, as he nods his head at the starbucks cup clutched in lucien’s hand as they walk out of the store. ]

Just don’t let that drink get cold.

end

[ andrew’s fingers tighten around the cassette as he clutches it closer to escape lucien’s incoming grasp, shaking his head in response to his offer to take it back. it’s clear lu was joking just a second too late, and andrew relaxes thereafter with a relieved smile as he stares down at a gift which is already precious to him. lucien’s subsequent allegation that this might be the first gift he’s ever given anyone only makes the grin on andrew’s face and the light in his chest grow brighter. he feels special. ]

Well, seriously, thank you… it means a lot, to me.

[ licking lips that have cooled since his last sip of hot chocolate, he swallows nervously and slips the cassette into his coat pocket, only to swap it for a small flat box tied precisely with a ribbon. offering it over to his friend, he tells him: ]

I, uh… I have another gift for you.

[ he waits for lucien to open the box before he continues speaking, watching him lift the lid to reveal a small, golden charm shaped like the eiffel tower. a blush born of more than just the cold darkens his cheeks as he mumbles, ]

I actually got it in some dumb tourist shop in Paris… and, I know it’s kind of silly, but i thought you could put it on your keys, or on Arthur’s collar, or something… so you could like, have a part of your favorite place with you all the time, you know?

[ he can barely make eye contact with lucien throughout his ramble, feeling more and more embarrassed about it by the second. he’d thought it was such a good idea when he’d first bought it, but now, knowing that harry has already outshone him with something much more spectacular in the same vein, he can’t help but feel like his gift is insignificant and childish in comparison. staring into his hot cocoa, he mutters, ]

I know it’s not an apartment, but… I hope you like it anyway.

[ as lucien doesn’t go into any detail of why phillip was so despised, julius finds it hard to see him as more than a ghost in his room. his comment about how he “wouldn’t have liked him either,” doesn’t really help. maybe he’s right. maybe he wouldn’t have liked him at all. maybe he would’ve snarled at him whenever he walked by. maybe they would’ve gotten into constant fights. maybe his skin would’ve crawled. perhaps he would’ve hated him with every ounce of his being. but, somehow, julius can’t bring himself to think that he would. lightly pulling at his fringe, he casts his gaze down to the open book again. phillip might’ve been an asshole, but maybe he had reason. if he really was another soldier, then is it not possible for julius to understand him? the guts, the blood, the act of killing and be killed in return—maybe the two would’ve understood each other on a level that no one else in this house could. it’s understandable that he wasn’t “much fun.” julius wasn’t like he is today before the war, either. these last few days he’s played off a lot of things. he’s joked and laughed unnecessarily loud, given people unwanted nicknames and gone through a roller coaster of emotions in a single conversation. he’s acting lighthearted, covering up the fact that he’s scared, so why wouldn’t phillip do  the same? running the tips of his hair back and forth over his lips, he looks up at lucien again. it’s a pity that he didn’t like him. hopefully phillip won’t taint the way he looks at julius, no matter how alike they look. ] I’m sorry about breaking into your room.

[ julius dries a melted snowflake off of his nose as his gaze follows the tilt of lucien’s head, his blues landing on the lights that shift in different colors through the glass. at first he’s simply shocked. he hadn’t even thought that andrew remembered, even less that someone would actually get him a copy. also knowing that it’s actually in there, waiting for him, makes the corners of his mouth stretch until he’s grinning. ] Really? [ it’s one of the best presents today, no doubt. ] Thank you! [ automatically, his arms open and he flings them around the other, but he’s all of a sudden too excited to thumb through the pages to stay there for more than a second or two, wobbling to his feet. he hates to leave lucien alone, so he lingers on his way to the door, looking at him with newfound happiness turning him brighter than the city below. ] — Come inside with me.

Uh, Mountain Dew is great. You’re just too busy drinking alcohol to appreciate it.

[ andrew shakes his head disapprovingly but an amused smile persists on his lips as he adds in a mumble just loud enough for lucien to overhear: ]

Maybe that’s why you can’t tell anyone apart.

[ the next mask on the rack that catches his eye immediately catches his full interest as well. it’s a sleek black kylo ren mask from the newest star wars movie, complete with a label that touts its voice-changing capabilities. andrew’s lips pull into an even wider grin as he lifts it up takes a closer look at it. ]

Oh shit, look at this.

Harry nods, gulping his drink more without restraint and sets it down on tray. He stares towards the direction Lucien is looking off to and giggles as his drinking buddy pulls him along past a small crowd to the doors of an elevator.  “I’m up for that.” The lift button illuminates under his thumb and it opens the doors. They step together  inside, he looks over the whole panel  and presses for the roof. The doors shut without anyone bothering to follow them inside, most likely from his scowl to keep them away had they made eye contact.  It shifts under them and increases altitude, the floor number increases above the doors until it slightly jolts to a stop and flashes ROOF in a bright neon. He drags his tongue over his lip as the doors open up to a modern style patio with a bar and pool, sensor lights flicker on for the whole setup. It’s deserted, like it’s meant to be. Turning to Lucien, Harry says– “Nice, I can finally hear myself think.”

Fuck, this is it. The room isn’t silent, it’s actually still stirring up and will be for the next two hours, but god he doesn’t understand why he’s fearing Lucien’s coming reaction. His expression while opening the box… okay, he doesn’t get it. Shit. How could he not?– Oh. He does! Here we go. “Paris. Harry you didn’t.” He absolutely did.

The tide comes in, it crashes over him washing out the worry built up past his shoulders. It’s Lucien’s arms, thin and tight around his neck squeezing him securely enough Harry excitedly returns the love.  They have their moment and he releases, yet he can still feel Lucien’s touch and his face moving closer to his own. Harry’s reactions are slow, his eyes are wide once Lucien’s lips press against his stubbly skin. “I should have bought you a whole island. Maybe then I would have gotten a bit of tongue action.” He giggles, bowing his head down to hide the blush growing on his cheeks.

Harry tilts his head up to the flakes fading down past his field of vision. He is cold, but Lucien’s presence is already warming him up. Sighing, he can’t believe it’s almost been a year. It makes his time here feel inadequate, he’s accomplished less this whole year compared to the months he’s had before this universe. Funny how one person can slow you down like that. “You’re right.” He turns to look at Lucien’s profile  and reaches up to the blond hair curling  around his ear, then he brushes it behind with a delicate touch. He moves his hand back with Lucien’s reaction, half grinning.