Harm sighed lightly and luxuriated in Trick’s touch, smiling. He noticed the frown at his corpse prompt because he’d been looking for it. Not everyone was cut out to deal with the cycle of life and death in hospitals and he wasn’t going to encourage Trick to pursue something that made him uncomfortable. It wasn’t ever easy and Harm was pretty sure Trick usually chose the path of least resistance in his life.
Until he met Harm, anyway. He’d been challenged from the start, having to face the fallout from his past and figure out early what he wanted. He’d been offered an easy out tonight. He hadn’t taken it, though, for which Harm was profoundly grateful. They were diving in at the deep end in so many ways. The manner in which Trick spoke of their future was false, in Harm’s opinion.
“Silly Prince,” he admonished with a soft smile, taking advantage of his greater range of movement to begin cleaning Trick more intimately, “‘this’... already is.”
To distract from the fact that he’d just told Trick he’d changed the course of his entire life - which was true but potentially overwhelming - Harm concentrated on the cleaning of their bodies. It became a delightful game, seeing if he could distract Trick enough to drop the water ribbon with gentle, slippery hands or increasingly heated kisses.
He was disappointed it had to end but also pleased to get dried off and back into the bedroom with Trick. It was late and they were both lagging with tiredness. The whole evening had a magical quality to it, enhanced by Trick’s astounding abilities. Harm was thoroughly enchanted.
Of course, he spoilt the ethereality of their night when he warned Trick that, because he ran hot, he’d be best to stay on his side of the bed because Harm often woke up sweaty, so he knew himself to be a covers off-covers on type of restless sleeper. He was embarrassed by it, wishing he could be one of those cute, spooning type guys that loved being held and falling asleep wrapped cosily in his lover’s arms... rather than being the guy that pushed him away to keep his own space to sweat in. Not sexy.
He opened his window to let cool air in and moved the curtain partially aside to let some light in (for Trick’s benefit, in case he woke up while it was still dark and needed to orient himself), delighted to find Frog Prince on the floor on his way back to his side. He was left out of the bed in favour of the real thing, tonight. They righted the covers and Harm put away the lube and condoms, smirking because it made him think of the wonderful experience they’d had - as if still being able to feel Trick inside him and his touch on his skin wasn’t enough. After a sleepy, contented kiss, Harm rolled back to his side of the bed and fell asleep quickly.
It felt like seconds later when his alarm catapulted him out of sleep at quarter to six. He used a sleep app that had a gently-increasing, soft wind chime type alarm that he was used to, so it woke him quickly. He shut it off, his heartbeat sounding loud and disruptive in the sudden silence. He looked over his shoulder, pleased that Trick didn’t seem to have been disturbed by it. After a minute of quiet sitting (to allow Trick to descend back into sleep, if he’d subconsciously registered Harm’s alarm), he crept around in the dark, pulling on underwear and scrubs and sitting on the side of the bed to put socks and sneakers on.
Harm paused before he left the bedroom, watching Trick - who was mostly a shadowy version of himself that Harm’s inner eye provided details for - sleep. He really didn’t want to go. The urge to crawl back into bed with the water nymph and enjoy another hour or so with him until he got up for class was strong. With a reluctant sigh, Harm forced himself to go. He closed the door when he went into the bathroom so the light didn’t disturb and hurried through his morning routine.
Before he left his apartment, Harm lifted Trick’s camera bag onto his breakfast bench so it would get Trick’s attention. Beside it, he placed the parking pass (it was in a clear plastic sleeve attached to a maroon lanyard he’d got from some medical professional development session or other) and the spare key to his apartment. He stared at it sitting so innocuously beside the parking pass, on its chunky Assassin’s Creed logo key ring, wondering if he was making a mistake in leaving it out without saying anything.
It was really just a convenience, so that Trick could come and go as he pleased... but Harm knew it could also be interpreted as more meaningful. It wasn’t that he was asking Trick to move in or anything but... hell, they were about to embark on a journey overseas that would have them together all the time. Why not practise before they left, to find out if they could? It would be stupid to find out they got on each other’s nerves and did nothing but fight about toothpaste or something when they were irredeemably far from home. Or maybe that was better because they’d have no choice and have to work things out?
Harm wasn’t sure and it made him feel squirmy but he left the key there anyway. If it was still there when he got home, he’d know Trick wasn’t interested in trialling things before they went and he wanted them to remain separate, at least for a while. It would be a subtle question asked and answered without the need for an uncomfortable conversation. If it was gone when he got back... Harm’s heart leapt at the thought as he got his bike off the wall and strapped his helmet on. He slid into his backpack and closed the front door as quietly behind himself as he could, riding hard for work once he was outside in the crisp morning air because his dithering over Trick was going to make him late.
If the key was gone when he got back then their adventure had truly already begun.
