"Yeah, I was three when I had him but he's the light of my life." James laughed and used the hand he was shaking to yank Hartley into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. He ushered Hartley towards the little table he had in his kitchen area which was admittedly patio furniture but it was cheaper and they could eat off it. "Okay, it's still early so I'll make you pancakes and you can just chill. Your nothing will be out soon, he just stayed up all night."
James grinned and then turned his head to the side and yelled at a loud volume Axel's name. "Get your ass out of bed or you don't get pancakes!" Turning back to Hartley, James shrugged before he moved back to the kitchen area, pulling out a frying pan. "How are you doing, Hartley?"
"Oh. Thank you?" Hartley wanted to say that he didn't need him to make him anything, but he was still learning where he could get food and he hadn't been able to actually feel full in days now, so it was hard to protest. He sat down and watched James, fascinated by his... Everything, really. Seemed like he had too much personality for just one person somehow, too much charisma. And he had just met him.
"I'm doing fine." He was, for the most part. A given value of fine. He had repaired the printer and updated the computer at the centre, so he had been promised he could stay a while longer and there had even been mentions of possible payment, so that was good. "How about you?"
James poured the batter into the pan and started to work, plate at the ready, syrup and chocolate sauce at the ready as he started making a stack big enough to keep Hartley full. He used to feeding the hungry homeless, this kind of area had a lot of them and James had a lot of pity for them. "I'm wonderful, I have pancakes. You can't be unhappy if you have pancakes."
James grinned and playfully flipped the pancake with an impressive level of skill. Clearly he'd practised before. He turned to Hartley, his face stern but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye that undercut the edge. "Now what exactly are your intentions with my Axel?"
"...I don't know. Whatever he let's me do." Wait, that came out wrong. But it wasn't as if James was serious, so he finally just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I like him."
He didn't actually think he owed a near stranger more of an explanation, even if he was making him pancakes. Which looked impressive and mouthwatering and he actually folded his hands over his stomach to somehow keep it from making sounds. "You're a great chef."
Maybe compliments would somehow enable him to eat sooner.
"Ooooh bad idea. Never ever let Axel have that much power. Be strict. Trust me, you give that boy an inch and he will run a mile and you'll end up some half shaved punk nightmare in a dress with all kinds of weird bondage stuff going down. He's a good kid but he's got some weird ideas in that head of his." That seemed like the most accurate description he could give for Axel. He slid five pancakes he'd made onto the plate and then cut a strawberry in half, placing them either side to make eyes and then using the chocolate sauce to make a smile.
Happy face pancakes were always the best. He slid the plate over to Hartley and passed him a knife and fork. "I'm really not. I can make simple things and dress them up to look better than they are."
Hartley might have replied, but he was already busy cutting and eating. Luckily years of manners kicked in, so he was sitting up straight, holding the cutlery correctly, chewing with closed mouth and generally eating like someone who'd literally been trained in how to do it correctly. It wasn't until he was five bites in that he managed to make himself slow down, smiling at James, just a little sheepish. "Clearly I believe you're the best chef ever, so that can't be true. It looked really happy too. Thank you again."
James made himself a pancake as Hartley started in and when he finally spoke again, James stood there chewing on his own with his bare hands, clearly giving no fucks about table manners at all. "If you want more pancakes, just say. Oh and I have juice, milk, I can make coffee as well." James pulled the options from the fridge and then gestured at the little tin of instant coffee he had. "Nothing fancy but seriously, help yourself."
James moved from the kitchen area and then proceeded to bang loudly on the bedroom door. "Axel, I swear to god, get your ass out of my bed or I'm dragging you out of it. Your friend came over to play and you're ignoring him."
"I can't find my pants."
"Oh like you ever wear pants. I don't care, get out here, you're being rude." It took moments before Axel shoved the door open, indeed only in his boxers, glaring at James because he was kind of hoping to be more dressed up but whatever. Pants were over-rated.
Hartley turned in his seat when Axel came out and he looked at him as he'd just looked at the coffee. Lovingly indeed. Oh, damn, he was in for it. Axel had the cutest bedhead. Hartley tried not to think about what - who - he might have been doing all night, but mostly he was just glad to see him. Glad to see him and not thinking about the fact that he was only wearing boxers. Trying not to stare at his chest. Damn. "Did you sleep well?"
"I think so, I assume as much. I don't remember when I went to sleep." Axel came over to sit besides Hartley, ruffling his hair and clearly making it worse but hell, he really rocked bedhead and there was no denying it. "Daaaaad, where are my pancakes?"
"On it, you whiny brat." James started pouring batter into the pan, sliding the juice over to Axel so he could pour himself a glass. Clearly these two had breakfast together often, they seemed to have a pattern to how things were done, passing items back and forth until Axel had a plate of pancakes covered in syrup, a glass of juice and the kettle was boiling away for the coffee they were going to have.
He turned his head to Hartley and smiled sleepily. "Hey handsome, how you doing this fine morning?"
Hartley looked at Axel and wished he could just kiss him, but that seemed decidedly weird when James was around. But his bedhead was adorable, his sleepy smile even more so and he really, really just wanted to have him in his arms again.
Of course he had to be logical and so part of him wondered if he was projecting. He had lost everything, he was scared and lonely and Axel was enough to make him forget about that, at least for a while. His heart fluttered when he smiled, he forgot everything while they touched. Maybe he was talking himself further into a crush that had little hope of going anywhere.
But even if, that didn't change that he had a crush. "I'm doing great." Because he got to be here. "The pancakes are delicious. How are you so fit?"
"I work out mostly." Axel looked down at his chest and patted his muscles with an amused look. He never did a lot of working out, just enough to be buff but not enough to be totally ripped. He liked to have a nice balance between well muscled but still wiry and tight. "You think mine are badass? You should see James. He's an acrobat."
James, ever the obliging sort, swiftly removed his shirt. Not just because he wanted to flaunt his muscles but hey, that helped. He winked playfully at Hartley before he moved around them both. "I'm going to shower, you two kids behave."
As James wandered off to the bedroom, Axel laughed in amusement and grinned, shoving another mouthful into his mouth and turning his head back to Hartley. "I used to watch him work out every morning, that's how I got into it. I never used to be one for fitness but you have to learn to defend yourself, you know? Doesn't hurt to have some strength."
"I've been doing martial arts for a while. I got into too many fights, so that was the recommendation. Learn self-discipline to control my temper. Mostly just taught me how to win fights. Does help my temper, admittedly."
Hartley grinned and looked at Axel, who was so slender, so beautiful. "I don't know about badass. I know you're beautiful. I thought so from the moment I met your eyes. It was very distracting. I almost would have just jerked off thinking about you, if you hadn't come in when you did."
"So I ruined your own little private handjob? My bad. Maybe I can make it up to you later." Was he suggestion fooling around? Of course he was. A pretty boy liked him, he had no need for shame, he just needed to have him. Hartley was so beautiful, so enthralling. He wanted him and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. "We had fun anyway. Before your parents gatecrashed us."
Axel finished up his pancakes and pushed his plate aside, smiling at Hartley. "You got very in control. I liked it." Definitely Axel's style. He probably did well both submitting and dominating. All Axel wanted from a boy.
"You made me talk as if I was an absolute loser, I at least wanted to show that I'm not." Hartley smiled, finishing up his own pancakes. His stomach was hurting just a little, but it actually almost felt good to hurt in this way, because he was full. He'd never thought this much about food right now, but he had never had to wonder about where his next meal might come from or when it would be before. Luxury now.
"But I'm glad you liked it. I liked kissing you the way I wanted to." He knew he was blushing again, but whatever. "Maybe next time there won't be an interruption."
"I can't make any promises. I don't even have my own place. I just crash here sometimes." He was saving for his own place but as it stood? Mostly he just stayed with James, he had his own mattress on the floor and everything. Slightly used, second hand and taken from the curb outside but he couldn't afford anything better. At least he had clean sheets.
"You're a good kisser." Axel suddenly felt something he hadn't felt before, a strange sort of pull in his chest, almost like he was nervous. He wanted to reach out, to touch him, to be near him but he didn't want to scare him off and it was just the oddest feeling. All he wanted was Hartley and he had no idea what to do with those feelings.
Swallowing hard, he looked down at his empty plate and frowned a little. "So... there's going to be a next time?"
"I have nothing." It wasn't an exaggeration. All of Hartley's belongings? He was wearing them. One change of clothes that he had luckily managed to wash at the centre and nothing else, other than a little notebook and a pencil. He had fallen very hard, very quickly. But Axel was there, actually looking nervous and Hartley couldn't feel bad about anything.
He leaned forward and cupped the back of Axel's head, gripping his hair so he could turn him to look at him. "Of course there is, Ax. Wasn't that obvious already?" He didn't wait for an answer. He just kissed him.
It was hard to tell sometimes just how things would go, Axel could predict a lot of things but when it came to dating, it always threw him. He wasn't used to people who wanted him like this. Wanted his body? Sure, he got that but why would Hartley even want him? Especially after he'd seen the way he lived and the job he sometimes did.
He broke away from kissing Hartley and smiled regardless of all his thoughts, he never did let self doubt bother him too much. And not just because most of the time he was high. "So kissing again is totally a thing. Right. Gotcha." With a small laugh, he leaned in and stole yet another just to show he could. "So have you got plans today?"
"I wasn't sure what you'd want to do, so... Not really." Not that he had a very busy schedule right now anyway. "I have a few interviews tomorrow, but nothing today. I can stay at the centre another night. It's not so bad there, although a lot of the kids are really troubled."
Hartley frowned, ignoring that he himself was a kid that had just gotten thrown out by his parents and was now confronted with poverty for the first time ever, at least in such a direct way. "Makes me wish I could help them. I tried, I fixed some things. I want to try to improve the heating system. If I can do the necessary changes, heating would be a lot cheaper and they could actually afford to bring it up to a nice temperature, even in winter."
Wait. "...sorry, I derail into science sometimes. Do you have plans for today?"
"Life isn't always easy for people, sometimes they have a right to be troubled." Axel shrugged, he couldn't even lie and pretend he had any sort of moral standing here. He was a drunk, he was into drugs and he was basically whoring himself out to buy good. As far as he knew, he was the kind of trouble mess Hartley pitied. Maybe it was wise to not tell him, keep him in the dark the best he could.
"I didn't really have plans set in stone but I thought we could hang out here for a little while. James' place is nice, it has heating and a TV. And maybe later if you want, I could take you to the library. All kinds of books there. You could find some science-y stuff to read."
He remembered how much Hartley liked books, half his room was books back at the Rathaway place.
"I know life isn't always easy. I can't solve every problem, but it's important to try. At least to fix some things a little, so we can one day get to the root of it all. But one thing after the other." Hartley smiled and he wished he would really know what this meant, him and Axel. They weren't really dating, he supposed. Or were they? "I'm not going to ignore you so I can read books. I just want to be with you. Hang."
"I don't really hang." Not a lie really, he didn't hang, he didn't have many friends and he'd certainly never had anything like this. He was on the verge of getting a boyfriend, that's what it felt like and oh man, he needed a manual or something, he was so going to fuck this up and that was the last thing he wanted to do. "James will go out soon so we could just chill on my bed, watch some TV, seem what happens." And most likely make out more.
"Excellent. But, fair warning, I'm going to kiss you again." Hartley grinned, kicking his feet a little as he leaned back in his seat. "I'm sorry I'm not some rich kid any more, but I guess I still have my looks." Seemed to get him pretty far. Hey, it wasn't as if he was over how gorgeous Axel was. "I'm going to earn some money doing tech support, then I can try to make it up to you and James. I don't need charity, I can take care of myself."
"This isn't charity, this is just people being people. I invited you over, we had breakfast. Don't overthink it, just stay chill. You owe me nothing but that pretty smile." And even then, he'd be just as into it if he frowned instead. He shrugged his shoulders, unsure what Hartley was expecting from him. Clearly he'd given some kind of dodgy vibe here. "I don't care you have no money either. I mean hey, look at me, I'm so broke it's not even funny. You don't need money, Hart. I like you cause you're you."
"I know you came to the party hoping to properly score and I guess I wasn't the best option in that regard. Honestly, I was never allowed money to just spend even before this mess. Else I might have been a better dresser." Hartley grinned and put his hand on top of Axel's, holding it loosely. "I didn't think and still don't, that you want my money. I mean, you can have all of my money now. Literally nothing."
"I was hoping some rich old closet case might pay me to fuck him or give me the perfect blackmail fodder I wasn't expecting it but a boy could dream. Instead, I got a handsome boy my own age." Axel kind of liked that option better. Less gross. His eyes moved to where Hartley's hand was on top of his own and he watched it for a few moments before he moved his hand along so their palms touched, gripping it hard. "I like how it worked out. I'm sorry you got screwed but otherwise? I like you. It's nice. No one has ever been like this with me."
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James grinned and then turned his head to the side and yelled at a loud volume Axel's name. "Get your ass out of bed or you don't get pancakes!" Turning back to Hartley, James shrugged before he moved back to the kitchen area, pulling out a frying pan. "How are you doing, Hartley?"
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"I'm doing fine." He was, for the most part. A given value of fine. He had repaired the printer and updated the computer at the centre, so he had been promised he could stay a while longer and there had even been mentions of possible payment, so that was good. "How about you?"
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James grinned and playfully flipped the pancake with an impressive level of skill. Clearly he'd practised before. He turned to Hartley, his face stern but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye that undercut the edge. "Now what exactly are your intentions with my Axel?"
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He didn't actually think he owed a near stranger more of an explanation, even if he was making him pancakes. Which looked impressive and mouthwatering and he actually folded his hands over his stomach to somehow keep it from making sounds. "You're a great chef."
Maybe compliments would somehow enable him to eat sooner.
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Happy face pancakes were always the best. He slid the plate over to Hartley and passed him a knife and fork. "I'm really not. I can make simple things and dress them up to look better than they are."
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James moved from the kitchen area and then proceeded to bang loudly on the bedroom door. "Axel, I swear to god, get your ass out of my bed or I'm dragging you out of it. Your friend came over to play and you're ignoring him."
"I can't find my pants."
"Oh like you ever wear pants. I don't care, get out here, you're being rude." It took moments before Axel shoved the door open, indeed only in his boxers, glaring at James because he was kind of hoping to be more dressed up but whatever. Pants were over-rated.
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He was hot. He was so very, very hot.
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"On it, you whiny brat." James started pouring batter into the pan, sliding the juice over to Axel so he could pour himself a glass. Clearly these two had breakfast together often, they seemed to have a pattern to how things were done, passing items back and forth until Axel had a plate of pancakes covered in syrup, a glass of juice and the kettle was boiling away for the coffee they were going to have.
He turned his head to Hartley and smiled sleepily. "Hey handsome, how you doing this fine morning?"
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Of course he had to be logical and so part of him wondered if he was projecting. He had lost everything, he was scared and lonely and Axel was enough to make him forget about that, at least for a while. His heart fluttered when he smiled, he forgot everything while they touched. Maybe he was talking himself further into a crush that had little hope of going anywhere.
But even if, that didn't change that he had a crush. "I'm doing great." Because he got to be here. "The pancakes are delicious. How are you so fit?"
So very, very fit.
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James, ever the obliging sort, swiftly removed his shirt. Not just because he wanted to flaunt his muscles but hey, that helped. He winked playfully at Hartley before he moved around them both. "I'm going to shower, you two kids behave."
As James wandered off to the bedroom, Axel laughed in amusement and grinned, shoving another mouthful into his mouth and turning his head back to Hartley. "I used to watch him work out every morning, that's how I got into it. I never used to be one for fitness but you have to learn to defend yourself, you know? Doesn't hurt to have some strength."
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Hartley grinned and looked at Axel, who was so slender, so beautiful. "I don't know about badass. I know you're beautiful. I thought so from the moment I met your eyes. It was very distracting. I almost would have just jerked off thinking about you, if you hadn't come in when you did."
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Axel finished up his pancakes and pushed his plate aside, smiling at Hartley. "You got very in control. I liked it." Definitely Axel's style. He probably did well both submitting and dominating. All Axel wanted from a boy.
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"But I'm glad you liked it. I liked kissing you the way I wanted to." He knew he was blushing again, but whatever. "Maybe next time there won't be an interruption."
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"You're a good kisser." Axel suddenly felt something he hadn't felt before, a strange sort of pull in his chest, almost like he was nervous. He wanted to reach out, to touch him, to be near him but he didn't want to scare him off and it was just the oddest feeling. All he wanted was Hartley and he had no idea what to do with those feelings.
Swallowing hard, he looked down at his empty plate and frowned a little. "So... there's going to be a next time?"
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He leaned forward and cupped the back of Axel's head, gripping his hair so he could turn him to look at him. "Of course there is, Ax. Wasn't that obvious already?" He didn't wait for an answer. He just kissed him.
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He broke away from kissing Hartley and smiled regardless of all his thoughts, he never did let self doubt bother him too much. And not just because most of the time he was high. "So kissing again is totally a thing. Right. Gotcha." With a small laugh, he leaned in and stole yet another just to show he could. "So have you got plans today?"
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Hartley frowned, ignoring that he himself was a kid that had just gotten thrown out by his parents and was now confronted with poverty for the first time ever, at least in such a direct way. "Makes me wish I could help them. I tried, I fixed some things. I want to try to improve the heating system. If I can do the necessary changes, heating would be a lot cheaper and they could actually afford to bring it up to a nice temperature, even in winter."
Wait. "...sorry, I derail into science sometimes. Do you have plans for today?"
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"I didn't really have plans set in stone but I thought we could hang out here for a little while. James' place is nice, it has heating and a TV. And maybe later if you want, I could take you to the library. All kinds of books there. You could find some science-y stuff to read."
He remembered how much Hartley liked books, half his room was books back at the Rathaway place.
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