by JS Harker
Buying the coffee was the easy part, and Derek nabbed a couple of extra sugar packets on his way out of the shop. He made his way to the fence near Santa’s Workshop.
Flynn worked the photography side. His green tights were extra flattering on his long legs. Derek sipped his coffee while he waited. After an endless procession of minutes, Gregory relieved Flynn, and Flynn came over to the fence, still in his elf costume. His formfitting, amazing elf costume.
“Hi,” Derek said. “What’s it take to get on Santa’s Naughty List?”
Oh crap. He said that out loud.
“More than naughty thoughts,” Flynn said. He leaned against the fence beside Derek.
He was close enough to kiss. But they were in public with a half-dozen kids and their parents nearby. Derek wanted to be bold, but he froze. Public displays of affection. Doing something to show he liked Flynn in public. Where people could see and judge. His brain automatically went into a different, nonsexy mode, as if he’d forgotten how to flirt entirely. He held up Flynn’s coffee.
“I hope it’s okay. It sounds like there’s a lot of stuff you haven’t tried, and it’s that time of year, and I drank half of mine already, so I can’t stop running my mouth,” Derek said. He felt like an idiot, and yet his mouth kept going without him. “Please take it. Oh, and here, I got some more sugar packets because you really seem to like sugar, so. Yeah.”
Flynn smiled and took the coffee and sugar packets from him. He gave Derek a quick kiss on the cheek. His lips were cool, and he smelled like cinnamon. “The rewards for being on the Nice List are even better than working your way onto the Naughty.”
Derek was pretty sure he could melt chocolate from the heat in his cheeks. “Oh. I, uh, I’ll remember that.”
Flynn took a tentative sip of the coffee. His ears straightened—or at least Derek swore they did—and his eyes lit up. He moaned as he took another drink.
The simple sound and Flynn’s overall joy went straight to Derek’s dick. He shifted his weight some, praying his jacket was long enough to cover the growing bulge in his jeans. At least going outside in the cold might help him tame his erection. One of the worst possible ways, but he’d have a chance to act normal before his horny side decided it wouldn’t be controlled.
“I’m glad you like it,” Derek said. “Are we still on for this afternoon?”
“Yes. Let me get changed, and I’ll be ready to go.” Flynn handed him the coffee cup. “I am coming back for that. And you.”
Flynn kissed his cheek again before making his way to Santa’s Workshop.
So Flynn liked peppermint mocha, and he was affectionate. Derek knew he had a huge goofy grin, but he couldn’t get rid of it. No one had ever been so easy to be with. Derek was only sorry he hadn’t tried asking Flynn his name sooner. There was a whole extra week he could’ve been dating Flynn if he had. Well, assuming one date could go well, though so far it was going pretty well.
Yeah. Yeah, the little kisses had to mean it was going well.
Derek finished his coffee by the time Flynn reemerged from the workshop.
Flynn made his way over to him and climbed over the fence easily. As he took his coffee, he asked, “What did you have in mind for our date?”
“Ice skating at the lagoon.”
“That sounds amazing, but I don’t have any skates in town,” Flynn said.
“I don’t own any either. We can rent them there.”
“Then I’m paying for that since you got the coffees.”
Already this date was turning out better than any he’d gone on with Gregory. “Sounds fair to me.”
SUGGESTING they go on a date to the frozen-over lagoon seemed like it would be perfect, right up until Derek climbed out of the car. Winter had come, and it was frigging cold outside. Even with a hat and scarf, Derek didn’t feel prepared for the elements. Flynn grinned from ear to ear, stepping to the edge of the parking lot and closing his eyes. The wind ruffled Flynn’s hair, and somehow everything was perfect.
Winter had settled in a couple weeks ago, but fresh snow from the other night returned the shine of the season despite the gray skies. A few dead leaves skittered across the frozen landscape. Normally Derek would brush this off as a dull winter day, but Flynn was beside him. With a daring impulse, Derek took Flynn’s hand. He thought Flynn might pull away, but he interlocked their fingers instead.
That was all Derek had ever wanted, really. To go on a date and hold hands with a guy he liked.
Flynn kept his promise and paid for their skate rental at the small pavilion near the lagoon. They made their way to a park bench on the edge of the ice. There were enough people to make Derek self-conscious about his lack of skating skills. He’d taken a few lessons as a kid, but since he never gained the dexterity for figure skating or the drive for hockey, he’d given it up.
Maybe he should have taken a few more lessons. But really, other than Flynn, he’d never pursued anything.
The realization was as stark as the cold wind. High school was about surviving tests and making it through the next social thing without being totally awkward. It seemed everyone in high school knew he was gay way before he did, and when he finally came out, no one was surprised. But there weren’t exactly a lot of other guys to date either. So the awkwardness continued until college, where it became worse in some ways because he didn’t have any experience.
Flynn finished lacing his skates first, and he stepped out onto the ice as if it were as natural as taking a breath. He glided. The wind tousled his hair. He was jaw-droppingly beautiful in motion. Derek was pretty sure there were others watching him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Flynn to check.
As if the universe needed to balance Flynn’s astonishing grace, Derek struggled to his feet and onto the ice. He crashed to his knees, attempted to get up, and wound up on his ass.
Flynn came to a stop inches away in a perfect movement. He held out his hand to Derek.
“I’ll pull you down,” Derek said. “I’m too heavy.”
“Then we’ll have a few interesting bruises to explain.” Flynn waggled his fingers.
Derek accepted his help, and they managed to get him on his feet without falling over. He lost his balance almost as soon as he was up. His feet went wide all on their own, and he leaned too far forward. He’d been okay at this the last time he tried this.
But then he’d been eight. Eleven years made a hell of a difference.
Flynn offered his hand again.
“I don’t want to hold you back,” Derek said.
“We agreed this is a date, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Then how could you possibly hold me back when the whole point is to spend time together?”
Where had Flynn been all his life? Derek took Flynn’s hand. Each step on the ice felt like he was about to slip off the edge of the world to meet a harsh and cruel humility. He clutched Flynn’s hand hard enough to make his hand ache. Skating was such a terrible, terrible idea. He had no ability, no sense of balance, and absolutely no confidence either of those things would change. Especially not in the next few minutes.
When they tried to turn, Derek’s body decided it was time to get in motion. He spun instead of drifting, the arc too harsh. Once again he was on his ass, looking up at Flynn.
At least Flynn wasn’t laughing at him. He looked like he might want to, but he wasn’t openly doing so. “You’re trying too hard. You’re scared, and the ice knows it.”
“The ice knows I’m scared,” Derek repeated incredulously. After agreeing with Flynn and finding poetry in the avalanche video, he was willing to give sentient ice a chance. Sort of. Enough to wait for whatever potential advice Flynn had.
“It doesn’t want to hurt you. It merely exists.” Flynn held out both hands this time. Derek took hold of him, and they gradually got him onto his feet. “It wants to be friends with you.”
“Friends don’t usually go around marking each other with razor blades. Maybe it wants vengeance.”
Flynn snorted. “I’m being philosophical, not literal.”
“Oh.”
“Take a deep breath, let it out. Good. Do it again and take a step as you let it out.”
Flynn skated backward in front of him, holding on to Derek’s hands. Focusing on his breathing, on Flynn’s bright blue eyes, and taking those steps made skating almost easy. He wobbled less and less as they made their way around the lagoon. Flynn let go of him and moved to skating by his side.
“You’re getting better already,” Flynn said.
Derek opened his mouth to thank him, but his knee went sideways, and his balance was off. He was heading face-first for the ice when Flynn scooped an arm around him and hauled him up. They twisted—Derek unsteady and Flynn in perfect control—until Derek wound up standing, clutching Flynn’s shoulders. Flynn had his arms around Derek. Their lips were only inches apart. They were out of breath, panting in rhythm together.
Flynn was right there. Screw what anyone else thought. Derek wanted a kiss. He took a deep breath. He had a brave bone in his body. All he had to do was give in.
There was a sudden, horrible crack. And then a splash.
The entire lagoon came to a pause for a breathless moment. The only sound was the splashing.
Derek’s heart kicked into overdrive. Any romantic feeling evaporated, and overwhelming danger filled its place. Derek held on to Flynn’s arm even as they tried to see what happened.
A gaping hole was at the other end. A boy broke above the surface of the water and then slipped beneath again. A man tried to slide across the ice, only to stop and scramble back.
When another man tried to go out, the first cried, “Stay there! It’s breaking more!”
Determination electrified Flynn’s expression, and Derek had one good look at him before he took off. Drawn like a magnet, Derek followed at a slower pace. His skates stayed under him. Panic for someone else apparently gave him balance. He had a terrifying vision of Flynn falling through as well, but the ice held even as the others shouted for him to stop.
A foot from where the man had failed, Flynn dropped to his knees, sliding a little farther with momentum, and put his bare hands on the ice. The wind kicked up around him, and Derek swore the temperature dropped. His breath formed clouds in the air. More cracking sounds filled the air, but the ice felt as solid as ground as Derek reached Flynn.
Flynn’s eyes seemed to glow bright blue. It had to be a trick of the light, but it left Derek breathless.
“Help him,” Flynn said.
“But the ice—”
“Will hold. You have to help him.”
Derek swallowed past the knot in his throat. People were on cell phones, and others grouped together, talking and whispering. But the boy wasn’t getting above the water as much, and no one was doing anything. Flynn wanted him to go out there. Dorky, uncoordinated him.
The boy sank below the water again. Derek didn’t have time to figure out why. Not trusting his weight or ability to skate on the ice, he got on his hands and knees and crawled. Reaching into the water was a bad idea. His scarf! Derek unwound it and threw the end into the water, hoping the kid would see it.
Too many heartbeats went by. Derek crawled another inch forward. The ice was firm, so he went for another, stopping a half foot from the hole. More of his scarf dangled into the icy water.
Weight pulled the scarf taut, and Derek struggled to keep hold of it. Then the boy broke the surface of the water. Derek’s muscles burned as he pulled on the scarf. Soon the boy was at the edge of the hole, and Derek grabbed his arm. Somehow the ice was strong enough to support the boy as he pushed himself out of the water using Derek’s help. Derek’s grip was so firm the boy landed on him once he was finally free. Ice water soaked into Derek’s clothes.
Everything became chaos after that. Other people rushed forward. Some shouted at Derek for his idiocy while others clapped him on the back. Panic over, and in wet clothes, Derek felt numb inside and out. He wasn’t quite sure how, but Flynn maneuvered him out of the group and over to their shoes. They sat on the park bench, and Derek shivered harshly as he tried to undo his laces.
Flynn stripped out of his jacket. “Switch me.”
“You’ll be c-c-c-cold too.” Derek’s teeth clattered no matter how hard he tried to clench them shut.
“I’ll be fine. You need the dry coat.”
“My jeans are wet.”
“We should get you warm. You’ll freeze to death if we take too long.”
Derek gaped at Flynn. He didn’t think his situation was dire yet, but then he was getting colder by the second. His hands shook so badly he struggled to get his shoes on. Even after swapping out his jacket for Flynn’s, he was freezing. Flynn’s jacket didn’t provide much protection, and the wet patches of his shirt and jeans were turning to ice.
“You’re too cold,” Flynn said.
Flynn cupped Derek’s face and kissed him. At first Derek went stiff, too many shocks and surprises to his mind and body to keep up with his changing reality. Flynn’s lips were so soft. The cold seeped away as their lips brushed against each other. Derek wrapped his arm around Flynn’s shoulders, and Flynn pulled him into his arms more.
They were kissing. And then—Derek had to be half out of his mind from the cold and rescue—he pushed his tongue toward Flynn’s lips. Flynn parted for him, and Derek plunged in. He tasted of peppermint, chocolate, and something sharp. Something Flynn.
A cold wind brushed over him. Flynn’s jacket was not heavy enough to protect him from it. Derek shivered as he broke off the kiss. “Maybe we can keep doing this inside?”
Flynn’s lips were slightly swollen, and his eyes were wide. He grinned and ran his fingers through Derek’s hair. “I’d like that.”
Chapter Six
FLYNN hated the seat belt. He locked it against himself twice as he tried to get a better look at everything. He hadn’t seen a college before. The closest he’d gotten to a school was during his first trip to the human realm. He’d come across an elementary school, but adults ran him off when he tried talking to children. Without a school system in the feylands, Flynn went to Queen Mab’s Court to find someone wise in the matters of humans. He met Lulu, and she turned her nose up at the supposed scholars in Queen Mab’s Court.
After only a few hours in the mall, Flynn understood why. The scholars knew the old ways of mortals. None of them knew modern humans. He doubted any of them had seen inside a dormitory.
Derek parked in a lot with many other cars outside a building with an amazing number of windows. Flynn unbuckled his belt and slid to the end of his seat to peer at it. Even Queen Mab’s palace didn’t have this many openings. “This is where you live?”
“For now,” Derek replied. “You can stay in the car. I’ll change and come right back down.”
Flynn squirmed. He wanted to see the building and Derek’s home, to spend time with him where he might be comfortable. “You won’t have a chance to get dry or warm if you hurry, and I’d love to see it.”
Derek shook his head, but he smiled too. “Of course you do. Well, sorry in advance.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know. Being a giant disappointment?”
Before Flynn had a chance to question him further, Derek got out of the car. Flynn followed him, getting distracted along the way by the various cars, humans, and other sights.
The interior walls of the dormitory were a shade of ordinary beige. The carpet was thin, and the air reeked like the mall on a busy day. Definitely a human-and-food-combination smell. They went up a staircase and down a hall with many, many doors. Some of them were open, and each was a microenvironment. Some were clean, some weren’t. They varied in their bedspreads, clothing, and decorations, but all had the same beige walls and gray floors. Flynn had little experience with human houses, but this wasn’t how their media portrayed comfort. Pixies lived more like this in the feylands, but with more style and pillows.
“You’ve really never seen a dorm
before,” Derek said.
Flynn stopped by a board on the hallway wall. Various paper snowflakes covered it. If he was deciphering the words right, they were encouragements or well-wishes. While he was staring, Derek continued down the hall. He hurried to catch up.
“I’ve seen a hotel, but the doors weren’t open. Is this similar somehow?” Flynn asked.
“Sort of. We live here while school’s in session. Everyone’s taking finals. After that the halls will be empty for winter break, except for the few of us who pay to stick around.”
“What are finals?” Flynn asked.
“Final tests or exams or papers showing what you learned—or didn’t—in a class.” Derek took out his keys and unlocked one of the closed doors. “What’s the word for it where you’re from?”
“We don’t have them.”
“Lucky.” Derek stepped into the room and let Flynn inside.
Twin beds sat on either side of the room, and each had a row of drawers underneath. At the near end of the room were closets without doors. On the far side, between the beds and the window, were desks. The one on the right had a laptop while the other lacked a computer. Strange metal shelves sat over a short refrigerator between the desks, and a small flat-screen television rested on top of those.
Flynn longed to run his hands over everything in the room. Touch made things more real and believable in this strange reality, but he’d upset a few humans that way. The first time he went to a grocery store, someone accused him of stealing. He wasn’t at fault. Unguarded fruits were for the taking in the feylands, and they didn’t have cameras to spy upon people. But it made Flynn more cautious of cameras in general. They could hide anywhere.
Derek shut the door to the room and hung his wet coat on the back of a chair. He took off Flynn’s jacket and handed it to him. “How come you weren’t freezing your balls off?”
Could mortals lose their genitals in such a way? Flynn would have to search the internet later. “The cold doesn’t bother me.”
“You’re really lucky, then. All winter long it’s sweatshirts, sweaters, and coats for me.” Derek’s cheeks pinked. “And I just realized I need to change, and you’re in my room.”