dmitri & gale: content
for @fortiers. the co-conspirator in original m/m otps that ruin my goddamn life and make all the stucky reluctantly on my dash serve an inspirational purpose. the length of this prompt is living proof that we need to chill actually write these adorable babies as soon as possible.
Dmitri eased opened his in the early afternoon light, and was struck with a sense of familiarity. The white walls of the dorm room, combined with the glare of the sun on fresh snowfall outside the window, created an almost dreamlike atmosphere. Everything was brighter—blinding, even—and he whispered a curse under his breath for the damage to his retinas. And his glasses, sadly, were just out of reach on the windowsill where they were placed the night before. It wasn’t as if he needed them. Or, that they would have helped. So he closed his eyes, exhaled softly, and just enjoyed the silence and stillness of the day. There was no need to get up, nor did he want to. Inside the dorms and the campus outside the window was quiet, with many of the students having headed come for winter break within the last few days. The semester was essentially over.
He has spent the better part of the morning sleeping on his back in a twin extra long bed, with the arms of a dark-haired boy wrapped around his stomach. This was Gale’s dorm room, and he enough pillows and blankets for a winter in Siberia on the college-issued mattress. They were tucked under and around them both in an intricate nest pattern that felt heavenly on his sore body. The boy’s head, donning three-day-old stubble, was tucked into the crook of Dmitri’s neck, and it tickled when he gently swiveled his head in either direction, to confirm his surroundings. Dmitri didn’t need to worry about waking him, for the boy’s eyes were firmly shut, and his breath was light and steady. If left to his own devices, he would sleep the day away. Dmitri was inclined to let him. He wanted to make this last.
He hoped today would be different. Despite the familiarity, something was different, and he was uncertain whether or not the change was favorable. He had spent a handful of nights sleeping in Gale’s room when the walk to his apartment off-campus seemed too far. Just as many with the pair of them sleeping in his apartment. But never could he feel every muscle and contour of Gale’s body so vividly before. Nothing between them but the twisted covers, a down comforter half-falling off Gale’s broader back. Dmitri had also hastily pulled on one of Gale’s prized Captain America t-shirts. The one he had relieved Gale of the night before. It was all he needed to fight off the chill of a mid-December evening, when he was sandwiched between a warm body, and a sweat-drenched bed.
Whether from thinking about it or an actual chill running down his spine, Dmitri tried his best to wriggle deeper into the calamity of the bed. It was definitely too small for the both of them, but also felt very pleased with himself that they’d made it work.
Next time, he decided, they were going to his apartment.
Gale moaned softly into Dmitri’s neck and started to stir. Dmitri’s hand snaked out from under the covers to cradle the back of the other boy’s head, and ruffled the mess of matted dark hair.
“Good morning, Dimka,” he whispered, as he dragged his lips across Dmitri’s neck. He then pulled his torso further up Dmitri’s, so that he could comfortably cup his face in his calloused hands and pull him in for a slow kiss.
“It’s not morning, sobachka,” Dmitri chuckled.
“Fuck, really?” He was cut off by Dmitri pulling his head back down for another kiss. “This is your fault. You kept me up all night.”
“We’re mutually complicit. You could have stopped at any time.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Then you can’t complain.”
Gale cursed, and buried his face back in Dmitri’s neck. He nibbled at the soft skin, drawing a sharp breath from Dmitri’s lips.
“I’ve created a monster,” Dmitri teased.
Gale chuckled between bites, prematurely cutting off Dmitri’s laughter. After a few minutes of persistence and protests alike, he silenced him with a kiss.
“You can’t complain.”
“I’ve done nothing to provoke this.”
When he opened his eyes, Dmitri met the boy’s steady gaze. He had grown accustomed to a fair amount of distance, but it also fortunately aided in Dmitri’s ability to see him clearly without his prescriptions. It was a gaze he knew very well. Golden honey, always sweet and tender. They shimmered with admiration, brimmed with warmth. Glowed, like the rest of his face with love and desire in the slanted rays of light through the window. His chest and neck brandished with Dmitri’s signature craftsmanship. His crooked, sleep-ridden smile faltered, just for a moment, and it was enough to vault Dmitri back into the reality of the moment. Though Gale was too polite to come out and say it many days, including that one, Dmitri felt the pang of dishonesty in his statement more deeply that what drove him to the other boy’s bed in the first place.
“Gale.” His voice was softer now. The light melody of his voice, snuffed out like a candle. “Come here. Please.”
The boy obeyed, without question, and Dmitri once again found himself at some limbo between euphoria and sadness. Gale lowered himself back down onto Dmitri’s chest. Before fully settling, he reached for Dmitri’s thick-framed glasses off the windowsill and slid them onto the other boy’s face with a timid smile. He rested his chin on Dmitri’s breastbone, and snaked his arms around his torso. His grip was comfortable, yet secure. Arms Dmitri enjoyed falling asleep in, and being held in when he needed it. Dmitri wasn’t sure Gale knew that the boy’s natural strength was lending him the courage he needed to address the unspoken issue that lingered in the air between them for some long. A thing entirely of Dmitri’s own making.
“I’m sorry.”
Gale sighed audibly, and chose to bury his face into Dmitri’s chest. He didn’t blame him. He’d lost track of the amount of times he’d said it. It never made him feel any better, partially because every time he did, Gale appeared deeply wounded and betrayed. A tall, willowy, abused puppy, shying away from him. Dmitri was the one solely responsible for shredding his gentle heart to pieces, and he hated himself for it.
“No–” Dmitri stammered. “Not for this.”
Gale’s face remained buried in the t-shirt, and he could already feel the boy tensing on top of him.
“I’m sorry for the entire semester. Everything that made you question where I stood. Every night I beat down your advances and hopes. Every day I maybe took advantage of your kindness as a friend.” Dmitri reached up to run his fingers admiringly through Gale’s hair.
“I did a lot of terrible things that if they were done to me, I wouldn’t have stayed around as long as you have. You have every right in the world to go home, come back in January, and never seek me out or speak to me again. I deserve nothing less. But I hope you’ll reconsider one last time.”
Gale slowly lifted his head and Dmitri’s hand slid to cradle his hollowed cheek. He appeared distracted, as if he had been partially listening. His jaw fell slack in Dmitri’s hand.
“It’s the end of the semester.”
Dmitri smiled. “It is.”
“Did you just ask me to be your boyfriend?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. The liveliness that Dmitri had come to associate with Gale, and had given him his embarrassing nickname, returned to the boy’s face. The youthful laugh, the tightening grip around Dmitri’s stomach. The intensity of the kisses peppering his mouth as the boy clamored further onto Dmitri than he’d already been. The full weight of him, pressing down on Dmitri was breathtaking. An enthusiasm that many found endearing about pets, which could be insulting to the wrong person, but something Dmitri genuinely enjoyed about Gale’s demeanor. He loved and felt and rejoiced with every fiber of his being and it was so refreshing and sincere.
“Is this the real Dmitri? Or am I sleeping with an impostor?”
Dimitri grinned and bore it with a laugh of his own. “That different?”
“I don’t know. Have you been thinking about pulling me into a study room all semester?”
“Weren’t you?”
Gale gasped. “You dirty bastard.”
“I’m Russian,” Dmitri said in a comically affected tone. “We keep our private thoughts private.”
“Apparently so.”
“Admittedly, it was a last-minute decision.”
“I like last minute Dimka. He’s fun. Do I get to see more of him?” Gale teased, pressing his lips to Dmitri’s neck once more.
“You can.”
“Good,” Gale whispered. His deep baritone rippled through Dmitri’s body and he shuddered. “Because I have a few ideas for how my new boyfriend can make up for all the pain and agony he caused me these last few months.”
“Oh really?"
Gale’s cold arms slipped into the covers and pressed at the warm flesh of Dmitri’s inner thighs and the pair of them were immediately in agreement. He allowed Gale to move his legs and adjust positioning where needed, while Dmitri found the seam at the base of the t-shirt he was wearing. He started to wriggle about and lift it up over his head, but Gale refused to move his body when it was in the way, or help him with the action.
"Keep the shirt. Glasses, too.”
Dmitri let the shirt fall back down his torso, a smug smirk on his lips. “Anything else?”
“Don’t stop me.”
The smirk cleaved into a smile. “Okay.”
want a prompt? check out this post.
