He scanned through the table of contents. Hot Trends to Try This Summer. 20 Best Affordable Lip Glosses. How to Take Care of Your Mental Health in College. None of these were right. Near was not interested in fashion, suspected lip gloss would be unpleasant to him from a sensory perspective, and was already the picture of excellent mental health. He kept searching, a small frown on his face, until— lo and behold— he found the page number he was looking for and flipped to the article that would, he assumed, completely change his life:
15 Totally Chill Ways to Flirt With Your Crush.
He scanned through the table of contents. Hot Trends to Try This Summer. 20 Best Affordable Lip Glosses. How to Take Care of Your Mental Health in College. None of these were right. Near was not interested in fashion, suspected lip gloss would be unpleasant to him from a sensory perspective, and was already the picture of excellent mental health. He kept searching, a small frown on his face, until— lo and behold— he found the page number he was looking for and flipped to the article that would, he assumed, completely change his life.
15 Totally Chill Ways to Flirt With Your Crush.
If he were asked to pinpoint when the fantasy first formed, Mello would lie. He might claim it was a recent development— that it came out of nowhere, all at once, for no apparent reason— or say he’d already been into it before he and Near started screwing. The truth, he fears, is slightly damning: the seeds of the fantasy seemed to take root in his mind the first time he ever fucked Near.
read here
(all artwork by the supremely beautiful and talented @deehlia <3)
If he were asked to pinpoint when the fantasy first formed, Mello would lie.
He might claim it was a recent development— that it came out of nowhere, all at once, for no apparent reason— or say he’d already been into it before he and Near started screwing. The truth, he fears, is slightly damning: the seeds of the fantasy seemed to take root in his mind the first time he ever fucked Near.
read here
(cover art by the supremely beautiful and talented @deehlia <3)
“What,” Mello says, holding the blue-and-green plastic stick between his thumb and forefinger, “is this?”
It is a toothbrush, one with the particular bristle density and softness that Near likes best. Near knows that Mello knows this, but he is also aware that he must reply regardless of how obvious the answer is to them both.
“A toothbrush,” he says. “I purchased one to keep here for the sake of convenience.”
There’s a boy Mello can’t stop looking at in the second row. White hair, dark eyes, round-ish face. He’s kind of pretty, and kind of Mello’s type, but that isn’t why he’s looking.
—
Graduate student Nate River meets internationally-acclaimed rockstar Mihael Keehl— stage name Mello. One of them is a little starstruck.
Standing there next to the pantry, body bare and goosebumped and bruised, Near looks fragile, but Mello is the one to shatter.
-- i want to hold you (hostage)
very excited to share this incredibly gorgeous commission from @horreurscopes for the one-year anniversary of the first chapter of i want to hold you (hostage) ! this story was by far my biggest project last year, and remains extremely dear to me; i'm so grateful and honestly quite moved by the reception it received (i was very nervous to share it!) and i'll always have immense affection for everyone who helped me through the writing and editing process (either by beta reading, lending me their ear, or cheering me on). there are too many people who fit into that category to name all of them, but i would be remiss to not mention @empressofthewind, as i never would have managed to finish this story without her support <3
bonus below the cut: the nothing hurts like you do edition!
Near’s face burns with humiliation, but it does nothing to dampen his desire. If anything, it increases it. He wants very badly for Mello to touch him, but he can’t find his voice, and even if he could, he is uncertain whether he could form the words to ask. There’s a clatter to his left, then, a metallic sound that he only registers as the gun being abandoned on the bathroom counter after Mello’s body is flush against his own.
Mello’s breath fans over his face, and Near gathers the courage to open his eyes and look up at him.
He parts his lips to speak, but before he can, Mello kisses him.
Near has Mello under siege, dragging him into a battle of wits, strategy, and stealth, one that has him in a state of constant vigilance, ever-ready for an attack. With his dignity and his ego on the line, Mello throws himself head-first into psychological warfare against his longtime rival, trying any tactic he can to help him turn the tide in his favor. The game is as complex and mind-bending as four-dimensional chess, and Mello has to think twenty moves ahead just to keep up, but he’ll be damned before losing to Near at this.
—
In which Near accidentally gaslights Mello into being his boyfriend, and Mello does Olympic-level mental gymnastics in order to read Near’s actions as sinister.
