coffeebuddha | Daily Drabble 47 (Reply)

Title: Meek As I Am
Author: coffeebuddha
Rating: PG-13/FRT
Characters/Pairings: Javier Esposito/Kevin Ryan
Word Count: 757
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
Prompt:

starscythe requested more of my French Girls verse. (That's right! It officially has a name and a tag. That's how you know I'm super serious about it.)
Notes: Follows Falling With Style.

***

Javier knows that a night of awkward, drunken flirting and one semi disastrous date do not a boyfriend make, but when he walks into life drawing on Monday morning just in time to see Kevin stripping out of his robe, he can't help the sudden pang of jealousy that's mixed in with his more usual attraction. Which is stupid; it's not like Kevin hasn't modeled for the class before, but that was back when Javier thought he was off limits. Untouchable. And now there's been touching. Not as much as he'd like, because apparently Kevin was only half kidding about not putting out on the first date and had gone suddenly shy when Javier had moved to kiss him, ducking his head so that Javier's lips had skimmed chastely over the slightly stubble roughened skin of his cheek instead of his mouth when they'd said goodnight, but their hands had brushed and there had been that moment in the water when he'd touched Kevin's waist and Javier needs to stop right the fuck now, because the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that his life is too pathetic for words.

He's not going to lie. He totally mopes his way through the entire hour, and by the time the class is getting ready to pack up, all he's managed to accomplish is break three different pieces of charcoal and sketch out something that looks more like a walrus than the beautiful guy who's probably right this instant wondering why he ever wanted to go out with Javier in the first place.

Well, aside from his abs. Javier's not even going to pretend that he doesn't have a rocking set of abs. But a relationship cannot be maintained by muscles alone, Javier thinks to himself firmly as he shuffles his papers together and shoves them into his sketchbook.

He's trying to decide if it's worth it to keep one of the charcoal pieces or if he should just throw it away when Kevin sidles up next to him, robe cinched tightly around his slim waist. Kevin smiles, the same bright, easy smile that makes Javier feel like he's eaten too many of his Aunt Cammy's lemon bars, but can't bring himself to regret it even if they do make his stomach clench, and reaches up to lightly run his fingertips down Javier's neck. The touch is halfway between innocent and far too intimate and Javier's breath hitches loudly in the mostly empty room. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Lanie shaking her head in fond exasperation, but that doesn't matter, because Kevin's still touching him, palm on his shoulder and fingers curled under his collar.

"Do you have to rush off immediately or can you wait a minute for me to change?"

Javier blinks, his mind racing to remember what the fuck his schedule is for the day--and silently lament that peeling Kevin out of that robe isn't on it--then nods slowly. "I have a class I need to get to, but it's just across the quad, so it won't take me long to get there. I can wait."

Kevin's smile widens even further, and Javier decides then and there that possibly being tardy is a tiny price to pay for getting to see that look.

He'd expected Kevin to go to the bathroom to change, like he usually does--not that Javier's a creepy stalker or anything, he's just observant--but instead he just walks over to where his bag is dumped against the wall and starts pulling on clothes right there. Javier's pretty sure that this sort of reverse strip tease shouldn't be as sexy as it it, but there's something about watching all of that pale, warm skin being covered up that puts him in mind of morning afters, and Javier wants a chance at one of those with Kevin so badly that he thinks he might cry if he doesn't get it.

Then Kevin's back at his side, a walking eyesore in lime plaid shorts, matching flip flops, and a bright yellow polo. The collar is, of course, popped, but Javier can't find it in himself to care at all, because as they're walking out of the building, Kevin's hand slides into his, palm to palm and fingers intertwined, and when he gets a call about halfway across the quad, he grins at Javier and tells the person on the other end, "Yeah, I'll be there soon. Right now I'm walking my boo to class."

***

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First commenter gets to pick the next prompt! When requesting, please keep in mind that I try to keep these between 100-500 words. For a list of my fandoms and squicks, go here. AUs, crack, genderbending, etc are all welcome in addition to more canon compliant prompts.

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Happy Memorial Day, guys!