#migueli

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He’d really thought they had a good thing going. There was just something between them that instantly clicked, something that made them a great match. Maybe it was similar artistic sensibilities, or Rico appreciating Hawk’s wild lack of restraint when it came to tattoos.

Or perhaps it had been because when Hawk first wandered into Rico’s studio, a fresh-faced sixteen-year-old still getting used to his new persona, the man took one look at his – in hindsight honestly pretty shoddy – fake ID, immediately clocked it for what it was, then shrugged and pulled out the tattoo gun no questions asked except what he wanted and where he wanted it.

Hawk could respect a guy like that.

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It was fucked up, but he had absolute confidence that he was probably the only person in the world who could get away with smacking Eli’s hand away when it reached for the bottle again and get a response no more threatening than an aggrieved, hissing kitten. All intimidating show, but claws too small and weak to do any real damage.

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It wasn’t like he was going to be able to fight someone off in his condition, he couldn’t even sit up by himself, all he could do was just hope they didn’t take anything too expensive. Not that he actually owned anything that valuable. Maybe his laptop, it was a cheap, old model but presumably it was worth something right? But that was going to be a bitch to replace, more for the hard drive than anything else, all those work files he didn’t have backups for…

Actually, yeah, he really couldn’t lose that. Groaning and taking a deep breath, he was preparing to shout that they could take whatever else they liked but for the love of God please leave the laptop – or at least remove the hard drive and they could take the rest – when the intruder called out instead.

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And her enthusiasm was infectious, even if he didn’t understand half of what she was talking about.

“-and then we made a blood sacrifice to Mother Earth, gifting her the unworthy flesh of an oil company CEO to satiate her desire for vengeance against humanity.”

His thoughts crashed to a halt as his brain caught up with the words coming out of Moon’s mouth. “Wait, what?”

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Eli’s hands slowly pulled away from his back, fingers pressing into one last knot at the base of his spine as they left, leaving Miguel loose and relaxed and remarkably pain-free for once. It was rare he got to enjoy quiet, peaceful moments like this, so he was ready to fall asleep there and then, and he probably would have if Eli hadn’t chosen that moment to bring his hands back into play.

They landed with a nice firm smack.

Not against his back.

Unable to bite back his surprised grunt, Miguel opened his eyes and glared at the headboard, refusing to turn around and give his boyfriend the satisfaction of seeing the blush undoubtedly colouring his cheeks. “Carry a lot of tension in my ass, do I?”

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Lightly smacking Hawk’s arm, Miguel couldn’t help laughing, even as he hoped his blush wasn’t too obvious. “Shut up, man, I just don’t like touching my eyes- no, stop that, fuck off!”

He turned his head away, but Hawk was persistently leaning into his line of sight with the most obnoxious grin and his finger hovering dangerously close to his own unblinking eye. “What, I’m just demonstrating-”

“Stop!” Grabbing Hawk’s hand and dragging it down to the desk where it was safely out of eye-poking range, Miguel took the opportunity to glare at him darkly. “Jesus, you know that shit freaks me out.”

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He could already feel the judgement in Demetri’s unconvinced side-eye and the long, low hum he was drawing out to an unnecessary degree, he didn’t need him finding out just how deeply fucked Eli was – wanted to be-

No! Not going there!

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Seeing the look on his face, Robby snorted and quickly explained, “He’s determined to take Ella to her first big rock festival, but he didn’t plan ahead so now he’s picking fights with scalpers trying to get tickets before next week-” Miguel snickered and muttered that that sounded about right under his breath “-he also said he’d be borrowing your wheelchair if he doesn’t get them. Something about trying the ‘make-a-wish trick’ again?”

Smacking a hand into his face, Miguel groaned and rubbed at his eyes harshly, trying and failing not to laugh. “I swear to God…”

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Honestly, even if he wasn’t having the best sex of his life he probably would have kept this arrangement going purely for the access it gave him to Hawk’s shower.

Truly, the rich just lived differently.

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He shrugged, stealing the last slice of barely-browned toast – plain, because Hawk was the kind of freak who thought that dry toast was an acceptable meal – from his friend’s plate. “I’ve had worse,” he said, before taking a deeply unsatisfying mouthful and chewing listlessly.

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Hawk’s confidence was as hard and dazzling as diamond; flashy, deceptively deep, nearly impossible to scratch or chip. But, like a diamond, it was brittle.

Hit him in just the right spot and all that confidence would shatter into dust.