Thread by @PetrychorDreams

{🌌🐕the second - FLUFF}

"Darling, you can tell me about anything."

When Nigel had spoken those words, Adam had reason to doubt just how much he had meant them. He was used to people not meaning what they said, more than used to people zoning out shortly after he started

telling them about the gravitational field strength of Mercury compared to Neptune & the atomic composition of the Horsehead Nebula.

But Nigel? Nigel seemed genuinely interested. He asked questions, clarified points & generally made Adam feel like the only person on the planet

that mattered at that moment.

Time ticked on. The evening cafe crowd came and went, rowdy groups on canal boats tailed off, and a clocktower somewhere chimed just once.

Adam stopped mid-sentence & looked at his watch.

"Oh, how is it 1am? I should probably be getting back to

my hotel."

Nigel looked at his own watch. "Well, they say time flies when you're having fun, Adam. I've really enjoyed our conversation, it would be a shame for it to come to an end."

Shuffling to the edge of the bench seat, Adam rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand,

avoiding looking directly at the man next to him. "I've had a nice time speaking to you too, Nigel. I don't know if this would be a weird thing to ask, but if you wanted to walk with me, I think I would like that?"

Nigel fixed Adam with a lopsided grin that made his eyes

twinkle. "It would be an honour to escort you to your hotel, my little Spaceman."

Adam giggled at the endearment, a blush reaching the tips of his ears. Nigel drank in the sound for a moment before they both stood up. "Lead the way, darling."

They crossed the canal at

the nearest bridge, falling into step with one another.

"I feel like our 'conversation' was mainly me talking, Nigel. I do that, I get fixated on things and it's hard to figure out what parts I should share and what parts I shouldn't and then people..." He trailed off,

expression solemn, doleful. Nigel could almost see the looks of disinterest and barely concealed boredom mirrored in Adam's.

He vowed to himself that he would never be the cause of the younger man looking so downtrodden.

He clapped Adam playfully on the back.

"People, Adam! Fu-cking people! You know what the trouble with people is, right gorgeous?" He couldn't resist giving Adam's shoulder a playful squeeze before releasing it, noting the way that the grey cloud over Adam lifted slightly as he did.

"No, actually. I'm not very

good at knowing about people." He looked toward Nigel expectantly.

"Adam, I am good at knowing about people, and trust me: most of them? Absolute fu-cking cunts." Nigel tipped an exaggerated wink in Adam's direction, eliciting another delightful giggle.

The older man's brash language and tone had emboldened Adam, who was also unconsciously mimicking Nigel's confident stride. Looking for all the world like a naughty schoolboy, Adam stage-whispered: "Like those men you were talking to earlier? Are they...are they fucking cunts?"

Hearing those words in Adam's well-spoken & soft voice had Nigel feeling some sort of way that he couldn't quite pin down. He covered up his momentary confusion with another lopsided grin and couldn't resist conspiratorially draping his arm over the younger man's shoulder,

pulling him closer.

"Those men? Biggest cunts I've seen since I left Bucureşti!"

They arrived at a crossroads, where Adam took a moment to get his bearings before leading them on. It was apparent that he was thinking about saying something, and Nigel didn't rush him.

Taking the street to the left, Adam spoke softly: "Would it be rude for me to ask why? It sounded like they made you very angry, but I could be wrong again."

Nigel ran both hands through his hair, pushing it back behind his ears save for one stubborn strand.

"You can ask me anything, sweetheart, I don't mind. You told me everything about space, right?"

Adam was on the verge of saying he hadn't even begun to tell him 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 about space when Nigel carried on.

"They wanted to meet me about a job. I do lots of jobs for

lots of fucked up people, you know?" He caught Adam's gaze. The younger man nodded, as though he knew all about the kind of jobs Nigel would do.

"Well, the job, I didn't want it. I don't give much of a shit about the body count on a job, but kids? Kids getting hurt?

I'm a bastard, Adam, but not a complete fu-cking bastard."

Adam had slowed their pace before coming to a stop outside of a trendy-looking hostel. He looked up at Nigel, the older man only a couple of inches taller than he.

"I don't think you're a bastard, Nigel." He looked

down at his shoes sheepishly before announcing brightly: "Definitely not a complete fucking bastard."

There was that naughty schoolboy grin again. Nigel lapped it up.

"That's only because you don't know me very well, darling!"

Adam took the comment literally, looking

uneasy for a moment before lifting his gaze to meet Nigel's: "I know I don't yet, Nigel." He scuffed his shoe on the floor for a moment then spoke to the ground:

"I would like to, though. I would like to get to know you very well." Another pause, during which time Nigel's

battle-scarred heart tingled with the beginnings of something. He closed the short distance between the 2 of them with a hand, gently tilting Adam's gaze upwards with the tip of a finger. "If that's OK?"

Nigel could have sworn Adam's bottom lip actually wobbled with nervous

anticipation.

Which was why he did what he did next.

Still with his finger under Adam's chin, Nigel leaned in and pressed their lips together. Chaste. Soft. A simple kiss.

He moved his face away only an inch or two looking Adam's face over for signs of upset or anger.

All he saw was an almost childlike wonder.

"I would like that very fucking much, gorgeous."

[end]

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