[SE] it's a hell of a feeling though

Mateo

"Do not worry yourself. You have not disappointed me yet," Mateo assures Vesper with a catlike smile, the botanist tipping him a wink and swiftly palming the rest of the snapdragon back into his pocket as they settle in with their first dose of jewel-toned ecstasy. "And I daresay we ought to be feeling quite wonderful in the next five minutes. Just enough time to finish our drinks, no?" Reaching out to clink his glass against the other man's one last time, Mateo's negroni is gone far before those five minutes are up, and the combination of liquor and drugs on an otherwise empty stomach is just the kickstart to his night he's been looking for.

And Mateo doesn't know about Vesper, but for the botanist at least, the next few hours are a blur of euphoric sensation - cheeks that hurt from smiling, music so loud and low that the drumbeat of it climbs his legs and settles deep in his hips, the taste of sugar rims and liquorice and the sweetness of strangers' drinks on their tongues. Having traded the stained glass cocktail bar for the low, heady light of the more popular boulevards in The Silk Houses, Mateo remembers the crush of other bodies on a dancefloor shortly before he's called to snort a bump of something directly off the perfumed cleavage of a dear friend (or someone he'd met two minutes before, same difference), and then the night ramps up all over again.

Gods it feels good to be reckless and at home.

Reaching for Vesper an indeterminate length of time later - Mateo having ensured that he never leaves his Torcher friend behind in the bedlam, naturally - and with his thoughts like watercolours bleeding into an over-saturated canvas, the botanist draws them into the cool night air only a hop, skip and jump away from the infamous Mother Molly's. Her silks flutter in the breeze overhead and out of windows, and given that the chill breeze does absolutely nothing to start sobering him up, he gestures towards her invitingly open doorways. "Can I tempt you?" he purrs, not for the first time that night.

And probably not the last.

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

It started with a glass and a grin, but then the Silk Houses unspooled around him like a dream. All fractured glass and stained desire, too-bright colors bleeding into the beat of a base so low it vibrated in his ribs. Time went strange after that.

He remembers the heat of the crowd, the press of limbs and sweat and perfume as he let Mateo pull him from one room to the next, their laughter spilling out ahead of them like a trail of breadcrumbs. Someone poured champagne down his throat while another smeared glitter across his collarbones. There was a moment, brief but sharp, where he tasted cherries on someone else's lips—he doesn’t know whose—and felt Mateo’s fingers around his waist.

They danced. Gods, they danced. Vesper doesn’t remember the song, only the feeling of it: the way the rhythm moved like a pulse between them, like breath shared across barely-there space, like tension wound deliciously tight. There was a drag of teeth at his jaw. A cigarette passed from one mouth to the other. His thoughts, his shadows, blurred and glowing.

Outside, the sea air bit at the sweat on his skin, cooling nothing. At the question, Vesper turned toward the botanist, constellation freckles dancing faintly beneath the lamplight, and let his gaze drift to the open door. "Mateo," he drawled, voice rough from hours of smoke and laughter, "you’ve been temptin’ me all night, I ain't said no once. Not about to start now."

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Mateo

"I thought you might say as much, but I always like my consent to be enthusiastic," Mateo says with a dimpled grin, reaching out to snag Vesper by the waist of his pants with fingers long gone a little numb, ferrying him forward at the same time as the botanist steps back. But he's caught, all of a sudden, by the way the moonlight mingles with the gauzy vibrance of lanterns through silk, and how they cast Vesper's face in an array of colour, highlighting the constellations dancing across the bridge of his nose.

"Bellissimo," Mateo breathes, his free hand coming up as if to brush across the other man's cheek, his blue eyes greedily drinking him in. His steps have slowed for a second, but luckily for the trajectory of their night, at that moment someone barges past the two addled young men, shoving both of them further in through the doorway of Mother Molly's and conveniently carrying Mateo into the kiss he's been looking forward to all night.

His waistcoat and his shirt have been unbuttoned for some time already, but if there's any glitter on his body then it's absolutely transferred from other people, his hands eager to see if the lavender linen Vesper has clad himself in feels as good as it looks against his skin.

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

Vesper hits the kiss like he’s been waiting all night to sink into it—because like Mateo, he has.

His hand catches the curve of Mateo’s jaw, fingers curling just beneath it as he tilts the botanist’s face upward, guiding him into the press of lips like a slow burn caught between twilight and silk. The world is loud around them—music, voices, the rustle of fabric—but Vesper tunes it out, drowning instead in the electric, heady chaos of Mateo’s thoughts.

It tastes like starlight and sugar, like something floral blooming hot against the back of his tongue. His thumb brushes Mateo’s cheekbone as the kiss deepens, languid and greedy, his mouth coaxing and claiming with the same deliberate grace he’s shown all night. Like he wants to memorize it. Like he wants to write it into Mateo’s bones. His other hand slides beneath the hem of the open waistcoat, cool fingers finding warm skin at the small of Mateo’s back. He doesn’t press, not yet—just holds him there, just enough to feel the steady heat of him, the flutter of movement that matches the erratic spill of thought beneath. A hum stirs low in Vesper’s throat, the vibration soft against Mateo’s lips.

He doesn’t need to say I want you; he’s already inside Mateo’s mind, painting it with every brush of his tongue.

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Mateo

Having experienced many kisses in his time, it's definitely something for Mateo to say he's never been kissed quite like this. He'd half been expecting the greedy, half feral pawing of two young men with no inhibitions and a lot of libido - not something he dislikes, to be sure, but then there isn't much the botanist dislikes. 

But as Vesper claims his mouth like he's something worth having and possessing, as his long fingers curl against the small of his back and hold him there, the botanist's thoughts unfurl like the slow opening of a lotus flower. Brimming with a haze of lust and pleasure that comes from lazy, exquisite touch and the slow burn of rising arousal, Mateo's mind swims and sparks with the last of the snapdragon in his veins, even as his blood heats with something new.

Almost tripping over the threshold to Molly's - because he's still been guiding them inside the building, he realises, even as his fingers bunch at lavender fabric and graze against skin spangled with constellations - it's with a soft huff of laughter that Mateo parts just enough to glance around. "I have a room here," he says, to the surprise of no one. "Unless you would like to treat everyone in the lounge to a show?"

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

Vesper’s mouth drags lazily from Mateo’s, the taste of sugar and smoke lingering on his tongue like a promise. At the sound of Mateo’s breathless suggestion, the demigod’s smirk returns slow and sharp, pressing like a bruise against the space between want and wit. He lets his thumb skim beneath the edge of the botanist’s waistcoat, dragging over warm skin in a subtle warning of how far he intends to take this. Then he murmurs, just under the music and the murmur of Mother Molly’s velvet-draped lounge: "Mm. Funny," he drawls, his voice rough silk and shadow. "Earlier tonight, you said you weren’t ready to share me yet." A pause, his thumb still circling, the heat of his body pressed along Mateo’s with intention that borders on reverence. "I find myself feelin’ the same. Less inclined to share you."

He tilts his head, tongue flicking lightly behind his teeth as if weighing his own next words. His grin curves wickedly, leaner and lower as he leans closer again, the constellation dusting of his freckles catching the glint of lanternlight overhead. " ’Course," he adds, just above a whisper now, voice brushing Mateo’s lips, "if your room happens to include a third who doesn’t mind how greedy I plan to be…" His hand tightens faintly at the small of Mateo’s back, pulling him flush with a low hum. "I’d consider bein' generous."

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Mateo

"Do not hear me wrong," Mateo purrs, his body coming to life beneath Vesper's reverent touch, his hand smoothing against his shirt as if in apology for the wrinkles undoubtedly put in it by his earlier clutching. "I have no intention of sharing you tonight. But that does not mean people cannot enjoy looking at what they are missing, no?" Raising a brow but seeming nevertheless relieved to hear that the other man is in agreement, Mateo is already trundling them back through a velvet curtain and down a corridor that the usual patrons of Molly's aren't likely to ever see.

"Amore, I can get us a third, fourth and fifth if that is what you want. But not until after I have had you once to myself. The night is still young." Plenty of time to be spent and spent again, if that's what Vesper wants. For now, though, Mateo finally - albeit reluctantly - turns to properly walk the labyrinthine corridors, until they arrive at a small and tucked away door decorated by a carefully cultivated flourish of wisteria.

Within said door, the room Mateo keeps at Molly's might not be the decadant and plush extravagance given to her customers, but it is very comfortable and always stocked with the botanist's favourites. For right now, granted, his favourite thing is the sweetness of Vesper on his tongue, and no sooner has he nudged the door shut when he's pulling the other man down to him again, eager for another taste.

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

Vesper’s grin curves sharp and wolfish at Mateo’s purr, every word like the drag of velvet over bare skin. "They can look all they want," he agrees, eyes glinting as he's ushered behind the velvet curtain and into the quieter dark. And gods, the thoughts bleeding from the botanist—sultry, slick, delightfully impatient—pour over Vesper like honeyed wine. He drinks them in greedily, letting them swirl behind his eyes as they're tugged down the hidden corridor, each step deeper into Molly’s private maze echoing with delicious potential. His mind is a low hum of hunger, of wanting not just Mateo's body but the tangled brightness of his thoughts, the fluttering bloom of anticipation that only sharpens the longer Vesper lets it steep.

By the time the wisteria-marked door swings open, Vesper’s already leaning in, moving like smoke and shadow. The moment the door clicks shut, his hand braces flat against the wall just above Mateo’s head, boxing him in. With his other hand, he captures the curve of the botanist’s waist, slipping under the edge of his already-rumpled shirt to find warm skin, his fingers spreading slow and possessive across the small of his back.

"You say such pretty things," he murmurs, gaze dropping to Mateo’s mouth, voice low and rough with want. "But you ain't said my name quite the way I wanna hear it yet." Then he's kissing him again—deeper this time, hungrier. Vesper pins him to the wall without force, just gravity and heat and the sharp line of his body slotting against Mateo's, chasing every high-flung thought with the drag of his tongue and the press of his hips.

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Mateo

Something needy and dark flickers to life in Mateo's thoughts as he's caged in by the press of Vesper's body and the wicked touch of his hands; something that wants to be pinned down and taken, like a butterfly caught beneath a cat's paw. In his mind the black velvet of his lust kindles with a heat that threatens to go wild with desire, urging rough handling and heedless want over the soft and reverent touches of before. 

Surging up to meet the other man's lips, his fingers unfasten buttons and unhook buckles with the practiced flourish of a magician whose favourite act is nudity, and only when he can taste the perfumed sweat of Vesper's bare skin will he be remotely satisfied. "I am not a difficult instrument to learn," he assures Vesper in a sweet whisper against the sharp curve of his jaw. "But it takes some skill to master me."

Not that he thinks the other man will struggle if their night thus far is any indication, Mateo shrugging out of his shirt and waistcoat without fully taking his hands from the sleeves, such is his reluctance to let Vesper go.

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

Vesper lets the kiss deepen with a low hum, dark and resonant in his chest as he feels Mateo’s thoughts unravel against his own. That raw, unfiltered want—the reckless permission to bruise and burn—flares like a struck match between them, and gods does he feed on it.

He doesn’t say a word at first. Just pushes his thigh between Mateo’s legs and leans in harder, pinning the smaller man more firmly against the door as he mouths hungrily at the curve of his throat. Mateo's words—sweet and taunting—curl like smoke around Vesper’s ribs, and he grins against damp skin. "Mm. Mastery takes time," he murmurs, voice low and rough with promise. His fingers trail down Mateo’s arms, helping slide the half-shed shirt from his wrists before dragging his nails lightly back up his sides. "Guess we'll just have to see what I can learn in a night."

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Mateo

"I have every faith in you," Mateo whispers, his voice framed by the mischief in his smile as his head tilts willingly to the side and he feels Vesper's touch trail along his skin like streamers of wildfire. Already his body is responding to every note the other man wants to pluck from it, his lips parting in a soft moan and his eyes slipping shut as if to better anchor himself to his other senses. "Besides, the night is as long as you make it."

Slipping his fingers up into the other man's hair and tightening them enough to draw him back if only so he can steal another kiss from his lips, it takes a surprising amount of effort for Mateo to want to arch off the wall, but when he does it's to let them tumble into the mess of brightly coloured sheets, pastel silks and tasselled pillows of his bed. "Go on," he challenges, breathless and already thoroughly wound up. "Make me say your name."

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

Vesper follows the pull of Mateo’s fingers with a low growl, their mouths meeting again before they tumble together into the riot of silks and colour that makes up the botanist’s bed. The weight of the other man beneath him only feeds the fire curling low in his spine, the taste of him still tingling on Vesper’s tongue as he leans up just enough to breathe.

"Careful what you ask for," he murmurs, voice thick and lazy with want.

His shadows respond before his hands do—slithering across the sheets to wind around Mateo’s wrists, guiding them above his head where they hold fast, firm but not cruel. With them secured, Vesper lets the full weight of his body settle over the smaller man, anchoring him in place. There’s a quiet satisfaction in how easily Mateo fits beneath him, how willingly he offers himself up like something to be devoured.

Vesper’s mouth trails downward in slow increments, lips brushing over collarbones, then sternum, his tongue flicking against the curve of a rib as he listens—not just with his ears but with his mind. He’s reading every skip of thought, every spark of anticipation and ache, adjusting the tempo with predatory precision. Sometimes slow. Sometimes sharp. Always just enough to keep Mateo straining for more. His hand slides beneath the loosened line of Mateo’s pants, knuckles brushing hot skin with calculated ease. "It isn't just that you'll say it," he whispers against the flutter of the botanist’s stomach, his grin all sin and silk. "It's how you'll say it."

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Mateo

"I never ask for anything I do not want," Mateo purrs right back to Vesper, though his breath hitches a touch to find his wrists suddenly bound above his head and the weight of the other man pressing deliciously down against him. "And I do not make a habit of being careful either." From just a couple of evenings in his company, the demigod will know that much already. Still, held in place by a power that feels wild and unrestrained in all the best ways, the botanist lets his head tip back against the pillows to feel every flick of Vesper's tongue and scrape of his teeth.

Impatience and anticipation bloom like twin flames in his mind, searing down the length of his spine and pooling low in his belly, his hips lifting automatically in response to the fingers that tease around the waistband of pants that feel two sizes too small already. "Oh? How would you have me say it?" he whispers, every nerve alive with the thought of a touch that might spark further pleasure, images of quick and brutish fucking colliding with the delectable dance of teasing bliss.

"Do you want me to scream it? Moan it into my pillows? Barely be able to say it because of your hands on me?"

if anything could fall at all, it's the world that falls away from me

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I need you like god needs the devil, honey

Vesper’s teeth flash in a grin against Mateo’s skin, the kind of expression that’s all promise and no mercy. Gods, the man beneath him is a live wire—hot and eager and already vibrating with need—and it takes effort to move slow, to savour the way Mateo’s thoughts crackle like sugar on flame. He hums against a line of ribs, tongue tracing the edge of a freckle, his voice a purr dragged low with desire.

"Any of those would do," he murmurs, lifting his head just enough to meet Mateo’s eyes. "But I wanna hear it the way it leaves your lips when your voice stops bein' yours to control at all."

His hand slides lower, slipping beneath the waistband of those damned-too-tight pants, fingers finally closing around the hardness waiting for him there. The slow, deliberate curl of his palm is meant to tease, to torment, dragging pleasure from Mateo at a maddening pace while his shadows tighten briefly at the wrists—reminding, not restraining. He shifts just enough to rock his hips against the botanist’s thigh, the pressure merely enough for Mateo to feel the corresponding hardness tightening Vesper's own pants.

someday soon this dust's gonna settle

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3