Chapter 4: Pleasure Given Voice

Thomas had dressed himself carefully for his meeting the next day. As the days before had been, it was sunny and uncharacteristically hot for a Saturday in early June. The young blond had showered and combed his hair into something close to neatness and dressed himself in a pair of long khaki slacks, leather sandals, a short sleeved light blue t-shirt and an open green chequered over shirt. He'd gotten on the bus at seven and had retreated to the Grange, the formal name for the public gardens, for a little bit of peace before heading to the address where he had to meet Sera.

He did not find the solace he sought. Images of the happenings there shook his brain around and once again he pulled the folded sketch of himself from one of the many pockets of his trousers. He stared at it again, tracing his true profile with one slim finger wondering how anyone could portray him looking so peaceful. Scowling at himself he folded the paper and shoved it back in his pocket. Why was he here? Thomas could have kicked himself for how smitten he seemed.

Finally with ten minutes to get where he was going, Thomas wandered back into town and up the sloping hill of the high street. Next to the jewellery store he found a thin green building that had been converted into flats, one of which was his destination. Thomas examined the buttons until he found one labelled 'Sera' in the same cursive script as the address was written. Thomas wondered momentarily how Sera could afford a top floor flat in the centre of town before he pressed the buzzer, hoping that it would be Sera who answered rather than anyone else. His wish was answered.

"Speak," issued the speaker with a sharp crackle that made Thomas wince. Suddenly his nerve left him, "Who's there? Speak up!"

"It's Thomas," the boy gabbled in a breathless rush, not sounding at all like he wanted to. But the speaker crackled into a sudden silence and the door latch clicked. Thomas pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped into a dim lit but well kept hallway. The boy started up the worn carpeted stairs one at a time for three flights until he reached the top floor. The door was a standard cream painted affair and tacked to it was a small paper sign which proclaimed Sera's name in heavy gothic lettering. Thomas knocked.

When Sera opened the door the door a few seconds later he was dressed in a pair of black boxers and a steel grey dress shirt which was mostly undone. In silence he gestured Thomas inside and closed the door behind him. Barefoot the dark skinned boy led the way through the small and surprisingly neat flat. Furniture was sparse but not overly so and the black and white colour scheme made for a minimalist look. Kitchen-lounge-diner, a small white tiled bathroom with washing machine and dryer and a bedroom with a single bed. There was no door to this last room, just a half drawn semi transparent curtain of some shimmering black material and Thomas could see the over stacked bookshelves and the tall slim wardrobe that filled up the rest of the space.

"Nice place," Thomas said in a small voice, eager to break the silence that had settled over his shoulders.

"It's mine," came the reply as Sera walked over to the stereo and pressed play on the blinking orange display. Soft chords from the latest Nightwish album filled the small room. Thomas busied himself with a faux-checking for texts and looked up to find Sera looking at him with a smile. The dark boy was with him in two paces, kissing him hard enough to make Thomas's phone slip through suddenly slack fingers. The kiss was different from the others they had shared, for this kiss really was shared, Sera allowing Thomas free movement within his mouth, and it didn't take the other long to start kissing him back. Thomas found himself pushed back through the curtain.

When he felt Sera's bed hit the back of his legs he stopped, about to resist where Sera broke the kiss. In seconds the taller boy had grabbed the hem of his t-shirt, pushing it up over his head along with his over shirt and the two twisted garments neatly pinned Thomas's hands back behind him. Sera had him seated on the mattress and leaning back against the wall in no time.

"Stop!" Thomas was aghast to find himself breathless and panting as sera delivered open kisses down the length of his throat, "Stop, please!" Sera stopped and looked up at the pale boy.

"Why?" he asked shortly.

"Why are you doing this?" Thomas asked in a rush.

"Don't pretend you don't want it," Sera's palm pressed against the need between Thomas's spread legs, obvious through the cotton of his trousers, "We don't have to be quiet here." Thomas groaned as Sera continued kissing a fiery path down over his collarbone.

"I never asked for this." Sera's teeth dug in sharply over the bone causing Thomas to let out a cry of pain.

"I know," he said bluntly, raising his head again, one knee on the mattress between Thomas's legs, "I'm giving it."

"I don't understand."

Sera growled, "You don't have to, now shut up." And he proved his statement by kissing Thomas with a bite hard enough to make his lip bleed. Calmly he kissed away the crimson tear. Sera leant back and if Thomas had been looking he would have seen the shock and a certain degree of concern on Sera's face as he saw that there were real tears on the cheeks of the other boy. He wiped them away with the pad of his thumbs.

"Hush," he murmured, "Don't cry."

Thomas opened clear blue eyes and looked at him with a defiant glare touched with sorrow. The gaze made Sera drop his gaze. He got up without a word and helped Thomas to his feet, as the other stripped out of his shirts and pulled the green one back on, leaving it loose. At the door Thomas turned.