hollow_moon | (no subject)

That made him laugh nervously. "I like to get through it without embarrassing myself," he admitted honestly. "Hardly erotic, but painfully true."

"What could possibly be embarrassing about you?" Valentine asked with a smile. "You're gorgeous, doctor. ...Utterly charming as well. I know embarrassing. I once spent a night with a woman who got her kicks by putting me on a leash. I let her take me for a walk before I took her to bed... Then there was the man who wanted to take photos of my feet. Not a handsome man, but endearing in his odd little way. Honestly, I could spend all night telling stories of the strange and wonderful people I've spent the night with. ...I like the strange. I like a bit of a freak show. You seem perfectly normal to me, Chris, but if there's something strange lurking beneath your skin, I promise you, it's more than welcome here."

It was odd that something that sounded just a bit dismissive could be so reassuring. No, he thought, he'd not be taking snaps of the man's feet. Truthfully, he'd likely be a bit dull if only because he'd always been too anxious to explore his desires too terribly much.

But then Val said that and he knew it was only a turn of phrase- lurking beneath your skin- but then he could only think of how Val had reacted to his job. To faith. What would he think of him when he saw the pages of Matthew obsessively etched into every inch of his flesh?

"Of course," he said nervously, finding himself steady enough in the moment to keep close and not pull away.

His shirt fell open, and Valentine shrugged it off, letting it hit the floor. His skin was fair, covered in patches of dark hair and various scars... and bruises. The change took it's toll, and some months were worse then others. Then there was the wolf itself- and unpredictable creature. Some nights it simply ate and slept, but others... Other nights it threw itself against the door, howling and scratching, desperate to be free. The ace didn't seem to bother the creature, but it meant Val would often wake up even more beaten and broken than usual.

Still, he drew no attention to them as he smiled.

"Would you feel more at ease with some music on?"

"Something soft, yes," Chris answered, buying himself a moment. He made no move to undress, his cuffs buttoned tightly at his wrists, his shirt done up to the neck with the top button behind a tie, the whole think covered over with a jumper. Chris was layers upon layers, underneath it all was still an undiscovered t-shirt. It was difficult to even determine the shape of his body with so much worn.

But his eyes were drawn to Val's body and he proved himself to be true. He liked to look, liked to watch. Every move the man made, Chris followed with his eyes.

Val nodded, picking up a tablet that sat charging beside his bed, and connecting it wireless to a small Bose system on the night stand.

"Soft, hmm?" he replied, looking thoughtful, and then flipping through his playlists until he found something fitting. It was a mix of artists, but the first song to come through the speakers was a soft tune, heavy on the piano with some male vocals.

"That alright?" he asked gently.

"Lovely," he nodded, unfamiliar with the song or the artist. The piano was alluring. Chris found himself drawn closer, one hand reaching out to touch the warmth of Val's skin. Jade was hairless, almost, depending on the form, and so the hair that rose up on Val's body was quite a novelty, given what he was accustomed to.

"You're so warm," he said quietly.

"Mmm, I've got a tendency to run hot," Val admitted, allowing Chris to touch and explore at his own pace. "Even in the winter, I'm rarely cold."

After a moment, he crew a touch bolder, tugging lightly at Chris' jumper, then leaning in just close enough to ghost his lips against the other man's jaw.

Chris gasped in shock and tensed, but the panic passed quickly and he found himself tipping his head back to offer his throat.

"Slowly," he begged, aching to keep anxiety at bay so he could enjoy this.

"As slow as you need," Val promised, his words barely more than a whisper.

"It's alright, lamb. You're safe with me..."

Chris took the words at face value, even the endearment, and he slowly put his arms around Val to feel the play of muscles on his back.

"I don't usually, erm, when I'm with men I'm...on top? I imagine that's the language," he said softly. "But there are plenty of other things we can do because you seem...quite in charge and I don't...not without a lot of, erm...I feel like such a fool talking about this..."

He felt a fool, but worse than that he could feel his heart beginning to race. He'd barely touched the man and he was coming undone about the maybe's and what if's...

"Not a fool at all," Val soothed. "I told you, lamb- I'm flexible. If you'd like to be on top, I'm very open to that. You may have noticed, I'm a bit beat up at the moment. I'll not protest taking it easy tonight," he smiled.

Though the other man wasn't wrong. He did, more often than not, prefer to be on top. It took a strong man to tame the wolf, and at his fittest he doubted someone as timid as Chris would be up to the task.

He felt calmer immediately, Val's hands and voice soothing him. He grew daring and took off his jumper, but that layer was enough to give him pause, making him turn to the other man to kiss him and enjoy the shape and smell of him.

Val was, for the most part, as passive as the wolf would allow him to be, allowing Chris to take the lead, and making sure that his own hands didn't roam too far, too fast. ...He moaned softly though, and dared to unbutton the button nearest the man's shirt collar.

The top edge of the tattoo was covered by the undershirt he wore and he took confidence in that knowledge. It was his arms he was more concerned about.

"Val," he whispered softly, then pulled away. There was no doubt, but worry in his eyes. "I've really not been with very many people. I won't make an interesting tale for later..."

"I don't need an interesting tale- I just want your company tonight," Val insisted. "...Though if you're having second thoughts- I won't push. I'm not that kind of man."

"No, actually...not at all," he said, then closed his eyes to kiss him. Chris took more control of that than anything he'd done so far, pressing to Val's mouth and opened his lips, dragging the other man's along with hem so his tongue could beg entrance.

Val gladly parted his lips, moaning softly and pressing closer.

Oh, now this was more like it. This was good. ...This held promise.

Chris savored the taste of him as one hand crept up to plunge fingers into the man's dark locks.

"You taste exquisite," he whispered into the kiss.

"Nearly as good as you," Val murmured, his voice low and gravelly.

He pulled back just a bit, a soft growl in the back of his throat as he bared his teeth and ghosted a bite against the supple flesh of Chris' neck.

Val's teeth were arousing in a way he was quite unaccustomed to. Jade did what made Chris happy but other than playing with forms they didn't experiment much. Jade's business was pleasure and Chris was really quite easy to please. But those teeth...that was new and it drew an embarrassing sound from him as his fingers tightened in Val's hair.

"Take your shirt off," Val whispered, letting his teeth rake gently over soft skin as he spoke.

"Oh, yes...yes, alright," he said and pulled away a bit to fuss with his cuffs. He got the buttons undone and then opened his shirt, only revealing the clean white undershirt. There was one more moment of real hesitation and then Chris began to peel it off.

His arms from his wrist up to where the skin vanished into the undershirt sleeves were words. Words upon words as if they were there under his skin, the flesh delicately being torn away or even blown...all illusion done with shadow and light. His arms weren't enough to make out what the text was, really. But where sleeves were not an uncommon tattoo choice for the modern man...Chris's tattoos were a bit extreme. His whole torso was covered as well, and the ink disappeared beneath his waist band as well.

Curious, Val ran his finger over one of the lines of text.

"Huh. Well, that's unexpected," he admitted. "That's quite a bit of ink, doctor."

"Everyone has their hobbies," he said, bashfully looking down to see where Val's finger traced the art.