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Tum wasn't sure how the argument started. He wasn't sure how any of their arguments started. One minute they would be getting along fine and the next they were at each other's throats. He imagined that it was protective on some level—a way to maintain the careful distance they'd curated between them—but it wasn't just that. Oh was the only color in what had recently become a very monochrome world. The unfortunate truth was that Tum never felt more alive than when Oh was yelling at him.
"Do you really think you can beat me, Tum?" Oh taunted, throwing his nose into the air to make him look taller. It was a useless endeavor. They were standing so close that there was no hiding the height difference between them. Tum stood several inches taller than Oh and he found that liked it. He also liked how when he stepped closer, Oh didn’t yield to him at all. He simply raised his nose higher.
"You think you’re so great, huh?" Tum drawled.
"I'm better than you, asshole!"
Tum pushed him down on the bed and crawled on top of him, immediately reaching for his pants. Oh had taken something from him and now Tum wanted it back. That was the game they were playing—the intricate ritual they had constructed to be able to touch each other without having to question why they wanted to in the first place.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Oh cried.
Tum ignored him. He tried to pull off Oh's pants without unfastening them but they were too tight so he reached for the button instead. Oh rolled away before he could get it undone and Tum followed him, wrapping his arms around Oh from behind and using his own legs to hold him in place. They were pressed together now—Tum’s front against Oh’s back—and Oh wouldn’t stop squirming. Tum held him tighter.
“Give me your pants, Oh! Give them to me!”
“No! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
Tum reached around and finally managed to undo the button. Oh squirmed harder. He began to claw at Tum’s hand, leaving angry red scratches to match the ones on his face, but Tum still had the upper hand. He was bigger, stronger. He had Oh right where he wanted him. He pinned Oh’s wrists to the mattress and to his surprise, Oh went limp in his arms. It was in the ensuing silence that Tum realized he was hard. He wondered if Oh could feel it too.
Oh turned to glare at Tum over his shoulder. They were both breathing heavily, the way you only did after fighting or fucking. It was no wonder Tum’s body could no longer tell the difference between the two.
"Not so strong now, are you?” Tum teased. “Why aren't you fighting back?"
The words had barely left his mouth before Oh elbowed him in the face and flipped them so that Tum was lying down with Oh straddling him. Oh let out a huff of annoyance and Tum knew he should retaliate, but he found himself frozen. He let his gaze wander across Oh’s face, his chest, his abs. He was stronger than he looked. Tum reached for Oh's pants again halfheartedly but it seemed that Oh had finally had enough. He grabbed Tum’s T-shirt in his fists and pulled him into a sitting position so that they were face to face. Oh was taller than him now. Tum found that he didn't mind it.
Without consciously planning to do so, his eyes drifted down to Oh’s lips. He tried to tell himself it was simply muscle memory—that his body was reacting to Oh this way because the only other times he had been in this position he had been kissing someone—but he knew that wasn't true. He and Oh had been at each other's throats for days. Even when they weren't fighting, Tum was thinking about him, brainstorming snappy comebacks or plotting his next pant heist. In only a few days, Oh had stolen away tiny pieces of his soul and this was the only way Tum knew to get them back.
For the first time since they'd started fighting, Tum's hand drifted from the waistband of Oh’s pants. He moved it to Oh's back instead, pulling him closer, holding him still. He inhaled. He exhaled.
He wasn't sure which of them moved first but the next thing he knew, they were kissing. The tension Tum had been carrying around for days bled from his body as the anger and frustration were transformed into pleasure. Kissing Oh felt like standing in the eye of a hurricane. There was chaos all around them but in each other, they had found this one perfect moment of serenity to weather the storm together.
Oh removed Tum’s shirt and then kissed him again, gripping Tum’s hair hard enough to pull. Not to be outdone, Tum scratched his fingers down Oh’s back, determined to leave a mark so that Oh wouldn't be able to gaslight him come tomorrow. He would leave his mark on Oh's body so that he could know for sure this had actually happened.
He flipped them just as easily as Oh had done earlier and he saw in Oh’s face—for the briefest of seconds—doubt. It was as if he thought Tum had changed positions so that he could pull away, but Tum had no desire to stop. He kissed Oh with the same passion in which they fought and then, after what felt like a lifetime, Oh finally did as he had been told: He removed his pants.
They came off easily now that Oh wasn't fighting to keep them on and within seconds, they had been discarded onto the floor. Tum broke their kiss to stare. The pants were right there, completely unguarded. He could easily grab them and run from the room before Oh was even out of bed. He would likely never get a better chance.
And yet…
He looked down at Oh. He was breathing rapidly, the rise and fall of his chest making his tattoos dance across his skin. If he were braver, Tum might have made fun of him for his excitement, but how could he when his own heart was racing too? This thing between them felt fragile. He had to protect it.
Oh reached for Tum's face slowly as if worried he might spook him and Tum's cheek burned when they touched. He leaned into the flames.
"What'll it be?" Oh asked, his eyes flitting towards the pants they had been fighting over only seconds before. "Them or me?"
It should have been a difficult choice, but it wasn't. Tum could no more walk away from Oh than he could pluck the moon out of the sky and give it to him. Oh had entrapped him in his invisible web and now he was completely at his mercy.
Instead of answering, Tum kissed him again, knowing all the while that this might be nothing more than an elaborate plan to make him lower his guard, but Oh didn't push him away. He wrapped his arms around his neck, pulled him closer, and kissed him back.
Oh undressed them, his fingers steady and sure, but then they were naked and Tum had no idea what to do next. With any other partner, he would have simply asked what they wanted, but he didn't think Oh would appreciate that. If he gave him any indication that he actually cared, Oh was liable run, so instead, he stared down at Oh lying naked beneath him, and waited for him to give any sign as to how Tum should continue.
Oh was hard, his cock laying thick against his stomach, and his skin was flushed from exertion. There were finger tip-shaped bruises forming on his hips and Tum longed to set his fingers against the imprints to remind them both that he was the one who had put them there. Any yet, he did nothing.
The silence lasted long enough to become awkward. It was too intimate, this new world they'd found themselves in, and it was only now with skin pressed against skin that Tum realized just how vulnerable he truly was. He had given Oh enough ammunition to destroy him and he didn't yet trust him enough not to use it. He couldn't do this. He moved to pull away but before he could, Oh reeled him back in. It seemed to surprise him just as much as it surprised Tum, but he didn't let go. Instead, he lifted his chin and said, "Whoever comes first loses?"
Tum couldn't help but smile as a fluttery feeling set loose in his chest. This was familiar ground. This he could work with.
"Deal," he said and then he kissed him again as Oh spit into his own hand and reached between them to grab Tum's cock.
"Fuck," Tum cursed, thrusting into Oh's fist. His hand was slick enough with spit and Tum's precome that there was very little friction and for a few moments, he lost himself, burying his face in Oh's neck and breathing in his scent, now so familiar after days spent on the road together. It was only as he realized how embarrassingly close he already was that he stopped him. Losing might be inevitable, but if he didn't last longer than two minutes, he would never hear the end of it.
"You too," he protested, moving to resituate them. He grabbed Oh's cock, preening at the way his whole body shivered at Tum's touch, and then forced Oh to release his own so that he could hold them together in his fist—so that when he moved, Oh would be able to feel it too—but before he could actually do so, Oh swatted him away.
"I'll do it," he snapped. For once, Tum had no desire to argue. He let Oh take both of their dicks into his hands and this time when Tum gave an experimental thrust, he could feel Oh's cock sliding slick against his own. They cursed simultaneously.
Already overstimulated, Tum found it difficult to restrain himself—to pretend to care less. He thrust forward into Oh's tight grip and although he tried to keep things impersonal by staring at the wall in front of him, his gaze inevitable found it's way down to Oh's parted lips, to his pink cheeks, to his wide eyes. Every time Tum thrust forward, Oh made a sound like he was actually getting fucked and god, Tum had never felt this way before. He had never lost control of himself like this. He had never wanted anyone so badly. He imagined how much better it would feel if he were actually inside Oh. If he could figure out how to break down his walls. If Oh finally let him in.
Tum cursed and pulled away from him, trying to decide which option would afford him more dignity—allowing Oh to edge him indefinitely or finishing in his hand right then—but Oh didn't give him time to decide. He sat up as well, grabbed Tum by the back of the neck, and kissed him again. Tum could taste the smirk on his lips.
Once he was sufficiently distracted, Oh took Tum back into his hand and began to jerk him off. He was surprisingly adept at it, able to elicit sounds from Tum he hadn't realized he was capable of making. He tried to hold off his orgasm—not because of the bet so much as the fact that he simply wasn't ready for it to end—but it had been a long time since he'd been with anyone and none of his previous partners had been half as good as Oh. Ecstasy washed over him like a wave, crested, and then crashed. Oh bit down on Tum's lip as he came, adding a tinge of pain to the pleasure, and he didn't release him until the orgasm had passed. Oh was smirking when he pulled away, but Tum was too come-drunk to be embarrassed.
"I win," Oh whispered into his ear. Tum wasn't listening. He shoved Oh back down onto the mattress and—without giving himself enough time to change his mind—took Oh's cock into his mouth. He had never given anyone a blowjob before and probably would have felt self-conscious about it if it weren't for the sound Oh made in response. It was as if he had been starving his whole life and Tum had given him his first taste of food.
He placed his hands on the back of Tum's head, guiding him, and Tum found that he liked being told what to do. Oh pushed him down none too gently, silently instructing him to take him hard and fast, and Tum relished the feel of Oh's dick hitting the back of his throat with every thrust. He did what he could to make it good but in the end he just focused on breathing while Oh took the lead and it wasn't long before Oh was trying desperately to push him away.
"I'm going to come," he warned, but Tum didn't pull off. He kept going. When Oh came down his throat, it felt like a victory. He lifted himself up and kissed Oh, letting him taste his own seed on Tum's tongue.
Afterwards, they lay next to each other in silence, fighting to catch their breath. Tum didn't know what to say. How could he be expected to sleep after that? How could he be expected to go about his life as if it had never happened? As if he didn't know what Oh tasted like? He would give anything to do it again.
"Best two out of three?" he asked.
At first, Oh didn't react and Tum worried he had offended him in some way, but then he started to laugh and he couldn't stop. He rolled over and buried the sound in Tum's chest. Tum could feel his happiness vibrating through him. He let it fill him as well.
"Yeah," Oh said once his laughter was spent. "Best two out of three. Just let me catch my breath first."
His breathing slowed and yet he didn't move. Instead, they fell asleep just like that, their bodies tangled together. The pants lay forgotten on the floor.