topino | (no subject)

Nicky definitely is a morning person, preferring to attack the day with coffee, a newspaper, and maybe a few errands done as he wakes up, s he suspects that Joe is going to end up getting breakfast in bed anyway. "Hmm," is all he says out loud instead, almost like he has to now adjust his expectations.

"Well," he sighs, "I suppose you cannot be perfect." He squeezes Joe's hands around his waist to encourage him to keep holding on, and it's complete crap, because he thinks Joe is plenty perfect, just as he is -- flaws and all.

Despite a lovely week-end spent at Nicky's flat, kissing him until they were both breathless and eating too much delicious Italian food, the following week was very stressful for Joe. There were several problems at the gallery and with a sponsor, and he had to fix a lot of unexpected messes.

So, when Nicky had mentioned being tired after a long week too, Joe hadn't hesitated to offer something casual and relaxed for their third date.

Which is how they find themselves in Joe's studio, lounging on the couch in front of the Joe's big windows, the sun streaming in and painting them both gold. Joe has his feet in Nicky's lap and he's carefully doing small sketches with watercolor touches. He started with flowers and is now painting Nicky eyes, the color barely visible because Nicky is looking down at the book he's reading. There is tea and cake on the coffee table and jazz playing quietly in the background, and this is exactly the kind of date Joe needed after the exhausting week he had.

Truthfully, Nicky had needed exactly this.

His week has been very stressful. One of the artists he reviewed is now threatening to sue him, which is ridiculous because Nicky gave them a fine review, but it's not his fault they're a disaster on social media. Then, the book has been progressing, but not as fast as his agent wants, which is why he's so grateful to be on Joe's couch, stroking his thumb in circles at Joe's ankle, enjoying their closeness.

The sweep of his thumb brushes against soft skin and the hint of his ankle bone, and Nicky thinks about how this is a perfect weekend, something he could do every weekend. And, he supposes he can? Only, they haven't exactly talked about this, have they?

He bookmarks the page of his book and turns to stare at Joe, brow furrowed with a slight pinch, because now that he's thought about it, it's hard to dismiss.

The gentle touch to his ankle is great and Joe is so comfortable just trying watercolors with Nicky's steady presence at his side. He's going to set the paint down soon, he thinks, and lean in to give Nicky another kiss.

In the mean time he goes through his watercolor palettes, setting them on the table carefully as he looks for the right color. "Do you think your eyes are more of a seaglass or a seafoam?" he inquires, making swatches of both and holding them up for Nicky to see. That's when he notices the furrowed eyebrows. "What? You don't like those?"

Nicky hasn't even realized how much he's frowning, probably because this is just the way his face naturally rests. He blinks a few times to try and dispel it, not meaning to make Joe think he's being critical. "I don't know that my eyes are either of those," he admits, throwing a new wrench into Joe's plans.

"No, it's not that," he admits, "Joe, I could do this every weekend," he says what's been on his mind, which is the furthest thing from a bad thing, and he can't help his delighted smile, even though it opens a very big can of worms.

Joe makes a face at the answer and turns the page back around so he can look at the colours again critically. "Your eyes are entirely too many colours," he grumbles, trying to mix another blue/green in to get the perfect shade.

He hums when Nicky tells him that he could do this every weekend, failing to see how that's an issue. "Yeah, it's nice." He looks up in time to catch Nicky's beautiful smile, and beams back. He nudges Nicky's belly with his toes. "I do want to take you out to good restaurants and bars and museums, but this is great too. Especially after such a long week."

They are. Nicky has heard this complaint before, when people ask if they're green or gray or blue. He's never been one to decide himself, but if he had to, he would think maybe they are more of a grayish-green, but he doesn't know a colour for that.

"You must suffer to paint them endlessly, then," he teases, setting his book on the table as he shifts towards Joe, cupping his ankle with his palm. "I like restaurants and bars too," he admits, "and museums, but I was thinking more that you're the only one that I want to do this with."

Perhaps Joe needs to add more grey. He's not thinking of it just yet, because Nicky's eyes are so vibrant it seems impossible the color would need more of a grey tint. He grins at Nicky's easy agreement, setting his notebook down. "However shall I cope?" he mock-laments with a deep sigh. He doesn't mind. He could spend hours looking at Nicky and trying to paint him better.

He shifts towards Nicky too, taking his hand in his own gently. "Lucky me," he comments, though he's beginning to see where this is going. "I want to do it with you, too." He kisses the back of Nicky's hand. "Is this the talk about how serious we think this relationship should be?" He asks, still smiling though he'll be entirely honest about it he subject.

Nicky turns his hand to squeeze Joe's, shifting a little closer with every moment, until he's all but in Joe's lap while they talk about the very thing that's been on Nicky's mind. To say it's been stressing him out is a lie -- it's not stress -- but it is something he can't exactly shake.

"It is," he admits. "This is technically only our third date, you know?" Yet, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like they've been on at least thirty, in his opinion.

Joe is all too happy to welcome Nicky closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and putting his free hand on his knee, keeping him near.

"Depends if you want to count that first time when I invited you to my exhibit and you called my body unrealistic as a date, really," Joe teases. Whether it is their third or fourth date still, he agrees that it feels like they've known each other for longer. He smiles, tucking a strand of Nicky's hair behind his ear gently. "I like you." That's an entirely honest answer. "I like spending time with you. I'd love to go on many more dates."

Nicky feels warmth, comfort, relaxation, joy. It's everything, and it's right here in Joe's arms, earning a bright smile as he settles in, content to be right here with him, but maybe not so much to just say that they're dating.

It doesn't feel like it's enough. "I like you too," he says, even if he's glaring at Joe. "Are you not going to let me live down what is a perfectly normal reaction? No one has that kind of body, not until you, and I thought if you did look like that, someone clearly would be dating you," he harrumphs.

"Is it just dating? Or is it too early to ask if I can call you my boyfriend?"

Joe grins brightly at Nicky's arch glare. "Come on, you know me enough to be able to tell that I am never going to let you live it down," he teases, poking Nicky's cheek with his finger playfully. "The look on your face when you saw me without a shirt for the first time will keep me warm on many lonely evenings, I think." He waggles his eyebrows, leaning his cheek against his hand, his elbow on the back of the couch.

He considers, humming. "You can call me your boyfriend. I'd like that." Joe is all in on this relationship, and if Nicky wants to go a little too fast, that works for him.

Nicky sighs heavily, knowing that he will never live it down, but if Joe is going to remind him about it...

He slides his palm under Joe's shirt to helpfully remind himself of the very nice muscles that his boyfriend has. His boyfriend. Yes, that has a very good ring to it, and his smile is a mysterious thing as he rubs circles. "I don't want you to have any lonely evenings from now," he insists, his eyes bright as he stares at Joe.

He's elated and ecstatic, but he's very much trying to hide it. "Are you sure? You don't think it's too quick, after only three dates?"

"What's that?" Joe inquires when Nicky slips his hand under his shirt, touching warm skin. He shivers a little at the stroking, leaning into it. "Should I be flexing for this?" he teases, reaching to touch Nicky in return, stroking from his broad shoulders to his cheeks.

"You'll keep me company?" he asks, softly. "That's nice."

Nicky looks so soft right now with his small smile and his bright eyes, Joe just has to lean in and kiss him, gentle and light. "It's quick, but I don't mind. I wasn't planning on going on dates with anyone else, you know." He strokes his thumbs over Nicky's cheekbones. "I want to spend time with you." There is still a chance it might not work out between them, but Joe is determined to try very hard. He could fall in love with Nicky, he thinks, given a little more time.

Nicky scratches his nails gently against Joe's stomach, like he's scratching a cat, little light touches of his blunt nails to all the warm skin available to him. He could very much get used to this, which is why he brightens up at the idea of actually being Joe's boyfriend.

"Of course I'll keep you company, you have such a nice sofa," he teases, closing his eyes for the kiss that feels like heaven.

He licks his lips as he opens his eyes to look at Joe, lips in a crooked smile. "You're my boyfriend," he says out loud. "I'm the boyfriend of successful artist, Yusuf Al-Kaysani."

"Now, I know that's a lie. I have a shit sofa, so it must mean you're here for me," Joe deduces, arching his eyebrows. He figured you out, Nicky. He likes the gentle scratching and the kissing, obviously, and leans in to rest his head on Nicky's shoulder for a second, breathing him in.

"You're the boyfriend of mildly popular, at best artist Yusuf Al-Kaysani," Joe corrects, smiling sunnily. "And his harshest critic too, somehow." He takes Nicky's hand (the one that isn't currently under his shirt) and reaches for his paintbrush, drawing a little seaglass heart on Nicky's skin with a goofy grin.

"Is this a terrible sofa?" Nicky acts innocent as he presses a hand down into the cushions, while also getting him closer to Joe, stealing another kiss because he can, his eyes alight with the fondness of getting to be with this man and to date him.

He's not entirely sure how he got to be so lucky, but here he is.

"You will be wildly successful when you follow your harshest critic's suggestions," he counters, with very little sympathy. In fact, he's a bit smug, watching Joe start to draw a heart on his skin. It makes him think of other things. "How long will that paint take to dry?" he asks curiously.

"It's not great," Joe confirms, though the sofa is the last thing on his mind at the moment. He leans in for another kiss, so warm and soft it makes him shiver in pleasure, his fingers stroking Nicky's neck and up to his hair, pulling gently.

"And what suggestions would those be?" he taunts, amused by Nicky's complete lack of remorse. "To paint him naked instead of myself?" He focuses on the heart, making sure it is rounded and cute, before he lets go of Nicky's hand so he can see it. "A couple of minutes, it's watercolor," Joe says, smiling. "It washes off easily too, don't worry."

Nicky is not pleased that they're spending so much time talking if Joe is going to pull on his hair in that perfect way, yanking guttural moans from his depths for the touch. He blinks, a little distracted, thinking, Art, they're talking about art.

"We'll get you into more subjects and mediums and then sell you to higher profile galleries," Nicky insists, peering at the heart with satisfaction. "As for the paint, I'm not worried, I just think you could use a bigger canvas," he says, before leaning back to strip off his long sleeved shirt.

That noise makes Joe's eyes darken, his lips parting. He does it again, using his grip on Nicky's hair to bring him close so he can give him another kiss, a little more heated this time.

"Are you saying you want me to have other models, Nicky? Isn't it a little early in this relationship to open it to strangers?" Joe teases, his eyebrows arching high when Nicky starts to take off his shirt. "You want me to paint you?" he asks, smiling. It's a good idea, he thinks he could make a beautiful work out of Nicky.

Nicky smirks at Joe when he talks about other models. "Maybe early in the relationship, but very late in your career." He still has very defined opinions about what it is that Joe should be doing to get himself out there more, and Nicky thinks he can find him some models that have clout of their own.

"Just think of the social media you would get if you sketched someone semi-famous," he says, and sprawls out on his stomach on the sofa, resting on his elbows to give Joe the line of his bare back to work with. He peers over his shoulder, affecting an innocent look. "I'm giving you a canvas. You can choose what you want to do with it."

"Damn," Joe grumbles, because Nicky is ruthless with him today. He likes it, though. "I guess," he allows, sorting through his paints to find the colors he wants for Nicky. Joe likes social media fine, he's just never really thought of them as part of his art.

"Any requests?" Joe teases, amused and a little turned on at the way NIcky is just offering his body for him to paint and touch. "I'm sitting on you," he tells Nicky and unless he protests will do just that, carefully straddling his hips and resting his weight on Nicky's thighs and ass.

Is this objectively the best position to paint Nicky's back? Yes.

It is going to make focusing on the painting really difficult? Also yes.

Nicky knows that it's a bit like selling out your soul, but it does have a tendency to get you attention, which is what Joe needs. His talent is there, his skill is unparalleled. He knows if people got to see his art, he would be in high demand and famous.

It's just a matter of getting that exposure.

Nicky opens his mouth, but soon Joe is on top of him, straddling his thighs in a way that has him clearing his throat to settle his mind. It's not what he'd expected, but he's also not sure he can be mad. "Paint something you're proud of," he says. "Because when it's my turn, I don't think I'll manage more than a few smears of paint, when all I want is my hands on you."

It's a good vantage point to see Nicky's back and paint it, really. That's Joe's story and he's sticking to it.

"I wasn't aware you wanted a turn," Joe answers, smiling. He likes the idea of Nicky trying to paint him too, though. "You can just finger paint me, if you'd rather."

He sets his palette aside with care and puts a brush to Nicky's back gently. "Not too ticklish?" he asks, as he start weaving intricate patterns of flowers, leaves and birds with bright colors all over Nicky's back. It's a nice canvas, broad and fair and unblemished, but it also moves a little with Nicky's breathing, which is a new experience for Joe, as a painter.

"I very much want a turn." Nicky already knows exactly what art will be on Joe's body, which he thinks is going to be a lot different than the beautiful work that he's doing on Nicky, but also beautiful in its own very possessive way.

He bites his lip at the soft touch of the brush against his skin, enjoying the strokes, breathing out deeply as he nods. His hips, maybe they rock a little against the couch, the sensory pleasure perfect in a way he can't describe, only that he knows it's everything he wants. "No," he manages, voice strangled. "Not ticklish."