4 - Comfort zone

As stated many times, and by many people too, if there was something Asterius wasn't lacking was patience. He had only ever lost it once, and his parents had scolded him so harshly for that sudden call from the highschool principal telling them that their child had attacked another student, that he had further exercised himself, stretching his tolerance so that it could now pretty much rival a saint's.

If there was a thing he wasn't, however, was a saint. He was a young man who knew what he liked and was less shy about it rather than his brother - more shy than his sister, probably, but he sat in a comfortable middle at least. To be short, he was not made of stone - and he definitely found his best friend uncomfortably attractive. He had just been able to hide it well until now.
But after that show? After Theseus deliberately winked at him while swaying his hips like that, while riding a bull? He needed a cold shower, that was for sure.

"Let's just get out. I need some fresh air", he grumbled. Had he been Horknath, his ears would be red as beets right now, not to talk about his face. He took a hold of Theseus, avoiding all the cheering people around them, and positioned him to keep him upright as he led him away.

Theseus was still giggling at first, leaning into Asterius' touch, but he eventually frowned while looking at his friend. "Are you mad at me?" Eh, his friend was sounding rather grumpy. "Oh, I'm sorry Asterius, I didn't realize you might be so tired! Will you be alright with driving, or should I ask Carleen to drive the car back to my apartment instead?" He patted his friend's back, and his hand slowly drifted on his side again, holding him close.

"I'm not-" Asterius protested, before taking a deep breath. The fact that he had found that hot was not Theseus' fault. If he was mad about something was definitely about himself - and the fact that he had most definitely filed away that image in his brain, and that it wouldn't have left it for a good while. He had no reason to be taking that out on his friend. "I'm not mad at you", he answered then, way more calmly. "But you've drank a lot - and tomorrow you're going to feel terrible if you stay up for more time. I'll drive you home, I'm not too tired for that." 
He knew he was right, but at this point he was also trying to get Theseus to come away for the sake of his own sanity, let's be honest.

Theseus' expression softened, and he smiled at Asterius. "Good, then. Good. I had a lot of fun with you tonight, my dear-" friend. That was the word, but for some reason, he didn't feel like using it right now "-Asterius. I hope we can do that again sometime!" He grinned and reached for a strand of Asterius' hair while walking. As we've established before, the more alcohol he drank, the more he was yearning for contact. And oh, did Asterius look great under the moonlight.
Great, yeah.
There was another word starting with a 'g' that applied, he was sure of it, but it was failing him at the moment.

Asterius' expression softened a little as well. "If you had fun, we'll most definitely be doing this again", he simply commented with a little nod. He allowed Theseus to play with a strand of his mane, and felt his heart tighten a little inside his chest as they walked to reach his friend's car. "Here we are", he murmured, after making sure Theseus could stand on his feet. "Hand me the keys, it won't be too long", he reassured him as he offered him his hand

Theseus had been grinning at Asterius again, and seemed a little lost when he asked him for his keys. After an awkward 'oh' he finally fetched them from his pockets, and handed them to him. "There you go. But- there is no need to rush, Asterius. In fact- how do you feel about coming with me for one last drink?" He lifted a finger, remembering one of his many late-nights arguments with Dean. "Water. I have water." He gave his friend a new smile, leaning into him for a bit. Again.

Asterius is tall, his inebriated brain whispered to him.

Asterius bit his lower lip for a brief second. Was it a good idea? He scoffed at himself right away. Why shouldn't it be? It wasn't like anything was going to happen. And as if that knowledge wasn't enough, Theseus was drunk. "Alright. Water it is", he accepted. He awkwardly patted his back, since he was leaning against him again, and after finally getting the keys, helped him get in the car.

The drive back to Theseus' apartment wasn't very long, even though the tension sure made it seem like it was. Asterius was on his best behaviour though - parked the car in the spot Theseus had indicated to him, helped his friend in the elevator, and offered to open the apartment's door when he noticed that fitting the keys in the right place seemed to prove a little hard for him. "-are you sure you wouldn't prefer to go to sleep right away?", he asked, raising a brow at him as he finally pushed the main door open.

Theseus was giggling again - at least he was the happy kind of drunk - and grabbed Asterius's arm with one hand. "Please, Asterius, it'll make me happy. I've missed you so much, you have no idea," he slurred as he pulled his friend inside. "Come on! I just want to talk a little bit more with you, alright?" He smiled at his friend, eyelids half closed. It probably wouldn't be too long before he collapsed.

Asterius is nice. "Come on, just sit with me," Theseus pleaded his friend, while he guided him towards the couch.

Asterius rolled his eyes - but he couldn't help a smile forming on his lips. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't pleased by the fact that Theseus had missed him so much, and he just... loved, yes loved how spontaneous and kind of pushy he was with his affection. 
Oh, if only.
"Fine, alright. But when you fall asleep in the middle of a sentence, don't come to me to whine tomorrow morning", he warned him almost playfully as he let him pull on his arm and then sat down at his side.

Theseus giggled again and flopped himself down on his couch with Asterius, barely letting go of his arm. "Are you challenging me to stay up, Asterius? Be careful, I might stay up much longer than you!"

Asterius is... it starts with a 'g', his brain processed with a bit of difficulty given how late - or early - this was, and how much alcohol was being fueled to it.

Theseus reached for Asterius' mane once more, tangling his fingers into its tip.

"I've drank way less than you did", Asterius argued kindly. "I'm afraid this would be a challenge you've lost from the start." He barely kept himself from sighing when Theseus tangled his fingers into his mane again, unconsciously leaning into his touch. It felt cruel towards himself, to indulge in this way when his friend was so clearly out of himself - but he wasn't doing anything wrong.

After all, Theseus usually touched him a lot even when he was sober. And he was so beautiful, so handsome even with his face all flushed and eyes half-lidded and glazed... He just couldn't bring himself to mind too much.

Theseus smiled at Asterius, seemingly lost in his thoughts. He twisted his fingers into his mane for a little while, as his gaze got lost into contemplating his face. He liked Asterius a whole lot. Come to think of it- he had never had a friend like this before. The more he thought about it, the more he craved for physical contact with him. He wanted to hold him close, to be held in his arms. He wanted- He found him-

"Gorgeous", he whispered. Yes. Yes, that was it, that was the word! He was gorgeous. "You're gorgeous, Asterius" he whispered to his friend. His eyes had stopped on his lips, and he was leaning forwards without thinking much about it. He reached upwards with his hand to cup Asterius' cheek and guide him down as he tilted his head to press their lips together with a soft hum.

Asterius could swear he had felt his steady, strong heart stop for a whole second when Theseus uttered those words at him - saying that he found him gorgeous of all things. He was quite sure he had never been called that before - not even by Theseus himself, as a matter of fact. Not even by overly-touchy, loud and loving Theseus.

"Theseus-", he started, almost scoffing. 'You're drunk', he meant to say. 'You should definitely go to bed before you say something you'd regret tomorrow'. But as it happened many times since the day he'd known him, even during their fights, Theseus was quicker than him. His eyes widened when his soft lips met his own in a kiss, and as they touched, he felt as weak as he'd never felt before, incapable to get away.

Theseus sighed softly against Asterius' lips, and almost immediately tried to deepen the kiss. He was left chuckling through most of it, since Asterius' nose ring was occasionally getting in his way, but he eventually managed to find an angle at which he was comfortable. He distractedly caressed Asterius' cheek through their kiss, while he drew circles on his friend's chest with the other. He was eager at first, eager to taste Asterius' taste on his tongue, eager to press himself against his friend, to hold him close- but his eagerness progressively died down. Indeed, closing his eyes and drowning in the pleasant feeling of kissing Asterius had numbed his mind to the point that sleep had caught him off guard.

And by this I mean that he had fallen asleep in the middle of a very pleasant kiss, while his friend would have deserved some explanations, for once.

Asterius felt positively drunk as Theseus pried his lips open and kissed him deeply, and his brain had already pleasantly short-circuited as soon as his friend's hand had started idly caressing his chest. It all felt so good, so dream-like, so-

Wrong, his sleepy brain finally screamed at him, shaking him from his daze. Wrong, wrong, he's drunk, he doesn't know what he's doing, and you are letting him do it! 

But just as he came to this realization - that successfully scared him away from Theseus' inviting lips, it was already too late. His friend fell forward against his chest, snoring softly - the fumes of alcohol finally had knocked him out. Asterius stared at him for some long, silent seconds, waiting in vain for his heart to stop beating so fast in his chest. Then he got up from the couch, slowly. 
Positioned Theseus so that he'd be laying comfortably on it, pushing a pillow under his head. 
Laid a blanket he found folded nearby on top of him.
And left swiftly, confused and pleased and ashamed all at the same time, hoping to reach the apartment before Horknath did - hoping to avoid questions.

Questions he was going to have to face in the next days, possibly, if Theseus decided he wanted to talk to him again.

On the very next day, quite late in the morning in fact, Theseus woke up with a massive hangover. Thankfully, his sister knew him and she had left him with the appropriate medication by his side. It did take him a little longer to finally recover, and truth be told, his thoughts were only clear when the evening came by. He smiled to himself by then, remembering this sweet, sweet kiss he had shared with Asterius, followed by-
Nothing.
He actually laughed when he texted his friend. "My apologies, Asterius. It looks like you were right, and I did fall asleep much sooner than expected last night. I hope you went home safely, and are doing better than I did today."

Asterius had been fidgety all day long. Thankfully - or maybe cursedly? - enough it was Saturday, and he wasn't really supposed to be anywhere in particular. That way, when his phone buzzed with a notification, he was quick at getting to it and reading it.
He didn't know how to feel when he read Theseus' words. Relieved that he didn't remember and wasn't furious at him for taking advantage of the situation? Sad that he didn't remember so they couldn't address it - or maybe that he did remember, but had consciously decided not to say anything about it (he didn't even want to think about that)? Confused? "It's alright, I was expecting it. I'm glad you're doing alright - I'm ok too. Rest up. I'll see you on Monday." He put down his phone and hid his face in his hands.

Only to get a hold of himself a little later and finding the courage to text Aria. "Hey Aria, hi. I didn't get the chance to congratulate yesterday night, and I'd like to do that in person", he started. "And I really, really need to talk with someone." Of course Aria was up for talking with her big brother, and decided that they'd see each other on Monday at lunch break, outside the faculties - it was supposed to be a sunny day - where nobody would bother them.

Possibly.

Theseus didn't get much time to text Asterius on that week-end, especially because he had a lot of personal training he planned to catch up with during the Sunday. He was supposed to wrestle against Asterius on that very Monday, after all, and he was looking forward to it!

He was wandering in campus around noon on said Monday, after a well-deserved lunch following football practice. He was still debating on whether or not he should train some more before his match with his best friend - and... were they more now? They'd definitely need to discuss that kiss ! - when he spotted Asterius from afar, and began walking towards him. It looked like he wasn't alone...

Asterius was, indeed, not alone. He was sitting on a bench, shoulders curved under some invisible weight, and close at his side - a minute, brown-skinned young woman with long black hair and a couple of small horns growing from behind her ears. She was resting her hand on his arm, and from time to time he patted him on the head, or the shoulder, talking soothing words at him.

Words that Theseus couldn't hear, of course.

"-I can't believe I've really fallen for the same person that broke your heart back in highschool", Asterius was lamenting in a low voice, now feeling even stupider. "I'm a mess."
"Oh c'mon Asterius - that's been years ago. Look, I'm fine now", Aria answered soothingly. "It's you I'm worried about. Look, we know he isn't the brightest guy in the world. Maybe you just need to talk clearly with him. I'm sure that would make everything better", she added with a bright smile. It hurt to see her brother looking so dejected. "And, well, if it doesn't - you can always suplex him again."
Asterius snorted, fighting a smile from coming to his lips. "I guess so." His tail swayed a little bit next to Aria's, now that he felt a little better. "I will try to, then. Thank you, Aria."

Theseus slowly came to a halt, analyzing the situation unfolding in front of his very eyes. Anger and jealousy hit him all at once.

That girl was pretty, and he knew her - she'd been at the party the previous night. She had talked to Asterius there, and then - yes, then Dionysus has granted everyone champagne and she had been at his arm for a good while afterwards.

She couldn't know that Asterius and Theseus had kissed on that night - maybe Asterius hadn't told her. Or had he? Nevertheless, he was fairly certain that she was dating the Olympus boy. And the bond he shared with Asterius couldn't be matched, and he certainly wouldn't stand idle while a cute girl flirted with his best friend-recently/possibly-boyfriend.

He stomped their way without any usual warning - he didn't call to Asterius, didn't show up with a grin or a wave. No. He was coming from behind them, and he stopped as soon as he was close to Aria. "What do you think you're doing, you slut?" Now, that wasn't usual of him to use such words. But he was madly jealous, and Asterius was his.

Now, Aria prided herself into being just as much as a princess as Carleen - at least manners-wise. But to hear someone - and not even someone he didn't know, not even one of Dionysus' bad friends that he would promptly ostracize from his circle of friendship with nothing more than an icy glare and a poisonous warning - call her a slut so gratuitously, and to turn around and discover that it was Theseus of all people, just made her smile die quickly on her lips, like a burned out light bulb. "Excuse me-!?", she only managed to squeak, looking mortally offended, before her squeak transformed into a shriek of surprise and she hid her mouth behind her hands, eyes wide open.

Asterius hadn't even stopped to think for a second about what he was about to do. As soon as Theseus - his best friend, the same best friend for which he hadn't slept the past two nights because he brought such a pleasant confusion to his heart - had thrown that word in Aria's direction, he had seen red. He had gotten up so fast that his sister hadn't even managed to realize it on time, to try and stop him, and he had punched Theseus straight on the face. 

Not even feeling the nauseating crack of a nose breaking under his knuckles, not even seeing him fall on the ground with blood on his face managed to make him feel any more sober from his fury. And his wounded heart soared. "I can take many offenses and let go of them", he rattled then, teeth clenched together as well as his fists. "And even more from you, Theseus, but for you among anyone, to call my sister a slut-!"

Theseus' nose had been broken once before - when he had gotten into a fist fight with a guy calling his own sister the S word, ironically enough. But that didn't mean he was used to the pain it induced either. He sat numbly for a few seconds, his hands brought to his soon bleeding nose, and tears streamed down his face from the shock and the pain-

Speaking of shock.

"W-wait she's not flirting with you then?!" Theseus asked dumbly, his voice funny because of his newly broken nose. He hiccuped, halfway between an incredulous laugh and a pained sob. "I'm sorry Asterius, I thought she aimed to steal you from-" He started to sway a little, the sudden blood loss, the shock and the pain making his head spin.

The fury that was fogging up Asterius' brain was pierced a little bit by Theseus' words. "Wh- you thought she was flirting with me?", he exclaimed, incredulous. "Why would you even-"

"Asterius!", Aria interrupted him, shaking his arm, looking as distressed as one can be after witnessing her brother crushing the face of another boy with a punch. "Whatever stupid misunterstanding there's been it can wait! For the love of god, bring him to the infirmary! He's going to pass out!"

Her scared voice and the sight of what was definitely too much blood on Theseus' face finally brought clarity back to Asterius' mind, and all at once worry, shame and urgency hit him like a brick wall - but certainly not as painfully as a punch in the face, he guessed. "Y-yes. Of course", he muttered, kneeling at the side of his friend and picking him up in his arms. He threw a worried glance to Aria.

"Don't worry for me, just go!", Aria insisted, almost looking irritated now. "I'll call Dio to come fetch me, or Horknath- and Carleen, oh my god what will Carleen say? What will mom and dad say!?" She was starting to fret and walked away in the opposite direction, starting to make her round of calls. She couldn't believe that once again she was being the cause for more drama, and for the exact same man too!

Asterius left quickly as well in the infirmary's direction, walking as fast as he could with a wounded man held against him. "I'm sorry", he hissed quickly, already feeling stupid. he should've known that it would've been a misunderstanding, he should've known. Theseus would have never said something like that-!

Theseus's mind was going numb. He barely registered that it felt nice to be carried up by Asterius, flushed against his chest, and that his friend was worrying for him. The only thing he managed to say was an incoherent "No, I'm- I-m-" Before he passed out.

The university nurse panicked upon seeing all that blood but soon calmed down when he understood that Theseus' nose was broken and stopping the blood flow would be easy to handle.

Meanwhile, a happily clueless Carleen saw an incoming call from Aria, and beamed. She immediately picked it up, grinning. "Hello, Aria! Or should I say soon-to-be-Mrs Olympus!" Oh, finally, the time to chat about their respective love lives had probably come!

Asterius worriedly sat down on the chair nearby the bed where the nurse would lay Theseus, observing her as she worked and nervously tormenting his own hands.

"Carleen, hi- I-" Aria was utterly incapable of not sounding distressed. She hadn't even been able to reach Horknath, and she still hadn't called any of her parents. "-listen, I don't know how to break it to you gently, so... here goes nothing." She took a deep breath. "My brother punched your brother. Straight in the face. There was a lot of blood everywhere, I-I think he broke his nose." She ran a hand through her hair.