A beautiful thing

A Beautiful Thing
by Ramika

--Chapter 1--


Finn loafed through the hallway, yawning widely and just wanting to get back to bed. He hated going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, not least because the apartment was freezing cold. The heat had been turned off a few weeks ago. This way of life just didn't pay the bills, he thought bitterly.
Just as he was closing his bedroom door behind him, he became aware of a sound, barely noticeable, that had been there all the time trying to cut through his sleepy stupor. Static. The television.
Great, all they needed was a huge electricity bill too. The lack of heat was bearable, but if he had to start making his morning coffee on open fire it'd really piss him off.

The living room wasn't much warmer than the bathroom, and since none of them really had an eye for furnishing, it wasn't very inviting anyway. Just an old, worn-out sofa, Ratso's armchair and bookshelf (he was the only one of them who fancied reading), and the television.

The TV really was on, but there was no program, just white noise.
Finn sighed. He leaned over the backrest of the sofa, intending to grab the remote control that could usually be found somewhere between the pillows. He stopped on his tracks as he kind of belatedly realized why the TV was on. Laying sprawled on the sofa, the remote in his hand was Chow. He was fast asleep, his ever-present sunglasses slightly off. He was breathing calmly, and Finn found himself staring, the steady rise and fall of the smaller man's chest being almost hypnotic.
He apparently hadn't been to bed tonight. Still even wearing his jacket, only his shoes kicked off, probably just because Ratso kept nagging about hanging out on the sofa with shoes on.

Finn knew that he shouldn't be staring, but this was an opportunity to look at Chow without him noticing. He liked to look at Chow, whether he was ready to admit it to himself or not. It wasn't long ago when he would've said he liked women, but by now he knew his taste was way more refined; he liked beautiful things. And Chow was definitely beautiful.
Finn found his mouth feeling dry as he let his gaze wander from Chow's face, lower to where his jacket had rode up, taking the hem of the shirt with it, baring a little bit of pale skin of his side. Finn could imagine how that skin would feel to his hand if he slipped it under the shirt. He swallowed, pressing down the urge to do just so, and straightened up, shaking his head. It was not like him to get all flustered like this. His method of dealing with pretty things was to buy them drinks, take them to his bed and move on. Not like he hadn't mused the idea of doing that, to get this whole thing out of his mind, but he doubted it'd work with someone he had to work with on daily basis.

Anyways, Chow would catch a cold like that.

"Chow... hey, wake up man."

The younger man startled awake, sitting up and looking around bewildered. Reflex-like he adjusted his sunglasses, hiding the sleepy brown eyes from sight.
"Finn?" He seemed to be slowly realizing where he was, and why. "What time is it?"
Finn did his best to look casual, giving Chow a small grin.
"Way past your bedtime, kiddo."
"Ha ha" he muttered, scrambling up onto his feet. "I'm off to bed. Goddamn it's freezing in here..."
He was already on his way, when he heard the sound of the TV being switched off behind him. The faint blue light disappeared, leaving the two of them in the dark. Before he could take another step, he felt arms wrapping around his waist from behind, holding him on the spot.

"O-oi, Finn..."
"Shut up, Chow." A hand pressed on his mouth, muffling a confused protest. "It's your fault, damn it..."

--To be continued--