Work Text:
Repose
by Sam-Tony
Penciling in the shadow on the curve of a cheek, Henry debated whether or not to include the stubble that dotted down from the high arch of bone into a rough plateau along the strong jaw before deciding to forgo it for now. He could always add it in later, preferring to continue to work further down the strong body for now, following from wrist to shoulder the line of the arm tucked in close to the chest, down along the well defined muscles of the broad back dipping and rising up over the swell of another type of cheek and into the leg, drawn up in repose.
Pausing in his sketching, Henry frowned at the way Mike lay boneless and exhausted, half-tangled in his bed; the blue sheets all but wrapped around his body before Mike had kicked them off, only then settling enough to sleep.
*Better make them white sheets instead,* he mused thoughtfully down at the paper. *Keep the shading confined to the body. All those golden curls and tanned skin will contrast better.*
Still frowning thoughtfully, Henry replayed the last few days in his head until he reluctantly admitted Mike was simply exhausted from too many hours of responsibilities. Between the days of fighting crime as a one of Toronto's finest and the nights fighting supernatural monsters with Henry and Vicki, even a Kryptonian was entitled to feel a little...rundown. Especially if said Kryptonian was wearing a voluntary drain on his powers in order to appear human.
No wonder the first thing Mike did when he got home was to tuck the necklace he wore into its special, lead-lined box before stripping and falling on his nose. The tiny green crystal may not be enough to hurt him, but it was more than capable of draining him if worn too long.
*I'll make sure to have breakfast ready when he wakes up. He may not want to eat, but if Clark is any example, I dare him to wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs and be able to resist. Good thing I can set the clock back a bit these days.*
Who knew that drinking from Mike on a regular basis would have had the added benefit of allowing Henry more resistance to the sun...or that he would now be able to stay awake for an hour or two after sunrise? Though the pull was still there, Henry should be able to resist the lure of forced sleep long enough to make sure Mike was well fed at least.
That decided, he was able to get back to drawing; his fingers itching to pick up paper and pencil ever since walking into the bedroom to find his lover stretched out on the bed, dead to the world and snoring away.
Basic form and composition complete, Henry settled in to really work on the shading. Chuckling evilly, though Mike was hardly awake to hear it, Henry started with the genitals; specifically the lax cock not quite hidden by the blunt bone of the knee. A bit of focused shading along the underside, deeper under the head where the tip just barely peeked out of the foreskin and again towards the bottom where the balls rested heavy at the base, he ran the pad of a middle finger over the accumulated lead; softening the harsh line while blending and bleeding the silver-gray deposit into the paper.
Leaving the peek-a-boo head highlighted for the moment, Henry moved on to the intricate play of light and shadow falling over the rounded bone of the shoulder. Glowing golden in the light from the lone bedside lamp, the strong, toned muscle invited the light to play; to caress the full curve of the bicep while chasing the tricep stretched long and smooth under the arm before dipping into shadow at the inside of the elbow. It glinted pale off the light hairs along the forearm; highlighting in unforgiving relief the sharp, raw bones of the wrist, defining the strong, broad fingers of the large hand tucked, curled, under Mike's cheek as he slept.
It highlighted the broad plains of the back, dipping into the long valley of the spine and down to the dimples of the lower back where it lovingly painted the hard curves of the ass a creamy peach a shade or two lighter than the rest. On down the muscled leg, it playfully hid behind a knee, only to reemerge shining in the light fur of the calf held in bold relief along the hill of muscle rising from the knee to taper back down into the sharp bones and dip of the ankle. Running down from the ankle, it screamed in relief the soft, rounded pad of the heel, tickling the vulnerable soft skin of the arch while hiding the hard, shell-like bones of the toes, digging out little divots into the mattress.
Beautiful. Mike was beautiful. A not-so-modern day Adonis; all hard muscles and graceful curves wrapped innocently in Henry's bed with only a dip of the sheet to preserve his modesty, and not even that. Draped over the fleshy curve of one buttock and the back of a thigh, it advertised more than it concealed.
Looking up from he pad, Henry studied the man lying in his bed; his lover, his mate, his friend. Not a vampire like himself, but rather an alien from another planet altogether. Taller, broader, infinitely stronger than even his vampire strength, Mike was one of the very few beings on this planet who could overpower him, but rather than frighten him, that thought alone was enough to send Henry's blood stirring in his veins. It meant he didn't have to be careful, didn't have to hide who and what he was - a creature than had seen centuries go by - because Mike had both lived and seen the same.
To be brutally honest, Henry didn't have to worry about *breaking* him. In fact, he loved the way they wrestled and sparred together...and the sex afterwards always sent the vampire off into the sun with a smile on his face...
Right now though, he was more than happy to let Mike sleep. There were still a couple of hours before dawn and Henry would use the time to add another layer or two of shading to the portrait he was creating, this one for his eyes only.
Mik-El may be the inspiration for Henry's latest graphic series, but Mike was all his; bad coffee, bad days, bad guys and all. For now, though, he let him sleep; there would be time enough to ravish his lover when he woke up.
Until then Henry would turn his attention back to the soothing, muted scratch of lead on paper.
--
The morning sun had risen an hour before Mike began to stir, causing Henry all sorts of problems as he tried to lock down the last of the shadows on a body that was now in motion.
"Wait, don't move."
A grunt of confusion had Mike looking back with bleary eyes over his bare shoulder, groaning in resignation at the book and pencil in Henry's hands. "You've got to be kidding me."
One last twitch of the pencil and he was satisfied. Done.
"Actually, I am," Henry grinned. If one ignored the hand gesture, the look Mike now threw his way could have come from one of Michelangelo's cherubs themselves. Though Henry supposed he *did* have cause - the last time Henry's artistic fingers demanded he sketch his lover, Mike had been made to sit still for hours...
*And so The Blue King novella was born.*
"Tell me you're done." Mike demanded.
"All finished." Henry smiled. Setting pad and pencils aside, he moved in for a good morning kiss, claiming the frowning lips and not surprised when a still-sleepy Mike let him take control. At least for now. "Sleep well?"
The lazy smile Mike wore when he pulled back immediately turned smug. "Now that Trudeau is no longer free to stalk and prey on young girls, and is most likely in fact finding himself as someone else's 'pretty', yeah, I slept great."
"You got him." Henry felt his eyes begin to glow, the rage Mike had felt each time Marcus Trudeau had wriggled out of their reach while managing to claim yet another victim transferring itself to him via the link they shared. A hand in his hair, bringing their lips together snapped him out of the Vampiric rage long enough to feel the satisfaction swimming beneath the concern now flavoring the mind gently touching his a warm peach chasing away the soft gray of sleep.
"When was the last time you ate?" Mike asked him.
"Night before last, " he admitted. When Henry had called earlier, Tony had been unable to make it until tomorrow night and Henry figured he would be fine until then. It was a pity no one had told the kid playing with the homemade ouiji board that summoning Things To Kill Your Teacher was probably not the wisest idea; especially when your thoughts weren't all that clear from the case of empty beer cans littering the floor and the directions your cousin Frank had jotted down out of an old library book weren't in the least bit legible.
Henry hadn't been planning on needing to fight a low-level incubus while simultaneously keeping both the teacher and Vicki from falling under its attraction. So he was a bit hungry.
That being said, he wasn't the only one and Henry could almost see the moment Mike smelled the bacon and eggs Henry had set out on the stove to keep warm.
"Is that bacon?"
"It is." Henry chuckled, sliding out of bed and pulling a quickly waking Mike with him. "I'll tell you what, why don't I feed you while you tell me about your day and then you can feed me while I tell you about mine?"
"Sounds like a plan." Gathering Henry up in his arms, Mike placed a gentle kiss on his lips while Henry tried - and failed - to resist the feel of what Mike's naked body pressed all along his was doing to him. From the evil little chuckle that ghosted above his head, Mike knew exactly what he was doing to him, the bastard.
Henry smiled.
"Come on, Vlad, let's go eat, I'm starved."
"So says ET."
"Watch it shorty."
"Bite me, blondie."
"Later." Following Henry out of the bedroom, Mike pulled him back to nuzzle under the long hair until he reached the flesh along the curve of his neck. Once there and nipping gently, he vowed with dark promise, "Definitely later."
Shivering, caught in the unbreakable touch, Henry found he was very much looking forward to 'later'.
End