It's So Easy [[Damien]]

[Elias Hunter G7]

It feels so right, so it can't be wrong.

Eli felt like a cat. No, not like a domestic cat that chases a ball of yarn or curls up on your lap while you drink a hot cup of tea. Instead, he felt like a predator, perhaps a mountain lion, stalking his prey. Granted, you couldn't really call Damien Elias' prey, but the concept was there.

With a devilish grin, Eli tip-toed down a few more stairs, his gaze fixed on Damien's impending arrival onto the platform between staircases.

"Boo!"

He jumped a few steps downward, landing on the platform with a thud just as Damien turned the corner.

"Ha! Sacred you, didn't I Lennox?" A triumphant spark flickered across Eli's face as he gave the Slytherin a playful shove. "How was your summer? Add many conquests to your total?"

It was painfully obvious what Eli was talking about, and he wasn't sure why he enjoyed making light of Damien's playboy ways. Perhaps it was a sub-conscious way of pretending that he, Elias, hadn't just been another number on that one night last term when he and Damien had went on a date.

Relieved that Carlin was nowhere around, Eli showed no shame in taking a head-to-toe scan of Damien, allowing himself to remember each inch that had intrigued him from the first time Elias saw it. Sure, Damien's personality had some flaws, but that body was almost perfect. At least perfect enough for Eli's taste.

"So, I was wondering when I might get date night number two..."

Eli didn't like to think of himself as being "easy" but he was surely making himself available for Damien. He couldn't help but wonder though what happened after the chit-chat, the dining, and the kissing. That was about all the farther they got with their last date before Carlin had so conveniently needed Damien to help her tend to a slight emergency.

"I'm free this evening." Eli smiled, leaning one shoulder casually against the wall as he stared at Damien, waiting for an answer.

And I'm ready. And I'm gone. And I'm here tonight to tell you we belong.

((P.S. I know I need to move Eli up to 7th year, and I will... eventually. ))

[Damien Lennox S7]

“Elias.” After the initial surprise of being ambushed, a slow, pleased smile grew on Damien’s face. He was used to being hunted down by his conquests a few days after their last encounter, or even, on occasion, finding himself at the wrong end of a wand held by a jealous boyfriend or girlfriend of one of his conquests. Elias Hunter fit into none of those categories, though only because Carlin had swooped in before the real fun of the evening could take place. Damien couldn’t stay angry at his cousin for her actions, especially not when she had pointed out that he would have done something similar to her if he had thought of it first. All the same, part of him had expected that Elias would have taken the chance to run in the opposite direction as quickly as he could so Damien had resigned himself to starting the chase up all over again. With that consideration, his appreciation at seeing Elias voluntarily seeking him out rather than the other way around was entirely understandable.

“Scared me?” Damien grinned wryly, granting Elias the pleasure of his little game if he so wished. Some of the Slytherin second years, he thought privately, were scarier than the sandy-haired boy in front of him, but he neglected to share that thought with Elias. He really didn’t think it would help this unexpectedly presented second chance of getting ahead in the game. “Of course you did. I thought for a moment that you were going to try to push me down a flight of stairs for some reason.”

Had he added a significant number of conquests over the summer? Damien paused to think before shrugging, his smile tinged with self-deprecation that he would leave Elias to interpret to his own satisfaction if the Gryffindor picked up on it. Carlin’s tendency to keep things to herself unless someone else truly needed to know something had apparently been passed onto him during their weeks of preparation during the summer, which was regrettable but necessary. His cousin had shared promises of power, of knowledge and of greatness with him, her dark eyes alight with some inner fire that he had simultaneously shied away from and been pulled in by. “No,” Damien answered honestly, not bothering to elaborate any further. He hadn’t added many to his eventual total but he had added some, it was true. He wasn’t a monk!

The instant Elias revealed his intentions by blatantly trailing his eyes over Damien’s body, Damien’s smirk gained a predatory edge. He should have guessed; no one but Carlin deliberately looked for him unless they wanted something sexual from him – and even that was merely because Carlin was practically his sister. This was territory that he was more than comfortable traversing so Damien made no protest about the visual examination although his smirk informed Elias that the action hadn’t been overlooked. There was no harm in letting someone flatter him with their enjoyment of his body after all.

Damien moved forward lithely, almost trapping Elias against the wall but always careful enough to leave an opening for the other boy to slip through if he felt the need to back away a bit. He didn’t pressure people any more than he figured they would be open to. He simply didn’t. It was against the twisted and underused thing that served as Damien’s code of honour. The backs of his fingers traced a feather-light path on the contours of Elias’ face, reassuring and sensually distracting all at once. “I think I can find an opening in my busy schedule for you,” he teased. “Eight ‘til late?”

[Elias Hunter G7]

And I'm waiting. And I've been standing here alone for far too long.

No? Eli's nose scrunched instinctively. It wasn't the answer he had been expecting. Half of him was intrigued to try to imagine all of Damien's hookups throughout the summer. But at the same time, finding out that they might have been few and far between was oddly comforting. He wouldn't dwell on that thought though, nor try to figure out why.

After he had finished the head-to-toe scan of his body, Eli's eyes caught Damien's own stare, realizing he'd been caught. A guilty grin made its way onto Eli's face, fighting to cover up his urge to flash a toothy smile. And then, a spark of heat rose through Elias' body when Damien moved forward, his hand grazing the soft skin on Elias' cheek. Eli reached his own hand up quickly, gently grabbing Damien's hand and lowering it to their side. He didn't let go though, holding Damien's palm between his thumb and index finger.

"Eight? Well, as long as you've first got a date with your razor, then eight is fine." Eli's other hand took its turn at Damien's face, his thumb brushed along the rough dusting of facial hair on his jawline. "Am I the only one who refuses to kiss a man who doesn't shave?" Eli asked playfully. The truth was, he very much wanted to kiss Damien right then and there - facial hair or not. But, he'd continue to use that excuse to his advantage, perhaps giving Damien something to think on himself.

He let his hand fall from Damien's face, down his chest, over his abdomen, and stopping at the waistline of his pants. He smiled again before gently pushing Damien out of the way so that he could continue down the stairs. "See you at eight by the gargoyle statue. This time I have a place in mind." Eli spun, putting his hands in his pockets and hopped down the stairs two at a time.

[Damien Lennox S7]

That guilty twist of Elias’ mouth was oddly endearing, Damien noted uncomfortably. It made him want to…well, that was hardly important since now was hardly the time or the place. There was time enough for those sorts of thoughts later, when they weren’t in a castle with the threat of people interrupting them at any moment. Exhibitionism was pleasant enough in its way, but Damien had long since been aware that Elias was, for all intents and purposes, an innocent. The more daring ideas could be left until a potential third round at least.

“You’re one of the most demanding dates I’ve ever had,” Damien informed Elias bluntly, the twitch of his mouth softening the hard tone. Too much of Damien’s life had been spent with Carlin at his side for him to ever be truly annoyed by what he saw as unnecessary orders, particularly if it meant he would get what he wanted. Small sacrifices were nothing to be worried about when he had his eyes so firmly fixed on the ultimate prize of winning the game. Elias was more of a side-quest than part of the true game; satisfying to win, even if only for personal gratification, but essentially trivial in the grand scheme of things.

“Though I’m starting to think that maybe you just haven’t been kissing the right men.” Considering that more than enough warning of his intentions, especially since Elias should be fully aware of what he was doing by hunting out a Lennox for a date, Damien lowered his head. At the last moment, however, he changed his mind and instead brushed a deceptively soft kiss against Elias’ lips before pulling back with an almost arrogant smile. He liked his facial hair and was entirely sure that, given enough time, Elias would come to agree with him.

Even before Elias was out of sight, Damien let out a short bark of disbelieving laughter, his head dropping back to rest against the stone wall with an audible thud that made his head ring with echoes and mild pain. “Intriguing," he murmured to himself, his mouth drawing the word out to last for several seconds longer than usual as if he relished the taste of the syllables resting on his tongue. This would not be a game of quick satisfaction that would be forgotten within a matter of hours, Damien was starting to realise. Elias Hunter had never been in Damien’s bed (he hadn’t even really been close to getting there, if Damien was honest) but already the Gryffindor had more of his attention than any other conquest could even dream of boasting about.

Oh yes. Tonight would be fun. Damien smiled sharply, his expression filled with anticipation and impatience as he sauntered down the corridor in the opposite direction to Elias. Carlin wasn’t getting the chance to interfere this time, even if he had to bribe one of his dorm-mates into keeping her otherwise occupied.