♤SPRING SHIELD (MxM) ~fantasy~♤

Time has a price

Kristian

"You're gonna be so bad at this."Elijah deadpans,after he's done wrapping my knuckles and putting my hands into these gloves. Boxing ones.
I've never seen myself as a fighter. Not even a petty nail scratching,heel throwing fight. But I challenged him,a man who clearly knows how to throw a punch to a boxing match.
Am I dumb? Maybe.
"Says who?"
"The fact that you don't even know what boxing gloves are."he says taking a step back. Before I can answer him,he moves into some weird stance,"Copy me."he says,slowly I look between him and me until I get it right,
"Now what?"
"Put your hands up like this."he says,covering his face with both his arms,leaving little space in between. Hesitantly,I follow his instructions,"Higher."he says coming around behind me and placing his hands on my hips twisting,placing me the way he wants.
It's gentle but so suffocating. His hands on my body like this.
He continues to guide me into position before going back to his own in front of me,
"Stay like that."
"I am."I roll my eyes,and he makes a face at me. Then he uses his hands to separate my arms,"What was that for?"I ask,exasperated,
"You need to always assume that I'm going to hit you in your face,Red. Come on,hands up."he knocks his gloves together. Rocking his feet back and forth. I put my arms up and he separates them again,so I put them up again,"Faster,Red. You need to recover faster if I try to throw you off-"we keep up that pattern over and over until I get tried of lifting my arms around,
"What's the point of this?"I ask,tired. I don't expect him to actually throw a punch my way,I block it by putting both my hands in the way pushing his fist away,
"Reflexes. Law of assumption. You need to always be ready to take something from me,your main point of protection is your head-"he taps my head with his glove."That's also not how you block. Come on,hit me."I tilt my head unsure if I want to do that but he jilts his chin silently telling me to do it,
"Like this?"
"Yeah,see the way I put my elbow up? That's how you do it."he puts his hands on me again,showing me,"Go on hit me again."When I try to hit him he blocks in a different way,"That's how you dodge something direct. Got it?"
"Yeah."I answer,new found confidence because this isn't difficult at all,
"Tutorial's over. Are you ready?"I nod and he taps his gloves together again,"Show me what you got,"
Apparently this isn't as easy as I thought it would be. He's too fast at dodging my attacks,frustrated and tired,I stop"That isn't fair to move that fast. I just learnt this!"I whine,stomping my foot onto the floor,
"Oh,so you challenging me is fair? Saying my form is bad is- Fair?"there's multiple pauses in his words as I try to hit him and he dodges each and every time. So annoying,"I,your opponent,didn't throw you in the deep end and taught you. But now I'm unfair? You're quite biased don't you think?"he keeps ducking a smug look on his face,he's so doing this on purpose,
"You're supposed to be making me feel better about being a beginner."
"Coddle,you mean?"he teases,as we grow out of bounds. Losing the rules as I swing my arms around,trying to hit him. His smirk grows with each miss I make,my blood starts to boil. "Don't you think it's time I got a couple of hits in myself?"he swings and I back off,my ankle getting caught up by a dumbbell,
I trip,and my fall is backwards. Elijah catches me by my arm but it's too little too late and I drag him down with me. We hit the floor with a thump,but I don't feel anything. When I open my eyes,I notice that he wrapped his hands around me,stopping me from making any contact with the ground.
"Are you okay?"he asks,looking worried,
"I should ask you that- you totally took that fall."
"I'm fine."he says dismissively,pulling himself up. He's on top of me. Again.
All I can see is his face and all it's sharp,handsome features.
I turn red at the familiar position,memories of his panting assaulting my mind. Our bodies tangled up in a frenzy of touches and whispers of profanities. Both tender and rough,urgent movements.
The warm familiar feeling of his embrace. It felt so safe,like I had done it before.
"Why are you turning... pink?"Elijah asks me,touching my face,
"... I'm thinking of things that will make you call me a pervert."he stares at me for a long fat beat of silence before getting off me in one quick motion. Pulling my racing heart beat along with him. He sits with his knees up,ripping his gloves off with his brows furrowed.
His mood changed completely in seconds. He puts his head in his hands like he's having a head ache.
Confused,I pick myself up and crawl between his legs,lifting him up by his chin,"What's wrong?"I place my hand on his cheek my thumb stroking the soft skin right before his eyes,
"Do I look like something is wrong?"he asks with a sad smile,that makes me purse my lips. The green in his eyes can be compared to grey,
"It's your eyes,they're sullen."when I tell him this he nods. His brows knitting once again,
"Red,let me ask you something?"I gesture for him to continue,scared of what it is. He sucks in a tough breath,like his lungs are heavy,"How serious are we?"
I can tell that my beat of hesitation is making him frustrated.
"... why are you asking me that?"I try to joke,but it's clearly making him angry. I don't have a place in my heart for angry Elijah. Especially since I've been spending all my time with happy Elijah.
"I mean,yes,we can keep kissing behind closed doors. Or telling lies when we're caught in each other's arms. You can climb in my bed and maybe I can crawl in yours. We can satisfy each other,sure. But how serious is what we're doing?"
"... I- don't. I'm not sure,I haven't ever thought of it like that. Or thought of label or anything. I thought that it was enough."
"Until it's not."his words make my grip on him loosen. My heart pierced with hurt.
"Lewis."I say,my voice becoming small. He notices,his eyes growing worried,
"I'm sorry,I didn't mean-"
"You should be! What is this even about?"I ask,holding his head with both my hands,
"... I don't know,Red. I'm sorry that I said that. I just,I'm confused. It's all becoming too much for me,too fast."he shakes his head,seeming stressed out. This all over again?
"You need more time?"I ask,a little tired of this. Why must I keep waiting for him?
"I'm sorry."he whispers,"I'm so sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"I keep making you wait when you're so ready. Ready to do this,ready to be with me. And I'm terrified,like a coward."he says with his head hanging low. I back away slowly
"It's okay. Each relationship is bond to have a point where someone is in deeper. Likes the other more,"his head immediately snaps up,he takes my hands in his. His large palms swallowing my hands which aren't even that small,
"No,it's not like that! I like you,Kristian. I like you a lot,so much it hurts."he sounds so sweet and genuine as he holds me,desperate for me to believe him. It makes me feel nice,
"Oh really?"I say,with a smirk on my face,
"Don't tease me,Red. I really mean it and just because I'm not used to this doesn't mean I'm not fully committed to you. I'm just-"
"Scared. I get it. I'm glad you like me and it's fine if you need time. I'm scared too,almost as much as you. You should know that as much as I'm your first,is the way your my first,Elijah."I tell him and he blinks. His ears turning red,and I think that the small sound is his heart beating,"What?"
He smiles softly,before kissing the top of my forehead and letting his face rest there. Against my skin,he whispers,
"You just called me Elijah."