La Maison 3: Pretty (Complete: mxm)

Chapter 26: Zebo

River let Ellis hold his hand, over-excited as the lights dipped. River felt calm, himself, despite the occasion. Owen was on his other side, and Nikki and Dae rounded the numbers out. He'd be attending again in two evenings' time with some friends from school, but the night was like a big subs trip out.

They were there to watch Mat. He was over a week into the run, but he'd actually begged River not to watch too soon. He said it was because the first few shows weren't the best, and it wasn't exactly false modesty, but rather genuine uncertainty. River knew Mat was incredible, but he'd always been conscious of not living up to expectation, partly because of the lack of support he received from his family, and partly because it was the single area of his life where Mat was a total perfectionist. Mat's skills on stage was perhaps the only area of his life he didn't have full confidence about.

So, it had been no hardship to give that to him, even if River would have loved to have been front and center from the first show and in every other one after.

River watched, mesmerized, every time Mat was on stage. He wasn't one of the main protagonists, but his role had plenty of lines, which he delivered with the exact level of passion and determination his character required. Obviously, River was hugely biased, but Mat was easily one of the best performers up there.

River found it easy to fall into the role of bystander, watching the art pan out on stage. But the play was a pseudo-historical dramedy, and there was a scene where Mat had to apply a binding to one of the main characters, an impossibly pretty boy with gently curling locks to his collar. When he pulled the boy's arms behind his back and wrapped them neatly with thick tawny rope River didn't hide the hiss of arousal, and he heard similar along their row.

There was a moment when the boy closed his eyes, sinking back against Mat in a way that River more than recognized, and he felt an unexpected burst of jealousy. But then he saw Mat subtly prod him back to awareness and he grinned sheepishly, and River had to admit the flush that was visible under the thick stage makeup was erotic – it gave him something of an understanding why Doms liked it so much.

When another actor, a broad man with tightly cropped hair, approached and helped Mat 'manhandle' the boy away in preparation for the next scene, it wasn't just the boy on stage who was viscerally affected, as River found his pants suddenly uncomfortably tight

When the play came to an end, River was thankfully calm again, largely because Mat wasn't in the final act. There was something about the way he dominated his space up there on the stage that spoke to River's hindbrain. It made him want to climb up there, to hell with every person in the audience, and stake his claim on the man for all to see and the two of them to understand.

"He was amazing, wasn't he?"

Ellis was still excited, and River suspected that might have had something to do with the several drinks he'd been given permission to have. But his exuberance was catching, and River found himself joining in with the subtle squeals and grabby hands of the others, and ignoring the snotty nosed real theater-goers in their designer suits and champagne flutes, as they made their way to Mat in the backstage after party.

He didn't say anything rude to those people looking down their noses. He knew the production team held these 'special' after parties so they had the excuse to try and get anyone with clout involved, to keep the funding coming, and to encourage future productions. But the majority of people attending were friends and family of the actors and backstage staff, so River didn't feel out of place, despite those others.

Besides, they might have been in fancy suits and gowns, but his new jeans, a present from Mat, were just as designer, and he suspected Ellis' ensemble probably cost more than most people's cars. The delicate, jewel encrusted collar-masquerading-as-a-necklace certainly did. River had eyed that with a little longing when he'd first seen it.

"You were amazing!" Ellis squealed, at Mat that time, pulling him into a full body hug.

The others were equally effusive, but River hung back for a moment, finding himself next to the pretty lead actor, who'd been talking intently with Mat when they'd arrived. River held down the pang he felt deep. He was even prettier so close up, now he'd washed the pancake make up off and, to River's admittedly newly-trained eyes, screamed submissive.

His chocolate-brown curls were loose and just asked to have fingers raked through them – straight out of some regency fiction – and his dark eyes were deep-set and large, with strong dark brows that leant some seriousness to his ridiculously lovely face. His mouth was soft pink and beautifully shaped, begging to be pressed against and reddened. River just knew he'd look amazing afterward – all ruffled and debauched after a single passionate kiss.

"Hi," he held out a hand with a sweet smile, making River flush at how quickly his mind had objectified him just for being pretty. The exact act he hated from others.

Though he had something of an excuse. The week had been manic for Mat, and for him, because he'd been given three commissions for compositions – all with short deadlines. They'd barely seen each other, and when they had, exhaustion had taken precedence. They'd even had to put back some of Mat's training, but Gray had been understanding, saying that their careers should come first for now. But, after so long getting regular, incredible, sex, River and his new, high, sex-drive were struggling against forced celibacy.

He sucked it down though, just like he'd sucked down the jealousy, though both issues were still there.

"Hi, I'm River."

"Oh, I know," the boy chuckled deeply. "Mateo does not stop talking about you. Boy has it bad."

"Oh?"

Sure, River was fishing, but he couldn't deny the ethereal pleasure it brought to him to know Mat had been expressing his feelings like that, especially to someone who looked like this guy.

"Yeah. I think I might know more about you than your own mother, who lives in Ohio."

"You really do know a lot," River laughed along with the boy, who he realized he didn't even know the name of, his jealousy having distracted him. "Uh, so you're playing Vernon?"

"Yeah, hi, I'm Iggy, and it's good to finally put a real face to your name instead of just a really vivid description."

As he laughed alongside Iggy, he saw Mat looking over from his conversation with the others and the other main actor, who'd joined them. River was left almost breathless from his eyes alone; the emotion and care they expressed in their depths. Iggy stayed silent, though when River finally dragged his gaze away from Mat he saw the boy had a sweet, if wistful, smile.

"Sorry."

"Not a problem. It's nice to see, you know?"

River shrugged. "Well...I do know it's nice to feel."

He would guess Iggy had some kind of story. If anything, the submissive vibe River was getting from him was getting stronger by the minute, and even on the short acquaintance he was half tempted to give him the name of the club. But if he was wrong...he decided to put that ball in Mat's court. Maybe it was something he could bring up when they'd got to know each other better.

River barely saw Mat for the rest of the party, because it looked as though someone important – maybe a producer or a director – had sucked him into schmoozing the suits. Mat was good at it, and River liked to watch him work as he hung with the other subs, but it was late by the time he escaped and came over to pull River into a snuggling hug, burrowing his face into River's neck.

"You tired?" River asked, stroking his back.

"A little. Take me home?"

A/N: short because the smut would have made it too long, in trying to keep reasonable length for easy reading. Don't panic though, because the smut will, indeed, follow tomorrow