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There were Jeopardy reruns on the grainy television, subtitles flashing along the bottom of the screen as the sound would have had little chance of being heard over the churn of the lines of washing machines and dryers.
Stede wasn't watching the television. He was watching the stunning man who was guessing every single answer before the contestants could. Either he'd seen the episode before, or he was actually just that smart.
“You should apply for the show,” Stede called out, surprising himself with his boldness.
The man started, then turned to Stede with an eyebrow raised. “You taking the piss, mate?”
Stede flushed. The man was even more beautiful facing him than he had been in profile, enormous brown eyes looking out from tumbling black curls. “Of course not!” He stammered, gesturing to the screen. “You're just clearly very good at it.”
The man blinked, then shrugged. “Guess I am. Maybe I will then. Fuck knows I could use the money,” he added with a chuckle.
Stede laughed with him, commiserating with him before silence fell between them again.
The show switched to Wheel of Fortune, which the man seemed to have less success with, squinting at the screen as he drummed his fingers on the washing machine he was perched atop of. Stede was better at this one, however, and was able to fill in the blanks fairly quickly, the man grinning at him each time he did.
There came one puzzle that had them both staring at the screen in confusion.
“Mate, I'm telling you,” the man, who'd introduced himself as Ed, insisted.
“It can't be,” Stede argued. “They can't swear on television. Can they?” Both were finished their laundry, but were sitting beside their full bags, engrossed by the show.
And in Stede's case, at least, engrossed with the other man.
The contestants added an A, and it got worse.
Then, it clicked in Stede's head. He gasped aloud. “Luck be in the air tonight!”
Sure enough, the letters filled in with the correct letters as a contestant made the same guess only moments later.
Their eyes met, and they both started cackling.
“I was so sure,” Ed wheezed. “So sure it was 'fuck me in the ass tonight.' Oh fuck, I'm a terrible person.”
“Well, I suppose that would be lucky indeed,” Stede replied wryly around his own giggles.
Ed hummed. “So it would.” He leaned close suddenly, whispering hotly in Stede's ear. “How lucky are you feeling, gorgeous?” He drew back, casting a meaningful glance at the bathroom.
Stede couldn't help the squeak that escaped him. He cleared his throat, trying to regain a modicum of dignity. “Depends. Are you my good luck charm?”
“Oh definitely, mate,” Ed purred. “Just rub me and the luck comes pouring out.” He registered the crinkle in Stede brow. “Yeah, okay, we're not making sense anymore. Meet me in the bathroom?”
Stede gave a short nod in response, sure he was as red as the crimson scarf draped around Ed's neck. Ed gave him a wolfish grin, and strode off casually to the tiny bathroom.
Stede counted to one hundred before following him, trying to maintain some semblance of propriety despite the near-empty laundromat. Most people worked Tuesday mornings, so there was no one to witness the hardness already straining in his trousers at the prospect of what was about to happen. Or to witness Ed open the door to his knock and Stede stumble into the single-toilet bathroom with him, locking the door behind them.
Ed reclined against the sink, arms crossed and a smirk playing across his perfect plush lips. Stede swallowed hard, his heart pounding. God, even here, under the terrible industrial fluorescents, the man was the most beautiful thing Stede had ever laid eyes on, a fantasy come alive, a deity come to earth. He fell to his knees in supplication, and Ed's smirk widened into a pleased smile.
“Fuck, you look good down there,” Ed murmured as Stede fumbled for his belt. “All prim and proper, down on your knees in a filthy public bathroom. You that much of a cockslut?”
The words sent a thrill through Stede, causing him to shiver as he pulled Ed's hard length from his leather trousers. Cut and long with an upward curve, he couldn't wait to get his mouth on him. “For a cock this perfect? Absolutely.”
Ed huffed a laugh that cut off into a choked off moan as Stede licked a stripe down his cock and dipped down to suckle at the frenulum. “Oh, fuck.”
“Shhhh.” Stede pulled away to berate him, though he continued to stroke him in a loose fist. “You don't want people to hear, do you?”
“Oh, I don't know,” Ed purred. “Maybe I want everyone to know that the prettiest damn man in town is sucking me off in public because he couldn't wait to get his hands on me.”
Stede shivered again. The idea of getting caught, of people seeing them like this, was an oddly electrifying one. Proof, that he wasn't ashamed of this, wasn't ashamed of Ed, wasn't ashamed of himself. A decisive 'fuck you' to everyone who'd ever put him down for loving who he loved. It was the same thrill he got whenever they went out together, whenever they were recognized as a couple. The first time it had happened, a waiter spotting their joined hands at brunch and commenting that they made a handsome couple, it had finally clicked for Stede why they called it gay pride. He was proud of who he was, of what he'd withstood to be allowed to have this. And he was proud of Ed, proud to be the one that got to have him on his arm.
But all that aside, there was a difference between the idea of being caught, and actually being caught. “Juicebox,” said Stede, gently releasing Ed's cock.
Ed's hands immediately released their hold on his hair at the sound of their safeword. “Fuck, you okay? Do you want to stop?”
Stede smiled up at him, grateful as always for his attentiveness, his patience as they explored the expanses of Stede's inexperience together. “No, love, I'm alright. Just, I don't actually want to get caught. Are you able to keep quiet, or do I need to gag you?” He'd meant it teasingly, but Ed's eyes widened. “Oh? Does that appeal?”
“Yeah,” Ed croaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah, I think it does.”
Stede rose to his feet. “Are you sure?” He asked, even as giddiness mounted in his chest. Bondage was certainly on his list of things he wanted to try. He had an image in his mind of Ed wrapped in soft silk cords, muscles straining against them as he writhed and whimpered in pleasure. Stede shook the image away, even as his cock jumped at it. That was for another time. “What if you need to safeword?”
“I'll tap you three times,” Ed said quickly, reaching up to tap Stede's head in demonstration, three taps in quick succession.
Stede nodded, satisfied. He leaned in to kiss Ed, who opened for him immediately, his tongue meeting Stede's eagerly. “Well then, darling, shall we?”
He drew the scarf from Ed's neck in a long slide, then held it to Ed's lips. Ed accepted it without hesitation, letting Stede tie it behind his head.
“Is that comfortable? Not too tight?” Stede checked in anxiously. The cotton was soft enough that it shouldn't rub unpleasantly, but he didn't want the tension putting unnecessary pressure on Ed's mouth.
Ed gave him a thumbs up, a nuzzle against his neck, and then a meaningful glance at the floor.
Stede chuckled and followed the silent instruction, sinking once more to his knees. Ed's hands immediately buried themselves in his hair again, his fingers twining into his curls. It occurred to Stede that even if they didn't get caught directly, it would be pretty clear what they had been up to.
Well. He could certainly live with that.
He took Ed's cock in his mouth again, sinking slowly down on it, hollowing his cheeks to suck as he did. He'd been learning, in the four months that he and Ed had been together, his inexperience giving way to a veritable catalogue of what Ed liked. Stede decided to pull out all the stops – when they'd planned this, they had intended for it to be quick, partly to reduce the chances of being caught, and partly to avoid occupying the Laundromat's only bathroom for too long. They'd already been in here for some time. Terribly impolite, though Stede was having trouble feeling bad about it with the weight of Ed's cock on his tongue.
He tugged Ed's trousers down lower so that he could slip a hand between his legs, fondling his balls with one finger teasing further back at his taint and hole. Ed moaned, the sounds muffled against the gag. Stede didn't try and press in, not without lube. He just stroked, gentle pressure against Ed's most vulnerable places as he bobbed up and down on his cock in a fast, bruising pace.
With his free hand, he worked his own trousers open, groaning around Ed's cock as his own erection sprang free. He stroked himself in the same rhythm, easing the glide with the precum that had been leaking liberally since he'd first gotten his mouth on Ed, nearly soaking through his underwear.
Ed was whimpering against the gag now, making little aborted thrusts that he couldn't quite control into Stede's mouth. If Stede's lips weren't otherwise occupied, he would have grinned. He loved it when Ed got like this: lost in pleasure and desperate for release, all because of Stede.
He pulled off with a wet pop, replacing his mouth with his first, still stroking himself in tandem, rocking his own hips into it. “Do you want to come, my love?” He panted, his voice hoarse.
Ed nodded vigorously, whining.
“Come down my throat,” Stede instructed. “We don't want to make a mess, do we?” He grinned up at Ed wickedly, playing his last card. “I know you'll be good for me. My good boy.”
He'd hardly managed to swallow Ed down, his throat spasming around the intrusion, when Ed exploded, thrusting freely now into the tight heat of Stede's mouth, his head thrown back it ecstasy.
Stede moaned, stripping his own cock at a punishing pace. He gripped Ed's ass his his free hand, holding him close as he went to pull out, not ready to have his mouth empty. He came with a shattered whimper, spilling over the tile, thighs trembling as he worked himself through it.
He released Ed, letting his softening cock slip from his mouth with a sigh before using the sink to haul himself up on unsteady legs.
He removed the gag, and Ed crashed into him with a kiss, licking into his mouth with enthusiasm.
“Fuck, Stede, that was so fucking hot. Is this what would have happened? If I had asked that first time?”
Stede pulled back, unable to help his laugh. “When I was crying over the laundry because I didn't didn't know how to use the machine, having come to terms with the fact that I was gay less than a month prior? I rather doubt it, my love.”
Ed chuckled. “Just as well that I waited, then, isn't it?”
Stede gave him another kiss and then reached around him to the paper towel dispenser, gathering a few to clean his cum from the floor. So much for not making a mess. “Did you really want me, even then? I must have looked to pathetic.”
Ed waited until he'd discarded the paper towels before wrapping him in a tight hug, sweetly pressing a kiss to his temple. “Course. You're too fucking pretty to resist, even when you're crying. Couldn't resist trying to be your knight in shining armour.”
“You were,” confided Stede. He remembered thinking how unfair it was, that the most attractive man he'd ever laid eyes on was seeing him at one of his lowest moments, overwhelmed and tearful. That Ed had been attracted to him that day was unfathomable to Stede, but he wasn't about to complain. He would hold on to this as tight as he could, for as long as he could. “Shall we go home, my gallant knight?”
Ed kissed him once more, long and languid. “Yeah, my love. Let's go home.”