Chapter Text
I don't wanna miss one smile
And I don't wanna miss one kiss
And I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this
— Aerosmith, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
One Year Later
It was a lovely spring day, and Azi was lying on the sofa in the East Village loft he shared with Tony, his laptop propped up on his knees. The sofa had a deep seat and a soft cover, wide enough for Azi to spread out comfortably and long enough for him to sink down and take a nap, which he did often. It was turned toward the large picture window so that Azi could gaze up at the sky or down at the street whenever the words weren’t flowing. Today, the window was open, letting in the cool spring breeze and the whoosh of cars passing in the street below, the honking of horns and the conversations of passersby. It had taken Azi a little while to get used to the noise at first, but now it was second nature, the hum and buzz of a city that had folded him into its heart.
Azi gazed across the large room at Tony’s studio space, his drafting table and drop cloths, shelves of spray paint and printing supplies, digital equipment that Azi was still learning to understand, and a large silkscreen press. Tony was out this afternoon at a meeting with Anathema about some “big new opportunity,” which she had been very excited and yet tight-lipped about. Azi was expecting him home any minute, and he was glad, because he was always happier when Tony was in the apartment, even if they were each working quietly on their own projects.
They had originally set up Azi’s sofa in Tony’s workspace, but they quickly realized that wasn’t going to work.
“Fuck, how does this keep happening?” Tony gasped as he flopped forward onto Azi’s chest, flushed and glowing after vigorously riding his cock.
“You’ll have to ask yourself that, darling. I was just lying here minding my own business,” Azi answered primly. He ran his fingers up along Tony’s spine, making him shudder.
“Yeah, but you look so hot when you’re doing it that I had to come over and mind your business too,” Tony muttered into his neck. “Shit, I am never going to get anything done.”
Eventually, they had realized that if Azi was across the room, then Tony would have at least some distance to consider his actions before climbing into Azi’s lap. It worked — sometimes.
It had been a glorious year, finally being together after all this time. It had taken them a few weeks to sort everything out, but Azi had come up to the city with Tony in early June, and they had been inseparable after that. When he first arrived, Azi had slept on and off for nearly a week, waking for meals or to spend time with Tony before drifting off again. He hadn’t realized just how overworked he had been, just how much of a toll the stress of missing Tony had taken on his body. Finally safe and loved, he found space to recover, and Tony was delighted to indulge his every whim. They had made love whenever they wanted, sprawled out on Tony’s bed in the afternoon sunlight, relearning all the contours of each other’s bodies, wringing so much pleasure from each other that it was a wonder they had survived. It hadn’t always been easy: they both had deep scars and a lot of trust to rebuild, but they were working through it. Azi had accompanied Tony to a few sessions with his therapist, and then had found one of his own. Slowly but surely, they were getting better, growing into each other, finding new ways to compromise and heal every day.
Now they were working on a joint project, a graphic novel that they intended to publish under their real names, with Azi’s story and Tony’s art. It was about two sorcerers from different guilds, one dedicated to dark magic and the other to the light, who found overpowering love and used their combined power to overthrow the structures that were dividing them. Perhaps it was a little on the nose, but they didn’t mind.
No, they didn’t mind being too on the nose, or too much, or too romantic, not now that they had found each other again. They walked through the streets hand in hand, kissed out in the open where everyone could see. And they were definitely not strangers to incorporating their love for each other into their art.
”Do you know which Serpent piece is my favorite?” It was shortly after Azi had arrived in the city, and they were sprawled on their backs on their bed, completely blissful after mutually sucking each other off. They hadn’t done it that way since they were teenagers, and there was a lot of giggling, but they managed it in the end.
“Which one?” Tony propped himself up on his elbows, looking down his long torso at Azi.
Azi reached his arm over his head to wrap his hand around Tony’s calf. “That banner drop you did off the Queensboro Bridge. The one with the picture of us.”
“Oh, fuck.” Tony flopped back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. “God, I was missing you so much, and I just wanted to scream at the world about it. A lot of people ask for prints of that one now.”
“I can see why,” Azi murmured. He sat up and reoriented himself so that he could snuggle into Tony’s side, suddenly wanting to be closer.
“You know, I had an idea a while back — but we’re halfway through June right now. We’re never going to be able to pull it off.”
“What is it?” Azi asked.
Tony stroked Azi’s bare shoulder. “I had thought about making shirts with that image — you know, to benefit the shelter that helped me. Selling them during Pride. I’ve never done it because it just didn’t feel right, not having you here with me. But there’s no way we could pull that off in time.”
“Why not?”
“Sourcing the shirts, for one thing. And then getting them printed.”
Azi ran his fingers over Tony’s chest. “I have shirts. Plenty of them, from the booth. And you have a screenprinter in the studio space. We could do it together.”
In the end, Tony and Azi had printed two hundred shirts over the course of a few nights, taking turns inking them and then draping them all over the apartment to dry, trading kisses as they went. A few of the kids from the shelter had sold them out on the street, and when word got around that the Serpent had actually printed them by hand, every single one had sold.
Well, every single one except the one Azi was wearing right now. He looked down, smoothing the picture over his torso. If his seventeen-year old self could have known everything that would come after stepping into that photo booth, what would he have thought? Azi would have gladly handed it all back to get another chance at those lost years with Tony. But he loved their life now, loved every minute of the peace and safety that had been so hard-won, and he was learning to live each day, to move on from all they had lost.
A key turned in the lock, and Tony bounded into the apartment. “Hey, Angel!”
He tossed his keys into the tray next to the door, kicked off his shoes, and hung up his leather jacket. Then he made his way over to Azi, a white paper bag in hand. Tony had started growing his hair out again, and it was just long enough to tuck behind his ears, or for Azi to wind around his fingers. He was smiling a lot more these days, and today he looked simply radiant.
“Darling,” Azi purred as Tony leaned over the back of the couch and kissed him, placing the white bag on the end table behind him. “What do you have there?”
“Cannolis from Ferrara’s. I stopped by on the way back from the meeting because I know how much you love them.”
“And how much I love you,” Azi murmured. He barely had enough time to whip his laptop off his thighs and tuck it under the couch before Tony was straddling him, running two hands up his torso and leaning down for a deeper kiss.
“You let your tea get cold again,” Tony teased as he pressed his lips into Azi’s hair. “I’ll go put the kettle on in a minute — but first, I have news!”
“Do you now?”
Tony sat up straight and ran a hand through his hair. “So this meeting — Anathema had a request for me to make an album cover, and she wanted to know whether I would be interested. Once I heard who it was for, I said yes right away.”
He leaned down and whispered a name into Azi’s ear, and Azi’s eyes widened.
“Holy shit! Do I get to meet them?”
Tony laughed. “We’ll see if I get to meet them first. I don’t know whether this is just going to be an over the phone thing or what. Besides, you used to have a big crush on him back in the day. I might be very jealous.”
“Well, then —” Azi tugged Tony back down into his arms, pressing kisses into his neck to punctuate his words. “I would have to make sure — that you knew exactly — how precious — how lovely — how perfect you are.”
“Fuck,” Tony gasped. Then he pulled back, shaking his head a little. “Adam and Warlock aren’t here, are they?”
The apartment had two bedrooms, and long before Azi had arrived, Tony had set up the spare room with two sets of bunk beds as overflow housing in case the shelter for queer youth ran out of space. When Azi moved in, Tony had offered to stop, but Azi wouldn’t hear of it. They didn’t always have guests, but right now they were hosting two young men. They had arrived in the city separately a few months back, but Azi suspected that something wonderful might be blooming between them.
“They’re out, and they won’t be back for hours. They went to a medic training over at ABC No Rio.”
“Good, those take forever.” Tony stripped off his shirt, dropping it to the floor. “All this success has made me extremely horny, and I’m about to make it your problem.”
“Is that so?” Azi slid his hands up Tony’s bare sides. God, he was gorgeous. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well,” Tony said as he sprawled over Azi’s chest. “First, I want to lie down in this warm little nest that smells just like you.”
Azi chuckled and rolled them both over, so that Tony was pinned beneath him. “And then?”
“I want you to tell me how pretty and smart and talented I am while you fuck me into next week.”
“How pretty —” Azi wrapped a hand around Tony’s jaw, nibbling at the sensitive spot just under Tony’s ear. Tony whined, spreading his legs so that Azi could settle between them.
“Don’t forget smart,” he breathed.
“And talented.” Azi took hold of both of Tony’s wrists and pinned them behind his head. “I think that can be arranged.”
Outside, the city teemed with life, but Azi and Tony only had eyes for each other.