No, with him it was different. Both he and his mother wanted Rabbit to be their version of perfect, but with Void there was at least a little give. With his mother, there was only take. She’d never asked him questions about himself, hadn’t noticed whether or not he was happy or unhappy.
Was the fact Baikal asked him things sometimes enough to justify all of this? Logically, no, but did that matter to Rabbit’s subconscious? Apparently not. All his brain seemed to care about was the fact that since the Brumal Prince had barged into his life, his attacks had been fewer and farther between. And he got the sense that was done by design.
Baikal was going out of his way to take care of Rabbit in the process of overcoming him.
His mother never had.
So long as he did as he was told, December Trace could give two shits about her one and only son. He was there to be an extension of her greatness, a bauble—or better yet, a music box, sitting on the shelf gathering dust until someone came around and wanted to hear it play. He’d realized she didn’t consider him his own person years ago, at the tender age of eleven, and that had only solidified the night—
Rabbit cut that train of thought down, his fingers plucking at the strings more violently than he meant, the sound sharp but still enticing. He focused on Void, watched as the other man’s brow furrowed, clearly sensing something wrong even from across the stage.
No one had ever been this in tune with Rabbit before, and it was both frightening in its unknown and thrilling. On some level, he understood it was a dangerous attraction, that this thing between them, whatever it was, was debauched and maybe a little warped. Baikal Void was a seriously perverted guy who got off on watching Rabbit squirm.
The plug turned up again, the vibrations causing Rabbit’s lips to part on a silent gasp, his hands never stilling as they worked his instrument in a similar way Baikal was now working his body.
His hips jutted forward as if on their own accord and he bumped up against the wall, moving so he could rub against it in slow measured flicks of his hips that would go unnoticed by the crowd below. He’d never been into the idea of being aroused in front of others before, and while the risk of discovery still very much worried him, he was less focused on that now and more invested in chasing that rush he got whenever Baikal brought him to orgasm.
Seeming to sense that too, Baikal grinned, his face vicious and wicked and beautiful all at once.
And then he turned the toy up to its highest setting.
Rabbit came with a start, only barely holding in a cry, the sound of his instrument tuning out everything else. Colors burst from it as he continued to play through the emptying of his cock in his pants and the burst of electricity that shocked through him, the song spiraling up and crashing back down again right along with him.
The crowd was already standing and applauding before he finished, and through his haze, he couldn’t process why. Until a twisted ribbon of teal, bright and glowing, drifted past his field of view.
Teal, like Void’s eyes.
Teal, a color Rabbit had never produced with the beiska before.
After years of painstaking struggle and practices that had lasted until daybreak, Rabbit had finally unlocked a new color.
* * *
“Congratulations!”
Rabbit bowed to one of the student workers backstage, the millionth person to say that to him since he’d stepped down from the balcony level. He’d had to wait for a bit for his pants to dry and be less noticeable, the flowy material of his long shirt thankfully still hiding the stain. Still, he’d need to change immediately, just in case.
At some point, the plug had been shut off, but he didn’t have any idea when Baikal had disappeared from his spot next to the stage. As soon as Rabbit had gotten over his initial shock at seeing the new color, he’d turned to find him, but Void had been gone.
“Rabbit, this is amazing!” Professor Ludo appeared, his arms opening wide as though he expected Rabbit to step into his embrace and hug him or something.
He didn’t. Instead, he sidestepped him, gave a curt nod of his head, and kept going. When the professor called out to him he shot back that he was in a rush and that was that. Keeping his composure enough not to simply run was taking all of his energy, and he wasn’t even sure what it was he was trying to make his way toward until he finally threw open his dressing room door and…
Found it empty.
His shoulders sagged and he pursed his lips as he stepped in, glancing around the small square space as though a man of Baikal’s stature could somehow find a way to hide.
Rabbit shut and locked the door then placed his beiska back on its stand and went straight for his multi-slate. It was already filled with messages and tags on Inspire of clips of him, but he scrolled through them twice and not a single one was from Void.
Had he really just…left? Just like that? Without a word? Had he seen the new color? Did he even know that itwasnew? Maybe he had and the fact it was the same shade as his eyes had freaked him out.
Rabbit snorted at himself after that one. If there was anyone here who should be freaked out by this thing it was him, not the pushy and possessive Brumal Prince.
The one who was absent.
His multi-slate pinged and he checked it like his life depended on it, trying to ignore the way disappointment sliced through him the second he read the message. It was from Void, but it was more a brushoff than anything else, and after what Rabbit had just experienced thanks to the other man, it stung a little.
Void:Remove the plug then go straight home.
