Page 19 of Elemasters

“You guys smoke?”

“Fuck yes,” Chloe immediately answered; so quickly that it made Dustin giggle, “I was hoping you’d pose the question so I wouldn’t have to ask,”

“You got a stash here somewhere?” Chris wondered aloud, “I would think this place was too fancy for such behavior,”

“Please, that greenhouse out back definitely isn’t just for gardening,” James grinned wickedly, “my parents don’t think I know what them and their camping buddies get up to, but I’m more observant than I look. Sneakier too; I pinch off just enough of their supply to stay stocked up,”

It was officially official… James Zhang could not possibly get any hotter.

“You guys can make yourselves at home in the living room, I’ll run upstairs and change and grab my stash… Dustin, you wanna come with me?”

Dustin Ying was a lot of things; unintentionally condescending, bad at math, and incapable of making it through Titanic without bawling… but he wasn’t too dense to catch a hint that strong.

“Y-yeah, of course,” was all he could muster in response. James beamed and waved for Dustin to follow him into the foyer. As he went, Chris gave him two thumbs up, Bailey mouthed for him to put on ChapStick, and Chloe just grinned knowingly.

James’s room wasn’t quite what Dustin expected. He was thinking unfolded laundry and overflowing ashtrays, not a haven of houseplants and calming incense with pristine white bedding and perfectly fluffed pillows. There were at least fifteen different pots, overflowing with greenery; snake plants, spider plants, lilies… the list could probably go on for miles. Not only that, but there was a bag of fancy nutrients tucked away in the corner, which meant that James clearly took this very seriously.

“Wow… this is gorgeous,” Dustin said, drinking it all in.

“Glad you think so. It would’ve been super embarrassing if you hated it,” James chuckled, “you know, I’ve never had someone as beautiful as you in my room before,”

That was the moment when Dustin found out it was in fact possible to choke on air.

“Me?! You think I’m beautiful?”

“You’re kidding right? You’re fucking gorgeous dude,” James stepped a bit closer, “I thought I preferred your hair shorter, like it was when you were in the band. But I honestly really dig the longer look. Frames your face really well,”

James was close enough now for Dustin to literally feel his body heat.

“I… I don’t even know what to say,”

“How about, ‘thanks’?”

Dustin giggled.

“Y-yeah, right. Duh. Thanks James, really,”

“You’re welcome,” James’s gaze flicked to Dustin’s lips, before meeting his eyes again, “you’re so damn pretty when you smile,”

That was Dustin’s final straw. He leaned down, tilted James’s chin up just a touch… and slammed their lips together in a heated kiss.

It felt like the planets realigned in that moment. Like an ice age had finally thawed. Like the first warm spring day after a brutal winter. Finally he was able to want, openly, and let himself be wanted in return.

Their lips clashed and their hands roamed each other’s bodies, and before Dustin realized what he was doing, he was pulling James’s tank top up and over his head, before diving back in and hungrily kissing his neck.

“W-woah, hang on… fuck,” James halfheartedly protested, his eyes rolling back as Dustin eagerly sucked purple hickeys into his skin. He reached down, gripping onto Dustin’s plump ass like a lifeline… and that was when his veins started glowing a bright, electric green.

The plants all around the room started to rattle in their pots as they suddenly grew to twice their size; leaves and vines spilling over onto the floor, growing up the walls, and stretching to the ceiling.

Startled, Dustin detached himself from James’s skin, coming back to reality like a deer caught in headlights.

“What the hell? Did your powers do that?”

“I think so,” James replied, clearly still mesmerized, “sorry, t-that’s never really happened to me before,”

Dustin wasn’t sure if he was talking about the plant eruption, or the fucking massive tent in his gym shorts…

But either way, something was definitely growing between them. And for the first time, Dustin was determined to let himself enjoy it.