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“I bet,” Elia said, nodding his head over to a girl across the cafe, “that she likes me.”
“Does she even know you?” Gio asked, looking over at her. “I don’t know her.”
“She’s in my history class,” Elia told them all, smirking and raising his eyebrows suggestively. “She always smiles at me when she walks in.”
“Are you always watching her when she walks in?” Martino asked, chuckling with Luchino and Gio. “Is she smiling at you so the crazy guy doesn’t kill her?”
“Fuck you,” Elia snapped, shaking his head. “She even waved at me once.”
“You think that means anything?” Luchino asked. “Girls wave at me all the time and they don’t like me all that often.”
“That’s because you start talking,” Gio said, laughing as Luca threw a basket of bread at him. “Jesus!”
“Well, I bet I can get her to go out with me,” Elia said, but frowned at Martino when he started laughing, trying to stop himself by placing a hand over his mouth. “What?” Martino just nodded over to her, finding it hard to breathe now. Elia looked over and his shoulders slumped in defeat. She was over there making out, hard, with her girlfriend. “Really?”
“Wow,” Luca said, looking over, too. His eyes went wide. “Do you think they’re dating?”
“Why would they be making out at a cafe in the middle of the day if they weren’t?” Gio asked, frowning at Luca. “I mean, maybe at clubs after a bunch of drinks, but in a cafe? Sober? Luchino, of course they’re dating.”
Elia flopped back into his chair, scowling. “Just when I thought I found a pretty girl, she turns into a lesbian.”
Martino laughed out loud at that point, drawing a few eyes to them. “I think she’s been a lesbian for a while, Elia.”
The bell over the door twinkled as it opened, letting in another group of students. These, though, were university students, and by the looks of their slightly pretentious clothes, art students of some sort. Martino, looking over, smiled at Filippo, who smiled and waved back.
“Who’s that?” Elia asked, looking over, his eyes roaming.
“Filippo,” Martino answered. “Eleonora’s brother.”
“The gay one?” Luca asked, causing Martino to roll his eyes.
“Sì, Luchino, the gay one,” Martino sighed.
Elia turned back to the table with a glint in his eyes and an evil smiled on his face. “I bet I can get his number.”
“Really?” Martino shook his head. “You come out as bi and turn into nearly as desperate a horndog as Luchino.”
“Hey,” Luca protested, frowning. “I’ve gotten a lot better.”
“Sì, and we love you for it,” Gio said, reaching over a gripping his shoulder tightly. “Very proud.”
“Okay, fuck you,” Luchino said, shaking his head, but he was smiling, too.
“Will you take me up?” Elia asked, raising his eyebrows. “I can get Filippo’s number, I get to decide your punishment?”
Gio shook his head and Luchino followed suite, but Martino, thinking he knew Filippo’s type well enough, thinking that he was going to win, nodded.
“You’re on.”
Elia smirked, standing, and walked over to the group of university students. He sidled up to Filippo, who looked him up and down almost unimpressed, and started up a conversation. Where they were at their table, Gio, Martino, and Luca couldn’t hear him, but Martino frowned. Filippo wasn’t reacting the way he thought he would. Martino thought he’d roll his eyes and turn him down, but Filippo was… blushing? Slightly, but Martino could see his friends cheeks start to shade red, and a playful smile tugged at his lips. Martino felt his stomach sink when Filippo laughed and placed a hand on Elia’s shoulder.
“He’s actually getting it,” Gio whispered, impressed.
Filippo held out his hand and Elia handed him his phone, turning back to the boys with a shit eating grin on his face. Martino sank his head into his hands, missing the reason for Gio and Luchino’s commotion a few moments later.
“What?” Martino asked, looking at the two of them. Following Gio’s pointing finger, he sighed even deeper when he saw that Elia and Filippo were kissing gently against the bar. “Really?”
He pulled out his phone and shot off a quick, “WTF?” text to Filippo, who broke his kiss to check his phone. He frowned and looked around, laughing when he saw Martino sat with his friends, hands held up in a confused and slightly pissed off manner. Elia smiled innocently at him and rejoined the group, waving goodbye to Filippo before sitting down. He held out his phone to Martino, who double checked that it was the right number and frowned, shaking his head when he passed it back.
“Is it not his number?” Elia asked.
“It is.” Martino shook his head again when Elia whooped in celebration. “What do you want me to do?”
Elia had an evil glint to his eye, and he grinned widely, folding his hands together on the top of the table. “Because I won the bet, I want you to….” His smile got wider. “I want you to shave your legs.”
Martino frowned. That was a little weak for Elia.
“And your under arms.”
Still… not all that bad?
“And… your pubes.”
“What?” Martino asked, his voice slightly louder than intended.
“Be glad I didn’t say your head,” Elia cackled.
“But…” Luca started. “How will you check that he’s even done it?”
Elia shrugged. “I’ll get Nico to tell me.” He smirked. “He goes down there enough anyway, he probably wouldn’t mind a little bit of manscaping down there.”
Martino frowned at him, unimpressed. “I keep down there well maintained, thank you very much.”
“Sì, but,” Elia continued, “you’re not shaved down there, no?”
Martino grumbled in response.
“And I’ll text Nico about it if you don’t do it.” Elia smiled, feigning innocence once again. “Okay?”
“Fine.”
*
Martino sighed, stepping into the bath that Nico had drawn for him.
“Won’t you join me?” Martino asked, pushing around some of the bubbles that Nico had added. “It’s weird having a bath without you.”
“Taking a bath will soften your skin before we shave the rest of the hair off,” Nico said, smiling at him over the rim of the bath. “And you’re the one who lost a bet, not me. I don’t see why I have to get in.”
“To be with me?” Martino suggested, smiling back at him.
“Nice try.”
Martino sighed and laid back in the bath, raising his hand to rub some bubbles onto the tip of Nico’s nose. Nico scrunched up his face but didn’t move, his smile turning to a slight grimace.
“Very nice.” Nico rubbed it off on the towel he had.
“Are you okay?” Martino asked, leaning his head to the side.
He’d noticed that Nico had been down for a while now, his fake smiles making frequent appearances when they were out in public. He didn’t use that smile around Martino as much since they’d started dating, letting his real emotions take the center stage, getting things off his chest and out of his head.
Nico sighed, shrugged slightly. “I don’t know. I feel better than I did a few days ago.” The day that he and Martino had spent in bed, Martino dismantling every negative thought that his boyfriend thought. “But… not entirely better. And school is stressing me out beyond anything. My mother keeps getting on me about work and school and all that, which isn’t helping.” He sighed. “I know she’s trying to help, but… I feel like everything I do isn’t enough. That I’m chafing under the weight of everyone’s expectations, especially my own. I keep… thinking at I need to be happy all the time and good at everything, and I can’t be like that.”
Martino help up a wet, bubbly hand, which Nico took with a gentle chucke. “You know I’m here, right?”
Nodding, Nico said, “I know. Being with you makes me feel safe, Marti.”
Smiling, Martino blew a kiss in his direction. “I know that I can’t make things 100% better, but I’m always here.”
“So am I,” Nico whispered, leaning a little closer. “I’m here for you, no matter what, okay? It might take me a little longer to respond sometimes, but… I’m here.:
“I know.” Martino stroked a hand across Nico’s cheek, leaving a wet trail and a few bubbles. “Can I get out of the bath now?”
“Sì.” Nico stood up and held out a towel. “Pat yourself dry but don’t rub anything down. It’s better it your skin is a little damp when you do this.”
Martino did as he as told before sitting down on another towel that Nico had spread out across the floor. Nico then pulled a bottle of shaving cream, a razor, a bottle of some liquid that Martino was pretty sure he’d seen his mama used, and a box of something that Martino didn’t recognise. He sat across from Martino, who was starting to feel a bit self conscious sitting there naked, even if it was across from someone who saw him naked on a regular basis.
“Okay,” Nico said, laying all three items in front of Martino. “Which do you want?”
“What?”
“Do you want to shave or to wax or to use cream?”
Martino blinked, looking down at the box slightly. “Um.” He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “Which is better?”
“Well,” Nico said, thinking. “Shaving won’t hurt as much, but it could and probably will get itchy. Waxing hurts, but it’ll last longer than shaving. Using cream will hurt the least and will definitely last the longest, but it could lead to a rash, depending on how sensitive your skin is.”
Confused and frowning at his boyfriend, Martino asked, “How do you know all this?”
“Because I had really stupid friends in school, too,” Nico replied, flashing him a brilliant smile. “But three of us lost that bet, not just one.”
Martino sighed. “Which did you use?”
Nico held up the cream. “I used this.”
“Okay.” Martino grimaced slightly. “Let’s do that then.”
Nico pulled one of Martino’s legs into his lap before squirting some of the cream onto it and rubbing it up and down his soft skin. He spread it up to his knee and then down to his ankle, around to the back of his calf and smiling slightly when Martino squirmed as he tickled the back on his knee.
“How high do you need to shave?” Nico asked.
“I don’t know,” Martino answered, groaning. “I’ll text Elia.”
To Elia:
How far up do I need to shave?
From Elia:
ALL THE WAY
Sighing, Martino said, “He says all the way up.”
Nico snorted, squirting more cream onto Martino’s legs and spreading it further up. “Are you going to do your ass?”
“My ass?” Martino asked, confused.
“Sì.” Nico winked at him, suggestively. “Most people, when they wax or shave, they do everything. Legs, balls, ass. Everything.”
Blushing, Martino looked down at his lap, at the cream that was slowly cooling on his legs. “What do you think?”
“I think,” Nico said, his voice quiet and reassuring, “that I love you either way. And we would definitely have to use wax to do your ass.”
Martino shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Sì.” Nico pulled a few sheets of toilet paper from the roll and swiped it across Martino’s ankle, checking how it was working. “Okay, I think it’s done. You can get back into the bath and rub it off.”
Standing, Martino slipped back into the now luke warm water, reaching down and rubbing as much of the cream off his legs as he could. He pushed past the layer of cream and hair and felt the smooth skin of his legs, pausing for a moment at the alien sensation. He stood when he thought he was done and stepped out of the bath, taking the towel that Nico handed him.
“This… feels so weird,” Martino commented, rubbing the towel across his bare skin, feeling how soft and smooth it was. “I kind of like it?”
“Me, too,” Nico said, running a gentle hand over Martino’s legs. “It’s a bitch to upkeep though.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Nico kissed his shoulder before leaning back and looking over his boyfriend. He pulled Martino closer so that he was sat in between Nico’s legs, his own stretched out behind him. “Okay, under arms next?”
“Please,” Martino said. “Will the cream work there?”
“Sì, but it’s easier to shave there, so you don’t have to wait for minutes with your arms up in the air.”
Martino nodded, letting Nico push up his right arm first and spread some shaving cream into the hair there. He squirmed as it tickled, knowing that Nico was enjoying watching him riggle around and not minding that much. Nico was the person he felt safest with. He knew that both of them could definitely make it on their own, but having the other in their lives just made it that much easier. He took a deep breath in when Nico leaned forward with the razor, holding it when he felt it touch his skin. He let it go when Nico pulled away to wash the razor in the bath, realising that it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be. He watched Nico’s face as he concentrated on not nicking him, the soft frown on his brow. The cheekbones that stood out against his skin, the gentle slope of of his forehead. His full bottom lip, the freckles that splashed across the bridge of his nose. Martino loved him, his face, every single thing about Nico. The boy across from him, so close, made his stomach feel warm and tight.
“Martino,” Nico mumbled, looking down for a moment before looking into his eyes.
“Sì?”
“You’re hard.”
“What?” Martino looked down and blushed, looking back up to Nico with an embarrassed smile. “Sorry…”
Nico shook his head, raising his eyebrows. “No, it’s okay, I just… never thought this would turn you on? It’s fine if it does, you just seem to be the more usual kind of guy, you know?”
“This?” Martino frowned, confused. “You mean… the shaving?”
“Sì.”
“No,” Martino chuckled. “You. Being this close to you turns me on.”
Nico blushed, looking slightly pleased with himself but mostly shocked. “I turn you on?”
Martino rolled his eyes, leaning back on his hands, inwardly comparing the feeling of the shaved and unshaved underarm. “Nico, we’ve been together now for almost a year, and you still don’t know that you turn me on?”
“Well,” Nico said, rolling his eyes, too. “I know that things I do turn you on, but I never thought it would just be… me.”
Martino nodded, biting his lower lip slightly before, “Sì, Niccolò. Being around you, this close and this intimate, when I have time to just… look at you, everything about you turns me on. I love you.”
Nico leaned forward and kissed him, dropping the razor to the side and cupping Martino’s cheeks. The kiss was hot and slightly frantic, the first time that they were actually making out in a while. Nico hadn’t been feeling his best, and usually that meant that they only shared soft, slow kisses, but this was quick and sloppy and full of those weeks of tension and frustration. Not at each other, but at the situation they were in. Nico let Martino’s tongue into his mouth and he moaned, sending chills down to Martino’s dick. Martino laid back and pulled Nico on top of him, both of them trying to touch and taste as much of the other as possible. Nico shuddered when he felt Martino bite down on his neck, knowing that he’d have a mark when they were done. They moved against each other, kissing and panting and touching, nipping at necks and shoulders and bottom lips, until it was over, too quickly for either of their likes, but they weren’t surprised. They hadn’t had sex in almost a month, which was a while for them, not wanting to even jerk off when they were alone and turned on. No, they needed the other to be there to get off.
Nico blushed, looking down at their torsos, the white stripes that were painted against his jeans and Martino’s bare stomach. There was a slowly spreading wet patch in his boxers, and Nico realised that it was the first time in a very long time that he’d cum in his pants.
“I, uh…” Martino started, looking down at them, too. “Sorry.”
“No,” Nico said, quieting him with another kiss. “Don’t apologise.” He rested their foreheads together. “We both needed that, I guess. We both came quickly.”
Martino chuckled, bumping their noses together. “I was more apologising for the fact that I got cum on your pants.”
“Oh.” Nico smiled, laughing and leaning his head against Martino’s shoulder. “We should probably clean up and finish.”
Martino nodded, reaching for the towel he had used to dry off. He dipped it into the now cold bath water and used it to clean his stomach and as much of Nico’s jeans as he could before just getting them soaking wet. Nico laughed as Martino apologised again.
“Marti,” he whispered, pulling his boyfriend closer. “Hush, Marti.”
They got back to their previous endeavors quickly, finishing Martino’s other underarm quickly.
“Okay,” Nico said, picking up the cream again. “Show me your crotch, lover boy.”
“It’s been out this whole time,” Martino laughed, leaning back on his elbows again as Nico started to spread cream over his pubic hair and over his testicles.
Nico smiled as Martino made small, pleased noises as he spread the cream over his balls, and he may have fondled them a little too much to be excused as just applying the hair removal, but who cared? Martino certainly didn’t.
“You’re already up for another round?” Nico asked with a chuckle, slightly amazed.
“Sì,” Martino said, his tone of voice cocky and proud. “Well, we didn’t do much last time, so. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Nico shook his head and worked on removing the cream with a towel, shaking his head. “Can we at least go to your room first?”
Martino nodded, standing up when Nico was done, and wrapped a towel around his waist to cover himself on the short journey to his room. Nico closed the door behind them and pulled Martino’s towel down, quickly pushing the taller boy to his bed.
*
“So?” Elia asked when he’d gotten to where Martino was standing, waiting for the gate to open. “Did you do it?”
“Sì,” Martino said.
“Prove it.”
Rolling his eyes, he pulled the leg of his jeans up to show off the smooth skin of his legs before raising his arms and showing off the bare skin there, too. His gaze flickered to Martino’s crotch, but he shook his head, looking slightly disgusted with himself.
“Will Nico tell the truth if I ask him if you’ve shaved down there?”
“Sì.” Martino smiled. “I might even do it again.”
Gio and Luchino walked up, chatting about some girl they’d seen at the bus stop.
“Do what again?” Luca asked, frowning.
“Shave,” Martino answered. “It feels nice.” He smirked at Elia. “And Nico loved it, too. So I guess I have to thank you.”
Elia’s eyebrows arched up. “Did you get sex out of this?”
Martino nodded, smiling widely as Elia’s eyes widened.
“No.” When Martino nodded again, Elia ran his hands through his hair. “I got a phone number and a kiss and you got shaved balls and sex? That’s not fair!”
Martino shrugged, laughing. “Don’t give me something so intimate next time then.”