Fence Comic, "Never Been" Nicholas x Seiji, rated T

[paynesgrey]

Fandom: Fence Comics
Title: Never Been
Author: paynesgrey  (aka quirkypaynesgrey)
Characters/Pairings: Nicholas/Seiji, Aiden/Harvard, Kally/Tanner, Bobby/Dante
Word Count: 2,343
Rating: T
Genre: Humor/Fluff/Romance
Spoilers: for "Disarmed" novel.
Notes: Written for the Fence Secret Santa 2021 on Tumblr for shutupandwrite. One of their prompts was "First Kiss".

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Summary: The fencing team engages in a Truth or Dare game at a party, and Nicholas gets an interesting dare.

Never Been

Nicholas marveled at the turn of events. How did he get into this situation again? Oh, right. He’d been invited to a Christmas party in Harvard and Aiden’s dorm right before King’s Row closed for a holiday break.

He knew that Aiden wouldn’t voluntarily invite him to such a thing, so he was sure that Harvard had guilted him into it to keep team solidarity.

Nicholas was, of course, grateful to be invited to anything, as he’d never had much luxury to go to parties or even have friends that wanted to be with him. In the beginning, he’d considered himself lucky to have a party with the fencing team and some other boys of King’s Row (whoever they could fit inside the dorm room), but now he was wondering if this was luck or low-key hazing.

“This is stupid, you guys,” said Kally morosely, and he didn’t seem to be enjoying the attention. Tanner sat protectively by his side, but he was eyeing down Aiden as if they had some unspoken competition.

“Lighten up, Kally. It’s just Truth or Dare,” Aiden said with a shrug. Bobby practically vibrated in his spot in the circle. Dante didn’t seem to care one way or another, but to Nicholas’s left, Seiji was sitting up straight, arms crossed and an expression of extreme distaste on his face.

Not that his expression wasn’t normally like that.

“This is a game for middle-schoolers,” Harvard said, rolling his eyes. He indulged his boyfriend to an extent, but he could feel the wave of anxiety from the others in the circle.

“Come on,” Aiden said. “This is a good way to exercise some of that team bonding. Coach Williams would be so proud.”

Nicholas doubted Aiden meant any of that; he just wanted to get juicy dirt on anyone so he could manipulate opponents on the piste.

“Whatever, guys,” Nicholas finally said with a sigh. “Let’s just do this.”

“Alright, I’ll start off asking the first question,” Aiden said. His gaze swept around the circle and his eyes settled on Nicholas. He grinned.

“I thought the rules were that the youngest person gets to start asking questions first,” Seiji spoke up next to Nicholas.

Aiden shrugged. “My party, my rules.” He turned back to Nicholas’s glare. “You’re up, freshman. Pick.”

Nicholas let out an exasperated sigh and looked down at the piles of folded paper in the center of the circle. He knew that each of the pieces of paper either read as “truth” or “dare”. He just hoped he didn’t pick up a truth one. He didn’t want to have to spill any secrets he wasn’t prepared to say in public. Finally, he plucked one of the pieces from the bottom of the pile and slowly unfolded the paper.

“Dare,” he said immediately, feeling relieved. What would Aiden make him do? A silly dance? Run around naked? He could do anything stupid if he didn’t have to talk about his past or anything Aiden wanted to know to use against him.

“Oh, Nicholas, you make this too easy,” Aiden said with a predatory grin.

Nicholas furrowed his brow. “Just get it over with, already. Dare me to do something.”

Aiden looked like the cat that caught the canary, and Harvard watched him with exasperation. The rest of the circle was quiet, and Nicholas noticed in the corner of his eye that Seiji still turned his nose up and looked down at everyone, stiff as a board.

“I dare you to…” And Aiden paused for suspense. “Kiss the person to your left. On the lips. No cheek or forehead kissing. Lock those lips for a good 15 seconds.”

Nicholas blinked at him in shock, and immediately he turned to his right, seeing Tanner glare down at him with eyes that seemed to say, Don’t you fucking dare. But then Seiji cleared his throat next to him and Nicholas realized that Tanner was not at his left. It was Seiji.

“This sucks,” Nicholas complained.

Aiden chuckled. “You could always pass, but the rules state that you have to endure punishment.”

“What kind of punishment?” Bobby chimed in on the other side of Nicholas in the circle.

Aiden answered brightly. He was loving this way too much. “Whatever the questioner wants. I could ask Nicholas to run 200 suicides. I could smash mud in his face, or I could shave his head…”

“Fine, fine,” Nicholas said. “I have no problem with it.” He turned to Seiji, “but I don’t want to impose on Seiji.”

“Too bad. Seiji is playing this game too,” Aiden said.

“Oh joy,” Seiji said, still unamused. Nicholas shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His face was flushed from embarrassment.

“Dude, I am so sorry, but I don’t want to lose my hair,” Nicholas said.

Seiji huffed. “Do not be sorry. If this helps us with team bonding, so be it. I warn you, though, I have never kissed anyone, so it may be as terrible as my social skills.”

“No way, dude. You’re good at everything! I’m probably going to suck at it more. I mean, I never kissed anyone either,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Quit flirting, you two, and get on with it,” Tanner said with impatience. Aiden let out a hearty laugh.

Nicholas swallowed uncomfortably, moving inch by inch toward Seiji. Seiji uncrossed his arms and leaned forward as well, and the closer the boy came toward him, the more Nicholas’s stomach tied in knots. He was going to kiss the best-looking boy and the greatest fencer he’d ever known. He was going to kiss his best friend, and though Seiji hadn’t agreed to the “best” part yet, Nicholas still considered him as such.

Well, at least he didn’t have to kiss Tanner or Aiden.

He licked his lips again and was glad the last thing he ate was chocolate and not garlic, and as they drew closer together, Nicholas felt Seiji’s lips brush against his.

“Counting down…” said Aiden in the background. “15, 14, 13, 12…”

Aiden’s voice seemed to fade away as Nicholas felt more of Seiji’s mouth, though he rigidly kept his lips closed, Nicholas instinctually opened his mouth a little bit, enjoying the feeling of Seiji’s warmth and taste. He applied a small amount of pressure, and he felt Seiji tilt his head, and he followed Nicholas’s lead and opened his lips. They slotted together, yet they were still new to this to introduce tongue yet.

Nicholas wanted to taste more of him as he felt the other boy’s warmth and became addicted to it. He was surrounded by Seiji’s scent, the same scent that filled their dorm room, but this was – he felt even more of him now. As his best friend continued to kiss him, tasting him with his mouth, Nicholas felt home here, like he never wanted to let him go.

He didn’t even hear Aiden count down to zero before he heard snickering around them.

“You guys can stop now, or…” Aiden said with a laugh. “Continue this later as we still have a game to play.”

They both broke apart like they had been scalded, and they avoided each other’s eyes as the game resumed. Nicholas felt like his face was on fire, and he couldn’t seem to calm down.

Seiji said nothing, and Nicholas almost missed him yelling at him on how terrible he was and that he needed to improve, just like he did with fencing. Seiji was deathly silent, and when it was his turn to draw from the pile as Kally was the questioner this time, he got off with an easy question about his favorite junk food.

Bobby was dared to kiss Dante, for which he gladly did, and later in the party, Nicholas found out they had started dating once Dante officially confessed to him. Harvard dared Aiden to a game of chess, which seemed to turn Aiden’s stomach, especially when the captain easily beat him.

When the game concluded, the boys dispersed, and Nicholas decided to sit in a corner and mull over his thoughts. He stared into a cup of Dr. Pepper, and he tried to understand his confusing thoughts and feelings. He really enjoyed kissing Seiji, to the point where he’d love to do it again. He never liked anyone before, not more than fencing, so the idea that he could love something – or someone – just as much as fencing was boggling to him.

“You look like you don’t want to be here anymore than I do,” Seiji said coming up to him. Nicholas almost dropped his soda at the sound of the boy’s voice, but he managed to compose himself when he investigated the boy’s face, which was still flushed pink from before.

“Yeah, I’m tired,” Nicholas admitted. “And Harvard and Aiden are running out of snacks.”

Seiji’s face relaxed after Nicholas said that, and they stood together in awkward silence as they gazed around the room. Some people were already leaving, filtering out of Harvard and Aiden’s dorm as the night ended.

“I have some Physics homework I need to work on,” Seiji said, breaking through the silence. “I am going to go as well.”

“I’ll come with you. It’s just not fun without you,” Nicholas said, and he clenched his jaw when he said that. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

Seiji stared at him in disbelief. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“It’s true,” Nicholas said giving him a smile, and he watched Seiji smile slightly in turn, though it was more of a grimace.

Seiji moved forward and beckoned him to follow. “Then let’s go.”

Harvard was the perfect host when they left, thanking them both for coming. Aiden made a wisecrack about the kiss, but then Harvard squeezed his shoulder in a warning and Aiden finally said a proper goodbye with a pout.

When they arrived back at their dorm, Nicholas disappeared to his side of the room and pulled out his phone, hoping to engage in a mindless game to block out his thoughts about his roommate, the one he just kissed, who was alone with him in their room.

“Nicolas,” Seiji said from the other side of the curtain. “I have a question…”

“Yeah, shoot,” Nicholas said, still staring at his phone.

“You can tell me… if I was terrible at kissing,” Seiji said, and Nicholas could hear the vulnerability in the boy’s voice.

“Oh no!” Nicholas shot up from his bed and stared at the curtain where Seiji was. “Not at all. I just felt bad for taking your first kiss because of a dumb game. It was… well, it wasn’t fair to you.”

“It wasn’t your fault, it was Aiden’s,” Seiji said bluntly.

“Yeah, that guy…” Nicholas blew out a breath. “He’ll do anything to rile people up, just as he does on the piste.”

“Indeed,” Seiji said, and his voice trailed off like he wanted to say something else.

“You weren’t terrible at it,” Nicholas assured him. “If anything, I thought you were really good.” Nicholas paused, unsure if he should say what he really wanted to say. He let out a nervous laugh. “I didn’t want to stop.”

He heard shifting on the bed on the other side of the curtain.

“Really?” Seiji asked after a pause.

“Yeah, and I’m really embarrassed about it, so don’t hold it against me,” Nicholas whined a little.

“I wouldn’t,” Seiji said, and Nicholas knew that Seiji wouldn’t. He wasn’t like that.

“So… I guess you didn’t hate my kiss either?” Nicholas said, fishing for Seiji’s response to the kiss too.

“No, it was nice. You tasted like chocolate,” Seiji said.

A wide grin erupted on Nicholas’s face. “Cool,” he simply said.

After another awkward pause, Nicholas realized that Seiji was sitting on his side in silence, not doing anything either.

“So, physics homework tonight? That sounds rough,” Nicholas said, trying to engage in small talk. In all honesty, he’d love to just go over there and continue kissing Seiji, but maybe they had enough awkwardness for one evening.

“I’m somehow not in the mood,” Seiji said with a languid sigh.

“Are you in the mood for ice cream?” Nicholas asked hopefully.

“What? You didn’t have enough food at the party?” Seiji asked him with surprise.

Nicholas huffed. “Well, yeah there was food, but after … you know, that kiss, I didn’t get a chance to eat anything. I was thinking too much.”

“Scary,” Seiji said immediately, and Nicholas laughed. “So, all that thinking made you hungry for ice cream?”

“Yeah, wanna go get some? We still have a couple of hours before curfew,” Nicholas asked, unable to disguise the excitement in his voice.

Seiji let out a heavy sigh. “I suppose I could go for a sundae.”

“Yes!” Nicholas bounced from his bed, and they met each other outside of the curtain at the door. Nicholas opened the door for Seiji, and he bounced next to him like a puppy as they headed out.

They walked through the dorm building and to the outside of campus. Nicholas had found a small creamery in a strip mall not too far away from the school. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and couldn’t help his happiness at getting to be with Seiji and eating ice cream with him.

“You should get some chocolate and sprinkles on your sundae,” Nicholas suggested, and Seiji gave him an odd look.

“Why do you care?” Seiji asked.

Nicholas looked away, his face feeling flushed again. He laughed. “No reason.”

Seiji stared at him for a moment, searching his face for an unsaid meeting. Nicholas was glad Seiji couldn’t read his mind.

If Seiji was going to eat ice cream, Nicholas wanted to taste it too and even better if it was on Seiji’s lips. He wasn’t sure his best friend would go along with that though.

He was determined to have another kiss with Seiji, and with the promise of ice cream, all Nicholas had to do was try.

END

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