Chapter 16: Chapter Fifteen: Breathe Again

*** 24 Years Ago ***

Midas quickly circled the outside of a large house. He confirmed no one seemed to be home, as the owner was attending a Christmas party and any staff had likely been given the holiday off; he also noted no signs of dogs on the property. He chose a window in the back as his entrance. Getting in was easy for him; all he needed to do after that was find the valuables. Homes like this always have a safe; he quickly surveyed the room. He located the stairs; now, will it be in an office or the master bedroom? He went up them and into the master bedroom, to check it first. Inside the closet was a suspicious wall panel, moving it revealed the safe. Midas smirked; he had no trouble cracking it and he was not disappointed with its contents. There was more cash inside than he'd expected, along with some jewelry and even some small gold and silver bars. He loaded the bag he'd brought and closed the safe, returning the panel. It was best to leave as little evidence as possible so that the man may not even realize he'd been robbed for a while. Midas went to give the rest of the house a thorough once-over before slipping back out. He finished searching the second floor, then the ground floor, and finally, he noticed stairs down into a finished basement.

He went down the stairs and found a room smaller than he had expected; it looked like it was just a storm shelter that had been converted into a bedroom. It appeared to belong to a child. He had researched the man whose house this was and he didn't seem to have children. In the room, there was a twin bed with stuffed animals on it, a small toy chest, and a bookcase, which Midas approached. Books on the shelves ranged from picture books to young adult as well as some non-fiction educational material. There was an open door leading to an attached bathroom and a closed door Midas assumed to be a closet. Considering the lavish house, this room looked very modest. Midas noticed there was a padlock on the closet door; then he heard a voice. "Daddy? Are you home already?" Midas' stomach sank and he approached the closet. "D-Dad?" The voice called out again. Midas picked the lock and removed the padlock. He opened the door, finding a child inside. She looked up at him and quickly backed into the corner. "W-who are you?"

Midas' heart dropped; how can I help her? Midas crouched down to her height. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. Are you okay? What's your name?"

"I don't tell strangers my name."

"Okay; that's smart," Midas agreed. "Why are you in the closet though?"

"Dad says it's safest for me to be here when he's not home." She scanned him, her eyes falling on his bag. "You're taking his things, aren't you? You won't take my things, right? They're just kid things."

"I won't take your things," Midas promised; is she really his kid? She looks a bit like him... She could be a kidnap victim. "Are you hurt?" Midas did his best to look over her without touching her. She was in a t-shirt and shorts that appeared to be clean with no holes or rips. She also looked clean and he couldn't see anything like bruises or cuts on her legs, arms, or face. She was pretty thin but not dangerously so. For a moment, he looked into her eyes; her eyes look just like Anna's! So green... Is this what our child would look like, dark hair and green eyes?

"No... I'm not hurt."

"Okay; the man that lives here, is he really your dad? Did you live anywhere else before this that you remember? How old are you?"

"Ten... I always lived here, since I can remember. I slept upstairs before and mom didn't make me go in the closet."

"So your mom isn't here anymore?"

"No. She got sick... Then never got better." I do think she's legitimately his kid; he concluded. He considered her; poor girl... Why is he doing this to her? He could easily afford to have a nanny and just ignore her, like my parents did. It was at least better than this... She grabbed Midas' bag from him. He didn't stop her; the money no longer felt important to him. She opened it up and searched, eventually pulling a necklace out of the bag. "Please don't take this; can I have it? It was mom's- He wouldn't give it to me." It was a simple gold chain with a heart pendant; Midas doubted it was even all that valuable. She slid the rest of the bag back to him.

He realized it must have been in the safe for the sole purpose of keeping it away from the girl; what a cruel man... "Of course you can have it."

She put it into her pocket. "If you don't want to get caught, you shouldn't stay here. You should put my lock back how you found it, or he'll know."

Midas hated to do it but she was right. There wasn't much else he could do. "Okay, I'm going to go now..." Midas returned the lock and left the house."

*** *** ***

Shade stared at Midas for a moment; I can't believe it was him... He reached into an inner pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out the necklace. "I was so happy that the thief agreed to give me this. Then I realized even a random criminal was kinder to me than my father. When my dad returned that night, he didn't notice anything off; he didn't know until about a week later that the safe was empty. I found a lock-pick on the floor near my closet." He reached into another pocket, pulling one out. "I practiced with it until I could pick locks too. Didn't really help with the closet situation, since that lock was on the outside but it's been a useful skill to have." He put the necklace and lock-pick back into his pockets.

Midas stared in disbelief, he had always wondered what had happened to that kid. He had thought about it for years afterward until, eventually, it had faded. "I'm sorry for not helping you more then- I should have done more. I placed an anonymous call to the authorities, but..."

"I had always suspected that the thief was the one who called them. You did what you could. You were also right about me being otherwise unharmed. He didn't physically hurt me and he kept me healthy and clean; and when he was home, I was free to do pretty much whatever in the house so long as it didn't involve him..."

"Still, I used to think about you all the time..." Midas was reconciling that child with what he knew about Shade now; the marks on his neck, the curse... Life never got any kinder to him. I knew things had happened to Shade- Turns out, it was always bad, from the very beginning...

Shade could see the sorrow in Midas' eyes. "Hey," He put his hands on Midas' face, turning him to look face to face. "What else were you going to do? Become a kidnapper!? You did the right thing- And I'm good now, okay, or- I'm working on it at least, so, please, stop thinking too much about me as a child. I don't like it." Shade begged internally; I don't want your pity. I don't want you to think of me as too young for you. Most of all, I don't want you to feel guilt when you look at me. I know that sort of guilt- That will kill all of this...

"W-what?"

"I don't want you thinking about me as a child. I'm an adult; we are adults. You better not start seeing me differently."

"Oh..." Midas had always fairly shamelessly disregarded age gaps. He now realized how odd it was; he was a young man when he'd encountered Shade, who was still just a child. He shook it away; I never actually knew that child. I know Shade, the man who can make my heart race and give me butterflies. "I won't," He promised.

"Good," Shade released him. "That'd be a lame way for this to end..." Midas couldn't help but chuckle. "Speaking of though, I did just get back from seeing Carla. No need to call things off, yet; she didn't tell me to."

"That's fantastic," Midas sounded pleased.

"You said you see her sometimes... Have you seen her since we started- All this?"

"No; I haven't," Midas admitted. "I'm being a hypocrite again. I've been afraid to tell even her about it all. It was hard talking to Mari about it but after Jason... Ugh- I haven't had a chat with him either..."

"S'okay. I get it. I'm not asking you to come out or anything. I'm just asking if you're okay too. The more I think about it, the more I agree with you; I don't want to be hurting you either."

"You aren't. It's not exactly okay either. I've always been open about who I'm seeing. If I care about you, I should be able to be open about that too. I always thought I wasn't prejudiced but- I'm being pretty shitty about this..."

Shade sighed and took his hand again; Midas looked at their hands and smiled slightly. "You honestly don't have to be open about us. I was drunk that night, remember? I don't want this to be a public relationship either..."

"Why?" Midas asked, looking back at Shade, confused. "Everyone saw you dancing with Jason. They also know you turned down every interested woman. They all already know you're gay or they suspect as much, I should say. What's the difference if they found out it's me you're with?"

"I just... Don't want you coming out as something you're not..." Shade felt a wave of guilt again; why am I being so selfish? Have I always been this way? I don't want to let him go but I don't want to reveal myself to him either...

"What am I not?"

"We haven't done anything you couldn't do with a woman. You're straight; I'm pretty sure that hasn't changed..."

Midas thought back to his night with Kai. It was irritating him that Shade might be right; he didn't want him to be right. "You are? I'm sure not! I've- Wanted to do more with you. I guess I can't know for sure until I'm there but with you- I was pretty fucking sure each moment I asked."

"You watch porn?" Shade asked blankly.

"Not usually," Midas frowned.

"Have you tried watching any gay porn since us?" Shade asked knowingly.

"Yes," Midas mumbled.

"Aaannd?"

"I didn't care for it," Midas admitted. "It wasn't you though- Wasn't us. Besides, I don't often watch straight porn either. I find it, I don't know; but, it's not really my thing. I only watch porn with partners who ask me to or if I'm incredibly, mind-numbingly bored, sometimes."

Shade spoke fervently. "Okay, fine- Sure. I get it; not really my thing either. For different reasons, but sure- My point kind of still stands- Is gay porn going to be your go-to for mind-numbing boredom? No; right?" Shade took a breath, slowing his speech. "Just until I'm ready to show you myself, the real me... We shouldn't be public, okay?"

"Okay..." Midas conceded.

Shade wrestled with his guilt again. "Hey, um, can you maybe promise me something?"

"What's that?"

"When the time comes and I show you me, all of me. If you reject me-" Midas squeezed Shade's hand and opened his mouth to object but Shade cut him off. "If you reject me- I know I'm supposed to be your bodyguard but can you move me to a different unit? I don't want to see or hear the women and I want to avoid this fucking elevator all the way to the top," Shade looked down at the floor.

"Whatever you want..." Midas shifted so that Shade was sitting between his legs, then he hugged him to his chest. "I really can't imagine rejecting you, you know? What I'm feeling may be confusing in some ways- But in other ways... I'm so sure about it. I haven't felt this way about anyone in a long time..."

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"I haven't felt quite this way before at all..." Shade pulled down his converter to kiss Midas' hand. Midas grabbed Shade's chin, turning his head and kissing his lips. They continued to kiss, slowly building passion. Midas let out a low groan and Shade's stomach fluttered. Placing his converter on again, he quickly asked, "What was that sound?"

Midas blushed, "I... Don't know."

"Well, I'm going to try to make you do it again." Shade removed the converter and shifted so he was on his knees, facing Midas. He grabbed Midas' right hand, motioning for him to grip the golden handrail above him as he removed his own tie and bound the hand to it.

"I don't know if we have time for this. Isn't it kind of public?" Shade showed him the timer on his phone; it showed twenty-five minutes from the ETA they were given and there had been no updates. "Um- Okay then, I guess; be quick- But, uh, we can't make a mess..." Midas was flushed. Shade kissed him hard; even trying to breathe through his nose, Midas began to feel deprived of air and he started to pant. Shade moved on to Midas' neck, then rubbed the outside of his pants with his hand. Midas groaned again and Shade quickly buried his mouth into his own arm, biting slightly, to prevent himself from also making noise. "Hope you aren't biting yourself as hard as you bit me," Midas turned Shade's face back towards him, giving him a quick kiss.

Shade put on the converter. "We need to stop," He admitted, "Or we aren't going to have an excuse for the state we're in when they find us."

"You are not wrong," Midas agreed, smiling. The elevator lurched and started moving again. Shade and Midas quickly stood up, tidying themselves and standing a respectable distance apart.

The elevator doors opened on the top floor and a maintenance man was standing there. "Sir, are you both alright?" He asked.

"Yeah; no harm done," Midas answered. "I want a report on what happened and what's been done so it doesn't happen again."

"Of course, Sir; just a few more things to check first." When they stepped out of the elevator, the man got in and closed the doors.

"Thank fucking God," Shade muttered. "I'm going to go stand on my balcony; I need to breathe outside air," He informed Midas.

"Come to mine," Midas offered. "It's much nicer- Also, completely private; no one could see or hear anything," Midas took his hand, a hungry look in his eyes.

"Let me grab a couple things and I'll be there."

 

Shade locked Midas' door as he entered, then he wandered to the bedroom where the sliding door to the balcony was open. The balcony was spacious with some small tables and lounge chairs. There was one-way privacy glass around it and a golden safety railing. Midas was already lounging in one of the chairs. When Shade stepped onto the balcony, Midas saw he'd swapped his prosthetic so he was his true height. Midas spread his legs and motioned for Shade to sit between them. He did and Midas pulled him down so that Shade was laying on top of him, both looking up to the evening sky. Midas fiddled with Shade's hair as Shade let out a long breath that sounded as though he was releasing the tension of the day. "What could be better?" Midas asked, stretching. He sank further down the chair, then kissed Shade's head. Shade let out a chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Ever since you found out you're taller than me, it seems your face keeps finding the top of my head."

Midas smirked at him. "I can't help it though; you're just so cute now," He teased him.

"The hell I am; I need to find a way to get back to arousing in an intimidating way."

"Maybe you can be both but, right this second, you are cute." Then Midas whispered seductively in his ear, "But it's still in a very arousing way, if that helps."

"No one can see or hear us right?"

"Maybe if they were on the roof but no one goes there."

"Good," Shade removed his converter, setting it on a table. He began kissing and licking Midas' neck.

"Mhmm," Midas let out a satisfied sigh. Shade rubbed his palm on the outside of Midas' pants. Standing, he offered his hand to Midas and Midas accepted, allowing himself to be guided to the railing. Shade placed Midas against the railing and removed his shirt, licking and nibbling at his chest. Shade stepped away from him while holding up a finger, indicating for Midas to wait. He went to Midas' bedroom, taking the golden cuffs. He also grabbed a cushion from the chair which he dropped at Midas' feet. He placed the cuff on Midas' right wrist, attaching him to the railing. He dropped to his knees in front of Midas, undoing his pants.

Shade took Midas into his mouth and began to pleasure him. He reached his arms around Midas' thighs and pulled him closer. Midas jumped slightly and gasped in surprise before he threw his head back, moaning. Midas absentmindedly placed his hand on Shade's head. Shade pushed his hand away immediately. He turned away from Midas, burying his mouth into his arm as he began coughing. "Shit, Shade, I'm sorry-" Shade thrust the key to the cuffs in Midas' good hand as he stood. He grabbed his converter, retreating into the building, still coughing, while trying desperately to hide his real voice. Midas freed himself and stepped inside. "Shade? Are you still here somewhere?" He heard the sink in his bathroom turn on; thank God, he didn't completely run away! Midas stood outside the bathroom door. "Shade," He called. "I'm so sorry; I should have remembered."

The sink stopped and the door opened. "I should have reminded you... But do the women generally like that? Seems like asking first is always a good idea..."

Midas turned red, "I-I wasn't going to push or anything rough- Just touch your hair. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."

"I'm not upset... Believe it or not, I reacted better than I thought I would. Sorry for the mood killer though..."

Midas hugged him, "You have no idea how happy I am that you didn't run away."

"I'm going to work on it but baby steps please."

Midas, still holding Shade, kissed the top of his head, "Of course."

"Good..." Shade sighed. Midas kept hold of him and, after a bit, Shade started shifting from foot to foot.

"Something wrong?" Midas asked. "Because I don't want to let you go yet."

"I- Is- I mean- Do you think-" Shade took a breath, "So much for taking control- I can't even ask for what I want now."

Midas tried hard not to laugh but, in the end, he couldn't help it; seeing Shade this way was new. "I'm sorry. It's just- I like this side of you too... You're all flustered." Then he spoke in Shade's ear, "My body is yours. If you want to do something- Just do it already." Midas kissed his neck.

Shade's heart thumped, "Fuck, Midas; how do you do that?" Shade grabbed him by the hand, pulling him into the bathroom. Midas' bathroom was spacious with a large shower that had a bench and a hot tub. The sink had a long counter, the top of which was golden, as were many other random fixtures in the room. "Finish undressing, then sit on the counter," Shade instructed and Midas obeyed, taking his pants off before sliding up onto the counter. "Sit tight a minute- I'm going to go look for something," Shade said, stepping out.

"What?" Midas called; he heard drawers in his bedroom being opened and closed. He's going through my things; for reasons he didn't understand, Midas did not attempt to prevent Shade from continuing.

Shade soon returned. "I knew you'd have one," He declared, apparently successful in his search.

"Have one what?" Midas asked in a slightly annoyed tone. Shade held up a vibrator. It was simple, fairly small, and a classic shape. Midas suddenly got very nervous, "I know what I said, but uh-"

"You can calm down; it's not going inside you." Midas let his breath out. "For one thing, it doesn't have a base or handle. It'd be easy to lose that way and I don't think that's a call to medical anyone wants to make."

Midas blushed. "How did you even know I would have that anyway?"

"Because the women leave happy and keep coming back..."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Midas mumbled, letting out a small laugh.

"But have you ever had someone use it on you- Or used it on yourself?" Shade asked.

"No; I just use it on women."

"Then I get to be the first for something," Shade declared, delighted. Shade turned it on low and put it against Midas. Shade ran the toy back and forth, increasing the speed slowly, building Midas up.

"Ugh..." Midas closed his eyes, "Fuck; that's incredible." He moaned as Shade continued. As he got closer, Midas gripped the counter hard. Shade removed his converter again to kiss and lick Midas' body while he worked the toy. As Midas finally went over the edge, Shade kissed him multiple times, hard, Midas panting between each one.

As the rush faded, Shade turned the toy off. He kissed Midas deeply once more, then moved a few steps over to the sink. He turned it on and washed his hand. Midas slid off the counter and stepped into his shower to rinse off. He watched through the glass doors as Shade pulled from his pocket the toy cleaner he had found with the vibrator. He thoroughly cleaned it, then the counter. Something about the way he moved when doing things like that, Midas couldn't put his finger on it but it was hard to take his eyes off him. It was similar to how he looked in his lab; Midas loved watching him when he was concentrating on a task. Shade then began going through Midas' counter drawers. Midas thought about getting upset; whatever... it's not like I actually have anything that I don't want him to see. I think I actually kind of like that he's so comfortable. Does this behavior mean that he feels close to me? Shade found what he was looking for, an unopened toothbrush. He brushed his teeth and put his converter back on right as Midas finished up toweling off. Midas hugged Shade from behind, kissing his neck. "That was amazing; I'd honestly never considered doing that," Midas chuckled. "You are incredible."

"I love watching you when you're lost in it," Shade said, looking at Midas' reflection in the mirror. Midas kissed his neck more. Shade sighed, "It's getting late now, and there are a few things I need to do." Shade turned and embraced him, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight..." Midas answered, slightly sad; wish he'd stay longer...

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