completed the ensemble.
Christoph took the clothes and the strappy thing, making a face at the latter. “Okay. I’m pretty sure I haven’t forgotten how pants work, so what the hell is this thing?”
Ashi took the shirt and pants to the bathroom without a word. He left the contraption behind.
“If I’m wearing it, you’re wearing it,” Christoph called after him.
“Bite me,” Ashi said from the bathroom.
Christoph turned to Ken. “I fear your intentions. How’s this thing work?”
Ken sighed, lifting a hand to cover his face. He took a deep, unneeded breath, and took the strappy thing from Christoph, shaking it out and holding it up. It vaguely resembled a shirt when held the right way.
“You can undo the clasp in the front here, and put your arms through the top couple straps. It looks more complicated than it is.”
He set it down on the dresser, pointing out the simple snap-clasp on the front where all the straps connected.
“Wear it under the shirt. The idea is you take your time taking the shirt off like Reece showed you yesterday. Trust me, you’ll have the crowd eating out of the palm of your hand. Figured this would save your ‘delicate sensibilities’ if you two are too fainthearted to show off anything else,” Ken explained, grinning at that last. “We’re not about full nudity at Twisted Temptations, just the closest thing to it.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this uncomfortable in my life,” Christoph said cheerfully as he pulled off his shirt and fiddled with the Bondage Shirt of Emasculation until he got it on. “It’s kind of tight.”
Ashi stepped out of the bathroom. He took one look at Christoph and turned back. Christoph sprinted across the room and grabbed his arm. “Oh-h-h-h, no. You’re putting yours on even if I have to beat you into unconsciousness first.”
Ashi had already put on his shirt, so he had to take it off. Christoph put his actual shirt on and twisted this way and that. As Ashi struggled into the BSoE, he glared at Christoph.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s not that bad,” Christoph said. “I could wear it all the time. The movies, the grocery store, on the bus, around the house...”
“Please don’t wear it around the house,” Ashi said, pulling the green shirt on.
“I could sleep in this.”
“I don’t want to room with a bondage freak.”
“You can move in with Reece.”
Ashi turned to Ken. “Can we please get this over with?”
Ken was trying hard not to laugh at Christoph’s cracks and Ashi’s discomfort. He plucked at the shoulders of Ashi’s shirt.
“That won’t do.”
He went back to the closet and started rummaging.
“Too tight in the shoulders, you can see you’re wearing something under it. You’re supposed to surprise the audience, not give it all away before you’ve even started. Damn that you’re so built for such a little guy.”
He pulled out a vibrant red shirt, giving it a dubious look before putting it back and immersing himself in rummaging.
“Christoph, you need to do something with that hair.”
He found a dark blue shirt and thrust it at Ashi. He snapped his fingers and gestured that they follow again, sauntering out.
“They were laughing at us,” Ashi muttered as they went downstairs.
“Ken, my hair is a dangerous beast that consumes all that tries to mess with it,” Christoph explained as they walked. “The best I can do is cut it into a smaller version of itself. Watch this.”
In the first floor hallway, he shook his head vigorously while scrubbing his fingers through his hair. It would have reduced anyone’s hair to a tangled, puffy mess. In Christoph’s case, when he dropped his hands and held still, his hair didn’t look that different. With a few tosses of his head left and right, the original curls settled into place.
“Uncanny,” Ashi commented.
“Isn’t it?”
Ken smiled, a wicked, sexy look that would’ve sent a man less secure in their hetero preferences running for the hills. “That is charming. But alas, you have not met my fantastic line of hair care products. That unmanageable beast is about to be tamed.”
He led the way into his apartment. Reece was reading GQ on the couch. His outfit was similar to the Were’s, except that the white shirt had a high collar that only gave a glimpse of a white leather choker studded with silver rings. It was a stark contrast against the dark chocolate hue of his skin.
“Get your feet off the table!”
Reece muttered under his breath and dropped his combat boots to the floor,