Chapter Text
“No.” Steven said, pausing in his pacing long enough to glance at Jake. He was sprawled across the couch, loose limbed and wearing a pearl colored silk shirt that was definitely not his. It was unbuttoned enough that it was slipping down his shoulder, exposing tanned skin and far too many bites and bruises on his neck and clavicle. He looked like a pretty renaissance painting, cheek propped up against his knuckles as he idly scrolled through something on Steven’s phone, blanket artfully pooled around his waist and legs stretched out on the length of their ratty little couch. He looked entirely too satisfied with himself. “Absolutely not.”
Jake tilted the phone down just enough for Steven to catch a glimpse of the screen as he shot a dry look at Steven. He could see a profile picture, but before Steven could make out more than old man Jake was pulling the phone up and going back to his scrolling.
Jake had snatched Steven’s phone as soon as the email came through, and he had long since given up on trying to get his phone back.
Which was…fine. Steven didn’t really want to look at that email anymore than he had to.
He felt sick just thinking about it.
“Steven,” Jake said, sparing another quick glance at Steven over the top of the phone before going back to the screen. He tilted his head, exposing another dark bruise just underneath his jaw. No wonder he was so loose and happy today. “If they’re going to pull your scholarships, the least you can do is have some fun with it.”
Jake wrinkled his nose and did a hard scroll up.
Steven sputtered. “It’s not—I’m not just going to use someone like that—“
And yet it did sound tempting.
With the university pulling Steven’s scholarships (and not because he hadn't earned them, but because apparently the family that had funded the scholarships had pulled out and refused to continue funding it, and since it was so short notice the university itself couldn’t scramble fast enough to find someone else to fund it) he had no way to pay for his last semester. He was close–he was so close to getting his doctorate and graduating and being able to hole up in some museum for the rest of his life, but it had been pulled out from underneath his feet without a second thought. Steven had gone his entire university career skating by on this scholarship, and now he had nothing.
If he couldn’t pay for this last semester, he couldn’t finish university.
It was as simple as that.
The Dean had been sympathetic, but hadn’t offered any solutions outside of figure it out yourself.
“You’re not using them,” Jake smoothly cut him off, shifting around so he could hold the phone in both hands. He was typing something and very pointedly ignoring his own phone that was resting by his thigh and buzzing a mile a minute. It was either Khonshu or Jake’s thesis advisor, but judging by the smattering of bruises on Jake’s shoulders and the fact that he hadn’t been home all weekend Steven was going to guess it was the latter. “If anything they're using you—“
“That’s worse!”
“Is it?” Jake hummed, a pleasant little smile tugging at his lips. He lifted a hand, cupping his neck and tapping his finger against the deep purple bruise underneath his jaw. The silk had slipped so low on his shoulder that he was closer to not wearing the shirt that he was to wearing it. “I’d say it’s pretty great—“
“Jake.” Steven said it in a carefully even tone, not particularly wanting to hear the details of Jake’s weekend. He loved him dearly, but not enough for that.
“Steven.” Jake said, copying the same even tone.
“I’m not getting a sugar daddy.” Steven’s cheeks flushed with warmth from just saying it.
Which was ridiculous because it wasn’t like Steven was some blushing virgin, and besides that Jake had his own sugar daddy for long enough that it wasn’t all that shocking anymore and was just a regular, if not odd, part of Steven’s life. Steven had even met Khonshu a few times. He was stupidly tall and all sharp angles and hard eyes and deep shadows and an even deeper voice. He looked a bit flighty and birdlike (sort of like a pigeon, Steven had told Jake when he was about four glasses of wine in after their first unscheduled encounter, to which Jake had sputtered and demanded to know what part of Khonshu reminded Steven of a pigeon), but he was nice enough to Steven and treated Jake exceptionally well. He was rather sweet on Jake, actually.
Steven would never say it outloud, but it was kind of cute.
“Weren't you just saying you wanted a more exciting relationship?” Jake asked. He was back to looking at the phone, eyebrows raised as he paused in his swiping. “That’s the whole reason you broke it off with JB, wasn’t it?”
Steven fidgeted and looked away.
That, and the whole thing where JB was convinced Jake was trying to fuck Steven.
“That’s not—this is different—“
“Come here.” Jake sat up, softening his voice and setting the phone facedown on the arm of the couch. He scooped his own up, wrinkling his nose at the screen before turning it off and tossing it somewhere on the floor. He patted the empty spot beside him, lifting the blanket up in invitation. “At least look at this profile before you do something stupid and take out a loan.”
“Did you download an app for this on my phone?” Steven still sat beside him, leaning into his shoulder and wiggling underneath the blanket as Jake picked the phone back up and tilted the screen so Steven could see it.
Jake was warm and comfortable and solid, and for a brief moment Steven could pretend that his chance of graduating weren't all but thrown out the window and that this was all just an awful dream.
But then a push notification from his university email flashed across the top of the screen and Steven twisted his head and breathed in the faint scent of eucalyptus from Jake’s aftershave and the fading sweet tobacco smoke of whatever cigarette he had smoked last, chasing away the nausea clawing its way up Steven’s chest with the familiar scents. Jake hummed something nonsensical, lifting his arm so Steven burrow a little closer before settling it back down and around Steven’s shoulders.
“This is not the worst thing I’ve put on your phone,” Jake said easily, rubbing circles into Steven’s arm with his thumb. “I met Khonshu through this app.”
“Oh. Well that makes it better then.” Steven deadpanned, then felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw the photo. It was not the sort of photo he had expected to see on an app like this. “Oh.” He said again, softer this time. He lifted his hands, taking the phone from Jake’s hand. Then, one more time, just for good measure, “Oh.”
It was a selfie of what Steven assumed to be a husband and wife–a quick glance at the profile’s text confirming it–standing on a hotel balcony with the backdrop of the great pyramids behind them. The husband was leaning against the balcony’s railing in nothing but a loose pair of silky sleep pants, head tilted away from the camera with a soft smile on his lips as he gazed out at the pyramids. The sun was setting, casting him in pretty golds and yellows and reds, highlighting his sharp jaw and toned muscles and mussed curls. Where Jake had looked like a renaissance painting while he lounged on the couch, this man looked like he had been ripped straight out of one. The wife was just barely visible in the corner, enough to see her curls and round cheeks and pretty eyes and freckles as she obviously tried to get a photo of her husband without him noticing.
They were both uniquely beautiful in their own way, and Jake was the worst friend for even showing this to Steven.
“Oh, bloody hell,” Steven mumbled.
For a horrifyingly long moment, Steven was actually considering it.
“She’s an archaeologist,” Jake sounded rather proud of himself for that one. “They want someone to take with them on her digs so her husband isn't just sitting in the hotel room all by his lonesome.”
It took a moment for Steven to tear his eyes away from the photo to look up at Jake. “What?”
“You’d get to go to Egypt, have your last semester paid for, and have a great time in bed,” Jake said. “Keep up, Steven.”
Steven blinked, then shook his head widely and shut the phone off. “No, Jake, I–that’s too much, I can’t.” He shoved his phone back at Jake, untangling himself and climbing off the couch. “Just–I’ll figure something else out.”
And yet, later that night, Steven found his phone back in his hand while he stared at that picture.
Jake had made him an account on the app, because of course he had, and he must have swiped right or whatever the equivalent on this stupid app was, becasue there was a little chat notification blinking on the bottom of the screen. It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? It wasn’t like this would be permanent, and exchanging a few messages wasn’t a total commitment. It was just…testing the waters out.
Before Steven could think too hard about it he hit that little accept chat request button and quickly turned his phone off.
His phone buzzed a few minutes later, but Steven didn’t dare look at it.