Chapter Text
Doing great was an understatement. The pants Izzy was wearing left almost nothing to the imagination and the white t-shirt he was wearing left a teasing sliver of his stomach exposed. Then Izzy said something like “hey, how are you” and Axl had to remind himself not to be a total pervert. Instead, he made what he would consider a decent attempt at chivalry and kissed the back of Izzy’s hand. He felt like Izzy was the kind of guy who would appreciate little romantic gestures like that.
Axl would be the first to admit that he didn’t really have a plan when it came to taking Izzy out. The plan he did have somewhat relied on Izzy knowing more about LA nightlife than he did, seeing as Axl had only lived in California for a little more than a month and a half. He hoped Izzy liked middle eastern food. The plan went like this. Axl would take Izzy to this little restaurant he had found called the Halal Guys that served really good pita sandwiches. Then the two of them would walk to the only nightclub Axl could find that played decent music while eating their sandwiches. And maybe Izzy would let him run his fingertips over that teasing sliver of skin that kept taunting him. Once again, Axl reminded himself not to be a perv.
Izzy was really interesting, Axl was coming to discover. Well, he had always known Izzy was interesting on a physical level, but Izzy was really smart too. Not in the school driven way, Izzy didn’t really seem to be a history buff or anything like that, but he was good at knowing what to say and word choice and that type of shit. Good at carrying a conversation. It made him even cuter. Axl told him about his haphazard trip across the country and the shenanigans his cat would get up to. Izzy replied with stories about how he played the guitar and the crazy plans his friends had come up with.
Taking another bite of his falafel sandwich, Izzy tried to pay attention to Axl’s story about how his cat got loose in the car while he was stuck in traffic on I-70 somewhere in Colorado. He hoped wherever Axl was taking him wasn’t too far away, his legs were starting to ache. Axl was being a bit distracting himself, wearing shiny black leather pants that Izzy wasn’t going to think about and a jacket also made of black leather.
Nodding along to what Axl was saying, laughing at the funny parts and agreeing with his frustration when appropriate, Izzy was able to tamp down his discomfort until they reached the bar. Axl held the door open for him like a true gentleman and Izzy practically swooned. They were soon seated at the bar, Axl ordering two beers and Izzy pretending he knew what IPA meant. Sitting was great though. Izzy could sit in Axl’s company all night. Even though IPA turned out to mean really bitter, and he wound up taking really tiny, infrequent sips of it and only finished about half before Axl grabbed his hand and led him over to a small area where people were dancing.
Izzy was terrible at dancing. He understood how to feel the beat of the music, and that you were supposed to dance to the beat and not the lyrics. And that was where his knowledge ended and his embarrassment started to take over. Sure, Axl didn’t seem to mind that Izzy’s self-consciousness was pretty much preventing him from doing anything besides sway back and forth a little bit or the fact that his face was likely bright red, but the crowd of other people dancing probably had and the swirling lights and loud music combined with the fact that he was exhausted didn’t help to tamp down his strong desire to get out of the bar. Except Axl was looking like he was really enjoying it, so Izzy tried to keep his discomfort to himself.
After around forty minutes of pretending like he was good at dancing, Izzy’s legs felt wobbly and he needed to get away from the crowd of people. The music was loud though, and the sound of voices even louder, so he ended up having to shout to get his attention.
“Hey, Axl.”
“What?” The music switched to a slower song and Axl pulled him closer so that they were almost hugging.
While Izzy really enjoyed being held in Axl’s arms, he also really needed to get out of the loud, crowded bar and just breathe some fresh air and sit down for a minute. “I need to go outside for a moment.”
“Huh?”
“It’s too crowded in here. Could we step outside for a few minutes?” Izzy gestured in the general direction of where he thought the door was to get his point across.
“Oh, yeah. Of course.” Axl looked a little too excited at his suggestion, but Izzy didn’t think much of it. He just desperately needed to get somewhere that was less crowded and quieter.
They wound up in a small alleyway behind the bar. The sun had gone down, but it was still decently lit, light spilling from street lamps and windows. More importantly, there were some steps leading up to a door that was probably a delivery entrance of some kind. It didn’t really matter what the door was used for though, what mattered was that it gave Izzy a place to sit.
Izzy heard Axl sit down next to him, and insecurity flared up again. Normal people didn’t just randomly ditch a bar to hang out in back alleys. Axl was probably really confused and thought he was a complete nutcase. But before he could come up with an explanation, Axl had wrapped an arm around his shoulders and tugged him closer, reaching out to grab his hand and press another kiss to the back of it. “Why’d you want to come out here Izzy?”
“Umm…” Izzy wracked his brain for an explanation that didn’t summarize to “I’m a complete loser who doesn’t have the energy to dance for extended periods of time”. His embarrassment was reaching uncharted heights, and Axl’s repeated glances at his mouth didn’t help. He licked his lips nervously and Axl’s gaze seemed to track the motions of his tongue.
Spluttering around for an explanation, what Axl said next took Izzy completely by surprise. “Hey, Izzy. Can I kiss you?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure, I mean, if you want-” Izzy closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. “Please.”
Axl gave him about five milliseconds to prepare, which Izzy spent desperately trying to remember the few kisses he had received in the past and what he was supposed to do. Then there were two hands cupping his face and rough fingertips tracing over his jawline and Axl’s lips were pressed against his and it was amazing. The kisses kept coming and coming, and Izzy couldn’t get enough of them. He wasn’t sure how they ended up standing, but the kisses were intoxicating and Izzy couldn’t get enough of them.
The rough brick of the building scraped against Izzy’s shoulders through the thin material of his shirt and he suddenly realized he was sandwiched between Axl and a wall, his wrists pinned above his head. He gasped, startled, and Axl used that opportunity to lick his way past his lips, tongue scraping against the roof of his mouth. It caught Izzy by surprise and he tilted his head back to catch his breath, but he forgot the building was right behind him and didn’t accomplish anything besides maybe rubbing some of the dirt from the wall into his dreadlocks and exposing his neck to Axl, who went after it with open-mouthed kisses.
It was at this point, pressed up against the wall with Axl’s path of kisses rapidly approaching his collarbone and fingers tracing along his lower back just underneath the hemline of his shirt, that Izzy realized what was happening. Axl thought they had stepped outside because Izzy wanted to ...make out. Yeah, he wasn’t so embarrassed that he couldn’t even think the words in the privacy of his own head. That would be ridiculous. Not that he would be opposed to making out with Axl. Or… other things- yep, no embarrassment there at all- but his self-consciousness was working overtime in order to overrule any desire to partake in the… other things. It was almost enough to keep his dick from getting hard and straining painfully against the too-tight jeans he was wearing.
Izzy was just about to ask exactly what... other things- Axl was planning, when rough fingertips that had previously been gently pressing on his back dipped lower beneath the waistline of his jeans and strong hands pulled his hips forward. Fortunately, Izzy didn't lose his balance. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately- Izzy was undecided, this meant that Axl's crotch was pressed right up against his dick and oh crap, Axl could definitely feel his erection through the denim and leather between them.
"Hey." How Axl's voice managed to pull Izzy out of his own head was anyone's guess. "Izzy."
"Yeahuh?" Yeah, he could come up with eloquent and sexy responses. Izzy’s dirty-talk game was top-notch. How could it not be, with his minimal experience and overwhelming embarrassment?
Axl pulled back a little and Izzy tried to ignore the sudden overwhelming urge to pull him closer. "Are you still enjoying yourself? You've been getting kinda tense."
Him? Tense? Pffft, no. Izzy tried desperately to relax and make his inner panic less noticeable. As far as what Axl was doing, Izzy was having the time of his life. It was only the fact that he was still trapped in his own head that was making him nervous. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm, uh, fine. I've been enjoying what you've been, um, doing."
"Do you want to go further?" Say no, say no, say no, say no, say no. Don't go and embarrass yourself further. Just keep things at the makeout level. No need to move forward to- other things- when you're perfectly happy now. Just say no.
"Yeah?" Izzy peeped out timidly, wishing his voice sounded more confident. But Axl's hands were already running down his thighs as he lowered himself onto his knees, the heat of his palms hot on Izzy's legs, even through the denim. He traced his hands back up to the waistline of Izzy’s pants, thumbs gently brushing over the delicate skin between the jeans and the t-shirt. Izzy let out a shaky breath and tried not to tremble under Axl’s touch. Maybe he should do something with his hands so that he wasn’t standing there awkwardly while Axl pressed feather-light kisses to the fly of his jeans. Izzy attempted what he thought was a maybe intimate gesture and ran his fingers through Axl’s hair, tracing over his features carefully.
Axl seemed to like it, letting out a noise that was mostly muffled by denim and reaching out to undo his pants. Izzy’s response to this was to squeeze his eyes shut and turn his face upwards so he wouldn’t have to see Axl’s reaction. The feeling of the button pop and the zipper being pulled down nearly made him scream- whether from excitement or embarrassment Izzy didn’t know- but he managed to muffle it with the side of his hand just in time. He felt Axl let out a breathy chuckle and he glanced down worriedly, still biting the edge of his thumb.
“No underwear?” Axl was grinning up at him, and this time Izzy couldn’t hold back the moan at the feeling of a hand wrapping around his dick. Then, realizing what Axl had said, he felt his face grow uncomfortably warm. Blinking, Izzy tried to clear his mind from the haze of pleasure that was currently smothering him.
“No… uh, I… um,” His wordless floundering was cut off by a moan when Axl leaned down and- licked up the… uh… precum. “I, uh…”
“‘S dirty.” Axl lowered his mouth back down to give a few more teasing licks before pulling off again. “I like it.”
The feeling of Axl’s mouth wrapped around his dick was starting to overtake the feeling of embarrassment, so Izzy looked down again, meeting Axl’s gaze and flushing harder. The sight of his dick dripping with saliva while it slid in and out past Axl’s cherry-colored lips was easily the most erotic image he had ever witnessed and Izzy felt another moan break free from his mouth, a sound that started off loud and faded into a whimper.
Izzy felt himself quickly approaching the breaking point watching Axl, so he tried focusing his gaze back toward the overhanging roof of the building in an attempt to slow down his sudden rush of feelings. This technique didn’t seem to help all that much, since now all of Izzy’s focus was suddenly zeroed in on the feeling of the warm wetness of Axl’s mouth and the way his skin seemed to light up with tiny pin-pricks of heat as one of Axl’s hands traced around to feel up his lower back before carefully dipping underneath the denim of his jeans. The sensation caused him to shudder, and he involuntarily glanced back down to see that Axl had gotten his own pants open and was busy using his right hand to jerk off while his mouth continued to slide wetly up and down his dick, often circling back to give special attention to the head. So that meant his left hand- Izzy tried to muffle his scream when he felt Axl’s fingertips gently dip between his asscheeks and press against his entrance.
Normally, Izzy would not consider himself as a person who cursed or said vulgar things. And admittedly, the words and phrases spilling out of his mouth as Axl hummed against his dick while slightly rough fingertips carefully nudged against his entrance weren’t what some people would consider that dirty or vulgar, in any other situation they would have made Izzy uncomfortable. Somehow, through the magic of dick-sucking, Axl had managed to delete everything in his vocabulary except ‘fuck’, ‘please’, ‘more’ and ‘Axl’. Izzy wasn’t sure how that happened. If his mind had been less fogged over with pleasure, he probably would have beat himself up over not being able to find a more genuine and eloquent response to what Axl was doing. Instead, Izzy was reduced to mumbling profanities and sometimes mere noises as he watched Axl bob his head in time to the rhythm with which he was stroking himself off.
The pleasure kept building and building with each press of Axl’s fingers and each moment his mouth remained wrapped around Izzy’s dick. He knew he was close to finishing and Izzy tried to hold himself back, scrambling to find the words to properly communicate “If you don’t pull away soon I’m going to cum down your throat” to Axl before lust completely took over and he lost control. Izzy only managed to let out a variety of noises, some of which maybe resembled the words ‘Axl’ and ‘cum’ before pleasure cut him off with a scream and he felt himself explode into Axl’s mouth, trembling shivers coursing through his legs. He felt Axl swallow-moan against him, which only served to make his now extremely sensitive dick more sensitive, and managed to glance down to see Axl himself cumming on the dirty pavement beneath them.
Axl waited a few moments before standing up, kissing Izzy’s mouth gently. If he focused, Izzy could almost taste himself against the lips that were carefully pushing against his own. They stayed pressed against each other for a few moments, Izzy trying to catch his breath while Axl pressed tender kisses to his lips, fingers gently toying with the ends of his dreadlocks.
“Hey, Izzy.” Axl’s voice was gentle, hands stroking over his shoulders and lower back. “We should get you cleaned up.”
After he had pulled his pants back up and the two of them had resituated themselves to look like they hadn’t just had really amazing sex in the back alley behind a nightclub, Axl took his hand and pressed one last kiss to the backs of his fingers. “May I see you home?”
Izzy had to force down a laugh at that. “Why all the chivalry?”
“Are you suggesting I’m not just naturally chivalrous?” Axl asked in mock offense, before grinning at him. “I do it because you seem to like it.”
Flushing again, Izzy ducked his head in embarrassment. Axl was right, he did like it. He shuffled his feet awkwardly, unsure of how to continue, but Axl was kind enough to gently grasp his hand and begin steering him in the direction of their apartment building, reigniting the flow of conversation and letting Izzy wear his jacket when he started shivering from the cold.
In retrospect, walking home after his legs had so recently threatened to give out in pleasure had probably been a bad idea. Hindsight twenty-twenty and all that. However, Izzy had been too busy floating in a post-orgasmic haze to think about it carefully. It was after that aura of fuzzy happiness had faded that he realized exactly how exhausted he was. Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of Axl yet another time, he tried to keep it contained and bite back the waves of fatigue shooting through his legs. The apartment building came into view and Izzy was so close to successfully not making a fool of himself, when it happened.
Izzy had randomly collapsed from exhaustion exactly four times in his life. The first time had been in his senior year of high school, and had been the event that led him to seek out medical care in the first place. The second time, he had been alone in his brand new apartment and accidentally pulled a towel rack out of the wall in a desperate attempt to remain upright. The third time had been with Slash and Steven and while it had been embarrassing, it was nowhere near as humiliating as the fourth time. The fourth time he had gone out on his first date with Axl and collapsed less than a block away from the apartment building. He didn’t faint exactly, he was unlucky enough to remain conscious and watch Axl’s face go from surprise to panic, just one moment Izzy was walking next to his hot date and the next moment his face was a lot closer to the paved sidewalk than it had been two seconds before.
“Holy shit, Izzy! What the fuck happened!?” Axl kneeled down to look at him in concern and Izzy wanted to curl up and hide. “Are you okay!? Do you want me to call an ambulance!?”
“No, you don’t need to call an ambulance.” Tears burned at the corners of Izzy’s eyes, but he refused to acknowledge them.
Axl was still looking at him, eyebrows furrowed in worry. “Are you sure? Randomly collapsing doesn’t seem like something that should be a normal thing.”
“I’m sure.” Izzy’s voice cracked halfway through and suddenly tears were spilling down his face, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. “I just need a few minutes to catch my breath and then I’ll be fine, it’s no big deal, really, it’s just-” And here was where Izzy broke down in tears and pretty much none of the words or noises coming out of his mouth made any sense at all.
In all honesty, Izzy expected Axl to get up and leave. And he wouldn’t have blamed him if he did. Who would want to hang out with a guy who didn’t even have the energy to make it through a single date? Instead, Axl sat down fully on the pavement and pulled Izzy into his lap, not seeming to care that he was getting tears and snot all over his shirt. He just gently rubbed a little circle between his shoulder blades and waited for Izzy to calm himself down.
“I have this thing-” Izzy almost dissolved into another wave of tears but managed to pull himself together. “I have this thing where my body has a really hard time absorbing iron, and it basically means that I’m pretty much completely exhausted all the time.”
“I have it under control though. I’m on a medication and stuff.” Izzy tacked on at the end when Axl still looked doubtful. “I just kinda pushed myself a little too hard tonight, with the dancing and the, uh, other activities.” Because even though he was willing to partake in sex, he was still too embarrassed to say it.
“Stay the night with me,” Axl blurted out, interrupting Izzy’s quiet sniffling. At the look on his face, Axl offered up an explanation. “It was really fucking scary when you collapsed like that, Izzy. I wanna make sure you’re alright.”
Izzy had expected, after he had agreed to stay the night, that they would remain sitting on the sidewalk until he could push himself back up again. So, when Axl suddenly scooped him up and began carrying him towards the apartment, he may have made a few squeaking noises. Surprisingly, the lady at the front desk didn’t seem to care that Axl just walked in and headed up the stairs with Izzy thrown over his shoulder.
Even with Izzy’s complaints that he could “walk just fine now, you can put me down,” Axl didn’t let go of him until they were up all four flights of stairs and down the hallway. Axl lent him a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt to sleep in, even though Izzy protested that his apartment was only four feet away. His protests were somewhat uncalled for anyway. Izzy wanted to wear Axl’s pajamas about as much as Axl seemed to want to see Izzy wear his pajamas. Being taken care of was kinda nice. Especially the part where he got to fall asleep wrapped up in Axl’s arms.
When Izzy got back to his apartment at around noon the next day, he had five missed calls. The first one was from a drunk Steven, wishing him good luck on his date. The second was a call to tell him he had won a free cruise to the Bahamas; all he had to do was enter his name, birthday, and social security number. The next three calls were from an increasingly pissed off Duff asking how the date went. Guiltily, Izzy decided to call Duff, remembering that he had promised to tell him all of the “smutty details” whatever that meant. The phone rang for a pretty long time before Duff picked up. Izzy opened his mouth to start talking, but Duff interrupted him before he could say anything.
“So on a scale of one to ten, how’s Hottie McHotface with his tongue?”