On the path in front of him, Kurt stopped in his tracks and Victor’s feet slid on the dew-damp grass as he tried to do the same. He cursed as he ran into the man in front of him, his hands curling around the thick biceps to get his balance.
“Damn,” Kurt whispered, his tone almost reverent.
You aren’t kidding, Victor thought. Just being in such close proximity made his head spin.
“I didn’t know it would be like that. Your photos are going to be amazing.”
Victor chuckled internally and shook his head. Right. The reason they’d been hacking their way through overgrown brush for three days was the photo shoot he’d been planning for six months. Not the man he’d been lusting after for nearly as long.
Reluctantly, he let go of Kurt and stepped to the side. He blinked at the sight of the twisted steel forms rising from the trees, partially obscured by the fog. The rusted metal looked almost sculptural in the heavy, early-morning air. Victor’s hand went to the camera hanging around his neck.
“I just never dreamed it would be so …” Kurt let out a sigh and Victor nodded. It was incredible. “How fast did they go?”
“Fast,” Victor replied as he took off the lens cap and brought the viewfinder to his face. “It was absolutely exhilarating.”
After the collapse of the Western world, nothing even remotely like a rollercoaster remained. Victor was old enough to remember them from his childhood, but Kurt had been born after. Even now, although society was beginning to rebuild, engineers were focused on infrastructure, not amusement parks. Victor’s day job was useful and productive—creative fields just weren’t necessary in this new world they lived in—but Victor had inherited his father’s ancient camera, and with some creative modifications, he made it work. Now, Victor was trying to catalogue all the long-forgotten relics from the old society. He didn’t know why, exactly, but something in his blood told him it was important.
Victor had hired Kurt to help him get to the old, closed-down amusement park. It had been a pleasant—if strenuous—couple of days, and Victor felt a moment of remorse that tomorrow morning, they’d be heading back to the city. He only had one day to shoot; he had to make the most of it.
By the end of that day Victor’s feet hurt, his forearms were scratched from a patch of brambles he’d stumbled into, and even Kurt—rugged guide that he was—looked exhausted. Now, Victor smiled at him over the crackling campfire they’d made at the base of one of the huge steel monsters. “I really can’t thank you enough for doing this.”
Kurt shrugged, rubbing at his bearded jaw. “Hey, this was great. I’ve always been curious to see them. I never dreamed they’d be so big. I just wish I knew what it was like to ride one.”
Victor glanced up at the rusted metal far, far above them. “It was pretty breathtaking,” he admitted, although his memories were from so long ago, he sometimes wondered if they were even remotely accurate. He remembered the adrenaline and his heart slamming in his chest at the wild speed as the ‘coaster whipped around a curve.
“I can imagine.”
Victor jerked in surprise when Kurt’s voice came from far closer than a few moments before. Kurt stood in front of him, expression strangely intense. Victor’s heart seemed to echo his childhood memories, pounding far too fast as he got to his feet, compelled by the look in the other man’s eyes.
“Yeah.” Kurt’s voice was soft as he leaned closer. “I imagine it’s a lot like being around you.”
Victor’s hand trembled as their lips pressed softly together. This—being intimate with a man—was as looked down on as being an artist was. Practicality ruled in this new society and a man who couldn’t rebuild the population or the world they lived in wasn’t thought highly of.
But, as their bodies pressed together from toe to forehead, Victor thought he might just be willing to take the risk.
Much like riding a roller coaster, the fear only added to the excitement.
Please visit the flash fic group on Facebook and check out the links to the other authors’ flash fics for this week! I really loved Theo’s and Helena’s this week.
I look forward to seeing you next Monday!