If I kissed you right now… would you stop me?
Elias felt the weight of it settle into the quiet space of the lab. The hum of the machines continued behind them, indifferent to the tension unfolding in front of the desk.
He knew what the logical answer should be.
Yes.
Of course he would stop him.
That was the safe answer. The controlled answer. The kind of answer Elias usually gave without hesitation.
But tonight something about Dominic's presence made those instincts weaker.
Dominic was still standing close. Close enough that Elias could feel the warmth of his breath every time he spoke.
Waiting.
Elias cleared his throat softly.
"You're asking the wrong question."
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Yes."
"And what's the right one?"
Elias hesitated for a moment before replying.
"Why would you want to?"
Dominic didn't look surprised.
If anything, he seemed amused.
"You know the answer to that."
"Humor me."
Dominic leaned one shoulder against the desk again, studying Elias carefully.
"You really want to have a philosophical debate about this?"
"I want clarity."
Dominic laughed quietly.
"You always want clarity."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Alright. Here's clarity."
His voice softened.
"I want to kiss you because I've wanted to for a very long time."
The honesty of the statement made Elias freeze.
Dominic watched his reaction closely.
"You act like that surprises you," Dominic added.
"It does."
"That's because you're oblivious."
"I'm not oblivious."
Dominic smiled faintly.
"Elias, I've been flirting with you for two years."
"That wasn't flirting."
Dominic gave him a look.
"You really believe that?"
Elias hesitated.
Because thinking back, some of those moments suddenly looked very different.
Dominic seemed to notice the realization forming.
"Exactly," he said quietly.
The lab lights flickered softly across the screens.
Behind them the system continued running silent calculations, analyzing problems far more predictable than the two men standing in front of it.
Dominic's voice dropped again.
"You want another honest answer?"
Elias nodded slowly.
"I came back tonight because I was tired of pretending that moment never happened."
"What moment?"
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"You know which one."
Elias did.
The memory surfaced immediately.
A late night like this one.
The two of them standing too close.
A conversation that had slowly shifted into something else.
And the almost-kiss that Elias had stopped at the last second.
Dominic spoke again.
"You leaned toward me first."
Elias sighed.
"You keep bringing that up."
"Because it mattered."
"It was a mistake."
Dominic's expression changed slightly.
"No," he said quietly.
"It wasn't."
The seriousness in his voice made Elias pause.
Dominic stepped closer again.
The distance between them disappeared once more.
"You looked at me like you were about to finally admit something," Dominic said softly.
"And then you panicked."
Elias frowned.
"I didn't panic."
Dominic smiled slightly.
"You absolutely panicked."
The memory wasn't entirely wrong.
Elias had felt the shift in that moment. The sudden realization that crossing that line would change everything.
So he had stepped back.
Dominic had left not long after.
Neither of them had mentioned it again.
Until now.
Dominic's voice softened.
"I thought about that night a lot after I left."
Elias looked at him carefully.
"What did you think about?"
Dominic shrugged slightly.
"Whether you regretted stopping."
Elias didn't answer immediately.
Dominic watched him.
Waiting.
Finally Elias said quietly,
"I regretted not understanding what it meant."
Dominic blinked once.
That answer was unexpected.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Elias exhaled slowly.
"I spent my whole life understanding systems. Patterns. Logic."
He gestured vaguely toward the glowing machines behind them.
"But that moment wasn't logical."
Dominic's expression softened slightly.
"So you ran from it."
"Yes."
Dominic looked at him for a long moment.
Then he asked quietly,
"Are you still running?"
Elias felt his pulse quicken again.
The room felt very small now.
Dominic's hand moved slightly on the desk beside him.
Not touching.
But close enough that Elias was aware of every inch between them.
"I don't know," Elias admitted.
Dominic nodded slowly.
"That's honest."
Silence returned for a moment.
Then Dominic said quietly,
"I'm not running anymore."
Elias met his gaze.
"I noticed."
Dominic's eyes flicked down again.
Briefly.
Then back up.
The meaning was obvious.
Elias felt the heat rise slightly in his chest.
"You're still very close," he murmured.
Dominic smiled.
"I noticed that too."
"You could step back."
"I could."
"But you won't."
Dominic's smile widened slightly.
"Probably not."
Another pause stretched between them.
The tension had changed now.
Less uncertain.
More deliberate.
Dominic's voice lowered again.
"You still haven't answered my question."
Elias frowned slightly.
"Which one?"
Dominic leaned just a little closer.
"If I kissed you right now…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"…would you stop me?"
Elias felt his heart beating faster.
Every logical instinct told him to say yes.
To restore the distance.
To control the situation again.
Instead he said quietly,
"I don't know."
Dominic's eyes darkened slightly.
That answer clearly pleased him.
"Well," he murmured.
"That sounds like permission."
Before Elias could respond
Dominic moved.
Not suddenly.
Not aggressively.
Just slowly enough that Elias saw it happening.
Dominic's hand lifted gently, brushing against the side of Elias's face.
The contact was warm.
Careful.
Elias felt his breath catch.
Dominic paused for half a second, giving him time to pull away.
Elias didn't.
So Dominic closed the remaining distance.
And finally kissed him.
The moment was softer than Elias expected.
Not rushed.
Not overwhelming.
Just a quiet meeting of lips that felt strangely inevitable.
For a second Elias froze.
Then his mind stopped racing.
And he kissed him back.
When they finally pulled apart, the lab felt completely different.
Dominic looked at him carefully.
"Well," he said softly.
"That answers that."