Chapter Text
He had seen Adam skate. He had spent days practicing his moves and now knew how the Love Hug worked. He had thought himself prepared. Langa had underestimated him in so many ways.
The moment they started-the second Langa lagged behind on the straightaway-Adam knew. “Did someone give you ideas?” He had been watching him. Adam was interested in him-in his unorthodox way of skating-and guessed that he was following someone else’s instruction when he began the beef by playing it safe.
“You have your sights set on the abandoned factory.”
He did. That was Cherry’s plan.
But his skin itched at the callout. He didn’t like how Adam was now lazily skating, seemingly uninterested as he ruffled his hair. It was Adam who had wanted this race. And though Langa didn’t know what he wanted to get out of it, he knew that he himself wanted to prove his skill. Was playing it safe his only way to win? Or an easy way to try and get it done?
He saw an opportunity at the corner. He inhaled as he pushed ahead and passed Adam-saw in his peripheral that he turned to watch. He exhaled as he flipped his board up to swing around the corner with his new Casper Slide.
“It’s here!” Langa heard Adam’s voice calling out to him. “Here, here! Right here in my heart!” He looked back and couldn’t tear his eyes away from the other. Adam squealed, he whipped his arms out and up, he smiled in his excitement. He danced. He literally danced over the length of his board, kicked forward, swung around, spun his board around, too, as he flew down the track.
He was on top of him so quickly.
“Now, Little Langa… dance with me!”
If his first mistake was letting the beef against a skating legend like Adam affect his skate style, then his second was presuming to understand Adam’s skating at all.
Langa had only seen him in the one beef. And Adam had never cared about Reki. He had only skated to finish the race quickly-violently-to remove him from his sight.
But he had asked for this. He had wanted this match with Langa. He had wanted to see what he could do. So, now he was playing with him-dancing around him and toying with him.
He was enjoying this.
The length of a longboard slamming into his own from behind knocked his balance forward. The warmth of a gloved hand pulled him back by the waist. Another hand grabbed his wrist, pulling his shoulders back against a broad chest. Langa was helpless in the strength of Adam’s grip.
All the air rushed from his lungs as he gasped. His chest felt tight. His skin burned. He felt faint at the amount of contact. You can’t just grab someone by the waist. You shouldn’t press so unashamedly close to someone you so recently met. The heat between their bodies was lighting him up inside. The warm breath over his ear became electricity in his veins. The tease of his hips against his ass had him jerking in his arms.
In this position, Adam could bite along his neck. Squeeze him tighter. Shove his fingers in his mouth as he wedged a firm thigh between his own.
His pulse thundered in his ears. His vision blurred as he was overcome with sensation. He grunted as he flailed, senses and sense of balance failing him as Adam took control of their movements. He tried to hold on-reached back to clutch at a thigh, reached forward to claw at the hand on his waist-before Adam was restraining that, too.
His arms were held out with Adam’s iron hold of his wrists. His legs were spread out-his knees held up-by Adam’s own behind him. His back was welded against the length of his tall body for what felt like a second before his feet were kicked out from under him and he was flipped around. Held in a low dip, completely supported by Adam’s arm encircling the small of his back, he thought he could kiss him. The man could surge forward and down to claim Langa’s mouth as his own.
Adam could hold them up even if Langa hiked a leg up over the back of his thigh. He could use that and the hand at his waist to pull Adam closer-suck his tongue into his mouth. If he put his other hand at his shoulder, Adam could have his free as well. He could handle Langa however he wanted-fist his hair to turn his head, pull at his shoulder to press their chests together, grip the underside of his thigh to command their pace as they ground their hips against each other…
Langa turned his head into his pillow to muffle his groans. He panted bathed in the familiar shadows of his room, lying on his back with his sheets twisted around his legs. His fist tugged hard up and down his dick as his eyes fluttered shut again.
Adam was able to consistently bear Langa’s weight, man-handling his body over their skateboards and swinging him bodily through the air. He could lift him by the waist-hold him up against the rock walls of the track and pin him in place as he fucked him. He could thrust into him deep and slow, driving the very breath from Langa’s lungs with each roll of his hips. The hard edges of his mask would press into his shoulder. The soft layers of his costume would bunch up in his hands. The firm length of his cock would drag through him. The delicate lilt of his voice would say ‘lovely’ and ‘wonderful’-
He could still so vividly recall the heat and intimacy and excitement of his beef with Adam. His labouring lungs mimicked the pressure of a heavy body pinning him down. The material tying up his legs echoed the feel of a muscled thigh. He shoved two fingers in his mouth for a weight on his tongue. As he keened around the intrusion, he finally came. His back arched off the bed and his vision blacked out, and he wondered if he’d ever again see that new field of vision he was shown in their race.
It was always warmer inside the gates of S. The rock walls and trees on the mountain blocked the wind, and the bright lights and moving crowd generated a haze of heat on the ground. Langa liked practicing at Crazy Rock the best. Outside of the track itself, the half pipes were larger than the ones he and Reki had access to during the day, and they had actual vert ramps. Although he could appreciate the dexterity of the tricks Miya specialized in, he preferred jumps. He loved flying. And here was a space where he could improve that.
He skated from one side of the half pipe to the other, gathering speed. “I can go further…” He knew it-he felt it. The sting of sweat beaded on his forehead as he swung up and into the air with a jump. His next exhale shook from between his lips. He smiled as he uncurled his body and angled his board to catch the ramp properly on the way back down.
The exertion, the weightlessness- His first snowboarding tricks had been the same.
He pushed off again, swung up the one side and then back down, and then jumped up into an Indy Grab.
It was different. Langa knew that it was different. You were always going downhill in the snow and did tricks with the ramps and obstacles in front of you. There was so much more weight on you because of the clothing, but so much more speed, too. These tracks at S had so many turns. You had to break or slow down with a trick to keep from crashing into the walls. On the mountains back home, the curves were so gentle as they dodged pitfalls and cliffs. If you wanted to fly in a straight line down the mountain, you could. The momentum would grab you partway down and throw you into something, but you could try. All the effort was in control since speed was so effortless.
He pushed off to jump over one of the box ramps instead, wanting that continuous movement forward instead of swinging around and around in a loop. He stopped on the other side, breathing hard. His skateboard wasn’t the full length or width of a snowboard, but it came close to the surface area he felt comfortable with for his feet. Adam’s board was longer. Not by much, but he had noticed when they were locked side by side.
He looked up, seeing Joe and Cherry against the wall on the other side of the area. He skated over to them.
“Looking good, kid.” Joe smiled.
“You guys use different boards, right?” Langa asked. They blinked at him. “Like, they don’t look like Reki’s or Miya’s.”
“Both of them use streetboards, which are primarily the type chosen for tricks and jumps.”
“Yeah. Mine’s a cruiser.”
Langa had thought so. He remembered that one looked like a fish. “I thought cruisers were smaller.”
“He needed one custom for his ape-like body.”
“You’re one to talk, four-eyes! Your board changes in the middle of a beef!”
“Her name is Carla. And it’s called efficiency.”
He had only seen them skate for a bit at Miyakojima. Langa held his own board in his hands. “Is this a longboard, then?”
“It does technically qualify as one due to its length. But the tilt up at both ends follows the traditional streetboard design for tricks.”
“Adam didn’t do too many tricks on his. But he danced.”
Joe raised an eyebrow. “Did you want to try dancing?”
He shrugged. “Not really. I like jumps. But his control was amazing.” Adam had so gracefully walked over the length of his board. He had balanced so smoothly as he moved even as he sped down the track.
Cherry hummed. “Well, I wouldn’t recommend trying it on that board-even if you weren’t still using toe-clips. Dance is a specific style of skating that requires an extremely stable deck. It’s also used for show and not competition. Adam is a rarity in his decision to combine such needless performance with his downhill skating.”
“Needless?”
“It’s wasteful.”
Joe rolled his eyes. “Pinky prefers skating that is polished and emotionless.”
“You’re statistically more likely to bail when you get caught up in your head, you primate. Skating requires concentration.”
“Oh, please… like that means you can’t put a little heart into it-”
“I don’t think it’s a waste.” The two turned back to him. “It’s intimidating. When he can let himself get like that-and play around-and still skate circles around you.”
Cherry lifted his chin. “I’m not intimidated by him.”
“Ah.” Langa rubbed the back of his neck.
“You didn’t look scared.” Langa blinked up at Joe. “During your race with Adam.”
“I mean, I’m used to the adrenaline, I guess? And it was fun. He’s such a good skater.”
They both looked at him. Langa couldn’t figure out their expressions. He tilted his head, but they didn’t say anything else.
“Hey, Snow!” Shadow joined them with a drink in hand. “Showing off now, ain’t ya?”
“No?”
“Come on, man! That air!”
“I like jumps.”
“Alright, let’s go-me and you.”
“Sure.”
The next morning had a gentle breeze blowing as Langa waited for Reki. He was running a bit late. They wouldn’t have time to hit up any of their usual skateparks before school, but they could practice their grinds on the way in. Reki appeared over the crest of the hill.
“Morning,” Langa greeted. Reki didn’t answer. And then he skated past. “Reki!”
He stopped and looked back. “Oh. Yeah, sorry.” He blinked back at him. His gaze seemed far away.
“Something on your mind?”
“No. Not really.”
He thought he might not be awake yet. “I know. You were building a new deck! You stayed up late, right?”
A smile split his lips and he laughed. He jumped on him and ruffled his hair. “Right!”
They pushed off to skate together to school.
But hours later, there was still that same touch of something being off with Reki. As Langa switched out his shoes and strapped his board onto his bag, he looked around. Reki wasn’t waiting for him, or by his own locker. He ran out of the building and looked out over the crowd of departing students.
“Reki!” He ran up to the redhead. “Why’d you head out without me?”
“Sorry… I must’ve spaced out a bit.”
He was quiet as they walked. Langa didn’t know why he wasn’t talking about S, or even the new board he built last night.
“What time do you want to meet up tonight?”
“Huh?”
“There’s S tonight, right?” He was excited to practice more.
“Oh…” Reki ducked his head. “I have an errand to run tonight, so I can’t go.”
Langa hummed in thought. All of their late-night errands for Dope were at S. “…Even at night?”
“You can go alone tonight, okay?”
“…Alright.”
He had never gone to S without Reki, but he had his own pin now so knew that he could. They split ways to each head home, and Langa thought he understood now why Reki had been so withdrawn all day. He had a job-or a project he was working on-to do that night that forced him to miss S. That might have even been why he was up late last night. He didn’t know why Reki didn’t just tell him that, but if he was down about not being able to skate then maybe that made sense. Reki loved S.
The quiet of his day ended as Langa rode through the gates that night.
The crowd was buzzing with chatter. He caught the words ‘Adam’ and ‘big news’ before Miya ran up to him.
“Langa!” He peered around him. “Where’s Reki?”
“He said he had an errand to run tonight.”
“Hm… That’s unusual.”
Langa had thought so, too, but that was what he had told him. “What’s all this talk about Adam?”
“He’s going to show up tonight for some big announcement.”
“Really? What is it?”
“Obviously I don’t know.”
Reki had said that Adam was the founder of S but never showed himself. The only information Langa had about him was what Joe and Cherry had told them and what he had seen the couple of times he had shown up to beef with them. What announcement could he be making… It would have to be about S. Its hours? How it was run? The equipment? An event?
He hoped it was something fun.
He grabbed his board and hit the ramps to kill the time.
Langa pushed off and leapt over a box ramp before circling around to sail over it again. He skated over the low ramps, the rails, and the curbs. He hit a spine for a jump, but tonight the air he caught only made him feel static. He skid to a stop, breathing hard, and then turned to the track. He wanted to run the course again. He knew he could be faster on it. He wanted something to compare his progress.
He kicked off and swept through the trail. He whirled around corners and hunkered down to fly through the straights. He dodged what was in his way, distantly hearing shouting. There shouldn’t be so many people loitering on the track. S was for racing-and for practicing, otherwise.
He could almost see Adam in front of him. His tall form. His long limbs. A clear afterimage was imprinted in his mind’s eye. He had leaned this way at this corner. He had done a flip right there. He was so fast that he pulled him forward. Langa could be that fast. He could be faster.
Fast enough that his field of vision was filled with those colours again.
“Langa!”
He blinked away the impression of Adam to see Joe skating at his back. “Oh, Joe.”
“You okay?”
He blinked at him and furrowed his brow. “About what?” He was skating. He didn’t understand why he called him out.
Suddenly a loud, churning sound came from above. A red helicopter hovered over the abandoned factory. ‘LOVE’ was emblazoned on its dark underside. Adam had arrived. Langa coasted to a stop as Adam jumped out of the aircraft, a parachute slowing his drop before he abandoned it and jumped with his board to land in the middle of the awaiting crowd. The cheers were like thunder even to Langa who stood a bit away. “Adam…”
The people quieted as he began to speak. “I have brought all of you guys some exciting news! To determine who is the best out of all of us…” He threw his hands into the air. “A tournament!”
Shouts rose again. Langa’s heart beat just as loud in his chest. “I can go against Adam again.”
The other night flashed through his mind. He remembered Reki’s worried face. “So, I’m beggin’ ya… don’t skate against Adam!” He cast his eyes down. Even after the beef, when Langa had been fine, Reki had again warned him away from him.
Adam’s voice called his attention back to the present.
“I have prepared an entry form. I’m sure all of you will participate as you all love skating. Of course, I will be participating, as well.”
Langa really would be able to skate against him if he did well. Adam tilted his head back. The spotlight glinted off the ridges of his mask. Langa thought he might be looking at him.
“I believe we can fight each other,” Adam murmured.
Did he want to skate against him again, too? Adam had pulled ahead at the end of their beef, but they didn’t get to finish. And Langa had improved. He wanted to skate against Adam.
He needed to talk to Reki.
The sky was overcast with thick clouds the following morning, but a bright and soft blue could be seen through the gaps. Langa had the tournament invite pulled up on his phone as he waited for Reki to meet him. There were so many small caricatures of Adam around the heart button which said, ‘I’m waiting for you’. He really wanted to race Adam again. He needed to think of a way to bring it up to Reki.
“What are you looking at?”
Langa startled. “Huh? Oh…” Reki’s voice was soft, but he had stopped this morning instead of skating by. And this was a good segue into the topic. “Adam showed up yesterday, and-”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Langa blinked. “You know how much I hate him, right?”
“Right…”
Langa hadn’t known that he hated him. They had only interacted the few times around their beefs. The redhead had his head ducked down and was idly rolling his board back and forth. He could tell he was uncomfortable, but to ban even his name in conversation… He was the founder of S. Langa didn’t know how to bring up the tournament now.
“Langa.” Reki lifted his gaze onto him. “Can you do that thing again?” He tilted his head. “That jump… from the other day.”
He didn’t know what Reki was thinking. But if Langa’s skating could cheer him up, then that would be good.
They skated down to the Big Wood course, and Langa leapt up from the small ramp to brush high up on the bridge support. He landed and rolled to a stop. “Was that good?”
“I…” He stared at him with his board cast aside. “If you jumped ten times, how many could you reach…”
“Huh?” Did Reki want him to jump higher? The bridge was right above his head at the peak of his jump, but he could probably touch it if he tried.
“Sorry.” Reki rubbed the back of his head with a smile. “It’s nothing!”
Langa thought that it must have been something, because Reki left without him after school again. He couldn’t find him in the crowd. He sent a quick text asking where he was before he started skating to the closest park with a halfpipe.
He thought of the impending tournament as he practiced his jumps. He raised the air he caught and varied how he landed. He jumped over benches and grinded along rails. Drinking some water on a break, he checked his phone and saw that Reki hadn’t even read his text.
If he got into a project right after school, he might not have seen it. Langa decided to check some of the other parks they have been to on the way. No such luck.
At his house, his mom answered the door when he knocked. “Oh, hello.”
“Hello. Can I come in?”
She glanced around him. “Reki’s not with you?”
“Reki’s not here?”
“No… I’d assumed that he’d be together with you, Langa.”
“Oh, right. Okay.” He pulled out his phone. The texts were still unread.
“Would you like to wait?”
“I will for a bit. But I’m fine outside.”
He walked back to the sidewalk. He sat down beside the gate and sent another text. ‘Reki, where are you? What are you doing?’ They might have only known each other for a few months, but Langa thought Reki was acting really weird. He had no idea where he could have disappeared to without a word. He wondered if it was related to what had been keeping him busy the past few days.
He leaned back as the sun set. The sky rumbled above. The clouds darkened the space before it started drizzling. Only the streetlamps lit the sidewalk on either side of him along the road. As the rain began falling more heavily, he stood and checked his phone again. Still no answer, and it had been hours. He tucked it back into his pocket for protection.
He was really worried. He wondered if he should ask Reki’s mom if she had heard from him at all.
Movement in his peripheral vision had him turning. The red hair was all he needed for him to call out, “Reki!” He seemed to be turning away but stopped for Langa to run up to him. He smiled in relief. “Welcome home.”
He stood in the rain, not facing him. There was a scrape on his jaw and bruises on his arms. Langa opened his mouth to ask but he cut him off first. “You need something?”
He wanted to know what happened. He wanted Reki to look at him. But to answer the question of what he felt he needed to tell him… “Adam is hosting a tournament.”
“…so?”
“I’m thinking about entering.”
“What about the promise with me?”
Langa cast his eyes down. “That’s…”
Reki turned to him now. “You said you wouldn’t go up against Adam again!”
“I’m sorry, but I-”
“Don’t apologize!” His face contorted with anger as he shouted. The rain trailing over his cheek looked like tears. “It just means you’re gonna break your promise with me, right?" He was right. "Don’t you know how much I…”
“What?” He took a step closer. “Reki, talk to me.” A thought occurred to him. “Have you been… avoiding me on purpose?”
“You’ve gotten so good.”
“Okay?”
“And you’re hung up on Adam all of a sudden.”
“...okay?”
“He’s dangerous! You’re going to get hurt!”
“I can't promise not to get hurt, but I told you-I'm not going to stop skating even if I bail." The rain was soaking through both of their hair. "Even after that beef, I was fine. I get that you’re worried, but S is always like that.”
“It’s not! He’s crazy!"
“Reki... I’m not asking you to skate him, if you’re scared. But I want to-he’s such an amazing skater.”
“What?”
“You get that, too, right? Skating together with someone amazing like that gets you excited!”
“Excited? I…” His eyes were so wide as he stared at him in disbelief. “I don’t get excited. I-I'm scared.” Langa leaned back as Reki leaned in. “How can you be acting like it’s all fun and stuff?”
“But it is! Skating is fun!” He didn’t know how to get him to understand.
“Go on then!” He shoved him back. “You and Adam are nothing like me! You crazy geniuses can skate with each other as much as you want!”
“Reki! What-” Langa grabbed his wrist, but Reki yanked himself away and shoved him again. He fell down and looked up at him.
Reki balled his fists and turned away. Over the continuing rain and the shock in his veins, Langa heard him say as he walked away,
“You and I aren’t… a good match, anymore.”