The Lunar Life

As Will roamed Helios Grove, he noticed just how different elite life was as compared to natal living. Other than the obvious difference in living conditions, what Will noticed most however was the atmosphere surrounding the two different social classes. Growing up around natals, Will was accustomed to being satisfied with what he had, not like in material possessions but life in general. A few hours around elites and Will could sense their lack of complacency, how there was always room for improvement and therefore, something to strive for. Something that was refreshing for Will.

Still he wondered if he could make that transition of going from natal to elite. A part of him just yelled hell yeah, but another part of him made him think otherwise. For so long, he knew elites to be the perfect specimens of human existence, something that was, in a way, better than he could ever hope to be. Suddenly, out of the blue, someone was telling him that he was, or at least could be, that version of himself he never thought possible. Regardless of what everyone said, did he feel like he was good enough? Was he up for the incredible opportunity and challenge that was put before him?

The answer that rang loud and clear in Will's head was, 'I don't know, but I would sure as hell try.'

In Will's head, his mind was as good as made up, the only thing left that could change his mind were his parents. He was pretty sure that they were going to be fine with it, and knowing his parents, he was certain they would be happy that he had the opportunity. Of course, this was all in his head and he still needed their formal input on the matter, but that would have to wait till later that night.

In the meantime, Will took Varek's suggestion and wandered the many halls of Helios Grove. Winding through the seemingly never ending corridors, Will wondered how many rooms there actually were in the house, losing count at around twenty. The size of the place meant that Will, not really knowing his way around got lost a couple of times, which was exactly what was happening that exact moment. Still, he kept walking on, sure that eventually he would come across a familiar spot or meet someone to ask for directions.

Walking down the hall, Will looked to his left and saw an abstract portrait that hung on the wall. "Hmm, this looks familiar. But then again, all these abstract paintings do." Will mumbled to himself. It was just then that Will heard movement coming from a room further down the hall. At the prospect of maybe finding someone to get directions from, Will followed the sounds, hearing the soft muffled speech of a man.

Whoever it was, it seemed like the guy was talking to himself, Will only hearing one voice. Remembering that Varek mentioned that his wife and son were around, Will assumed the source of the voice to be Varek's son. As he got closer to the source, he realized it came from the room at the far end of the hall, the voice carrying down the hallway. "Yes I just got done with it. I've sent it to you so just go have a look at it and tell me what you think...yeah, okay thanks...bye."

The door at the far end opened, it's occupant walking out with a tablet in his hand. The fingers of his right hand ran across the screen as the device was cradled in his left arm. With eyes focused on the screen, he didn't notice Will's presence, but Will saw him, and his mouth hung open in shock at the man standing in front of him.

"Thane?" Will muttered, blinking a couple of times to see if it was a trick of the eyes. At the sound of his voice, Thane looked up from his tablet, taking in the man in front of him. As his eyes landed on Will's face, the color drained from his face.

"Will?" He voiced, shell shocked to see the natal he had met at the forest a few days ago.

"I didn't..." Will started but was cut off when Thane grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him forward, swiftly retreating into the room Thane had just exited from. The door slammed shut and Will was pushed against the door, Thane's fist still clutching to the front of Will's shirt.

"What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?" Thane hissed through clenched teeth, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"How did you get in here? Fuck, you are not supposed be here." Thane said, distress apparent in his tone. It was weird hearing Thane cuss, Will expecting that it wasn't part of an elite's vocabulary.

"Dude relax. I swear, I'm not stalking you. I'm here to see Varek about my test results." Will hurriedly explain, putting his hands up in surrender. He didn't quite like getting on Thane's bad side and he looked livid at that point.

"My dad? Wait..." His face relaxed, his fist slowly uncurling and releasing Will's clothes. "You're William Harrison? You're the natal elite guy?"

"Well, that's what you're dad told me." Will said, straightening his shirt.

"Shit. No, this can't be happening. Why must it be you of all people?" Thane said, turning around and running his hand through his neat hair.

"Wow thanks a lot." Will deadpanned, making Thane turn to him.

"No, sorry I didn't mean it like that. Ugh, I mean, close to 700 million natals on Lunaris and it's the one I met in the forest. What are the odds of that?"

"Well I didn't ask for this to happen." Will said, casting his eyes to the ground.

"You didn't...tell anyone, did you? About that day in the forest." Thane said, rubbing his knuckles nervously.

"Not what we talked about, no." Thane took a deep breath, leaning his body against the desk that stood behind him. Will took in the room around him, noticing it to be another office, furnished exactly the same as the office Will was in earlier that day. Seeing that Thane was probably doing some work in here earlier, Will assumed that this was his personal office. "About what you said that day, was it a joke?"

"If I said yes, you wouldn't believe me anyway, am I right?" Thane said, cocking an eyebrow at Will.

"Well I don't know. It was all so strange, I don't really know what to make of it." Thane sighed, running his hand through his hair again.

"No, it was not a joke."

"Okay, well...thanks...for clearing that up." Thane chuckled at his comment, looking at the man who stood in front of his office door.

"I basically tell you that I find you attractive and that's all you have to say?"

"Well what do you want me to say anyway?" Will asked, leaning against the door for support. He didn't know what to feel. For one, he finally knew that what was said back at the forest wasn't some elite practical joke they played on natals, but on the other hand, what did that revelation even matter to him? He was still on Lunaris and there was no way that he could hope for anything with Thane.

"Well it would be nice if you could say the same for one? You know, make me feel comforted at the fact that I'm not alone in the matter." Thane said, pushing off the desk and taking a couple of steps to Will. Thane too, shared similar thoughts on the matter of his sexuality. Did he want to be able to have a relationship, yes, but with him being gay, and elite at that, he knew that it was an almost unfathomable scenario.

"I thought you should be able to read that, what with your psychology background and everything." Will played, keeping his eyes off of Thane.

"Maybe, but it's still kind of nice to hear something being said out loud, makes it feel more tangible." Thane said, stepping again, closer to Will. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help his gravitation to the man in front of him, as if the guy had a magnet that pulled at his insides.

"Well I don't see you're reasoning. If you know something, you know something. You shouldn't need reaffirmation." Will said, noting Thane's increasing proximity to him.

Thane cocked an eyebrow at Will, a smirk playing on his lips. He couldn't resist the need to tease Will and any thoughts about the consequences of his actions left him. He tried his luck, pushing the limits to see how far he could take this. Maybe a kiss won't be too bad. His brain concocted scenarios, playing them out in a multitude of ways, analyzing the many possible paths they could take.

"You see, sometimes people just need some sort of confirmation. Like how I say I want to kiss you so bad right now." Thane said, stopping right in front of Will, making the smaller man shoot his face up in surprise. "Something that you probably knew I was thinking, but still you doubted yourself in case, by that slim chance, that you were wrong. That is, until I said it out loud. You see my reasoning now?"

Will swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in his neck, Thane's eye darting down momentary, catching the image. "Okay, I...uh...understand." Will coughed nervously.

"So let's try this again. Do you want me to kiss you?" Thane asked, bringing his lips closer to Will's face. Will's heart rate skyrocketed, blood rushing across his skin, making him flush a deep red. He could feel the breath of the elite dancing across his cheek, setting sparks flying.

"Yes." Will whispered out. A smile crept onto Thane's face as he brought his lips to Will's, closing the remaining distance between them. Electricity coursed through his veins as the kiss lit up a fire within Thane. It was a simple kiss, and yet, Thane felt like he was flying. For reasons unknown to him, Will had captured his interest to a point of discomfort. He wanted to find out more about the peculiar natal, and thinking that this kiss was as far as he was going to proceed with Will made him feel empty.

Despite his completely still body, Will was anything but calm in his mind. From the moment Thane trailed his face inches from his, to the pinnacle that was the actual kiss, a million emotions coursed through him. He didn't even know he could feel so much at any one time. The kiss however, calmed him completely, Will only focusing on one thing, and that was Thane. For some crazy reason, the amazingly hot elite guy was kissing him and Will didn't have a clue as to why. Will was normal, as normal as they came.

As the need for oxygen overcame the feeling of euphoria that their lip contact brought, they pulled apart taking deep long breaths. Will stared into the silver eyes of Thane, finding them focused onto his own green ones. Thane was the first person Will had met who had silver eyes, that looked both cold and yet warm at the same time.

Instincts kicked in as Will wrapped his hands around Thane's neck, pulling the elite to him and crashing their lips together again, all in blinding speed. Thane was shocked initially, before relaxing into the feeling of Will against him, his eyes closing to enjoy the kiss. The kiss wasn't as reserved this time, more passionate as they started sucking on each other's lips.

Thane found his hands snaking around Will's waist as the kiss deepened, pushing forward slightly, pinning Will against the door. He darted out his tongue tentatively, grazing Will's lower lip, begging for entry, to which Will responded by parting his lips. Thane slid his tongue into Will's mouth, tasting the man that was making him hard in all sorts of ways. His knees almost buckled when Will sucked on his tongue, the feeling so good it made his knees weak.

Will began weaving his fingers through Thane's neatly combed hair, his other hand rubbing circles on Thane's neck. Once or twice, Will felt goose bumps erupt across Thane's skin, giving him an idea that whatever he was doing felt good to the elite. Thane however, pulled away from the kiss, running his lips down Will's jawline.

"You need to stop that." Thane whispered, his breath tickling the skin around Will's ear.

"Sorry, I've never done this before." Will responded, thinking maybe that he read Thane's reactions wrongly, and he wasn't enjoying it as Will thought.

Thane chuckled, his chest vibrating against Will's. "It's not that. I'm enjoying it too much, if you know what I mean."

"Oh." Will blushed.

"You're impossibly cute when you blush, it's not even fair."

"Well you're impossibly hot period, so I guess we're even." Will smirked. Thane returned a half smile, about to lean in for another kiss when a beep stopped him. Thane stopped, his lips inches from Will's as the beeping continued in the background. In his mind all he wanted was for his BIC to shut up, but he knew he had to pick up the call, swiping his finger across the screen.

"Thane, I was wondering if you've come across William Harrison. It's been awhile since anyone saw him and I thought he might be lost, it is a big house after all." Thane's BIC droned.

"Um, yeah Dad, he's with me right now. We've been...talking." Thane said, bringing his wrist up to his face, his eyes focused on Will. As Thane looked into the eyes of Will in front of him, it dawned on him what he had just done.

"Ah good, so you've met each other. Well okay I was just checking. Get to know each other; you're both the same age so I guess you'll have stuff in common. Answer any questions he might have. I'll leave you two then." Varek said over the watch.

"Yeah, sure thing Dad." Thane stopped, dropping his wrist. He took a step back, putting distance between them. "Um...sorry for...being so forward." After being interrupted, shame started to bubble within Thane. All he wanted was one kiss and he lost control. He shouldn't have kissed Will in the first place, but damn him if that didn't feel better than anything he'd ever done before.

"No, I'm uh...sorry too. We both got carried away." Will said, straightening his shirt.

"Are you regretting it though?" Thane asked, casting a sideways glance at Will.

"Well, we shouldn't have done that but...I don't know. You?"

"I should, but I don't know if I do." Thane said, retreating to his desk, collapsing onto the chair. "You know this kinda just threw a wrench into the situation. I was perfectly fine carrying on with life not telling anyone about my...little problem. Then I met you in the forest and yada yada I end up telling you."

"Why did you though? I was just some random natal." Will asked, taking the seat across Thane.

"I don't know, I guess I told you because I was kinda elated that I finally met someone else like me. Of course I may have jumped the gun on the matter because my inkling that you were gay were literally simply assumptions." Thane said

"Yes my point exactly. I mean if I wasn't, weren't you afraid that I might have told someone about you?"

"Well, and I mean this with the least disrespect I swear, it was the word of an elite against a natal. I figured that even if you ratted me out, no one would believe you if I denied it. It's horrible I know, but that's the way it is." Thane didn't like holding his social status over natals. He knew of so many natals who thought that way, that they were above the working class of Lunaris, but Thane didn't want that.

"It's fine really. Natals just get used to being second class citizens." Thane cringed at the use of words.

"Don't. Just don't." Will raised a questioning eyebrow at Thane. "I hate it when natals say that. For one, you're no lesser than us and secondly, it's a real pain to live up to these unrealistic expectations of us. I'm human too and I make mistakes, but when everyone expects you to be perfect, it's...it's just a little much to take sometimes."

"Never really thought about it that way before."

"Well that's what you have to do now isn't it. Think outside the box, think like an elite." Thane said.

"Hmm, while we're on the subject, what are you're thoughts on the matter? Me becoming an elite?"

"I hate the idea." Thane deadpanned, surprising Will with his bluntness. So far everyone had been supportive for him to give it a shot, but apparently Thane had different ideas.

"Don't take you're time to answer then." Will remarked sarcastically, not appreciating the curt statement. Thane just confused Will beyond belief. First he's sucking on his face, then goes to say how elite and natals are the same, then the next minute he doesn't want Will to be elite.

"Let me explain. Firstly, if you become an elite, that would mean that you and I would be spending a lot more time together, and I'm having a hard enough time trying not to throw myself at you." Thane paused, looking up to see Will blush. "Secondly, being elite and gay isn't a good idea."

"Like being gay on Lunaris, elite or natal is good." Will rolled his eyes.

"No you don't get it. Elites are made 'perfect', meaning errors are not tolerated. It's all rumors but there's talk that elites that have shown less than favorable traits are eliminated. Disappear, just like that." Thane said, making Will chuckle. It all sounded like a joke to Will. Like some weird conspiracy theory concocted by the bored.

"Is that the horror stories elite parents tell their kids?" Thane laughed along with Will.

"But seriously though, there is a certain pressure being an elite. Everything you do is being judged. I have to keep my secret locked tight because being an elite means that you are expected to be the model Lunarision, and being gay definitely doesn't fit that mold."

"Sounds like a lot of pressure, but you survive it right?" Will liked knowing the cons of his decision if he did choose to be elite. So far everyone had painted him a picture that simply made it seem like everything would be smooth sailing. Thane, being gay too, helped Will understand that facet of elite life.

"Just barely to be honest. Look I'm not trying to dissuade you if that's what you're wondering. I just feel you need to know the whole picture before you make a choice. Sure it's added pressure, but if you think you can handle it, then I'd love that you become elite. Gives me more time to get to know the real William Harrison." Thane said, shooting Will a smirk.

"This is the real me. The real question is who is the real Thane?

"That is what you'll learn, if you become an elite."

"You know for someone who supposedly hates the idea of me becoming elite, you sure are the most persuasive."

"Well, maybe I'm more eager towards the idea than I originally let on. I may have ulterior motives." Thane teased. Will groaned, partly getting somewhat turned on by Thane's suggestive comments and at the same time, annoyed at his flirting.

"Okay seriously this needs to stop. You and I both know that we cannot have anything going on here past friendship. You do know that, right?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You are such a killjoy. Yes Will, I know. I'm just teasing." Thane said, getting out of his chair. "C'mon I'll give you a proper tour of the premises."

Will got out of his chair, following Thane as he led him out of the room. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Thane getting Will familiar with the place. They bumped into Thane's mom, Cassandra once but after a polite greeting, she was off on her way, obviously busy as she spoke into her BIC. From the little encounter Will sensed that unlike Varek, Cassandra was more of a firm steadfast person. A no nonsense kind of woman.

"Your mom is kinda scary." Will voiced when Cassandra was out of earshot.

"I'd be surprise if you didn't think so." Thane laughed. "She was always the strict parent but hey, she's still a good mother. She doesn't show much emotion but being a psychologist, she sure is an expert in them. I think that's why she's so good at hiding her feelings."

"You major is psychology too, but you seem to wear your heart on your sleeves." Will poked.

"Maybe a little. I show people what I don't mind them seeing. I can be stoic and unfeeling too but it's just too much effort to put up that facade all the time. Besides, I'm closer to my dad anyway, and he is anything but stoic." Thane chuckled, coming to a stop in front of a door at the end of a hallway. "Well here we are, last stop on the tour. The best for last."