I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING. ALL CREDIT GOES TO CHESS_BOXING ON LIVEJOURNAL. I AM SIMPLY SHARING THE STORY. I WROTE NONE OF THIS

As we neared the block that contained the canteen and our lunch, Matt tried to remember two things. Firstly, the 日 of the week, and secondly, the meal of that day. He was having no luck on either count. I did point out that within forty five 秒 then we'd be inside and all his 问题 would be answered, but he shook his head furiously and shushed me. 'It's like a game, Dom,' he insisted. 'It'll be annoying me for the rest of the 日 if I don't get it now. Wait, wait here.'

'Matt - the door - we're right here. The 食物 is through this door.'

'You're distracting me. Two seconds. Come on. It's not got potatoes in it, I know that much, so I'm practically half way there. It's not pie. Pie is Wednesdays; I quite like pie. So knowing my luck, it's not Wednesday.'

'Your grasp of complex logic is genuinely astounding.'

'Thankyou. On that basis, it's probably not 意大利面 Saturday, either. Saturday, man. Saturday is the Holy fucking Grail. Fridays, on the other hand-'

I watch him witter on to himself for another full 分钟 with a small smile on my face. I wondered if he'd always been this batty, 或者 if prison had done this to him. Actually, considering the zeta story, prison probably hadn't had much to do with it. No wonder the guards called him 'nutter'. I couldn't have been luckier considering my new cellmate, I really couldn't. God, I have to stop thinking these things. I am definitely not admitting to the crush that I have. That I don't have, even. Bugger. The crush that I do not have.

'Let's get some food,' Matt announced, waving one arm sharply through the air (the international gesture for 'fuck this sideways, I have 给 up').

'No luck?' I held the door open for him.

'No. I'll take it 你 weren't paying any attention to what I was saying.'

'Mmm, sorry, I tuned 你 out after the bit about the pie.'

'That's okay, man. Oh, fuck, it's Soupy Monday. I knew that. See, it's all the leftovers from Sunday Roast; they put it in a blender and it saves on waste.' We threaded a path through the crowded plastic tables to the serving window, where a vat of brown was being ladled into a plastic bowl. Brown slopped over the edges; brown dribbled onto the floor. 'Chin up, Dom,' I heard from beside me. 'It's actually not so bad with pepper, if 你 really pour the stuff-'

'Hey, asshole.'

It's a curious human ability that one can often sense that one is being spoken to, even if the speaker is a complete stranger and they didn't use your name. 你 might have noticed it on a train, 或者 in a supermarket. One voice leaps from a crowd and 你 know instantly that it's directed at you. Unfortunately, this is one of those times. I turned, slowly.

'Alright, Allen? This is Dominic,' Matt cut in, addressing a balding but muscular man seated at a 表 behind us. I silently thanked him a dozen times over. Words cannot express how little I want to 匡威 with any of the other people in this building, and that man in particular looks like he feels like using my insides to mop up his last dregs of soup.

'No one asked you, faggot,' he spat. A few others were watching now. He turned to regard me, and all the other pairs of eyes followed his. 'Dominic, huh? Cute.' Snickers from all around. I wish I was a bowl of soup. I wish I was a spoon. 'So, Dominic, what's the deal? Is he paying you?'
更多 laughing. I also noticed that while Matt had taken the hostility without even blinking, at this he'd twitched. Just a tiny bit; a mere flicker. The suffocating pressure to suddenly know what to say was unbearable, and my mind was utterly blank. A little nudge in the small of my back, and I heard Matt mutter at me to 移动 along the queue and ignore them. Allen grinned, stood up and took two steps closer. I tried to remember what I'd written in my will. The room was rather quiet.

'You'll answer me when I ask 你 a fucking question, Dominic.'

Of course. How rude of me. Oh, how I wish I had the balls to be sarcastic to his face. 'No, Allen, he's not paying me,' I sighed, though I'm pretty sure I still sounded nervous.

A huge grin 分裂, 拆分 his face. 'Really?! You're letting him fuck 你 for free, then? Jesus, Dominic, at least have yourself some standards.'

I sense I may have 说 the wrong thing. Laughter was echoing around the hall, and some were calling out across the tables. Most of the yells concerned both mine and Matthew's physical appearance, penis lengths and sexual prowess in relation to my current prices. I shut my eyes tight and leaned back against the 墙 behind us, hitting my head hard against the peeling plaster with a dull thud.

'I can do this amazing trick with a spoon,' Matt 说 softly amongst the shouting, 'where I 果酱 the spoony end into one of my ears, scoop around a bit and remove my own brain, 你 know, for avoiding awkward situations. It's really fun, would 你 like me to teach you?'

I opened one eye to meet his gaze. 'Please.'

Allen took a few 更多 steps closer - close enough for a high-five, if I'd had any inclination to do such a thing. He was focused on Matt, though. We were at the front of the queue and I took the opportunity to hand two bowls through the serving window. The sooner they were filled, the sooner we could get out of here. When I turned back, Allen had slammed one hand either side of Matt's head, trapping him against the wall. They were nose to nose. Matt's eyes held no emotion, but he hands were twitching violently 由 his sides.

Allen's voice was barely a hiss. 'You little shit, he doesn't even know, does he? When exactly were 你 planning on telling him?' Matt's eyes shut, his brow furrowed. 'Hey, now's a good a time as any, why don't 你 tell him all about it? Tell him how fucking bent 你 are. Go on, tell him about how much 你 爱情 sucking cock and taking it balls deep. How 你 fucking begged me for 更多 that time I took 你 behind the showers, even though your 屁股 was in a sorry fucking state. Tell him how-'

'Well, this is all really romantic,' I interrupted, stretching across the counter to retrieve the bowls of soup, 'but you're not really his type. Also, I have soup. Matt?'

I turned and walked away, fast, praying to gods I didn't believe in that he'd manage to slip past Allen's defences and catch up with me. I was regretting my oh-so-witty comeback already. God, that had been thick. I mean, I don't know what else I'd have done, and I suppose it'd worked, but I'd pretty much just marked myself on everyone's 列表 of People To 冲床 In The Face. Stupid, stupid Dom, with your stupid, stupid mouth.

I was almost at the door when Matt appeared at my side.

'Ma-'

'Go, walk, go. It's fine, just go.'

He guided me through the door (considering my hands were shaking a little, I was maintaining an impressive balancing act with the two full bowls of soup) and out into the chilly air. Without a word, we retraced our steps to the quiet courtyard. I took my 座位 on the stairs and handed Matt his bowl of soup. And realised-

'Oh, wanking pissing shit, I forgot spoons.'

'...Oh, for fuck's sake.'

We both eyed our soup, and then each other. And then the soup.

'Jesus Christ. It'll be fine, okay. Okay.' I lifted the bowl experimentally to my lips. Not too difficult. 'Here, like this. The angle isn't too
awkward, actually.'

After a great deal of kerfuffle concerning where one's fingers should be placed ('On the lip? Opposite your face? But when where's the palm? Underneath? That's like a goddamned... catapult!'), we both sat in silence, sipping the hot liquid and huddling against the air. When the wind kicked in, it was really quite a biting cold. I guess we'd be getting used to eating outside in the future.

'I'm really sorry,' Matt started, having finished his soup. 'I'm so sorry, I should have warned you. Sometimes they're like that. I'm sorry. I didn't think. I-'

'Matt - Matt, it's fine,' I insisted, shushing him. 'Don't worry about it.'

'Of course I'm going to fucking worry about it,' he snapped, 'you didn't need to know all that. That was not... that was not okay.'

I looked over at him. He was staring out to the horizon, where the long road away from the prison ran between two dirty fields. His pale face was set with worry and thought, his eyes were dark with shadows, and his hands were twitching again. The sky behind him was a cold, rolling grey, too thin for rain and too dense for sun - just a numb, dull in-between. A cold breeze ruffled the soft, dark spikes of his hair, messing them even more. A little shiver ran through his body.

I realised then how much I wanted to 吻乐队（Kiss） him. I wanted to lean over, reach out, and trace one hand down the side of his face, from his cheekbone to his jawline, and gently thumb the skin there. I'd capture his lips in mine, and the air would be dry and cold but his mouth would be warm and wet. And it'd probably taste of soup, but I wouldn't notice, and much less care. I'd place kisses all over - his forehead, his cheek, his nose, his eyelids - and I'd pull him closer and hold him against me, another living, breathing body in this bleak and barren hell that had come to call itself my home. I'd let him bury his face in my hair, and I'd stroke his back and tell him all the wonderful things I think about him, and our shivers would be from delight rather than cold. Instead, I looked back at my feet and wrapped my fingers around the empty bowl of 汤 for warmth.

'It wasn't like he said,' Matt said, suddenly. 'He has another version of the tale that he's always told to the other guys. The one 你 heard.' I can hear a forced air of nonchalence to his voice.

'But it happened?'

'Yeah. Yes, that happened. It wasn't... mutual, 或者 anything, though.' He spits the word, a crack in his composure. 'It was just... I wasn't being careful enough. Those showers, man.' He coughs out a laugh. 'Fucking deathtrap.'

'Do 你 want to talk about it?'

'Nope.'

'No problem, but tell me if 你 do, yeah? Can't have 你 bottling up all your angst, you'll... flip out and end up in prison 或者 something.'

'You're so fucking funny, do 你 know, I actually just 分裂, 拆分 my sides.'

'Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Matthew.'

We were grinning again. Already. I couldn't help it; he was always smiling at things I said, and his smiles were just so infectious.

'In all seriousness, though. I'm bisexual, actually, and-' I tried to make it sound like an afterthought bluetacked to the beginning of a sentence, even though it blatantly wasn't, '-and we've got to look out for each other, yeah?'

He nodded, seriously, with our eyes meeting. A Serious Nod. Such a nod often says much 更多 than words ever manage.