Diegesis slid into the seat next to him. His hands jittered on the worn vinyl strap, found the belt buckle, and fastened it.

“They make these seats much too small.”  

Lee tilted his head. “Yeah, well…” His face was apologetic, but they both knew better than to expect his words to follow suit.

“…if you’d sprung for business class, that wouldn't be a problem, would it?” Lee then smiled, unfazed by Diegesis’ long-suffering glance.

“I can’t simply make all our problems disappear with…” dark eyes took in the cabin around them. Their fellow travelers, all preparing in tandem for the flight to come, and many well within earshot. “…with influence.” Diegesis finished.

“I may have an astonishing amount of influence, Liam, but right now I haven’t much to spend. Besides, my influence goes a lot farther when I can find interesting color to add to proceedings, and not when I can spirit problems away.” A lady finished wrestling her carry-on into the bin above, and took her space behind them. Diegesis searched for a way to veil the next bit.

“As my influence comes from the- the articles I write, it is imperative that problems be found and surmounted. So regrettably, we must endure one or two little difficulties along the road, and choose very carefully the times when I can smooth proceedings over.”

Lee shrugged, and watched through the window, as the airport workers crisscrossed the tarmac. There was something in Lee’s expression, and the god cursed his current circumstances.

Diegesis was deeply famished, and though Lee had agreed to accompany him on this venture, his supernatural abilities were currently so frail that they could not extend far enough, drill deep enough to permeate the skull of the man sitting next to him. No mind-reading, no conjuring important items at the just-right time, or manipulating the emotions and forms of the humans around him.

And certainly no snapping his fingers and skipping to a new location.

Diegesis had used this before. This charming, man-powered flight. On another day, he would have quite liked to enjoy the fruits of his favorite species’ clever machinations. But it was one thing to gamble a single, cheap incarnation, and quite another to risk his only incarnation, housing his entire divine being. These sinews were as precious as if they'd belonged to a real human body, and Diegesis needed to care for them as such.

Really, he ought to be stopping the entire flight from going, to keep all these humans safe. He should-

And then Lee's phone was in his face, an old Marx Bros film blaring a truly staggering volume of banter humor and slapstick horn-honking.

"Ever seen this one?" Lee pulled a headphone from his ear, tilting it in offering.

"Have I. Seen the basis for comedy in American cinema? You're asking ME?" Diegesis gnashed his teeth and grabbed the headphone. "I did a lecture on this trio! You-" He glowered- "you were there when I gave it!"

He popped in the headphone, and stared blankly at the screen. "Oh. Is this Love Happy?"

"Yeah."

Diegesis huffed. "Well, nobody's seen Love Happy. That doesn't count."

In an hour and a half, Diegesis would have to begrudgingly admit that Lee's scheme worked like a charm. They'd been so busy arguing that Diegesis hadn't even noticed the plane take off.

Then again, he'd also never seen French Kiss.

---

Lee had enough films to handle an entire international flight, but not enough energy. After one terrible dinner and two shockingly good desserts (Diegesis successfully flirted with the flight attendant, earning himself an extra slice of cake and Lee's ire as he refused to share either), Lee had conked out next to him. Diegesis procured the blanket from under his chair, put on an eye mask, and proceeded to fail at achieving either comfort or sleep. Undeterred, he started an audio book on his phone, and pretended he cared about the interstellar adventures of a popular recent series. Most of the lights in the cabin had switched off in time with their owners. No surprises there. A cross-country flight at one in the morning was not the most active time for humans, and all were either asleep, or- like Diegesis- had their eyes and ears occupied with some portable audio device.

Gently, Diegesis became aware of a pressure on his knee. With creeping intent, it was making its way up his thigh. Diegesis lifted the edge of his sleep mask, to see Lee’s eyes open, making rare, direct contact with his own. A finger to silent lips, and then, with his other hand beneath the blanket, Lee continued to inch forward, fingers making for Diegesis’ belt.

A smile tugged at his mouth. How very interesting. Diegesis took a subtle look about the cabin. The fight attendants had been by recently enough, and weren't liable to back for another half hour. Exhibitionism, while a fine little kink, was not the name of tonight’s game. To be discovered was mutually assured destruction; the loathing stares would crumble Diegesis down to a husk, and mortify Lee in a way that would bring him shame in countless future sleepless nights.

But similarly, the challenge was too delicious to pass up. The opportunity for sexual activity was less than compelling alone, but Lee’s intent was irresistible. A countenance full of mischief- Liam really thought that he was going to get somewhere with this! That being the initiator would bequeath him the dominant role? The eager face already alternating from a forced serious expression, to grinning from ear to ear. Fool.

Diegesis leaned back, allowing himself a quiet chuckle. He couldn’t be too obvious, but he did need to let Lee know that he knew. He met Lee’s gaze, Diegesis’ gentle, bumbling demeanor lifting like the thin veil it was. Dark eyes the center of his more naturally foreboding presence.

By all means, proceed. As far as Diegesis was concerned, Lee could service him all flight.

Too bad that they had to stay quiet. Lee had Diegesis' belt open in no time at all, undid the button and zipper of his fly, and all one-handed, at an odd angle, without pushing the blanket up in a tell-tale tent. Diegesis carefully lowered the seatback tray over his lap. Placing his hands atop it, a third layer completed the obfuscation. He let the sleep mask fall back over his eyes, and relaxed. He found himself blessing his prior poor luck. It was good to be awake.

Lee's hand slipped between the flaps of Diegesis' fly, palming him through his underwear. Lee might've made fun of Diegesis in the past for wearing opulent fabric, but Diegesis had never heard a genuine complaint when the time came to touch it. Would the little pervert have attempted this with a stranger in the seat next to him? Had he done all this before? There was never any knowing with Lee.

Lee's hands were gentle in a way that his demeanor never was. At least, not until sufficient work had been put into grinding the pride out of him. After all, Diegesis was convinced that Lee was not a Switch, but merely a Brat with grand aspirations. Lee didn’t think so. But the ability (usually) to see inside Lee’s mind did nothing to dissuade Diegesis of that idea. Humans were famously terrible at self-knowledge. Existing within one's own head hardly made them an expert on the subject. And as far as Diegesis was concerned, Lee merely acted up out of the gleeful submissive need to set himself up for punishment later.

Lee’s hand remained warm and cupped at Diegesis' base. It was almost chaste, an earthy and satisfying pleasure. Delicate in a very well-mannered way. The sleep-mask remained up; if he saw that terrible face still grinning, it would completely ruin the illusion in his mind. He focused on that, instead. On Lee, quiet as a mouse but straining in his own seat, growing harder on his own at the mere suggestion that he was allowed to touch Diegesis. Pretending to begin it all as a prank, but heart pounding with mushy, abundant affection, mind already becoming clouded with murky, syrupy lust.

If the touch was good, the thought of Lee's need was superb, and Diegesis could feel things beginning to shift. Perhaps Lee was too distracted with his own need, because he hadn't moved his hand to accommodate Diegesis' growing size. The heel of his palm was still grinding softly along Diegesis, pinky curled at the base, the rest of his fingers completely loose; only the weight of gravity and loose pressure of the trousers above them offering any sort of additional friction.

It took twenty minutes of this for Diegesis to admit that Lee was not about to swap his hand position. He knew damn well that it was time to reach inside of Diegesis' boxers and get started. They'd had enough sex for Lee to know the tempo Diegesis preferred. Lee had had enough sex with enough other men to know the tempo generally desired. It wasn’t that he was incompetent, distracted, or unable to hit what he needed from this angle.

He’d decided to be difficult.

With a glare of deep annoyance already queued on his face, Diegesis lifted the mask from his eyes.

Lee  had his phone up on the seat tray, thumb scrolling through his photo feed as though he were any other bored passenger. But the Cheshire grin was wider than ever. Not in spite of- likely due to Diegesis' acknowledgement. He'd wanted to annoy the god, and having gotten what he wanted, fingers immediately slipped within the fly of Diegesis' underwear. The skin-to-skin contact sent a painful surge of lust straight through him. He nearly spoke aloud in gratitude as Lee withdrew him from the confinement of the boxers. Any attempts to stay flat would have gotten painful, quickly.

Lee was no mind-reader, but the relative weeks of subservience he'd played out in the various stories of Diegesis' hallow didn't evaporate upon exiting. His wrist twisted and tips found the underside of Diegesis' shaft, ghosting up it. They pulled down, cupping the sack and pulling along the texture, still so gentle, massaging and refusing to ignore any intimate millimeter of skin. Lee was so good at that, at hands that took their time bit by bit, waking up each nerve. The insidious mind of the pervert was never satisfied with merely accomplishing its goal. No, diligence was required to ramp up the blood flow and pleasure until it was all alert. A less patient man might've been driven mad with the waiting, but deliberate craftsmanship was Diegesis' kink, and if they'd been alone, Diegesis would've already climbed atop Lee, to pin him under his weight and force him to listen to the depths of Diegesis' fervent ardor.

Three seats ahead, the drinks cart began to rattle toward them.

Diegesis kept his motions quiet, turning to look at Lee. His expression was direct, intent clear.

Or so he'd thought. Instead, Lee's hand began to pump Diegesis with short, tight, rapid strokes. The God covered his immediate moan with a hand and a fake cough. He needed to get ahold of himself, and supplant Lee from that role right away. He was the one with self control. He hadn't crossed any of the vile lines he'd set for himself. But Lee was offering this willingly, had initiated, and made no secret of how much he wanted Diegesis. Offering an intimate and high-class skill, one drenched in the affection he aggravatingly refused to voice aloud. There was a difference between hunting down unwilling prey and continuing to chew. Lee was sliding himself down Diegesis' throat, and there was precious little the god could do but continue to swallow, drunk on the intense pleasure, and the insistent pumping of Lee's hand, because Lee wanted him, Lee loved him-

And then Lee's hand was gone, it had joined the other one on his tray top, scrolling through some screenshot gallery of misspelled Facebook posts. Inane, oblique and unrelated humor.

Diegesis considered leaning over right then and burying his teeth straight into Lee's throat. Reaching into his shirt and finding pressure points the silly little human didn't know existed, but would soon never be able to forget. Using the very last drop of his remaining divine abilities to freeze every last human in this plane in place while he lifted Lee out of his seat, ripped his pants off, and took him there over the center aisle, raw and moaning, punishment and prize for his wretched show of insolence.

Instead, Diegesis finished his polite cough, accepted the pack of crackers the flight attendant offered, and waited as the unknowing gentleman continued the rest of the way down the aisle.

Heavens above, let him still be unknowing.

Around them, other passengers were still asleep. The woman behind them put her snacks away, then promptly resumed snoring.

Diegesis turned to catch Lee's eye, his own widening into a glare that he desperately hoped communicated

 Prepare your soul for contrapasso, mortal!

Lee beamed back at him, and before Diegesis could finish squeaking out a "Don't you dare," Lee's dominant hand had slipped back around Diegesis, resuming the gentle stroking pattern.

Lee's off hand resumed scrolling through illiterate text post humor.

What a merry time to be Liam Lee.

Under the blanket, his dominant thumb was doing something very similar to its counterpart. He gave one flick upward after another. Diegesis was fully erect now, and the touch under the head of his cock was too much.  He clamped his mouth shut before he could slip up and moan.

Lee snickered to himself, and his hand retreated from the tip, back to what was now clearly a teasing stroke near the base. Diegesis couldn't pretend this was anything like submission now. Lee was trying to humiliate Diegesis in public. He was going to draw this out until…

Lee turned to him, smiling. He didn’t shift the angle of his phone much, but in large text, the letters shined up at him:

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK.

Diegesis pulled out his phone. It took him a terrible four minutes to figure out how to connect to the flight Wi-Fi, but once he did, he navigated to his texts and attacked the keyboard with fury.

I am not asking, I am ORDERING.

Lee clucked his tongue. For a moment, he indulged Diegesis with two lavish strokes. Then his touch was lighter than before.

Come onnnnnnnn. I'm not even asking you to beg.

Yet.

A very unfriendly look seemed to roll in the back of Lee's eyes. Or was it the other way around? A too-friendly look? As a submissive, Lee wanted to be degraded into the dirt. As a dominant, he displayed that same horrific thirst to be present at a degradation. What was it in his mind that needed to see someone, anyone ground into the dirt? Diegesis' stomach fluttered in soft terror. It was probably much better to capitulate. Unlike Lee, Diegesis did not fly off the handle at any blemish to his pride. If Diegesis gave in and asked politely, Lee would be a nasty little sore winner about the whole thing, but it would be over soon, and safely. If Diegesis pushed Lee when he was like this, it was going to take a rapid turn toward the imprudent in the extreme.

And yet. That dread-inducing look was pointed at Diegesis. It wasn't that Lee would do this to just anyone. This commitment-avoidant man had made the choice to follow Diegesis onto an international flight. He was here. He wanted Diegesis so badly that he couldn't wait until they were in a legal place, let alone on the ground.

His face flushed, horrified, and his hips gave an involuntary buck.

Lee's eyes widened. He released his grip long enough that they both felt Diegesis twitching against him, and then his fingers wrapped back around, still, refusing to move.

Lee held his phone up again.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK.

He simply could not. His human body wanted to finish, but the divine heart inside him would do anything to prolong the attention. He swallowed, shook his head, and did his best to look in control.

Gods don't ask mortals. Mortals beg gods.

Lee turned his face away, but the expression was so overcome with lust, Diegesis nervously cast about to ensure nobody else had seen it. He had a millisecond for the check to register, before Lee's hand was moving again

Damn him, damn his edging kink, and damn the skill of that unrepentant slut!

If anyone had been looking, he wouldn’t have fooled them at all. Lee’s cheeks were pink from hiding his own exertion, and his breathing slightly too loud. He’d pressed his advantage well; if they’d been alone, Diegesis could have overpowered Lee in an instant, shoving his face into whatever bed or wall they could find, intent on cultivating that arousal into a full, whining breakdown. What was Lee even playing at, pretending to dominate? His place was beneath Diegesis and they both knew it.

Lee's hand opened, withholding another attempted orgasm, deluging Diegesis' chest in another flurry of affection. His eyes rolled back in his head, he loved this human and he was going to make sure that he paid for this, that his punishment was on a biblical scale for this arrogance-

He didn’t bother texting “Two can play at this game.” He reached for Lee’s lap and-

Lee didn’t have a blanket.

Lee leaned his lips right onto Diegesis’ ear and hissed: “Sorry, not an old man, I don’t need help staying warm on a plane.”

Lies. He hadn’t taken his jacket off, and he was about to start shivering.

Diegesis reached up, which was terribly hard on him; he had to lift himself slightly out of his seat to do so. Lee wrapped his hand into a cup, and the effect was as if Diegesis had suddenly pushed his hips forward. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about clutching the seat in front of him, closing his eyes, and thrusting over and over again into Lee’s firm, commanding grip.

With a glower, he found the air nozzle above his seat, cranked it open, turned it to point at Lee, found Lee’s nozzle, did the same.

There was no third seat next to them, so Lee could be thankful for that. But then again, if someone else had been seated there, perhaps Lee wouldn’t have started.

Lee began to shiver even harder. The added vibration was an additional bonus for Diegesis, who sat back and began to enjoy, the element of frustration completely gone. Lee’s cheeks were puffed out, and Diegesis could see him re-calculating.

The easy play would be to simply remove his hand. But that was a petulant move, the sex-chicken version of overturning the game board and stomping away. No, he had to do something-

He went right for the underside, engaging in all the motion he’d denied Diegesis until then, the despicable right-handed vibrator of a man disarming Diegesis, who had no recourse but to give in to the intimacy, his body at the whims of-

And then it stopped.

Lee closed his texts, and his photo gallery was open. He pulled down to his hidden gallery-

Oh for the love of all that was holy.

Diegesis wasn’t really up on the whole “texting nudes” thing. It was even slightly after Liam’s time. Liam did hookups in person, so there was no need to court with explicit photography. But once or twice, the two of them had gotten a little too caught up in the concept of creating art while in the bedroom.

Liam’s bedroom photographs wouldn't be making it into any fine galleries. But there was shot after shot of Diegesis in there, his body composed in ways that effortlessly communicated the human’s lustful gaze. That Lee was, even now, thinking about everything happening under the blanket. That if the situation were different, it could just as easily be his mouth wrapped around Diegesis, his legs straddling him, his belly or cheeks offered up for him to press against-

And then Lee pinched him, and Diegesis yelped.

Lips on his earlobe. “Ask me.”

The pain was quickly replaced with soft, almost affectionate strokes, and a wet palm engulfing the head. Of course it was wet now. His poor human body didn't deserve to be abused like this, full to bursting and aching for it. If it weren’t the only thing salvaging his dignity, Diegesis would have removed the blanket then. Goodness, but this plane cabin was warm.

“This cannot be easy for you.” Diegesis plucked at the edge of his blanket. “Pull this over to cover your lap, too.”

Lee's touch was too, too generous again, palm pressed against the wet, trembling tip, inching Diegesis right back into the helpless, beautiful edge.

“You can have anything you want, so long as you ask politely.”

“Liam.”

“Diegesis.”

“You’re not being dominant, you know." He hissed. "This is just extended bratting. You’re bratting extra hard in the hopes I’ll retaliate twice as hard as that.”

Lee stopped moving. He ghosted a finger up to the underside of Diegesis’ head, and seemed to hover it there.

“What is wrong with you. End this.”

A slow and barely-there circle. Lee’s face was tensed in concentration. Unfortunately for Diegesis, Lee’s hand was in the perfect spot to gauge his current state. He had had rather more practice with Diegesis’ body than most humans were capable of having in a lifetime. He could feel the difference in the slightest change in softness. And then he would apply more friction, teasing Diegesis back to where he wanted him, and his poor cock would be twitching again under a tough that was too cruelly light.

Diegesis held his phone in his hands. He was very nearly broken. His mind was simply swimming too hard to put it into words-

“I want to see you break.”

Diegesis shook his head.

"You sound so cute when you beg."

That was just unfair. The words whimpered out of his mouth.

"Please-"

Lee gripped him and delivered all the force he’d been holding back on. And in a stunning, quick movement, he reached his other hand above the blanket, bringing the friction of the blanket flush against Diegesis' tip. It was a soft blanket, but against such a fragile and sensitive piece of flesh, anything would've been rough.

For one floating moment, Diegesis wondered if he'd separated from his incarnation. The sensation was so intense he felt outside it, dumbly wondering...

Oh. I don't think I've ever done anything like this before. The airplane. The blanket there. Huh. It's all a genuine first.

And then he was struggling not to moan nor cough too loudly but there were tears in his eyes from something that hurt and hurt but even if they'd been in private he would've begged Lee to finish, for this intense sensation was eons better than a ruined orgasm. Lee had no intention of stopping; having led Diegesis on for so long he was delivering in full, draining every last ounce of emotion straight from between his poor, abused cock.

Lee only kept the top hand on the blanket for the initial orgasm. Soon, it was back at his phone, eyes locked on it but attention fully fixed on Diegesis and the hand still slowly testing additional shudders out of his system. Not stopping, Lee was already reaching forward, pulling his own blanket from the seat pocket in front of him, tearing it open with one hand and his teeth, appearing to cover himself but sliding the blanket over to cover the telltale wetness he'd forced onto it.

Eventually, he let go of Diegesis. He did wipe his hand on the blanket on his way out, though. For his part, Diegesis put the sleep mask back over his eyes. It would at least cover half of whatever expression he had at the moment, as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

When he felt like he could pretend to be a human once more, he took the mask off, and carefully restored his dignity, zipping up his trousers and folding the blanket. The large cloth was too big to throw away, so he stowed it under the seat in front of him. Before Lee could turn to him and begin gloating, Diegesis stumbled up, visited the restroom, washing his face and taking care of any other cleanup considerations. He wasn't a fan of appearing frazzled in public, and after a few important minutes to himself, his hair was back in place, and he looked about as composed as any gentleman could, mid-flight.

He returned to his seat, and though he really didn't need to, buckled up. Lee's attention was eagerly on him, and though he had had a minute alone, there was too much solace flowing through Diegesis' system to be irate.

Unable to hide the smile, Diegesis whispered to Lee. "You can't help but press your luck, can you?"

A hint of chagrin colored Lee's own return smile. Good. If the man lost his sense of shame entirely, they'd both be ruined. "I've got an eye for a good opportunity."

"Well you, eh, seized it well." And then he barreled forward before Lee could press the verbal opportunity. "Thank you. It was exquisite."

Lee beamed. "Well, yeah, I'm uh. Really freaking good at this.” A poet he was not. Eh. He had skill where it mattered. “You know that."

Could he get away with holding Lee’s hand? "No, I mean, emotionally."

Lee looked less comfortable. "Yeah,” he repeated. “I'm a charmer."

"No, I mean literally. It was delicious. Thank you for feeding me such fervent devotion."

Diegesis finished cleaning his glasses, and snapped his fingers.

Lee came in his pants.

The human didn’t have half the self control or ability to remain discreet. He yelped, covered his mouth, and sat, chest thudding up and down, like a terrified prey animal.

"Hey, hey wait-“ he finally managed to hiss- “You're out of juice right now."

Diegesis ruffled his hair. Subtly. "Oh, Lee. You just loved me so thoughtfully-"

"Oh god damn it-"

"Quite."

"I thought I'd be safe until we got to the hotel."

"Absolutely not."

Diegesis snapped again.

And again.

And again, and-