Atlas turned his head back to face Nikolas, slight confusion written on his face. "That wasn't a question, was it?" He said smiling a little, "But who am I to turn that down." He couldn't believe what he heard. He had noticed Nikolas never was against either of the kisses, so he shouldn't be so surprised. The song had totally left his mind, he forgot how much he needed to record.
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Nikolas' smile grew even more as he leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "It could be a question, if you really want it to. But that would imply you would want to be able to say no." He couldn't help the slow smirk on his lips rising. From how Atlas had initiated both kisses, he couldn't see him saying no. And seeing that smile made him happier than it should've, yet here they were.
"Ah, I see. Well, there's no need to say no, in this case." Atlas said, his smile growing. He studied the man still in front of him. His hair, his eyes, his lips, his jaw. "Uh, where and when?" He asked. He was usually pretty busy during the day. "When I started singing yesterday is when I normally get home. So I'm always busy until then, at least."
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"It's a surprise, and maybe I can pick you up from here tomorrow?" Nikolas tipped his head to the side in question. He had a very specific place in mind, but that would require going out of town and being at night, so perhaps that wouldn't work. Though, he could always ask. "Or, I have an idea for if you want to go later in the day, say sundown-ish." He was uncharacteristically excited about this. He didn't do dates much, or dating in general, but Atlas was really cute and made him smile. He wanted to get to know him better.
"I'm down for tomorrow after work. If all goes according to plan, I will have everything recorded and put together before then and we don't have to worry about it." Atlas said. He was already growing very excited. He wiggled a bit in his excitement. He hadn't been on a date in a very long time, since maybe sophomore year in high school. He was smiling and trying to think of what Nikolas could be planning when there was a knock on the door. Atlas jumped a little and quickly ran to the door. He opened it and there was the main producer.
"Hey, you two ready to record the song? Atlas, you have a lot to do before tomorrow so it'd be great if we could get that done." Said the producer, looking between Atlas and Nikolas. Atlas had forgotten about everything and he looked over at Nikolas, wondering if he was ready.
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Nikolas hesitated for a split second when the producer walked in, but when he looked over at Atlas, he stood and nodded with a smile. "I trust you know what you're talking about," he said to the shorter man, referring to all the compliments Atlas had given his voice. It was weird, hearing that from someone that was doing this professionally. He's never taken official classes, just reluctantly let Tessa try and teach him, or simply listened to her as she sang.
"Okay, yeah we're ready. Could we possibly record at the same time? It would probably be better if we could do that." Atlas asked. The producer thought for a second and agreed to it. He came into the room and sat down at the chair in front of the recording booth. Atlas walked over to Nikolas excitedly. "Follow me. You haven't recorded something, have you?"
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Nikolas stayed close to Atlas as he followed him, shaking his head. "No, but my friend has." He looked around curiously. Most of the studio was familiar to him, the basic setup and layout of it all, but there were a few unfamiliar things that were bound to be present. He looked down at Atlas and couldn't help but feel more at ease because of the man's excitement. We've done this twice. I've got this.
"Ah, okay. So we don't need to worry about anything except for the microphone and headphones. It's really easy, but you probably gathered that." Atlas said as they came up to the microphone. He went on to get the headphones and handed a pair to Nikolas. "So, you know that the music plays in these and we just sing it like earlier, yeah?" He asked, just making sure everything would run smoothly.
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Nikolas accepted the headphones and nodded. "Yup." He paused and looked to Atlas shifting his weight some. "So, I've noticed that my Greek slips through when I sing, and I roll the words some. That's not gonna ruin anything, is it?" He didn't want to mess up Atlas' work because of his lack of experience and something he seemingly couldn't control.
"I noticed it as well… it's beautiful. I love it so so much. Don't worry about it ruining anything, it's perfect." Atlas said happily as he put his headphones on. He held up a thumbs-up to the producer and he started the music. Atlas started his verse, smiling the whole time and glancing at Nikolas.
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Nikolas was quick to put his headphones on, smiling softly at Atlas' words. He felt less worried now, no longer anxious that he would ruin it somehow with something he couldn't help. Now was just the innate general anxiety. Nikolas looked over at Atlas as he started singing, catching how the man glanced over at him. That just made him smile some more and feel a little more comfortable.
Atlas finished his part and waited for Nikolas' part to start. He looked at him, watching him sing. He noticed Nikolas' smile and he couldn't help but smile more as well. He was contemplating making the song they were recording the one he would advertise and sing the most. It had been his favorite before, but it was even better now with Nikolas featuring in it.
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Nikolas smoothly eased into his part, unable to help how he closed his eyes. It helped him relax more, and he allowed himself to sink into the music as he sang. He didn't focus on anything but the music, didn't let himself stress over his voice or skill or anything. He just let his voice flow with the music as he smiled faintly, feeling Atlas' gaze on him. It didn't make him nervous; in fact, it helped him relax even more.
Atlas couldn't help but jump a little in excitement during Nikolas' parts. He stopped jumping when he started singing. Their voices blended together in the perfect way as they finished the song. Atlas' smiled was bigger than before, if that's even possible. He glanced back at the producer who was already editing and listening to what they had just recorded. Atlas then got ready to initiate the third kiss that day. He took off his headphones and tilted his head up to kiss Nikolas, again.
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Nikolas, honestly, loved how well their voices blended together when it came to the duet part. By the time the song was done, he was no longer anxious. Nikolas opened his eyes with a soft smile and took off his headphones, then happened to turn to Atlas to see him already close. This time, he didn't hesitate to dip his head down and meet Atlas in the middle, fingers grasping at the man's shirt once more without pulling him closer. With each kiss, his attraction and crush grew, and he only wanted to get to know him more and more.
There was something about Nikolas that Atlas just loved, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He draped his arms around Nikolas' neck without breaking the kiss. This was one of the few times he didn't regret acting on his random urges. He was going be going on a date with an amazing man the next day because of it. Atlas' eyes fluttered closed and he continued kissing.
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Nikolas was a little surprised that, instead of pulling away like before, Atlas got closer by putting his arms around Nikolas' neck. He didn't complain, however, just smiled a little into the kiss and risked loosely wrapping an arm around the man's waist. He was starting to learn that Atlas was impulsive, acting before thinking about what he was doing. He was slightly thankful for that. If he hadn't kissed him the first time, or these other times, Nikolas wouldn't have built up the courage to ask him out.
After a while longer, Atlas pulled away. If it was possible, he would have kept going but he needed air. He looked up into Nikolas' unique and beautiful eyes. "Thank you so much for singing this song with me, it's perfect," Atlas said softly. The producer had looked up to them, about to say something, but he looked back down at the computer to give them privacy.
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Nikolas gazed down at Atlas with a smile, not letting him go just yet as he caught his breath. "You're very welcome," he murmured, then tipped his head to the side and smirked as he thought of something. Atlas had said he liked his accent, so why not flirt a bit while indulging in that? "Ise poli glikos" he said, layering on the accent even more than what happened when he sang.
Atlas had a confused look on his face. Of course, he had no idea what Nikolas had said. But he was a sucker for accents, it seemed Nikolas' in particular. "Not to be that person, but what does that mean?" He asked. He didn't even know what language it was. He would love to learn another language, but he can't get himself to actually put in the effort.
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Nikolas smirked at the confused look on Atlas' face. "You are very sweet," he translated, then decided to explain himself a bit. "I, uh, I'm from Greece, originally. Athens. Moved to America when I was ten." He closed an eye, averting his gaze, and let go of Atlas' shirt to tap his neck in time with his nervous pulse. "Technically, I lied to you when we first met. My last name's Katsaros. Force of habit, I guess." He shifted his weight and said quietly, "First name's been legally changed for… reasons." He didn't know why he was telling Atlas this, but he felt the need to clear up his small lies before the caught up to him.
Atlas smiled shyly. "That's really cool! I guess I must have a thing for greek accents then." He said with a little laugh. He was, naturally, curious about Nikolas' name, but it seemed very personal, he wouldn't want to pry on something not meant for him to know. This man was so much more amazing than Atlas had ever thought he would be. Causing him to fall even harder than he already was for him.
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Nikolas chuckled and rested his head against Atlas', eyes scanning the other's and momentarily getting lost in them. They were so pretty, and he definitely wanted to keep doing this. "Nice to know," he said, smiling, "I suppose that means you want me to stop pretending I'm a native English speaker every now and again." His eyes sparkled with humor, not at all minding if Atlas wanted to hear his accent more often.
"… Yeah, maybe…" Atlas said quietly, his shy smile reappearing. He also was easily lost, in Nikolas' eyes that is. He snapped out of it and, instead, wrapped his arms around the man, letting his head rest on his chest. Man, was Atlas thankful for the paper-thin walls of the apartments and his impulse to meet the man who had sang with him.
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Nikolas easily wrapped his arms around Atlas' waist and rested his chin atop the man's head. He chuckled and murmured, "Duly noted." Perhaps he should take Atlas out to dinner tomorrow, then take him to the place he had thought of? That would possibly line up with the timeframe he wanted to be there, and if not, then it wasn't a complete loss. Nikolas glanced over and reluctantly leaned back, hands moving to lightly grasp Atlas' waist and nudge him away. "Your producer looks like he's getting antsy."
Atlas looked back at his producer and noticed that as well. "Shit…" He mumbled to himself, "I totally forgot about what we were doing and where we were and stuff… um, let's get out of this recording booth and figure stuff out with my producer." He grabbed Nikolas' hand and lead him out of the booth and into two empty chairs.
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Nikolas let Atlas pull him along without complaint, curious as to what was about to go down with the producer. He was waiting to hear that he shouldn't be featured, no matter Atlas' words earlier. He couldn't help the somber look he had on his own skill—it was just a natural thought that occurred when he was doing something he wasn't confident in with someone that knew what they were doing.
Atlas looked over at the producer. "Okay, Fox, interesting last-minute choice, but knowing you that's more than expected. You…" the producer pointed to Nikolas, "what do you want to go by on this track? We want to make sure we have the right name for you. Also, I'm still assuming you want backing vocals?"
"Nope, not at all… I think it's perfect. Could we listen to it?" Atlas asked. The producer nodded and did a few last things before playing it.
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Nikolas thought over what he wanted to go by while the song played, a few options instantly popping into his head. First was his birth name, Alexis, and then the name his friends had picked for him when they had started a rag-tag "band" when they were kids—Draco, after his love for the constellation. He decided to consult Atlas and focused on the song, which had him smiling at how good it sounded. He did love Atlas' voice, more than he liked his own as he heard it. He unconsciously rested his chin on the man's shoulder as they listened.
