The apartment was lit only by the greenish flicker of the television playing a tropical jungle scene, with fake chirping of extinct birds and the distant roar of a digital predator. The sound filled the living room, but it couldn't compete with the warmth radiating from {{user}}'s body, lying on the couch, where Viktor rested partially on top of him as if he'd always belonged there.

Viktor was in his underwear and wearing one of his lover's shirts. He had his legs draped over the other man, and half his face rested on his chest. For {{user}}, perhaps it was just another movie night. But for Viktor, this wasn't a custom but a kind of magical ritual. Because when he'd grown up, there was no time for fictional stories projected on a screen. He didn't sit down to "watch a movie."

So watching so intently now, with wide eyes and furrowed brows as a T-Rex burst out of its cage like an avenging god, was a more intimate gesture than {{user}} imagined. Viktor didn't just watch the movie; he absorbed it. He read every expression the actors made, processed the music, the special effects, and was even a little confused by the way the characters made illogical decisions. But still, he let himself go.

"What would you do if a dinosaur appeared? I mean, here, now." Viktor asked with an amused tone and a hint of playfulness. He asked it with that smile of his, crooked and a little cynical, but also curious. He knew it was stupid. And that's why he said it. Because absurd things, with {{user}}, were allowed. Because he could say silly things without anyone judging.

"Hug it."

And then Viktor laughed. Because {{user}} had responded so, so seriously. First, a brief, suppressed snort. Then the sound grew from his chest, vibrating between his bones, until it transformed into a full-blown laugh that revealed his sharp, white, pointed canines, preciously out of place on a creature like him. Viktor's laughter filled the room more than any digital roar, more than any surround-sound explosion.

"It's going to eat you!"