A Stage Beneath the Stars

The roar of a thousand alien voices vibrated through the amphitheater dome like thunder made of starlight. Holographic banners shimmered in languages Lior barely recognized, displaying his name in bright, pulsating fonts. “Lior. Lior. Lior.” It echoed in all tongues, woven with praise, worship, lust, and adoration.

He stood backstage beneath a curtain of crystal strands, his silhouette ghosting across the mirrored walls. His tailored performance suit clung like molten obsidian, glittering with programmed constellations that shimmered with each of his breaths. High black boots kissed the curve of his thighs, and delicate silver chains hung from his shoulders to his wrists, glowing with bio-synchronized light.

“Thirty seconds, Lior.” His manager's voice crackled in his earpiece. “They're ready for you.”

“I’m always ready,” Lior purred.

The lights dimmed. Silence. Then—

Explosion.

The stage ignited in simulated supernova bursts. Lior walked into the chaos, each step conjuring sound and fire. The dome above swirled with a galaxy projection, making it feel like the audience was floating in space, orbiting him. As he lifted the mic, his voice poured into them like liquid night.

He sang of gravity and longing, of fractured nebulae and forbidden kisses beneath twin moons. The languages of a dozen systems flowed from his lips like poetry. Fans wept. Others screamed. Some just pressed their hands to their chests like they were praying.

But as the final note trembled into silence, Lior was already slipping away.

Because tonight—unlike every other award night—he had somewhere else to be.

Two hours later, the glitter was gone. The suit was in a locked vault. The chains—along with the persona of “Lior, Galactic Siren”—had vanished.

Now he stood at the gates of Astralis Academy, dressed in a dull slate-gray uniform, a duffel over one shoulder and star-dust in his hair. No paparazzi. No fanfare. Just a student badge clipped to his chest that read:

Name: Elion Aris

Program: Galactic History & Sonic Physics

Year: 2

He entered quietly. The Academy was a fortress carved into the side of a floating asteroid, orbiting the twilight moon of Arcanis. Its towers curved like petrified wings, its halls glowing with soft blue light. AI drones drifted above, monitoring discipline and hall passes.

“Elion!” a familiar voice called.

He turned, heart thudding despite himself.

There he was—Kael.

His roommate. His complication.

Kael was an enigma—top of his Combat Astronomy class, a rebel with a scar on his brow and hands that looked like they could both strangle and soothe. Tall, lean, always in motion. His voice was smoke and static. His laugh—rare—was like heat in deep space.

“You’re late,” Kael said, folding his arms.

“I got caught up,” Elion muttered, brushing past.

Kael caught his wrist. “What is that?”

“What?”

“Glitter. On your neck.”

Fuck.

“None of your business,” Elion snapped, jerking away and walking faster.

Back in their shared dorm pod, tension thickened like ozone before a storm. Kael sat shirtless on his bunk, muscles limned with soft light. Elion, fresh from the shower, stood in only a towel. Their room was quiet but humming.

“You vanish every weekend,” Kael said, not looking up. “You come back exhausted, marked up, like you’ve been kissed by a star dragon.”

“Stop romanticizing it.”

“Then tell me the truth.”

Elion turned, voice sharp. “I don’t owe you anything.”

Kael stood, suddenly in his space, close—too close. “Then why do I hear you moaning my name in your sleep?”

Silence.

The air between them throbbed.

Kael’s fingers curled around Elion’s towel and tugged—just enough.

“You think I don’t see it?” Kael whispered. “The way you look at me like I’m both danger and rescue?”

Elion's breathing turned shallow.

“I don’t have time for this,” he murmured.

“Then make time,” Kael growled.

Then—heat.

Kael pushed him gently but firmly against the cool metal wall. The towel dropped, forgotten. Their lips met in a crash of fire and ice. Tongues tangled, fingers clutched. Kael kissed like he’d been starved for lifetimes, and Elion melted against him, arching, gasping as calloused hands explored hypersensitive skin.

Elion bit Kael’s lower lip. Kael’s response was a growl that made his knees buckle.

Kael lifted him effortlessly, pressing him back against the wall, grinding into him. Their bodies aligned like planets locked in gravitational hunger.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” Kael breathed against his throat. “Tell me I’m not imagining it.”

“You’re not,” Elion gasped.

Kael sucked a mark just below his jaw. “Then shut up and let me show you what your glitter tastes like.”

The bed groaned under them, the mattress molded by their writhing bodies.

Elion was on his back, eyes wild, lips parted. Kael hovered over him, mouth trailing heat down his chest, tongue swirling around a nipple, hand gripping his thigh.

“Spread,” Kael commanded, and Elion obeyed, no trace of his stage arrogance—just raw, quivering need.

Kael licked a trail lower, breath hot, tongue bold. Elion whimpered, thighs shaking. Then—

Kael took him in his mouth.

Elion cried out, back arching. Kael’s mouth was skill and sin, slow and punishing, sucking him down until Elion’s fingers clenched the sheets like lifelines.

“Kael—fuck—Kael—”

Kael pulled back just enough to murmur, “Taste like a goddamn meteor storm.”

Elion trembled. “Don’t stop. Please.”

Kael didn’t.

He teased and devoured, built him up and dragged him back, until Elion shattered beneath his tongue, his cry echoing in the dorm like the final chord of a galactic symphony.

They lay tangled together, sweat cooling, breath slowing. Kael’s fingers played with the tips of Elion’s damp hair.

“You’re hiding something,” he whispered.

Elion’s heart thudded. “Would you hate me if you knew?”

“I think I’d fuck you harder.”

Elion laughed, soft and bitter.

Kael turned serious. “Whatever it is, you don’t have to be alone.”

For the first time in months, Elion felt the weight of solitude shift. His secret—his double life—pressed at his chest, but something in Kael's voice made it easier to carry.

“Not tonight,” Elion said, curling into him. “Let me just be this.”

Kael kissed his forehead. “You can be anything. Just don’t disappear.”

And as they drifted to sleep, starlight spilled through the high window, brushing their skin like a promise.

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