Atlas kissed him back, softly and full of joy. He was smiling all the while, his cheeks very sore from smiling so much. Everything about it was perfect, making him all warm inside. No matter how much he loved it and thought it was absolutely amazing, he was still at a slight loss for exactly how and why this was happening. It was like a dream, but better than any he's ever had.
One of Nikolas' hands came up to bury itself in Atlas' lilac hair, playing with the strands as he fell into soft laughter during the kiss. He could feel the man's smile against his lips, and he couldn't keep his own back. "What did I say about smiling so much?" he teased against Atlas' lips, still smiling despite his words. He couldn't help it, what with everything going on and Atlas' contagious grin.
Atlas let out a small sigh. "I know, I know, I can't stop though. But you should look at yourself, hypocrite." He said after pulling back a little more with a small laugh. He touched his nose to Nikolas', tightening his grip on the man a bit. They were, at this point, already late to go back, so why not stay later? It would probably mean staying at the studio a lot later than normal, but it was worth it.
Nikolas playfully scrunched his nose in a scowl, nipping at Atlas' bottom lip without actually hitting the skin. "Shhh, we're talking about you, not me." He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the other man's, letting out a soft sigh of contentment. "We're probably late, aren't we?" he murmured, but made no move to pull away when he felt Atlas tighten his grip on Nikolas. He let out a breathy laugh. "I come into the picture and now you're irresponsible," he teased.
Atlas chuckled before closing his eyes as well. "You don't know how responsible irresponsible I was before… but you might, maybe, possibly be very correct. And yeah I bet my producer and manager are either frantically searching for and calling me or they've already given up." He explained. He usually had his ringtone off so he wouldn't be distracted and he never took time to turn it on when leaving the studio.
Nikolas rolled his eyes from behind his closed lids, then opened them and quickly pecked Atlas' lips. "C'mon, let's get going. I'll get boxes for our food and our drinks in to-go cups so we can take it all with us." He kept his arms wrapped around the man as he slid out of the booth, holding him up before detaching his arms from around Nikolas and setting his feet down onto the floor.
"Ahh okay. If we have to." Complained Atlas. He stood up completely, getting a small shiver from leaving the warmth of Nikolas' arms. He reached over to his phone, turning it on to see six missed calls, 3three from the producer, two from the manager, and one from the owner of the studio. He took in a sharp breath and looked up at Nikolas. "Um, we really need to go… let's get those boxes and cups fast." He said, his eyes wide. A call from the owner was never a good thing unless you'd been working nonstop all day. He knew this would be rough, and possibly the last time at the studio.
Nikolas glanced at Atlas' phone, then up at the man's eyes. "You go ahead, I'll get the stuff and meet you there, okay? I don't want to get you into any more trouble than you already are." Nikolas pecked the smaller man's forehead, then went over to the counter to request some boxes, cups, and a bag to carry the boxes in. He knew from Atlas' reaction that something wasn't good, so he didn't want to be the one to hold him up any longer than he already had by letting him get away with staying here so long.
Atlas took a deep breath and nodded. He watched Nikolas go up to the counter then quickly left the cafe. He gripped his phone in one hand and started running to the studio. His heart was beating very fast, but not from the running. Maybe a little of it was, but he was beyond nervous. He just hoped he would be allowed to finish the album. According to the owner's policy, you have a certain amount of time for breaks and you need to check-in and out for those times. If someone is late after breaks and there isn't a legitimate reason then there will be consequences. Atlas didn't know why they were so strict about the policy, but he never was one to go against things like that. The studio came into view, causing him to be more nervous. He slowed down and started taking deep breaths in hope to calm himself down.
Nikolas was cheerful and friendly with the staff as he asked for his items. He got the boxes, cups, and bag, thanked the staff, then went over to his table to gather their food and drinks. He was worried about Atlas, especially with the look on his face when he had seen his phone. He didn't know exactly what he'd seen or who had called, just that there were a lot of missed calls.
He packed all of their boxed food into the bag, looping it over his arm, then grabbed their drinks and made his way out of the cafe and towards the studio. He was ready to defend Atlas if he needed to.
Atlas got to the door. He stood there a little longer than any normal person, working up the nerve to go inside. He finally did and opened the door. His producer and manager were waiting there for him, concerned and frustrated looks on their faces. "H-hey… uh, I'm so sorry… um…" He said quietly looking at the ground, too afraid to watch their reactions. His hands were in his pockets fidgeting. The producer sighed but kept quiet. The manager, on the other hand, did not stay quiet for long.
"Do you know what this could mean for us? The consequences and the probable results from said consequences? This could cost us a lot, all for what? A little extra break time with your… I don't even know, boyfriend?" asked the man. He was furious. Atlas didn't look up at all, he felt like a kid being yelled at in middle school again.
It wasn't a long walk to the studio, and with Atlas waiting outside for a while, it didn't take him long to catch up to him. He opened the door and came up behind the man, already hearing how furious someone was from the yelling. "It was my fault," he said, standing off to the side of Atlas. "He was trying to leave but I wasn't exactly being cooperative. I didn't know it would be that bad." He didn't look down at Atlas, didn't fidget, just stared at the producer unflinchingly. He's dealt with worse people. As long as there were no fist flying, he'd be fine.
Atlas turned his head to look at Nikolas, then back to the manager and producer. "Actually… that's wrong. Um, there may have been a bit of that, but it was mostly me. And I didn't see the time, and you know how I am, I forget to turn on sound for my phone so I didn't hear the calls… and I knew we didn't have much more time at one point but decided to ignore it." He explained. He knew Nikolas was only trying to help, but he didn't want Nikolas to take the blame when it was, ultimately, his own fault.
The two other men looked at the both of them. The manager sighed and rested his head in his hand. "I could care less whose fault it was, the fact of the matter is that you, Atlas, are in big trouble, we may not even be able to complete your album here. Meaning you would have to postpone your album release and tour, also with a strange change in the quality of sound in your songs all because you thought it fitting to go out and not pay attention to anything while our time could be running out. This is one of the very best recording studios in town with an owner who's worked the best of the best and who knows how to get his way in things. I have to meet with him in half an hour to discuss this situation." He finished his rant with a deep sigh. "And you," He nodded his head to Nikolas, "Who even are you. One minute Atlas is a lonely, independent, and mostly responsible guy, then the next a random dude comes in and features on a song out of nowhere causing him to be reckless and 'too busy' for anything." He was exaggerating slightly, but not a lot.
Atlas had taken a seat in the corner while listening to the producer. Watching both him and Nikolas the whole time. Although, he mostly looked down at his hands that were playing with his shirt in his lap.
Nikolas glanced over at Atlas when he took the blame, then looked back at the man talking—or ranting, more like. He didn't like the idea of Atlas getting kicked out of his own studio, he had to think quickly. Right, Ryker and Kit are coming. Tess can sing—has been for a while. What if I offered them something? He angled his head some when he was addressed, eyes narrowing defensively. He remained standing, unlike Atlas. "Nikolas Katsaros. I'm Atlas' neighbor." He ran his hand through his hair and shifted some, but didn't back down or refuse to meet the other man's eye. "Atlas can't lose this opportunity because of me. What if… What if I offered to bring in a band? I know Theresa Hunt, a talented singer who's already had experience in the entertainment field. I have some other talented friends, as well, coming in."
"And? That would just mean more people to take care of and have disappoint me. Yeah I know of Theresa as well, I almost got her to work for me instead of Atlas, but she won't just "magically" fix this. It's a problem between me, Atlas, and the owner. I wouldn't care if you brought in Halsey or Post Malone. They all know what they're doing and have established themselves. What I'm trying to say is it's not a matter of the people, it's the fact that Atlas abused the resources and availability of this studio to do who knows what with you. Now, please leave this studio while we have it booked, once we leave, do all you want, but you're not allowed in here while I'm in charge. I have to go meet with the owner now, and I don't want to be late like you two were." The manager finished and stood up, walking away with a slight stomp.
Atlas, on the other hand, had moved his legs up into the chair to curl up. He had his head in his knees. Once he knew the manager had left he lifted his head a bit and rested his chin on his knees. "I know that may sound like not a big deal but… if the owner's mad enough he could also make us delete all the recording we've done because we did 'unauthorized' work here 'without his permission…" Atlas said very softly, even if Nikolas hadn't heard anything.
Nikolas scoffed and threw his hands up, rolling his eyes and spinning on his heel to pace. His jaw worked and his temper was flared. So much for a deal. Atlas was just getting walked all over from these people—because of him—and he couldn't even do anything about it to fix it. He didn't want to just leave Atlas here, even though he'd been told to leave, but he also didn't want to get him into even more trouble. Eventually, he stopped and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes shut. "I'm sorry," he said, directing it to Atlas even if they weren't looking at each other. "I'm just gonna… Yeah. I'm just gonna go before I cause even more problems."
Atlas looked up at Nikolas, sadness in his eyes. "No no… please don't apologize. You did nothing…" Atlas said louder. He slowly got out of the chair and went up to Nikolas. Almost hesitantly, he lightly wrapped his arms around the man's waist and buried his face into Nikolas' chest. "I knew we only had a little bit of time, but I ignored it. I would have stayed at the cafe longer if you hadn't said anything, reminding me that I have to be here." He mumbled into Nikolas' chest, muffling his words.
Nikolas closed his eyes and let out a long and soft exhale, wrapping his arms around Atlas and burying his face into the man's hair. "Yes, but if I hadn't been here in the first place you wouldn't be in this situation." He didn't want Atlas to lose what he had here just because he had walked into the picture. He wanted to fix his mistake, to make it right, but it wasn't turning out to be like that. He wasn't even wanted here by that guy—who he was assuming was some higher-up—and nothing Nikolas could do would even change his mind.
"But, I, ultimately, am the root of this. I was the one who started singing in the shower, I was the one that went to meet you last night, I was the one that invited you to the studio, I was the one that asked if you would feature in my song, I was the one that invited you to the cafe. It's all me and I don't want you to feel responsible for anything except enjoying yourself." He said. This was a regular pattern of Atlas, he was a huge people pleaser and never wanted anyone to feel at fault form something. He always took the blame or took something on to help others. He always internalized everything as well.
"Atlas," Nikolas said, a slight warning to the single word, "Stop it. It's not all on you." He pressed a kiss to the top of the man's head, another long exhale ruffling his hair. "All we can do now is hope everything doesn't come crumbling down, okay? Blame doesn't matter at this point, but I'm not going to get involved in case that just screws everything up. I'll do what I can if you need help, but it's clear I'm not wanted here."
Atlas stayed quiet. He knew Nikolas was right, there wasn't anything they could do. It was all down to what the owner thought and wanted from them. "K… I guess I'll see you later then?" He asked, whispering. He didn't want Nikolas to have to leave, but it would just make things worse if he stayed. He lifted his head up to look at Nikolas, into his calming and peaceful eyes.
Nikolas gazed down at Atlas was a sad smile, though his silver eyes were clear and swirling. He dipped his head down and placed a soft kiss to the man's lips. "I'll see you later. We still on for that date? It might cheer us both up, whatever happens," he offered, only pulling back a little bit so they could speak better. He really didn't want to leave Atlas, he wanted nothing more than to stay with him and comfort him, but he couldn't and he had to respect that.
"Well, depending on what happens, maybe. If he let's me finish the album here, we might have to postpone it since I would be here almost all night trying to finish it so I can release it on time. But if not then definitely because I'll have nothing to do and nowhere to record." He said, both options sounding not the very best. Atlas leaned up to kiss Nikolas again before giving him one last squeeze and slowly stepping away. "Um, you can keep my pastries if you want, but definitely not my coffe."
Nikolas offered a soft half-smile, then leaned over to grab the box of Atlas' pastries and his cup of coffee before handing them both to him. "I'm thinking you're going to need both. Here." He looked off to the side and got lost in thought for a bit, trying to articulate a plan. "If… If worse comes to worst… how would you feel about recording at a studio alongside Theresa Hunt? And possibly some other dorks if they agree to my scheme."
"Feel like that would be great. I might even be up for it even if everything turns out fine. Thank you." Atlas said trying to return a smile. He took his pastries and coffee, taking a sip as he got it. He made eye contact with Nikolas and kept it, causing him to actually smile softly.