by Windsor Blue
Quatre looked up from his work and sighed.
God, I'm bored.
He moved to the window, keeping an eye on Duo as he did. For his part, Duo was bent over the floor plans of the base they were assigned to infiltrate the day after tomorrow, pencil in hand, making diligent plans for their entry and escape.
Well, this is a switch. I'm bored, and he's engrossed in a mission.
He leaned against the window frame, palms resting on the glass. It had been a long time since he and Duo had been alone in a safe house together, and the last time had been...well, eventful.
Take it back, Duo.
Make me.
Quatre pushed the thoughts away. Aside from a few random winks and the occasional off-color remark, the afternoon and night they'd spent in each other's arms had gone utterly without comment. Quatre wasn't sure whether that was because of the presence of the others or the awkwardness of the situation. Indeed, their friendship had continued on the same path it had been on before, without a hint of difference.
I can't explain what happened there, but I wouldn't mind if it happened again.
It was all very confusing, especially since he was pretty sure he was in love with someone else. But by Heaven did Duo inspire some of his more...animalistic urges. He sighed again and tried not to watch Duo's reflection in the glass, focusing his concentration on the world outside. And what a world it was.
The rain they had woken up to had vanished, evaporating in the face of the beaming sun. The sky was clear and blue and just about as perfect as you could want it to be. Quatre glanced back at his computer, then turned again to the window.
"It's a beautiful day outside," he commented, trying to keep his voice nonchalant.
"Hm? Is it?" Duo didn't look up as he asked the question.
"Yes, the rain has stopped. The sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky."
"That's nice." Duo set up his straight edge and penciled a precise line.
"Great day for a motorcycle ride," Quatre remarked.
Finally, Duo looked up to see his friend staring outside wistfully. He put down his pencil with a soft chuckle. "What's wrong with this picture?"
Quatre looked at him over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"
"Shouldn't you be the one working away while I stand at the window and babble about how nice it is outside?"
"It is nice outside," Quatre replied with a shrug.
Duo pushed himself out of his chair, stretched languidly, and moved to stand next to Quatre at the window. They contemplated the view for a moment before Duo gently elbowed Quatre's arm.
"So, d'ya wanna go outside and play?"
"That depends," Quatre said with a small smile. "Do I have someone to play with?"
Duo smirked. "We have to have the mission planned before the guys get back."
"They'll be gone until tomorrow night."
"Heero's gonna kill us if we're not ready when he gets here."
"We don't have that much more to do. He'll never know."
"D'ya think it'll get cold later?"
"It might."
"Well then, we'd better get our coats."
It was difficult not to run his hands along Duo's tight stomach as he sat behind him on the bike. The stomach, the chest, the thighs, the back...it was all too tempting, and Quatre could feel his resolve melting like it was a tangible thing.
I'm not going to start anything until I'm sure he wants to finish it. I'm not. I'm not I'm not I'm not...
It didn't help that Duo was singing at the top of his lungs, and that through even the slight touch of his hands on Duo's sides he could feel his body vibrating with the music and the motion of the bike.
"Sprung from cages out on Highway 9, chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line...Whoa-oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back. It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young...'Cause tramps like us, baby we were bo-orn to run!"
Quatre smiled to himself. Oh yeah, this was a great day for a motorcycle ride. He allowed himself the indulgence of leaning a little closer into Duo's back before adding his voice to the song.
"Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend, I want to guard your dreams and visions...Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims and strap your hands across my engines!"
With that, Duo scooted his rear back ever-so-slightly on the seat, squirming a dare into Quatre's crotch. Quatre suppressed his shudder and tightened his grip around Duo's waist.
Did he do that on purpose?
"Together we could break this trap, we'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back...Oh, will you walk with me out on the wire - 'cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider, but I gotta know how it feels -- I want to know if your love is wild, I want to know if love is real!"
Quatre began drumming the rhythm of the bass line against Duo's stomach with his fingers. It wasn't until he felt Duo tighten a little that he even realized he was doing it.
"So where to? Duo shouted over his shoulder.
"How about the pier?" Quatre replied.
Duo nodded and the bike veered out of one lane and into the next, lining up to take the off-ramp. Within minutes, they were pulling into a parking lot and feeding a meter. They both pulled off their helmets and Duo's braid uncoiled from its confinement like a boa constrictor in a snake charmer's basket. Quatre just stood and watched it twitch for a moment before being greeted with an amused smirk.
"Hungry?" Duo ventured.
"Sure," Quatre nodded with a smile.
"Let's try that burger joint on the end of the pier," Duo suggested with the brush of a hand against Quatre's back. "Come on!" He took off at a run, daring Quatre without words to follow him.
What else can I do? thought Quatre, and with a whoop he gave chase.
They ran at top speed down the pier, laughing and drawing several disapproving glares along the way. They clambered into the small restaurant and showed themselves to a booth by a window, sliding into the seats like ballplayers into first base. Double cheeseburgers and milkshakes were ordered when the waitress came by, and it wasn't long before Duo was stuffing the tabletop jukebox with nickels and picking the silliest songs on the play list. When the food came, it didn't last long, devoured with the voracity of young men finally tasting the freedom they'd been craving for too long. When it was gone and their plates were cleared, they sat in a digestive silence, staring out the window at the waves crashing against the shore.
Duo stole a glance at Quatre and smirked. "Dare ya to go skinny-dipping in the ocean."
Quatre snorted. "No way. The water's probably freezing."
"Aw, come on. You don't want me to think you're a goody two shoes, do ya?"
Eyes darting to his friend, Quatre saw an unidentifiable look cross Duo's face. He looked scared, almost - a little shy, but still daring enough to bring up the one thing that wanted desperately to be said.
Quatre lowered his gaze and reached in his pocket for his wallet. Throwing some money down on the table, he rose and reached out for Duo's hand.
"Let's go walk on the sand awhile," he said.
Duo nodded, and out they went.
When they got to the shore end of the pier, they took their shoes off and let the sand squish between their toes. At the water's edge, they found out that Quatre's estimation about the ocean's temperature was startlingly correct. Dancing back from waves, they made for safer ground and ended up under the pier, leaning side-by-side against one of the supports.
"Listen, Duo, about the 'goody two shoes' thing..."
"Listen, Q, about that 'goody two shoes' crack..."
They stopped and stared at each other for a moment before tension-breaking smirks rose to their lips.
"You go first," Duo offered.
"No, please, you first. I insist."
Duo rolled his eyes. "Ever the gentleman, eh Quatre?"
Quatre made a small bow with his head, and Duo chuckled. "Okay, fine. But what I have to say is complicated, so don't interrupt me until I'm done, okay?"
With a nod and a smile, Quatre turned to lean against one side, giving Duo his full attention.
"Look, I'm not saying I regret what we did, because I don't. I mean, it was great. It was beyond great. We had this intense connection, y'know? Seriously, it was unlike anything I've ever done with anyone." He paused. "That sounds slutty. I don't mean that I've got a lot of experience, but it wasn't my first time, either." He paused again, looking a little more nervous. "It wasn't your first time, was it?"
Quatre smiled slightly and shook his head.
Duo smirked. "Yeah, I didn't think so. You seemed pretty confident about what you were doing." His smirk faded. "But, the thing is...I...I kinda have this crush on someone else, and to be honest, I think you do, too."
Quatre nodded. "Heero?" he asked.
"Yeah," Duo replied with a wistful smile. "Trowa?"
Quatre nodded again. "You know me too well."
"Nah," Duo shook his head softly. "Just well enough. Anyway, I'm not saying that I'm not into you, because I could be, I really could be. But I know myself well enough to know that even if we did make it a permanent arrangement, and even if we did end up being totally into each other, I'd still wake up one day and wonder what might have been." His eyes met Quatre's once more. "I think you would, too."
"You're right," Quatre said, with a hint of sadness. "I probably would."
"And that wouldn't really be fair to either of us, would it?"
"No. I'm sorry, Duo."
"Don't be. We're in the same boat, y'know. And it's not like we didn't have a good time together, because we did. I just think that we should probably not do it again, that's all."
"You're right," replied Quatre. "There's no point in complicating things, is there?"
"No, there's not," Duo assented with a shake of his head. "But I still want for us to be friends like this. You're one of the best friends I've ever had, and I don't want to fuck that up."
"We haven't," Quatre said, his smile becoming more confident. He offered Duo a handshake. "Friends?"
Duo grabbed the hand and shook it firmly. "Friends."
For just one second too long, they stared at their clasped hands. For just one second too long, they each reveled in the touch of the other's skin against their own. For just one second too long, neither of them let go, and that one little second was all it took. In one more second their lips met in a fevered haze.
They kissed like that for a long while, right hands still clenched between them in a strange parody of chaste fellowship. Duo's left hand wound into Quatre's hair, and Quatre's came to rest on the back of Duo's neck. Too soon, they had to break for air, panting, their foreheads resting together.
"We shouldn't be doing this," Duo murmured.
"No, we shouldn't," Quatre agreed between breaths.
Their right hands disentangled as they kissed again. When they broke apart once more, Duo was moaning softly while Quatre trembled.
"This is a bad idea," Duo protested weakly.
"You're right. You're absolutely right," Quatre managed before Duo's mouth claimed his once more.
Duo worked a hand between them and pushed himself away from Quatre, eliciting a low, protesting growl.
"Quatre," Duo said with all the composure he could muster, "I don't love you."
Quatre smiled and swept all of Duo's resolve away. "I don't love you, either."
Duo sighed and pulled Quatre against him, allowing him fresh access to his mouth. Before long Quatre's tongue was traveling south down his neck, his fingers tugging gently at his shirt buttons.
"Quatre..." Duo breathed.
Gentle tugs became insistent nips and Duo's eyes closed of their own accord, shutting off all the unnecessary stimuli and allowing him to focus on the sweet torture of Quatre's teeth against his flesh. His hips rolled and jerked as Quatre's hands ran under his shirt, around his waist, back down the front of his...
"Oh, God...Quatre..."
His eyes bolted open at the sensation of Quatre kneeling before him, his lips mouthing his fly, and as they did a dawning awareness of where they were crept into his mind - that, and the feeling that they were being watched.
Straining to focus his vision even as Quatre tried his very best to keep it clouded, Duo took in the small clusters of beachgoers that were now pausing to observe their activities. Equal measures of shock and bemusement, tempered with heaping teaspoons of disgust and carefully disguised lust could be found there.
"Quatre," he said in a throaty voice, pulling up on his friend's collar.
"Quatre," he repeated a bit more insistently when the blond refused to be budged.
"Quatre!" he nearly shouted, pushing him back by the shoulders.
"What?" Quatre replied with equal vehemence.
Duo's shoulders shook in repressed laughter. "We should find someplace more private, don'tcha think?"
Quatre rose to his feet, looking around at their quickly dissipating audience with annoyance before resettling his gaze on Duo's face.
"No," he said, voice strong.
Duo blinked out a "Huh?" and Quatre smile became shy. "I don't want to give either of us a chance to change our minds."
"I won't if you won't," Duo replied with a Cheshire cat grin. He took one of Quatre's hands in his own and began to step away from the pier. "Come on," he said, nodding towards his right. "Let's go just past those rocks over there - I bet there's a cave or something we could hide in."
Quatre's smile turned feral as he allowed himself to be led down the beach.
As it turned out, Duo was right. Just past a cluster of rocks that jutted out into the ocean, a long expanse of cliffs met the shore. There, they found a tall fissure surrounded by rough blocks of hard sand. Judging by the abandoned beer bottles and forgotten take-out bags, they weren't the first ones to decide this was a good place to be alone.
They laid their jackets on the sand and flopped down, side-by-side and heads resting against each other, to contemplate the darkening sky for a moment. Quatre rolled up onto his side and put his hand on the flat of Duo's stomach.
"Where were we?" he asked in a soft purr.
"Somewhere south of there," Duo replied with a grin.
"Are you still sure you want to do this?" Quatre's hand began a slow descent on Duo's body.
"Oh, yeah," Duo sighed, his eyes closing.
"We really shouldn't..." Quatre's wayward hand became the barest brush of fingers against Duo's burgeoning hardness.
Duo's hips ratcheted up of their own accord. "That's what makes it so hot."
Quatre leaned forward to invade Duo's mouth, marauding it with his tongue, as his fingers kept up their merciless tease. Duo clenched Quatre's hand in an insistent grip, and Quatre chuckled a little as he applied more pressure. Before long he was fiddling with Duo's zipper, and Duo was reaching up to unbutton Quatre's shirt. They found bare flesh simultaneously, and they hissed in time with each other.
"Jesus, Quatre - I don't think I've ever been this turned on before."
"I know what you mean..." Quatre released his grip and pushed Duo onto his back, pulling himself down to nestle between Duo's legs. His hands ran down the length of Duo's body, resting on his thighs and gently massaging them as he pushed them further apart. His head dipped to lap at Duo's length and Duo felt his hips thrusting desperately to find Quatre's mouth. When he finally did feel Quatre's lips surround him, it was all he could do not to scream for joy.
Quatre worked his tongue around Duo's shaft, reaching around his hips to tug at the waistband of his jeans. As he did, his hand slid across Duo's back pocket and felt a small, odd shape there. Reaching into the pocket, he pulled out the object and held it up, amused. He let Duo's cock slide out of his mouth and grinned at him.
"We shouldn't do it again, eh?" he chuckled, twirling the tube of lube between his fingers.
Duo leaned up on his elbows and smirked. "Yeah, well, you can't blame a guy for hoping..."
"No," Quatre replied, opening the tube and squeezing some of the contents onto his fingers. "No, I suppose you can't." He took Duo back into his mouth as he eased two fingers inside of him, causing Duo to jerk up and groan loudly. Quatre's free hand made soft, relaxing circles on Duo's hip, and his fingers and mouth continued their feverish work until Duo could finally stand no more. He wrapped his legs around Quatre's waist and rolled them over so Quatre was now on his back. Pulling himself out of Quatre's mouth, he scooted down and desperately pulled Quatre's fly open.
Quatre reached down and pulled Duo's pants off as far as he could. Duo finished the job and straddled Quatre's lap, positioning himself carefully. He grabbed Quatre's wrists and held them down firmly against the ground as he pushed back onto Quatre's cock, eliciting a sharp cry followed by a thick-voiced moan. Duo kept pushing until Quatre was all the way inside him, and then he lifted himself slowly back up. Once he reached the very tip of his length, he pulled up on Quatre's arms, forcing him to sit up and brace himself on his hands.
His eyes intense, he held Quatre's gaze for interminable seconds before finally speaking in a husky, dry voice. "Never tell me you love me."
"I won't," Quatre replied in kind, shaking his head firmly, and Duo dropped his body down Quatre's shaft once more.
"Because if we ever say it," Duo continued, making another slow ascent, "Then this becomes wrong," He impaled himself quickly, harshly, leaving them both gasping. "And I don't want it to be," he breathed, his upward movement tortuously slow.
"I don't either," Quatre sighed, grabbing Duo's hips and forcing him down.
"Because someday, we're going to leave each other for someone else." Duo's pace was maddening, unnerving and perfect. "And if we never say it, then we can't get our hearts broken."
"Absolutely - makes perfect sense," Quatre agreed through clenched teeth, and made himself believe it was true.
"Swear it," Duo held up his right hand, his pinky finger extended.
"I swear," Quatre wrapped his own pinky around Duo's and thrust sharply upward.
"Oh, God," Duo cried, reaching completion in a blinding moment. Quatre moved just once more before joining him, and afterwards he flopped back to the sand, taking Duo down with him. Trapped between their bodies, their pinky fingers were still twined together.
It was well after dark when they finally made it back to the house, and Quatre was a little disappointed to see everything was as they'd left it. The plans for the next day were still strewn, unfinished, over the desk. His computer sat in the same spot facing the window, waiting patiently for him to return. He sighed quietly, shrugging off his coat and setting his resolve to go back to work, when he felt the faintest brush of fingers running through the back of his hair.
He turned to see Duo smiling at him. "You've got sand in your hair," he said.
Quatre took the end of Duo's braid and stroked it. "I'll bet you do, too."
"Undoubtedly." He pulled the tie off the end and began to shake it loose. Quatre held his hand out so that the ends could slip over and around his fingers as Duo un-worked the braid. He stopped, and Quatre was left standing with a handful of his hair pooling in his palm. They stood like that for a while before Quatre finally lowered his hand.
"It looks like water," Quatre said, softly and a little sheepishly. "Water and silk, all mixed up together."
Duo smiled gently. "I'll brush the sand out of yours if you'll do the same for me," he offered.
Quatre wagged his eyebrows. "I suppose I can do that," he said, but then he took a guilty look around at the work they'd left unfinished.
Duo took him by the elbow, pulling gently. "It'll be there in the morning."
"Yes," Quatre replied, allowing Duo to take him where he would. "Yes, it will."