This and That, Part 2

A guest post by my truckbuddy Tim, now resident in Spain:

Part 1 was posted last week; here is the conclusion. Your comments are welcome, as ever.

This and That

Part 2: Trivial, and not so trivial, pursuits

Morning Kiss by xTh13teeNx at DeviantArt.
Always a favourite 3D artist of mine.

Piers woke to see brown eyes directly opposite his. Two pinpoints of light indicated they were watching him intently. Somehow, he slowly realized, he had ended up on a level with Chris whilst they had been asleep.

"How did I get here?" he said drowsily.

"You were shivering, and, er, I had a nightmare."

Piers was immediately wide awake and alert, his voice full of concern. "You did? Are you Ok Babe?"

"Yeah, I did what you told me to do, wake myself up from it; when it got ….”

"Hush, it's all right now."

But Chris wanted to talk it through, so Piers let him. Better out than in.

"It was weird. We were sleeping in a tent, on a mountain side, right on the edge of a big drop."

Piers cursed himself for using for using the word 'edge' earlier. He never knew what might lead to one of Chris' attacks. An image, a song, or, like now, a single word. Much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't wrap his Captain in cotton wool. But what he could do was limit the damage if and when such an event occurred.

Piers smiled reassuringly. "Life on the edge see? Like we talked about earlier, that's all."

"Oh yeah. Well, then there was this earthquake or something, the ground was shaking. Then there was this deep rumble, it was an avalanche. I threw myself over you just before it hit, and that's when I forced myself to wake up."

"Good thing too." Piers had encouraged Chris to do this; anything to prevent a nightmare from prolonging and possibly triggering a PTSD event.

"So what did it mean, Ace?"

Piers didn't know what it meant. He was an expert in many things, but reading dreams and nightmares wasn't one of them, if indeed such a thing were even possible. However, Chris was now looking to him for an answer, and it was Piers' self-appointed duty to find one.

"Hmm, the earth shaking, that was probably just me shivering."

"Ah, yes, I see! And the rumbling?"

"Well, that was either your stomach, or mine, probably both, heh, heh! I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Listen, here it goes again."

Continued after the jump . . .




Chris put his head to Piers' belly. "Ha, ha, ha! Oh Piers, where would I be without you?"

"Ain't gonna happen, I'm sticking to you like glue." Piers was keen to change the subject now. If Chris got past the bad dream quickly, it would just as quickly be forgotten. "It's a quarter past ten, would you like brunch?"

"In a while. It's nice just lying here and listening to you gurgling." Chris kissed the flat abdominals, his tongue running down the trail of fine curly hairs. "Fancy me thinking it was an avalanche!"

"Well the mind plays funny tricks when you're in REM sleep. And anyway, it was probably one of your gurgles, they're louder than mine."

"The stuff of nightmares, ha!"

"Just a series of easily explained co-incidences Babe." Piers lied. "I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."

"Was that meant to be a joke?"

"Um, yeah."

"Dreadful!"

"My usual standard then?"

"Up there with the best." Chris chuckled. "Ooh, another gurgle."

"That was definitely you!"

"Probably, sounded like thunder … is it still passing down outside?"

Piers craned his neck to get a view out of the window. "Yeah, looks like it's here for the duration."

"Great! Then we can slop about at home all day. Um, there's nothing on the agenda is there?"

"No."

Chris and Piers had let it be known that their weekends were special. If nothing had been arranged by Friday lunchtime, either by themselves or their colleagues, then it was taken as read that they wanted to remain undisturbed during the weekend. Their 'own' time together was so precious. And their friends quickly understood. They hadn't been together long, and they were, after all, still very much in love. Andy Walker, Alpha's grizzled sergeant, had considered taking bets on how long the relationship would last. But he'd soon realized that the odds were stacked against him, and that would they would remain so. And he knew he couldn't take the hit, financially or, if Chris found out, physically.

"Good! What's the time again?"

"Ten twenty-three."

"Give or take a couple of minutes?"

"No, exactly … I'm looking at the bedside clock."

"Ha, ha, ha! Then let's have another hour here snuggling; then do brunch like you said. After that we can come back to bed till we start gurgling again."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'm good at plans."

"Heh, heh, nice one!"

"That wasn't a joke, Piers! I was serious."

"Oh, sorry."

"Gotcha!"

They lay in each other's arms, talking idly about the little things in life, the trivia. Things that were seemingly insignificant to outsiders, but which they knew cemented their bond ever tighter.

And they delighted in one another's bodies. Piers had thought he knew Chris' very well, and on a macro scale, he did, based on careful and unobserved observation over the years. But when that body was only inches away, Piers found the detail breathtaking. The freckles, the tiny nicks and scars, the pattern of skin pores. They all told a story and Piers found he couldn't put the book down.

Chris too, delighted in his partner's form. He'd always known Piers had a lithe body. And that cute butt, he'd seen it running, crawling, climbing, in front of him on Ops so many times. But to see and hold the whole deal, to delight at how the muscles flexed and flowed, giving shape to that lean frame. He sometimes thought his own body cumbersome, and inelegant compared to Piers' but his Ace seemed to like it, and that was all that mattered.

It was only when Piers had to go to the bathroom that Chris reluctantly decided it was time to rise and fuel up. He felt guilty about having a lazy day, he knew people would imagine him up before dawn, running ten miles before two hours weights and a carrot juice for breakfast. But he also knew Piers could keep a secret, and besides, he did all those things weekdays.

"What are you grinning at?" Piers stood in doorway looking at him.

"Just thinking about my training regime."

"Sounds work related to me, and we ..."

"... don't talk about work at home. So problem solved."

"And the guilty conscience."

"Hey, how'd you know about that?"

" ‘Cos that was the 'guilty' grin you were wearing just then. I can read you like a book."

"Didn't think Grunts could read."

"Watch it, Fly Boy."

"I am. You gonna' put any clothes on?"

"Hmm, what ya got? Oh, this is nice, sniff." Piers picked one of Chris' sweatshirts from a pile in the closet.

"Er, I've been wearing that all week Ace. It hums."

"Yeah, I know, sniff. Woof."

"Weird Californian kid."

"Uptight old Orygun. What else ya' got?"

"No, you're not wearing my shorts, unless I'm in them."

"They're big enough."

"Oi! Just for that, you're doing the cooking."

"No probs, I was going to anyway. I want a meal, not just food. Got any pants?"

"The gray training ones, they're humming too."

"Humming what? Madonna? I heard you pushin' weights in the garage gym ... 'Like a virgin, touched for the very first time." Piers imitated Chris' deep voice. "Heh, heh, some virgin!"

"Piers, remind me again why I love you …?"

Piers turned around, dropping Chris' jogging pants and wiggling his backside.

"Oh yeah, that was it."

************************

They hadn't stocked up yet this weekend; and Piers realized the way it was going they probably wouldn't. He opened the chest freezer in the utility room and smiled. When Chris went shopping for food he bought fuel. Coal for the furnace that was his metabolism. When Piers went, he bought ingredients. Things that he would combine and create a meal from. He preferred to buy fresh, but with their hectic lifestyle that wasn't always possible, so the freezer held stocks of frozen substitutes, for emergencies and sloppy weekends, like this one.

"Asparagus, asparagus … ah, there you are. Ooh, mushrooms too, I'd forgotten about you. Out you come."

"Still talking to yourself Ace?"

"I'm a good listener."

"Is there no end to your talents?"

"No."

"Like your modesty, boundless."

"Pretty much."

"Good job you're not wearing my hat too, you'd stretch it."

"I've never seen you wear a hat."

"It's a woolen one, a beanie, like Finny's. Green, with a white stripe."

"Gah! That's created an image now, one that won't go away."

"He's a good kid."

"With a bad taste in headgear."

"Still a hero."

"Yeah. He grew up quickly in Edo...." Piers stopped short. 'Damn, the E word!' he said to himself, cursing.

"Wish I'd been there to see it."

"Chris, remember our rules?"

"They're our boys. I'd make an exception for them any day. And so would you, you know it."

"Yes, I would. But I also don't want you reliving the past, not when it still hurts you. Forwards, remember?"

"Piers …" the voice suddenly soft, vulnerable.

"Yes?"

"What's for brunch?"

"Chris …”

"Yeah?"

"Wait and see!"

************************

"Babe, would you get the fire going please, then lay up."

"Do we need the fire, if we're going back to bed?"

"I need the fire, unless you're gonna' sit and hold me close. In which case it will be difficult to eat."

"Hmm, I could think of something to chew on."

"I could think of something to nibble as well, but we'll save that for later shall we?"

"How 'bout an appetizer?"

"How 'bout that fire?"

"Tch! You're a hard master."

"I will be."

"I meant like stiff."

"I know what you meant Chris. Now make with the firelighters whilst I make with the skillet."

"Make out?"

"You're both similar, hot and greasy."

"Oi!"

"Fire, now!"

"Ha, ha, ha! I love all this sparring. It reminds me of Claire. Jeez, what did I do with my time before I met you Ace?"

"You were waiting Babe, like I was."

"What for?"

"Each for the other of course."

"That simple?"

"Has to be for you!"

"Ha! Wait! What did you say?"

"Gotcha!"

************************

"Sniff! Hmm, that smells nice!"

"I'm frying up the garlic … how's that fire going?"

"Er, it's going now, don't worry."

"Why now?"

"Um, I blew on it, to give it start."

"And?"

"I, er, I blew the firelighter out." Chris replied in an embarrassed whisper

"Sorry, I didn't hear you...you did what?"

"I BLEW THE FIRELIGHTER OUT, OK?"

"Heh, heh, I thought that was what you said."

"Bastard." Chris said under his breath.

"I heard that!"

"So sue me. What's next, O Master?"

"Is the table laid?"

"Can't we eat on our laps? It's only brunch."

"This is not any brunch, it's salmón con espárragos y huevos revueltos."

"Parrots and something revolting?"

"It's a Spanish recipe, salmon, asparagus and scrambled eggs."

"No revolting parrots?"

" ‘Fraid not, we're fresh out."

"Ha! It sounds, and smells, lovely Ace. Tell you what, I'll open a bottle of wine, if we can have it on out laps in front of the fire. You'll be warmer there, and we can cuddle. Deal?"

"You smooth talker, you. Ok, I'll cut the salmon smaller, easier to eat. Ready in five minutes."

"Give or take?"

"No, exactly. There's a chardonnay in the refrigerator."

"Pennsylvanian salmon, Spanish meals, Californian wine, so that's where the housekeeping goes."

"You make it sound like the United Nations."

"We are the United Nations Ace, well, kinda."

"That's all right then. This is our splurge for the week."

"Splurge?"

"You know, naughty calories, unhealthy fats, frying, alcohol."

"Well I won't tell if you don't. Besides we'll burn it off later.

"Hmm, I'm not sure sex is part of a calorie-controlled diet."

"Well if you don't want to...."

"Ok, but strictly in the interest of science."

"That's my Boy!"

Piers walked into the living room from the kitchen.

"Oh wow, Babe! Candles, roaring log fire, blanket in front of the hearth. You've been busy!"

"You deserve it. It's a thank you, for seeing me through that bad dream earlier. You need looking after too Piers, I'm not that good at it yet, but I'm learning. I've got a good teacher, best in the BSAA."

Piers went to speak, but Chris put a finger to his lips. "Shh. I know we're on that edge, looking forward. But it doesn't mean we can't stop now and again. Have a look around, see where we are, and how far we've got...." He brushed a hand against Piers' cheek. "Take in the view, and enjoy it."

Stubbled lips brushed against full ones. Large hands held the latte-topped head gently, tongues met.

"I love you, Piers Nivans."

"You're not so bad yourself …."