| Sonata Movement 5: Vivace, "Mother Nature's Son" |
| Vivace: lively. The image of city boy Lennie naked in a field reminded me of this old Beatles song . . . |
| Sunday morning dawned clear and bright. Jack woke to see the sunlight peeking through the curtains. // About time! // He was feeling much better today. The ache in his shoulder had vanished with the rain. He looked over at Lennie sleeping beside him. // I really don�t deserve him, // he thought tenderly, remembering yesterday evening. After dinner, Lennie had tossed the fur throw back down onto the floor in front of the fireplace and produced a deck of cards. They had sat there, playing a variety of games, teaching each other some new ones, simply enjoying a quiet evening in front of the fire. He knew that Lennie was giving him space; a chance to recover from his earlier panic. Once again, Lennie came through as not only his lover, but as the best friend he�d ever had. // except maybe for Adam . . .but that was SO different . . . // Even when they had gone to bed, Lennie didn�t push. He simply laid down facing the edge, giving Jack the choice whether or not to spoon in behind him. Of course he did; how could he not after such a sweet gesture? As Jack�s arm wrapped around him, Lennie cradled it with his own, holding him as close as he could. They had fallen asleep like that. Jack glanced at the clock � 8AM. He sighed, wondering if he should wake Lennie. Normally, he would enjoy sneaking under the covers and giving Lennie a nice dream to wake up to. But he was still feeling kind of skittish after yesterday. Then he looked at Lennie again, and decided that just because HE wasn�t exactly in the mood, Lennie shouldn�t suffer. And maybe starting something would get HIM started as well. So he rolled over and slid his hand along Lennie�s stomach, under the blankets, down to his target. He let his fingers brush lightly across the area, caressing and teasing, until he began to feel a response. He smiled as he watched Lennie�s face, caught now in a dream triggered by Jack�s hand. He continued, feeling Lennie grow to fill his hand. With his other hand, he pushed aside the blankets covering Lennie�s chest to see the stiffening nipples, then began lightly brushing his fingertips across them. Lennie moaned and opened his eyes. �Morning.� Jack smiled down at him. �Mmmmmm . . . GOOD Morning!� Jack laughed, then leaned over to kiss his lover, momentarily abandoning his caresses below to take Lennie into his arms. He worked his way back down, tongue lingering for a while on Lennie�s neck, then down to the nipples, finally trailing a line of kisses across the stomach, ending up at the now full-grown cock. Jack sucked him hard, relentlessly, until Lennie exploded. When it was over, instead of crawling up to pillow his head on Lennie�s shoulder as he usually did, he just sat there, running his fingers along Lennie�s leg. He didn�t want Lennie to know that he hadn�t responded in kind. He quickly hid his disappointment and smiled as Lennie finally focused on him. �So are you getting up now? Look at this gorgeous day we�ve finally gotten!� Jack got up and threw the curtains open, sending Lennie diving back under the blankets. He laughed as he quickly wrapped a robe around himself. �I�m going down to start breakfast. Coffee soon.� Lennie crawled out from under the covers as his eyes adjusted to the light. That was odd. Jack seemed in an awful hurry to get out of here. // I bet I know why, too. He�s still worried about yesterday. // Lennie had been pretty sure when Jack had been leaning over him that he hadn�t felt something that should have been there. // But at least he tried. // Lennie shook his head and got out of bed, grabbing the remaining robe. He could smell the coffee brewing downstairs. Jack started the coffee, then got dressed in jeans, t-shirt and an old denim overshirt. He threw himself into making breakfast, as usual dealing with his problem by ignoring it and hoping it would go away. By the time Lennie came down, bacon was sizzling and he was just getting ready to flip the omelet. Lennie came up behind him and kissed his neck before reaching for the coffee. They talked idly over breakfast; little, unimportant things. Lennie recognized Jack�s problem-resolution strategy and decided not to push it right now. While Lennie cleaned up from breakfast, Jack went digging into a hall closet and came back with a backpack. �I left this here years ago � I can�t believe it�s still here!� He dug a picnic blanket out of the linen closet, and began making some sandwiches for a picnic lunch. A couple of sodas and some chips completed the picnic package. Finally, before they left, Jack went upstairs to the balcony to turn on the hot tub. Once he had forgotten to do that, and when they got back from a day of hiking he had discovered to his dismay that that much water just doesn�t heat up in a few minutes. He had a feeling this evening they would both be eager to soak their old bones in the warm water. It was about 11 AM when they finally made it out the door. Lennie offered to take the backpack. �If your shoulder�s still bothering you, I can carry it.� �Don�t worry, Lennie. I�m fine.� // Damn, he can be stubborn. // Lennie knew that �fine� wasn�t just referring to the shoulder, and wasn�t true, in either case. The sun was warm on their backs as they headed up a trail Jack remembered. Jack led the way, but part of him wished he could bring up the rear so that he could watch Lennie - the city boy was quite out of his element here. After about an hour, the trail joined up with a beautiful mountain stream. It was much shadier here, and they were glad of the overshirts they had worn. Jack could hear the falls ahead before they came around the bend. �Oh, man!� He smiled at Lennie�s reaction to the beautiful sight. There was a big, flat boulder near the side of the stream. They rested for a while there, just taking in the beauty of the place. After the falls, the trail veered away from the stream, eventually coming to a wide meadow that was bursting with wild flowers. The midafternoon sun was again warm, high overhead. �How�s this look for a picnic spot, Lennie?� �Hey, you�re the expert here. I�m just along for the ride.� Jack shrugged off the backpack and dug out the picnic blanket. They spread it over the grass; thankfully by now the sun had dried up yesterday�s rain. Lennie flopped gracelessly down, immediately taking off his boots. Jack grinned at him as he fished out their lunch. �Not quite broken in enough, huh? I warned you.� Lennie glared at him, contemplating tossing the boot in his direction. �Well, they are NOW.� Jack laughed as he sent his own boots to follow � no need to get mud all over the picnic blanket. They finished their lunch, then settled back to enjoy the warm afternoon. Overshirts tossed aside, Lennie stretched out on his side and invited Jack to settle back against him. Again, he noticed the moment�s hesitation. Time to deal with this. As Jack leaned back against him, Lennie slid his arm protectively around his friend. �Jack, you ready to talk about this?� He felt the tension; Jack took a deep breath and sighed. �Which part?� he asked, almost plaintive. �One day at a time, Jack, one day at a time.� The AA mantra came almost unbidden to his lips. �I was thinking about this morning. You rushed out of there awfully fast?� Jack nodded. He didn�t want to admit this. It could be the end of everything. �I couldn�t, Lennie.� He swallowed. �I . . . I couldn�t get it up.� There. It was out. Lennie nodded, sitting up to wrap both arms around Jack. �It�s OK, Jack. I knew.� Jack pulled away a bit to look up, shocked. �How?� �When you were leaning over me, I was pretty sure I didn�t feel anything; then when you got down to business, you were kind of rough, like you just wanted to get it over with. Like you weren�t enjoying it at all.� Jack bowed his head. �I�m sorry, Lennie.� �Hey, I said it was OK.� He held Jack close for a few minutes, gently stroking his hair. �You know, Jack, neither one of us is as young as we�d like to think we are. And we�ve been keeping up a pretty good pace the past few months. OK, you hit a mental block. That�s all it is; you will get past it. This happens to everyone once in a while. It�s no big deal.� Jack looked up again into Lennie�s eyes. He couldn�t believe how understanding the other man was being. �Dammit, Lennie, I don�t deserve you. You�re so good to me . . .� �Hey, you were there for me when I needed you � when I lost Cathy.� The briefest of shadows crossed his eyes, and the two men clung together for mutual support. �That�s what friends do � help each other. But Jack, you�ve got to LET me help you on this. Keeping it locked up inside isn�t going to get you past it. Remember what Skoda told you?� Jack nodded. Back in November, after he had been attacked, he had talked with the shrink, who advised him that talking to Lennie might just be the best way for him to deal with his issues. It had worked then, but he now realized that they still had a long way to go. �I�ll try, Lennie.� �That�s all I can ask, Jack.� They laid there for a while lost in their own thoughts. Lennie decided the mood needed to lighten up a bit. // and it might just help him get comfortable again // �Hey, Jack, you know what I�d really like to do right now?� There was an undercurrent of laughter in the voice that caught Jack�s attention. // oh, god, what�s he up to now? // �What?� �Get up.� As Jack sat forward, Lennie stood and stripped, tossing his clothes aside with reckless abandon. Jack just sat there and stared. �Lennie?� �Why the hell not, Jack? There ain�t nobody around for miles, it�s a beautiful warm sunny afternoon. Come on - loosen up a bit!� // Why the hell not, indeed. // Jack laughed and tossed his t-shirt onto the pile, then stood up to skin out of his jeans. The sun on his skin did feel good, and so did Lennie�s arms, which were suddenly around him. Lennie had an idea . . . He let go and reached down with his right arm to catch Jack behind the knees, intending to lift him into his arms and gently set him down on the blanket. Unfortunately, he wasn�t as strong as he used to be, and Jack was a little heavier than Gloria had been. They ended up tumbling down to the blanket in a tangle of legs and arms, laughing hysterically. �You idiot!,� Jack laughed. They sorted themselves out, and Jack drew him in for a tender kiss. They laid there, naked in the warm afternoon sun, now Lennie�s head pillowed on Jack�s stomach. A few puffy white clouds crossed the almost painfully blue sky. Jack�s fingers trailed aimlessly through Lennie�s hair. Everything was so peaceful and serene. An old Beatles song popped into his mind: Born a poor young country boy, Mother Nature's son All day long I'm sitting singing songs for everyone Sit beside a mountain stream, see her waters rise Listen to the pretty sound of music as she flies Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son Swaying daises sing a lazy song beneath the sun If an old city boy like Lennie could look so at home here, surely he could learn a few new tricks himelf? With Lennie�s help, certainly. They�d get through this, together. Continue on to Movement 6 Send me some feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC; I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
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