Reeve slowly opened his eyes. His bedroom was completely dark, and the alarm clock told him in glowing blue numerals that it was sometime after three in the morning. He lifted his hand to rub his eyes and was a little startled to find that it met some resistance in the form of the blankets, which had somehow gotten pulled over him at some point. He didn't remember doing it himself, so how had they gotten there? That painfully short dream...what if it hadn't been a dream?
Nah. Tseng might have come in and pulled the covers over him, but the rest...that had to have been a product of a) too much stress, b) an overactive imagination, and c) a dose of rather old over-the-counter sedatives...right? Dream or not, each time Reeve replayed the scenario in his mind, a sort of warm, safe feeling would wash over him; sort of the same feeling one got from drinking a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows bobbing in it after coming in from a cold, rainy day. It had to have been a dream. Tseng wasn't--wasn't like that.
Was he?
A scene from a few weeks back floated up to the surface of Reeve's memory. On the surface, it seemed mundane enough, and until now, he hadn't thought twice about it. A simple handshake in the hall at work; perfectly professional other than the fact that Tseng had let his hand rest in Reeve's for perhaps a fraction of a second longer than appropriate. And in that fraction of a second, their eyes had met and Reeve had caught a trace of--he wasn't completely sure, but that fleeting gaze had given him the same warm feeling he had now when he thought about that dream. And then he thought about the look Tseng had given him in the men's room right before he passed out. Now that Reeve thought about it, it had looked like Tseng had been on the verge of tears.
/Well, duh, he's my friend,/ Reeve thought with a sigh. /Of course he was worried...even if he -is-...I'm not...am I?/ He feared that what Scarlet had done to him would leave him unable to look at a woman the same way again, and experimentally he thought about the cutest girls he currently knew of: Heidegger's secretary, that flower girl Hojo wanted locked up in his lab so he could do God only knew what to her, that little blonde thing who was slowly but surely wiggling her way into the Turks. Usually, mentally undressing any of them was enough to induce an immediate and severe hard-on; and it was with no small degree of alarm that Reeve realized he now felt absolutely nothing for them. In fact, the thought of doing the horizontal tango with them made his toes curl up and his skin crawl.
/Goddamn Scarlet,/ Reeve thought, although he knew he could lie there and goddamn Scarlet straight to Hell and it wouldn't make a difference. He was just as disgusted with himself as he was with her. Scarlet had raped him...and he had, as much as the thought sickened him, gotten off on it. And those two factors had joined forces and killed a part of him.
And then there was Tseng. Tseng was his best--hell, his - only- friend inside the company. It had been Tseng who had driven him around Midgar for a week while the insurance company puzzled over what to do with his car, which had been stripped of almost every single moving part one day in the company parking garage. It had been Tseng who had saved him from a fate worse than death at the last office New Years' party, when he had gotten so drunk that he'd almost agreed to go home with Scarlet. Sure, Tseng nagged and fussed at him almost daily for spending so much time at work, but Reeve knew Tseng only bugged him like that because of their friendship.
But the more Reeve thought about it, the more he began to suspect that there was more to it than that. And with a sudden shock and thought of /What the hell is this!?/ he realized that thinking about Tseng in that light was producing the same effect that picturing Heidegger's secretary naked was normally supposed to. /Oh, this is just great.../ He heard soft snoring coming from his living room, and he stood up slowly and padded in.
Tseng was sprawled on the sofa in his T-shirt; his shirt and jacket were draped neatly over the back of a chair. Cait Sith lay curled in a ball on his chest and purred softly in his sleep; Tseng's hand rested on the kitten's back as he too lay sleeping on the sofa. As Reeve crept into the living room, Cait Sith flicked his tail under Tseng's nose, causing the latter to snort and mumble. Apparently that was enough to wake him up; he yawned and stretched, and then he opened his eyes. "Mmm. Cat hair. Yummy." Tseng sat up sleepily, picked Cait Sith up, and set him down on the floor where he scampered away in search of entertainment or food. "Feeling better?" he asked, lighting up a cigarette, and Reeve nodded.
"A little. Um--" Reeve sighed, knowing what he was about to ask was probably going to get him lectured, "can I get one of those from you?"
Tseng didn't nag. He stood up, dug in the pocket of his jacket, and extracted a pack of Reeve's brand of choice. "I went to the quickie-mart while you were out. I figured you were going to need a smoke when you woke up."
"You're a lifesaver," Reeve said, gratefully accepting the pack. He turned it upside down, gave it a few whacks on the surface of the coffee table, opened it, and sat down, pulling one cigarette out and sticking it in his mouth. "Light me," he requested with a nervous laugh. "If I get the shakes again I'll probably drop the lighter and end up burning the whole damn building down."
"Sure." Tseng flicked his lighter and offered up the flame. Reeve lit up his smoke, cupping his hand around the flame and just barely touching Tseng's hand; partly by force of habit, partly to check for any reaction from the other man. There was nothing terribly obvious, other than a slightly puzzled look, and Reeve sat back and took a long drag off the cigarette.
"Thanks. I needed that." After three smokeless days, that one deep draught of smoke was enough to induce a headrush, and Reeve was glad he hadn't gotten hold of one of Tseng's unfiltered clove-laced lung-killers instead. Although they - did- smell nice. Sort of like incense; they gave off a sort of spicy, exotic scent that always seemed to drift along in Tseng's wake wherever he walked. The scent of cloves never seemed to leave him, and it was always perfectly complemented with the slightly musky fragrance of his cologne. The mingled scents seemed to have a calming effect, yet at the same time.../Oh no, not again.../ Reeve blushed faintly, swallowed hard and forced himself to think about AI subroutines. The fact that he was still wearing cotton pajamas with two minuscule snaps holding the fly of the bottoms closed was not helping in the camouflage department, and he crossed his legs nervously. Tseng didn't seem to notice.
"Anytime," he replied. "There's half a pizza in the fridge if you want it. I wasn't sure if you'd be hungry when you woke up or not, but I saved you some anyway."
"Ah, cool." Reeve stood up and went to the kitchen. "What's on it?" he asked as he put his hand on the fridge door handle.
"Ham, pineapple, and anchovies," came the reply.
Reeve turned green and took his hand off the handle. "I'll pass, thanks."
"Why!?" Tseng looked a little hurt by Reeve's reaction. "It's good!"
"Bah." Reeve sat back down on the sofa. "Pineapple is a fruit. Fruit does not belong on pizza."
"I hate to nitpick, but tomatoes are technically a fruit, and you can't make a pizza without them," Tseng pointed out.
"Fine, fine, you win that one. That still doesn't explain what those hairy salty little fish are doing there."
"Hairy!?" Tseng spat out a mouthful of smoke as he burst out laughing. "Anchovies are fish! Fish don't have hair!"
"The feel hairy and they taste hairy. And if that wasn't bad enough, they still have their heads, for God's sake!" Reeve flicked ashes into the ashtray on the coffee table as Tseng continued to snicker. "I can't deal with food that watches me eat it. I mean, what the hell is wrong with something NORMAL, like pepperoni?"
"Feh." Tseng pulled a face. "You know what pepperoni is made of?" He looked over at Reeve and waited for a reply, and when he got none he continued. "Ground-up meat by-products. That means snouts, peckers and I don't mean beaks, and mandibles."
"You're thinking about hot dogs," Reeve protested.
Tseng shrugged. "Hot dogs, pepperoni, close enough for government work. It's all lips and assholes to me."
"Oh, gross!" Reeve tried to sound disgusted, but he couldn't help laughing. "I'm not really that hungry anyway."
"No problem." Tseng let out a nervous chuckle. "I can't say I blame you. I thought that e-mail she sent me that one time was nauseating. I can't even imagine what I would have done in your shoes..." He trailed off and sighed. "Look...I know this probably isn't the best time to say it...but you've got to tell the old man about this."
Reeve shook his head. "Forget it."
"Okay, but if you don't I will. I mean, that call to Choco Bob's...hell, all I have to do is say you mentioned having someone over here for dinner and you didn't feel like driving all the way to Sector 7 to pick it up so you just ordered it at work--"
"That's not what I mean." Reeve took one last long drag off his cigarette and poked it into the ashtray. "I don't even want to think about what happened." He drew a shaky breath and let it out, holding his head in his hands. "But I can't stop thinking about it. It's like watching a guy jump off a building. You don't want to look but for some sick reason you have to."
"That was a really low thing for her to do to you." Tseng put out his cigarette and sighed, once more resting his hand on Reeve's shoulder. "Really chickenshit..."
Reeve shook his head. "Tseng, you don't understand...she-- she was right. I mean, yeah, the fact that it was her made me want to gag, but some of it--" He paused and swallowed. "Some of it felt really good...and, well, getting tied up like that...that was something I always wanted to try, and I guess that's what got me stirred up to begin with...but good God, why'd it have to be HER doing it!?"
Tseng shrugged. "That's not your fault. It's not like a guy can control who he gets a hard-on for, y'know?"
"Um..." Reeve blushed a bit and fidgeted, remembering the effect that strange dream and Tseng's scent had had on him not five minutes before. "I guess not..."
"Sometimes the little guy just sorta has a mind of his own, and--well, once he wakes up there's pretty much only one way to get him to go back to sleep." Tseng thought about it a bit, then appended, "Well, two if you count taking matters into your own hands...anyway, what I'm driving at is that it wasn't your fault. She didn't have the right to take advantage of you like that." His hand tightened briefly on Reeve's shoulder, then relaxed again. "One of these days, that bitch is going to get what's coming to her."
"And if that wasn't bad enough--" Reeve's voice cracked slightly, and Tseng squeezed his shoulder again-- "she did it because I was trying to keep some people that never hurt anyone from getting killed! What the hell is wrong with that!? I mean, is it against company policy to give a damn about someone other than yourself!?" /Dammitall, I am not going to start crying about this again--/ But the tears came anyway, and almost immediately Tseng's arms were around him, holding him gently. The sudden embrace caught Reeve completely off-guard, but he did not withdraw from it; he rested his head on Tseng's shoulder, no longer trying to stop the tears that were beginning to soak into the soft white fabric of Tseng's T-shirt. There was a slightly uncomfortable silence, and then Tseng spoke again.
"If it is," he said, "then they're just going to have to fire me too...because there's someone I care about very much."
Reeve wiped his eyes and looked up quickly as he felt Tseng's hand tighten once more on his shoulder. "Anyone I know?" he asked softly, and Tseng nodded. A few more silent moments passed before Reeve found the courage to whisper, "Anyone in this room?"
Tseng opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, and nodded again.
"That wasn't a dream, was it? You came in there and said 'I worry about you because I love you...'"
"I'm sorry." Tseng's voice was barely above a whisper. "I thought you were asleep."
"I thought I was dreaming that," Reeve said softly, still resting his head on Tseng's shoulder.
"Good dream or bad?"
Reeve wiped his eyes again, and then awkwardly let his hand lay against Tseng's chest. "Good," he finally said, and Tseng let out a sigh.
"I've been thinking about this a lot lately...I mean, I realized how I felt about you a long time ago, but I didn't dare do anything about it." Tseng paused and softly curled his hand around Reeve's. "A couple of months ago I was on my way out of the gym and I happened to see you swimming--I couldn't take my eyes off you...you were so beautiful I wanted to cry. I think that was the day I went off on Heidegger for beating Reno up just because he felt like it, and I was all ready to go up and write him a take-this-job- and-shove-it letter--until I saw you there. And when I got home that night I just kind of sat there and did a lot of thinking about a lot of stuff, and I think that was when I finally admitted to myself just how much I love you. Now whenever Heidegger's being more of a dick to me than usual-- which has been pretty much every day lately--and I just want to run screaming out of the building, I'll go do something constructive like tape a picture of him to the heavy bag and beat the crap out of it, and then on the way out of the gym I'll peek in on the pool...and if you're there, I just stand there and watch you...shit, I probably sound like a complete idiot."
"No you don't." Reeve shook his head. "I--"
"Maybe I should go...this probably wasn't what you needed to hear right now." Tseng stood up, but Reeve caught his hand and held it tight.
"No...wait." Reeve loosened his grip on Tseng's hand a bit, running his thumb over Tseng's surprisingly soft fingers. "That's...that's exactly what I needed to hear. Please don't go."
Tseng chuckled and sat back down, taking Reeve into his arms again. "I sure as hell didn't dare to hope you'd take it this well if you ever found out," he said and sighed as Reeve snuggled up to him once more, breathing in the warm, familiar scent of cloves and musk.
"You weren't going to tell me?"
"Hell, no." Tseng shook his head. "I was scared that it'd freak you out and I'd end up losing you for good. I didn't want to risk that. You're too important to me." His hand traveled up to the back of Reeve's head; his fingers trailed lazily through Reeve's hair, smoothing the sleep-mussed strands. "You're really okay with this?"
Reeve simply nodded, and Tseng held him tighter. After a moment, he looked up. "Tseng?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you really kiss me, or did I dream that part?"
Tseng blushed faintly. "Like I say, I thought you were asleep...if I'd known you were even the least bit lucid I wouldn't have. Did that bother you?"
"Not at all," Reeve replied, shaking his head. "Actually...I thought it was kind of sweet."
"That's good. I was a little worried about that." Tseng smiled gently, still running his fingers through Reeve's hair. "Would it bother you if I did it again?"
"No...of course not."
With a soft sigh of relief, Tseng turned his head and lightly pressed his lips to Reeve's forehead once more, noticing that a faint scent of chlorine still lingered on his skin, and along with it a ghostly trace of sickly-sweet floral perfume. Tseng didn't let that distract him, though. He kissed Reeve's forehead, then his closed eyelids, then the bridge of his nose, and Reeve put up no resistance. But when Tseng's lips brushed against Reeve's, Reeve shrank back suddenly with a little gasp.
"Okay," Tseng sighed, pressing his cheek against Reeve's forehead. "It's okay. If you're not ready for that, I understand." He took Reeve's hand again and kissed it softly. "Reeve...I'm not Scarlet. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. I'll sit here and hold you all night if that's what you want." As if to emphasize that point, Tseng wrapped his arms around Reeve's shoulders again and held him close. "Please...please trust me..."
Reeve shook his head. "It--it's not you." He sat up, rubbing his forehead. "It's just--I need to go take a shower first. I can still smell her perfume all over me."
Tseng nodded, releasing Reeve from his embrace. "No problem. Take your time."
Reeve stood up on slightly rubbery legs and picked his way down the hall to he bathroom, where he found Cait Sith curled up in the sink. /So THAT'S why the drain's clogged,/ he thought, shooing the kitten out of the bathroom and closing the door. After a moment's deliberation, he went back into the bedroom and opened the top drawer of his dresser, selecting a fresh pair of pajamas to change into, then he returned to the bathroom and turned on the water. While he waited for it to warm up, he decided that it might be a good idea to brush his teeth. As he turned the tap on and doused the toothbrush, he looked up at the mirror and winced at the sight of a few faint red smudges on the side of his neck. /Ugh./ He quickly averted his eyes from his reflection, set the toothbrush down, and stepped into the shower even though the hot water had not quite made its way up from the heater three floors below. /Got to complain about that thing one of these days,/ he thought, picking up soap and a washcloth from the little rack hanging off the shower head and thoroughly scrubbing the smears of lipstick from his skin. He hoped Tseng hadn't noticed that. Strangely enough, finding that last bit of evidence of Scarlet's actions didn't bother Reeve as much as he thought it should have.
/I wonder what Tseng's doing right now?/ Reeve thought as he rinsed off. Standing over the kitchen sink munching on a cold slice of that ghoulish pizza? Turning down the sheets and lighting up candles and incense? Or maybe sitting on the sofa wondering the exact same thing about him? /I've never been so goddamned nervous in my whole life./ He turned off the water and wrapped himself in one of the ridiculously large bath towels he had stacked in the cabinet, and he couldn't help but imagine Tseng's arms around him again.
/He loves me,/ Reeve thought with a little smile, drawing the towel tighter around his body and leaning against the wall. /And I'm pretty sure I love him too./ And with that thought came another: he -wanted- Tseng. He wanted to feel Tseng's lips on his; he wanted to feel Tseng's hands on his skin; he wanted to fall asleep in Tseng's arms and wake up there in the morning.
With a little bit of alarm, Reeve noticed that he was trembling again, but he knew that this time it was for a very different reason. Quite suddenly, he felt as if he'd just eaten fifteen candy bars and washed them down with fifteen cups of coffee; his feet seemed to want to crawl out of his ears. Nevertheless, he forced himself to calmly brush his teeth, comb his hair, and put on the fresh pajamas he'd brought into the bathroom. These were cobalt blue, and silk instead of cotton--reserved for special occasions. When Reeve was satisfied that he was sufficiently groomed, he turned toward the door, opened it, and peered down the hall to the living room.
Tseng was still sitting on the sofa, smoking another clove cigarette and leafing through a magazine he'd found on the table. "There you are. I was starting to wonder if you'd slipped down the drain or something."
"Nah," Reeve replied with a little laugh, sitting back on the sofa next to Tseng. "Oh, that reminds me. If you need to use the bathroom sink, watch out. The cat's been sleeping there and it clogs up sometimes."
"Duly noted." Tseng draped his arm around Reeve's shoulders again and kissed his forehead once more, twirling the damp ends of Reeve's hair in his fingers. "You should try a ponytail," he observed, idly pulling Reeve's hair back and holding it in place with his thumb and finger to illustrate. "I think it'd look good on you."
"You think so?" Tseng nodded, and Reeve laughed again. "I don't know. I've tried to grow it out before. It always ends up looking geeky. You'd look good with a ponytail, though."
"I can't get a rubber band to stay in my hair," Tseng said. "It only lasts about three hours, and then it's sliding halfway down my back. I guess I could do the samurai thing...put it up in a bun and stick a pair of chopsticks from Wutai Wok's take-out in it..."
"Oh, God." Reeve burst out laughing even harder at the image, and as he laughed about it he laid his hand on Tseng's chest again, snuggling up to him. "You look fine just like that."
Tseng rested his hand on the back of Reeve's head again. "Do you really think so?"
Reeve looked up at Tseng and nodded, gazing into the depths of Tseng's deep brown almond-shaped eyes. "Yes," he whispered, reaching up and stroking Tseng's smooth cheek with his thumb. "God, yes. You're beautiful."
Tseng shut his eyes and let out a soft, shaky sigh. "Are you sure you want me to stay?"
/He's as scared as I am,/ Reeve suddenly realized, and instead of answering Tseng in the conventional way, he leaned over and softly brushed his lips against Tseng's, and Tseng returned the kiss--a bit timidly at first, then with a touch more passion as he felt Reeve's arm encircle his waist.
"I guess that means 'yes,'" Tseng finally managed to whisper, breaking free of the kiss just long enough to take a breath before covering Reeve's mouth with his again. The tips of their tongues flicked briefly against one another, withdrew, and then met again in a firm yet gentle caress. Somehow Tseng managed to shift his position so that his back rested against the arm of the sofa without breaking the kiss again, and his hands wandered to Reeve's back, sliding over the smooth silk of his pajama top. "Those are nice."
"Thanks." Reeve closed his eyes and sighed softly as Tseng's hands caressed his back. He suddenly remembered that his silk pajamas had one minor flaw (or advantage, depending on how one looked at it): nothing holding the fly closed. No buttons. No little teensy snaps. No zipper. Nothing. And he was getting very, very hard. Tseng kissed his lips again, then bent down to kiss his neck. "Oh God."
Tseng looked up with a smile. "I take it you like that."
"God, yes." Reeve ran his fingers through Tseng's hair, letting it fall through them like water as Tseng went back to work. "Tseng, you're so beautiful...and I want you so bad I can't stand it."
"Are you sure?" Tseng asked, taking Reeve's hand and kissing it softly again. "I don't want to rush you."
"I've never been so sure about anything in my life," Reeve answered, running his thumb over Tseng's lower lip. "Except...uh..."
"What's wrong?"
Reeve felt himself blushing again. "I've never done this...y'know, with another guy...have you?"
Tseng shrugged. "Once, a few years ago, and I didn't want it anywhere near as bad as I want this." He kissed Reeve's lips again, then he stood up and leaned down to him. "Put your arms around my neck."
"Wha--" Reeve laughed a bit, but he did as Tseng told him. "Tseng, what are you doing?"
"Hang on."
"Wait a--hey!"
In one fluid motion, Tseng got one arm under Reeve's knees and the other under his back and scooped him up off the sofa. "I -told- you to hang on," he chided, carrying Reeve off to the bedroom.
"This is definitely a switch," Reeve laughed. "I usually do that...damn, you're strong!"
"You're not that heavy." Tseng set Reeve down gently on the bed and knelt beside him, running his hands over Reeve's chest, then kissing it softly as he unbuttoned Reeve's pajama top to reveal the lean body under it. "You're in very good shape, as a matter of fact." Tseng looked up and grinned wickedly. "I still say you're bullshitting me about how much time you spend in the gym at work, you know."
"Would you stop already?" Reeve rolled his eyes, and Tseng leaned down and kissed his lips again; his long hair trailed over Reeve's neck and chest in little blue-black rivers and streams and whispered over his bare skin, and Reeve shivered and moaned softly as it brushed against his nipples, sending a spark of pure pleasure straight into his brain and his groin. Tseng took notice of this, sat up, took a section of Reeve's silk pajama top in hand, and stroked it lightly over his chest, concentrating on that very spot. "Oh God. Oh my God, Tseng...that feels so good..."
"Good...then you're going to love this." Tseng again lifted the soft silk away from Reeve's skin and this time replaced it with his lips and his tongue, softly sucking on Reeve's hardened nipple and then teasing it with the tip of his tongue. Reeve let out another moan, a bit louder than the last and reached up to twine his fingers in Tseng's silky hair, and he continued to sigh and moan his approval as Tseng caressed his stomach and chest. "Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?"
"No..." Reeve panted. "God no, don't stop now..." Tseng smiled again and went back to work for what may have been minutes or hours; Reeve wasn't sure and he didn't really care enough to open his eyes and look at the clock. As the thought crossed his mind that it had to be close to morning, Tseng's fingertips brushed lightly against an erection so intense that it bordered on painful, and Reeve let out a soft cry, pulling Tseng's body against his tightly. Tseng kissed his lips again, much more deeply this time, and slipped his hand inside the fly of Reeve's pajama bottoms, wrapping it snugly around his shaft and stroking it gently-- but not gently enough. "Ow..."
Tseng looked up quickly. "You okay?"
Reeve sighed and blushed a bit. "Uhm...it's...it's kind of sore. From--uh--"
"Oh, damn. I'm sorry." Tseng released his grip and slid down a bit lower on the bed; then he carefully worked Reeve's pajama bottoms off and let them fall in a heap on the floor. "Maybe this'll help." He bent down and cupped Reeve's cock in his hand, then he pressed his lips to it, slowly and softly kissing his way up from the base to the tip and back down, and Reeve let out a deep, shuddering sigh.
"Oh yeah. That's wonderful..." Reeve reached out, again tangling his fingers in Tseng's hair and moaning louder as Tseng began to lap gently at his shaft, caressing it softly with his tongue in short, quick little licks.
"Is that better?" Tseng whispered, and Reeve nodded emphatically. Tseng slid his hand down to the base of Reeve's cock, encircling it once again and softly taking the tip into his mouth, gently sliding his lips over the soft skin. Reeve's hand clenched once, quickly disengaged itself from Tseng's hair, and grasped at the sheet instead. Tseng took that gesture as an indication that he was doing something right; he took Reeve deeper into his mouth, sucking softly and caressing the head with his tongue as he stroked what he couldn't fit into his mouth with his hand. Reeve's hand found the back of Tseng's head and rested on it, fingers reflexively clutching at Tseng's hair and then relaxing with each flick of his tongue.
"Oh God." Reeve squirmed a bit and moaned again as Tseng took him in as deeply as he could, cupping his balls in his free hand and squeezing almost imperceptibly. "Oh my God...Tseng--I'm gonna--"
Tseng looked up, not releasing Reeve from his mouth. "Hmm?"
That little "hmm" was all it took to nudge Reeve over the edge. He threw his head back and groaned loudly, arching his back and clutching a handful of Tseng's hair in an iron grip as he came almost explosively into Tseng's mouth. This was nothing like the tainted release Scarlet had wrenched out of him; it was pure ecstacy, and slowly he regained control of his body and relaxed, panting softly and letting his hand fall from Tseng's hair onto the bed.
"Wow," Tseng chuckled, lying down next to Reeve and brushing a few strands of damp hair off his forehead. "I've never seen anyone come that hard before...you okay?" Reeve just nodded; he couldn't quite get his voice to work again just yet. "I love hearing all those moans and sighs and stuff...really drives me crazy, and besides it tells me I'm doing something right."
Reeve smiled weakly as Tseng kissed him again; he could taste himself on Tseng's lips, and something about that began to arouse him again. "That couldn't have done much for you," he whispered, smoothing Tseng's hair. "I want you to feel good too."
Tseng smiled and blushed a little. "It's okay, Reeve...you don't have to do anything."
"I want to. Whatever you want, I'll do it for you."
"Are you sure?" Tseng took Reeve's hand and held it to his cheek. "You don't mind?"
"I don't mind at all. Anything you want to do, I'll do."
Tseng sighed softly and kissed Reeve's lips again. "Do you trust me?"
Reeve nodded. "Of course I do."
"Okay." Tseng looked around a bit, as if thinking about something. "Do you have any--oh, I dunno, massage oil or something like that around here?"
Reeve raised an eyebrow. "A hopeless romantic like me? Nightstand drawer."
"Silly of me to even ask," Tseng smiled. "And what's wrong with being a hopeless romantic, anyway?" He opened the drawer, rummaged through it, and found a small cork- stoppered bottle. "Here we go...okay, just turn over on your stomach for right now. I want to make sure you're nice and relaxed first."
"Mmm." Reeve turned over, flipping his pajama top out of the way as he did, and as he got settled he felt a trickle of liquid on his back, which grew pleasantly warm on his skin soon thereafter.
"Hey, isn't this that stuff that sort of heats up?" Tseng asked, capping the bottle again and setting it aside as he slid his hands over Reeve's back, working the oil into his skin. "Oh, man. I love this stuff." Tseng proceeded to give Reeve what was probably the best backrub he had ever had in his whole life; Tseng's strong hands kneaded the tension from Reeve's shoulders and back, and Reeve felt as if he were melting into a puddle in the center of the bed. Knotted muscles slowly unwound themselves, and Reeve sighed contentedly as Tseng planted a few soft kisses along the length of his spine, ending at the back of his neck.
Tseng stood up slowly and undressed, laying his clothes in a neat pile next to the bed and picking up the bottle of oil again. He uncorked it and poured some into his hand, then he smoothed it onto his cock with one hand and lightly caressed Reeve's back with the other. "Okay...it'll be easier if you get up on your knees." Reeve did so, and Tseng rested his hand on Reeve's hip. "Reeve...you've never done this before, right?"
"Right."
Tseng nodded. "Well...it's going to hurt like hell at first, and I'm going to try to go slow for you, but if it gets too bad I want you to tell me and I'll stop...okay?"
"Okay," Reeve replied.
Tseng sighed and knelt behind Reeve, took a deep breath, and entered him slowly; Reeve clenched his teeth, groaned softly and clutched at the sheets again, and Tseng offered him a hand to hold instead. Reeve took it and squeezed it tightly as Tseng patiently eased into him. "It's all in," Tseng gasped after a small eternity. "God, you're so tight...just gonna sit here for a minute and let you get used to it...let me know when you're ready."
Reeve nodded, trying to will himself to breathe slowly and deeply. The initial discomfort of Tseng's entry was beginning to fade away, and Reeve noticed that his own cock was growing stiff again; he took it into his hand and began to stroke it slowly, concentrating on the pleasure and ignoring the pain. Soon, the latter had faded almost completely, and the former took its place, many times over. "Okay...go ahead."
"Sure?"
Reeve nodded again. "Yeah."
Tseng drew a shaky sigh. "Okay..." He placed his hands on Reeve's hips and experimentally thrust into him a few times, slowly and carefully. "You doing okay?"
Reeve let out a little hissing sigh and nodded. The warmth of the oil and Tseng's slow movements created an exquisite sensation, and already he found himself longing for release again. "Yeah...you?"
Tseng let out a soft laugh. "Incredible...God, you feel so good, so tight...there's just no other way to describe it." He slid his hand around Reeve's hip; when it found Reeve's hand their fingers laced together around his shaft, and together they stroked it. "Do you like this?"
"I've never felt anything like this," Reeve panted, tightening his grip on his cock and feeling Tseng's hand do the same. "It's so intense..."
"If you think that's intense, wait till next time. I'll let you do it to me." Tseng began to thrust a bit faster and a bit deeper into Reeve, and Reeve cried out softly. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"
"No," Reeve gasped, shaking his head. "No...I'm gonna come again..."
Tseng gritted his teeth and held Reeve's hand as still as he could. "Hold on just a little longer, okay? I'm almost there too."
"I don't think I can," Reeve replied, and Tseng pulled his hand away from his cock. "Oh no...Tseng...please let me..."
Tseng held Reeve's hand firmly in his; his other arm encircled Reeve's waist tightly, pulling Reeve against him. Reeve whimpered and moaned and pleaded, wanting to wrest his hand free of Tseng's grasp and at the same time, enjoying the sensation of being restrained. Tseng shut his eyes, jaw still clenched, and then he made a soft groaning sound, released Reeve's hand, cupped his own hand over the head of Reeve's penis, and thrust into him as hard and as fast as he thought he could without hurting him. "Oh God," Tseng panted, holding Reeve even tighter against him. Reeve turned his head, pressing his mouth against the pillow and clamping a small section of pillowcase in his teeth as he cried out, on the verge of climax again. "Oh God yes, Reeve..."
Reeve let out another cry, and he thought he heard the sound of ripping fabric (later he would find a bite-sized hole ripped in his pillowcase) as he came again, emptying himself into Tseng's warm hand. Tseng immediately let out a sort of growling noise and came as well; his body tensed as he let go and then slowly began to relax, still moving slowly inside Reeve as long as he could before going soft. Then he carefully withdrew and sat back on his heels. "Be right back...gonna go clean up," he wheezed, leaning over and kissing the small of Reeve's back.
"Uh," Reeve replied as his arms and legs finally gave out entirely, sending him flopping onto the bed and leaving him with an oddly relaxing sort of boneless feeling.
Tseng stood up a bit dizzily, wove his way to the bathroom, and shut the door. A few minutes later he returned to the bedroom and fell into bed beside Reeve. "I think you broke me," he sighed, and Reeve laughed softly.
"You only came once," he murmured, scooting over a bit and pressing his back against Tseng's chest. "Men aren't designed to handle multiple orgasms." He yawned and snuggled up against Tseng, and Tseng chuckled, reached down, and felt around on the floor, at length coming up with the blanket and pulling it up over both of their bodies.
"I bet you're going to sleep great now, though," he said, wrapping his arm around Reeve and kissing him softly on the cheek. "I know I am. Good night, Reeve."
Reeve yawned again. "Night, Tseng."
Just as they fell asleep, the bedroom windows began to turn gray with dawn's light...actually, they could have turned flourescent green with orange spots and neither of them could have cared less. Tseng and Reeve lay sleeping peacefully, their bodies curled together like two spoons in a drawer, well into the morning and almost into the afternoon. Sometime in between, a small black and white kitten hopped up onto the bed and cried softly for attention or food. When he realized that there would be none forthcoming for a while, he padded back to the foot of the bed, turned around thrice, and curled up into a small fuzzy ball next to Reeve's foot, falling fast asleep.
