Author: FancyFigures
4x2, romance, yaoi, lemon (a little)

Written for Dacia with much love, from a plot bunny of hers.

Pazienza + Part Six... Year 5 Continued

Quatre never knew how he got through the speech. There was plenty of applause, though, so it must have sounded OK. Then the director of the Gallery insisted on following with a speech of his own which started to ramble aimlessly, soon after he started. It turned out to be advantageous to Quatre though, for he used the distraction to leave the function room with the minimum of attention. Rashid saw him, of course, and he realised he ought to tell the bodyguard that he was turning in early.

At the last minute, he didn't think he could carry it off. Instead, he waved casually to the other man from the far side of the room and gestured at the upstairs, intimating that he was going up to his room. Rashid stared at him for a moment, then nodded. He made as if to move away from his position at the door and follow Quatre, but he was waved back by another -- far more urgent -- motion.

Quatre gave a slightly embarrassed grimace, then darted out of sight. Rashid watched him disappear, then cast his eye around the room again, looking at the milling people, still partying, still listening to the Gallery director. He was looking for someone else, maybe; someone he didn't find, though. He pursed his lips, then settled back at his post.


*


Quatre knocked gently at the door, feeling a bit idiotic, asking for entrance to his own room. If he were spotted in the corridor, how the hell would it look ...?

Duo opened the door quickly, moving back inside, and Quatre stepped forward into a well-sized lounge area. He closed the door behind him, momentarily leaning against it and catching his breath. He hadn't been aware of his harsh breathing, but he could hear the noise of it in the silence of the suite. It was dark, too -- Duo seemed to have turned on nothing but a lamp in the bedroom behind him. Quatre was immediately struck by the warmth of the place, a slightly damp cosiness, as if the condensation from a hot bath had seeped around the walls and settled on the carpet. There was a strong smell of bath products, too.

"I had ... a bath. 'S OK, isn't it?" Duo had darted away from him, back into the bedroom itself. Quatre couldn't see him, but the sound of his voice sent his heart hammering again. "Quatre -- I'm in here. I just... well, it's comfy here. I didn't know how long you'd be ..."

Quatre moved towards the softly lit rectangle of the bedroom doorway and looked in. Duo sat on the edge of the bed, his body cast in shadow from the lamp. Quatre could see the reflection from the soft bulb in a single trail of water drops on the young man's shoulder. His braid was tied back, but the ends were loosened and they nestled at his waist. A single lock had escaped from behind his ear and it licked at his neck as if still damp. His upper body was naked -- Quatre's eyes ran swiftly over the lean, muscled flesh. He wore only his boxers, and he sat, a little self-consciously, his hands twisting the coverlet beside him.

"Did it go OK? They clap a lot?"

Quatre coughed carefully. "Oh yes. It was fine. What I remember of it, of course." He slipped off his jacket as he spoke and draped it gently over one of the chairs against the wall. He was careful not to move too abruptly, despite his agonising need to rush to the bed and tumble Duo backwards, his hands on him, his mouth on him, his laughter and his gasping to be found and swallowed and savoured ...

He shook himself. He needed to be calm. What I need is Duo!

"Look..." Duo coughed, too. "Christ, we both sound like we have the croup, right?" He turned fully to face Quatre and his smile spread slowly to a grin. Quatre watched and waited and then he, too, was grinning.

"This is mad, isn't it? That we don't seem to know how to talk to each other any more."

"Mad. Yeah," agreed Duo. "Kinda cold, too, without my shirt. Didn't want to get into bed -- you know ... without you. Whatever."

"I'm glad you didn't, though," Quatre said, quickly. I want to look at you... enjoy you. He took a few steps towards the bed, his fingers nudging at the buttons of his shirt, toeing off his shoes and kicking them away across the floor.

Duo was watching the blond man's hands, and his eyes grew wider. "Warm me up," he said, also quickly. "Warm me up now, Quatre."

"I want ..."

Duo's voice got louder and sharper, like it was hurting in his throat. "I'm hoping like fuck that what you want is the same as what I want, Quatre Winner, so get the hell over here before I get goose bumps on my goose bu --"

He didn't finish the sentence. Quatre's feet had taken him where his heart had been too nervous to go, and he fell on Duo, rolling them both back on to the bed, wrenching the coverlet up underneath them. His mouth came down on Duo's and they gasped as their teeth knocked against each other, then their tongues were both out and stabbing into the other's mouth, the moans soft and the groans guttural. Their hands gripped at flesh -- Duo pushed Quatre's shirt off his shoulders and cried aloud when their skin touched.

"Pants..." Quatre gasped.

"Hell..." Duo grunted in reply. "You're pretty keen to get naked --"

"No, no, pants," groaned Quatre, suddenly tugging his body against Duo's in a strangely awkward way. "They're killing me! They're -- twisted round my -- crotch -- it's fucking agony, Duo -!"

Duo gave a short, disbelieving laugh -- and then a longer one. And then somehow they were both laughing, loudly and unashamedly, until they fell apart on the bed, their shoulders heaving and their bellies shaking with it.


*


The mood was much calmer now. They'd drunk the iced water that Duo was so keen to find, and eaten the complimentary chocolates, and played all fifteen channels of the TV. Quatre was also down to his boxers now, though he'd chosen a speedier freshening up in a hot shower rather than a leisurely bath. They lay on the bed beside each other, relaxed and clean and savouring what felt like their own world. They joked about the people who'd been at the event; they wondered what Rashid might be thinking now. They made tentative plans for the rest of the weekend, for neither of them had anything else to do.

"I've always wanted you," said Quatre, quite abruptly. Duo tensed beside him. He'd been bemoaning the lack of decent basketball games on the evening TV but he suddenly fell silent again. "You've been in my thoughts and my heart since the beginning. I would never ask anything of you that you didn't want to give -- but I've been like Phaeton from the picture, ever since we met in the Gallery. Knowing the danger of plunging towards the earth, knowing how easy it is to lose control -- but still exhilarated by the speed and excitement. I could never have kept away from you."

Then Quatre nudged Duo on to his back and leant over him. He didn't say anything more, but he dipped his mouth to Duo's and began to kiss around his lower lip, teasing at it gently, licking the corners as if to find the last morsel of the chocolate. Or the first - and best -- morsel that was Duo himself.

Duo opened his lips and let Quatre's tongue slide in. This time, Quatre's hands were smooth and gentle on him, stroking his skin, featherlight on his flesh, yet bold where they met his nipples, flicking them to hard, erect nubs. Then his lips left Duo's and slid slowly down his chin to his throat. He suckled softly at the pulse there, making Duo's body arch up with sudden, unexpected delight.

"Quatre --"

"No. Be quiet, now. Just say if there's anything you don't like." Quatre's mouth murmured the words into his body, sliding down further to nibble at one of the hard little nubs, licking around it, teasing it with teeth and fingertips.

"So good..." came the sigh from the blond head at his chest. "So very, very good ..."

"What about -- if there's something I do like -?" moaned Duo. Quatre's laugh was warm against his ribs. His mouth continued on down, making the shape of kisses across Duo's belly, drifting the tip of his tongue in and out of his navel so that the muscles clenched and Duo's belly shook a little with tickling. Then Quatre's trail took him further down, his tongue licking an inquisitive path at the waist of Duo's boxers, his hand sliding down between the long legs to cup through the thin fabric the soft, shifting sac that rested there.

Duo gasped and his body jerked on the bed. "Oh my fucking God ..." he breathed.

Quatre paused, and pulled himself back up to face Duo. "Are you OK? I don't want to hurt you -- scare you."

"I'm not a fucking invalid," groaned Duo, though his breathing had sped up and his heart was thumping inside his chest like it was trying to break out. But oh God, the feeling of Quatre's hands! The physical excitement -- the sudden, consuming need! "I know enough, Quatre," he growled. "Shit, Henderson may be a geek, but he has the best collection of magazines I've ever seen outside the stores, and we've messed about just like all the other guys probably have but never admit to --" His breath ran out again and he looked up to see Quatre staring down at him, astonished.

He blushed, but he didn't look away. "Your hair's a fucking mess," he said, almost conversationally. "And if you keep touching me like that I'm really gonna embarrass myself inside my underwear. But ... fuck, don't stop ...!" Quatre's eyes were flickering with the light from the lamp, or maybe it was with other stuff. He bent his head and touched his lips to Duo's shoulder.

Duo sighed -- a deep, contented sound that stretched his lungs and breathed warmth over Quatre's body, where it leant over him. "Please don't stop," he whispered, repeating himself but not caring. "You're the very best to me, in just those words you said earlier. I think the same way too... You've been my friend for ever -- you've been all I ever wanted. Mom said my time would come and I think it's here, with you, now." He grimaced, self-consciously. "Can't explain it any better, y'know? But I want you to touch me, I want to be here with you. I want to do whatever you want."

"Have you ever...?" Quatre's murmur was like silk running over his skin, and his hand ran almost mischievously in and out of Duo's loosened hair.

Duo swallowed. "With girls. A bit. Whatever you want, Quatre."

"Just a touch tonight, then," sighed Quatre, though his eyes were bright with hunger, gleaming behind lids that were hooded with desire. "There's plenty of time for us to do it all, when we choose."

Duo reached a hand up and tangled it into Quatre's hair. He tugged the blond head down so that their faces almost touched again, but then he tilted his own head to the side so that he spoke directly into Quatre's ear. "I sure hope so," he hissed. "'Cause it's gonna be so fucking good when you do it all to me that you're never gonna want anyone else."

Quatre tensed, and the sound that came from him was deep and animalistic. He almost wrenched himself back out of Duo's grasp, so that the dark-haired man fell back on the bed again with a whump. Then he pressed down on Duo's arms, holding him prone, and shifted his body back down the length of the bed, to return to where he'd left off of his caressing.

Duo groaned again. He wondered if he'd shocked or horrified Quatre. Then he wondered if he'd died suddenly and gone to heaven -- or maybe hell? -- because that clever, smart, articulate mouth was now tugging down his boxers with its teeth and breathing heavy, damp breath all over his groin. His erection bounced hungrily out of the fabric, making him wince. A strand of escaping seed stuck to the hairs, trailing up and outwards as his cock stretched for freedom. He thought he might have sobbed, but then he couldn't decide if he had or he hadn't because he couldn't think at all clearly. Quatre's mouth was soft and warm and quite tight and suddenly it was clamped around his cock, sliding it into his mouth, licking it with his tongue, and sucking its heat up inside him, again and again. He tried to lurch up towards the touch, but Quatre's hand held him down, the fingers pressing into the skin of his hip.

"Oh fuck..."

Quatre laughed around him; the warm saliva trickled down his shaft. He felt the bed shake under them as Quatre wriggled his free hand down his own body, maybe to remove his boxers as well, maybe to touch his own cock. Duo panicked briefly at the thought of how he could please Quatre in return, what he should do, whether he was doing it right --

Then he did sob aloud. "Fuck, Quatre -- gonna come -- oh shit --"

"It's OK, it's OK, let it --"

Duo arched up off the bed, his fingers scrabbling for hold on either side of his body. His hips pressed against Quatre's face and his head swam. The coverlet was a sliding, slippery pool of cloth underneath him, and he thought he heard the clunk of one of their drinks glasses falling off the bed on to the thick carpet. Quatre's tongue continued to lick at the head of him, teasing the skin, flicking against the thin thread that sent vibrations throughout the whole of his lower body. He'd never even known his cock could feel like this, let alone have anyone make it happen for him.

He shuddered, cried out, and felt the familiar hiccup of seed bursting out of him with agonised relief. Into Quatre's mouth, omigod, omifuckinggod --

But he thought he could hear Quatre laughing softly and happily, and his lips were still suckling at him, swallowing eagerly.

Duo felt the tension leave his body like birds in flight, and his limbs fell back on the mattress, exhausted. He was shaking with delight; his cock was softening but it still throbbed with the remembered ecstasy. Quatre scooted back up to lie beside him, laying his arm across his sweaty chest and holding it there. For a moment, he savoured the feel of Quatre's warm skin pressed against him; for an even longer moment, he was speechless.


*


It was the soft touch of Quatre's kisses around his ear that brought him back to consciousness. He turned his head eagerly to him, offering his mouth, throwing his clumsy arms back around him. He could feel that Quatre was fully naked now too, and his erection pressed against Duo's thigh, hot and damp at the tip.

"Duo...", the blond man sighed.

"Want to do that to you," Duo gasped. Quatre's smile was wide, and his head dropped back to bare his own neck to Duo's kisses. "Want to go down on you ..." Duo licked at the salty sweat in Quatre's throat. "Want to lick you ..." He ran his hands down the side of Quatre's torso, feeling the skin tense and flinch under his palms. "Want you to do it all to me, Quatre!" He felt Quatre shudder, and the other man's cock bobbed against Duo's leg, nudging for attention.

Fuck... Duo thought, with some reverence. His gaze ran up and down the body in his arms, a little shyly, afraid he'd offend somehow. He could feel the soft hairs on Quatre's belly against his own; smell the warmth of freshly-washed skin. The man was, indeed, beautiful. Duo followed the line of muscle all down his companion's body, tracing each rib as Quatre's heartbeat lifted his chest, in and out, getting faster every second. He watched as he ran his hand across Quatre's belly -- watched his own familiar skin brushing against the magnificent smoothness of the other's. There were shadows dimpling at Quatre's hips as he clenched his buttocks against the caresses; there were droplets of sweat in the hollows of his shoulders. His groin was dark with hair and swollen flesh; Duo felt his whole body flush with embarrassed shock as his eyes were drawn irresistibly towards it.

I can touch it all, thought Duo, in some awe. I can feel him against me; I can have this whole new Quatre, this whole new excitement...

He ran his hand around Quatre's hip, sliding his fingers tentatively down between the slender thighs. A curled hair snagged on his fingertip; he felt the heavy heat of Quatre's cock against the back of his hand.

Then Quatre put his own hand to Duo's shoulder and held him back for a moment.

"Huh?"

Quatre was also very flushed and his mouth seemed to be working around other words than the ones he managed to croak out. He stared at Duo's puzzled face as if trying to memorise the features, as if trying to believe this was all happening. "I ... don't want to rush it, Duo! I want every minute to be the best we can get. I want ..." He rolled back suddenly, lifting a hand to run through his hair. "Hell, I've waited so long -- but I can wait forever. You know?" His unconscious mimicry of Duo's phrase made him sound very vulnerable.

It's only ever been you, Duo. I'd be patient for ever for you, in the hope you'd come to me.

"I know," mumbled Duo. "Sure." He seemed to have shifted with an athletic speed that belied his previous exhaustion, and he didn't seem to be listening to Quatre with the proper concentration. Instead, his lips were nibbling at the skin of Quatre's belly and his hand had returned to tracing a curious path up and down the inside of his thighs.

"Duo... " Quatre had never heard himself make such a strange, strangled noise before. "Did you hear me? There are things we should talk about, like we said."

"Mebbe..." The voice was muffled now, as Duo's head dipped down between his legs, nudging his thighs apart with his nose, dragging his softly-rough tongue along the skin and licking at the swelling, shifting balls.

"Oh my fucking god..." groaned Quatre, in deliberate mimicry now.

Duo laughed. "Talk later," he whispered. "My patience is wearing kinda thin. Y'know?" His tongue vibrated gently with his words and then he put damp lips to Quatre's cock and sucked the skin very carefully against his teeth. "Is this OK for you ...?" came the whisper.

Quatre's eyes closed involuntarily and he tightened his fingers into the chestnut hair, holding Duo's head at his groin. The muscles of his thighs clenched and his hips lifted slightly off the bed.

"Guess that's a yes," was Duo's mischievous reply.


*


In the small hours of the morning, Quatre woke suddenly. Maybe the room was too hot -- so many hotels suffered from that. Or there were noises outside as other guests stumbled their way to bed.

Or maybe it was because Duo was out of bed and moving around.

Quatre ran his hand through his hair and felt the tug of a stretched muscle in his shoulder. In fact, muscles felt stiff all over his body. A sudden memory returned from the night before, and a flush of desire swamped him.

"Duo?"

He made out Duo's silhouette in the darkness, sitting on the end of the bed, his back to Quatre. The blond man eased himself out from under the sheets and rolled his legs over the side so that he, too, was sitting on the edge of the bed. A different edge, though. His skin felt the chill of losing both bedding and bedmate.

"Are you all right?"

Duo grunted some reply. It sounded strained.

Quatre was sleepy, and puzzled. Had he upset Duo? Hurt him? Scared him? His friend had seemed enthusiastic enough last night... God, he'd been more than enthusiastic. Quatre felt an ache inside him that was partly desire, partly fear.

Was this what it would be like, now? The terms of their relationship had changed dramatically. There were adjustments to be made; other feelings to be considered. Was this going to work? Maybe it had been a single, glorious experiment. Maybe there'd be no further relationship at all...

Duo's voice was still only a mumble. "You know about all this stuff, right?"

"Stuff?"

"Sex. Fucking." Duo said it very quickly, like he spat it out.

Quatre felt a shiver down his back. "Yes. I know about it. I thought you did, too."

Duo grunted again. His head moved as if to turn round, to look at Quatre, but didn't quite make it. His braid gave a gentle slap as it moved against his bare back.

Quatre shifted his legs but he didn't move nearer. He didn't think Duo would welcome it, though he couldn't quite say why. "Do you want to talk about it some more?"

Duo did turn then, his eyes wide, peering at him in the dark. He looked both scared and miserable. Before Quatre could say anything more, he moved abruptly, turning on his end of the bed and crawling up on to it on his hands and knees. He scrabbled awkwardly until he was a foot or so away from Quatre and then stopped, sitting back on his calves. He was naked; Quatre could smell his skin, still warm from the bed. It was extremely difficult for him not to reach for the other man and draw him in closer.

Duo's voice was a growl. "Look, is this some kind of weird game, Quatre? I know some stuff, of course I do. I'm not a virgin." He sounded angry now. "But nothing like this; like tonight. I just... I don't know what you guys might get up to."

Quatre couldn't bear the misery he heard in Duo's voice. But he felt his own anger bubbling inside, too. "What do you mean, you guys?"

Duo's head shook in the darkness, as if he were impatient with himself. "I don't know. Older guys. Rich guys. Guys who've fucked around."

Quatre's whole body tensed.

Duo seemed to sense it and he sucked in a harsh breath. "Fuck. Don't get pissy. I was just thinking ... you know."

"No, I don't actually."

"That you might be messing about with me. I just never expected ... I never knew this'd happen. I just ..." His voice trailed off.

"I don't mess around with anyone," said Quatre. "I don't like what you're implying -- I thought you knew me better than that." He tried to keep his voice calm. His heart was thudding in his chest, and he was still wracked with the mixture of fear and distress. Did he have to sound so damned pompous? It was one of the few times he felt that he wasn't connecting with Duo; that he didn't understand him; that they were too different. That he might lose him.

Or that Duo might lose himself.

He twisted his own body and his hand darted out to grab Duo's arm. The younger man rocked back on his heels, giving a snort of anger. "Let go of me!"

"No," snapped Quatre. "Not until you listen to me. Properly."

"I don't have to!" Duo fired back. His eyes glinted in the darkness, moist with something. "I don't have to stay here, do I? I can go. I fucking well will go --"

Quatre let go of him, immediately. Duo seemed startled. He didn't move away, but his fists clenched at his sides.

"Yes, you can go at any time," said Quatre. He thought his voice sounded strange, tense and harsh, scraping against the luxurious walls of the bedroom. "But I don't want you to. I want to know what you're upset about, and what's happened to make you so hostile."

Duo sucked in another breath. "Hostile?" He seemed to be struggling to find the right words. "No, that's not ... Look, I'm just -- not sure. I don't understand all this. Quatre, I'm not good like you with the speeches. You're so --"

"What am I?"

"So ... fantastic!" he ground out, then looked startled at his own words. "You're so great, this is just not real. This is -- I don't know, this is a joke or something, and I don't want to be the butt of it."

"You're not. It's no joke." God, thought Quatre, and don't I struggle for the right words, too? "You're not talking sense, Duo."

"So perhaps you want me to go, now?"

What Quatre wanted was to shake the sense into him, but he knew that wasn't any way to treat his lover. But what was he meant to do? Duo was frustrating, he was provocative, he was full of conflict and contradiction. He was frightened, too, and confused and Quatre wanted to console him. Duo was gorgeous there in the half-light, Duo was a treasure he wanted to hold, to enjoy again and again, and then once again. Duo was ... Duo was what he wanted.

"Look," he began, very carefully. "I want you to stay, I want you here as much as I did last night. Even more so. That's not a joke, that's not some trick -- that's how I feel about you. I know this has been a shock; I know things might be difficult for us to cope with at first. I want you to stay, I'll say it again, but if it's easier for you ... well, we're both free to go, aren't we?"

"What?"

"We're not bound together, Duo. Neither of us is a prisoner. We're here because we want to be; and together because we want that, too." Or so I'd hoped.

"So you could go, too." Duo's head tilted slightly to one side; he was watching Quatre's face carefully.

Quatre frowned. "Yes, if I felt awkward about this. I can leave, too."

Duo seemed to relax suddenly; his body language softened, his limbs sinking more comfortably into the mattress. "But I don't want you to leave."

Quatre laughed, very softly. "What are we arguing about here, then?"


*


They stared at each other for a moment, then both moved at once. Quatre swung himself back on to the bed, turning to reach for Duo. Duo shifted on his knees and scooted back up to the pillows beside him. They were a little clumsy, feeling their way in the dark. Quatre felt Duo's mouth back on his, just a hesitant, wary touch. He kissed him back, his mouth closed, but he couldn't stop his hands sliding round Duo's waist, holding him.

"I'm a prick," groaned Duo.

Quatre laughed again. He wanted to laugh much louder, much longer. Things would be all right, wouldn't they? This was wonderful, here with Duo, holding him like this. He wanted things to be this wonderful, all the time. He'd have to make sure they were. They both would! "You're OK, you're not a prick. It's late, that's all. We haven't had a chance to get used to things."

"No. I'm a prick."

"Whatever you say," smiled Quatre. He kissed gently at Duo's neck, feeling the body in his arms stretch back and arch underneath him.

"No, listen. I said some really shitty things to you, Quatre. Making out you were some kind of pervert, maybe. Corrupting me -- playing with me."

"The playing sounds so good ..." Quatre murmured. He was aroused again; he could feel the pressure at his groin and the ache coiling inside him.

"Shit, man, I'm trying to apologise here." Duo was laughing, too, and it made his body shake against Quatre's chest.

"Apology accepted. I know you didn't mean it. This has all -- well, it's confused us both."

"Not you."

Quatre shrugged. "I don't have all the answers, Duo. I don't know what will happen; I didn't plan this. But I want you and I've never been happier than I am now. We'll sort it out somehow. Will tomorrow be OK for you, though, not now? Like I said, it's very late." He wanted to slip back to sleep -- a yawn escaped him. At the same time, he wanted to slide Duo down into the sheets again and start to lick along his skin, tasting him, kissing him, swallowing him...

Duo was still persisting. "It was just --"

"I know." Quatre lay back and tugged Duo back down with him. "It's fine. Come here and get warm. Get me warm. We don't have to do anything else if you're still not sure."

Duo grunted again, but it was an _expression of frustration this time. He pressed his lips to Quatre's chin. "You can be so fucking stupid sometimes. All that money and so little brain."

"What?" Quatre laughed, surprised.

"It's not the sex business, not really. I've known I wanted you, too, y'know? For ages. I wasn't so sure about what it meant, the feeling - but I knew it was all for you. This isn't some big horrifying shock, Quatre. Well -- it's a good one, maybe."

"So ... If that's the case..." Quatre let his hand smoothe down the valley of Duo's spine, relishing the feel of goose bumps under his fingers, letting the shiver of sensual pleasure ripple through him. His cock nudged impatiently at his belly. "Help me get to sleep again, Duo. Help us both sleep. Let me touch you again ..."

The reply was barely a whisper, even as Duo rolled on to his back under Quatre's hands, accepting the caress. "I just don't see why you want me."

Quatre paused.

Duo's eyes opened wide again, staring at him, panic in his _expression. "No, I'm sorry, oh shit, I've fucked it up again, haven't I? Ignore me, I'm being a prick again, Quatre, don't look at me like that -!"

Quatre's hands rested gently on his flesh, but they were still. His gaze was almost a glare. "So will you listen to me now?"

"Huh?" Duo wriggled uncomfortably. "Sure. Of course. Look, Quatre, I really liked what you were doing, don't stop just because I'm a stupid dick ..."

"Stupid like me?"

Duo groaned. "Yeah. Sorry about that too." Then he realised that Quatre wasn't glaring anymore. Instead, he was smiling gently, comfortingly, his eyes fixed on Duo's mouth, watching him biting his lip, watching it twist with his frustration. Duo looked up at the naked body stretched out above him. It loomed over him, but he wasn't intimidated. There were shadows playing over Quatre's face, hiding some of it. A stray lock of the blond hair was nestling carelessly across his brow. Duo had an overwhelming desire to reach up and brush it back for him. Or maybe he'd tug his head down for a kiss; or push him over in return; or snap back at him for making another joke of all this; or ...

He should just shut the fuck up and think about someone else for a change.

"I'm listening," he said, his voice low.

"Tell me why you want me, Duo."

He frowned. What the fuck did that mean? "I said I'd been a stupid dick, didn't I --"

"Tell me."

Duo bit his lip again. He was glad of the darkness now, because he knew he was blushing. "Because you're great. You're really fit -- really good looking. Strong. You feel good. You make me feel things I haven't felt before -- exciting things."

"What else?"

Huh? "What do you mean?"

"Not just sexually, Duo. Why else do you want me? As a friend? A companion?"

"Same old. Same as always," Duo stammered out. "You're my friend. My best friend." Quatre still seemed to want more. "You're good to be with; you're loyal to me. You listen to me, help me with problems, share the jokes - make time for me. We choose things to do together, we talk about them when they're done, but you let me do what I want to, as well. You don't tell me to be someone else -- to behave like someone else. Shit ... you're the person I want to see, the person I want to tell things to. I want you to be happy. I want you to be pleased with me." His throat hurt a little; he let the next words rush out in an impatient tangle. "Oh shit, a huge fucking pile of stuff, just like that, more and more of that, you know!"

Quatre shifted, then; he let out a sigh and relaxed down beside Duo on the mattress. "Yes," he said, gently. "I do know. Because that's exactly why I want you. You're so much to me -- so much of my life. So very important to me that you're part of me. All that stuff is true for me, too. Do you understand?"

Duo opened his mouth, then shut it again.

"Yes," said Quatre. "You've been a bit of a prick, but it doesn't matter. We can both be that, too, if we want, and it shouldn't make any difference."

They lay side by side for a moment, staring at the ceiling, until their breathing steadied and fell into step.

"Quatre?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you asleep again yet?"

Quatre made a tsking sound but it was affectionate. "No. Someone's keeping me awake."

Duo stretched his hand out a few inches and took hold of Quatre's. The palm was warm. "Same problem as me."

"That so?"

"Uh-huh."

The bed shook a little with quiet laughter. "Do you want to do something about it?"

"Yeah," Duo replied. His pulse was quickening. He was very conscious of Quatre's cooling skin against his; the lingering aroma of his cologne. He could feel the warm breath from the other man's mouth against his neck; that blond hair brushing his ear. He scratched absentmindedly at a stray thread of his own seed, dried in amongst his pubic hairs and tugging at the skin whenever he moved his leg. "I want to do something about it. Something good. Something now."

He started to reach for Quatre but was too slow, it seemed. Quatre's mouth was now on his nipple, worrying it, tongue flickering over it, and Quatre's hand was back down between his legs, folding its strong fingers around his awakening cock and pumping so very, very lazily...

Duo moaned softly and dug his fingers into Quatre's flesh, pulling him in tight.

Yeah, this was definitely something good! And something now.

"I don't want you to leave," he said suddenly. He felt Quatre start against him, though he couldn't see his face. "What I said before. I meant it!" And so much more...

"I won't leave," came Quatre's calm, low, sensual voice, speaking to him through his lips, through his kisses. "I'm here for you. That's all I want. All I've ever wanted."

He felt Duo's body relax underneath him, a far deeper surrender than from the physical caresses. His own excitement was racing through his veins, speeding up; his need for Duo was strong in so many ways.

All I've ever wanted, he thought, as he felt the younger man arch and cry out against his touch. All I've ever wanted!

[part 5] [epilogue] [back to FancyFigures' fic]