A/N - I have not written fanfic in a looong time I feel really rusty. BUT, I recently got the Komplete Edition of MK9 (I'm slow, hush) and Smoke and Sub-Zero II's friendship gave me feels. So I turned that into this idk. I've played other MK games, but I've never really participated in fandom before and this is my first MK fanfic, wooooo...

This is pre-MK9 (and/or pre-MK1? freaking timelines man). Also assume that they are late teens to early twenties here.

Enjoy!

Returning to base after successfully completing a mission earns a certain amount of respect.

Failure does not.

Failure earns severe punishment, snide remarks from colleagues (mostly from Sektor… okay completely from Sektor), and, worst of all, kitchen duty.

Why is it the worst?

Because the kitchen. Is really gross.

Tomas doesn't see himself as a neat freak or anything, but there is a limit to how much gunk he is willing to deal with at any one time and gunk that seems to materialize out of nowhere and multiply when he's not looking passes that limit.

Frustrated, Tomas kicks over the bucket he was using to collect dirt and watches mournfully as everything spills out over the floor. How a clan of people who train to leave no trace of themselves behind end up being so messy he'll never understand.

Glancing around the large, grimy room and then back down to the miserable pile of dirt he decides that now is as good a time as any for a break. Turning on his heel, he makes his way to the dining hall.

"This is impossible," he announces after pushing through the swinging door that leads to and from the kitchen.

Tomas is greeted by nothing except for the sound of the door swinging shut. The only other person here either didn't hear him or is ignoring him completely. The latter, in all honesty, is the more likely option.

On the one hand Tomas can understand Kuai being upset with him for screwing up what should have been a routine mission, but on the other hand, the man has had like a whole day to get over it. Not very keen on being given the cold shoulder, Tomas strides over to his friend.

"Earthrealm to Tundra," he says, waving a hand in front of Kuai's face. "Have you gone deaf?"

After what feels like the world's longest and most awkward silence Kuai looks up from his sweeping, and the look is one of a man so irritated that Tomas briefly wonders if Kuai is going to freeze him or punch him or something. Tomas blinks at him and takes a couple steps back, not that it would help much, but it makes him feel a little better.

"Uh." He rubs the back of his neck and looks anywhere but at Kuai. The floor seems nice. Is that stone gray and plain-looking or what? "The floor looks clean."

"What do you want, Smoke?"

He doesn't sound upset. Of course, Kuai never really sounds like anything, but Tomas is not really in a place to nitpick so he'll count it as a good sign.

"About today," he clears his throat and looks up. He's relieved to see that the expression on his friend's face has softened somewhat. "I wanted to apologize. Again."

He watches Kuai sigh and look away. He leans the broom he's been using on a nearby chair.

"You don't have to apologize." Kuai looks back at Tomas and narrows his eyes. "But you…"

"But I what?"

"You teleported us inside a wall."

"…Not on purpose," Tomas defends himself. He really didn't do it on purpose though. What reason would there ever be to do something like that on purpose? Maybe if they were hiding? "I got us out."

"Yes, after our targets got away," Kuai points out. Tomas winces. The Grandmaster was none too pleased when two of his best and brightest let high-ranking members of an enemy clan get away. He never realized there were so many ways to call a person incompetent before entering the Grandmaster's office earlier this afternoon.

In any case, when he really thinks about it, there's no reason for Kuai to even be here sharing in kitchen duties. Tomas never asked him to take partial blame for mission failure. He just did. Kuai is always doing stuff like that. Not taking blame for his screw-ups type stuff (because Tomas does his job well most of the time thank you very much), but generally doing stuff that friends do for each other. Well Tomas doesn't really, but.

That makes him the selfish one in this relationship, doesn't it? Friendship. Friendly relationship. They're not in a relationship-relationship because that would be absurd and impossible. And thinking about it certainly had nothing to do with why Tomas was distracted while on a mission.

"I was distracted," he blurts out suddenly. Just once he wishes his mouth would run something by his brain before expelling words like a fountain.

"By what exactly?" Asks Kuai, sounding genuinely curious for once.

"Um," Tomas starts, pushing his hair away from his face. He knows the answer; he's just pretty sure Kuai won't accept the answer.

How exactly does one person tell another person that they were thinking about that one time they fooled around after training, were wondering if it was more than just fooling around to them, but were also contemplating how to ask if they want to do it again and again? Or, preferably, whenever possible?

Suddenly Tomas regrets ever leaving the company of the kitchen gunk. They've done such a good job at tiptoeing around the issue that he would really hate to be the one to ruin it by bringing it up. They should talk about it at some point though, shouldn't they? Sure it was kind of awkward, but thinking about being that close to Kuai, his best friend, in that way makes him… happy. And they deserve happiness, right?

Tomas stands there without speaking or moving for so long that Kuai is honestly worried he's had a stroke of some kind. He's about to say something, but Tomas turns and walks away before he has the chance to. Whatever then. Kuai shrugs and goes back to sweeping the floor.

He doesn't make much progress, however, because for some reason Tomas steps right up behind him. Kuai glances down at the pair of arms that are now encircled firmly around his waist.

What to make of this situation?

"What are you doing?"

It's a valid question. Unfortunately, Tomas doesn't have a very good answer for it. He was planning on returning to the kitchen and finishing his work, but he had a thought. What if the one time they were together turns into something that was only going to happen once and will never be spoken of again? He doesn't want that. He's not sure what he wants, but it's definitely not that.

He props his chin on Kuai's shoulder and grins when he can't figure out what to do with his hands. Kuai ends up grabbing Tomas's wrists and when he acts like he's going to pull away, Tomas tightens his hold on him. He's not quite sure what he's doing, but holding Kuai is a part of his plan. Probably.

"Ask me again," suggests Tomas.

"…What are you doing?" Kuai questions, sounding a little confused. And why wouldn't he be?

"No, not that." This isn't going the way he thought it would. Not that he really had an idea in mind, but still. "Ask what I was distracted by."

"Smoke, I do no—"

"Kuai," interrupts Tomas, "humor me. Please." He moves away from Kuai's shoulder and his hold loosens. He bites the inside of his cheek because he's a little anxious to see what his friend does.

Kuai glances back at him, but he doesn't move away. In fact, all he does is sigh and look forward again. If he's at all annoyed by any of this, he's doing a good job of hiding it.

"What was distracting you?" He asks with much more sarcasm than Tomas ever thought Kuai was capable of.

"…I'm not sure I want to tell you now."

"Dammit, Tomas, stop acting like a—"

He never does find out what he's acting like because Tomas starts kissing the back of Kuai's neck. Which, by the way, is a pretty effective means of getting someone to stop talking.

He leaves a tiny trail of kisses from the nape of Kuai's neck to where the skin of his shoulder starts to disappear under his shirt. Tomas feels a little swell of pride when Kuai shivers and his breath hitches.

Something else may or may not also start to swell with something like pride. Yeah, he'll go ahead and push that thought aside for now. It's hard, but he soldiers on.

"What if I was distracted by you?" He whispers. "Thinking about this?"

Kuai exhales sharply and Tomas thinks he might throw up. What is he even doing? Ruining a perfectly good friendship, that's what.

"Let go of me," demands Kuai and Tomas can't say he's surprised.

Feeling like he's been punched in the gut, Tomas lets go and steps back. For the record, absolutely nothing is swelling now.

"Kuai… Tundra. I, uh, I am sor—hm!"

Being kissed is a really wonderful thing. So that's why, instead of kissing back, Tomas freaks out and shoves Kuai away.

Wait, what?

"What are you doing?!" Tomas yells, perhaps a little louder than he should have.

"What do you mean what am I doing?" Kuai looks a little offended.

"I…!" What does he mean? Kissing good, Tomas stupid. He pushes his hair back and takes a deep breath. "You surprised me?"

For all that's happened in the last three to five minutes it's a relief to see Kuai crack a small smile.

"Sorry," he says, taking steps towards Tomas. He stops when there are only a few inches between them. "That is what you were thinking of though, correct?"

Rather than ruin what is undoubtedly a moment, Tomas grabs Kuai's shirt and pulls him into a kiss. It's tentative at first. It's not their first kiss, but it is the first one they've had since they were together two weeks ago and the status of their friendship changed into something unknown. They haven't talked about it yet. They're not even talking about it now. They're just doing it all over again.

The kiss is nice though.

Kuai's lips aren't soft exactly, they're not very chapped either and Tomas never fails to be amazed at just how warm they are. Because, really, cold is Kuai's thing. He grabs Tomas's waist and the kiss deepens.

One of them lets out a little humming noise from the back of his throat and one kiss turns into two, which turns into a series of kisses each more enthusiastic than the last.

It is at this point, between kisses, one of them mumbles something about going back to their room. Who said it isn't important because Tomas wraps his arms around Kuai and whisks them away to his room.

Upon arrival, Tomas throws Kuai on his bed and has his way with him, or he would have if Kuai didn't accidentally get a mouthful of smoke on the way here. A coughing fit really kills the mood.

"Why was your mouth open?" asks Tomas, a little annoyed. He still rubs Kuai's back to soothe him. He's horny not heartless.

"Why?" Kuai chokes out, his coughs have subsided now at least. He aims a glare at the other man. "Because I was trying to kiss you."

"…Well. Next time I'll warn you," he says avoiding the gaze.

Kuai only shakes his head and walks over to the small bed to start working on removing his shoes and bracers. Tomas follows suit and soon their stuff is in a haphazard pile on the floor.

Finally, finally Tomas is able to push Kuai down into his mattress.

Actually, it happens the other way around, but the view looking up is fine too. Truth be told, he didn't put up much of a fight when Kuai pushed his shoulders back and moved to straddle his hips, but that's a secret that will be kept within these walls.

For a minute or so they're content to lie there and kiss lazily and memorize the feel of the other, but soon they shift positions slightly so the process of pulling off clothes is a little easier. Trying to kick off your pants while under someone who is also trying to kick off their pants is surprisingly difficult to do. Especially when sensitive things keep getting brushed against by accident.

When the last of their clothes are on the floor, Tomas sort of forgets what he's supposed to do next. Kuai doesn't fare any better, so at least he's not alone. They both just look at each other until Tomas has the presence of mind to reach up and rub his thumb across Kuai's cheekbone like he's trying to wipe off a smudge.

"How are you tanner than I am?" He asks, spreading his hand over his friend's cheek.

"Because you refuse to train outside?" Kuai offers, leaning into the touch.

"It is cold outside," replies Tomas, halfheartedly defending himself. He slides his hand to back of Kuai's neck and threads his fingers up through dark hair.

"And inside?"

"I suppose I have you for that, don't I?"

In lieu of an answer, Kuai simply leans down and presses his lips against his friend's. Then he trails down to the side of his neck and works on leaving a mark there.

Tomas can feel himself getting worked up again. He tightens his grip in Kuai's hair, until he's pulling at it. Kuai grunts in response and then grinds his hips into Tomas's in retaliation.

The sudden friction makes Tomas's breath hitch and he bucks his hips up to feel the sensation again. When their groins rub together it creates a wave of pleasure and Kuai has to bury his face in the crook of his friend's neck to stifle a groan.

Tomas takes this opportunity to move his hand from the other man's hip and grab his cock. Above him, Kuai goes still and Tomas can't hold back his smirk. He moves his hand up and down the shaft experimentally, squeezing at the base, and rubbing his thumb over the tip. Tomas takes a devious sort of pleasure in the noiseless pants Kuai starts making.

At this point he is achingly hard, but teasing Kuai is fun and frankly he deserves it. He can't think of why at this present moment, but that is beside the point.

Kuai bucks into the hand stroking him and doesn't bother with stifling the moan that bubbles up from his throat this time. He feels a building pressure in his abdomen and while he wouldn't mind just letting loose into Tomas's hand, he can't help but feel like they came here for a little more than a hand job.

With a considerable amount of effort, Kuai reaches down between them to knock the hand away. He grins at the small sound of surprise that the younger man makes. Thinking slightly more clearly, Kuai moves and reaches under the bed to find the small bottle of lube he knows Tomas has stashed.

How he knows is a story he doesn't wish to recount at the moment.

When he finds it he sits up and looks down at Tomas with a raised eyebrow. The bottle is considerably lighter than it was last time. Tomas offers no other explanation besides a toothy grin. Kuai snorts and squeezes what is left of the bottle onto his fingers while Tomas flips over onto his stomach.

After situating himself between Tomas's thighs and enjoying the view, Kuai places one hand on the small of his friend's back and teases his entrance with slick fingers. He takes a lot of enjoyment from the gasp and hums Tomas lets out as he presses his fingers into him.

He takes his time. Turning his fingers slowly, spreading them carefully, and teasing nerves. Kuai is rewarded with a loud moan when his fingers brush against a particular spot.

Tomas twists his hands into the sheets and tries to buck his hips back against those fingers, but is stopped by Kuai's hand on his waist.

"Mean," is all Tomas manages to say before he presses his face into a pillow. Gods, the anticipation is killing him. The touching is good, really good, but he needs more.

"Mean?" questions Kuai. He pulls his fingers out and very, very slowly reinserts his index finger up to the second knuckle before pulling it out again. With his free hand he reaches between Tomas's legs to tease him with light strokes.

Between the painfully slow, shallow finger fucking and the stroking Tomas becomes a complete wreck of a person. The pillow muffles his groans, but they still sound embarrassingly loud to his own ears.

After what feels like an eternity, Kuai removes his hands and, he can't be sure, but Tomas thinks he hears something being ripped open. He whines at the feeling of being completely empty, but is more than compensated for when Kuai presses the head of his cock against his ass.

Tomas goes a little stiff when Kuai pushes into him, but is soothed by a kiss between his shoulder blades and a hand stroking him.

When Kuai is flush against Tomas he stops moving so the other can get situated. His laugh turns into a quiet moan when Tomas starts moving his hips. He's decided to get off with or without Kuai's help apparently.

Kuai pulls out and pushes in again. He's trying to keep in rhythm with Tomas's movements, but it's a hopeless endeavor. All he can concentrate on is how tight it is and how great it feels and the ridiculous sounds they're making. Kuai would be lying if he said the low moans Tomas is making aren't driving him crazy, though. He squeezes his eyes shut and grasps the other man's hips hard enough to leave marks.

Tomas bites his lip when Kuai starts pumping his erection in time with his thrusts. He angles his hips so that Kuai hits a certain spot just so and when he does Tomas chokes out his name.

Kuai takes extra care to try to hit that spot when he thrusts in. When he hits it a second time, Tomas cries out and thrusts erratically into his hand as he comes.

Tomas starts slumping towards the mattress. The only thing keeping him upright is Kuai still thrusting into him.

"As long as. You're done," mutters Kuai between thrusts.

Tomas only hums silently. He would have made more of an effort to stay upright, but he knows that Kuai is close. He can tell by the way the thrusting starts to slow and the fact that Kuai is mumbling something that sounds suspiciously like the word 'close' into the back his neck. It makes him shiver.

Kuai is right at the edge and Tomas's squeezing muscles work to pull him over. He comes breathlessly and goes still, bracing his arms on either side of his partner. He understands Tomas collapsing earlier, because right now he feels completely boneless. After pulling out carefully, he lets his body give out and drops right on top of the other.

"Hey!" Tomas admires how muscular and fit and all around fantastic looking Kuai is, but not when he's being squished underneath all of it. "Ge'off."

Kuai snorts, but complies. Once he's on his own side of the bed, Tomas scrambles over to lay his head on his chest.

"I see how it is." Kuai laughs, but he curls an arm around Tomas anyway.

Kuai yawns and Tomas peeks up at his face in time to see him close his eyes. He smiles to himself, his own eyes growing heavy. They're sweaty and sticky and they really need to clean up, but there's no harm in resting their eyes first.

"You realize we'll have kitchen duty again tomorrow for not finishing tonight, right?"

"Fuck."

A/N 2 - In my experience, condoms don't actually make any noise when you open them. I also don't know where it came from in the first place. Tundra pulled it out of thin air I guess! What a useful skill! I was too lazy to figure out any other way to cram it into the story. Oops.

I don't expect this story to get too many hits because, from what I can tell, Smoke/Sub-Zero is not really a popular pairing. Like I said I have never really participated in this fandom before. ANYWAY. I hope the characterization here doesn't seem way off. I tried. Hopefully there aren't too many grammar and spelling issues. I did proofread it the best I could, but my brain just refuses to work sometimes so pff.

Let me know what you thought!