Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: In case you're not following them. this is the third in a series of seasonal ficlets. The first being Apples (see my other works) and the other being Snowball (found in the "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" series)
Flowers
Horatio sighed, adjusting his satchel on his shoulder as he stepped into the elevator. Hopefully today wouldn't be as trying as the previous, but even if it would be, he had gotten enough sleep that he could handle it. Perhaps he could send Eric and Ryan out onto the field today. They seemed pretty wound up during the internal investigations of the previous day. He had never seen either of the men so squirrelly to get outside and do some heavy work with their hands.
The redheaded lieutenant shifted his weight from side to side. IAB had him on his feet for a large portion of the day before, which kind of killed the point of being promoted to his current position. All of his nearly fifty years felt like they were willing to pull on him if he would give them the opportunity.
In short, it was a good day to sit around in the office and do some lab work.
He stepped off the elevator and into the brightly lit halls of the CSI labs. Eyes fell on him from all corners of the lab, occasional giggles sprouting from the secluded corners.
What now? Horatio sighed, glaring some of the younger assistants back into a more productive frame of mind.
"Good morning, Horatio," Calleigh chirped, walking by with a cup of coffee. "What's on the docket for today".
"I think I'm just going to do some lab work, I'm not feeling very up for walking around".
"Ahh… so… you want to do that now?"
"Do we have any evidence already?"
"No… but you can look over some of the cold cases".
Horatio arched an eyebrow, "you know I only review cold cases on Thursday. What's going on here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, Calleigh. I know there's something going on. You know there's something going on. How about you just tell me what's up".
"Erm…"
The redhead just shook his head as he stepped around her, heading to his office.
"H? Are you sure that you don't want to go to the trace lab to look over the cold cases?"
"Calleigh, I don't know what game you're trying to play, so how about you just tell me?"
"Erm…"
Eric and Ryan stepped out of the elevator. "Calleigh! We got a bullet for you!"
She pouted at the situation before she turned to them. "I'll be right there".
Horatio managed to escape before Calleigh could again try to lead him away from his morning routine. But it didn't take too many more steps before he figured out why.
From what used to be a hallway filled with soft light, came a red, pink, and orange glow. Confused, Horatio walked towards the source; his expression of curiosity turning into one of irritation as he learned he was looking at his own office. The glass walls that made up the room were filled with flowers, rows and rows and rows of flowers, from floor to ceiling. He growled as he shoved the door open.
"Get out," he barked, pointing at the door, "get out now".
"Horatio, wait. Let me explain," the younger man begged, holding up his hands a little defensively.
"No, Stetler. I'm tired of you messing around down here. IAB has its own floor, go play up there".
"I knew it wouldn't be enough for me to just tell you that I'm sorry about yesterday".
Rick put the little purple orchid he was holding down onto Horatio's desk. He trudged over to the couch and plopped down, the redhead glaring down at him from his position near the door.
"I know I put your lab through a nice chunk of hell yesterday," Rick admitted, wringing his hands and playing with his bright pink tie, "but it wasn't personal. I just needed to make sure that all our bases were covered so that psychopath and his lawyer wouldn't pull a fast one on us. And… he's locked away now with a solid case against him. So the story had a happy ending. Right?"
Horatio lightly pinched the bridge of his nose, "You put Eric and Mr. Wolfe through a collective six hours of interrogations".
"They were interviews".
"That's not the story I heard, Rick".
The brunette sighed deeply, "What I did was standard procedure. It was designed to be through".
"It felt like it was designed to discredit my CSIs".
"You know that that's not what we're here for, Horatio".
"Right, right," Horatio nodded, "you're just here to protect the people, right? Well, how do you suggest we protect them from you?"
"Horatio".
"You've been harassing my lab for years! I-"
"-I came here to apologize!" Rick snapped, standing up. "But if you don't want to accept it, fine! I don't think I'll ever understand what's going on between us, anyways".
He got up and began storming over to the door, but Horatio stopped him.
"Okay," he sighed softly, "Rick… I over-reacted. And I'm sorry. And this," he took a moment to wave his arm in the general direction of the flowers, "this is… nice. But it's a little much".
"Well," Rick smiled with a little shrug, "it is the first day of spring".
Horatio grabbed his arm before he could take another step closer to the door. "Wait. The first day of spring? Is this anything like the first days of Fall and Winter?"
"If you want it to be".
Horatio blinked at that before shaking his head and moving his hand to Rick's shoulder. "Look. I hate to break it to you, but I'm not gay".
"Yeah, you're right. You're not gay; you're just living in denial," Rick smirked.
"It's neither. I know you want me to want you, but I just can't. Sorry".
"And that's a mighty fine way of explaining our previous encounters," the brunette drawled, making a small shiver travel down Horatio's spine.
"Those are anomalies".
"When we find ourselves all alone together… nobody else around… lost in each other's eyes".
Horatio swallowed, hard.
"We can't help what happens. And to turn away from it would just be wrong," Rick cooed, placing his hands on the redhead's hips while looking into brilliant cobalt eyes.
Taking a small step in, Horatio gently returned the sentiment; wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist. The next thing he knew, his chin was captured in Rick's hand and his face was lifted to look up at him.
"We shouldn't," the redhead whispered, his lips only a hair's breadth away from Rick.
"Why not?"
"My team… they'll see us… glass walls".
"They're already taken care of".
With that, Rick leaned down and closed the distance. Horatio only protested for a fleeting second before his body melted into the younger man's embrace. With wanting lips, the redhead's mouth was coaxed open and their tongues swept over each other. He was helpless as one hand reached up to grasp at his soft red hair and the other moved over to the small of his back. A bright pink blush swarmed over Horatio as their bodies pressed together just enough to feel their cocks getting hard between them.
"Rick, stop," Horatio gasped, pulling away and trying to hide his growing arousal. What the hell is happening to me?
"Your team can't see us, 'H'," he whispered.
"Don't call me that," he muttered, looking towards the glass walls. But sure enough, his team couldn't see them. They were well hidden behind a wall of large flowers. "But still… someone could walk in any second".
"Not if you lock the door… unless of course, you want someone to come in and find the two of us like this".
Horatio couldn't restrain another shiver, this time Rick feeling it.
"You like the sound of that, don't you Horatio? The image of you and I… tangled on the couch… how much do you want to take off for it?" He felt the redhead shiver again. "Let's just say, shirts off… pants open. Do you want to be on top?"
Horatio shook his head. He couldn't help it, he had already imagined what it would be like to drag Rick into his office and make out on the couch. And he had not once imagined himself being on top. He wanted to just be pinned down and have Rick take advantage of him. Wait… what am I thinking? I'm straight… I think.
"Alright," Rick chuckled, "so… I'm on top. I'm lying down on top of you, pressing into your warm body. Digging my hard cock into your thigh. Our hands are wandering all over each other's bare backs. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Horatio couldn't stop himself before he nodded, immediately kicking himself for doing so.
"and then… oh… let's say… Ryan walks through the door. He sees us completely absorbed in our own world. What would he do? Do you think he'd run out… or stay and watch?"
"Rick," he chuckled, "please…"
"I want to find out all the amazing things we can to do each other, Horatio," he whispered into the other man's ear before nibbling on it.
"Rick… I'm not…"
"If you were, it would be nothing to be ashamed of, Horatio. There's nothing wrong with it… however".
Horatio had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning in disappointment as Rick pulled away. He was backed up against the couch, Rick pulling him down next to him. Positive he knew what was going to come with this, Horatio crashed their lips together, trying to pull him down onto the cushions.
"Woah, Horatio. Calm down".
Embarrassed, Horatio let go and lay his hands on his own lap. Why can't I just keep my hands to myself?
"I want to talk about this before we go any further," Rick sighed, irritated with himself for stopping the redhead.
"What is it?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"What?"
The brunette struggled and somehow managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes, "Please just tell me where I stand, Horatio".
"Well… Rick… I…" the blue eyed man chuckled nervously, clasping his hands together, "I… enjoyed those days we spent together in December and September".
"And you mean a lot to me," Rick admitted softly, "I really am genuinely concerned when you come close to endangering yourself".
"Endangering myself?"
Rick could have hit him. "Standing in a sniper's sights? Does that ring a bell?"
"Oh…"
"You easily could have died. You make me worry about you nearly all the time".
"I've stopped doing heavy field stuff like that. I'm getting a little old for it, anyways".
"But… in regards to us?"
"What?"
"Well, are we going to just do this quarterly or more often or…"
"I don't know, Rick".
"Because if you don't want this-"
"-I do".
Rick could do little more than to smile lightly at that. He knew that he caught Horatio off guard at that. Perhaps he would be more willing to answer at a later time. "We don't have to reach any concrete decision about it now".
"Thank you".
"Now… what were you going to do before I so rudely interrupted you?"
The redhead's cheeks turned several vibrant shades of pink as he leaned forward and brushed their lips together, significantly shyer than he was a few minutes ago. The younger man smirked, reaching a hand around to lace his fingers in soft copper hair.
Horatio moaned softly as he felt long and talented fingers toy with the buttons of his shirt. Soft lips pressed against his neck and each newly exposed inch of chest. The redhead moaned helplessly as his pale freckled skin warmed under the younger man's mouth. Sinking into the plush office couch and Rick Stetler's full weight on top of him felt absolutely heavenly. Arms wrapped around one another's bodies, their legs slipping against one another.
"Oh God!" Horatio gasped as he felt Rick's arousal bump against his own.
The brunette propped himself up and looked up into those soft blue eyes, a soft smile crossed his lips. He leaned down and kissed Horatio's chest once more, feeling Horatio's blush sweep over down his body.
"Do you want to keep this up or take this to the next level?" he purred.
Horatio shivered at the thought of what the next level would be. He looked up into deep brown eyes, reaching up and stroking a scruffy cheek. "How… what do you want to…?"
Rick climbed off of the older man, reaching down and taking Horatio's hand in his. The redhead was led to his feet, looking curiously up into the younger man's eyes. His heart began to pound as he was pulled into a rough and passionate kiss.
"How about you sit down behind your desk and I get on my knees and…" the brunette crooned, gently touching Horatio's cheek with the back of his hand.
A blush crossed the pale cheeks of Horatio, he turned his face away for a moment, trying to sort things out. There was no use of denying it for any longer, he knew he wanted Rick. The thought of that brunette introducing him to something warm… erotic… from a new perspective… it intrigued him.
"Are you sure, Rick?"
"Positive," Stetler cooed, pulling Horatio towards the desk, "will you let me...?"
Horatio looked to the flower-covered glass walls. There was no way that anyone could see him from the halls. Plus, Rick would be under the desk, which was perfectly opaque and reached down to the floor. It wouldn't take too long… would it?
Horatio looked away for a second, blushing. "Yes".
Rick smiled seductively as he got behind the desk and fell down onto his knees. Horatio slowly lowered himself down into his desk chair. He watched as the younger man ducked down under the desk and looked up, waiting for him to open his pants, spread his legs, and come a little closer.
"Rick?"
"I wouldn't dream of hurting you, Horatio".
The redhead wasn't about to admit it, but he had already grown hard in want. His stiff cock was straining against the confines of his trousers as he unbuckled his belt and opened the top button.
Rick grabbed the base of the chair and wheeled it in towards him. Large hands fell on the redhead's thighs, spreading tense legs for the older man as the belt opened. The hands moved teasingly over the prominent bulge in Horatio's slacks, feeling it up before slowly drawing the zipper down over it.
"Rick," the blue eyed man whispered breathlessly as he leaned back in his chair to get a good look at the dark brown eyes gazing up at him.
A smirk crossed the brunette's lips as he let his southern drawl speak, "I'm just gettin' started".
Horatio moaned softly as long fingers dipped between the folds of his pale blue boxers and brushed against his hot cock. A blush washed down his whole body as soon as the warm flesh met the cool air of his office. For an older man in his position, Horatio was quite active sexually; being more for one-night-stands than most people would believe. His stance in the department meant that he was often among the first man kidnap victims or scared witnesses trusted. But with all his partners, he has to admit that he hasn't been with a man since his experimental days back in college.
Another moan and Horatio's reflections on his past and sexuality had disappeared with his breath. A large hand was stroking his stiff unit in hard and steady strokes. Rick eyed up the redhead's manhood wantonly; his tongue eagerly flicking around in his mouth, begging for a taste. Horatio was quite a bit larger than Rick expected, I guess what they say about redheads is true.
"Horatio," Rick whispered, his voice a soft breath against the older man's cock.
The redhead shivered before he leaned back in his chair, one hand grasping onto the cushion of the seat and the other lost somewhere in Rick's dark brown hair. He pulled lightly on the brown eyed man, loving the feeling of a soft breath against him. A shock traveled up his spine as the pumping motion was joined by a long and slow caress from the flat of Rick's tongue.
"Oh!"
Rick stole a glance up at Horatio. He had tossed his head back into the desk chair, his body was rigid and his chest heaving. All in one simple motion from Rick's mouth. The IAB agent smirked to himself before turning his head and letting his lips follow the same path, sucking lightly and stopping occasionally to re-moisten them.
"Rick".
"Shh," the brunette hissed gently, his lips touching the other man's slick cock as he did so.
Teasingly slowly, Rick kissed the tip of his lover's cock and sucked the head into his mouth. He sat there for a moment, Horatio's hot flesh resting heavy on his tongue. Brown eyes drifted shut as Rick began to trace and take in all of the redhead's tip.
It was all Horatio could do not to buck up with the sensation. Nobody had taken such time before, or was even so willing. Whenever he received head from a woman, it was always just a short prelude to something more in the bedroom. But with men… with Rick… it was the sex. Like his first male partner said back in New York: 'who knows how to please a man better than another man?'
The redhead's breaths grew heavy as Rick finally leaned forward, taking just a bit of the shaft into his mouth. Horatio watched through half-lidded blue eyes as his partner moved back with only the head in his mouth again. Another dip, this time a little farther and a little more was taken in. Hands grasped onto Horatio's thighs as Rick began to take more and more into his mouth.
It was wonderful.
He was being worshiped.
In a few minutes that were all too short but at the same time agonizingly long, Horatio was doing all he could to keep from simply shutting his eyes and rolling his hips. He wanted to watch the younger man, and what Rick was doing was downright mesmerizing.
The brunette had opened his own pants and began stroking his own arousal. Slick with saliva and a bit of cum, Rick's mouth was sliding effortlessly over the lieutenant's hardness. His head was bobbing up and down on the member in a way that Horatio was later positive must have hurt his partner's neck. But it was hot… and it felt right.
Rick could feel Horatio's body grow tight with the tension pounding in his veins.
He could taste the hyper-sensitivity in the redhead's cock.
He could smell Horatio's sweet musk grow heavy in the air near him.
He could see the spell that he had cast over the older man.
He could hear the blood rushing in his ears… and the office door opening.
"Horatio," Frank Tripp called as he walked in, his nose buried in a stack of folders he had in his hands. "Are you busy?"
The redhead pushed the chair in close to the desk, leaving Rick to either take his mouth off the goods or contort himself to an uncomfortable position under the desk and between Horatio's legs. Rick, of course, chose the latter. The lieutenant frantically looked around his desk for a file to pretend to be busy with, forgetting that all his files were in the satchel sitting hear the couch.
"Nope," Horatio reluctantly admitted, as he somehow was able to pull himself together enough to speak. "Just got in".
Rick smirked at the double entendre as he continued giving Horatio his blow job. He swatted at the hand that came down to push him away.
Go away! Horatio's brain screamed as Frank pulled up a chair and sat down across the desk from him.
"Good," the detective smiled, fanning the papers out between them, "I have a couple questions about the Daniel Hatch case, mainly how it related to the Joseph Calm case I need to be brought up to speed on".
"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Horatio muttered. Rick was determined to keep him aroused throughout this whole ordeal, wasn't he?
"But first things first," Frank stated, sitting back in the chair.
"W-what?" Damnit, Rick! I'll hit you if you make me stutter again… if I could be positive that it wouldn't startle you… or more specifically, your teeth.
"What's with all the flowers?"
"I found them".
Detective Tripp cocked an eyebrow at that, "'found them'?"
Horatio could have kicked Rick for being responsible for a lapse in thought and judgment. But he didn't.
"I found them in my office when I came in this morning," Horatio clarified as he reached over and picked up the purple orchid sitting on the desk (hoping that his hand wasn't shaking too terribly).
"So… do you know who did it?"
"Oh yeah, I do," Horatio gasped, moving his leg in hopes to dislodge Rick and keep himself from almost slipping again.
Frank stared at his friend for a few seconds, waiting for an answer before he asked "Who?"
"It was Rick," Horatio said, unable to keep from smirking at the name, "Rick Stetler… from IAB".
"Yeah," Tripp nodded, "I know who Rick is. But why?"
"Well," Horatio grunted, mysteriously shifting his weight around as Rick's head began bobbing again. "He knows that my team was pretty upset with him for the intense investigation he put on them yesterday. And, as it just so happens, today is the first day of spring. So he took the liberty of decorating my office in apology flowers".
Frank stared at him for a few seconds again, realizing that he had to do this more and more. "Huh". He turned his attention to the wall of flowers. It was pretty intricate… and pretty beautiful.
There was a hard knock from under the desk followed by an immediate and soft "fuck" from Horatio, followed by a wince of pain.
"Horatio?" Frank asked. The redhead rarely ever swore.
"I… hit… my… knee," he said slowly, reaching down under the desk to rub the back of Rick's bruised head as the little bite marks on his shaft were lovingly treated.
"Huh".
Horatio stared at Frank, the bite managed to erase the part of his memory that knew why he hadn't sent Tripp out of the office yet. He glanced down at the papers and it started coming back to him. Opening his mouth, Horatio was about to ask what part of the Joseph Calm case he was in the dark over; but words started coming out of Frank's mouth instead.
"Can I ask you a personal question, H? Just between friends?"
"Uh… sure". Please don't let it be about Rick. Please don't let it be about Rick.
"It's about Rick".
"Go on". Please don't ask if he's giving me head right now. Please don't ask if he's giving me head right now.
"What's going on between you two?"
Don't say 'oral'. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, whenever I've seen you alone in the same room, you're acting… oddly".
"'Oddly'?"
"Yeah, 'oddly'. You two used to fight all the time, never releasing your hands from each other's throats. And now I see… no… catch you two hugging, making out in bathroom stalls, and now he's giving you presents".
"What's your point?" Horatio asked, not even noticing how futile that question was.
Frank took a deep breath, "This is only speculation, but…" another deep breath, "are you in a relationship with Stetler?"
Horatio nearly felt his heart stop as the sensation of lips and tongue on his straining cock was suddenly gone. He had no idea that Rick was completely enwrapped in the sensation of his own hand on his aching manhood. Horatio just figured that now he was being pressured to come to a decision over the relationship from both his friend and his… lover? Is that the word he wants?
"Rick and I… have decided that it would be best if we put our rivalry behind us. We're pursuing a mutual understanding not only as individuals, but as representatives for our respective departments".
"Oh".
Horatio opened the desk drawer. During his speech he heard a soft and breathy "ahh" from under the desk. He dropped a small packet of tissues down onto the floor next to Rick, taking out a pen for himself (that he doesn't need). Horatio was about to speak again, but the small kiss of thanks the tip of his cock received nearly fried his brain.
"So…" Frank said, trying to sort things out, "as representatives you were making out half-naked in the bathroom".
"You're missing the point".
"I think I am".
The redhead took a deep breath, reluctantly feeling his cock fall soft as its blood was rushing back to the brain. All he felt like doing was punching Frank for denying him the orgasm he wanted to have with Rick.
"We have decided to invest more energy into establishing peace after conflict".
"So you, as representatives, were symbolically making out half-naked in the bathroom".
"…Yes".
Frank sighed and shook his head as he stood up. "I'll never understand you two, Horatio".
"It's complicated".
"Yes, I see that".
Horatio watched as Frank headed towards the door. "Don't you want to discuss the Joseph Cal-"
"-We'll do it later, Horatio. I have to… erm… get something first".
"Alright".
Horatio waited patiently until Frank was out the door before quickly backing up and letting Rick out from under the desk.
"Get out of here," the redhead ordered as he tucked himself back in, "now".
"I'm sorry, H," Rick quickly apologized, tossing the used tissues in the waste bin, "I thought you locked the door… and I didn't expect anyone to come in".
"It's not your fault. Just please, get out before somebody sees you".
"Alright," Rick nodded obediently as he headed towards the door.
"We'll talk about this… later… sometime," Horatio stammered out before the younger man could leave.
"Only if you have the time," Rick agreed, flashing a gentle smile to Horatio before he walked out the door.
***
Frank stopped a few feet away from the elevator, suddenly remembering that he had left his files on Horatio's desk. Sighing, he decided that he should turn around and get them. Maybe he was too critical of Horatio, maybe he was coming off as homophobic. He wasn't. He just wanted to know what was going on.
On the way back to Horatio's office he nearly literally bumped into Rick. The brunette tried to pass him by, but frank wouldn't have it.
"Rick?"
"Yeah?"
Frank stopped. Why did he stop Rick again?
"I… I just thought you were upstairs is all. You startled me. Sorry".
"No, I was in Horatio's office". Rick bit his tongue. Why did I say that?
"I… I was just there. What were you doing? Where were you?"
"Hiding"
"'Hiding'?"
"Yeah".
Frank had to do a double take to make sure he wasn't imagining things, but… "what's that white stuff on your lip?"
Rick took a moment to lick it off.
"Yogurt".
Frank was about to ask what Rick was doing hiding in Horatio's office, eating yogurt; but he was already in the elevator and gone.