Not quite Zihuatanejo by InSilva
Summary: Rusty, Danny, Basher and Linus take a break.
Disclaimer: I own no characters herein.
A/N: as requested. Kind of.
Grenoble, the French Alps
Linus stared down and wondered how this had ever seemed like a good idea. Not just now. Ever. Two pieces of wood – thin wood at that – with no grip on them, strapped to your feet, leaving you balanced on top of them, on top of snow, with only two pieces of equally thin metal to help keep you upright… He felt just as he had done when his parents had taken him ice-skating. Unco-ordinated, awkward, liable to mess up at any time. Though that could just be him.
There was a small whoosh beside him and Basher gingerly edged into view looking just as happy with his decision to join this party.
"Why?" Basher muttered and Linus nodded fervently. Exactly.
There was another noise behind them and they both turned carefully to see a lithe figure, clad in a garish pink, orange and lime green ski-suit and mirrored snowgoggles, expertly glide down to join them, pulling up neatly alongside them with a hint of smug flourish.
Linus felt an instant rush of envy at how effortless Rusty managed to make anything look. He'd skied before, Linus told himself, that had to make a difference. He sighed. He felt sure Rusty would have been equally polished if it had been his first time too.
"How are we doing?"
Basher exchanged a meaningful glance with Linus and spoke for both of them. "It's bloody freezing and I'm more than a little shit-scared."
The mouth beneath the snowgoggles broke into a wide grin.
"That's good," Rusty reassured. "Gets the adrenaline going."
"Yeah," Basher did not look convinced.
"Where's Danny?" Linus wanted to know.
If the grin could have gotten any wider it would have done.
"He'll be here…damn!"
There had been definite surprise in the last word and they followed Rusty's gaze to where a black-clad figure was skiing confidently down to them, snow-ploughing to a perfect stop beside them.
Rusty pushed his goggles up on to the top of his head and Danny did the same. There seemed to be some amused conversation going on that Linus knew he would never hear.
Basher looked Danny over. "It's the man from the Milk Tray ad."
Danny looked at him, considering. "Now he was possibly underrated-"
"-always going to suffer-" Rusty contributed.
"After Sean-"
"Exactly."
"Mind you-"
"Louis," they said together and smiled.
Basher and Linus shook their heads and the other two had the grace to look a trifle sheepish.
"OK, nursery slopes this way," Rusty pointed. He looked at Danny appraisingly. "You thinking of going off-piste?"
Danny grinned. "Maybe later."
They had fallen in from skiing and headed straight for the hotel bar, Basher insisting that if he did not have a pint immediately, he might just die then and there. Rusty had insisted on trying out the mulled wine but had been on his own with that one. He came back from the bar with the second round of drinks when a slightly nervous manager approached.
"Messieurs?"
Rusty looked up. "Oui…"
A fast and furious Gallic conversation followed where few words – "chambre", "valise" - fell out.
Eventually the man backed away, full of apology and Rusty turned back to the table.
"There's been a slight complication," he said and three sets of eyes were immediately on his. "Apparently there's been an accident in one of our rooms and it's affected the other three as well."
"What sort of accident?" Danny asked.
"Well, it appears to have involved soap, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, lemon juice and three industrial chemicals."
Danny and Linus followed Rusty's gaze to Basher.
"What?" Basher frowned and then realisation dawned. "Blimey!"
The others just waited.
"Slow-release explosive. It was just an experiment," Basher said defensively. "Guess I forgot about it."
Danny looked at him and shook his head. "You know when you said you could come along, the worst I thought was avalanche. How bad's the damage?"
Rusty shrugged. "We can't sleep in the rooms tonight. Oh, and some luggage has gone."
"We can't sleep here?" Basher looked dismayed.
"Luggage?" This from Linus.
"Some?" Danny's eyes narrowed.
Rusty shrugged. "The hotel's full but they're putting us up in a nearby chalet. And," he gave a smile, "my suitcases are intact."
As the others groaned, he went on, "But don't worry, I'll share. Mea-
"Don't," Danny threatened.
"-case, sua case," Rusty finished, grinning.
Weary, they pushed open the door to their chalet. It was compact with a kitchen, bathroom and table and it could certainly sleep four. Twin beds were at the rear of the room and there was a double bed down the other end of the chalet.
Rusty moved forward and bounced down on the double bed, lying full stretch on his side, propped up on his elbow. He patted the space next to him.
"What do you reckon, Linus? Happy to share?"
Linus's face registered shock. "Me? I mean, I thought- surely, it should-" panic-stricken, he looked at Danny. Too late, he saw Rusty's smile and knew yet again he'd been played.
"Well, I'm not bloody sharing with you," Basher said, pushing past and claiming one of the twin beds.
"It's OK, Linus," Danny put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I don't think anyone's up to sharing a bed with Rusty except me."
There was a pause while Basher looked elsewhere and Linus's eyes grew rounder.
"Believe me," Danny went on. "You couldn't cope with the snoring and the kicking and the elbows."
"Least my hands don't wander," Rusty said, eyes gleaming.
Basher and Linus had changed into Rusty's shirts to wear over their salopets. Basher was in shiny turquoise; Linus had eventually chosen muddy green overlaid with an evil-looking brown leaf pattern. Danny had pulled out a black turtleneck that Rusty couldn't remember packing. His suspicions were confirmed when it fitted like a glove.
"Figured you were going to be paying excess allowance anyway," Danny shrugged.
"Rusty?" Linus was still investigating the suitcase. "You don't have any night shorts or…"
Rusty looked at Danny who already had amusement written large across his face. "No, Linus, I don't," he said levelly.
"But then…oh…oh!" Linus tailed off, reddening.
"Au naturel," Rusty went on, still looking at Danny. "Can't beat it."
Danny shook his head at him.
The hotel had brought up a cheese fondue which contained generous helpings of vodka and a large plate of crusty bread. It had looked for a moment as if Rusty was planning on licking the fondue pot out but he restrained himself. To follow, there was a dessert involving chocolate, hazelnuts, cream, meringue and more chocolate. This time, Rusty was less polite.
Over beers, they had played several hands of cards, Basher and Linus giving up any thoughts of winning and concentrating instead on watching Danny and Rusty cheat wildly but brilliantly; the occasion when they were both holding four aces was more than a little entertaining.
Now, they had retired to bed and in the semi-darkness of the chalet, two different conversations were going on.
"Basher? You asleep?" Linus whispered.
"Not yet. Not ever if you carry on rabbiting."
"Do you…Danny and Rusty…I mean, I know they're…but are they…?"
"Mate," Basher rolled his eyes. "You finish about as many sentences as they do."
"It's just…" Linus broke off.
It wasn't the first time he'd wondered, it wasn't the first time he'd asked, heck it wasn't even the first time he'd asked Basher. It was just a subject that never went away. And even though he understood that Danny and Rusty were connected in ways he could not comprehend, and even though he appreciated that that connection was stronger than anything he could imagine and certainly went beyond anything purely physical, yet the question lingered. Were they? Weren't they?
Basher rolled over on the bed, looked at him and sighed. "Does it really matter?"
In the double bed, Danny and Rusty were lying side by side, staring up at the ceiling. Despite his earlier pronouncement, Rusty had kept his underwear on.
"Were you ever planning to sleep naked?" Danny whispered.
"Only if Linus had-"
"Oh, you have a mean streak, Robert Ryan."
Rusty grinned.
"He'd have spent all night next to you wide awake."
"Yeah…" He turned on to his side and looked at Danny.
"What?"
"You've been practising." It was a statement rather than a question.
"Maybe. Perhaps I just-"
"No." Rusty was firm. "I fully remember-"
"I wasn't-"
"All over the place. Three times I pulled you out of a snow bank. You've been practising."
"Maybe," the smile was rich in Danny's voice. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"You surprising me?"
Danny rolled on to his side, face to face with Rusty. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?" he repeated, eyes laughing.
Rusty's grin was wide. "Nope. I was just thinking "old dog, new tricks"..."
I'll show you new tricks-
Promises, promises.
"Go to sleep," Danny instructed but in the mostly dark, he could see Rusty's mouth was twitching. "What have you just thought of?"
"Considering playing Linus a little."
"How?"
But Rusty just smiled at him and Danny was suddenly very nervous about going to sleep himself.