Sleeping Beauty
Tends to be that when he's in the backseat of the General some pretty filly or another is there, too, keeping him company. Or maybe it's Daisy or Jesse when the car's full. He's even taken a nap back there on occasion. But this time there is a distinct lack of beautiful women and sleeping. (On Luke's part at least.) Because this time it's Bo that's occupying his chest and arms, passed out and dead to the world. Tired after a long day of car chases, fighting and chuck 'n' jiving.
Bo usually waits until he's in bed to crash, but not today. Luke was inclined to leave his cousin to his own devices, but that cute little yawn that scrunched up his face in the middle convinced him that maybe taking a nap wasn't such a bad idea. It took some maneuvering to get them both into the backseat, long legs and cowboy boots have a tendency to get caught in whatever they can get caught in inside a car, roll bars and the like. And Bo, being Bo, he probably scuffed the upholstery, too. Not that it really matters, the General's got his fair share of scrapes in the vinyl made by various high heels.
Baby blue isn't the only one that's checking his eyelids for pinholes either. Uncle Jesse's up there on the porch having himself an afternoon snooze, too. He can only hope Daisy hasn't fallen asleep as well wherever she is. It's like they've got some internal Duke clock that Luke was born without, probably didn't run in his branch of the family tree, he got the smarts instead. Which is fine with him, he'd rather be clever than never grown out of nap time.
Daisy isn't asleep it would seem, he's heard of sleepwalking, but sleepdriving would just be plain stupid. So unless she's figured on some way to make that possible he's pretty sure she's wide awake. But she might be wanting to take a power nap soon anyway seeing as she's got to tackle the Friday night rush at the Boar's Nest.
"Hey, Luke. Look what I got." She doesn't seem fazed at all by the cuddly position him and Bo's tied themselves into as she waves the box of chocolates in front of his face. "Lulu gave it to me, thought you guys might like to share." Sounds very sneaky, like she did whenever she got hold of something she wasn't really supposed to have. Hasn't heard that surreptitious little whisper in years.
Bo makes a soft agreeing sound in his sleep in answer to Daisy's suggestion, that boy can only think of two things it seems, food and girls. Shuffles around a bit while he's at it and disconnects again when his face is buried in Luke's arm, doesn't look very comfortable, but he seems to think it is going by the way he's snoring. "Better wait until Sleeping Beauty here wakes up."
"Wait a hundred years! No way." Followed by a little half breed between a giggle and a laugh. A small fist pushes him in the shoulder and he can't help, but laugh himself when an image of Bo dressed up real nice in a dress and veil laid out on a bed waiting for the prince. "Maybe you should kiss him awake." She whispers conspiratorially into his ear, plucking at some strands of dark hair on the back of his head. Now, he ought to clobber her for suggesting such a thing, but it's actually not such a bad idea. He's surprised to find himself thinking that way about his cousin, maybe he should ask Daisy to go get her frying pan, yet it doesn't feel wrong. He's not appalled at the idea of kissing his whiny kid cousin who's dedicated his entire life to annoying Luke, in fact, he's rather tempted by it.
Turns around to look at Daisy in a painful twist of his shoulders, the General's window frame is already digging into his back, no need to make it worse, but there is a need to stare at the grinning girl behind him. "You serious?"
"Too late, Luke." And she's gone, like some angel who's job is done, leaving him to ponder the things his own mind came up with as Bo's internal clock tells him it's time to wake up.
The evening chores come and go easy, for his cousin at least, Luke spends most of the time watching him. It's a complete turn around. Usually it's Bo that's slacking off, but now he's working like a horse while Luke fumbles after, too distracted by tan skin, blonde curls and rosy lips to bother doing his share. And if his cousin notices he doesn't say anything, not even when he stays up way past everyone else.
He wasn't intending on going to bed either, he was just going to sit in the kitchen until it was time to start working again. He would have, too, if it wasn't for Jesse getting up sometime past one in the morning to chase him off to bed and tell him to stop hiding and get it over with because it wasn't doing anyone any good if he was to mope around and not pull his share of the weight when the problem could be easily fixed. Now, he's not sure if the old man was talking about what he thinks he was, but it wouldn't surprise him I he did. Their uncle's always had a way of knowing exactly what's going on up in their heads whether they try to hide it or not.
As he expected Bo is asleep when he sneaks into their room. Beautiful as always, he just never paid it any mind before. His cousin is perfect, sleeping there with the covers half off, skin glistening with a light sheen of summer sweat, the window is open letting the moon light in to bounce off honey blonde curls. Sleeping Beauty waiting for the prince. Bo waiting for Luke. His very own angel.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" He says to his sleeping cousin just because he can, because there was no way Bo would hear him. And if he did, he'd pass it off as a dream.
He crosses the room and kneels at Bo's bedside before he can really think about what he's doing. Let's his fingers glide gently over a slightly rough cheek as the blonde leans into the touch. There's a sniffle when he takes his hand away and Bo's head completes the shift in movement and his cheek hits the pillow. Luke smiles, his cousin never really grew up, he just got tall, that much is evident in his face, he looks so young and innocent; even if he is far from the latter. Maybe it's time to make him a little less innocent. Uncle Jesse did after all tell him to do it.
Better to just get it over with.
As stealthily as he can mange he scoots onto the edge of the bed and leans closer to Bo. Let's his right hand slip into sun bleached hair and move his cousin's head to get better access to that perfect mouth before he takes the plunge. Soft and careful, testing the waters while Bo is still oblivious to the fact that he's being molested, by his own cousin no less. Pulls back to stare a little while waiting for the fist that's bound to come. He gets a snore instead. So far as Sleeping Beauty is concerned it never happened, some prince he is.
The second attempt goes a fair bit better as Bo stirs and tries to follow him when he pulls away. His head falls back on the pillow and two slits of blue open probably expecting to see the girl of his dreams smiling down at him. He doesn't seem disappointed that it's Luke's face that comes into focus, unless silly grinning is a new way of showing it. No, Bo looks downright delighted where he's laying. Then again, he could be hallucinating, he did just wake up.
In fact that's what Luke strongly believes in up until the point where his cousin snakes one long arm around his back, fists one in his hair and pulls him down into a kiss. Capturing his lips in a passionate dance of tongues that ends with a suck on his lower lip. All he can do is stare.
"It's about danged time. You been starin' at me all day like I was one of Daisy's pork chops." Sounds strangely displeased at the thought of being compared to food, should be overjoyed since it's Daisy's. The kid lives for her cooking.
"You're way better than Daisy's pork chops." Which is the truth, he wouldn't trade Bo for anything in the world. And that was about the time that Luke found himself on his back, his shirt somewhere across the room, his jeans soon to follow and his cousin's mouth going to places it's got no business being. And if Daisy hears them she doesn't say anything, let's them make all the noise they want, although it's the bed that stands for most of that noise, creaking and groaning under their shared weight.
The poor bed probably hasn't seen that much action since him and Bo used it as a trampoline when they were kids. It's probably happy as a clam in high tide when it's all over and all that's left is a pair of sweaty, winded Duke boys laying in post coital bliss. Daisy's probably happy, too.
If they do sleep in a little late, and they do, nobody says anything, not even when they hold hands under the table at breakfast, lunch and dinner.