Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and am not making any profit, monetary, or otherwise, through the writing of this.
A/N: Written for the fan_flashworks community at Dreamwidth, for the prompt: whistle, but I was too late to post it there. This is plot less, and features elements of a foursome, or rather partner swapping - Steve/Kono/Chin/Danny. Nothing graphic, other than the description of a memory that Chin has of him and Danny. There are kisses, and there is touching, but it's of the hurt/comfort variety.
Air whistles in and out of his lungs, and he can't see straight. His thoughts are disjointed. He knows that there's something he should be doing. Someone he should be remembering. But he can't, for the life of him, remember what or who.
He closes his eyes, because what he sees doesn't make sense. Blue. White. Green. Specks of gray that fly in circles overhead.
My head's gonna fall off, he thinks.
It won't matter, though, if he can't draw in enough air to continue breathing, he'll be dead well before his head falls off. That would be a mercy.
"Chin?"
Hands, warm and frantic, are on his face, his neck, parts of his body that he cannot feel for the pain in his head. They're familiar hands. Safe. Good. Kind. The type of hands that Chin, in other circumstances, when he can feel their groping interest without pain, doesn't mind having all over his body.
"Chin? Can you hear me?"
Steve's voice. Danny's hands.
Where's Kono? Chin thinks, licks his lips, because the words need to be spoken aloud and not in his head in order for them to be heard. Something's missing.
"We've got Kono," Steve says, and Chin opens his eyes, blinks at him in confusion and fear and disbelief, because, while they may, on occasion, share a bed, and swap partners, they do not, and never have, shared thoughts.
"Relax."
Steve's voice. Danny's hands. Kono's face, and hair, and smile. Her lips, warm and gentle on his forehead, his cheek, his lips.
He closes his eyes, because it's too much. His head is spinning. The images to fast to follow. Brown. Red. Blue so crisp and clear that Chin feels like he's drowning in the ocean.
Air whistles in and out of his lungs, and Chin's head is pounding. His eyes do not want to cooperate. His thoughts scatter like the buttons of Danny's shirt when Chin gets impatient, and his need-want-must-have, outweighs logic and defies the laws of gravity, because the buttons never simply fall to the floor when Chin grabs hold of Danny's shirt and rips, but they fly everywhere.
Once, when they were making love - Danny gripping the bed post so hard that it was a wonder it didn't crack; back arched; bottom lip tugged between his teeth; breath hitching and coming out in frantic little gasps that made Chin want to crawl right up inside of him so that he could render Danny completely soundless; eyes black, staring right back at Chin, begging, pleading, demanding more, more, more - a button fell right out of the sky, it seemed, and landed smack dab in the middle of Danny's chest. It was white, or cream, or maybe one of those special little buttons that had a streak of peach or gold in it. Spell broken, they'd laughed, and Chin had come, and Danny followed.
"It's okay."
Danny's voice. Danny's hands. Both shaking. Both cupping his face. Some kind of soundless plea.
Kono's lips brush against his temple, and are gone. Steve's hand is iron on his shoulder, his lips warm against Chin's forehead.
"I've got you now."
Danny's voice. Danny's hands. Danny's lips on his. Life affirming.
Chin opens his eyes, and he's drowning in blue again. But it's okay, because he can finally breathe, and his head is no longer spinning, and he can remember.