A/N This little story is a one shot that hurled itself onto the page all in one go. It's an alternative version of what happened when Nicholas and Danny fell asleep together the night George Merchant was blown up. As readers of my full length fic "Hot Fuzzy Feeling" will know, I usually like a dominant Nicholas (just need a minute to get over how HOT that sounds!). But for some reason today I had this vision of Danny (fairly innocently) giving Nick a massage to get him to relax and switch off that big old melon of his. Nick's anything but in control, as he's torn between letting Danny help him, and trying to resist, all whilst attempting to hide how excited it's really making him.
Learning How To Switch Off
"You're so tight, Nick. You need to relax." Nicholas Angel's eyes, which had drifted shut in response to his partner's touch, snapped open as his brain leapt unbidden to a hot, innuendo-fuelled conclusion. Danny Butterman's large hands were kneading Nicholas' knotted shoulders. It was the tightness in the shoulders to which he was referring.
"Wh... I... I am relaxed!" Nick stuttered, in a fashion that was anything but relaxed, reeling with shock from the visions his brain had needed so little encouragement to conjure.
"Hey, it weren't meant as a criticism." Danny soothed. "You just work so hard, that's all. An' like I said, you never really switch off, do you?"
It was Saturday night and, following several pints in the pub they had wandered back to Danny's house, with a diversion to deliver a drunken George Merchant to his dubious mansion on Norris Avenue. Unwilling to let their evening end there, Nicholas had agreed to come in for a beer and, several later, they had done Point Break and were now watching Bad Boys 2. Danny had paused it and got up to get them both another beer. As he walked behind the sofa, he had affectionately squeezed Nick's shoulder and in so doing felt the significant tension in his muscles. Despite Nicholas' fervent protests that he was fine, Danny had sat straight back down and insisted on giving him a massage. He had made him laugh, and reluctantly agree to it, by quoting an invented entry in the Official Police Service Guidelines regarding the responsibility of an officer to assist his partner with the relief of physical tension. It was unclear whether Danny was aware of the suggestiveness of his phrasing, but that sentence had affected a part of Nicholas' mind in a way he knew he should keep quiet about.
And so here they were. Two work colleagues, two friends, Nick supposed. Two men sharing a moment that, to Nicholas, felt far too intimate for work colleagues, or even best friends. Danny's desire for another beer appeared to have been momentarily forgotten, as he focused all his attention on easing the aches in Nicholas' body. His fingers dug into the firm flesh through the cotton of Nick's shirt. He applied just the right amount of force to soften the tight muscles, to hurt just a little bit, but not too much. Danny occasionally stroked a hand up the back of Nicholas' neck and into his hair. Nick drew a heavy breath, forcing back a distinctly sexual groan. He was sure Danny had no idea of the affect he was having on him, and did not want to think about how he might react if he knew how Nick was really feeling. He could never know the reason Nick's body was so taught was in fact the closeness of Danny, and the blinding attraction, and the pain of unrequited yearning. These were the thoughts preventing Nicholas Angel from relaxing, rather than anything concerning police work. They were sitting awkwardly, Nick only slightly facing away, instinctively wanting to still be able to see Danny out of the corner of his eye, yet concurrently finding himself unable to look. His position made it difficult for Danny to reach across him to his far shoulder.
"You alright?" Danny asked, clearly having noticed how stiffly Nick was holding himself.
"Yes." Nick managed, before needing to gulp. "It's um, good. It's just... you don't have to..." He mumbled, cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.
"I know. I want to. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. But I'm fine, really. I..."
"Nicholas, would you just relax? I wanna make you feel better, that's all." These words made Nicholas' stomach flip peculiarly and he shut his eyes again at more subconscious flashes of Danny porn. Danny's tone had been sincere, but it seemed Nick's imagination was having a field day with anything he said. "Take your shirt off."
"What!" Eyes open. No imagination needed. Did he really just say that?
"I can give you a proper massage if you take your shirt off. I can do your back, not just your shoulders." Danny explained. He was talking like it was the most natural thing in the world to get half naked with your best friend. Your male best friend. Nick went even redder, which he had not thought was possible. His heart was pounding so hard, the thought of Danny's hands on his bare skin was enough to induce cardiac arrest. Before he could formulate a reply, Danny was reaching around his neck and his fingers were undoing his top button. "Come on. It'll be so much better this way. Turn around." Danny was guiding his shoulders to indicate him to turn away. Receiving instructions such as this was something so alien to Nicholas that he found himself complying before he had quite realised what was happening. He obediently shifted around to face the arm of the sofa and found he felt a little less self conscious, able to hide his emotions with his back to Danny. It meant Danny did not see him bite his entire lower lip between his teeth a moment later, in response to Danny's chest moulding to his back as he leaned over his shoulder to make his way down the rest of his shirt buttons. Danny gently tugged the bottom of the shirt out of Nick's trousers, then slipped it back off his shoulders to expose the smooth pale skin of his torso. Nick shuddered as his shirt came off, feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable. He glanced round to see Danny was now kneeling behind him, one knee either side of Nicholas' hips.
"S'alright." Danny reassured. "Turn back around." Nicholas again did as he was told, the lack of control both panicking and exciting him simultaneously. Being so passive was totally out of his comfort zone, but he was shocked to find it made him want to pant and squirm and beg, behaviours he would usually relish eliciting, but would rather not display. He gritted his teeth, unable to even contemplate doing any of those things in what was clearly a platonic situation as far as Danny was concerned. Nick could feel how close he was, could feel the body heat radiating from him. The anticipation sent pulses of electricity tingling over Nicholas' scalp, and when Danny first touched his bare skin, he jumped and could not prevent himself releasing a needy little gasp.
Danny's hands were surprisingly deft. They moved assuredly in arcs and circles, pressing and stroking with certainty and precision. As they worked the tightness from Nick's muscles, he felt himself relaxing, his breathing calming, and his chin dropped down onto his chest. He concentrated on the luxurious sensation of Danny's hands on him, the sweet relief of being touched by him. Fuck, it was good. He felt like his bones were gradually dissolving under Danny's caressing palms, as though his powerful muscles were being rendered slowly useless, and all he wanted to do was collapse into Danny's arms. He was struggling to hold himself upright when Danny's hands slipped onto his hips and gently pulled him backwards. For a second Nick resisted automatically, his last instinctive attempt to hang onto some form of control.
"Let me." Danny instructed simply. Nick finally surrendered and eased back onto his chest. They settled down into the cushions of the sofa, Nicholas on top of Danny, Danny supporting him with a leg either side of his now pliant body, and his fingers still resting lightly on his hip bones. Nick felt almost drugged with endorphins from the massage and let his eyes close and his head fall to one side so his cheek was against the softness of Danny's shirt. As he snuggled up to him, he was sure he could feel a distinctive bulge in the small of his back. Though Nick was sleepy, the buzz of sexual desire pulsed again in his stomach, and his own cock twitched inside his trousers.
"Have you got an erection?" Nick's words were out before he could censor them, his thoughts blurry with lust. Danny wrapped his big arms around him and chuckled.
"Er, yeah. Sorry. Just felt nice to... touch you."
Nicholas began to tense again, and tried to get up, the verbal admittance of something like that making him uncomfortable. Danny gripped him tighter though, pinning him to his chest, and Nicholas let him, experiencing the spinning, dizzying, losing-himself feeling that seemed to occur when allowing Danny to take charge.
"S'alright, it'll go in a min. Unless... you mind it? I fort you was about to drop off, see? Seems a shame to ruin all that relaxing I got you to do." Danny was murmuring in his ear, coaxing. It was so tempting to give in and lie back on his body again. And he had a point. Nicholas slept habitually badly, hardly ever truly resting. This was the most deliciously drowsy he had felt in months, despite the roaring lust that was accompanying it, of course. Nicholas swallowed, words completely eluding him. He wanted to ask Danny things, things he could never voice. He wanted to know if his erection was emotionally significant. Danny certainly spoke as if it were not, just an unavoidable by-product of physical contact between two lonely human bodies. He would dread such an answer if he did ask, as his own hardness, the presence of which he was not even willing to admit, was being driven by far more specific triggers.
"Ok, I don't... mind." Nick muttered crossly, embarrassed again, and frustrated at his own cowardice. He settled back against Danny's chest and huffed out a breath, hoping to convince him that he was merely agreeing to tolerate this intimacy, rather than being in desperate, nerve-melting need of it. Whether Danny understood how he really felt, he could not know for certain. A small part of him suspected he might, because he proceeded to soothe Nick's turbulent emotions with exactly the physical comfort he would never have admitted to wanting. Danny's arms cuddled around him, his fingers calmly stroking whatever piece of Nicholas happened to be beneath them. The indiscriminate nature of the touch forced Nick to abandon his constant over-thinking and just accept it for the expression of affection that it was. Where it was leading, if anywhere, was no longer important. Enjoying it was all that mattered. Nicholas sighed a slow, contented sigh now, one that spoke of his pleasure in a way he would not be capable of with words. Danny's legs wrapped closer, enfolding him in warmth and security. He felt cocooned by the solidity of Danny's body, safe and protected, though he would insist he needed no-one else to feel either of those things, of course. He could look after himself, and those for whom he was responsible, perfectly well thank you very much.
However, lying here calmed and completely at ease, he could not deny it was gratifying to let someone else do the protecting for once. Particularly when that someone else did it so well. Nick turned onto his front in Danny's arms, no resistance in his body now, letting himself lie flat and heavy on Danny's torso. He shut his eyes and nuzzled into a position comfortable enough to allow sleep to take over. As his consciousness slipped away, it occurred to him that his difficulty sleeping could simply be due to loneliness. Perhaps all his superhero body wanted was the solace of another beside it, and it was possible even his robotic, logical brain needed human interaction with someone he trusted completely in order to finally switch off.