A/N: For the Halsey Drabble/Snippet Challenge on Tumblr, this is day 1 of hopefully 4 of fics that are inspired by Halsey songs.
A/N2: Always thanks to Ro for beta-reading and supporting me.
A/N3: And a super thanks to ChronicWhimsy, Kangofu-CB, Amberlyinviolet and Maevemauvaise for being who you are.
A/N4: Inspired by 'Coming Down' from the Badlands album. Lyrics at the end of the fic.
Warnings: angst, language, sex
Pairings: 2x3
Fool
Leather whispering through buckle.
Canvas sliding against canvas.
Rubber soles thudding on linoleum.
The sounds are as much a ritual as the actions themselves.
They watch each other, silent, wary and eager, cautious and desperate.
Half-naked, they stand on either side of the dresser and lay out their weapons.
Service revolver, knife, other knife, illegal gun from Trowa, each set down carefully and precisely.
Knife, knife, scalpel, razor wire, knife, illegal gun from Duo, not quite tossed down but very nearly, collected into a haphazard pile.
Even unarmed, there is still tension between them, still the knowledge that they are on opposite sides of things, with no ability to resolve the conflict that separates them.
The first touch is tentative, Duo testing Trowa's reception, his resolve.
He slides his hand over Trowa's bare chest and rests his palm over the scar just above Trowa's right clavicle. He watches Trowa swallow, watches his throat work and his face grow impenetrable.
Trowa lifts his hand to cover Duo's, slides his hand along Duo's wrist, his forearm, and then pulls him close.
There is nothing tentative about the kiss, about their lips fusing together, about the desire that has them dancing to this tune over and over again.
The ritual continues, hands exploring flesh for new scars, for tattoos and piercings and the changes wrought by time and space and circumstance.
A haircut. A bandaged finger. A star map in scant black detail. A pale whorl of weeping, melted flesh.
The inventory is never completed. After a certain point, neither has the patience.
The first time is never on the bed - too soft, too real when everything else is so uncertain.
The floor or braced against the wall, clutching hard muscle and biting down to keep from crying out, eyes squeezed tight and climax sudden and overwhelming.
Later, when they aren't quite sated but when they can at least remember what it feels like to touch another person, they climb into the bed.
Trowa curls against Duo, head pillowed on his chest, hands tangled together.
It feels wrong to speak. Duo has tried, before, but he never says the right thing and Trowa never seems able to find the words to start.
Pleasure isn't something either ever associated with sex, not until the first time, when violence softened, when intimacy meant something that wasn't exactly trust but wasn't entirely desperation.
Duo still hasn't been with anyone else. Trowa has buried himself in so many others that he forgets why, but it is never the same as when he is with Duo.
In the morning, they rise from the bed, neither washing, neither admitting that that too is part of the ritual, albeit one that takes place later, alone.
They dress in silence, the last touch they share that of Duo straightening Trowa's collar with a smirk and Trowa lifting his hand, pressing a kiss to his fingers.
And then they part, two assassins walking into the daylight, neither wanting to look back, neither able to look forward.
Lyrics:
"Coming Down"
I found God
I found him in a lover
When his hair falls in his face
And his hands so cold they shake
I found the Devil
I found him in a lover
And his lips like tangerines
And his color coded speak
Now we're lost somewhere in outer space
In a hotel room where demons play
They run around beneath our feet
We roll around beneath these sheets
I've got a lover
A love like religion
I'm such a fool for sacrifice
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
And I'm unforgiven
I'm such a fool to pay this price
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I found a martyr
He told me that I'd never
With his educated eyes
And his head between my thighs
I found the savior
I don't think he remembers
'Cause he's off to pay his crimes
And he's got no time for mine
Now we're lost somewhere in outer space
In a hotel room where demons play
They run around beneath our feet
We roll around beneath these sheets
I've got a lover
A love like religion
I'm such a fool for sacrifice
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
And I'm unforgiven
I'm such a fool to pay this price
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
Every single night pray the sun'll rise
Every single time make a compromise
Every single night pray the sun'll rise, but
It's coming down, down, coming down
He's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
A love like religion
I'm such a fool for sacrifice
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
And I'm unforgiven
I'm such a fool to pay this price
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
Every single night pray the sun'll rise
Every single time make a compromise
Every single night pray the sun'll rise, but
It's coming down, down, coming down
He's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
He's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
He's coming down, down, coming down