He closed the door quietly, pacing through the sprawling Arizona home they had bought in the middle of the desert. He had finally convinced the authorities to let him out of Manhattan, only to find out that Desmond had landed himself a job in a bar. It had taken a little bit of coaxing, a new motorcycle, and a couple of nice dinners to convince him to quit and let Alex take over financial things. He had wanted to go some place warm, and while nights were cold, it only gave him more reason to cuddle with Desmond and steal all his heat.
It was quite apparent he was bored though, taking up a job in the heart of Phoenix as a bartender. Alex tried to stop him, concerned about drug dealers and other unwanted, but Desmond had politely informed him that he used to live in Manhattan. Still, he tried to spend as much time as possible with him until he was called out by the police to help. He enjoyed watching him mix drinks and watch all the interactions with the patrons.
Nevertheless, he was excited when the bar was closed for the night. He padded across the living room, through the kitchen, down the halls, and to their bedroom. Desmond was sprawled on his stomach, taking a nap after working out at the gym all day.
He owed Desmond a lot. He owed Desmond his life. The man saved him from himself. Granted, it had only happened after he punched him in the nose and told him his life wasn't as bad as he thought it was, but still. Alex owed him a lot. And together, they were able to take care of each other. They were each other's mental support when things got rough, and Alex felt good to finally be taking care of someone and helping them, rather than doing simple vigilante work. He liked the challenge of his mental breakdowns. Granted, he had said that they were fixed with that Nexus thing, but there were still times he didn't realize he had one—in the middle of the chaos of the bar. They were subtle, but he liked knowing he wasn't the only one with problems.
He stood there, watching him sleep for several minutes. The man was shirtless, his pants riding down low enough to just tease him with the promise of his ass. Alex's lips curled upward. He placed a hand on the grey-socked foot, grinning as he rubbed the heel. Desmond's leg twitched, and he heard his lover snort quietly. He ran his hand over his other foot, traveling up his leg and squeezing his upper thigh. He watched as Desmond jerked in his sleep, snorting again and twitching the leg. The muscles tensed beneath his hand, and he squeezed once more before trailing his fingers over his ass and up his spine. His lover shivered at the light touch, twitching at his touches. He trailed them up his spine and to his neck, switching to a single finger to rub up and down beneath his ear. Desmond snorted again, his eyes fluttering open as he made an unintelligible, garbled noise.
Alex squatted beside the bed, smirking at the sleepy smile he got. He trailed his hand down his jawbone to rub a thumb over his lips before scooting a little closer and leaning in to steal a kiss. He could feel Desmond smile into the kiss, and he pulled back. His lover snorted a laugh and buried his face in the pillow. Alex leaned in, nibbling at the lobe of his ear, and Desmond laughed, turning away from him to cover his ear from Alex. His lover was always a bit goofy when waken from a nap.
He rose, unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it on the floor. He looked to see Desmond looking over his shoulder, smiling invitingly and perhaps a bit goofily, and he climbed over top of him. His lover rolled onto his back, grinning, reaching up to pull him into sweet little kiss. Alex kissed down to his ear and breathed into it, causing him to laugh.
He lowered himself on top of Desmond, leaning into kiss him again, and he smirked when he felt hands settle on his lower back, and he swallowed them with the virus. His lover grinned, burying his face in the crook of his neck.
"That feels so weird."
He could feel his fingers wiggling around inside of the virus, and for some reason, Desmond never grew tired of the way it felt. Alex didn't mind either. He enjoyed the feeling of something moving inside him, something other than the continuity of the viral-matter. He wrapped himself around the man, who was more than happy to let him. It made the lack of blankets on the bed manageable.
Desmond's breathing evened out slowly as he held him. It was thanks to Desmond he no longer had nightmares. His lover was the reason he had the strength to block out those thoughts, the self-depreciating running commentary in his mind and the looming paranoia of bad things in his sleep. He was happy living out in the Arizona desert with his lover. He owed the man so much, and he was looking forward to a lazy early morning in the whirlpool tub they had, the early morning temperatures cool enough it would warrant a hot bath. He was looking forward to returning to bed after that, or lounging on the couch, or maybe even doing something else just as long as it was him and his lover.
Second part for your lovely reading eyes:
Forever and Ever
Alex hated living in the United States sometimes. Of course, he also hated the fact that he had been born, but that was a different matter. They had just gotten settled down in Arizona, after months of begging and threatening, and now they were telling him that he was going to have to house authorities to keep an eye on him, since his house was big enough. If it had been just him, he would have been fine, but he knew Desmond wasn't going to enjoy having eyes and ears all over the place.
The man was lounging on the couch, stretched out along it, watching some sort of cartoon. It was a movie, undoubtedly, a special that he had stumbled upon while he went out grocery shopping. Alex still didn't know why he did the grocery shopping when he didn't need to eat, but he knew Desmond was apt to forget about food between the bar, sleeping, and those few precious hours he was actually at home.
Still, Alex had to tell him.
"Desmond, there's something I have to tell you."
There was silence from the couch for just a moment, and then he could hear the cheekiness in his voice: "Is it something… nice?"
He put the soda in the fridge. "Not… exactly."
"Then it can wait."
He froze, confused. Then, he rose, shut the fridge, and looked toward the TV. There was a pig and a bear holding hands on it, and he shook his head. Sometimes, he wondered about Desmond. "It can? For how long?"
"Forever and ever."
Alex snorted—sometimes, he didn't know where he got his answers. "'Forever and ever' is an impossibly long time, Desmond."
"Ho, ho, ho, forever—isn't long at all! When I'm. With. You."
Alex frowned, staring at the couch. He could have sworn he heard a musical quality about Desmond's voice, and he watched his head pop up over the back to grin at him.
"I want to call your name, forever. And you will always answer, forever. And both of us will be, forever you and me—forever and ever."
Alex walked over, completely baffled by Desmond's sing-song voice. He was curious to know why his lover was singing such ridiculous things to him. He leaned on the back of the couch as Desmond flopped down, grinning up at him.
"I want to be like this, forever," Alex said, reaching down and taking his hand, "if only I could promise forever. But you and I both know that it doesn't happen that way. Where are you getting all of this?"
"Forever isn't long at all, Alexander, when I'm with you."
There was definitely something lyrical about the way Desmond was speaking. Alex wondered if he was being duped into something.
"I wanna be with you, forever. I want you right here. Beside me. Forever."
Alex shook his head. "One thing you should know, no matter where I go, we'll always be together. But Desmond, we need…"
His eyes narrowed at the cheeky grin he was faced with.
"What?"
Desmond gestured at the screen, and Alex looked to see the yellow bear playing with a rabbit. "That was song from the movie."
Alex sighed, covering his eyes with his hand and grunting. He didn't know why he left him alone. "I leave you alone for two hours to go pick up some food and news from the government you might want to know, and I come back, and you're singing me songs from a little kid's movie?"
Desmond pursed his lips, looking thoughtful for all of a few seconds, and then nodded, shrugging. "Yup. So, what's the news?"
He shook his head again, looking at the screen with the yellow bear.
"It was a cute movie for little kids. And there was nothing else on—"
"We have cable, and there was nothing on?"
"Okay, okay, so I started flipping and this caught my eye. What can I say?"
Alex snorted, forgetting about the food on the counter as he came around and sat by Desmond's feet. He looked at his lover, who smiled, and he leaned back. Desmond spun around and planted his head in his lap, looking up at him, and Alex smirked.
"Forever and ever."
That's right. I went there. I used Winnie-the-Pooh's "Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin" in my stories. I don't know if I should be ashamed or proud...