Dance me to pitiful future.
- Miles?
- Yeah? - Miles was getting himself drunk again, finishing his second bottle of wine. Daniel scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
- Can you, um... Dance with me?
- What?! - Miles did the worst thing he could do to Dan - he laughed, - Dance? With you?
Daniel felt his cheeks blushing, and he turned away to collect all the strength he got. He heard Miles giggling in the bottle's spout, making sound like a wind blowing. Dan rubbed his face with his hand.
- Maybe, we'll just have sex and then you'll leave me alone? - drawled Straume. Daniel turned to him and pierced him with reproachful and pitiful gaze. Miles sighed heavily.
- Okay, okay... But only this one. I won't indulge your silly ideas...
- I-I promise, you'll like it! I have a very good tape somewhere...
- Tape? Oh, man, haven't you heard 'bout cd?
For a minute or two Faraday sifts through his messed up and scattered all around his room belongings, and Miles quickly empties his bottle. At last Dan finds his tape, puts it into the tape-recorder that lied on his table and turns it on. Sound of the voice of singer filled the room, echoing from its thick walls. He sang, melancholic and languorous: "Farewell, my darling, farewell, my only true one...»
- Where did you get that junk? - Winced Miles.
- It's a v-very good band, you know…
- Oh, no, I don't. And not sure I wanna.
- Okay, okay, - murmurs Daniel, as if bracing himself. He walks close to Miles and rests one hand on his shoulder, and takes Straume's hand with another. He feels Miles' firm grip on his waist. They start to move slowly to the music.
Miles half-closes his eyes, looking on Daniel's mouth. Dan's look jumps from Miles' watery blue eyes to his unshaven chin, then to his lips, humid from wine, then to his collarbone, then again to his eyes.
- I haven't been doing it in God knows how long, - suddenly says Miles, and Dan is amazed.
- Yeah, me too, - he finally manages to reply, his voice lowering and becoming deep. Hand on Faraday's waist strains.
- Come here, - nearly whispers Miles, attracting Dan to himself. Daniel allows himself into Miles' embrace, leans to his body that smells sweat and salt and alcohol. Miles releases Dan's hand to put both of his hands around scientist's waist, and Daniel lets his hands embrace Miles' neck. He can't stand the wish to caresses Straume's skin, that is so strangely soft, and his fingers slowly and almost invisibly strokes Miles' skin at the back of his neck. Song continues and continues, it lulls Dan. He feels Miles' lips rubbing against his temple and buries his face in Miles' shoulder as his hands traces down to rest on Daniel's hips. The tape-recorder cries: "Farewell, farewell, I love you more then words can tell". Faraday feels sentimental and wants to ask Miles of silly things.
Miles moves away from Dan just a little, to make him raise his head. Then he leans forward and kisses Dan on his lips. Faraday feels embarrassed, like he feels every time they kiss, and practically doesn't answer. Seems like it doesn't bother Miles at all.
- You shouldn't drink that much, - says Daniel, because he doesn't like the aftertaste of wine on Miles' tongue.
- You shouldn't talk that much, - answers Miles, shrugging his shoulders, and it's because he doesn't like Dan distracting him from kisses.
The song is over, and recorder clicks off. Dan wants to push himself away from Miles and turn the tape on the other side, but isn't allowed. Miles still has one of his hands around Daniel's waist, another slides smoothly under Faraday's shirt, brushes against his nipples.
- Oh, Miles... - gasps Dan, his fingers clenching on the other's shoulders. He bites his lower lip, holding back a half-protestant, half-pleasant moan. He breathes hotly and sharply, throwing his head back as Miles kisses, licks, bites his neck, moving to his cheekbone, his chin, his lips. He feels Straume's hands squeezing his hips roughly.
Miles pulls Dan towards the bed and pushes him on it. He lowers himself on Daniel, maybe too sharply, because Faraday moans shortly. He holds Dan's hands and kisses him hard, and Daniel doesn't struggle his rough caresses for almost the first time.
Miles undresses Dan hurriedly, as always. He nearly torns off Daniel's neck-tie, and Faraday feels relieved - when they had sex first time Miles roped Dan's hands with it. Daniel carefully helps Straume to take off his t-shirt. He wants Miles to be gentle even once, he gets almost sick from how rough Straume is with him every time they are doing what Dan himself calls "making love" and Miles calls with an obscene word. He wanted to ask Miles about it, but in the end he never dared to.
So, they "made love" to each other. First Daniel jammed his mouth with one hand for not to shout, but then Miles held both of his hands pressed to the bed, and Dan could only jam his teeth to stop loud moans from escaping his lips. Pleasure came suddenly, as sharp as pain before, and Faraday groaned hoarsely and whispered meaningless and silly phrases that he didn't care about, staring into the ceiling. It ended as a blinding flash of pleasure and strange joy Daniel haven't been used to, and then, when he caught breathless Miles in his arms, he leaned to Straume's wet temple with his lips, wondering if whatever they do is right.
Eventually Miles fell asleep, burying his face in Dan's shoulder. Daniel carefully got from his weakened embrace and covered him with a blanket. For a brief moment he watched Miles snoring silently on his bed, then got dressed, threw a crumpled jacket over his shoulders and walked away from his room, through long dark corridors with countless doors, to the upper deck.
Daniel stood on the deck for about an hour or two, just staring in the sea. It was too dark to see the island or even distinguish the place where sea and sky were separated by the horizon line. Night was quiet and windless, butstill cold, and he wrapped in hisjacket, trembling weakly. He liked to come on the deck at night, when there's no one there - it calmed him and allow him to distract from whatever he wanted. Often, from Miles.
Miles never asked Daniel if he wanted their relationship or not. Never asked his permission to kiss him or to sleep with him. Never asked if it was okay to simply burst into Dan's room at night and do whatever he wanted. Never asked what Dan wanted. But somehow Dan always found himself unable to resist Miles when he put his hands on Daniel's shoulders and pulled him into a kiss, or unable to push Miles off himself when they fell in bed, or unable to make Miles leave his room. And it wasn't the physical strength that mattered, Miles wasn't much stronger then Dan. There was something about Miles he couldn't stand, no matter how much he wished to. He simply couldn't say "no".
When he actually started to freeze, he at last interrupted his little psychoanalysis and went back to his room. Miles was still lying on the bed, deep in his sleep. Dan leaned to him and petted his back lightly.
- Miles... Miles. Can I... Um, can I sleep in your room?
Miles didn't reply, though. Daniel fixed the blanket that moved down, throwing it over Miles' wet naked back, clicked the lights off and shut the door tightly as he left the room. He felt sudden dizziness, and weakness in his legs, and he fell into the bed as soon as he made it to Miles' room. Before he fell into deep, dreamless sleep, he tucked his head into the pillow and sniffed - it smelled of strange mix of sweat, cheap cologne and Miles, and that smell made him feel so strangely cozy. His last thought that night was almost usual: "Tomorrow I'll end this affair once and for all, I promise", and he fell asleep, convinced that this will never happen again.