A/N: Dedicated to Hattie, to cheer her up and make her smile, and to the rest of my crazy girls, whom I love dearly.
Disclaimer: The gorgeously drunk Julian Barratt and cute-as-a-button Noel Fielding own The Mighty Boosh. I'm just playing with it.
xxxx
The sound of laughter echoed through the deserted, London street, bouncing off the raindrops and rippling through the deep puddles that were forming in the sudden downpour. Two men ran along, one covering his hair with a navy coat, feet kicking up dirty water from the ground and splashing blackened marks up their legs. As they approached the door to their flat, the taller man fumbled in his trouser pocket for his keys shivering as cold water ran down his neck and dripped down from his floppy hair and into his eyes. When he'd found the right one, he shoved it in the lock and turned it quickly, his friend rushing past him and up the stairs before he could even get a foot in the door. He hurried in and joined the smaller man at the top of the stairs, the both of them panting from their sprint home and from laughing too much. They stood there for a few moments, clutching their sides and trying to catch their breath. Then the smaller man looked up at his friend and burst into a fresh fit of giggles.
"Oh, Howard, I'm sorry," he said, looking at the state he was in and putting a hand over his mouth.
"Yeah, thanks Vince."
"Oh, come on – you know I appreciate you letting me use your coat to keep my hair dry. It's an integral part of my look, and now your its hero."
Howard smiled slightly. "It? It's not a separate entity, Vince."
Vince just grinned at him.
Howard shook his head, then shivered rather violently. "Come on, little man. Let's get dry before we catch our deaths."
--
Howard was in the kitchen when Vince emerged from the bedroom, wrapped in a fluffy, sparkly dark blue dressing gown. He flopped down on the sofa, smiling as Howard brought over two mugs of hot chocolate.
"Still cold?" Howard asked, handing Vince a mug and settling down next to him. Vince blew on his drink and took a sip before replying.
"Yeah, a bit."
"Want me to light the fire?"
Vince smiled from behind his mug. "That'd be genius. Thanks, Howard."
Howard rolled his eyes playfully and got back up. Grabbing a few logs from the basket next to the fireplace, he placed them in the grate and set about lighting them. Vince hummed to himself quietly as he watched Howard's back. The rain wasn't letting up, and it banged against the windows like a drumbeat, the wind creeping in through the cracks, sending a chilly draft into the room. Howard sat back on his haunches as the fire sparked up, coming to life with a series of crackles. He stood, stretching, and then returned to the sofa.
"Shouldn't take too long for it to warm up in here." He picked up his drink and cradled it in his hands, shifting it about every now and then as it got a little too hot against his skin. "Want to put the TV on?"
Vince sank back into the cushions and sighed. "Nah."
"Some music?"
"No, it's actually quite soothing just listening to the rain. Makes me feel a bit warmer, if you know what I mean?"
Howard frowned for a second, then raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I suppose."
Vince shivered, and shifted slightly so he was leaning against Howard. He laid his head against his shoulder and took a mouthful of chocolate. He looked up at Howard's damp hair, smiling at the ruffling it'd received from being vigourously towel dried. Then he yawned, and Howard looked down at him fondly.
"Tired?"
"A bit," Vince said, snuggling down even further.
"Oi! I'm not a human pillow, you know."
Vince didn't move. He could tell from Howard's tone that he was just teasing. "Tough, I'm not moving. Comfy."
Howard gave a dramatic mock-sigh, then put an arm round Vince's shoulders. They hadn't done anything like this for a long time, but he wasn't going to complain. It was nice, just the two of them. He looked up at the window, watching the clouds being dragged along by the wind, the sky purple-grey and slightly magical looking.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, the only sounds coming from the sipping of drinks, the whistling of the wind and the snap, crackle and pop of the fire.
Like Rice Crispies, Vince thought, although he didn't like those; he preferred Ricycles, because they were sweet, and anyway, they sounded exactly the same as Rice Crispies. Vince sat staring into the flames for a while, thinking about how like old times it'd been today, and didn't realise that his mug was empty until Howard took it from his hands and placed it on the coffee table along with his.
When Howard settled back again, arm back in position around Vince, he subconsciously started to play with the ends of his friend's hair, idly running the silky strands through his fingers, the softness against his skin lulling him into a comfortable drowsiness.
A tiny moan of appreciation escaped Vince's lips. Ordinarily he might have complained – after all, no-one got to touch the precious masterpiece that sat upon his head day after day – but Howard's fingers were soothing, and he leant into the touch happily, smiling slightly as he felt Howard's hand climb a bit higher, twisting and pulling gently. Vince tilted his head a little to look up at him. Howard responded with a slide of his eyes and a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
The fire was beginning to heat the room nicely now, and as the sky started to darken further, it cast a beautiful glow over the room. The light bounced off of Howard's face and brought out his features, eyes twinkling in the firelight. Vince reached up and pushed a piece of Howard's hair back behind his ear, earning him another tug upwards from Howard's lips.
Howard wanted this moment to last forever. It was so rare and beautiful, and with Vince smiling at him so prettily, his face aglow from the fire, all shimmery, the rosy skin covering his perfectly sculpted cheekbones luminous and begging to be touched, he couldn't help but move his hand from Vince's hair to trail a finger lightly across it, the smoothness stunning him slightly, even though he knew to expect nothing less. It was like silk. Vince's eyes closed briefly at the touch, and Howard developed a pattern of stroking the backs of his fingers over his skin and up into his hair, hand twisting to run gently through it, then moving back to do it all over again, Vince breathing out little, contented sounds every so often.
Vince shifted, his face coming closer to Howard's. He licked his lips, unaware of the action until it was over, and caught a look in Howard's eyes that he'd never seen before. The hand paying him such tender attention moved to the back of his neck, under his hair, pushing up gently and drawing out slowly. The movement was repeated, and Vince couldn't help but shiver slightly, his eyes closing again. He moved again, just enough to be able to rest his forehead against Howard's. A thousand sensations flooded through him at the contact, making him dizzy and unfocused. A nervous feeling crept through his stomach, butterflies flapping their wings persistently inside him. A small tremble washed over him, and he tilted his head slightly so that his nose bumped against Howard's.
Howard's heart was racing, thumping against his chest so violently that he was sure Vince could both hear and feel it. Vince's face pressed to his, noses rubbing together, was doing funny things to his insides, and he could feel himself shaking slightly. He swallowed heavily, face moving so that his cheek rubbed against Vince's, wincing slightly as his stubble moved against the velvet of his skin. But Vince either didn't mind or didn't seem to notice. Howard again ran his hand up through Vince's hair. He caught the smaller man's gaze for a moment, losing himself in his sparkling sapphire eyes, until Vince lowered them almost shyly and tilted his face so that the corners of their mouths brushed together. He could tell what was going to happen; there was no way he could think it was anything different. But they were both hovering on the edge, because if they stepped over the line – properly this time, not because of a possible, violent loss of life – there would be no going back. Howard could feel the heat of Vince's breath mingling with his and skimming across his cheek, faces still caught in a slow dance. Howard never thought he'd be the one to take any initiative in a situation like this, but the tension was so unbearable that he thought he'd scream if he didn't release it against Vince very soon, so when Vince's mouth caught the corner of his again, he changed the angle and captured his lips in a gentle kiss.
Vince felt an explosion go off inside him. Heat spread through him, burning his cheeks and his neck. His body trembled harder, and he was suddenly so overcome with emotion that he was afraid he might cry. Even so, he responded to Howard instantly, brushing his lips over his as tenderly as he could, resulting in the sweetest kiss he'd ever experienced. Vince nibbled slightly at Howard's bottom lip, hearing a small gasp in response. He placed his lips over the place he'd just been gently teasing, and drew them over it. But the tension was still unbearable, and he needed more. And if he was reading it right, Howard did too. He pressed his mouth a little more firmly against the bigger man's, moving their lips together more insistently. He felt Howard equal the pressure, and then he gently slid the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip.
Howard sighed against him and parted his lips slightly, allowing Vince to slip his tongue slowly into his mouth, sparks of electricity fizzing all around him. It moved against his warmly, probing tenderly, an easy rhythm being set as the kiss deepened. Wanting more contact, Howard pulled Vince gently onto his lap. His hand wound back into his hair, tugging softly, making Vince whimper quietly in contentment. His other hand held onto Vince's waist, buried in the warmth of his dressing gown. He felt Vince's own hands move up to cup his face, the touch sending a fresh wave of sparks through him. Then one of them slid down around his neck, fingers lightly brushing over his hot skin, and he knew then that heaven could never compare.
Vince allowed himself to briefly wonder how this had happened, as did Howard, but neither of them could concentrate much whilst their tongues were tangled in a sweet caress and their lips were moving together, tingling and hypersensitive from the pleasure of it.
Neither of them cared at that point, either.
The kiss deepened further, working away years of pent up passion and frustration and love. When they eventually had to grudgingly pull away for air, faces flushed and alight with the most beautifully shy smiles ever witnessed, the last tiny bit of tension filling the room vanished. Vince wrapped his arms around Howard's neck and stared into his honey-brown eyes.
"Wow," he breathed, the rush of air sailing across Howard's left cheek.
Howard smiled even wider, and placed a kiss against Vince's forehead.
"You okay?" Vince whispered, not wanting to disturb the heady atmosphere surrounding them.
"I'm... I'm fine. Great. Wonderful," he whispered back, unable to stop the silly grin spreading across his face. Vince's eyes sparkled in response, and Howard put a hand to his cheek, tilting his head up so he could kiss him again. Vince melted against him and sighed happily.
--
An hour later, Vince had fallen asleep in Howard arms. Howard stared out of the window dreamily, the storm clouds beginning to break and let what was left of the evening sun bleed back through, tiny slivers of golden orange light making the water-drenched city sparkle like glitter. Minutes later, as Howard stroked Vince's hair, he finally allowed his eyes to close and rest. The last thought that ran through his head before sleep claimed him was of the man in his arms, and how he would love him for the rest of his life and beyond.
He smiled.