Hey all, this is the third in the "Warm Horizons" series - the original story was intended to be read first, and the rest in any order, but they all function as independent stories anyway so it doesn't matter too much. On with the fic, hope you enjoy!

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'You know, that doesn't actually work.'

'…Sure it does.'

'What, because you've seen it in films? You shouldn't believe everything you see in films, Snow.'

'Shh.'

Snow looked like such a dummy, Hope thought to himself. He was standing on the bed, crouching in a simian sort of way, cocking his neck to one side so as to press his ear to the tumbler glass he'd made Hope fetch from the kitchen, which he was in turn holding against the wall.

'Can you actually hear anything?' Hope asked sceptically.

'Well, no. But that was the point, wasn't it? Case closed!'

'Hang on, hang on. We need to know if you're not hearing anything because there's nobody there or if you're not hearing anything because this was a stupid idea.'

'Well, you have a try then. Unless you wanna go around and knock on their door…'

'Oh for goodness' sake…' Hope huffily climbed onto the bed next to Snow and pressed his ear flat against the wall. No, truth be told, he couldn't hear anything. And considering how thin the walls between their apartments seemed to be, that did make it likely that nobody at all was in.

'Anything?' Snow asked.

'Nothing.'

'Right then. Great! Ok, take your shorts off.'

It had been an interesting week in the Estheim & Villiers household. Around nine days ago, their immediate neighbour in apartment 318 had come around to visit. His name was Melron, looked to be perhaps in his late forties, and both Hope and Snow recognised him from having seen him in the corridors once or twice since he'd moved in about three months ago. They'd made pleasantries with him, but never really spoken with him extensively before. He spent most of his time away.

When he came to visit them, however, it was partly to explain his line of work. His entire family worked for a company which manufactured parts for oil drills at sea (or something like that), and while he himself was responsible for overseeing business relations in Palumpolum, the company headquarters was based on practically the other side of Cocoon, which was why he was so often away. Starting in three days, however, was a business expo which his family's company was heavily involved in. This tied in with some sort of trade deal they were hoping to strike with some other company, or something like that. It sounded important, but it didn't sound very interesting.

Still, the result of all of this, he went on to explain, was that numerous company employees would be visiting Palumpolum for this expo, which (since it was a family business) would in effect be the biggest reunion they'd had in years. As such, he warned that he would be having numerous guests staying multiple evenings and sometimes overnight in apartment 318, and he considered it only polite to visit his good neighbours at 317 and warn them. They would try to keep the noise down, he promised, and they had lots of important work to be getting on with anyway, but it might still wind up sounding louder than usual, what with Melron himself living on his own and usually being absent. He proceeded to give them a bottle of nice wine as a means of advance apology, and left.

Both Hope and Snow agreed that this was highly considerate, and had made it clear to Melron that they didn't at all mind the extra noise, and so felt positive about the whole thing after he had gone. But there was an issue that neither of them had counted on at first.

They hadn't noticed before, since their neighbour was normally so quiet, but after his family started arriving it became clear that the walls between their apartments were actually extraordinarily thin. It seemed that Melron's living room shared a wall with Hope's and Snow's bedroom, and sound was very easy to… carry. Hope was the first of the two of them to realise exactly what sort of a position this put them in.

Sex was one of his favourite pastimes, and he liked to… enjoy himself while doing it. And there was very little more off-putting than the knowledge that a family of business executives rehearsing speeches and sharing precious memories less than twenty feet away from you could probably hear every loud or sudden noise that you made.

There was the spare bedroom of course, the one that Hope used to sleep in, but the radiator had broken in there and it was freezing. This unsurprisingly didn't deter Snow, who suggested that they would make their own heat, but Hope still wasn't keen on the idea. He didn't think that that was unreasonable.

So, in all, it had been a rather frustrating week of either muted sex or no sex at all. But Melron had said that the expo only lasted for six days or so, and this morning when Hope awoke to find Snow kneeling next to him and listening for sounds from next door, a practical cavalcade of filthy thoughts came rushing through his starved mind.

He'd wanted to be sure, though. Snow had suggested going around and knocking on 318, but Hope had pointed out that if Melron or a family member did answer, they couldn't exactly explain themselves by saying 'Just checking if you were still in, we wanted to have sex is all.' So Snow came up with the tumbler idea. Hope still thought it was dumb, but he had to admit, if the neighbours were still in then they really should've heard something by now. Plus, his libido couldn't really wait any longer.

'Fine,' Hope now stated, and hopped off the bed again to remove his clothes with fervour. He knew without checking that Snow was staring at him, mesmerised with that goofy look on his face he gets when he's horny, and this would normally please him no end – it was always nice to know that one's body was appreciated – but right now, he didn't really care. He wasn't interested in playing games.

Once fully naked, he looked up at Snow who was, sure enough, standing and staring. 'Well?' Hope demanded, and after a moment his boyfriend staggered down from the bed as well to stand in front of him and begin lifting his vest off over his head.

Hope saw his opportunity and took it. While Snow had his eyes covered, he pushed him forcefully onto the bed and leapt on top of him, straddling him at the waist and pinning him down.

'Hey!' Snow protested, now struggling to finish getting the vest off. Hope couldn't help but giggle, take pity on him and help him remove the garment. Once done, they both remained still for a moment, staring into each other's eyes, breathing deeply in animalistic anticipation of what was to come.

Snow started moving his hands over Hope's body, which just felt so good. With his eyes closed, Hope moved his own hands on top of his lover's and guided them, feeling their masculine caress all over his arms, his chest, his legs. He unwittingly let out a low 'uhhhh…' sound, and revelled in how nobody nearby could hear him and he didn't have to check himself. He needed more, though.

Leaning down so that he could lay against Snow's warm, strong body, he nuzzled himself into his partner's neck and started nibbling his ear a little. Hope knew he liked that, even though he'd never admitted it in words. Sure enough, Snow growled happily, and Hope felt ready to make a request.

'Spank me,' he whispered, and continued licking Snow's ear. More of a demand than a request perhaps, but he wouldn't have been satisfied with a negative answer anyway, so he rationalised that the difference was purely cosmetic. He used his hands once again to guide Snow's, this time up his legs and onto his ass. Snow growled obligingly, giving each half a good, firm squeeze. Hope felt Snow bite softly into his neck – gods damn it, that got him going every time – which turned out to merely be a distraction, as Snow immediately after raised a hand and smacked Hope firmly on the backside.

'Ah!' Hope cried, unable to contain himself. Sometimes he would try to remember what he was like before Snow, before sex. What he might have imagined back then that he would have enjoyed. And each time, he would just come up blank. He certainly never would have imagined he would enjoy being spanked. But there was just something thrilling in surrendering all of your power to someone else; someone you trusted.

Snow kept it up for a little while, and Hope continued crying out in pleasure, until Hope felt so sexually wound up that he needed to advance. He sat up and shuffled down Snow's body until he could place his hands on Snow's boxers. He took a moment to appreciate the build-up – he could literally feel the intense heat rising off of his own body – before tearing the shorts open with one swift movement.

'Fuck, Hope, you're really horn- ahhh…' Snow started, unable to finish, as Hope wasted no time in working his mouth on his boyfriend's tremendous dick. He worked it so vigorously he made himself gag once or twice, but this wouldn't stop him. His mind was focused entirely on getting what he wanted. His hands, feeling restless with nothing to do, ran themselves up and over Snow's bare torso, along which tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form. Snow himself seemed pretty restless as well, writhing on the bed a little, his own hands unable to make up their minds whether to grip the bed intently, run themselves through his own hair, or run themselves through Hope's. Hope took this as a sign he was doing his job pretty well.

'Ah, gods, Hope, I'm starting… to get…' growled Snow.

'Oh no you don't,' Hope interjected, and leapt off of Snow, leaving his dick slicked and pointing straight towards the ceiling. He fetched the lubricant from the drawer in the bedside cabinet and gently applied some to himself (some things, no matter how horny he was, couldn't be rushed) before straddling Snow once more and leaning in to kiss him aggressively. Snow embraced him into a powerful hug, and smacked Hope's ass once more, even harder this time.

'FUCK yes,' Hope cried, pulling away from the kiss. They took pause a second time, in the same position as before they'd started, to stare into each other's eyes – only this time, there was bestial lust in addition to love, and they were each panting like animals. Snow was lying, pinned, waiting for him to make the next move. Hope slowly slid down his partner's body once more, this time dragging the nails of one hand down Snow's chest as he moved, until he felt that big, hard dick pressing firmly against his rear. He reached behind him to manipulate it with one hand, and it took almost no effort at all to get it to slide in. He immediately took it all the way to the hilt – not an easy feat, and one he couldn't remember ever managing before – and released the breath he'd been holding as something somewhere between a sigh and a growl.

'Gods, Hope, you feel so… good…' Snow grunted, but Hope couldn't even reciprocate in words. He had to settle for a series of a moans and cries as he started rocking his hips back and forth, feeling Snow fill him up and stimulate him so deep, right where he needed to be stimulated.

'Don't hold back, baby,' Snow purred, running his hands up Hope's sides and gently encouraging his thrusting. 'Nobody can… nnf… nobody can hear…'

Hope was fully aware of this, and threw his hands back behind his head as he thrusted, rocking back and forth so violently now that almost all of Snow's length was sliding in and out of him, the bed was creaking loudly in protest, and all the while making more noise than he had done in a long, long time. He felt a whole week of sexual frustration being released, let go of – and that was never going to happen quietly.

'AAH!' he cried when Snow started pumping his dick for him; the pleasure was almost too much. Sweat was dripping down his body now, and he had to lean backwards and hold onto Snow's legs for support.

'Hope, you're gonna make me come…' Snow growled, working Hope's dick even more furiously now.

'Ah, yes, AH!' Hope cried, thrilled at the idea, and after a moment the two of them finally climaxed simultaneously. Hope felt the warm rush of Snow's come filling him, and the intense relief at emptying his balls, shot after tremendous shot, all over his lover underneath him and more than halfway across the room.

Hope slowed his movements until he was almost-but-not-quite stationary, still enjoying the feeling of his partner moving around inside him. Snow started: 'Fuck, Hope, that was really… really something…'

Hope giggled, still panting. 'I know.'

'I haven't come so hard in… ages…'

'Me neither,' Hope replied, and gently lifted himself off of his boyfriend. 'I would lean down to kiss you, but you're all sticky for some reason.'

'Haha, very funny,' Snow smirked, and hoisted himself up to fetch a towel from the bathroom to clean himself up. They really needed to start keeping on permanently in the bedroom, Hope thought to himself, as this seemed to be a regular occurrence. 'You know, it's quite a turn on to hear you being all pent up like that,' Snow called from the bathroom. 'I forgot how loud and sexy you can be when you're not holdin' back.'

'Gods bless our absent neighbours,' Hope called back, and smiled to himself. He threw himself back onto the bed, moving one hand down his body and to his entrance, absent-mindedly playing with himself a little. That really was pretty amazing. Exactly what he needed. It was such a relief to have a neighbour who was normally away, because he wasn't sure he could last that long without truly being able to let loose ever again.

Hope was so lost in his own state of bliss that he almost didn't hear it. It was a knock at their front door.

He looked over to the bedroom door in surprise. Snow appeared, holding a towel in his hands. They stared in silence at each other for a moment, until the knocking came again – louder this time.

'You'd better answer it,' Hope said. 'I'm… kind of a mess here,' he added sheepishly.

'Well I can't answer it!' Snow protested. 'I think I've… still got some in my hair…'

'Snow, if you're planning on answering the door naked, I don't think whoever it is will be looking at your hair.' Hope grinned naughtily.

'Aaagh, fine,' Snow conceded, and hurriedly wrapped the towel around his waist before heading to the door. 'Coming!' he called ahead.

Hope was pretty curious by this point. He carefully slipped off the bed and crept up to the bedroom door, leaning around it so that he could hear everything that was said. He watched as Snow opened the door as nonchalantly as he could and greet the person on the other side. The voice that came back sounded frantic.

'What's happened? Is everything alright? Has anything happened in there?' It was a man's voice.

'Err, err, no, nothing's happened. Why?'

'But I could hear it! It sounded like someone was screaming. Screaming in pain, it sounded like. And then it stopped. It didn't sound good at all.'

Oh hell, thought Hope. This wasn't fair. It was one of the ones from next door. They said they were only going to be here for a week. It had absolutely sounded like they had all left. Gods damn it.

Similar thoughts were clearly going through Snow's mind. 'You're from 318? I'm sorry, we uh… we thought you had all left. It didn't sound like anybody was in…'

'I'm not from 318.'

'What?'

'I'm from 320, three apartments down. I thought the noise was coming from 318 myself, but I knocked and nobody was in.' It was all Hope could do to stop himself from laughing out loud.

'…You were able to hear us… all the way from apartment 320?' Snow shot a quick glance over at Hope: from the look on his face he seemed both startled and impressed. This only made Hope want to giggle even more.

'Well, yes!' the man exclaimed. 'Is everything alright?'

'Yes, honestly, everything's fine,' Snow reassured him. 'We'll… uh… try and keep the noise down in future.'

'Well if you're sure…' the man began, but Snow was already closing the door. Once it was closed, he slumped back against it with his eyes closed, and Hope burst out laughing.

'You know, I never knew what embarrassment felt like before I met you,' Snow started, a weary but teasing note to his voice. 'Now it seems I have reasons to experience it on an almost daily basis.'

Hope moved closer to him, giving an apologetic hug, and inhaling his familiar scent. Snow stroked his hair, and continued: 'You're really going to have to be less noisy next time, you know…'

'I couldn't help it. It felt so good.'

'I'm pretty sure there are noise pollution laws we might be violating. They'll have us thrown out of the building.'

'Not my fault you've got such a big dick. Maybe we could show it to them as evidence in defence of our case. I think they'd understand once they saw it.'

Snow chuckled, and Hope smiled too. 'I love you,' Snow said, and Hope looked up at him.

'I love you too,' Hope replied, and accepted a kiss. Yes, he thought to himself. If only for the sake of the rest of their building, they definitely needed to get that radiator fixed.

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THE END

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Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I've still got a plethora of ideas for fics with these versions of Hope and Snow that I've developed, so expect plenty more in the near future... Until then, check out the other two fics I've written so far if you fancy it, and don't be afraid to fave / review if you feel so inclined. Always keen to hear what you guys think!