A Common Need

By J. Ruisu

Chapter Seven

Bruce

It didn't take long to realize that Christina would not be staying with us very long. We were sitting out in the middle of no-where, blue water filling our vision for 360 degrees. We'd all changed into our swim-suits within the first twenty minutes of sailing; it did get incredibly hot on the yacht.

"Miss?" Dent was the first one to notice. His eyes had been closed, and he'd been humming some obnoxious song that was making me hate the fact he was alone with me and some skank on a yacht more and more every minute, when he'd spoken up.

She whimpered slightly, throwing a pencil-thin arm over her eyes. "This is wretched. I don't think I've had such horrible nausea since middle school!"

I sighed, sitting up, the warmth from the sun making it slightly harder to think than usual. "What's the matter, sweet?" I murmured, gently placing a hand on her calf and thanking nothing in particular for having acting abilities.

"I think I'm sea-sick!" She whined before standing up and dramatically tripping over to the railing where she wretched see-through liquid into the water below. I frowned and Harvey sat up more, a curious look on his face.

"Didn't you bring any medication?" I asked her, walking over to where she grasped the railing.

"Me! I thought you'd have some on-board!" She crowed, aghast.

I winced. "My bad," I spoke, though inwardly I was thanking the same nothing in particular for this blessing in disguise. No more whore-on-a-boat.

"Ugh... Brucey, could you take me back to land, please? I'm so sorry.. I should have thought of this... all well. Perhaps you and Harvey can have an all-boy's weekend..." The blonde vomited over the side once more. How much translucent fluid did this woman HAVE?

Harvey was standing, by now, and he had loped over to us with out me noticing - an extremely uncommon feat. "What's going on?" He questioned. Fucking dumbass.

"She's seasick," I explained gently. "I'll need to get someone to come pick her up and take her back to land."

"Why can't you drive me back?" Christina whined.

"Waste of gas." I replied in a snipped voice.

"Oh." Harvey replied, scratching his head for a moment.

"Huh. Guess that means we're having a... manly... day... then?" He struggled to get the words out before grinning sheepishly.

I almost snorted. "Guess so."

Harvey

I clambered below deck to relieve myself, my mind racing. I had specifically been warned by Rachel not to be left alone with Bruce (she'd apparently known him well enough to know he'd bring a date along) again. She said he "had a way".

Almost laughing as I undid my zipper, I glanced in the mirror. I certainly did look smashing - too bad Rachel wasn't here. I sighed, letting my mind wander for a few moments.

When I got back out onto deck, Bruce was leaning up against the railing, his arms crossed and eyes closed. A little motor boat was rushing away from us - an old friend, apparently - with 'Christina' as it's only passenger.

"I'm sorry about this, Harvey." Bruce spoke up when I approached him, a grim tone to his voice. I cocked my head to one side.

"What do you mean? It's not that bad. Isn't like we can't be civil with each other, right?" I grinned sheepishly - I did have a habit of that, didn't I?

Bruce seemed to think for a moment before straightening his back, dropping his arms, and lifting his head. His eyes suddenly seemed strangely bright.

"Right." He growled in an almost predatory fashion - I was vaguely reminded of Batman before bursting into laughter.

"Hey; have you ever been Sea-Dooing before?" Bruce questioned after I'd calmed down. An ocean breeze rocketed towards us, and both of our hair flew to the side.

"Me? No." I replied.

"Would you like to try?"

"Not really."

"That sucks. 'Cause you are." Bruce smirked, and I frowned slightly. So this is what Rachel meant.

Bruce

"I don't think I've ever seen someone so.. ungraceful." I cheered to Harvey as he swerved back and forth in the water near the yacht. It had been easy to get him out there; he'd barely resisted. Then again, most people didn't; all you needed was a smirk and some money, and they did whatever you pleased.

He was argumentatively one of the most water-ignorant people I'd ever seen; the idiot kept repetitively slamming himself straight into waves, and almost flipping his ride.

"Help!" He squealed, turning the Sea-Doo too sharp and experiencing his legs being kicked up in the air.

I laughed, crossing my arms and peering through my sun-glasses at him.

At first, I didn't notice he'd been kicked off. I'd been temporarily blinded when my glasses had slipped from the sweat on my nose, and when I regained my vision, I could just see the bottom of the ride. I figured he'd flipped and would pop up in a moment; he did have a life-jacket on.

It was when he didn't that I noticed the Sea-Doo had hit my boat. My eyebrows automatically dug downwards, and I kicked off my thongs without a second thought. Taking a huge breath, I clambered onto the boiling metal railing and shot myself into the water, a temporary missile flying through the air before shattering into the waves.

My eyes instantly opened, looking around through the haze desperately. The water was dark under the yacht, and the fact I wasn't wearing goggles didn't really help. I shot up to the surface for a moment, considered my options, and took a final gulp of air before shooting under water once more, flying into the shadow.

Harvey

The water was cold, and stung my eyes and throat with it's salt. I could feel a tug from beneath me - or was that above me? - and there was a strange shadow overtop of me that I couldn't quite make out.

There were splashing noises, and the dull hum of a motor. There was even a breaking noise, like glass being repetitively dropped on a hard-wood floor. But I couldn't distinguish any one; everything was too blurry.

The pain was becoming too much to continue thinking; it was filling me up, sending me flipping every which way, and now something was crashing against my skull.

I saw everything, for a moment; mom, dad, my first dog, my first kiss, my first job, my first convict, my first court hearing... everything. Images of Batman kept switching through my vision, and I vaguely thought that if I lived through this - which I was positive I wouldn't - I would laugh at myself.

When strong arms wrapped around me, I was sure that this was another part of death no one had ever spoken of. Perhaps it was a demon, dragging me to Hell? Incoherently, I pondered why I would be going there. And then I heard the motor a little louder, and the slamming on my head stopped.

Bruce

And breathe. One, two, three... The pattern was so repetitive. Harvey felt like butter under my fingers, cold and damp. His eyes were wide open, red and puffy, like he had some sort of infection. It was those eyes that kept me pumping; I had never actually looked right into them, before, and the honesty that lay in their murky depths was just too much not to try.

And there was Rachel. I couldn't let this happen. My joke about her trust wasn't supposed to mean anything...

When the first bit of water began to trickle over the side of his open mouth, I began to work faster, silently egging myself on.

It was when I filled his lungs with my own air again that he began to cough, violently. I couldn't remember the last time I'd saved someone from drowning, and I was almost shaking with the intense power of trying to save him - to save his life.

He threw up a few times, but it contained a lot more than Christina's had. Had I not thought him a goner a few moments ago, I probably would have made some quip about him wrecking the deck with his vomit.

He continued to cough, cowering underneath me as I shaded him from the sunlight, my arms on either side of him as he wretched. When he was done, his face was flushed and his body heat had returned.

Gagging slightly, he turned back over, eyes wild for a few moments.

Harvey

"Bruce?" I looked up at him with confused eyes - they were blurry, and I had to keep blinking away his concerned face. There were lines in it that I'd never seen, and his chest was pumping - his chest. I'd never seen such a muscular being my life - his body reeked of strength and power. Only a few of his veins bulged, creating a healthy look to his muscles.

His arms were on either side of me, bracing me in place, and he had leaned down when I'd flipped back onto my back. I coughed a little, trying to keep my mouth closed, and desperately re-focused on his face. For a moment, I trained my eyes to his lips... they seemed vaguely familiar. Blinking repetitively, I looked back up to his eyes my heart racing.

Bruce

"Are you okay?" I growled, my voice husky. Harvey frowned a little, and nodded the slightest bit; at first it looked like a twitch.

"What happened?"

"You were drowning."

"What?"

"You hit the boat, and got stuck underneath..."

"Oh. Did you come get me?"

"Yes." The thought of his idiocy barely crossed my mind.

"Why are you still on top of me?"

I looked straight into his eyes and felt heat rising to my face. I hadn't realized how close our bodies had been pressed, how strained my breath had seemed. What had come over me?

As I stared at him, he moved up the most infinite amount. I swallowed, feeling the heat from his body pool with mine. Our faces were inches from each other's, now...

"Do you need some water?" I smiled in relief as I stood up.

Author's Note: Hush, little one; Christina (or "botox-girl" as Jen calls her) isn't a Mary-Sue. I prooomise you. is shot So anyways, our first taste of Bruvey. And boy was it groovey. HOLY CRAP I RHYME?!1111!