Chapter 7:... Where the Deer and Antelope Play
Travis didn't dream as pleasantly as he wanted. He tossed and turned in his sleep calling out a familiar name upon his lips. In his dreams he saw Wes, dressed up in a white tuxedo, at a church altar. Wes was moving farther and farther out of his focus with a dark haired woman rising up, eyes blood red, laughing and point at Travis. She screamed at the top of her lungs that Wes belonged to her and will never see Travis again. Travis ran as far as he could to Wes, but he finally disappeared out of sight.
Travis opened his eyes to Wes standing above him, with a worried expression on his face.
"Hey," he huffed giving a grin to insure that everything was alright.
"Are you having nightmares?" Wes asked, searching Travis' eyes.
"No, no I'm good man" Travis answered, his grin still in place. "How about some breakfast?"
"No, how about you make the breakfast?" Wes challenged, smirking. Travis' face fell.
"C'mon Wes-"
"You will not get any better at cooking, even by a mere fraction, without practicing Travis"
"Fine" Travis groaned. He pushed himself off the couch, his cover dropping to the floor. Wes' eyes snapped to Travis as soon as it happened. Travis looked down at himself and saw his shirt was off.
"Oh, I must have taken it off when I was sleeping. I usually don't sleep without my shirt off" Travis said, standing up and stretching. Wes cleared his throat several times before mumbling something about dirty dishes, walking away.
Travis watched his partner curiously and then shrugged making his way to the bathroom for a shower.
"Jesus Trav! Why didn't you say anything?!" Wes nearly screeched his face red. Travis clutched his towel around his sides a little embarrassed himself, but determined not to show it.
"You should have knocked man-"
"I did knock! You were the one who said come in-"
"Because I didn't think it was that big of a deal, until you screamed like a girl in a horror movie about to get killed when she knew she shouldn't have entered the creepy haunted house in the first place!"
"Travis that is just! Okay, sorry I wasn't paying attention. Hurry up. We have a cooking lesson to get through"
Wes turned on his heels and slammed the bathroom door shut.
Travis sighed getting back to changing into more comfortable attire. He wanted to get his mind off the excitement he felt when Wes actually looked at him nearly naked.
Travis really didn't think it was a big deal though. Most men who have worked this closely together have or were bound to see the other naked or nearly naked at some point in time.
Right?
Travis quickly got dressed and made his way to the kitchen. Wes was in the middle of setting up the counter with ingredients. There were strawberries and marshmallow fluff, along with eggs, flour, sugar and a waffle iron.
Travis squealed for joy, bounding over to the area.
"You're making Strawfluffer waffles again!"
A mystified expression crossed Wes' face before he chose to respond, "Strawfluffer? What?"
"Yes, Strawfluffer waffles. You made them yesterday." Travis said in tones reserved for the children that visited the station. "Remember?"
"The Belgium waffles?"
"Call them by their proper name!"
"Just get over here Travis and preheat the iron!"
"I don't even know how to do that! You do it!"
"No I'm not going to do it Travis. You're cooking breakfast remember?"
"At least do that for me Wes! You're not helping me by putting everything on me"
"Travis, this is all part of learning how to be a grown up. No, no wash your hands first!"
"Can you dance?"
"What does that have anything to do with what were just talking about?" Wes asked irritatedly, taking both his and Travis' plate. Travis was able to cook the waffles pretty well. They were a little crispier than Wes would have liked, but to Travis' surprise the picky man ate every bite.
Thank God for small favors.
"We were talking about Her taste in music Wes," Travis said, taking the plates from Wes' hands before moving to the sink. Travis ignored the look of shock on Wes' face this time.
"She likes all types of music-"
"A woman after my own heart" Travis said dreamily. "Are you sure I haven't slept with her-"
"Yes, Travis for the fourth time! You haven't slept with her"
Travis frowned. "What is her name anyway?"
"Um- Barbara. Its Barbara" Wes croaked, then coughed.
"Sounds familiar" She did sound very familiar. Travis entered the name in his memory under brunette, department social workers he and Wes worked with frequently. He scrubbed the dishes clean as fast as he could to make way for what he wanted to do next. He rolled down his sleeves then turned to Wes excitedly.
"That look on your face…I don't like it" Wes held a grim expression on his face.
"You worry too much Wes. Time to unwind and have a good time" he walked closer to Wes. "Time to shake what your momma gave you"
Pure terror and hopelessness crossed Wes' face, which only made Travis laugh harder. He pushed Wes into the living room area reaching the pockets of his pajama bottoms to pull out his phone. His eyebrows knitted together at its absence.
"Here," Wes said, handing Travis his phone from his own pocket. "You left it on the counter earlier"
Travis thought for a moment. He didn't remember leaving it there. But, if Wes said he did, then whatever. He opened the music app on his phone, setting the volume for high. He pressed play, letting a soulfu mix permeate the air.
"Okay, show me how you dance," Travis said crossing his arms. Wes stood there with his eyes closed mumbling to himself. "Well I'm waiting"
When Wes started moving Travis wasn't sure what to expect. He moved effortlessly. Intertwining his moves, which were panther like, into the beats and vocals of the song. He looked almost…sexy.
Travis started to have this unwanted warmth stirring from below and the urge to dance with Wes being hurriedly pushed far far away into never neverland. He quickly grabbed his phone, pushing the off button to the music while Wes was mid-hip rolling. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Okay, dancing, wardrobe and cooking. Check" Travis said hoarsely. "I just. It's late and-"
Wes regained his normal position and nodded in understanding. He was flustered, looking at Travis hopefully, while Travis avoided looking at him period.
"Goodnight" he said stepping closer to Travis. Travis took a step away from him nodding quickly, a funny noise sounded in his throat while stalking off to the couch and covering himself up. He didn't see the nearly heartbroken look on Wes' face as he went off to his room for the night.
Aww Wes D:
