Victor opened his eyes, jarred from his sleep by a loud dispute in the street below. He looked over at James's back, the younger man was still snoring lightly. He smiled.
Victor had been asleep when James came back to his bed. But weather the man came for love or because of his stolen bed sheets didn't matter, he came back and that's what's important.
He gave a lazy stretch and a yawn, looking over to the half closed blinds on the window. Dim light filtered in, suggesting it was still very early, or just cloudy with a chance of rain. The loud men on the street raged on in their argument and for once Victor didn't feel like tearing their heads off for disturbing his sleep.
He felt lazy and content from last nights activities. The hunger, the want for his brother had been sated, for now at least. He couldn't even be bothered to muster up a fantasy and deal with the morning wood pitching a tent in the sheets.
He rolled over to his brother and ran his fingers lightly along the turned back. James didn't stir. He shifted closer and pressed his lips to the flesh instead, to his delight James was also naked. Not worrying about his little brother waking, he kissed a trail from shoulder to shoulder, barely lifting his lips from the skin as he worked his way down. He didn't think on the fact that James might shove him away for the touches or be angry with him, his brother's mere presence in his bed this morning confirmed the fleeting visions and feelings. Last night was a memory, not a doubt.
"Victor," James's sleepy voice floated over him, "what are you doing?"
"Exploring," Victor replied and continued with the expedition, kissing over every muscle and line on the landscape of his brother's back. When he got to the lowest part of James's back he kissed the center and moved his mouth over to nibble at his hip bone, sliding his palm over the curve of his ass and around his thigh.
James stopped him with a firm grip on his wrist, "had enough of that last night."
"Still tired?" Victor asked, sliding up against the younger man and pressing his erection to his backside, "I could go for another round."
"Not gonna happen today!" James grunted. He wasn't worn out, but he wasn't in the mood for any sexual activity again any time soon.
Victor chuckled and flicked the tip of his tongue against the back of James's neck, making him fidget at the ticklish, yet pleasant, sensation. James had enough of this after a few seconds and reached around to give Victor a good slap.
James relaxed when Victor calmed down and wrapped his arms about him in a warm embrace. The room still smelled strongly of sex and most of it was coming from Victor. "You need a shower," he remarked.
"You wanna get in with me?"
"Had one last night."
"Could always have another one." James snorted in reply. "You can never be too clean."
"Yet you insist on remaining filthy." He felt Victor shrug, and with no more to add to the argument he buried his face in the back of James's neck.
The minutes ticked on, despite it being a work day neither man was inclined to move. Victor appeared to have gone back to sleep, James closed his eyes but couldn't do the same. He lay there feeling Victor's breath on his neck, hot when he breathed out, cold when he sucked the air in.
Last night hadn't been dreamless for James. Instead of wars the visions behind his eyes were of Victor, some of them pleasant memories, others terrifying and new, all of them distorted and most unmemorable. But he found through the unpleasant dreams and the events of the previous night, he didn't feel any different about his brother at all, if not closer to him than ever.
He still loved Victor, always would. Some day they might have another go at passionate sex, no doubt Victor would try to make it a casual and regular event. But for now everything was fine as it is.
/
It was about noon when Victor decided to get up and take a shower, deliberately leaving the bathroom door open as an invitation, which James didn't take.
Victor wasted no time in cleaning himself up, while he didn't like to wallow in his own filth he liked to keep a healthy odor about him. He sighed into the steam of the shower as the last remnants of pungent sex washed down the drain, knowing he'd smell it again someday soon.
When his shower was finished he dried off and went to pull on a pair of pants before sitting down to the breakfast James had prepared for them.
They ate in silence, the only sounds coming from the outside and the crunching as they chewed their food, each in their own contemplations. Each glance was a silent conversation and understanding that passed through the thick air of comfort between them.
After a while James was the first to speak. "Late for work," he stated through a mouthful of toast.
Victor raised a brow, "really?" a sarcastic question.
"Probably get fired."
The casual way he said this and with not starting his sentences properly suggested James didn't really care, which was unusual. For months now this job had been the most important thing in their lives. James was up to something.
"What's on your mind Jimmy?"
The younger man paused a moment to gather his thoughts, then said "was thinking of going back to Canada for a while, you an me."
Victor was truly surprised at this, and he let the expression show.
"Could get work on a farm maybe," James went on. He had been thinking of this all morning, the idea spawned from last nights dreams. It might be good for them, maybe they could escape another war, if Victor allowed that to happen.
"What changed your mind," Victor asked.
"I don't know, there's nothing here for us now, no job, no..." he bit off the last word. It was enough.
There it was, the us was back, no I. They were whole again, more than just brothers.
Victor was truly overjoyed with this latest development. They would go back to the wilds of Canada, hunt for their food and truly live. No doubt Jimmy would push for a job on some farm or in a small town, that was fine, Victor would make the best of it. Out there they could be free, be the animals they were.
They'd find themselves a nice place until the next war, which was inevitable, they'd fight in the next one and the one after that.
"When do you want to leave?"
Of course It was just that simple, how their lives always were, just pack up and leave anytime, go anywhere they wanted. Victor called it freedom, and James couldn't disagree. It may have seemed lonely before, but they always had each other, and now he felt different.
"We need transportation," the younger man pointed out.
"No problem, we just go an demand our paycheck for the last month, buy a car an we're outta here. Simple as that."
James looked around. There was nothing they really needed here, all their belongings could fit in one bag. "Simple," he agreed, and lit up a cigar.
Victor studied his younger brother, sitting across from him puffing on the cigar, a hard look on his features. James was like cement, he started out so frail and soft, something that could be molded into a desired shape, over the years he hardened. One day only Victor would have the strength to break the surface, only he could get inside his brother's head.
Victor's gaze looked to the past and the future all at once. Just the two of them, all they ever needed, all Victor had ever cared for. He knew his brother felt the same now, and he would always be there to make sure of it.
"Just the two of us," Victor said, his voice far away.
"Like old times," James agreed.
/
Once they had secured their transportation they packed up their meager belongings and went on their way, not bothering to pay the rent they owed to the landlord, not saying a word to anyone they knew. Vanished without a trace as they had done throughout their history. There was no one left behind to miss them.
On their way back to the savage wilds from whence they came, the brothers left the crowded and dirty streets of New York far behind, before an unrecognizable body and an unnamed suitcase were fished out of the docks.
