Toki couldn't believe his luck the next morning in Portland, when he woke up. He and Skwisgaar shared a queen-sized bed just as they had the past few nights, but something vastly differed. When he curled up against Skwisgaar's back, he cuddled his boyfriend. He kissed his boyfriend's shoulder, and groped his boyfriend's ass.

"Turns around," he whispered when a yawn indicated Skwisgaar's consciousness.

"Mm." Skwisgaar put a hand over his mouth when Toki leaned in. "Lets me brush my teeth forst. You woulds regret dis."

"No." Toki's arm tightened on his waist. "Just keeps your lips closed, if you worrieds about it."

"What ams de fun in dat?"

He was right; while pecks tided Toki over as the majority of their affections carried out through their fingertips, the want for more led to a final squeeze of Skwisgaar's backside. "Guess we mights as well get readies to go. How far dids you want to goes, today?"

"We cans looks at de map, when we hits de road." Skwisgaar spoke softly in attempt to spare Toki his morning breath. It didn't work, but Toki loved him all the more for it. "Eugene ams de next city I cans remember seeing on dere, but I woulds be content to gets closer to de California border, if nots over it."

"Is a reasonables goal." Toki followed him into the bathroom, starting up the shower while Skwisgaar occupied the mirror. Halfway through lathering his head, the curtain rustled. A pale leg came next. "Mights not be enoughs room in here for two."

"We makes it work."

Skwisgaar tasted of mint this time, curtailing Toki's attempt to wash his hair. He'd always assumed that pressing against another body in some form of water was wildly overrated, but Toki enjoyed the other man's slippery skin. Humidity frizzed Skwisgaar's hair wherever the stream didn't manage to wet. The smell of him somewhere between last night's sweat and cleanliness clogged Toki's senses; only when the water running down his face stung his eye and caused Skwisgaar to groan in disgust did a drawback manifest.

"Ugh, motel shampoos." Skwisgaar hocked a loogie.

"Ew!"

"Lightens up, ams just spit. Half of it ams probablies yours."

Toki still tried to monitor it in dim light as it floated toward the drain. "Maybes let me finish, then you can have the shower?"

"Ja, shore." Rather than exit, Skwisgaar pushed the curtain open at the end and perched on the tub's edge. "No points dryings off just to gets wet again."

"Whatsever, you just likes to watch."

"I cans get out, if you don'ts like it."

"Is okay, buts you not allowed to look when I cleanings my ass."

"Pff! Afters all de time you spends in mine? I don'ts t'ink dat ams fair."

Skwisgaar stood again; Toki mechanically continued rinsing his hair as the man took up the soap. "Whats you doing?"

"Helping."

Toki accepted the lips on his neck, but he tensed when hands crept down his crack. "Whoa, whoa. . ."

"What ams de big deal?" Skwisgaar halted where tensed muscles held him at bay. "You saids last night dat I coulds do anyt'ing to you dat I wanteds."

"You stills gots to ask if is okay first!"

"Why won'ts you let me touch you dere, ah? Ams it a stretch to assumes dat no ones but you has?" Skwisgaar kissed his ear. "Lightens up. It amn'ts dat big a deal."

Still unsure, Toki relented. Focusing on that blinded his senses to any of the other points where he and Skwisgaar pressed. He gripped the other man's waist as anxiety flowered in his chest; his facial muscles contorted when unfamiliar fingers grazed the nerves there.

"Holies, why you so tense?" Skwisgaar chuckled. "Seriouslies, it amn'ts a big deal!"

"Ins the shower, though? Why nots after?"

"Why nots during?"

Toki stammered. "Isn'ts it a good idea to make sures is totally clean, though?"

"Whats it matter? You ams now." Skwisgaar angled him so that the water stream would wash through. "See? Who cares, ah?"

"Why don'ts you?"

"Because I don'ts. Seriously Toki, whens we deal as much as we does wit' assholes, you quicklies learn nots to. You t'ink I hasn'ts been metacarpals deep in my own?" Larger lips touched Toki's for a chaste kiss. "And maybes I had an ulteriors motive. Torns around."

"You nots going to fucks me just like that!"

"Holy fucks, Toki! I knows way better dan to just springs it on you. Haven'ts you evers had you tail licked? Ah, who ams I kiddings, if you wouldn'ts even let me touch it. . ."

"I reallies not sure about this. I means—okay, I admits I curious, and I's done a bits by myself, but is different when someone else do it."

"Just trust me." Eyes heavily lidded, Skwisgaar skimmed his fingers over Toki's abs. "I won'ts poke not'ing in you. Tongue only."

Toki's cock twitched. At the very least, he couldn't deny that Skwisgaar asking to eat his ass out was pretty hot. He wasn't completely convinced when he faced the wall; his fingers trembled minutely as he braced himself. Hands roamed his ass and thighs while lips concentrated steadily on his lower back. If Skwisgaar attempted to calm his nerves completely away, he probably wouldn't succeed. Just wanting to get to it, Toki bent forward.

His brow furrowed, one cheek pulling sideways. It didn't feel much different than impersonal fingers laden with soap at first, but that changed as a pattern established itself and he marked the relative softness of a tongue toying with his hole. As Skwisgaar moved, Toki registered his nose press this way and that. Toki's diaphragm yanking downward in search for oxygen couldn't compete with how quickly blood redirected for his core. To confirm what squirmy, delectable gratification warmed his body, Toki reached back to run his fingers through Skwisgaar's hair. Then, unable to hold off on gripping himself, he decided that the next time this happened would be when he took the chance to truly enjoy it.

"Not bad, ams it?" Skwisgaar asked when they stood eye level again. "See what happen, if you trust me?"

Toki couldn't manage much more than a dumb grin; he kissed along the other man's jaw while stroking him. "Whats you want me to do?"

A sore jaw on Toki's part left Skwisgaar with a cooling stream of water. Feeling lazy in wake of orgasm, Toki ambled out of the bathroom with his toothbrush hanging from his mouth. He turned the television on as he passed, out of habit. Some children's program played, which he half-watched while organizing himself. With a pair of board shorts replacing his towel, he dropped onto the end of his bed and channel surfed for the news. He knew he'd found it when a familiar cul-de-sac crawling with cops appeared on-screen.

". . .Grizzly scene sixteen miles south of Laurel, Montana this morning, as a local resident discovered the body of a man apparently bludgeoned to death. . ."

Toki expected this to happen, so the resultant sting of shock receded quickly enough. However, away from the incident and with clearer mind he realized just how horribly he'd screwed up. Assuming the worst since he couldn't exactly call his lawyer up to ask, Toki turned the television off and ran his hands down over his face. At the time, it made sense to leave Ludwig's smashed skull covered. At a distance though, all he saw was Skwisgaar's shirt. . .the shirt a full-on meth sweat saturated with his DNA.

Trying to play cool, Toki finished dressing and reentered the bathroom. He rocked back and forth on his toes as he stalled. "Hey, Skwis?"

"Ja?"

"They found Ludwig."

The water stream steadied, then the curtain opened far enough for Skwisgaar to poke his head out. "Dey dids?"

Toki nodded. "Just thoughts I would lets you know."

"You ams wanting to hits de road, den?" Skwisgaar studied him. "You ams pretty pale. Norvous?"

"Ja. Um. . .I's going to start puttings things in the car. What dids you need?"

"Just leaves my duffel. Everyt'ing else am goods, though."

How did Toki fuck up so badly? He thought they got everything! Goddamn it, if only he could keep his fucking head on, for just that little bit more. Fuck! How did he break this to Skwisgaar? Did it matter? From all the police shows that Murderface watched, they always needed to match DNA in order to make an arrest, right? It helped that databases were disjointed by state lines, not to mention a bottomless pit each on their own. Still, when Skwisgaar dropped into the passenger seat after handing in the room key, Toki fervently chewed his fingernails. He didn't feel any less sick than when it actually happened.

Skwisgaar let Toki get them comfortable on the I-5 before speaking. "Shoulds be okay. I means, whatevers little bit we missed—t'ings like stray hairs—woulds has been washed into de mud by dat rain."

"Your shirt," Toki blurted. Skwisgaar could turn the radio on any moment, and what if they mentioned it? He couldn't feign ignorance. "I-I'm sorry, Skwis. I didn't grab it when we left. I knew I'd throw up if I saws what I'd done, and that was all that was on my mind. But it's okay, because they can'ts do anything unless they gots you to match it, so. . ."

Just as Toki feared, Skwisgaar stayed quiet. He kept going, "You nevers been arrested in Montana before, right? So they wouldn'ts have you on file?"

Fuck! Was that why the older man stayed so quiet?

"Froms all de dumb shit we does," Skwisgaar finally said; his icy tone sent a shiver down Toki's spine, "what ams de chance dat we ams near de top of de national list for gettings pinged? Espeskly when Charles am lookings for us?"

"I—I don'ts think it work like that."

Skwisgaar had nothing else to say about it, sending Toki reeling into anxiety until they neared Eugene. With a deep, heavy sigh, Skwisgaar allowed time to return to its normal passing rate. "I guess even if dat happen, what am de worst case scenario? Has beens nearly a week since you killeds him. Charles woulds clean it up, and he wouldn'ts be any closer to figurings out where we am."

"I'm so, so sorry, elskling. I wish it was my shirt, just so thats we could be sure if anything bad does happen, that it's me who get in trouble. I wouldn'ts be able to lives with myself if I somehows framed you—"

"Just shuts up about it, okay? It ams what it am. We amn'ts going to go to jails, or anyt'ing. Charles would never allows dat." Skwisgaar popped the glove box in order to retrieve a map. "So let's just deals wit' it, insteads of worry about who am sorry."

Unsure if Skwisgaar actually let him off the hook—not that Toki let himself off, yet—Toki followed his instruction. "Whats you thinking now, for how fars we should go?"

"De town I was t'inking about forst was Klamath Falls. Am stills in Oregon, maybes about six hour away. Supposed to be a nice drive, probablies de last one we goings to have untils we out of de desort." Skwisgaar traced his finger further south, in the corner of Toki's eye. "But I t'inks dat we starteds early enough today dat we coulds do anot'er sprint. Compareds to how we starteds dis road trip, we beens pretty lazy in de last three or four day."

"We coulds do that." Even if Toki really didn't feel like sitting in a car so long, he'd go along with anything Skwisgaar wanted.

"Den lets put Oregon and Californias in our dust," Skwisgaar suggested. "We coulds get to Reno. Ams maybe about ten, eleven hour away?"

"Okay."

If not so ridden with guilt, Toki would enjoy the last trees they'd see much more. When they stopped in the tiny community of Chemult, he leapt out along with Skwisgaar when the man pursued a new pack of cigarettes. Feigning stretching his legs, he paced while the car filled up. Skwisgaar lit up at a distance.

"I know you don'ts want to hear it again, but I feel so bads," Toki stated when they assumed switched seats. "I can'ts believe I fuckeds that up. Nots that it wasn't a fuckeds up situation to begins. Goddamn it though, I don'ts want to gets you into trouble."

Skwisgaar leaning over habitually turned Toki's head in his direction, but he barely puckered up before the kiss ended. He rubbed his hands nervously as dark blue eyes studied him. "We just looks at it like we ams fugitive. Adds it to de fun?"

"We alreadies fugitives," Toki reminded him of the murder that jumpstarted their journey.

"Hm. Wells. . .dey didn'ts find her yet, far as we know." Skwisgaar put the car in gear. "But whatevers. I know you wouldn'ts try to frames me for not'ing. And I can't says I woulds has peeled de short off he face, if I were walkings in your shoe dat night. It ams my fault, too—I didn'ts have to hand you dat short. I coulds has given you one neit'ers of us had worns yet."

"Don'ts blame yourself, elskling."

"I amn'ts. It just go to show dat we was boths fucked up. Really, we ams lucky dat we didn't screws up more dan dat." They got back onto the highway. "But let's make a pact rights now: we amn'ts going to breaks anymore law. No more killings, no stealings—nots even speeding. We needs to stay invisdible to de police."

"Believes me, I nots going to do anything bad." Toki touched his hand. "I don'ts really understand why, but thanks you for stayings calm. Maybes it'll hits you later, that you shoulds be mad. If it do, I'll lets you get it out of your system."

"Don'ts count on it. A littles empat'y go a longs way. I t'inks I gave you enough yellings and cold shoulder when it all happen, so whatsever. Gettings mad at you amn'ts going to fix anyt'ing, and it wouldn'ts make me feels better."

"If you decide it do though, the floor is yours."

"For nows, can we nots talk about it?" Skwisgaar requested. "Anyt'ing but. At least untils we get to California. Dat feels far enough away from dat stupids place. Do you t'ink it would evens be on de news, all de way over here?"

"Was in Portland, but I don'ts know. I think California maybe gots too much of it own news to cover. Who cares about some stupids asshole found dead up in Montana. Rights?"