It was dark.

It was dark but it was hot. Humid. The air was thick with the reek of blood, yet there was another smell too, a softer one, hard to discern from the bitter taste of iron permeating the rest of the air, but it was there. It was sweet, almost like… candy.

Except he didn't know of any types of candy that turned him on.

He was moving in the darkness, no, more like groping because he couldn't see all that well and he was searching for something and goddamn it was hot– he could feel drops of perspiration welling up on his skin. Hell, he wasn't even clothed, but he still felt like he was boiling like a lobster in a stew pot. He drug an arm across his brow. It wasn't just the heat… someone was near him, pressing in close… rubbing against his sweat-slicked body.

A shudder ran up his spine.

His hands finally found what he had apparently been searching for all this time… and it was lengthy swept-back hair, tangled ever so slightly in the back where it met the nape of neck. It was greasy, but that wasn't something he minded what with all the lubes and greases that came with tinkering on cars. He pawed through the strands over and over, loving how they melded to his fingertips, making furrows and rows and then smoothing them back out again. He rut his hips upward again and again against the firm body above him. His brow knotted at the stimulation, growing a little breathless, a tingle added to the oppressive, suffocating heat.

Lord… ah, it felt good. Oh man.

A deep voice groaned. "Yeah… El…"

He sucked in a sharp breath and finally registered who it was on top of him.

The very same man he had fallen asleep against. His mind whirled, trying to puzzle out how they could have ended up like this, tangled up in one another, unclothed and hard and humping, but the arousal coursing through his system quickly overrode the many confusing thoughts, sweeping them away. Ellis hummed as he drug his palms down the rough, unshaven cheeks… skated them over his neck and collarbone– Nick was still wearing his dress shirt, the starched collar inhibiting his fingers from wandering further down his chest to weave into the chest hair there.

Oh, so that's what the sweet smell was… It was his old cologne lingering in the collar of the garment. He leaned forward and buried his nose against it, inhaled deep. Shit, shit… it was driving him wild. The friction of the older man's body on top of him was driving him wild. Nick had him practically pinned against the wall, his thighs straddling his lap so they could work their passions out against one another. He gripped the gambler's hips suddenly, forcing their hard lengths to rub, heat blooming in his lower abdomen.

He tried to get words out, tried to say something to the man, but his throat was constricted, his body tensing as climax hit him. No, hit them both… coating each other in sticky satisfaction.

Nick leaned down… to kiss him, silky-soft thin lips melding with his.

Everything was dissolving. The weight in his lap lifted, the smell dissipated, the heat dispersed. Only the darkness remained.

He awoke with a startled gasp and a choke.

His body was still trembling as he ran a hand through his curly locks, hurriedly glancing to his left side. Nick was sleeping soundly beside him, unmoving and uninterrupted from his slumber by the sudden movement, and furthermore, fully clothed.

Ellis sagged against the wall, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes. What… what had that been? Shit, where had it come from? He shifted and his nose immediately wrinkled upon the discovery that the inside of his underwear was now wet with his ejaculate.

Ugh, well that answered question one. He supposed it wasn't too surprising considering there hadn't been a heck of a lot of opportunity to discreetly relieve himself.

But still. With Nick? His eyes darted over to the conman again. Damn… He didn't even know he swung that way.

He recalled the stubble against his fingertips, the look of broad shoulders and thin hips, the mat of wavy chest hair.

The raging hard-on against his own.

Another shudder quivered up his spine and he shook himself out of it. Regardless, he now needed another change of boxers. He fumbled for the flashlight and stood once he had the beacon, going to locate the suitcase he had found his last pair in. He swiftly procured a new set from the baggage. Ellis clicked off the light for privacy and began to strip off his coveralls, changing as quickly but as quietly as possible in the darkness.

At least he had woken up now. Shit, he couldn't imagine the embarrassment finding out in the morning might've incurred. He shook his head as he re-zipped his coveralls up to his neck and went back to his place against the wall. He paused, staring at the dozing older man contemplatively.

He couldn't make heads or tails of it. Yeah, he liked Nick, a whole hell of a lot he liked Nick. But like that? He frowned slightly. Or had his body just been reacting to the amount of time he had spent around him, near him? That would make sense, wouldn't it? His mind just picked the person he was currently closest to emotionally.

Then again, he'd been having a lot of confusing thoughts in relation to the gambler lately. He recalled the moment in the food store that had seemed so bizarre, like a compulsion he'd narrowly resisted. And then his musings at what it might be like to kiss Nick… hell, the way they had slept last night… practically wrapped up in one another… like lovers! Ellis felt blood rush to his cheeks. And he'd been so awfully chagrinned, but pleased when Nick had given him a hand out of the boat… the other times Nick had touched him too. Like the squeeze he had given his knee on the porch, the hug he'd given him when he'd broken down, and those hands… those soft, tender hands on his arms, bandaging him up… Ellis touched the wraps on his arms thoughtfully. Nick had been so gentle, so wordlessly concerned. He could still see those pale green eyes, looking at him, pleading for reassurance, reassurance he had tried to give, to tell him it would be alright… that he was there for him, no matter what, he was there…

He could've kissed him then.

He sat and stared at the thin lips just barely parted in sleep.

He could kiss him now. His little heart thumped wildly.

And then he reminded himself it had been a dream– a wet dream no less!– and nothing more. Goddamn, the last thing he wanted to do was plant one on the man and try to explain that. 'Sorry, man, I was jus' thinkin' about'chu tonight, an' I thought, well heck, how about we go all the way with one another? I mean, I like you an' you like me, bumpin' uglies could be fun an' mutually beneficial an' whatnot! What'chu say?'

Great, now he was internal-monologuing. He gave a little huff and rubbed his eyes through the lids. How much longer was it 'til dawn? It was impossible to tell in the bottom of the control tower. He hoped it was either soon or still a few good hours off, otherwise he'd end up groggy as hell. He gave another sigh and looked over at the conman, not sure if he should keep his distance or pretend nothing had happened...

Well, there shouldn't be any more harm in snuggling against him now. He wasn't going to have another nocturnal emission after all. He hesitantly placed his cheek on his shoulder, nuzzling slightly into the fabric.

Nick purred in his sleep.

And Ellis had to question whether it was really such an impossibility because the noise made his ears burn right out to the very tips.