Title: Hopeless
Author: mispel
E-mail:
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Will and Geoff are desperate for a hiding place.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.
The memory of it was still hot. Geoff's touch had left an impression on his skin, like a brand. Will half believed that everyone could see. Will still felt Geoff's hands pass, fingers spread, over his chest as if trying to encompass him . Will stopped himself before he remembered lips and what they did.
"Meet me." An urgent whisper came from Will even before he knew it.
"Where," Geoff whispered in answer, mocking his breathless secrecy.
Will looked around. There was no safe place. He shook his head. It was hopeless.
Around them the tents were wet and sagging. Theirs was occupied. Even if it wasn't, people seemed to go in and out as they pleased. Will and Geoff stood looking around like trapped animals. Their own desire blocked them at every turn. There was no way out of it. It was like they had set a fire all around them, a blaze they now couldn't put out or escape. They only meant to keep warm.
In fact, a fire would have been nice right then. All day it had been raining. The very air was damp and gray from it. The evening was coming on too soon, though it was still too early for them to trust the darkness to hide them. The sun was setting unseen. The clouds keeping its fire from warming them. Clouds gray like armor. Looking up, William saw them as breastplates lined up over the sky - an army of gray knights arrayed against the sun.
The day reminded Will of the first night.
It had been cold. All of them were huddled together around the campfire in a clearing by the road leading to their next tournament. The day had plagued them with a constant drizzle so the fire was smoky and low. Roland and Wat were on one side of it, spooned together, sleeping soundly. Kate was curled up on another side, almost into a ball, her brown hair the only thing sticking out of her covers.
William lay still staring up, not all that cold, really. Geoffrey was next to him, fidgeting, too cold to go to sleep. Geoff was just making it worse, dislodging the two blankets that were on top of them, letting cold air sneak under and pinch them with its cold fingers.
Will had quite a few choice things to say to Geoff, but he kept his mouth shut not wanting to wake the others. Instead, Will just looked at him, exasperated. Finally, he put a hand on Geoff's arm to hold him still. Will covered them both securely as they faced each other. Then Will started to rub up and down Geoff's arm and reached around and rubbed his back to warm him. He saw Geoff smiling at that, but William's own face was determinedly sober. Soon he stopped, hoping that Geoff would be warm enough to sleep.
Geoff didn't go to sleep. He took his own hand - pale, cold bitten, the veins showing through blue - and moved it up Williams arm, slowly, not a brisk rub as William had done. Will didn't need it - he wasn't cold, hadn't been since Geoff had burrowed next to him, long before everyone fell asleep.
Through his clothes, William felt Geoff's long fingers squeeze. Just as William had done, Geoff moved his hand back along his spine and moved closer to reach around him. William didn't think Geoff needed to do be so close, what with his long, ungainly arms. Will felt warmth radiating off Geoff's body.
"That's enough," William whispered, so low only someone who was as close as Geoff could have heard him.
Geoff's face was so near to his own, every unshaven hair was like a wheat stalk on a just mowed field. All Will could see of Geoff's cast down eyes were the pale eyelashes. William wondered what Geoff was looking at. Geoff's arm was still around him but not moving. With their mouths so close, if their lips met, it could be called an accident.
Maybe it was the thought of those first, incautious moments - in full view of everyone should they just happen to open their eyes - that made William so bold as he chose their hiding place. It was a burned out shack, set ablaze by a drunken page. Only part of two walls remained of it to make a corner, the blackened wood growing darker and stinking from the rain, the soot and ash turning to mud. William's good sense had initially rejected the spot as too exposed. But it would be a quick affair - the fear driving them to the point faster. His good sense having taken leave of him, he went into the dark corner dragging Geoff there with his eyes.
Geoff's cold hand reached through William's collar and William gasped at the icy touch. Geoff's hand was quickly on his mouth to silence him. After he stifled a laughed, Geoff mouthed an insincere apology. Knowing his own hands were in a similar state, William grasped the back of Geoff's neck and he yelped. William smiled in satisfaction. They were even. And then much closer to being discovered as Geoff tried to reach under William's tunic to his belly and other sensitive parts with his clammy fingers. William clutched at his hands and they struggled noisily, with Geoff making most of the noise with his unmanly squealing and giggling.
"Why are we here?" William asked with Geoff's hands firmly in his grip, reminding Geoff of why they were in this cramped and dripping space instead of by a warm fire.
Geoff grew serious and William released his hands. Geoff reached for William's belt.
"Warm your damn hands first," William told him as Geoff smiled wickedly.
the end