It happens
"Here's a good spot, doc." Engie whispered while his companion was trying to calculate the right distance from Lawrence James' van. They both knew their friend had an incredible hearing since his nature, so they needed to be careful into choosing the right spot from where they could "keep an eye" on him. Eddie had found a really cosy spot behind few rocks nearby the entrance to the path that linked the branch where the bases were to the branch of the canyon their friend had chosen to park his van. Doc tiptoed to him and could just agree with him: they had a nice view on the big window on the side where they spotted two shadows of two heads on the blinder.
"They seem to be havin' a good time, right, doc?"
"Indeed, Ed, indeed."
"Now, it would be nice if you could stop having big eyes for them for a moment and help me, doc."
Kristof snapped from his romantic trance and helped the Texan setting down their little camp: a wide blanket on the ground, a couple of sleeping bags as shelter from the cold and a weird little device made by the engineer, that could warm food up in a second. They took out some food they had brought with and started warming it up as their dinner, then they snuggled into the bags and started their spying session.
"Who would have guess'd that James there was a man like you? I'd bet my hardhat about the opposite." He took a bit gulp of his hot drink, relieved from the wave of warmth going through his body in such a chilly night.
Kristof nodded and took a sip of his as well. "I admit that when I heard it this morning I really thought it was some kind of a joke at first, but I could see his face well, there was no joke."
"He could have told us, though."
"You know him better than me, my friend, he's too reserved and shy."
"But he told Antoine."
Kristof scoffed. "I bet the old bone just got him at the right moment to make him tell him.
Eddie chuckled agreeing. "They seemed pretty busy all day, I guess to get this date right and ready."
The other nodded and observed. It looked like those two were having a great time, they laughed and pretty loudly too, they could even hear some of what they were sharing.
"Among all the people Wolfy could get… the Blu spah. Aren't you worried?"
Kristof shook his head. "Nein, he might be relatively new around here, but if James trusts him that much I guess we have nothing to worry about."
With a deep sigh, Eddie agreed.
"Worry about what?"
Both Engie and Medic jumped out of their skins as a young voice echoed behind them. They turned and with big surprise they found Ryan staring down at them. "What you doing here, guys?"
Kristof grabbed his sweater and yanked him down between them, covering his mouth.
"The hell you doing here, lad?!" Eddie roared, trying to keep his voice still down.
The Red Scout pulled free from Medic, outraged. "I followed you, ok? You two looked like you were to commit a crime back in the base. Wasn't hard to follow you either."
"Keep your voice down, lad!" Kristof ordered, furious.
"Fine, fine." He sat up and crossed his legs. "What you doing here anyway? Spying on Snipes?"
The older men shared a guilty look and an apologetic smile before shrugging and nodding in unison.
"Ja, indeed."
"Just checkin' on him if everything is goin' well."
"And what's going on in there to be so…important…?" Ryan finally got a glimpse of a second shadow, probably a head, on the curtain of the window. He raised a brow and laid down with the other two, in the middle, and kept his voice even lower. "Don't tell me, it's a date! Snipes got a date! So? How does she look? Did he screw her up already?"
That made him earn a pretty hard swat behind his head by their Engineer. "Have some respect, lad. For both ladies and gentlemen."
Medic was simply enjoying a good chuckling. "Oh, he'll never learn." He sighed.
"For God's fucking sake, man, what the f-"
Engi hit him again, harder. "And watch your tongue, lad, or I'll be much displeased to be forced to use my other hand on your head."
At that, Ryan locked him lips, kept massaging his sore nape and didn't dare to say anything else. The last thing he wanted was a nasty mark on his skin left from a robotic hand. "It's not funny, doc." He growled seeing how Medic was still giggling.
Kristof let out a loud snort and looked over the young man at Engi. "Should we tell him?"
Eddie grinned. "Nah, it wouldn't be fun."
"What?" Ryan protested.
Medic grabbed his chin and made him point to the van. "Shut up and enjoy the show."
Spy was simply shaking his head in disbelief, his face contorted into a delighted expression as he took the first bite of the tenderloin, letting a satisfied moan be heard. "I must say, I forgot the last time I ate so well, probably never, garou, your cooking is divine." He gladly took another bite.
It was hard for L.J. to hide his satisfaction, how flattered he was, he felt slightly uneasy for much how unused to he was, and at the same time he couldn't stop himself being proud. And his ears were still burning. "If you go on like that I'm going to burn of blush, spook."
Jean-Claude grinned and cut another little juicy bite, which he offered to him. "I've never been so sincere in my life, cher, now say "Ahh"."
Lawrence lifted his eyes from his place, seeing the offering. He blinked confused, but then he smiled and offered a bite to him as well.
"Well, that's just cute, eh, doc?" Eddie whispered as the shadows moved on the blinder, showing the two in the van sharing a portion of their dinner to one another.
"Ah, indeed." His dreamy look immediately dropped. "Vitali never did that with me." He frowned and bit his sandwich, offended.
Engi snorted patting his shoulder and looked over at Scout, who seemed to slowly understanding the situation. He could recognize Sniper's shadow easily, it was the other one which confused him a lot. He never saw a girl with so short hair, and clearly that girl didn't have a feminine profile. Actually…she didn't have any characteristic Ryan would have referred to a girl… His face rapidly bleached. Before he could say a word, a strong hand covered his mouth as an arm kept him into place.
"Ja, lad, there's no girl in there." The doctor whispered in his ear and warmly chuckled. He could feel the young man stiffening under his grip, but he soon calmed down enough to be released. He looked ready to freak out, though, his mouth hanging, his eyes darting from Medic to the window, then back to Medic, his hands shaking around trying to deliver some kind of alien message, then to freeze on his winter hat. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "I-I would have never imagined! Snipes…a faggot?! He doesn't give the look of it." Immediately felt Medic's eyes on him, regretting his choice of words.
Yet, the doctor surprised him with another chuckle. "We cannot disagree with you."
"We kinda found out today as well, boyo." Engi added.
"But we had a couple of tiny doubts in few moments." Medic pointed out and Engie muffled a "Yes" while he dug in his sandwich.
The three fell silence for few minutes, then Ryan broke it with a curious question. "Someone we know?" He aimed the second shadow with his nose.
"Hmm, yes, you might have met him in different occasions." Eddie shrugged trying to hide his entertained smug.
Ryan never stopped analysing the shadow, he bit his lower lip, frowning. "He kinda reminds me of….spy…?" His eyes snapped wide in shock.
Right before his mind could run into crazy images of Sniper and Spy he really didn't want to see, a couple of elegant shoes appeared at his side, followed by the familiar noise of the disguise puffing off.
"I assure you I have nothing to do with monsieur James." Red spy calmly said in low voice looking down at the young man, who froze under his icy eyes, then he glared down at Medic and Engineer. "Why am I not surprised to see you two here?"
Both men tried an apologetic smile with him, but it didn't have much effect on the masked man, it just made him look even more furious.
Kristof gulped feeling guilt crashing him down, and tried to offer the man a beer. "Come, Antoine, we're not doing anything that wrong."
"You shouldn't be here at all in the first place." He said, ignoring the bottle.
Eddie snorted. "Said the Spah."
"Although it's my profession, I have at least the dignity to not spy on my own teammates." Engie's cheerful mood immediately died into a shameful blush. "Now move aside and give me that beer." Spy suddenly said, a mocking grin growing on his face as he sat down among the shocked men.
"What about dignity?" Medic smirked.
"L.J.'s my friend." He replied opening his bottle and offering another to the astonished Scout.
Eddie was hardly keeping his laughing down as they all cheered with their beers.
"Wait, wait," Jean-Claude interrupted. "you're saying, you took her home ?!"
"Yeah, of course! The little critter was too young to survive alone, the mother was nowhere to be found and we had been waiting for three days! Look at her here." James reached for a bag resting at his side, near the wall, and took out few photos, old and new, from a pocket. He searched for the right one and handed it to him. "Isn't she a beaut? This was taken last month."
The photo showed an old joyful-looking, curvaceous lady elegantly sitting on grass with a huge crocodile's head resting on her lap as she petted it. A skinny old guy sitting on the huge creature's back, waving. On the back there was written "Wish you were here! Mom, Dad and Gertrude"
That monster was at least 3 meters long. A saltwater crocodile. They took her home when she was as big as a hand. And called her Gertrude.
Spy was speechless. That beauty was a proud member of James's family since 1950.
Jean-Claude gulped seeing at how easily the old lady petted Gertrude, showing no fear, just pure happiness. He handed back the photo. "A true beauty, garou."
Sniper chuckled heartily seeing how pale his friend got. "She's too big to stay in the ranch, so years ago she started swimming to the sea to hunt and still comes back home every evening." He showed him more pics of her with his parents. "In 20 years we never saw her nesting. The lady must be too tough for males, ah."
Jean was analysing a new photo with just the old couple in. "Your parents seem a really nice couple." He said, smiling.
L.J. started scratching the back of his head, avoiding his eyes, his smile nostalgic. "Yeah, they are." He rubbed his cheek before leaning on his elbow, his eyes shyly setting on the guy in front of him. "She is the classic sweetie who bakes you a pie a day and runs after with a rolling pin if you make her angry." Spy snorted, the first photo still in his mind. "Dad is usually grumpy, rarely smile, but he gave me all the support I needed growing up. He taught me all I know but shooting. Mom taught me that when it was time for me to start protecting the herd from predators and Gertrude from poachers. A bullet in the leg and in the shoulder just to give the rangers time to arrive." He winked.
"Quite a childhood you had!" He commented, amazed. "While I was in military academy, studying boring stuff and training every morning."
"But that training surely left you something on." With the index of his free hand he pointed at the broad shoulders under the silk shirt Jean was wearing, catching him off guard and making him blush. He quickly got up then, ready for the dessert.
Outside, the men were divided by small bets about if they were going to kiss or not and who'd make the first move. Antoine and Kristof believed in the kiss, while Eddie was sceptic, Antoine thought Jean-Claude was going in first, while Kristof thought the same for Lawrence James.
Ryan was sitting silently on the other side of the blanket, quite a big contrast for being the loud big-mouth Scout of the team. He simply sat there eating a sandwich, watching at the shadows with a bit of curiosity, just to see who among his teammates at his side would win the bet. He ended up accepting quite quickly the idea of L.J. dating a man, he didn't judge on that aspect, he was just surprised that the lanky man in there had a soft side.
"Pssst! Ehy, kid! What did I miss?"
Ryan turned around to see a Blu military uniform and almost choked on the bite he was munching.
"You're here too?!" Antoine quickly patted the Scout on the back few times fearing to be heard while glaring up at the Blu Soldier, who was enjoying the moment too much.
"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. I just had to cover up few things at the base first." He sat down between Medic and Engineer. "I didn't expect a crowd here."
"You're not the only one, pardner." He heavily landed his mechanic hand on Thomas' shoulder and offered him a beer, glad he had taken more then he needed. The Soldier cheered with him, drank and then turned to Medic. "Vitali destroyed us all at poker, tonight. You sure he doesn't cheat?"
Kristof chuckled. "Don't ask me."
Scout soon started breathing again, highly relieving Antoine.
"So, what did I miss, guys?" Asked the Soldier.
They updated him of the situation and he soon joined the bets, on Antoine's side.
Jean-Claude leaned back on the chair, taking a deep breath wishing he could undo just one button of his shirt. The sorbetto was just what he needed after such a wonderful dinner, but he seriously thought he had eaten too much. "You're such a great cook, garou. I haven't eaten so well in years."
Sniper, too, leaned back, entwining his fingers over his stomach, content. He smiled not really knowing how to respond to the compliment. "I-I just wanted it to be a nice evening. I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Smirking, Spy nodded. "Oh, I more than enjoyed it, garou." With a little effort, he moved forward to lean on the table, folding his arms. "Having such a good time with you it's been something I never dared to ask, but also something I'd do again and again."
James' ears caught the soft note Jean's voice was slowly getting and that pushed the man to carefully move forward as well, his hands were trembling fists in front of him. "I did too have a good time." He almost whispered.
"Actually, mon loup-garou," Spy's cheeks got redder, but his eyes never detach from the other man's. "I've always had a wonderful time whenever you're with me." He looked down at those trembling tight fists and gently cupped them in his, feeling how tense the shooter was.
James' heart started pounding in his chest and he started feeling hot and lightheaded. His mouth quickly became dry. He tried a nervous smile looking at Jean-Claude's slender fingers working their way to make him open his fists and let him lay his hands over his. He didn't realize he was leaning closer.
Outside the men all froze seeing how the shadows on the blinder got interestingly closer. The only audible noise was caused by Engie eating his nails.
L.J. turned his hands palm up, allowing Jean to close his in them, and scoffed making an exaggerate gesture with his head before looking up at him again. "I indeed felt something…that day. When you first appeared in my nest. I had seen something in those eyes of yours. It pissed me off so much, it infuriated me. It bothered me for months, even after we started playing cards together in the evenings and simply passing time together. I couldn't understand what it was and couldn't truly see, not even when you looked at me." His grip grew tighter and tried to pull the man closer. "It hit me, though, after a time, and I couldn't be happier knowing that what I saw was what I have now in front of me."
A hand of his had gotten free and had started shyly roaming up, following Jean-Claude's arm to then land his callous fingertips against the Spy's sharp jaw.
The spook gulped hard at those words, his lips were twitching in a nervous rhythm, trembling almost as if he was ready to cry, but he didn't, he closed his eyes and guided that roaming hand over his cheek while his own hand travelled up to Sniper's chest following the shirt's buttons. He chuckled feeling him shiver. "I wasn't even sure what to think of you, until you invited me to dinner."
"So, I got you at the right time?" James joked, his nose inches from Jean's and his hand smoothly moving behind his nape.
Jean's hand quickly grabbed at James' collar. "Yes." And gently, but eagerly, pulled him in as the hand behind his head firmly did the same and their lips finally touched in a comforting kiss.
If the men outside could clap, they'd have made a ruckus, but they wisely decided to leave imminently and go back to the base where they could cheer, yells and wish those all the best luck.
"Come on, doc." Antoine chuckled as he grabbed Kristof's arm and pulled him away. His protests went unheard.
Their lips soon left the first nervous try, and despite being a single simple kiss, the two men were panting and blushing as they never imagined. Yet, that didn't stop them for a second, more comfortable kiss. Their lips danced in a soothing rhythm, nibbling and teasing each other with silence promises for the future, ensuring affection and adoration each time they set apart and go immediately back together with new energy, which they could fully feel in the grip their hands, which were still squeezing each other on the table at every soft moan they shared.
For a moment, Jean felt something that made him stop abruptly. A smell that was risking to wake his cursed side on the spot and he couldn't absolutely afford it. He smelled blood and took him a huge amount of energy to not lick his lips seeing its origin. L.J. had started bleeding from his nose and realized only when his lover took a step back.
He jumped back gasping for the deep embarrassment as he searched for a tissue. "Ohgodohgod, I'm so sorry, Jean!"
The Spy quickly took out a clean blue handkerchief from his pocket and rapidly moved at the Sniper's side, holding him close to his chest with his hand on his nose. "Shhh, garou." He chuckled. "It happens."
Sniper leaned on him trying to calm down and once Jean felt he was enough tranquil, he let him press the handkerchief on his nose while he went to wet another for cleaning himself.
"This is so embarrassing…" James muffled.
A fresh wetness landed on his forehead as Jean returned. He had only his other precious handkerchief to offer and he had wetted it to cool L.J. down.
Spy kissed his head lingering for a brief moment to savour his smell as he pulled him closer again. "Don't think about it."
James took a deep breath and closed his eyes, relaxed and cuddled against his warm chest. "Thanks, mate."
TBC
