"It's time to wake up," a voice called out as a pair of hands pushed up on him.

Groaning, John let himself be shoved off and nestled into the bed once more. It felt so nice there that he mumbled, "Five more minutes."

He heard a chuckle before he felt a hand trail down his stomach and knead his half-hard cock through his pants. He must have been having a somewhat nice dream before he woke up, and how he didn't notice his corporeal state before was beyond him. Immediately, blood rushed south, giving him a full erection in no time at all. Letting out a small moan, he cracked open an eye and looked over at James, who was smirking at him mischievously. He slowly sank down, and John's breath caught in his throat as his pants were tugged down. His cock sprang out, aching for attention. Before John could do or say anything, James wrapped his lips around the tip. John felt a flick of tongue at the slit of his glans, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Slowly sliding down, James took his time to reach the base of John's cock. John stared with wide eyes, aroused by the sight more so than the feel.

"James," he breathed out, his voice barely audible.

James's eyes snapped up to look at him as he continued to slowly suck him. The piercing gaze sent a shiver down John's spine. As if having James's hot, wet mouth around his cock wasn't enough to turn him on. Suddenly, James hummed, and the vibrations sent a delicious feeling through John's body, who moaned in response as his cock twitched under the ministrations. He ran his hands through James's hair, letting his nails barely scrape the scalp. James gave an encouraging moan in response, causing John to involuntarily buck up into his mouth before muttering an apology. Luckily, it seemed that James didn't mind so much, as he continued to suck fervently. His tongue pressed into the back of John's shaft firmly, compressing into every contour from base to tip. John groaned as he felt himself getting closer and closer to the edge of climax as James hollowed his cheeks and sucked harder than before. Suddenly, John felt a graze of teeth against his shaft, and he let out a startled cry as adrenaline shot through his body. That sense of danger was apparently just what he needed.

"Do that again!" he ordered.

Sliding back down to the base, James repeated the motion, and John let out a low moan. He was so, so close. He locked his hands in James's hair, trying to physically convey a warning that he was about to come. Humming in acknowledgement, James began bobbing up and down faster, making sure to give him long, even sucks. Finally, John tipped over the edge and came in James's mouth while moaning out his name. He then collapsed into the mattress as he tried to reorient himself. James gradually pulled off him, cleaning off the whatever semen might have remained.

"Awake now?" James teased.

"For the most part." He grinned down at James. "That was the best wake up alarm I've ever had," John noted cheerfully, still basking in his post-coital bliss. It was then he noticed the state the James was in. "Would you like me to return the favour?"

Smirking, James rolled onto his back and lowered his pants just enough to release his own erection. He gave himself a few strokes before looking at John expectantly. John came over and nestled between James's legs before giving several long, languid licks from base to tip. Wrapping his lips around the glans, John swirled his tongue around it before flicking at the slit and pulling off. James groaned and laced his fingers through John's hair. They locked as much as they could, although it was only because John hadn't had a haircut in far too long. After a moment's hesitation, he pushed John's head down so his mouth was wrapped halfway around his cock before thrusting up. John gagged for a second, not expecting the suddenly movement. The next thrust into his mouth wasn't so forceful. He slackened his jaw in order to take the whole length into his mouth. Gradually moving faster and faster, James eventually got to the point of fucking John's mouth roughly. Although he managed to keep himself from gagging every time, John found it difficult at points to take everything in. James didn't seem to mind, though, since the gagging only caused him to thrust in harder the next time.

John probingly let his teeth scrape along the shaft, and James let out a low moan as he did so. So he liked it a little rough as well. A little dangerous. Already, John's jaw was beginning to hurt, and his lips were swollen and red. Suddenly, he felt James's cock twitch in his mouth. He prepared himself to swallow whatever was given to him only for his head to be pulled up and away. Panting, John looked up with half-lidded eyes. James moaned out John's name as he came on his face, startling John immensely. He had never experienced such a thing before, and he flinched as he felt the cum splatter across his face. Blinking, he looked up at James, who gazed down at him and then let out a groan before tugging John up for a kiss. He could still taste himself on James's tongue.

Breaking the kiss, James responded, "I have to go to work."

"You actually have an office for what you do?" John inquired, thoroughly surprised. "I would have never thought you would maintain a headquarters somewhere."

"What good is owning a closet full of Westwood suits if no one sees them?" James inquired rhetorically. "Besides, you're living in my primary flat, so I have to go somewhere else in order to work. Can't have you accidentally overhearing or seeing something." John's expression dropped as he heard this. "For your own safety," he added quietly before rising to his feet. "I would suggest for you to get cleaned up again. And be ready at eight tonight. We're going to go out."

Surprised, John watched James carefully as he moved about the room. "Where to?"

"Nowhere special. Just a small café for a drink and maybe a dessert. I'm sure you could use the fresh air, and it will infuriate Mr Holmes to no end. Interested?"

"Of course," John answered earnestly. After all, it meant that he was able to go out and about in the open air. Last night, he had gotten a taste, but hardly the time to enjoy it. He rose from the bed and, before leaving the bedroom, called back, "I can hardly wait."

Minutes seemed to tick by painfully slow as John waited for eight o'clock to come. There was even less to do in this flat than in the last one, especially since he didn't feel comfortable enough to clean up more than the basics. So that meant he spent the rest of the day watching telly, which he was beginning to loathe, or cooking something to eat. He ate far too much nowadays due to his boredom, and he would have to put himself on an exercise schedule at this rate. Finally, it turned eight o'clock, and he found that he had to wait an extra five minutes before James actually returned to the flat. John waited, fully expecting to be blindfolded before they headed out, and James stared at him expectantly. "Are we going to go or not?"

"Aren't you going to blindfold me first?"

Scoffing, James responded, "Useless, really. You've seen the building, and we're in a nondescript part of town. Besides, we're only going a couple of buildings down. Hardly a need for you to be blindfolded."

"Why the change? I pointed out at my last flat that I already knew what the building looked like, but you brushed me off."

James's lips pressed together in a thin line for a moment. "It just doesn't matter," he responded, his voice sharp. This was apparently not up for discussion. "So are you coming or not?"

"Are you really going out in a Westwood?" John asked incredulously.

Looking down at himself, James inquired, "What's wrong with it?"

"We're going to a café, not a five-star restaurant. You're going to draw more attention than is necessary," John informed him. "Change. I'm not going to be outclassed by you in a café."

James looked incredibly amused at this, which surprised John. He always figured Moriarty to be the type to always want to be in control – to not take demands too kindly. But then again, maybe he just found it entertaining that John had the audacity to give him a command despite his position. "Is that an order, Captain?"

"It can be if that's what it requires for you to get changed," John responded matter-of-factly.

Rolling his eyes, James slowly removed his tie. "Be sure to not get into a habit of making such taxing demands, Johnny. I don't want to regret having you here so soon," he sang out as he headed into the bedroom. After a few minutes, he emerged in a blue button-down shirt and a nice pair of pinstripe trousers. "Better?"

"Much."

"Let's go then. We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago."

Chuckling, he replied, "And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you were five minutes late."

"I had important things to do, or do you forget who pays for all of this?" James responded as he opened the door. "So ungrateful."

Walking out of the flat, John jokingly replied, "The first rule of dating is never be late."

"Oh, so now we're on a date?"

"Well, what else was this supposed to be? Dessert between two mates with benefits?" John jestingly retorted as he headed towards the lift. Already, he knew he was flirting with a fine line between joking and revealing himself. "Because I'll cost you more than just a dessert."

James quirked an eyebrow as he stepped onto the lift. "A prostitute now, are we?" he queried rhetorically. "And you've already cost me a flat. How much more expensive could you possibly be?"

"Do you really want to find out?" John challenged, not allowing James to ruffle his feathers.

"Definitely not," James answered honestly. The lift doors opened once more, and they stepped out into the lobby. As they headed for the front door, he prompted, "How do you feel about video games?"

"What?" John asked, not having caught what James said. That's what he got for letting his mind wander as soon as he got into a location with new visual stimuli. He stepped outside and sucked in a deep breath of air. God, he missed this so much. "Sorry," he added, glancing over.

"Video games," James repeated. "You've previously complained about having nothing to do. It could be something that occupies your time while I'm away at work. Keep your reflexes sharp."

Frowning, John shrugged as he checked to make sure that they weren't about to get hit by any cars. "I've never really played them before. Not my thing, you see. I would much rather be outside actually adventuring about than in a room pretending to."

"Shame," James murmured under his breath as they crossed the street. "Back to the drawing board, I suppose."

Although he knew that those two comments were meant to be just for James's ears, John couldn't help but respond. After all, James had actually been spending time thinking about what he could do to make John's stay a bit better. How to keep John's day somewhat occupied and not so dull. "I suppose I could always try new things, though. I've never really tried it before, so who's to say that I won't like it?" He was trying to be optimistic despite the fact that he seriously doubted that he would like playing video games.

James seemed to perk up as he heard this. "Very good. I'll get that in order then. I'm sure Moran wouldn't mind coming around to show you the ropes anyway. He's all about those Call of Halo: Black Assassins games… or whatever the Hell they're called." So James wasn't much of a gamer himself. That hardly surprised John. "That's settled then. Good. Now I can go back to more important things."

John knew that was supposed to be a jab, but he couldn't seriously take it as one. So instead, he kept his mouth shut and followed James into the café. After they ordered, they sat in a booth in the far corner that was close to the emergency exit and had a clear viewing of the front door. Part of John wondered if Moriarty ever took a step back in order to suck in a deep breath. Considering his line of work, John doubted it. But it was interesting to see. Where as Sherlock was always relaxed – always certain that he would see any potential threat coming – Moriarty was cautious, wanting to make sure to err on the side of caution. But then again, that was the difference between being the world's only consulting detective and the world's only consulting criminal.

"Johnny-boy," James called out, catching John's attention.

"Hm?"

"You're an awful date – zoning out on me like that. I was in the middle of telling you how my day was," James jested, grinning almost maniacally. "I have good news for you, after all."

This piqued John's interest. "Oh?"

"Those blokes – the ones who thought it would be a great idea to try to blow you up – are dead," James sang out, his grin turning a bit sadistic. It was very much Moriarty-like.

John sat there a long moment as he digested those words. The men who had – accidentally – tried to kill him were dead. He knew what he shoulddo. He should scold James for taking such a route and then drop right into a philosophical debate about the proper way to handle such sensitive affairs since now the Yard would have a case that remained cold. Or, even worse, Sherlock would pick up the case and figure out who was behind it. However, he didn't feel the need to pursue this avenue. Those men – indirectly or not – had tried to kill him. After spending so much time in Afghanistan, John knew how precious his life was to him. He had thought that he had come to terms with death only to be begging God for more time by the end of it all. So he felt no remorse for their deaths, somewhat to his surprise, and only for the fact that these men had gotten themselves caught up in such an awful situation.

"I don't know the usual protocol with this," John jested, offering a small smile. "Do I congratulate you? Or would you prefer that I said nothing more on the topic and just moved on?"

A waitress came over and set their drinks on the table before sauntering off. Once she was out of earshot, James said, "You could always thank me."

"Thank you then," John responded sincerely.

James seemed satisfied with this, and he smiled broadly before reclining into his seat. "You're welcome," he replied. "Although I did it more for my own sake than yours. I had to show people what happened to them if they tried to attack me… or something that - um – could be misinterpreted as important to me."

"You could have just left ended it after 'you're welcome,' you know," John said, making sure he sounded like he was joking. Truth be told, it felt like a slap to the face – the constant reminder that this was temporary. This was physical. This wasn't anything more than that, no matter if John wanted it to be or not.

Suddenly, a movement caught his attention. He looked up to find James leaning forward, clearly interested in something. "You look like you're about to be sick," James noted, reaching out to touch John's forehead.

Intercepting the hand, John brushed it away. "I'm fine," he said curtly before taking a drink of coffee. "I suppose I am feeling a bit queasy. It must be the coffee or something. It's been a while since I've been to a café anyway," he lied. It was weak, but it would have to do. There was no way he could tell James what was really bothering him. "Thank you for this, by the way," he added. "I mean, I know it's because you want to throw it back into Mycroft's face later, but… still…"

Letting out a sigh, James nodded in acknowledgement and looked out the window at the street. Neither said a word as they continued to drink their coffee. And then gradually James's hand travelled across the table. It was only when it touched John's hand that he noticed any movement at all. His eyes snapped over quickly to find that James was still gazing out the window at the street. Chuckling under his breath, John rolled his eyes and flipped his hand over compliantly, allowing James to take it properly in his own. It was intimate, and people would most likely think they were an actual couple, not knowing who they were nor their situation. And for the first time in a long time, John didn't really mind what people thought or if they talked. After all, none of it would matter in the end. No one would remember the two men who sat in the back of a small café while holding each other's hands. No one except them, and that's all that really mattered, he supposed. Honestly, he wondered how many nights in the future he would look back on this date with fondness. Be jealous of the time that he still had left with James. But that would be in due time. Right now – the present – that's what mattered. He would have the future to beat himself up. But right now, he could just enjoy himself.

Subconsciously, he gave James's hand a squeeze. James glanced over for a second before squeezing back. Both of them sat there, linked and yet separate, as they just enjoyed the other's presence.