The next morning comes without any fanfare. Things like jet lag and the stress of changing time zones doesn't bother Bond. He's long ago learned to get sleep when he can, his body knowing how much sleep it needs and when it's gotten that much, he wakes up. This morning, that is precisely what happens, but he doesn't open his eyes quite yet, because he feels something rather unusual. He went to bed alone, but now he finds himself with a warm body close to him. Taking a deep breath, Bond confirms that it is his own quartermaster that has ended up in his arms. From the feel of it, he's ended up with one arm under the pillows and under Q's head, the other arm around the younger man's waist Finally, James allows himself to open his eyes, smiling a little as he sees those mussed curls and the graceful arch of Q's neck, eyes traveling down to that bare shoulder.
Slowly, James tilts his head forward and sighs a little across Q's sleep-warmed skin and he takes another deep breath, before he presses his face into his hair. He's always had a thing for brunettes, he has to admit, and that makes him smile a little before he lowers his head and kisses the back of his quartermaster's neck softly. He stills quickly when he feels Q move, but fortunately apparently all the sleeping man wants to do is change positions.
Q shifts a little, and then slowly rolls over so that he's facing James, snuggling in closer to the warm body. The sleeping man nuzzles his face into the crook of James' neck and shoulder while at first his arms remain between the two, then apparently he becomes unsatisfied with that position, one arm slipping around Bond, and one bare knee nudging its way between the other man's, tangling their legs together.
Quite pleased with this new position, James tightens his hold on Q and he hmms softly. This of course provides him some time to think, though whether or not that's a good thing it's hard to tell. He considers how easily he could get used to this. It's so often he wakes in a cold, empty bed, alone in some foreign country. It would be nice, when he's in London, to have someone to wake up to. For that matter it would be nice to have someone to motivate him to go back to London in the first place. Q already does that to a point, if only so that James can see the frustrated expression on the quartermaster's face. The thought of that expression makes James smile, and he sighs quietly as he enjoys the quiet of the early morning, listening to the waves.
The silence doesn't last long though, and Q finally starts to wake up, finding himself warm, maybe a touch too warm, but comfortable. It's been a while since he woke up feeling so content. But he's not one for being too sleepy normally, his mind kicking into high gear almost immediately, or at least to middle gear until he has his first cup of Earl Grey. So he realizes where he is and who he's with, lightly nuzzling into the warm skin in front of him, rubbing his cheek slightly against the much more impressive stubble of the other man's cheek. Q can never grow a proper beard, it always looks somewhat pathetic, his facial hair not one to grow very fast, unlike Bond's, it seems. But he finds it a little enjoyable. He knows the agent is awake, but he can't seem to help himself, nuzzling lightly again, and even going so far as to place a soft kiss against Bond's neck. He hasn't thought about putting all his armor back on after being so vulnerable from sleep.
"Good morning." James says with a small chuckle as he tightens his hold on the thin form of his quartermaster, turning his head slightly to place a soft kiss against the man's head, fingers trailing down Q's bare back slowly.
Humming in pleasure, Q sighs a little. "Good morning, James.." he says quietly, his voice a little rough from disuse overnight, so he clears his throat a little, nestling close to James for a few moments before reality starts to set in, and he frowns, realizing that this is not the sort of thing he really should be doing, or letting himself do. He can't let himself get close to Bond, he knows where it's going to end up, and it's just going to end up in him getting hurt, or at least that's what he supposes. Without trying to draw attention to the fact that they were rather intimately snuggling, Q breaks away from James' arms, rolling onto his back and stretching, squinting up at the ceiling before rubbing his eyes a little, rolling to put his back to the agent as he reaches for his glasses, finally sitting up with his glass of water, knees drawn up a little, and he rests his arms on them slowly.
Disappointed, James rolls onto his back and puts his hands behind his head. "I think we should eat breakfast in the main building this morning, the restaurant there looked nice." He offers as he looks at Q. "Mmm. We are going to run into a problem, though, I can see that right now." he says as he looks over the bare back of Q, reaching out and running his fingers down that pale expanse of skin presented to him.
"James, stop that." Q scolds, arching his back a little in surprise at the touch, shivering lightly. "What is this so-called problem, then?" He asks, finishing his glass of water and putting the glass back on his bedside before he looks over at the agent who is laying about rather indolently.
After the objection, Bond is fairly sure he doesn't want to stop that, but he doesn't push it for the moment. "You do not look like you were shagged into the mattress last night." he observes thoughtfully as he looks the young man over again, one arm still behind his head, the other resting over his stomach. "Not a mark on you.. and I can assure you, I'm a possessive man. I'm sure I would have left a mark, probably several." He says with a small chuckle, sitting up a little to trail his fingers along Q's neck and shoulder lightly.
A small shiver goes through Q's frame at that, and he shifts away from the touch. He gives James a sharp look. "I haven't been shagged into the mattress, so that will explain why I don't look like it." he says as he watches the agent carefully. "And who says I would let you put any marks on me?" he asks with a skeptically arched eyebrow.
James chuckles a little. "I don't think you would be in any right mind to object.. I'm not saying I would leave anything too obvious, I wouldn't want you to be cross with me.. but your skin is too delectable." He says quietly, sitting up fully and moving closer to Q, looking into his eyes, slipping one hand up to cup the brunette's jaw before he leans in to give him a tender, but sensual kiss, lips finally moving down along his jaw and neck slowly, unable to help himself. And, of course, it really would help their cover if Q looked even a little like he had a proper honeymoon night.
It's so much easier to be strong when within the cold walls of MI6, with his computers and his staff reminding Q of his place and his responsibilities, and all of the reasons why he should not be falling for a double-oh, any double-oh, much less the infamous commitment-phobic James Bond. Of course, here, away from all of that where it's just the two of them in a very romantic setting, sharing a bed, a room, spending more time together than they ever have before, it's easier to forget all of that and all the reasons. It really does seem to have a magical effect, and Q finds himself leaning into the kiss, closing his eyes and tilting his head. It's been a long time since he's had a proper boyfriend, or even a good shag, much longer than he'd care to admit, so the attention from the man that he's watched from afar for months now, is a welcome change. So even when the agent's lips move down his neck to his shoulder, and he starts to do some very wonderful things with his tongue and lips, and just a hint of teeth, Q doesn't object, he can only gasp and slide his hand into the blonde's hair gently.
And finally, just when it's starting to edge on painful, those wonderfully talented lips return to Q's, and he can't help the small moan that escapes his lips as they kiss, a little shocked when he's abruptly released, finding Bond looking at him closely.
"You can have the shower first, Q.." James says quietly, having left a very good-sized love bite that is already starting to turn a dark purple. He grins a little at the somewhat dazed expression on Q's face, but he's not about to push his luck and have the young man hate him later on. Slowly, he reaches out to cup Q's cheek for a moment. "Go on." He says as he nods toward the bathroom, dropping his hand away from the brunette's face before he turns away to get up, stretching slowly.
Blinking a few times, Q stares at James, scrambling up before he turns too bright of a shade of red, hurrying into the bathroom to try and calm himself down, mentally cursing himself as he sees the mark, right at a spot where he could hide it with the right shirt, but if he wants to be comfortable at all on this vacation, part of the love bite will be seen at all times, in all likelihood. And now he's a little annoyed he let himself be overwhelmed by the agent. "Bloody double-ohs." he grumbles before he takes a very long shower, wishing he could run the hot water out and force the blonde to take a cold shower but he's pretty sure that's impossible.
While Q is in the shower, Bond looks out over the ocean and smiles a little, feeling smug that he put his mark on his boffin. Slowly, he looks down at the ring on his finger, rubbing his thumb against the simple gold band. Of course, he doesn't have much time to think on that as he hears his mobile ringing, quickly retrieving it, walking back to the balcony. "Bond."
"007, good to hear from you, how is the mission proceeding?" Tanner's voice comes over the line, sounding as cool and professional as always.
"Just getting settled in. I'll give the boffin this, he's a better actor than I suspected. Our cover is solid." Bond says in a professional tone as he glances back at the bedroom, smirking a little for a moment before he looks out at the ocean.
"Good." Tanner's voice sounds somewhat strained though. "We have some new intelligence. Your target is arriving this afternoon. We'll have to step up our time table, you won't have as much time for gathering information. You'll have to get in by tomorrow afternoon. I've sent you Garcia's new schedule." Although to anyone else he sounds strictly professional, to Bond, he sounds worried.
"What are you not telling me, Tanner?" He asks, looking over at where Q is still in the shower, hearing the water turn off, hoping that he still has a bit of time before the young man comes out.
"Be careful with this one, James. Something seems off about it. Have Q look over everything carefully before you rush in." Tanner warns, not sounding entirely comfortable.
"You worry too much, Tanner. Q and I are here together, what can go wrong?" James jokes, trying for his usual levity but this has him a little concerned, that their target would change his plans so quickly and suddenly, it makes him unpredictable.
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Try not to blow anything up, Bond." Tanner says in a droll tone before he hangs up.
Just about the time that Bond is lowering his phone and turning it off, Q comes out still rubbing his hair dry a little with a smaller towel, dressed in a light pair of pants and a button-up shirt that is undone still at the moment, freshly shaved but still wearing his glasses. "Who was that?" he asks curiously with a small frown.
Turning a little with a small smirk as James looks over at the other man. "Tanner. Garcia is checking in this afternoon. We're going to have to complete the job by tomorrow." He explains, adding. "Tanner's sent us the new itinerary for him. He wants you to look over all the information again before we do anything." The agent says as he watches Q, back down to business unfortunately, "Let me shower, and we can put a plan together." he says with a small nod of his head as he looks at Q, sighing a little, "I really hope your contacts will make another appearance, it would be a stupid mistake if our mission was ruined because your glasses got knocked off." He reminds the younger man before moving past him to the bathroom in order to get his own hot shower, shaving afterwards to make himself presentable.
Q sighs a little as he lowers his towel to let it rest over his shoulder, pulling out a brush from his pocket to run it through his unruly hair, finally settling down on the couch with his laptop, pulling up the information that Tanner sent him to start figuring out when the best time to get near the laptop would be. He does give a small sigh of regret, putting his hand over the mark on his shoulder.
"Well, I guess the honeymoon is over."
Don't worry, the honeymoon isn't quite over, I have plenty more planned! :D
This chapter ended up being a bit longer as well, though I am really happy with it. I hope everyone's enjoying it. I wonder if I might have to up the rating on the story, though. I guess it depends on what happens in the next few chapters.
Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far, I love to hear what you guys think, and to know if anyone is enjoying this or if I'm just writing it for my own amusement. :)
Please let me know what you think!