Thinking over everything that's happened that day and the fact that their mission is technically finished after just a day of them being there, James finally comes to a conclusion that makes him smile. "Well. We certainly can't leave right away, that would be very suspicious. We just got here afterall. Technically our flight doesn't leave until the end of the week." he says quietly as he continues to pet his boffin's hair, and rub his back a little. "You could certainly use a few more days off. And we have such a wonderful cover set up for us..." he says slowly with a little smile, fairly sure that his genius will figure out where he's going with this.
"Are you suggesting that we remain here, on vacation, and what, continue the charade of a married couple?" Q asks skeptically, lifting his head for the first time from Bond's shoulder to look into his eyes for a few moments.
James smiles a little as he looks into the young man's eyes, stroking his cheek softly for a few moments. "Yes, that is exactly what I'm suggesting." he says as he watches Q. "It's not like we're dropping off the radar. They all know where we are." He persuades with a little smile. "The island looks beautiful, it's pleasant here, good food... Christ, Q, it's a bloody sanctioned vacation, for crying out loud. And a paid vacation at that." He says with a little grin, stroking his hand through the young man's hair again.
Humming in pleasure, Q tilts his head back against James' hand, eyes closing for a moment before he sighs softly and opens his eyes to look at James. "Oh, alright.." he says with a little sigh and a shake of his head. "Bloody double-ohs..." he mutters with a small smile, lowering his head to rest it back on the agent's shoulder, his mind having been successfully diverted for the moment from the fact that he did kill someone earlier.
Chuckling a little and tightening his hold on the man in his arms, Bond sighs. "Blimey, I really do need to feed you up. Your minions should take better care of you." he scolds lightly, then he asks, "When was the last time you had a proper boyfriend?"
"Mmm.. interesting assumption there, James." Q notes quietly since the agent assumed that his preferences ran toward men. "You're quite right, of course. I prefer men. Always have. In fact, I've never dated a woman, for that matter." He says as he considers it, closing his eyes to enjoy the closeness with James. "It's been.. let's see.. A little over two years since I had a boyfriend." His tone ends up being soft and a little bit lonely, head tilting down and away from James so that his expression can't be read, eyes open and staring at the far wall, not entirely sure he's comfortable with where this is going.
Shaking his head a little, Bond lowers his head to kiss the top of Q's head, sighing a little into his hair. "Sounds lonely." he says softly, one hand moving up to rub the back of the boffin's neck, rubbing it gently and playing with the ends of his hair, enjoying touching the soft skin there.
Shifting uneasily for a moment, Q takes a deep breath. "It is. But I don't have time for a social life, my job at MI6 is far too important, and you can't start a relationship based on lies. My hours are not exactly conducive to a relationship anyway." He says before he shifts a little, moving one hand from beneath Bond's shirt to brace it on the man's abdomen, the other resting on the bed so he can push himself up and away from the agent, avoiding looking into those beautiful blue eyes.
Not letting the young man go too far just yet, Bond keeps his arms around the waist of the lanky genius as he sits up with him. "You know, there's no actual rule saying you can't date a coworker. Is there anyone at MI6 that strikes your fancy?" he asks with a cheeky grin, cupping Q's cheek to turn his head back toward him, leaning in and placing a light, tender kiss against his lips.
For a few minutes, Q can indulge himself and pretend that Bond might be giving him a hint, but then he remembers their 'fight' from earlier and how very true it could end up being, and that makes him pull back. "You should stop taking such liberties when there's no reason for it, James. Thank you for your.. comfort, but we should keep our relationship professional." he finally says the words, though they've been dancing around it for almost three days.
"Bullshit." James says bluntly, watching Q's eyes go wide in surprise. He smirks a little. "If you meant that, you would have been denying my advances a lot more vehemently before now. You're not disgusted by my touch. You enjoy it. And it's not just that you're lonely. I know the difference." he says with a smug little smile as he watches Q.
Not able to keep the slight blush from his cheeks, Q doesn't look at Bond. Instead, he pulls away, and moves off the bed. "Well it's well known that you're rather skilled in what you do, Bond. There's no reason I shouldn't enjoy it." he points out, running a hand through his hair. "I rarely say things that I don't mean." He adds, scrambling to try and get his walls back up as he realizes he let them crumble a little too far, for Bond to be able to see through him so easily. "Lets face it, you are not the relationship type, James, this is all a farce that we were forced into. We are here doing our jobs, nothing more. And when we return to London, we will go back to being just what we were before." He says simply, putting his back to James and not looking at him, taking a step toward the main room.
With fast movements honed from years of being a double-oh and generally keeping in very good shape, James is off the bed, grabbing Q's shoulder to spin him around and shove him back against the wall. "I will never be able to look at you the same, Q. You may be able to go back as we were, but I won't be able to. I won't be able to forget how you feel in my arms, how you respond to my kisses, the way you look first thing in the morning." He says softly, pressing his body into Q's gently to make sure the young man can't go anywhere. "Can you honestly say you can? You can forget the feel of my lips on yours, my body against yours?" He asks, then adds, "Look me in the eyes and tell me you can forget that, and I will back off, I will remain professional for the rest of our stay here." He offers as he watches the brunette closely.
It seems like it should be a simple thing to do what 007 requests, to look into those sky blue eyes and tell him that he can forget everything and go back to a professional relationship. But as Q opens his mouth to do just that, the words die on his lips, and he closes his mouth again, pressing it into a thin line as he continues to watch the agent in front of him. "Don't, James." He says with a small shake of his head, finally turning his head to the side and pointedly looking away from the agent. "Don't do this. Don't make me fall for you. Because it would be so bloody easy, and you... you're not the monogamous sort, James. While I could tolerate the sex because of missions, I'm not a fool. You won't give your heart to anyone, not again."
A little surprised and maybe a little hurt at how vulnerable the young man before him seems, because of him, James slowly releases him and takes a slight step back. If he's honest with himself, he knows that Q is right, he would have a hard time giving his heart to anyone, the pain of Vesper still there, even years later. In fact, Q is the first one he's even felt remotely close enough to, to consider entering a relationship with. And the fact that the boffin is so afraid of being betrayed hurts James, because that is the last thing he ever wants to do to Q. "Perhaps I never found the right person." He says, before he adds, "And I know you would never ask me to leave MI6. We need each other in the jobs we're good at." He says quietly as he watches Q. "You don't know me as well as you think, if you can't tell what's been happening between us for the past few months. All I ask is for you to give me the week. If, by the end of it, you don't think you can risk a relationship with me, then I will do my best to forget everything, and we can go back to a professional relationship." he offers as a bargain, fairly confident that he can get the boffin to open up in the next five days.
It's clear that Q is struggling with whether or not to accept that as he turns his head, still leaning against the wall, and looks into Bond's eyes for a few moments. But really, who is he kidding? He's been admiring James Bloody Bond for months now, in and out of the field, and he's had more than a few vivid dreams about him. And now the double-oh is offering five days with him. Slim shoulders sag a little as Q sighs when he watches James. "Fine." he finally agrees, nodding slowly. "But this does not mean that I am going to let you shag me any time soon, don't get any ideas." he says in a firm tone, glancing the agent over warily since he half-expects Bond to pounce on him now.
Pouncing is actually the opposite of what James has in mind, feeling rather proud of himself though. Instead, he steps back into Q's personal space, framing the younger man's face slowly before he leans in and gives him a light, sweet kiss. "I wouldn't dream of it, Q." he says softly in an affectionate tone, stroking the man's cheeks before he moves away slowly. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I brought some things back from the shop.." he says, finally moving into the main sitting area, pulling things out of bags and arranging them on the small side bar area where there are some things such as a coffee pot and the mini-fridge that doubles as the bar.
Q takes a deep breath. "I think I'm actually going to go for a swim first.." He says as he walks over to where Bond is, reaching out to snag a pear, biting into it slowly and licking his lips. "Mmmm. It's hard to get good pears." he says with a little sigh before he goes to the bedroom, finding his swim trunks among their things and then he changes, coming out with a bottle of sunscreen. "Could you give us a hand?" He asks as he looks at Bond with a slightly arched eyebrow. "Last thing I need is to get a bloody sunburn out here."
"With pleasure." James says as he realizes what is being asked of him, and he moves around behind the now half-naked man, putting some of the sunscreen in his palm before he starts to spread it gently over Q's back and shoulders as the young man eats his pear. And since Q seems occupied, Bond kneels down and starts spreading sunscreen over the back of his legs, feeling the muscles jump in surprise. "Calm down, I'm just giving you a hand so you can finish your pear." He reassures. And indeed, his movements are quick and professional. Where he may have lingered a little on his back, he is quick and detached on his legs, standing after a few moments and holding the tube back out to Q.
Finishing his pear, Q merely nods a little to James. "Thank you, James." he says, tossing the pit of the pear away before he finishes putting the sun block on himself, squinting as he heads out onto the balcony, looking up at the sun before he heads down and dives smoothly into the water.
Bond watches Q go, sighing in frustration as he goes to get his phone, snatching it up. "This is why I turn my phone off, because none of you can bloody well leave me alone on a mission." He says in an annoyed tone as he goes to make himself some coffee, finding some tea bags and, surprisingly, a kettle, he starts heating up that water as well.
"Oh, aren't we touchy." Eve says with amusement in her voice. "I was just told to call and pass on M's regards. He says good job. Tanner says to stay put though, he won't be pulling you out yet, it would be too suspicious. But I'm sure you already knew that. What I really want to know is how things are going with Q. Did you grovel? Did he forgive you?"
"You are a bloody gossip, Miss Moneypenny. If you're such a friend of Q's, by the way, you really should make sure he eats better. He's all skin and bone!" He says as he pulls out a tiny bottle of scotch and opens it, pouring it into a provided tumbler.
A small laugh comes from the other end of the phone. "I am not his babysitter. So, you've seen him without clothes, then, hm? That sounds promising.. Sounds like you two have made up. I'm glad to hear it. Now maybe he can stop looking like a lovesick puppy whenever he's waiting for you to get back from a mission."
For a few moments James digests that, and then he chuckles a little. "thank you for that. By the way.. do you know if Q has any sort of.. lung conditions? Asthma or anything of the sort?" he asks, a little concerned about the cough that he's seen developing over the last few days.
"Not that I know of. There's nothing in his medical files to indicate that. Why, is something wrong?" Eve asks, sounding concerned now.
"No, no. Must just be the humidity here, he's not used to it. Had a bit of trouble breathing after swimming yesterday. But it seems to be gone now. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I was missing. Our boffin's just not used to being outside his climate-controlled environment." James jokes with a little chuckle. "If that's all, I had better ring off and make sure I have something for him to eat when he gets finished swimming," he say with a little smirk. "And that is how I know he's all skin and bones, he seems to quite like swimming." He says in a scolding tone. "Honestly, Moneypenny, you have a dirty mind."
Eve sighs a little. "I am very disappointed in you, Bond." She says before she adds, "Give me a ring if you need anything, and have fun, your flight is still leaving at the same time, we'll let you know if anything changes." She says before she hangs up.
Bond shakes his head, but he prepares a cheese, bread and fruit tray, getting his coffee and Q's tea made before bringing it all out onto deck, heading down with a towel. He spots Q floating in the water not too far away and smiles fondly at the young man.
"Food's ready, and I made you tea."
I am obsessed with this fic today, 3 chapters! I should really have been updating one of my Sherlock fics, but I just couldn't focus on them. Sigh. I might try and skip a day on this fic so I can update my others, and focus on them for a night. We'll see.
I hope you enjoy this so far, things should be getting a bit interesting now.
Please let me know what you think, reviews/comments welcome!