The Path.5

Drabble: 150 words
Genre: Canon
Pairing: Ennis and Jack
Disclaimer: AP created'em, I just play with'em out of love

Swimmin? Not hardly. Jack Twist was bitchin at the top a his lungs if a drop a water got on him by accident.

The river roared by our first camp at a pretty good clip, but there was a pool cut off from the main flow where we could bathe if either a us had a mind to. We didn't.

We'd swapped jobs after a couple weeks. Jack was seriously upset and complaining each day about every little thing, so I just told him I didn't mind bein out there. He kept on like a broken record, till I said it again and looked at him, so he knew I meant it. "I wouldn't mind bein out there."

That arrangement worked better. I could see for miles, and I understood the sheep. I think Jack bedeviled them all the time, flapping his arms and scaring them. Poor creatures. Anyway, I liked keeping them safe, and I killed a coyote or two to show them whose side I was on. They began eating better and getting a little fatter.

We'd been at Camp 1 for nearly six weeks and it was time to move the sheep up to higher ground; the grass was getting sparse by this time.

As we spent our evenings around the same fire every night, I began to smell Jack. I knew I was just as rank as he was.

I don't usually start no conversations, don't really need to with Jack around, but this had to be done. "Jack, think we need to take a bath."

"Together?"

"No dumbass, alone."

"Then I ain't interested."

"Jack, you stink."

"Kiss my ass, Del Mar."

"Phew! No thank you."

"What's it to you then?"

"We're moving up to higher ground where the river will be farther from camp than it is now, and there's no pool. I just think we'd be more comfortable if we washed ourselves and our clothes before we move up there, is all."

"Is Betty Crocker coming to do a white glove inspection?"

"Don't reckon she is, but I don't need no Betty Crocker to tell me I can smell you all the way over here across the fire. Know you can smell my ass too."

"I kinda like smellin your ass, Ennis."

"Oh, quit playin around, Twist. It's late June, and I'm gonna get a bath, first warm day we get. You can do whatever you want; but for my sake, I hope you get a bath too."

Two days later, Ennis gathered his only change of clothes, a bar of soap and a strip of toweling and headed for the pool. Jack was finishing the clean up of their breakfast things, and wondering if he oughta shave; he still had some hot water left.

Jack rinsed the last of the soap off his face, then dried his face on his shirt sleeve. With that movement of his head, he caught a reflection out of the corner of his eye. Cigar Butt was still tethered here at camp. He'd assumed Ennis had gone up to the sheep a half hour ago. Jack swiveled in a circle, but the sheep herder was nowhere to be seen.

He walked to the river bank and looked left and right, then caught a movement over amongst the trees where the pool would be. For some reason, Jack took off his boots and quietly crept closer. He was tingly with anticipation already for he knew what he hoped to see.

Ennis was in his own little world. The sun, the water, the soap had all combined to make him slick and horny. His bath had refreshed him, and he was now lying in the sun letting his skin and hair air dry. The boulder beneath his stomach and chest was warm, it had been soaking up the sun's heat and holding it there for just this occasion. Ennis laid his head on his folded arms and dozed. Before he knew it, he was clenching his buttocks and pushing his dick into the stone.

As he got harder, he knew this would be painful if he continued pushing, so he rolled over on his back, his cock pointing proudly to the sky. His hand drifted southward to take hold and fondle gently at first. His other hand reached for his balls, tugging in a rhythm only he heard.

Back in the trees, Jack held his breath and unzipped his jeans. He took hold of himself strongly, watching Ennis and beginning to drip all at the same time.

As Ennis increased his pace, so did Jack, always trying to remain quiet and undetected.

Ennis moaned aloud, thinking himself alone. Jack began to feel the tightness drawing up within him, readying him to spill. With the sounds Ennis was making, Jack couldn't last very long.

Ennis closed his eyes tight as he climaxed, rode the wave till the end, and then got back in the water to rinse off. As he emerged from the pool, Ennis saw a naked Jack lay his clothes on a rock and head for the water.

With one toe in the pool, Jack looked up as if he hadn't known Ennis was there. "Oh. Hey Ennis." And then he continued into the water. He grabbed a hunk of soap that Ennis had brought there, and began to scrub his skin till it glistened. As Ennis walked a discreet distance away to finish drying and dress, Jack allowed his breathing to quiet down bit by bit.

The next three days, variations on this theme were repeated. Jack went swimming and Ennis watched him lie in the sun and masturbate on their boulder before appearing to show up for his swim. Or Ennis would swim and wash himself, then put on the show of sexual pleasure that he knew Jack was enjoying with him from within the trees.

Their eyes charted the skin and geography of the other's body each afternoon, and replayed the scenes when alone at night.