Chapter two, quite adult. Sorry 'bout that.

Howard was confused. He took a sip of his beer and tried to figure out what could be going on with Vince. Surely Vince didn't fancy him. Vince wasn't that kind of man, he'd told Howard so himself. Vince liked to play the field, keep things free and friendly, and Howard had worked hard to emulate that since they'd started their... arrangement. But Vince had been acting differently of late. They'd been getting along so well these last few months, joking and talking without it always descending into an argument, but as he thought back Howard realised that Vince hadn't insulted him or picked a fight since that first Sunday night. He hadn't called Howard names or made fun of his body or insulted jazz or sabotaged Stationary Village. Vince had been... nice. Oh dear.

He thought back to two weeks ago, the last time Vince had been less than his sunny self. Howard had asked him what he wanted for his birthday and Vince's answer had been... unVincelike

"So, what d'you want, then?" Howard had asked, slightly annoyed that Vince was playing it coy.

"I don't want anything, I told you already. I don't even like to remember when my birthday is, let alone celebrate it. It's just another reminder that I'm older than I want to be."

"But you must want something," Howard had pushed, opening Vince's beer for him and sliding it across the table.

"Seriously, Howard, can you not do this?"

"But you must want something. You always want something. You're like a bloody magpie, always got your eye on some trinket."

"Gee, thanks," Vince scowled taking a deep swallow of his beer and pulling a face. "Maybe something to drink other than this rubbish? And what's with all the bird analogies? You're always calling me a magpie or a budgie or an owl. What's that all about?"

"Well," Howard smiled goofily. "You are a bit of a bird. Get it? Bit of a bird? 'Cos you're like a woman."

Vince glared and Howard tried to hide behind his moustache. He thought Vince muttered something along the lines of, "But not enough of one by half for you," but he didn't hear it properly. He was too busy drinking to cover his embarrassment at the failed joke.

They finished their drinks in silence.

"Are you sure there's-"

"Howard!"

Vince looked cross now and slammed the empty bottle down onto the kitchen table. Howard wasn't sure why he was quite so upset, this had never happened before, but there was probably a good reason for that.

"Why d'you want to get me a present anyway?" Vince growled bypassing his second beer and going straight for the spirits. "You've never bothered before? You never usually remember my birthday 'til you find me passed out on the couch the next morning. The closest thing I've gotten to a present from you in the last few years is a Resolve for me hangover. Why d'you care now?"

And there was the reason, Howard remembered. He hadn't ever really gotten Vince a birthday present. He'd only found out the actual date of Vince's birthday when he'd sneaked a peak at the other man's paperwork while they were working at the zoo. No wonder Vince was suspicious.

"Well, you got me a really good present this year and... I don't really know, to be honest."

Vince rolled his eyes but hadn't looked up at Howard. Instead he'd drunk shot after shot, first of tequila, then vodka then rum. Howard didn't know how Vince could drink the stuff so easily without any sort of mixer when he complained about the taste of a good, honest beer. Then again, Vince was a mystery in so many ways; even after seeing him naked, after seeing him come apart as he, well, came, Vince was still a mystery to Howard.

He started on another beer, playing catch up because that was part of the way it went, an unspoken rule. They only did this after a certain amount of alcohol had been consumed and they only did it in a certain way. He hadn't ever been with anyone else and Howard wondered if this was a general rule or whether it was specific to arrangements like theirs.

After a while Vince pushed his chair back and stood up unsteadily. Howard looked up and frowned. Vince's eyes were red and his bottom lip was wobbling. He looked like a small child about to burst into tears, which was ridiculous because Vince didn't cry, unless it was over something stupid and trivial like Mick Jagger getting a bald patch. Vince never cried over anything real. He stood up awkwardly as Vince tried to take a step and stumbled into the table.

"Vince, are you-"

"I want... I want..."

Vince hiccuped, sounding like a small child too, his voice a whisper, and Howard held out a hand tentatively, not actually touching but trying to show that he cared all the same.

"Do you know what you want for your birthday?"

"I want..."

Vince looked up into Howard's face with eyes so wide and blue that Howard's beer-addled brain wondered if maybe he could dive into them. Vince wasn't wearing any shoes, they were under the table, and Howard realised that without heeled boots on, his friend really was quite small. He tended to forget that Vince wasn't as big or as old as him. Vince always seemed so sure of himself. Except now. It was a little bit frightening.

"I want..." Vince repeated, his voice wobbling.

"What?"

Vince suddenly seemed to recollect himself and instead of speaking he walked down the hallway to his bedroom. He left the door open and Howard watched as he peeled his jumpsuit away from his pale body. He balled up the material and threw it in the corner, and turned to fix Howard with an intense stare. Without taking his eyes from his friend Vince slipped off his small, red pants and then stood, waiting. Howard took the hint and rushed down the hallway, slamming the door behind him and pulling his clothes quickly off.

Vince was still staring impassively and when Howard was naked he held up a hand to stop him moving forward. He walked over to his bed and lay down on his back, legs spread wide and wanton. Howard followed him to stand at the side of the mattress, taking in the sight of the other man. It was impossible not to be aroused. Vince was the Confuser and he was beautiful. And Howard had a free pass.

"I want..." Vince said again, his voice low and husky. "I want to do it this way. Just this once."

...

It had been so intense, one of the best times of Howard's short sex life, and he could still clearly see Vince's eyes as he'd watched Howard the whole time. He'd run his hands all over Howard's chest, sides, back, arms, shoulders, neck, face as they'd fucked and the intensity of those sensations on top of the feel of his cock buried deep in Vince's heat'd had him riding the edge far too soon.

Vince had kept licking his lips, like he wanted to kiss, except that they never kissed, another unspoken rule. Howard had closed his eyes in the end, to concentrate on not coming so soon. His hand had felt its way down Vince's torso to his friend's throbbing length and Vince had keened when he'd wrapped his hand around it. Howard hardly ever touched Vince's cock, it never really needed doing, as far as he could recall, but the sound that Vince made when he did spurred Howard on. The smaller man's body had arched into his touch and he had kissed Howard's neck and jaw, nipping at his earlobes and sobbing with pleasure as his hands clutched convulsively at Howard's arms.

They'd come at the same moment. Howard had stopped breathing, unable to inhale due to the sheer immensity of the sensations in his body. Vince had gasped, short and sharp, over and over, on the edge of hyperventilating until he pulled Howard down on him and into a tight hug. Howard had let the hug happen, he was too exhausted and disorientated to do otherwise, and when he was finally able to pull away he saw that Vince had already fallen asleep.

They hadn't talked about it but then, they never talked about anything that happened on Sunday nights. Howard wondered if maybe it was time that they did. He left the tequila untouched on the table and began to walk slowly back to the flat, stopping off on his way to pick up a bag of mini Bounty bars from the convenience store on the corner. He'd have more luck getting the truth out of Vince if he had something sweet to bribe him with.