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James had only seen Jeff in less clothing than his current predicament — hat, underwear, and one lonely sock — once, but he’d seen his glower that was currently peeking out from underneath his SR2 ball cap many, many times. Given how much the dude prided himself on his quick wit and smart-ass mouth, it had to be killing him that his poker face wasn’t the impermeable mask he’d thought, and James didn’t bother hiding the grin that spread across his own features. Then again, he didn’t have much room to gloat as far as poker went, as he, himself, wasn't all that much better off than Moreau at the moment. Not when Alenko was dealt in, anyway.
“What's it gonna be, Joker?” Kaidan smirked behind the rim of his glass, his winning hand of Skyllian Five spread over the felt between the three of them.
Dr. Chakwas and Garrus had already bowed out early when chips had run low and the stakes turned to clothing. Well, it made sense, he guessed. The doc saw enough naked crew in her line of work, and Scars had way too many buckles and not enough layers to make it worth buying in.
“C'mon, man, just lose the hat already. What's the big deal?” James knocked back a sip of something purple and strong that a batarian refugee had introduced him to.
“It's the principle of the matter. The more you two harang me about it, the more spiteful I'm gonna get. Obviously.”
James glanced at Kaidan only to find the major had turned his smug ass smile to him now. “Don’t know what you're grinning about, Vega. You lost, too. So hurry up and lose something.”
Well, he couldn't argue with that. James stood and slowly unzipped his fly, peeling his pants down with just a little more flare than was strictly necessary as he held Jeff's gaze. Nothing wrong with showing off what all his hard work and Alliance genemods had gained him. Those green eyes widened for just a moment before Joker bent over in his chair and tugged off his remaining sock. Huh. Maybe… Maybe Moreau wasn’t as completely disinterested as he made himself out to be ever since they’d met again. Hell, it’d only been that one time, a week before the reapers hit. Neither of them had been expecting to find themselves trapped with a one night stand in a bleeding-edge tin can, hauling ass to the Citadel while Earth burned behind them. Talk about awkward. Even more awkward? Despite Jeff borderline ignoring him, he still wanted to blow him under this table. Right here, right now.
Joker grumbled under his breath as he righted himself in his chair. “There, happy? Deal the next hand already. My ass is getting sore in these cheap ass chairs.”
A notification pinged from Kaidan’s omni-tool as he started gathering the cards off the table to shuffle. The major paused and read the haptic display projected over his wrist. “Oh. Looks like that's it for me, gentlemen. Shepard needs to go over some reports together.” He tipped back a sip of amber liquid in his tumbler, passed James the deck, and spared another wordless smirk for their sorry states. “It was fun while it lasted. We'll catch up tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah, convenient excuse. You know I’d’ve had you next round, Blue.” James neatened the stack until the edges sat flush in his hands.
Kaidan laughed as he plucked his jacket off the back of the chair. There wasn’t a single other stitch of clothing out of place on him. “Uh huh.”
James shifted in his seat as he watched the port lounge door shut behind the biotic.
“The commander must suck at paperwork.”
“Huh?” Joker glanced up at him.
“Needs plenty of Blue’s help with reports, huh?”
Jeff scoffed and faffed about with his hands. “You really think that's what they're up to? Reports? The galaxy is going to hell and you think the commander cares if every box on a form is filled out and coded properly? The reapers vaporized Arcturus. Who the hell’s gonna even read those reports besides Hackett?” He made a derisive noise at the back of his throat. “Reports my bony ass.”
“What? Like Fraternizing?” James didn’t mind Jeff’s ass at all, if he was honest. It was small, sure, but in a cute way.
“That’s a serious accusation, Vega.”
James shrugged. “Guess they don’t give a fuck anymore about pretending they don’t see each other that way. Like you said, galaxy is ending, right?”
“Yuuup…”
“Must be nice.” James split the deck and shuffled them with practiced hands. The crisp flutter of cardstock filled the silence between them.
Jeff shrugged in return, picking at the label on his beer bottle. “Yeah, I mean, who wouldn’t like getting blown before we all get blown up?”
Crack!
The accordioned halves of the deck hit the table and his chair hit the decking as James lurched to his feet. A breath later he’d rounded the corner to drop to his knees beside him.
“Jesus, Vega! What are you–?” Jeff’s breath hitched as James hauled the pilot’s chair around and squared up with him. The brim of Jeff's hat cast a stark shadow, veiling his expression except for a slowly growing smirk. “Actually, know what? Yeah. Fuck it, I’m sick of pretending I don’t know how it feels to have your hot wet mouth wrapped around my dick. And how convenient that it’s the only way to make you stop talking.”
James groaned as Joker pushed his fingers through his hair and fisted it at the roots. Fuck. Right. How could he have forgotten how good that felt? Whatever moment of surprise Jeff had experienced, it was obviously brief, judging by the way his dick bulged the front of his underwear. And at the moment, James was no better off than Joker. Heat pooled in his groin as his length twitched and pulsed to full hardness, straining against the confines of his boxer briefs.
“You like that, huh? Of course you do.”
Jeff’s tone was dismissive, but there was that little hint of heat beneath it that James was desperate to dig his way back to again. Even if he had to go through fabric to reach it. The tug at his hair was as gentle as it was insistent. A shiver raced down his spine as he let his head be pulled closer. The cotton was dry on his tongue, but with the way his mouth was watering at the scent of Joker through it, it wasn’t long before the thin fabric was soaked and clinging to the hard-on beneath. James rested his cheek against Jeff's inner thigh and panted for a moment. Then he glanced upwards to find him gazing down at him with lips parted and expression heated.
“God, you really do get off on this,” Joker remarked with a huff. “Who’d’ve thought a big bruiser like you would happily fall to his knees for the chance to get me off again. Did you enjoy it that much the first time? Did you jack off in your rack reliving it in your head?”
James groaned and slid his hands up Moreau’s bare thighs until he could hook his fingers in the waistband of his boxer briefs. He could feel the pleading pull to his brows as he mouthed at the fabric again.
“Use your words, Vega. Did you touch yourself and think of me?”
The pilot’s length pulsed under the wet heat of his tongue soaking through the fabric. “Hnn… y-yeah.”
“More than once?”
He nodded pathetically, still lipping at the shape of him. “Whenever I could.”
“Fuck… Really, huh?”
“Yeah.”
There was nothing but the sound of James’ ragged breaths and the rasp of his tongue on Jeff's underwear for several moments before Jeff tugged his hair again, pulling his mouth away from himself to demand his attention.
“Fine, you win. Should I lose the hat, or the underwear?”
“¡Dios mío! Forget the hat. Wanna– fuck, I wanna taste you.”
“EDI, lock the door, would ya?”
There was a brief pause before EDI’s voice answered through the intercom. “Locking the port lounge, Jeff.”
The doors chimed and the holo flickered from green to red. That was as long as James could hold himself back. Jeff lifted his ass from his seat just enough for him to tug the underwear down, his length springing free, pink and slick and dripping with precome. The sinful scent alone had James moaning with need. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, eager and straining for a taste of the beading fluid. The grip at his roots tightened as Jeff pulled him forwards. He fell on him like a starving man, suckling and lapping and hollowing his cheeks as if to draw out every last drop of his desire. The sound of Jeff’s panting urged him on, growing faster and heavier with every stroke of his mouth around him.
“Fuck, Vega– Keep going, just like– fuck, just like that.”
Jeff tipped his head back against the headrest with a breathless groan. His hips were starting to roll into James’ mouth, slow and careful as his grip loosened and flexed in his hair, moving him exactly the way Jeff wanted. James practically whimpered with want at the way his face was being used. With every brush of Jeff’s tip against the back of his throat, his own length ached to be touched. The friction of fabric against him as he bobbed was almost enough and yet not quite enough to get him there.
“Oh god, fuck, James I’m gonna–” Jeff shuddered and clutched his head in both hands as he buried himself in him and hot thick spend pulsed over the back of his tongue. James shivered and swallowed greedily, squirming at his feet with need. Ragged panting filled the space between them, and Jeff reached down, fingers just barely brushing James through clinging cloth when they were both jolted by the sound of EDI’s voice back over the intercom.
The AI cleared her throat delicately in a calculated mimicry of human inflection. “Commander Shepard and Major Alenko are enroute to the Port lounge. ETA ninety seconds, Jeff. You may wish to… prepare yourselves for company.”
“Shit. Holy fuck. Get up Vega!”
James blinked dazedly, head reeling from the whiplash. Jeff was hurriedly tugging at his hair none too gently to get him off his knees. There was nothing left for it but to clamber to his feet before he wound up with a bald patch. James stumbled back to his chair and slumped into it. The cards came clumsily to hand but it was beyond him to shuffle at that moment. He just couldn’t seem to… to focus. Joker had been mighty keen to pretend nothing happened. A quick glance proved that the pilot’s soaked underwear was already back up and the brim of his hat was pulled down to hide his face. James hunched his shoulders and wet his mouth with another deep pull of that purple liquor. It tingled down his throat, roiling with the fresh spend filling his gut. He just about leapt a mile when Jeff reached over and swiped his thumb over his lower lip.
“There was… you had a little something there…uh, some me.”
“...Oh.” Heat flooded his cheeks when he finally dared a glance and found a much kinder expression on Joker’s face than the shame he’d expected.
“I–”
The lock chimed as EDI unlocked the room and the doors whisked open, cutting off whatever he was about to say. It was a wonder Joker didn’t hurt himself from the speed with which he retracted his hand.
“Mind if we join you?” Shepard asked, still chuckling at something Kaidan must have said on their way into the room.
Joker buried his blush behind a sip from his bottle of beer, which left James to answer. Typical. “I was just about to pack it in, actually.”
Kaidan swiped the cards right out from under his hands and dropped down into his old seat. “Oh come on, I only just convinced Shepard to get out of his cabin. Stay a while.”
James flicked his gaze over to Jeff to see what he thought, but he was carefully looking anywhere else. With a sigh, James shrugged and knocked back the rest of his drink in a few long swallows. When he glanced back, it was cold comfort to realize that had held Joker’s attention at least. Fuck. If he wasn’t still more than half-hard, he’d peace out right then.
James cleared his throat and set his glass down. “Well, you’ve got us at a bit of a disadvantage, you know?”
Alenko and Shepard shared a little look that didn’t bode well for anyone. Shepard chuckled and tossed them one of those charming smirks as he settled into an empty seat. “You’re welcome to get dressed any time, soldiers. And if you’re not up for another hand, well I daresay Kaidan and I can entertain ourselves.”
It was Blue's turn to try and conceal a blush behind his previously abandoned drink. The man had practically skipped out of there earlier at Shepard’s summons. If they were trying to be discreet… Yikes. Maybe Jeff had a point, acting as frosty as he was. Didn't make it sting any fuckin’ less though.
James gathered his fatigues up from the floor and covered his lap with them, then made short work of dressing on the spot with his back turned. “Yeah I’ve got some… armour to clean. Later Loco, Blue.”
Yeah it was a shit excuse, but it was the best he could do. His head was a fucking mess. What exactly had he expected? Joker had spent the last few weeks straight up ignoring him most of the time, and making fun of him the rest. He’d thought it’d been a strategy to keep on the right side of regs. Jeff hadn't seemed to mind the perks of breaking them. There was nothing deeper to it, though. End of the galaxy and that was about it. James was better than nothing.
He took himself back down to the cargo deck and strode straight to his little oasis among the crates and cast off bits of armour and gun mods. It wasn’t the first time he’d been thankful for the cot shoved in the back corner. He threw himself down onto it and turned his back to the hold. It was quiet down here except for the familiar hum that no one else seemed to notice. Esteban must’ve turned in for the night, and he was just as glad for the solitude to get his head on straight and shrug this shit off.
Then he heard the elevator doors whisk open.
Mierda.
So much for solitude. It was one thing to hide how he was feeling from Blue and Loco. But Cortez knew him just a little too well to get away with fuck-all. James slowed his breathing and tried to feign sleep, but the sound of Estaban’s gait was all wrong. That’s when it hit him. There was only one person aboard the Normandy that walked like that. Well, fuck.
“...Hey.”
James stubbornly stared at the wall of crates in front of him. “Yo.”
Silence strained between them and James refused to be the one to break it. Not again. He was done trying to make something out of nothing. Then the cot dipped as Joker gingerly eased himself down onto the edge. “Look, I’m sorry, ok?”
“Don’t know why you’re apologizing.”
“Cus I’m a chicken shit asshole, ok?” He sighed heavily as James felt an unexpected and faint touch on his knee. “I freaked out. I don’t like people… I don’t like people knowing shit about me that I didn’t choose to share, y’know?”
Well, shit. Yeah he did know. It was an explanation he could actually respect. James wasn’t a fan of letting people in, either. It just opened him up to more disappointment in his experience. And here he was, fuckin’ disappointed. When he’d even gotten his expectations up, he had no idea.
“Yeah, ok.”
Joker exhaled noisily and finally seemed to work up the balls to set his hand against his thigh with conviction. “Look. Guys like you don’t go for guys like me. They just don’t. I figured the only reason we even hooked up the first time was because you were just that fucking bored and no one else showed.”
“Yeah, well, you only let me do it this time cus the galaxy’s fuckin’ ending, right?”
“Shit. That’s what you took from it?” Jeff gave his ass a gentle shove. “Budge over.” Despite his misgivings, James shifted over and felt his breath catch again as Jeff carefully settled onto the cot behind him, hand smoothing up his thigh and making him shiver. “Vega… No, um, James… I just meant that if the galaxy was gonna end, I wasn’t gonna go out without shooting my shot.”
James grumbled half-heartedly, distinctly distracted by the way that hand crept higher and higher up his inner thigh and skirted up to his navel through his cotton shirt. “Hnn… target practice… is good.” Dios. He was a fucking idiot. What was he even talking about?
Jeff leaned in and the brim of his hat clipped James’ ear, making him flinch. Joker slipped it off and tossed it behind them before laying tentative little kisses up the side of his neck to his ear lobe. The unexpected tenderness made James gasp in surprise, and Jeff groaned against his ear in satisfaction. “Fuck, there’s so much of you to touch… And I haven’t forgotten how good you were back there. How well you took me…”
James bit his lower lip on a moan as he felt fingers slip under the hem of his shirt and fan over his skin. Every touch was lingering and unhurried, even though James wanted nothing more than for him to fucking hurry. His hips shifted restlessly, unsure whether he wanted to grind back against the bulge pressing between his cheeks or to finally find that wandering hand to rut against. Hot breath danced over the wet spots on his neck, raising goosebumps in its wake.
Jeff chuckled, a soft sound against his ear. “You want your reward, huh? I think I can manage something.”
He couldn’t help it, James was nodding desperately, eyes closed and body restless to receive whatever was offered. Still Joker moved maddeningly slowly, exploring the planes of his body as if he was committing every line to memory. And then finally, finally, he peeled open James’ fly and slipped a hand beneath his underwear to trace the veins along his rigid length. The whimper of pure need it drew out of him made the back of his neck and ears burn. His skin grew hotter still at Jeff’s dark chuckle.
“So sensitive, huh?”
“Fuuuuck, please? Jeff, it’s gonna fuckin’ burst– ¡Dios mío! Pleeeeease don’t tease me anymore.”
It was almost impossible to hold still, and he didn’t want to. Every time he shifted atop the bed it slid his foreskin inside Jeff’s hand and made him moan for more. Every bit of him was writhing for release. His dick ached, it was so hard, and his balls were raised tight against his body poised to let him spill over Jeff’s hand, if only he’d let him. But every time he thought he might be on the very edge and about to slip over, a firm grip around his base denied him. James chewed his lower lip, biting back the mortifying noises threatening to echo through the hold.
“God, you want me so bad, don’t you? Begging suits you, James, you should do more of it. Maybe I’ll let you come, hm?”
He wasn’t above it. Not one fucking bit. The words that spilled from his lips between gasping breaths were in the first language he’d ever learned. And even though Jeff probably didn’t understand a word, it must have satisfied his requirement, because that hand began stroking him in earnest, thumb swirling against the slit of his tip at a pace that had pleasure crashing over him like a tidal wave. James came utterly undone in thick spurts around the pad of Joker’s thumb. Hot wetness streaked his bared stomach as his body shuddered. He stroked him softer and slower through the aftershocks, whispering in his ear and kissing his neck. Every brush of lips drew another deeply satisfied shiver from James until his body finally slackened atop the cot.
“That’s it, baby… Look at you…Fucking gorgeous.”
Jeff levered himself up and urged James to roll onto his back, and the way Jeff looked at him… he couldn’t help but blink back up at him in wonder. Maybe… maybe there really was a chance? Like, even just a small one. Before James could string the necessary words together to actually ask, Joker was leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. It was all he could do not to whimper again.
“God, should be illegal for you to have eyes that big and brown. I’m screwed, cus all I want now is to make every bit of you mine.”
Suddenly Jeff was bent down and lapping James’ stomach clean of his spend with broad warm strokes of his tongue. James' eyes bugged wide. Why would he…? He tried to draw Joker back up as carefully as he possibly could, and all it earned him was a firm nip on his pec that made him yelp in surprise. “That’s mine. And I wasn’t finished yet.”
“Hnng, fuck, sorry I– You don’t gotta…”
“I want to. And I also want more. But… Pretty sure this cot is gonna give me a bone bruise.”
“Shit, sorry.” James curled up and shifted until his back was pressed against the wall of crates so he could draw Jeff into his lap. “This better?”
“Definitely has more padding, yeah.” Jeff huffed a laugh and nibbled James’ lower lip. “But what would be even better is a big fuckin’ hotel bed next time we hit up the Citadel.”
“...And me in it?”
“And you in it.”
James chanced another kiss and almost melted when Jeff returned it more surely this time. When they finally parted, James reached down beside the cot and found the abandoned ballcap. He dropped it back atop the pilot’s head and tugged the brim to settle it in place. “Leave it on next time?”
Jeff laughed, warm and freely like James hadn’t heard him do so before. “Well, since you asked so nicely… for you… on or off, whatever you want.”