Can We Do That Again?

Economos was equally quiet, but that wasn't really a surprise. The tall man always went quiet whenever the atmosphere tipped towards awkward, and Chris confessing that he'd seen his dead father's ghost all night and that's why he was tired and hadn't seen the other gunman until after he'd almost been shot was certainly awkward.

"Just drop it." He sighed, all the previous vitriol gone. He'd been annoyed, at himself mostly, but Vij had just kept harping on about it, and so yeah, he had snapped. At the other man, loudly.

If Adebayo was here, he'd probably feel guilty enough to apologise, but as it was, he just wanted to sleep. Vij was a big boy, he could handle being snapped at without whining. He did it all the time.

"Oh-kay…" Adrian stood, and shuffled awkwardly in the van to sit in the passenger seat instead of near him in the back. Perhaps a sign that his supposedly non-existent feelings were a little hurt, but whatever. Chris wasn't responsible for teaching a man in his thirties what feelings were, and that he did have them, even if they might be a little different.

"Fuck." He cursed, more of an exhale than an exclamation. Slumping in his seat, he stubbornly didn't look over to Economoa or Vij.

"Dude, you oughta talk to someone about that." Economos said quietly. "A grief counselor, or something."

He wanted to throw something.

Some sort of wisdom kept Vij quiet at any rate, which was a blessing. And when he didn't respond, Economos left it at that. Plus, he didn't see his dad right now either, and that was enough for him to start allowing the hum of the van to lull him into a half doze, not really asleep but not really aware either. At least until they pulled up at the still temporary headquarters.

Not the same building they'd used during Project Butterfly, most of everyone agreed that without Murn, it just felt odd to return there. Harcourt had found them a smaller place, but not any more suited for the job- a theme with temporary headquarters apparently. They were operating on a probationary basis, taking care of what was left of Auggie's white supremacist buddies, and told not to mess it up.

Getting shot would certainly have messed it up.

Vij drives him home after, in rare silence, which is when the guilt from yelling at him stirs up.

"You want to come in?" He offered, expecting the reaction he got, hopeful wide eyes and a sappy smile. He was a lot like a puppy in many ways.

"Yeah! That'd be great." Adrian got out of the car with him, and followed him so closely he was practically stepping on his heels. He didn't mind- well, no, he did mind, but he'd already been enough of a jerk today and he did like Adrian. He might need to remind himself sometimes, but he did. Even when he was just 'Vij', and before that the 'suited stalker', he liked him.

"Great… I think I've got pasta left over." He muttered, ducking slightly at the flurry of movement behind the door. Eagly, eager to see him, dropped down before them. "Hey, buddy."

"Hey, Eagly." Adrian added too. He was mostly ignored, in favour of Chris, but they both knew Eagly liked Adrian fairly well. He was the only besides Chris who was able to pet him sometimes, and feed him chips without losing a finger.

"Leave the door open, he might want to fly." Chris said before Adrian could shut it.

Then he set about reheating the leftover pasta, because they both needed to eat after the day they'd had. Eagly didn't leave, and so Adrian shut the door before he pottered around after him in the kitchen, but then disappeared into Chris's bedroom with his small bag. He'd change, most likely, back into civilian clothes and then come back. Chris didn't mind, Adrian had spent plenty of time in his bedroom before, at the trailer, and so it wasn't like some boundary was being crossed that hadn't before.

And he was right, as he plated up the two dishes, right at the dinner table where he had his last awkward meal with his father, Adrian strolled back in wearing loose sweats and a baggy tee. He'd abandoned his shoes all together, wearing only charcoal socks with a yellow coloured heel, matching, and he smiled broadly.

"Is that sweetcorn?" He asked, dropping into the chair opposite him. "Why's it so dark?"

"It's roasted." Chris answered. "I roasted the corn before adding it."

"Oh." Adrian replied, taking a tenative forkful. He smiled again, clearly fine with the taste even if he wasn't thrilled at it being sweetcorn.

Chris ate his own without complaint, obviously, and he missed eating on his couch in the trailer. They would watch TV or a movie, and relax, sitting at the table felt so formal.

Adrian washed their dishes after, and then Chris took him to the livingroom, intending on picking a movie to watch. He had just shown Adrian the choices, and let the nerd pick 'Aliens' again, when Adrian sat on the centre of the couch instead of one corner. Whatever, weirdo, he chose his usual corner anyway. Adrian shuffled closer.

"What?" Chris asked as the DVD start menu loaded into view. "Why are you so close, man?"

"Because… it's a scary movie?" Adrian lied, but Chris scoffed. Adrian couldn't lie to save his life, at least not to him. He had some success lying to others, but not all the time.

"The first one's horror, this one's more action."

"It's still scary." Adrian protested. "Like most of them die."

"Whatever, dude." Chris shook his head, but he didn't shove Adrian away, or tell him to move. He'd had his fill of yelling today, and besides, he only sometimes minded Adrian getting too close. Like when Harcourt was there.

He slumped back against the cushions, and against his better instinct, flung his arm up onto the back of the couch, making space for Adrian to fall in against his side. The sudden weight made him grunt, Adrian was nowhere near as large as he was, but he wasn't a shrinking violet. He was tall, almost six foot, and more muscled than the average man, he had some weight to him. Especially when it all landed against you unexpectedly quickly. He ended up with the fool resting his head on Chris's shoulder, snuggled in to his side and talking a mile a minute whilst the film started. But, the good thing about Adrian being a chatter box was that he didn't actually expect Chris to talk back, at least not now.

It took almost forty minutes, but Adrian fell quiet, engrossed in the movie. He shifted slightly, adjusting his arm that had started to fall asleep, and Adrian slipped down against him. It had first been unintentional, just jostled by Chris, but ever the opportunist, Adrian shuffled so he was lay on the couch, head in Chris's lap.

"Seriously?" Chris groaned, but Adrian yawned. "Take your glasses off."

The frame was digging into his thigh through his trousers.

Adrian obeyed, and had the gall to hand them to him, which meant they were soon placed on the side table with a scowl. Fucking nerd treating him like a butler. Then again… He had no right to complain. He and Gut had sometimes been saddled with the much younger Adrian, and as a result, would order him about in order to make his presence 'tolerable'. This was just karma, and Adrian wasn't a dick about it.

"You're a pain in the ass." He sighed, but that was all he said on the matter. He kept his arm on the back of the couch, and the other on the arm of it, and watched the movie in silence. Mostly, towards the final twenty minutes, he heard the soft snores that signified that Adrian had succumbed to sleep. Honestly he wasn't far off himelf, and the sky hadn't even started turning dark yet.

He could just fall asleep here, but he'd regret that when he woke up. With a sigh, he carefully nudged Adrian off his lap, waking him up in the process.

"Come on, we need to sleep." He said, hitting the remote to turn the TV off. "And you can't drive home like that."

"Mm." Adrian grunted, and Chris guided him by his shoulders down the hall. He had intended to drop him off in the guest room, but Adrian stubbornly walked past the door, and he rolled his eyes but allowed it. His bed was big enough, and Adrian knew better than to try and sleep on his side of it.

Adrian got there first, but he didn't get in until Chris was settled, sliding under the duvet with him and rolling so his back was towards Chris. Chris kept his back to Adrian too. It was one thing to cuddle on the couch, and even slump together after a threesome on the bed, it was another entirely to just cuddle for the sake of it.

At least, they fell asleep like that.

He woke up on his back, his arm flung out across the bed and wrapped around Adrian's shoulders, whilst Adrian was pressed into his side again, one leg draped over one of his, his head cushioned on his chest, fast asleep still. Fuck…

His cock was rock hard too, and… so was Adrian's. Pressed right against his hip, hot and heavy and entirely undeserving of the name thimble anymore.

They'd crossed this line before, and unlike when he was in his twenties, and even thirties, he wasn't hung up on the male thing. It was that Adrian was his friend, and he liked Harcourt. But she didn't like him, not like that, so… He wasn't doing anything wrong. And Adrian never seemed to mind.

He carefully rolled, so their legs slotted together, and he used his arm to brace Adrian and keep him in place as their cocks rubbed together through their clothing. Adrian stirred, rubbing his head into Chris's chest and sighing contentedly.

"Adrian." Chris murmured, rolling his hips again. This time the movement was met with a delayed roll of Adrian's hips, smoother than his own despite Adrian still being mostly asleep.

"Mhmm- ris?"

"Yeah." Chris breathed, and finally Adrian was properly awake, and his hands wound into Chris's shirt, using it as a bracing point to pull himself in, his leg hiking higher over Chris's hip to allow for more contact between their crotches.

"Ohhh." Adrian breathed. "Fuck, yes."

Chris snorted, letting his hands wander now that Adrian was able to keep himself in place, and they wound up on Adrian's perky little ass, gripping and kneading, pulling him in harder. Their hips were fully rutting against each other now, drawing out low moans and grunts, and, at one point, Chris even hissed through his teeth as Adrian bit him, a solid bite on his collar bone, hard enough to ache but not really hurt. It felt good, especially as he felt Adrian's rhythm begin to stutter, the smaller man's stamina falling to the wayside whenever it was just the two of them, a small cry muffled into his throat as Adrian spilled inside his own trousers, the sound getting more high pitched when Chris kept going, grinding until his own cock throbbed and twitched through his own release. He let go of Adrian's ass, but kept his arms around his lower back, both of them breathing heavily in the aftermath of their lazy morning release.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?" His hand started to rub Adrian's lower back, always more affectionate after orgasm.