the_deep_magic | FIC: Star Trek RPS -- Yellow Light (2/5)

the_deep_magic

Title: Yellow Light (Part 2/5)

Author:the_deep_magic

Pairing: Pinto

Rating: PG-13 for swears and adult-ish situations

Word Count: 2,396

Disclaimer: I do not know these people and I am not making any money from this.

Summary: For this prompt at the kink meme. Basically, Zach/Chris, slow romance … they don’t fuck on the first date.

A/N: This took a bit longer than I’d hoped – my muse kept screaming Get to the sex! and I was all Bad muse! Romance first! Long story short, my muse is a horny bastard and there will be naughtiness pretty soon. But noooooooot just yet. ;o)

Part 1

A week and three days later, they still had yet to have their second date. While Chris wasn’t actually all that busy, it seemed like he only had obligations during the slim windows when Zach was free. They had managed coffee together twice, but there had been cameras and autograph seekers and neither dared talk about anything more than superficialities.

It was driving Chris insane. He had woken up the morning after their date ready to turn the tables on Zach, get him as flustered as Chris had felt when Zach kissed him and then promptly said goodnight. Well, maybe not as flustered, but at least get his heart pounding a little. Chris smiled at that thought every time it flitted through his mind.

So when Zach called Chris to tell him he’d finished filming early (and “early” in this sense meant “before midnight”), Chris told him he’d pick Zach up at his house. “And make sure you’re wearing socks,” Chris said, laughing silently at the irony. He couldn’t imagine the older man scrambling around for anything, let alone the right socks. He was pretty sure Zach could actually command socks out of thin air.

As Zach slid into the passenger seat, Chris noticed how exhausted he looked. He wavered for a moment, unsure of his plan, but Zach sighed, “Thank god for this. I haven’t seen anything besides the Heroes set and my own bed in over a week.”

Chris wondered whether he should kiss Zach just then, trying to decide if it was too soon to do the kiss-hello thing, really wanting the feeling of Zach’s mouth against his but also terrified of starting the evening on an awkward note… But Zach settled back into the seat and asked, “So, what are we doing?”

Chris grinned and put the car in gear. “We’re going cosmic bowling.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “Gosh, I’d love to, but my twelfth birthday isn’t for, like, another month.” But he had a smile on his face.

“Oh, c’mon, you love it: teenagers, strobe lights, ear-splitting techno music. I might even teach you to eat onion rings.”

“Bowling, yes. Onion rings, no.”

“Ah, but you have yet to experience the perfect ketchup-to-ring ratio that results in the ultimate deep-fried experience.”

“Well, there’s your problem. I have no desire for any kind of deep-fried experience, ultimate or no.”

“Food elitist.”

“Gustatory plebian.”

It was a massacre. Pins flying everywhere – no man left standing.

“It’s all in the wrist.”

Zach groaned. “Well you’d know, wouldn’t you?”

Chris grinned wickedly. “Maybe I would.” He was used to cracking dirty jokes around Zach. He wasn’t used to meaning them, but he was getting there. “Maybe you’d like to find out.” It shut Zach up just long enough to let Chris do his Strike Victory Dance uninterrupted. It was like the Spare Victory Dance, only longer. Much longer, in fact, than the I Actually Managed to Hit Any Pins at All Dance, and with more ass-shaking.

“Classy,” Zach said, shaking his head but laughing as he stood to bowl the next frame. Chris brushed past him, briefly grazing his fingers against Zach’s palm as he went. Despite the strobe lights, the bowling alley was just dark enough – and the clientele sufficiently distracted – for him to lean a little too close to Zach when they bent over the scoring screen, or to reach an arm around him with the pretense of picking up his drink.

“You bowl like Fred Flintstone,” laughed Chris.

“I do not!” Zach huffed irritably, picking up his ball and getting ready to bowl again. Only eight pins left. After an approach that never failed to make Chris giggle in its earnestness, Zach chucked the ball down the lane angrily and some how managed to knock down the rest of the pins. Far too dignified for a victory dance, he merely thrust both hands in the air and said something that sounded like “HUZZAH!”

Chris popped up out of his chair to give Zach a high-five that lingered maybe a little to long. When he was sure he had Zach’s full attention, Chris licked his lips. Not lewdly, just like he normally would, but without taking his eyes off Zach. The older man’s smile faltered for the briefest of moments and heat rose in his eyes. Then it was gone and Zach was grinning widely again.

“Your turn, Wilma.”

And god, it was fun. Chris felt his own breathing hitch whenever he snuck a touch in passing or caught Zach staring at him. He couldn’t sell Zach on the onion rings, but they compromised on a basket of curly fries that the older man was enjoying way more than he wanted to let on. They were flirting like kids, trying to see what they could get away with, only with the certainty that Zach wasn’t going to wake up tomorrow and decide he was in love with the captain of the football team.

All too soon, however, Zach was yawning between every frame and even Chris was starting to get a headache from the strobe lights. “Let’s go before you turn into a pumpkin,” he said with a grin.

“Alright,” muttered Zach, “just put your pink ball back.” He gestured at the bright fuchsia bowling ball that Chris had repeatedly labeled as “totally the secret to my success.”

Chris stuck out his tongue. “You’re just jealous because you got stuck with the blue balls.”

“Not for much longer,” growled Zach in passing, so low that Chris wasn’t sure he was even supposed to hear it… until Zach turned around and stuck his tongue out at Chris. The younger man grinned and hoped the lighting was dark enough to cover the blush he could feel spreading down his neck.

Zach didn’t say a word as Chris walked him up the driveway to his house, and the younger man was grateful for the lack of opportunity to say something entirely stupid. Zach’s front door was openly visible to the street, so they had to slip inside to say goodbye. Zach had barely closed the front door when Chris invaded his space, pressing their mouths together.

After a brief second of awkwardness, Chris got his bearings, resting his hand at Zach’s waist and kissing him properly. The older man parted his lips in invitation, but Chris took his time. Though Chris knew his own lips attracted a lot of attention, he couldn’t imagine a more beautiful mouth than Zach’s. There was something like a deadly precision in the way Zach formed his words, every movement calculated and controlled, and Chris wanted to taste it for himself.

When Chris felt his self-control start to waver, he pulled back. It was incredibly difficult, but – despite popular opinion – he could think beyond instant gratification. And the sweet, open look in Zach’s eyes was worth it.

“Good night, Zach,” he said with a blushing smile, and walked out the door.

He made it all the way to the car before indulging in the I Kissed Zach Victory Dance.

&&&

Joe Don Baker’s face burned its way onto Zach’s TV screen as the DVD menu looped on unwatched in the background. Their Mystery Science Theater 3000 marathon had ended on “Mitchell.” Begun and ended on “Mitchell,” in fact, despite Chris’ earlier insistence on getting to “The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.”

At some point, Zach had gotten up to refill the chip bowl and Chris had snuck a quick thank-you kiss. At some point after that, Zach had settled his thigh against Chris’ on the couch. And at some point after that… well, Chris wasn’t entirely clear on the sequence of events, but pretty soon he was straddling Zach’s lap and shoving his tongue in the older man’s mouth as Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot entertained themselves on the flat screen.

Zach’s mouth was a miracle, no getting around that. He alternated sweet, teasing kisses with slow, deep sweeps of his tongue, always keeping Chris wanting just a little bit more. And Chris was no slouch at this, either – he quickly picked up on the things that made the older man gasp and press harder into his mouth. There was this surprisingly liberating feeling of being a kid again – no fame, no baggage, just sitting on the couch making out with someone he really, really liked. The fact that this someone was male only occasionally popped into his mind. Zach had to be hard, at least as hard as Chris was, but Chris kept just enough space between their bodies that he couldn’t tell for sure.

And Zach really was the perfect gentleman, letting Chris set the pace without pushing him. At that moment, though, his long, clever fingers were sneaking under the hem of Chris’ shirt to tease the sensitive skin at the small of his back. When Chris pulled away to gasp, Zach let his mouth trail down Chris’ jaw to his throat, kissing and nipping gently.

Since his mouth was presently unoccupied, Chris felt the need to pick up the thread of the earlier conversation. “What the base system lacks is – oh – standardization. I mean, we all think we know what we’re talking about, but I knew this girl whose first base included oral sex.”

Zach laughed against Chris’ neck. “How is it that you didn’t marry her on the spot?”

“Believe it or not, turned out she had pretty, uh, pretty low standards.”

“So what base are we at now?”

Chris had gotten so used to faking it for cameras and photo shoots that he had completely forgotten what sexy actually felt like. It had to be this – Zach touching his bare skin like it was the most precious thing he’d ever laid hands on, Zach tasting his mouth like it was a fine wine to be savored leisurely. It made Chris feel delicious and had him aching to return the favor.

“Well, from what I can remember of my high school’s particular version—” Chris’ abs clenched as Zach found the pulse point on his neck and covered it with his mouth, biting down and then, just as suddenly, pulling back.

“Sorry,” Zach gasped. “I’m getting carried away.”

“S’okay,” Chris breathed into Zach’s ear. “I don’t have anything important for a few days. You can mark me.”

“Jesus, Chris!” Zach’s arms tensed like it was taking all the strength in his body to keep from pulling Chris’ hips flush with his own. “You can’t say things like that. Not yet, anyway.”

Suddenly, Chris understood for the first time just how much Zach was holding back. Chris wanted so badly to see Zach just let go, but at the same time… “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a cocktease.”

Zach sighed and closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to rest on Chris’ shoulders. “No, no. I know. But this needs to be on your terms, Chris. I want you so badly, and I can wait, but… you should know that I have limits.”

Chris reached up and took one of Zach’s hands in his own. “You mean you’re not as perfect as you look?”

Zach laughed mirthlessly, opening his eyes again. “God, don’t even say that.” He placed his other hand tenderly against Chris’ cheek. “Look, I’ve felt this for a long time. Longer than I’d like to admit. I’ve only got one chance to win you over, and I’m terrified I’m going to scare you off the second it really sinks in that I’ve got a dick.”

It looked like that had been difficult for Zach to say, and Chris wasn’t sure whether to throw his arms around the older man or smack him upside the back of the head. “Winning me? You think that’s what this is about? Zach, you won me a long time ago. I’m in this. I mean, it’s all new for me, but I’m really in this. And I’m coming to terms with, y’know… your dick.”

There was a second of stunned silence, then both men exploded with laughter. Chris actually slid off Zach’s lap on to the floor, and Zach fell over on the couch, clutching his stomach. “You did NOT just say that!”

“Shut up!” yelped Chris, bounding up from the floor to dig his fingers into Zach’s ribs in a vain attempt to tickle the smartass out of him.

“’I’m coming. To terms. With your dick,’” Zach howled. “That is epic. I want to chisel that on something for posterity.”

Both men eventually laughed themselves out, Chris until he started hiccupping and Zach until his breath stopped coming in wheezes. Chris collapsed sideways, half-sprawled against Zach’s torso. “I feel like I should be really embarrassed right now,” he moaned between hiccups. “But I’m not.”

Zach reached a hand up to trace Chris’ cheekbone. “It’s because you meant it.” Chris pulled a face and Zach gurgled a little, his body obviously still in some kind of laughter refractory period. “No, I know what you were trying to say. I went through all this when I was seventeen, so it’s kind of far away for me. Please, please tell me if I’m pushing you too much.”

“No, Zach, you aren’t, not at all.” Chris took a deep breath, wondering if what he was about to say was crossing the line. “And maybe – not tonight, I don’t think, but soon – you could push a little farther.”

Zach closed his eyes again and Chris watched a shiver run down the full length of his body. “I’m, um,” he said, a little too quietly. “I’m going to need a minute.”

“O-Okay,” Chris stuttered, leaping up off the couch and heading to the kitchen. His mouth suddenly felt dry, and he drained half a glass of cold water before considering dumping the rest over his head. He refrained, though, and when he got back, Zach was looking at the case for the next Mystery Science Theater DVD.

“Did you want to watch this one?” he asked.

“I’d rather just kiss. If that’s alright.”

Zach smiled and scooted over to make room for Chris on the couch. “That sounds amazing.”

When the sun hit Chris full in the face the next morning, he woke to find himself sprawled awkwardly on the couch. He had drooled on the cushions, his mouth tasted a bit like feet from omitting his nightly brushing, and his left arm was completely numb where it lay under Zach. Chris smiled.

Continue to Part 3