Fic: 'Three Deep Breaths' (5/25)
Title: Three Deep Breaths
Fandom: The Matrix
Characters: Mouse/Zephyr (OC)
Word Count: 954
Prompt: From fanfic25, 5/18: 'Zen'.
Notes: Contains medium-level m/m. Dudes go at it.
Summary: When he thinks of Zephyr, Mouse can't relax.
Three Deep Breaths
The Nebuchadnezzar was docked. It wasn't going anywhere for a few days, at least, but Switch still tended to her garden. The garden wasn't much, just a few hydroponics-aided plants, but there was something pleasing in the combination of the greenery and the fluorescent lighting; something that calmed her down. It seemed to have a similar effect on everybody that lived on the ship, she had decided, looking at Mouse, who was sitting a few yards away. He opened one eye and glanced at her, then went back to his meditation.
It was something a little unusual he'd picked up, and he couldn't remember if it was Tank or Dozer that had suggested it to him: they were both interested in the spiritual side of things. After the last few Sentinel approaches, nerves had been frayed, and Tank and Dozer had both burrowed away and assumed the lotus position. It had seemed to work for them and, given the events of the last twenty-four hours, Mouse thought he could do with a bit of relaxation. He took a deep breath and tried not to think about it, to focus instead on feeling properly inside his body, the way his limbs sat, the way Zephyr's arm had wrapped around him like they had been designed to fit together...
He'd woken up that morning, slowly rising back to consciousness after a night of dreamless sleep. Even in the haze of half-sleep, he could tell that there was a warm body pressed against his; an arm slung over his chest and a head tucked into the crook of his neck. He lazily reached a hand up and stroked the close-cropped hair, and Zephyr stirred, raising himself up on one elbow and looking at Mouse with a sleepy grin. Mouse's brain found all the events of the previous night, one by one, and put them in a rough order. Zephyr had given him an address, they'd kissed, then... a lot of other things, that Mouse remembered in a blur of lust and gasps, and then now. And it was the now, as Zephyr moved closer and pressed his nose against Mouse's, that felt right. It was the way Zephyr closed the space between their lips, and the way Zephyr's hand snuck down and under the curve of Mouse's hip... even remembering it, Mouse's heart thudded in his chest.
His foot was starting to tingle, and as he uncrossed his legs he realised that his entire right leg had gone numb. Switch watched him, bemused, as he swore and waggled his foot in the air.
"Meditation not working too well, Mouse?"
Mouse shrugged. "I don't know how Dozer can do this. He's built like a longshoreman, but his feet don't go numb."
"Being Zen is harder than it looks, I guess?" Switch delicately shifted a tiny seedling from one hand to another. Mouse had already crossed his legs again, and taken a deep breath as he closed his eyes. She smiled quietly and relished the feeling of the small piece of life in the palm of her hand.
In Mouse's head, he was back at that morning again, becoming lost in the sensations. Zephyr's mouth was hot against his. One hand was in Mouse's hair, the other around his shoulder in a loose embrace: a gesture of easy intimacy that Mouse melted into. Their bodies were pressed against each other, Zephyr arching his back in pleasure as Mouse's hand found his cock, and hissing through his teeth with desperation...
Mouse shook his head. Now he wasn't being distracted from what his body was doing: he was too aware this time, thinking only of the way his body reacted to the memory of Zephyr's kisses drifting down Mouse's chest. He clambered to his feet, and left the Nebuchadnezzar, waving hurriedly to Switch as he went. His mind was still dwelling on his inability to relax properly. Every one of his thoughts returned to the way Zephyr had made him feel perfect. When he saw Zephyr at the parts depot, streaked with grease and telling a girl with a mohawk how to rewire an EMP, he grinned. Zephyr saw him standing in the doorway, and got so worked up that he dropped the box he'd just taken off the shelf.
Mouse crouched and picked up some of the dials that were rolling towards him. He took a deep breath to calm the bits of his brain that were panicking and, in a voice that suddenly sounded embarrassingly high-pitched, said "Do you mind if I stay at your place again tonight?"
Zephyr stared at him for a few seconds, a wide grin breaking over his face. "That's fine," he mumbled, then ducked his head down, hoping that Mouse wouldn't catch him blushing. "I'd like that."
---------------------------------------------------
"Fuck," Zephyr said, lying down next to Mouse. "That was... it felt more... real. I could get used to that." He nuzzled softly against Mouse's neck, and Mouse turned to kiss him.
"I could too. Real world sex."
"From the faces you were making, you'd probably enjoy fucking my brains out in the Matrix, too." He settled in and Mouse wrapped an arm around him, both of them trying to stay awake and in each other's company until eventually Mouse was yawning uncontrollably and Zephyr switched off the light.
As he fell asleep, Mouse could feel the weight of his leg pressed against Zephyr's, the satisfied feeling that seemed to sit in his stomach, and the comfort of sleeping somewhere other than his bunk - somewhere where he could actually relax. And, with Zephyr gently snoring next to him, he was relaxed. Tank and Dozer could keep their meditation. Mouse was Zen enough.