Dark Side Of The Moon (14/19)

[narya86]

Title: Dark Side Of The Moon
Chapters: 14/19 ( Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 )
Authors: narya86 & tetila
Pairing: Daniel Agger/Fernando Torres
Rating: Overall NC-17.
Disclaimer: More fiction probably isn't possible. We just borrowed the names of certain people... ;)
Summary: The first demon had died under Fernando’s hands when he had been nine. Daniel had always tried to stay away from Hunters, for obvious reasons.
A/N: People, it's time to be happy again. Moving on. MIKA, XXX UPDATE, NOW! ;)



Chapter 14

Weary, tell me will you hold me?
When wrong will you scold me? When lost will you find me?
But they told me a man should be faithful
And walk when not able and fight till the end but I’m only human

Everyone’s taking control of me
Seems that the world’s got a role for me
I’m so confused, will you show to me
You’ll be there for me and care enough to bear me?

Lead me, love me and feed me
Kiss me and free me, I will feel blessed
Save me, heal me and bathe me
Softly you say to me, ‘I will be there’

~ Boyce Avenue ~

***

It was a contrast of black and white, light and dark, nothing that could have been further apart. There was nothing left of the aggressiveness, no harsh hands, no rough handling, no pain, no hurt, no shame. The hands on his skin were careful, gentle, so warm, and he had been cold for so long.

Fernando let out a low, soft moan against the lips touching his own and he felt a tongue softly push against them, teasing and asking for entry. He opened his lips without a hesitation, allowing Dan to taste him. Everything felt intense and consuming, so incredibly good he could barely stand it - and Dan wasn’t even using any of his powers right now. Just the slow, sensual circling of hips against his own, the heated body covering his, the hands cupping his face. It felt so good it was unreal, so familiar, and his heart was racing not just with arousal.

Fernando blinked, breathed against Dan’s lips, saw clear green eyes looking back at him, and smiled through the shudder wracking his body.

With Dan’s pace quickening, bright sparks of pleasure crawled down his spine as he brushed against that bundle of nerves deep inside him. He clutched at Dan’s arms tightly, searching for something to anchor him and at the same time pulling him closer, never losing the eye contact between them. And then, suddenly, it was there, like a tingling bust of gentle energy at the base of his spine, reaching out like a spider web through his whole body, that blinding pleasure he had almost forgotten, and he was lost. Head falling back helplessly into the pillow in a silent scream, not even able anymore to distinguish what he felt, or where, everything blending together.

Kisses on his cheeks and lids and forehead finally made him blink again and he remembered to breathe, deeply, unsteadily.

“Are you okay?”

Fernando didn’t answer, thought that even if he wanted to he would have been too shaky, so he just pulled Dan down for another kiss, soft, chaste, almost innocent. It only lasted for seconds and when it was over he finally nodded at Dan, slowly running his hand down the arm holding him. “You always ask me that.”

There was a soft sigh against his skin as Dan bedded his head next to Fernando’s, nose brushing his cheek. “Because I never know.”

Fernando turned onto his side to face Dan, moving closer when it felt like there was too much space between them. “I’m good,” he answered. He felt Dan’s hot breath against his face, mingling with his own, and he couldn’t help but sigh comfortably when Dan trailed an invisible line down over the curve of his flank and hip. “Are you okay?”

For a few moments Dan seemed to concentrate on the path his fingers were taking before he finally answered, “Just a little confused.”

Fernando reached for Dan’s wandering hand and pulled it up to the small space between their bodies, entwining their fingers before he answered. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know if Dan understood what he wanted to say here, but he also didn’t know how else he could have phrased it.

Dan had been following his movement with his eyes and now they were still resting on their entwined hands. “Why now? Why did you… What changed?”

Fernando waited until Dan’s eyes found his again before he replied, “Me, I guess. I was just finally able to realise and accept who I am and… what I want.” Of course Catalina had given that final push into the right direction, but that was a story for another time. “I realised I won’t have much time to…” he stopped there, not sure how he could explain it, when he himself wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say. Dan was still watching him, unwavering, intently, and he had to close his eyes. Or he wouldn’t get the words out.

“I’m going to die, rather sooner than later. That’s just the way it is. Small miracle it hasn’t happened yet, actually, considering the state I was in those last few weeks. And I realised that I didn’t want to spend my time with what-ifs and regrets.”

The fingers around his tightened, and then he felt Dan’s forehead leaning against his own, encouraging him to speak on.

“Because I… I believe you. And I’m so sorry for how I treated you, I don’t think there can ever be an excuse for that.”

A thumb was gently swiping over his cheekbone, back and forth.

“Maybe,” Dan answered softly, his small sigh brushing Fernando’s lips. “But if not, then at least a pretty good explanation. And… I’m sorry too, for what happened there in the park. I lost control over myself… and…”

Fernando couldn’t help but close the teasing, almost nonexistent space between their lips once more, humming contentedly against them when Dan responded immediately. It felt so good, warm, comfortable and so safe. When the kiss finally broke again Fernando compensated the lack of contact by winding his leg between Dan’s. “Don’t be sorry. I was… out of line and practically asking for it.”

But Dan was already shaking his head even while he wrapped his arm around Fernando’s waist. “No, you don’t -” he started but then stopped, sighing. “I just thought I had more control over myself by now.”

Fernando chuckled, even though he knew that nothing about this situation called for it. But dear God, just to think of it - here they were, apologising. Who would have thought that only yesterday?

“So I make you lose control, huh?” he teased lightly, not wanting to descend into a too serious mood. Dan, though, didn’t look like he felt like joking about it. Still he put on a small, wry grin for Fernando’s sake.

“Maybe we should change the topic.”

He couldn’t read the emotion that subtly played on Dan’s face and for a moment he was a back to being unsure about what to do or which topic he could bring up. “Sorry.”

This time Dan’s smile, even though still small, was lighter. He leaned forward to press his lips to Fernando’s in another gentle kiss, and the Hunter could immediately feel himself adapting to it, brief as it was.

“So…” Dan started when he withdrew, sounding just a little unsure - as much as Fernando had ever heard him, “what exactly is this now?”

“It’s me giving this a chance. I… I’ve never had a normal relationship in my life. But I figured… if not with you, then who else?” he answered Dan after a longer stretch of silence, his heart beating nervously at his own admission.

The dark-haired studied him for a moment, contemplative - and then a little grin spread on his lips. “You do realise that we’ll never have a normal relationship?”

Fernando felt an answering grin form on his face. “But as close as I’ll ever get. You and I… I guess we do belong to the same world, and even though we shouldn’t… we fit.”

“Wow.” Dan slowly shook his head, still looking like he wasn’t sure if he should believe all this. “You really changed your opinion on a lot of things, didn’t you?”

Fernando flushed. Dan was right, but at some point earlier something had just finally clicked. “Believe me, it was a long and painful process.”

For a few moments there was silence between them, Dan letting the tips of his fingers brush a few tousled blond strands out of Fernando’s forehead before pressing a soft kiss to it. “Let’s just forget about that. We both made mistakes and this whole thing probably harder than it needed to be. If you’re willing and I’m willing, then… let’s just make this work.”

Fernando hadn’t had many good moments in his life so far, but he knew that this, right now, was a good one. “Thank you,” he whispered gently before he couldn’t stifle the yawn creeping its way up his throat. “Sorry, I’m sleepy.”

“It’s pretty late,” Dan returned and Fernando couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was studying the shadows under his eyes. “Do you want to take a shower? Or just go to sleep?”

He didn’t want to move, so Fernando just tightened his arm around Dan’s waist. “Just sleep,” he mumbled and closed his eyes. “Stay,” was the last thing he said, hoping the other man would still be here with him when he opened his eyes again.

He fell asleep to the slow rise and fall of the chest against his and the faint beating of a second heart.

***

For about three hours Daniel watched Fernando sleep.

The last time he had done it there had been this heavy, dreading feeling in the pit of his stomach, weighing him down in anticipation of the moment the Hunter would wake. This time there was a curious, swirling sensation tingling in every nerve ending even though a last bit of uncertainty remained. Fernando’s moods in the past had been too inconstant for him to be sure of anything now, despite his head remembering every word that had been exchanged between them tonight. Remembering even more clearly how a hand had slipped into his, tentative but without doubts, how the simple touch had sent waves of relief and hope through his chest.

A few minutes after the digital hour number on Fernando’s alarm clock next to the bed had switched to 4, the Hunter’s previously deep sleep started to get restless. At first it was just a faint twitching of a hand, or a short movement of his head. But when soft sounds started to come over his lips and his face contorted in distress Dan put his hand on the young human’s shoulder and shook him gently, trying to wake him up.

“Fernando.”

The man in his arms jerked violently, his fingers clenching painfully against the skin of his chest as he stirred and opened his eyes slowly. He felt how Fernando took in a deep breath against the crook of his neck as if he was trying to take in his scent.

“Dan,” he finally chanted two, three, four times, each clenching Dan’s heart a little more.

“It’s alright,” he murmured quietly against Fernando’s hair, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of his head, trying to exude as much calm as possible. “Still the same dream?”

There was a tiny nod against Dan’s chest and Fernando took in another shaky breath to say something Dan had never expected.

“Every single time I’m dying.”

The words sank to the pit of his stomach, slow and cold. “What?”

“In the dream,” the man in his arms answered in a small, scared voice. “It always ends with me dying, nothing I ever try to do changes it. It’s always the same.”

Dan swallowed down a small lump in his throat, calmly drawing his fingers through the blond strands. No wonder Fernando had such problems sleeping - none at all. He didn’t know if the Hunter really wanted to talk about it, but maybe it would help. “Why are you dying?”

Fernando shrugged a little. “The fate of a Hunter, isn’t it? We all die rather sooner than later.”

Dan sighed, hating how casual Fernando sounded saying this. “That’s not what I meant…”

He felt Fernando shifting in his arms, the skin where their bodies touched sticky and hot. “I’m strangled.”

For a few moments their breathing was the only sound in the quiet room until Dan noticed that he had tightened his hold on Fernando and forced himself to relax somewhat. It wasn’t easy.

“You know I’ll be there if you ever feel like talking about any of it…”

Fernando touched his lips to Daniel’s collarbone, softly lingering there for just a second. “I just don’t want to think about it anymore.”

“Okay,” Dan answered just as softly before silence descended on them. His thoughts were circling around their conversation while Fernando was almost unnaturally still against him, a tangible tension in his whole body. Not even the small circles his thumb drew on the small of Fernando’s back changed that.

“My mother was a dark elf,” Dan finally broke the long silence and he could almost hear Fernando’s heart skipping a beat until it started to pound a bit faster than before.

“What?”

“And I was conceived by an incubus,” he continued, glad that he didn’t have to look Fernando in the eye right now. Somehow he didn’t want to see his reaction - he could already imagine how all the wheels in his head were starting to turn.

The Hunter’s head lifted and he saw Fernando’s eyes searching for his. “But that… is that even possible?” he asked disbelievingly.

“Of course,” Dan shrugged a little uncomfortably, evading the dark eyes. “You already know that cambions, those half humans, half incubi exist and… usually it doesn’t happen because it isn’t looked upon too kindly, but there are always exceptions to the rule I guess.”

Fernando pulled back and opened his mouth soundlessly before he scrambled to a sitting position on the bed, and he could see him shiver at the sudden loss of warmth for a second. “But why… why aren’t you… you know, evil.”

Dan slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position as well, finally meeting Fernando’s gaze. He knew exactly what kind of bits of information were now racing around behind those dark eyes. Stealth, aggression, deceit, cruelty, violence.

He bit his lip before answering. “Sometimes strange things happen when you cross-breed like that… I might have parts of both in me, but I’m neither. And… believe me, it was a long and painful process,” he echoed Fernando’s earlier words with a small grimace.

The words brought a little half smile to Fernando’s face, but it was gone again in the next moment as the Hunter leaned forward, his elbows propped up on his knees, looking deep in thought. “So when you reacted to that iron knife I had, that was because you’re part elf. And the…” Fernando stopped there and Dan could see a slight blush forming on his cheeks before he continued, “the sex thing is from…”

“Both,” Dan completed quietly, looking down at his hands. “The incubus is the reason sexual energy works so much better, the elf is the reason it’s not the only energy I can feed on. Even though it’s all mixed up. Doesn’t matter which emotion, doesn’t have to be negative, the higher the level of agitation, the better. Physically mostly elfish, though there are some attributes that help… attract…”

“The scent,” Fernando took over, realisation dawning in his eyes.

Dan sighed and nodded. “High body temperature thanks to the incubus, I age as slowly as an elf, I had to learn for centuries to keep that part of me in check, that… aggressive, merciless streak. I don’t particularly like bright light, I can’t lie, I -” He stopped, deciding that the fact about his real name should be left out for now.

Fernando, though, had already picked up on something else. “You can’t lie?” he asked, astonishment in his face.

Dan could only shrug timidly. “It’s this elf thing. It sounds ridiculous in the list of characteristics of dark elves considering the rest of it, I know.”

Fernando gave a small, still disbelieving laugh, and when he now looked at him it was with something like wonder in his eyes. Eventually he leaned forward, grabbed one of Dan’s arms and tugged him back down on the bed. “Tell me more?” he asked with an unsure voice, and still - just the feeling of Fernando’s head leaning on his shoulder again took a whole mountain off his heart. Tentatively and yet almost instinctively Dan wrapped his arm back around the Hunter’s shoulder.

“What do you want to know?”

“Your mother, does she live here too?” Fernando asked after a pause.

“No. She died,” Dan answered quietly even though he refrained from elaborating. Instead, after a short pause in which he returned to letting his fingers wander over Fernando’s shoulder, he continued, “I mentioned earlier that among dark elves, mixing blood with other races is a bit more than an affront. So my mother was exiled from her clan and I grew up only with her.” He frowned a little, casting his thoughts back to years long past. “Dark elves are paradox creatures. I think she hated me for making her an outcast in equal measures as she loved me and kept me with her so that she wouldn’t have to be alone. I never fully understood her.”

Fernando’s arms tighten around him and he could feel him swallow heavily against his chest. “I’m sorry. That must have been horrible.”

“It was everything I knew,” Dan shrugged half-heartedly, burying his nose in Fernando’s hair. “When I got older I started to struggle more and more with my nature, with who I was and who I wanted to be… that painful learning process. Eventually I came to terms with it, grew into it, found some kind of balance, I guess.”

They were both silent for some time after that, with their even breathing and a few late night cars passing by outside as the only sound filling the quiet.

“Can I ask you something?” Fernando finally broke it softly. “Something personal I mean.”

“Go ahead,” Dan returned without hesitation.

“Did you ever have a relationship with a human before?”

The unexpected question caused a sharp sting in his chest, and for a moment made it hard to breath.

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Fernando replied, voice small, before continuing, “What happened?”

“… what do you think happens with a human and someone who practically doesn’t age?”

“The human dies,” was the answer Fernando gave, pensive and gloomy.

Dan could only nod, throat tight. “So I… stopped.”

“Stopped what?”

“Having relationships. Friends. They faded so fast, in the blink of an eye. While I was still here.”

Silence descended again, and this time it remained for a long while. Five heartbeats, ten, thirty, and it would’ve been longer if Fernando hadn’t broken it.

“What changed?” he murmured, comfortingly nuzzling at the skin of Dan’s collarbone.

“What do you mean?” the dark-haired muttered back even though he knew.

“Why me? Why did you start again for me? For someone that won’t even be around for the usual stretch of a human life,” Fernando questioned and was met with silence for another long time.

If only I knew.

“I guess when I realised what happened it was already too late. Even though,” Dan interrupted himself with a small, wry grin, “I have no idea why, you can be such a nuisance…”

“Hey,” Fernando replied, playfully affronted, and reached up to pinch his nipple, making him jump.

“What! It’s true,” Dan laughed while trying to swat Fernando’s hand away, incredibly relieved that they had now turned their backs on the heavy topic.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Hunter pouted, starting to pull back from him. Almost without thinking Dan rolled over and above Fernando, tangling the blanket between them, trapping the blond underneath him.

“Don’t. Stay here.”

He felt Fernando laughing softly beneath him before he went still and searched Dan’s eyes with his own, reaching up to run his free hand through his hair, playing with the small curls at the back of his neck. “I’m not going anywhere,” he smiled up at him. “Besides, this is my bedroom. If anyone goes, it would be you…”

“Seems like you’re going to have to throw me out then,” Dan returned, the corners of his mouth twitching before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Fernando’s.

“Mmh, I suppose you can stay,” Fernando replied after he broke their kiss. “I wouldn’t want to get cold.”

“So I’m already degraded to your oven?”

“My own personal oven. I don’t share,” the Hunter returned, laughing at Dan’s “I think I can live with that…” and pulling him down for another kiss that lasted for almost a whole minute. It was Dan who finally drew back again.

“You should try and sleep some more.”

He could see Fernando’s smile falter a bit, turning in a frown. “I’m not tired.”

“If you’re honest with yourself, you are,” he returned as gently as he could. “You can get by with two, three hours of sleep at night only for so long, we both know that.”

“I don’t… maybe you could, you know… help?” Fernando replied, his voice unsure and helpless, and Dan hesitated.

It hurt to see Fernando in any kind of distress, in fear of his own rest, and yet there was this thing that had been plaguing him for quite some time now.

“To be honest, part of me was glad we stopped that. Because it might help at short notice, but in the long run it won’t. Making you so exhausted that you practically pass out for the night?” He sighed, slowly shaking his head. “That in itself is a paradox. And eventually it’ll take its toll on you.”

“But I don’t know what else to do. The dreams never stop…”

“Was it as bad as usual tonight?”

Fernando stilled, then slowly shook his head. “No. No, you woke me up before it got really bad.”

“And I’m not going anywhere,” Dan promised gently. “I really think that in the long run it’ll be better for you. Let’s just try this. Please?”

Fernando hesitated visibly for a few moments before he finally conceded. “Okay… Watch over me?”

And Dan smiled, cupped Fernando’s face in his right hand and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“Always.”

***

Fernando had almost forgotten how it felt to wake up without feeling his heart race painfully in his chest and without the crushing panic accompanying every drumming beat. But right now when he opened his eyes he only felt calmness. Strong arms holding him, bundled up in his sheets. A tangled mess. Warm. Protected. He shifted his view from the arm holding him up to the face of the man who was, without doubt, responsible for this new experience and he was sure that what he was doing right now was staring. Shamelessly.

Dan’s eyes were closed as if in sleep, his face so calm and relaxed that it could have fooled almost anyone. Fernando realised that he had never taken the time to study him like this, so now he did - and he was overly aware of every of his own heartbeats.

“Hmm?” finally came from the man he was looking at, a deep, sluggish sound rumbling in the depth of his chest.

Feeling caught Fernando felt a small embarrassed smile flickering over his lips and he hid his face in the crook of Daniel’s neck again, breathing in that scent and stretching his legs down to curl his toes. It felt delicious. “I can’t believe I slept this good.”

“You did?” the dark-haired asked quietly, voice a little rough as if he had indeed slept like Fernando. Was this how it felt like when you lead a normal life, when you woke up in the morning with someone else? “No dream this time?”

Fernando shook his head. “I don’t think so. At least I can’t remember any,” he answered between two yawns.

“That’s really good to hear,” Dan replied before drawing back a little, eyes open now to look at Fernando’s face, a relieved smile on his lips. “Maybe we can find a way to get you to sleep again without the whole energy drawing all the time.”

And for the first time in a long while Fernando actually could see it happening.

“Yeah, maybe,” he replied, an answering smile stretching on his lips as he felt Dan’s hand wander. Up over his shoulder, down his back, fingertips over the bumps of his spine. “It’d be worth a try I think.”

“Mhm.”

That was actually pretty distracting and for a moment he just enjoyed the sensations before he pulled Dan into a kiss, slow and unhurried, just as Fernando had thought it should be just after waking up.

Right now it still felt surreal.

“Mmh I should take a shower,” Dan muttered after he broke their kiss, rolling from his side onto his back, eyes closed again, his free arm stretched out on the bed next to him, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips.

Fernando soundly sniffed the air in the room and then agreed, his voice sounding serious, “Yeah, might want to do that.”

Without bothering to open his eyes Dan smacked Fernando over the head. “And you might want to accompany me.”

Fernando chuckled, hitting Daniel back. “I might want to, but I have to do something first.”

“Alright,” the dark-haired shrugged, suddenly coming to life and rolling out of bed in one swift motion. “Not going to keep you. I’ll just go on.”

“I’ll promise you the next…” Fernando called after the man but trailed off distractedly as he let his eyes wander over the naked back presented to him, muscles rippling smoothly as Dan walked towards the bathroom, down to his ass. Fernando hadn’t really paid attention before, but Dan had a really nice one.

And it would definitely take time to get used to thinking like this about a man.

“I’ll take your word for it!” he heard the answer coming out from the bathroom and the familiar sounds of the bare feet stepping into the shower.

Fernando felt a grin widen on his lips and he let himself fall back into the pillow, for a moment just staring at the white ceiling. Some part of his brain still couldn’t quite comprehend that this was actually, really happening, that he was allowing this to happen - and yet it felt like a whole mountain having been lifted off his shoulders. And who knew. Maybe they could make this work. Maybe it really didn’t have to be as hard as he had always painted it to be.

Fernando still was a little surprised that Daniel had really taken him back with open arms, considering his behaviour in the last few weeks. He had been so horrible to almost everyone around him, especially Dan - and practically everything he had done had been self-destructing. And now he had a relationship. What a strange and new thought for him.

The blond Hunter was still grinning when he rolled out of bed and bent down to fish his shorts from under the bed where Dan had thrown them the night before and padded into the living-room.

“Nathan Shaw, Sydney,” he told the telecommunication system, plopping down on the couch despite not quite knowing why he was even doing this. Maybe it was a stupid idea, but somehow it felt like he had to or he would just burst.

It took a few seconds for the connection to be made and the familiar face of his friend to appear on screen, greeting him with a grin.

“Morning, niño!”

Fernando couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s excited greeting. “Hey Nate.”

“Damn, we haven’t talked face to face in, what, almost two weeks now?” The Australian made a disapproving sound and shook his head before seemingly taking a closer look at his friend. “Hey, wow, you look good! Not like the walking dead anymore. Spill, what happened?”

Fernando chuckled, amused at his friend’s astonishment. Nate had been pretty worried about him in the last few days and had tried to check on him, but Fernando hadn’t answered any calls and had only replied to one or two messages.

“I had a very good night’s sleep,” he answered the man on the screen and before he really knew what he was doing, “And I went back on my own word.” Before he could contain it, Fernando laughed out loud, his body still buzzing with excitement and a feeling he just wasn’t familiar with. “I’m such a lost cause.”

Nate looked completely bewildered for a moment but then his smile was back, all the wider when he realised that Fernando truly seemed to feel good. “No, come on! I mean, look at you, you look like your old self, and you’re smiling, so whatever it is,” he gestured enthusiastically, “I’m all for it!”

In that moment, Fernando finally hesitated. Could he really? But it was just a second before he answered his own question in the affirmative because in the end he still trusted Nate with his life. He smiled almost a little cheekily. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Nate just exclaimed, giving Fernando his best ‘duh’ look. “Of course! So what…”

But he trailed off in that moment, gaze leaving Fernando, his face taking on a look of surprised astonishment. And from the corners of his eyes Fernando could see the reason, clad only in jeans, barefoot and with shower-wet hair.

“Hey. You must be Nate.”

And Fernando didn’t even have to say anything before Nate put one and one together, looking as stunned as he had ever seen him, voice toneless, eyes wide. “You’re his demon.”

It was no wonder he was shocked. He was bound to. And still it made Fernando a little nervous, making him never take his eyes off his friend, watching for even the smallest of hints on his face. There were soft sounds of bare feet on the ground, and then a warm, gentle hand in the nape of his neck before Dan returned, voice carefully amused, “Technically I’m only a half-demon.”

Hadn’t Fernando been so damn nervous he surely would have enjoyed Dan’s fingers playing with his hair, but right now it just felt awkward with Nate seemingly analysing every move they made. God he just hoped Nate wouldn’t freak out now. He wasn’t sure if he could bear losing his friend. “Nate,” he began, stopping again when he couldn’t find any words that would have explained everything. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what exactly this was and where it would lead.

Finally Nate blinked and took a deep breath, leaning forward and propping his arms up on his knees, looking intently at Fernando. His voice, though, was gentle.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?”

There was a long silence in which Fernando turned his head to look up at Dan, catching the other man’s questioning eyes with his and he thought he could also see a tiny bit of insecurity swirling in them. His fault, he realised with a slight pang. He sure had been horribly unstable in his opinions in the last few weeks.

“Yes,” Fernando finally replied, not breaking the eye contact he had with Dan. “Yes I’m sure.”

He was rewarded with a barely detectable smile and a look in those astonishing eyes that warmed him to his very core.

“Okay… okay,” Nate said and drew Fernando’s gaze back to him. The Australian was rubbing his forehead before looking at him again. “In that case, as I said… I’m all for it. As long as it’s good for you.” Right then, his eyes turned from Fernando to Dan and the tone in his voice dropped a few degrees. “If you hurt him in any way, I’ll jump on the next flight and rip your head off.”

Fernando’s eyes widened slightly in surprise and he looked up in time to see Dan return Nate’s gaze unwaveringly. “I won’t.”

Nate stared at him for another few moments before nodding slowly and looking back at Fernando. “Please be careful. I don’t think I have to mention that girl in Randstad.”

A cold shiver ran through Fernando as he listened to his friend’s words. Of course he knew what had happened to that Hunter in the Netherlands. It was like an urban legend for Hunters, an ever looming warning.

”Of course not,” he finally replied hollowly, focussing on Dan’s warm hand on his skin. “We’ll be careful.”

Only now did some of the tension seem to leave the Australian and he leaned back in his couch with a sigh. “Alright. Hey, I’ve got to go so I’ll leave you alone now. Take care of you, Nando, don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yeah, you too,” Fernando nodded and watched Nate wave at them before he disappeared as the screen slowly blackened out. The room fell into silence and Fernando turned to look at Dan. “Well, that went better than I expected.”

“I didn’t know you were even planning on telling anyone,” the dark-haired returned, searchingly studying Fernando’s eyes.

Fernando, in turn, shrugged. “He’s my friend. The best I have.”

Dan nodded slowly, contemplatively - and then smiled. Maybe realising in that moment that this actually made it serious for Fernando. He rounded the couch to stop right in front of the Hunter, cradling his face in his hands and bending down to seal his lips with a soft kiss. It was warm and comforting, and Fernando wound his arm around Dan’s neck as the kiss between them deepened, became more heated by the second. It didn’t seem like Dan had actually intended it to, but Fernando didn’t really want to let go. And so, after a few more moments, the dark-haired shifted slowly, climbing with his knees left and right of Fernando’s hips onto the couch to be able to straighten his back without having to break their contact, the soft smacking of their lips and tongues the only sounds in the silence.

This was still so unreal, Fernando thought as all the sensations tingling in his body were making him lightheaded and he felt himself arch up into the solid weight of Dan above him. Unreal or not though, right now Fernando wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Eventually he pulled back from the kiss and he could see Dan gazing almost hungrily down at him. When he remained silent though the dark-haired drew up one eyebrow. “How soon do you have to be somewhere?”

“Well…” a small smirk appeared on Fernando’s face, “I think I’ve got an hour or two to spare.”

Dan clicked his tongue against his teeth, the corners of his mouth twitching. “Wanna go back to bed?”

Fernando let his fingers wander down Dan’s arm and onto the other man’s hip, teasingly playing with the belt loops of his jeans. “You just showered.”

“But you promised me your next one,” was his answer, cheeky and just a little hopeful.

“I did, didn’t I?” The skin on Dan’s hip was really soft. Distractingly soft. Fernando sneaked two of his fingers into the other man’s waistband. “And you shouldn’t break a promise, no?”

“You don’t know how sad that would make me,” the dark-haired muttered with a small smile, forehead softly brushing Fernando’s.

“Mhm, we can’t have that, can we?” Fernando asked teasingly, closing his eyes as the familiar scent invaded his senses even stronger than before.

It was the pair of gentle agreeing lips on his that made every answer obsolete.

***

All my life I’ve looked for angels
All this time I’ve searched for signs
Now I’ve turned a corner
You’re standing before me
You’re not what I thought I might find

I’ve never been shaken
Never been confused
Always projected all my affections
In only directions I choose

All my intentions and all my best plans
Now come to rest in your hands

~ Dean Nolan & Bobby Joyner ~

~ TBC in Chapter 15 ~