FIC: The Rules of Engagement, pt.1
FIC: The Rules of Engagement, pt 1
Pairings: Kenren/Tenpou (Kenren/Tenpou/Goujun implied)
Rating: Hard R
Warnings: Language. Sex. Minor violence. Lots of second-hand smoke.
Summary: Kenren tries to find his place in things.
Note: This story takes place between the fics Training Seminar and Yozakura. Kenren tends to use a bit of army slang when he thinks, so there’s a short glossary found at the end of the fic for the more obscure terms.
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer thingee. Not mine, hers. The ficverse with Kenren as dragon catnip is mine blah blah blah.
Notes:
For the confused, the finished fics for this series follow each other in this order:
And a Smile on the Face of the Dragon
Officers Training Seminar: Building Trust and Teamwork in the Heavenly Army
The Rules of Engagement
Yozakura
I’m thinking of cross-posting this one at Saiyuki_Gaiden LiveJournal community, but it’s kind of long and I’m not sure if anyone there would really be interested in it (who hasn’t already friended me, of course). Still, all the others for this series are there, so maybe I should. Haven’t decided yet. If I can figure out just how you make that kind of cut that sends things to your own page, I might be more inclined. But anyway, within the next few days you might see it pop up there, so be warned!
The Rules of Engagement
After he found his One True Calling in his semi-regular squaring away of Tenpou’s stir-fried shit of an office, he found himself more often than not hanging out in said office afterwards. It was a great place to hole up, really. Tenpou was easy on the eyes, the liquor was free, and there was plenty of opportunity to indulge in both since Tenpou never noticed what you were doing if something in his books had him preoccupied. Plus, he had a habit of doing lame-ass things like staying up to read for days straight and then collapsing. After that he’d sleep anywhere, anytime, and through anything your little heart desired. You could actually clean the place around him and the man wouldn’t wake up until you took the duster to his face. It amazed Kenren how totally oblivious of his own basic bodily functions Tenpou seemed to be sometimes. How the hell could someone forget to sleep?
This time around he got tired of tripping over the inert body in its very painful-looking crumpled nap in front of the desk, so he cleaned off one of the couches and draped the Marshal across it. Then proceeded to pick up the latest avalanche; fifty-two books, two scrolls, and something with a foul smell that looked like a dried-up root of some sort but was big enough and ugly enough that it was likely a Tenpou Collectible and not technically garbage. He shoved that onto a shelf, dumped out the frog and then did a quick visual inspection before he pulled out the bottle from the bottom left drawer of the desk. Bringing the frog and the fuel with him, he assumed his position at what he already thought of as “his” spot on the opposite couch. Froggy on the table, bottle between his legs. He leaned back, stretched his legs out, and rolled out the kink in his shoulder. After a moment of deliberation and couple of shots, he decided the rest of the evening would be just fine spent exactly where he sat, slowly draining Tenpou’s liquor cabinet. Consider it payment received for the maid service. He sat and smoked quietly for awhile, taking in the sleeping form opposite. Yep, quite definitely easy on the eyes.
Sitting alone and drinking inevitably led to sitting alone and thinking, which was an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of the whole “sitting alone” part of things. People often accused him of not thinking before he did things, but if he thought too much he tended to end up just like this; angsting and worrying and not doing what he should be doing to get things done. Thinking tended to cause paralysis by over-thinking. Case in point; the conundrum currently sawing logs on the opposite couch.
The Marshal, and the dragon. And Kenren makes three. Did it? They hadn’t exactly given him the rule book, so he wasn’t quite sure where he stood in all of this. Exactly what the terrible twosome were expecting of him. Especially what it was that Tenpou wanted from him. Was it OK to hit on the guy and mean it, or was this an “only with the dragon around” sort of thing, and everything else was off limits? Could he fuck a girl or two on the side? Other men? Not like both weren’t happening already, but the question wasn’t whether he would do it, it was whether he was allowed to do it, or would they bust his ass with some sort of trumped-up charge when they found out he wasn’t their exclusive toy.
He laid his head back, closed his eyes, and let the cigarette dangle for a bit. Really, if they wanted exclusivity they needed to say something. That, and he needed a whole lot more sack time ‘cuz there’s was no way in hell he’d last more than a frustrated week on what he was currently getting out of them. They had to be getting more than that, still fucking together without him, ‘cuz things were too few and far between for them not to be. Plus it would make sense that they were; they were The Perfect Couple, after all. He was… whatever he was.
He stared at the ceiling above his head for a bit, frowning at a suspiciously dragonish squiggly stain marring the expanse of white. Maybe he was their marital aid or something, like it was with his last C.O. In any case, he didn’t think this was an invitation to join in on a committed threesome or they’d have said as much. Wouldn’t they? So far, they’d been mum. But they didn’t strike him as particularly promiscuous, the kind that would pull random strangers into their bed willy-nilly whenever they got a hankering for new meat. Still, the only indication that it hadn’t been a simple “Intoxication & Intercourse” one-shot was the fact that it wasn’t. He’d been dragged into their bed three times now, without as much as a “howdy do” or a “by your leave” beforehand to give him a clue as to what the hell he was supposed to think about the whole set up. Serial I&I, was that considered a relationship?
It was fucking confusing is what it was. He puffed out a frustrated sigh of smoke. Normally, he’d take things as they came and assume fuck-buddy until proven otherwise, but these were his immediate superiors he was dicking around with and his career was on the line. He really didn’t want this to go all FUBAR like it had back east. He was running out of armies to be transferred to. So here he was, chain-smoking, slowly getting drunk, and wondering what kind of sick twisted motherfucker of a masochist he was that he’d do this to himself twice in the same century.
Sick, twisted motherfucker. Yep, that’s what he was alright. Ah, Mom… best not to think about her either, or things would just get a whole lot weirder.
Tenpou stirred and resettled, hair falling across his face. Kenren cocked his head to check to see if he was still asleep. It wasn’t fair that the mousey tousled look made him look even more fucking edible than before. Such a pretty, pretty man. He looked so soft when he was asleep like this. It was amazing how cold and distant that same face could be when it was awake. Tenpou seemed so determined to go solo in life it made him wonder just how he had ever fallen into the dragon’s bed in the first place. Kenren leaned forward to feed the butt to the frog and stayed, elbows on knees as he lit up again. His back needed a stretch. It was a better view from this angle anyhow.
He was pretty sure the two of them had to have been together for quite some time now. They had a ton of those little quirks and silent language cues that just screamed ‘Long Term Relationship.’ At least they did when they were alone with him; all in all, they were pretty damn good at hiding it in public. Even he would’ve had a hard time seeing it without looking for specifics, and he’d spent his little slice of eternity perfecting the art of sussing out who was hitched to whom and how that would affect his chances for the evening. Fortunately for the two of them most kami couldn’t really read dragon body language anyway, and any scrutiny of Tenpou tended to stop dead at those BCD eyeglasses of his.
Kenren rested his chin on his hand, studying the sleeping face. He had to admit it was a pretty clever way of hiding in plain sight, the eyeglasses. Even if they were for real; Kenren had found that out one night in bed when he suddenly realized that weird look in Tenpou’s eyes wasn’t lust, it was myopia. Rather endearing, really. Soft-focused eyes were an incredibly effective weapon in their own right. Nothing more than a few well-calculated wide-eyed blinks could turn both him and the dragon into mush within seconds. Even when you knew exactly what he was doing, it still turned your knees to jelly. The man wasn’t considered a genius for nothing.
But even if Tenpou actually needed those glasses to see properly, he also used them to their maximum effect as camouflage. The “I’m just a harmless bookworm” deceit aside, whenever he didn’t want someone to see what he was thinking he had this way of cocking his head to catch the light in the lenses, blocking out his eyes altogether. Usually happened when Tenpou was talking to some big mucky-muck you knew he despised, but he’d even done it to Kenren once or twice before he’d caught on as to what that was all about. Smart little fucker. Most people hadn’t a clue it was happening. They just thought the odd head cock was the usual Weirdo Tenpou shit. Kenren had being misjudged by outward appearances down to a science himself so he knew exactly what was going on, but it kind of disturbed him to see the extent to which Tenpou took it. As far as he could tell, he did it with absolutely everybody, including the dragon. He wondered if the guy had a clue. Who knew, maybe those weird dragon eyes could see through the lens glare or something. In any case it didn’t seem to bother Goujun in the least. It sure as hell bothered him, though. It also made him wonder what had been going on in the Western Army that Tenpou felt the need to be so fucking guarded 24/7.
Kenren tilted his head back to drain the bottle. Surprisingly, he was already starting to get a buzz. An empty stomach, that was the problem. He had checked in on Tenpou before hitting the mess in the hopes of dragging him along, and instead found a book pile with feet sticking out and totally forgot to get dinner. Here he was, silently bitching out Tenpou for forgetting to sleep, and he’d forgotten to eat. Point taken. He went to dump the empty in the trash and then pulled out one of the bottles Tenpou kept in the safe that was cut into the wall behind a three-volume set called Collected Analytical Essays on the Influence of Regional Topography in Historical Military Actions, Second Edition. Really, if the man didn’t want Kenren to drink this stuff, he should lock the fucking safe. And be less obvious about where he put it.
When he got back to the couch, instead of sitting back down he somehow found himself standing over Tenpou, fingers itching to brush the hair from his face. He had no idea if he could do something like that without the dragon considering it poaching. Or Tenpou decking him, for that matter. And there he was, back to that again. Wishing he knew where he stood, what the fucking rules were. This was exactly why thinking was a Bad Thing. Chasing his own tail over this was making his head swim.
If he had to give his scientific, wild-ass guess about it, where he stood was absolutely nowhere. This whole thing was only because he was catnip and the dragon wanted to roll around in him once in awhile. Tenpou got to come along and take a dip in to keep him from getting all jealous wifey over him, and that’s all there was to it. Might as well just face the facts, get his head out of his ass to correct that Rectal Cranial Inversion he’d gotten himself into, and move on.
Could he deal with being the family fuck toy? He let that question roll around in his head a bit while he lit up again. Smoked it halfway down before deciding on an answer. He supposed he could. Not like he’d ever been anything more to anyone else. Ever. Not like he ever wanted to be anything more to anyone else. Not before this, anyway.
That thought deserved another drink. This wouldn’t even be an issue if the man didn’t push almost every one of his goddamned buttons. But Merciful Goddess help him, he did. Get him to bathe regularly and he’d be near fucking perfect. Add that to the fact he genuinely liked the guy. Respected him, even. He couldn’t remember the last time he truly respected anyone with that much brass, let alone someone who got as high up on the food chain as Marshal. Usually a guy had to be dead to even get the rank, yet here Tenpou was, very, very much alive, and as far as Kenren could tell he got to the top legitimately. A goddamned miracle is what that was. Had to respect that.
He unabashedly stood and stared as he smoked. So pretty to boot. A pretty, pretty little respectable Marshal. With books. A pretty little respectable librarian of a Marshal. He had to admit he’d never fucked a Marshal before. Like he said, they were usually dead before their Marshalness anyway, and he was suspicious that part of the award ceremony for the live ones involved sizeable sticks and orifice insertion. But he’d been with a librarian or two back east. Librarians might be all prim and proper at work, but in bed they could be regular little wild cats. Librarians had Imaginations, fueled by years of reading histories of mating rituals and pillow books and who begat who, and had things like secret collections of shunga prints hidden in their rare books collections. Archivists, now they were boring as hell but librarians, librarians had some serious kinks, and they were just waiting for someone game enough to try out all that interesting research with. After that “training seminar” he was pretty damn sure he knew just what Tenpou’s kinks were, and they were plenty. Dragon sex just scratched the surface.
Kenren took another swig. Librarians and their kinks were making his throat go dry and this whole line of thinking was making his stomach hurt. He leaned over to tap some ash into the frog and found a pair of sleepy eyes tracking him from the couch. He stopped dead in mid-tap.
“General.”
“Marshal. I see you’re awake.”
“And I see you’ve found my safe.”
Kenren stood back up and let Rakish Smile #3 slide into place. Guaranteed to disarm the stubbornest of potential conquests, patent pending. He returned the cigarette to its rightful perch.
“I found it three days after I got here. When you had me reset the tactical theory shelves.”
“Really. Still, it’s rather expensive. Couldn’t you have taken the bottle from the desk drawer instead?”
“Been there, done that, bought the shirt. Moved on to the bigger and better.”
“That bottle was nearly full, General. Please don’t tell me you finished it.”
Full, huh? Well, that sure helped to explain the buzz.
“I won’t.”
“Won’t what?”
“Tell you. Really, Tenpou, for such a genius of a tactician you’re shitty about hiding your liquor.”
Kenren figured he was already busted every way to Sunday so he didn’t bother to return to ‘his’ spot like a good little soldier and instead plopped his ass down where he was, right next to the frog on the table. A bit of negotiation with his knees followed when he discovered Kenren-length legs didn’t exactly fit between Tenpou’s table and couch at this angle. He offered the Marshal his cigarette and was somewhat surprised it was accepted. Now he had to ignore those pretty little lips wrapping around something that had just been in his mouth. Smart move on his part. Down, boy.
“Hmm. Well, I’ve never had a pest problem until now. Perhaps a few snap traps should be set to make sure the rest of it doesn’t disappear. Are there any bottles left?”
“All of them.”
“All of them?”
“All of them. I leave the bottles to you. I’m only interested in the stuff that’s in them.”
“Ahhh. Such consideration on your part. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Tenpou gave a small smile as he passed back the butt. It looked like he was having a hard time waking up. So far, he hadn’t moved an inch from where Kenren had draped him. Plus he was doing that endearing bed-time blink. The effect was marred only slightly by the fact the eyeglasses were still in place. Impressive.
“So, indulge me, General… give me your professional assessment on how my liquor-concealing capabilities are wanting.”
Kenren was very, very aware that one of his knees was currently rammed butt-up against Tenpou’s thigh and Tenpou hadn’t moved it away. Instead he was occasionally rubbing it against him, like he had an itch or something. It was absolutely ridiculous just how much that turned him on. Like a regular little school girl crush. He offered Tenpou the bottle. Tenpou shook his head, causing a bit of his hair to slide across his face and catch on the corner of his lip. Kenren found himself staring at it. His hand began to itch again. Before it could get him into trouble he put it to work stubbing out the cigarette and lighting another one while he gave Tenpou his assessment.
“Putting the safe at eye-level behind the fattest, most boring-ass set of books you’ve got, that no one in a million years would be remotely interested in reading? Almost as obvious as that book safe with the bottle of ‘Wine of the Immortals’ stashed inside. And no, I haven’t touched that, in case you were wondering.”
Tenpou’s eyed widened perceptibly. Kenren felt inordinately proud of himself.
“I thought that one rather clever. I’m surprised you found it.”
“Clever!” Kenren pointed at him with the new cigarette for added emphasis. “That’s the problem. Too fucking clever. A five-inch thick book of poetry? C’mon, Tenpou. Who the hell writes that much poetry? Who the hell reads it? And then to have it be Tao Qian. ‘One cup, and-‘”
Tenpou smiled and quietly joined in on the recitation.
“…’And ten thousand worries vanish; two, and you’ll even forget about heaven.’ Bravo, General. Bravo. Yes, I suppose you’re right. That was rather obvious of me. Still, you were the first to find it.”
“Well, I guess I’m just special.” He leaned over and fed the frog so his brain wouldn’t go all mushy while Tenpou’s smile widened at how special he was.
“So, your opinion then. Would there be a better place to hide said liquor to avoid further predation?”
Kenren leaned on his hand and considered the question for a moment.
“Maybe the toilet.”
“Effective, but disgusting.”
“That’s the point. But really, why hide it? Wine is meant to be shared. A good wine doubly so. You sure you don’t want any?”
Tenpou again shook his head. It did nothing to dislodge the hair from the corner of his mouth. Kenren sat there for a moment valiantly ignoring the hair and waiting for him to say something, but instead Tenpou remained immobile on the couch, silently and attentively watching him. It was obvious the gears were working and it was starting to feel like he was being sized-up for something. It was never a good idea to let Tenpou think about anything for too long. Much too dangerous. Time to go, then, before he made any bigger fool of himself than being caught staring at his sleeping C.O.
“Well, I guess I’ll get going.”
Tenpou’s mouth lost what was left of his smile, but still said nothing. Okay then. He had stubbed out his cigarette and had already gotten up when Tenpou finally piped up.
“General. Indulge me. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to share… as to what you were thinking about previously.”
“Previously? Previous to what?”
“While you were standing here, believing I was asleep. You had the most intriguing expression on your face. I was rather curious as to its cause.”
Kenren’s heart leapt. He couldn’t quite remember what the hell he was thinking about that exact moment that far back in the evening, but he knew it wasn’t good. He recalled enough about the gist of the night’s thinking to know that no matter what it had been, if he answered honestly he’d probably be in the shit house over it. He walked his brain backwards to see if he could remember what it was he was thinking about when Tenpou woke up. To his surprise he did know. He answered honestly because it was too ridiculous not to.
“Librarians.”
“Li-“ Tenpou stopped mid-word. His look suggested that he realized he was beginning to sound like a parrot. He changed tactics.
“So, was this about librarians in general, or was there something more specific that had you musing?”
Oh, what the hell, Kenren thought. Run with it. He was sure Tenpou wouldn’t see it coming. Plus he was wondering if Tenpou could blush.
“Kinky librarians.”
Tenpou raised an eyebrow at that. Nope. He hadn’t seen it coming, but no blush either. Kenren continued on without a blink before he had a chance to forget what he just remembered.
“That reminds me, before you ask- the book you were reading when you fell asleep is book-marked and on the desk.”
Tenpou stretched and smiled. Kenren wished he could say he loved that smile but this wasn’t the smile he loved. This was the smile he was quickly learning to fear.
“Thank you. Though I am curious as to why kinky librarians and my book would be a logical sequitur in your mind.”
Kenren blanched. Damn, he really had to stop drinking so much when he was around Tenpou. You needed to be much faster on your feet than the liquor allowed or you’d give too much away, like he most likely just did. Loose lips... he had two options; a flirt that probably wouldn’t be reciprocated, or a redirection. He tried the save.
“Who said my mind was logical?”
Tenpou’s face returned to neutral as he continued to regard him for a few moments longer. Something subtly changed in his eyes and he tilted his head to catch the light.
“True enough. Librarians aside, then. Though I am invariably happy to see you, was there an actual reason you stopped by this evening?”
Kenren was surprised the line of questioning was dropped so quickly. Usually Tenpou hung on like a bull dog. Something wasn’t right with that.
“Not really. I was on my way to the mess hall, and popped in to see if you wanted to come along. Did you want to come along?”
“Not really, but thanks for the offer. So, General. You haven’t graced these four walls with your presence recently. Have you been busy?”
Kenren sat back down and put the bottle on the floor. Tenpou had to be stalling him for some reason. It was obvious the man still wanted something from him yet didn’t want to come out directly and ask, because he never simply chit-chatted. Probably still on about the librarians, and now he was trying out the back door. Honestly, now that he thought about it he had no idea what possessed him to be so suicidal as to tell the man the truth about what he’d been thinking and give him that much live ammo. He’d seen Tenpou wheedle a person down to tears while digging for information about much less interesting things than kinky librarians.
“Been busy with training the past few days, that’s all.”
“Besides the occasional bout of alcohol thievery you seem pretty well trained, General. I assume not for yourself.”
“Nope, for Squadron One. That last police action was enough to convince me they needed someone to ride herd for a bit.”
“Hadn’t Enrai been working with them these past few months?”
If he was going to be here awhile, he needed another cigarette because he definitely needed to keep his hands busy. He patted his pockets to see if there was anything left. Tenpou pulled a pack out of his breast pocket and handed it over to him.
“Enrai’s idea of training is eight hours of nuts to butts close-order drill practice with the entire division. He’s also got a real thing for mass martial arts forms. Trust me, they’ll look great on Armed Forces Day when we do the Dog and Pony Show for the Emperor.” He handed the pack back to Tenpou. “Throw an actual enemy at them, and maybe they can dazzle them into surrender with the perfection of their formation lines. Right now, I swear that if things don’t go by the book in a combat zone they’ll march the book over to the enemy and show them the page where it says how they ought to act.”
Tenpou grinned at him again. Now, this was the smile he loved. He smiled back, filled with the warm and fuzzies. Tenpou was actually beginning to look almost interested in what he had to say, like he was a book on Han military history or something. It was nice for a change.
“Well, if things are as you say at least that march would be a perfect one. So, favor me with a report on how your training is going. If you’re not concentrating on marching line perfection, what is it that you’re working on?”
“Well, the squadron is small enough; so I figured they’re a good size for a special ops or commando team. Like we talked about before, the army desperately needs more mobile, small-group strike capabilities, and that’s where we’ve been going with things. They already click together pretty well as a unit which makes things a helluva lot easier, but they can’t take a shit without an order from above and their group discipline is ate up in any real-time combat situation- you’ve seen that. So we’ve been using some intensive PT training and a few ST exercises with a heavy emphasis on problem-solving skills. They’re doing at lot better, actually. Much less likely than a week ago to take each other out with friendly fire. I’ve got them split into three teams each working against the other in the combat simulations, so there’s always two possible hot points for engagement in the field. Keeps ‘em on their toes.”
Kenren paused to fill his lungs before he continued. “The team that can show me the greatest amount of improvement by the end of training and can pass all PT skills tests gets weekend passes with a free party room at the Phoenix House, my treat. I know the madam pretty well,” Kenren winked, “so she gave me a real deal on that. Ain’t too much out of my pocket and they’ll get a real buzz out of it. You should really come down tomorrow, Tenpou. See them go at it. Let’s just say a bit of the right kind of motivation does fucking miracles sometimes. One of the teams is calling themselves ‘Team Hidden Dragon.’ I do believe that’s in honor of you. I think they’d love it if you’d come down and check them out.”
Tenpou seemed absolutely enthralled. Kenren hadn’t ever seen Tenpou this excited about anything before, print or otherwise. He reached for Kenren’s cigarette and began to talk in the bouncy way usually reserved for describing an extra-interesting paragraph he had just read.
“Guerilla warfare is such a new concept, virtually unheard of in a large standing force; so it’s quite a fascinating idea to try to integrate the use of smaller, autonomous groups in something as ponderous and hierarchical as the Heavenly Army. I’ve thought about it before, of course. We spend far too much time in large displays of power where smaller and more mobile units would be more efficient. Unfortunately, the current Minister of War is so overly fond of the “Might Makes Right” technique that he refuses to mandate for anything near what you’ve currently got the unit engaged in. It’ll be rather exciting to see what comes of it. From what I’ve seen of Squadron One’s potential capabilities, I think they’ll do rather well. Though I have to say, I wish you’d spoken to me about it beforehand. I’m technically supposed to sign off on any changes in the training schedules.”
Tenpou passed back the cigarette. Good, ‘cuz now Kenren needed the nicotine.
“The damn papers are sitting somewhere in that pile of shit on your desk waiting for your seal, Tenpou. I talked to you about it something like a month ago, at that stupid senior officers’ policy briefing at the Ministry of Defense. You gave me the green light on it and everything. We agreed to write it up as ‘Combat readiness PT’ to get it past the pencil pushers. Ring a bell, or was I talking to a brick wall that day?”
Tenpou’s face soured momentarily at the mention of the briefing, and Kenren shuddered inwardly as well. He was still having nightmares over it himself which involved immensely large conference tables and ‘No Smoking’ signs.
“Had we? Why don’t I seem to recall that?”
“Hell if I know, Tenpou. Though that endless ass-kiss of a day was enough to freeze anyone’s brain cells. We talked between the Death by Flowcharts and the ‘final debriefing’ we had with the Commander. Remember it now?”
He paused, hoping for it to click. Tenpou just stared at him wide-eyed like a dope.
“No? Huh. Well, we sure as hell busted down a few IQ points with him that night. You probably fried the area of your brain that the conversation was kept in. Short-term memory is the first thing to go, you know.”
Debriefing. He really needed to be slapped for that horrifying pun but it was just too good to pass up. That night was the last nookie he’d had from the terrible twos. They all had a lot of frustration to vent, so things had gotten rather wild. He hadn’t been able to walk upright without pain the whole next day.
“Ah, yes. That was quite the interesting evening. Had it really been that long ago? An entire month?”
“Technically more than a month. I guess time flies when you’re reading shit.”
Tenpou smiled again. He’d never really stopped smiling since the whole conversation on training began except for the brief scowl at the mention of the day from hell, but the smile got wider and softer at the memory of that night. Kenren’s smile softened, too. A few of the better, non-policy briefing related memories were currently being given the instant replay in his head, and the best part of that evening was laying there smiling at him right now, looking prettier and more fuckable than ever. His hand began its itching again and before he realized it he reached out and moved the stubborn last bit of hair that was still caught on Tenpou’s lip and tucked it over to the side, fingers gliding lightly over the high cheekbone. Then his brain caught up with what he was doing. He stiffened and snapped back.
on to part two