(no subject)

[honeyandvinegar]

Title: Geek Out: Rings
Pairing: C/Z
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own!
Synopsis: A few more 'baby steps' are taken.

Previous Parts:
Central Force
Solar Radii
Magnification
Nebula
Pale Blue Dot
Orbital Path
Rosette
Moonlight
Interstellar
M57
Maria
The Uncertainty Principle
Black Hole



Taking out random pamphlets and a booklet out of her purse, Mrs. Connor hummed pleasantly and stepped into the house. It was quiet, but she’d change that. She had a lot to talk about with her husband, whom she found sitting in the living room with a cigar; she sighed. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

“Smoking? Eh,” Mr. Connor replied with a small smile and continued reading his newspaper. “How was your group?”

“Fine. And it should be our group, you know,” she replied.

“Eh.”

“Don’t say ‘eh’. It’s true.”

Mr. Connor lay the paper on his lap, crossed his arms and looked to her. “I’m working on understanding all of this stuff myself. Considering my take on things in the past, I’d say I was doing good.”

“You are, you are. Better than some of the people I’ve met in group,” Mrs. Connor said. She sat on the footrest of his easy chair and held out the papers to him. “These make for good reading. At least do that.”

With a small grunt, Mr. Connor leafed through the pages of the pamphlet titled Tips On Having an Open Discussion With Your Child. “‘Know who your child is involved with’… well, that tip’s covered.”

Mrs. Connor rolled her eyes. “Anyway, it’s helpful if you read the whole thing.”

“So you said I’m better some other people you’ve met, huh?”

“Ugh, one woman… I just want to grab her shoulders and shake her eyes out. She’s going, but it’s more to find out if her daughter really isn’t gay. She’s this religious type. The boys would HATE her.”

With a smile, Mr. Connor put the pamphlets on the side table. “I’ll read ‘em.”

“Okay… so, where ARE the boys?” Mrs. Connor asked. “I’m gonna be making dinner in a minute.”

“Casey left a note; I guess they went to visit Zeke’s mother.”

Mrs. Connor blinked. With all the concerns about Zeke’s father, the Mrs. part of his family hadn’t been discussed. “Oh? Where’s she been?”

The look on Mr. Connor’s face went serious. “Casey didn’t say specifically. Just that she’s in a hospital.”

“Oh no,” Mrs. Connor uttered. She stood up and ran a hand through her hair. “God--what ELSE does Zeke have to go through? That poor boy. I hope she’s all right, though… wherever she’s been…”

“At any rate, I guess they’re eating out. So it’s just us,” Mr. Connor said; a sly look appeared on his face and he grabbed her wrist to pull her into his lap. She squealed and chuckled in surprise.

“Why, Mr. Connor…” she said before he planted a hard, long kiss on her lips.

~*~

Zeke had been right about the diner. Casey felt comfortable and full, the pot roast he’d eaten warming his insides. “We’re gonna have to go there again,” he said as they pulled up to his house.

“Well, my mom’s gonna be at ‘New Horizons’, which is only a few blocks away from the hospital. So yea, we’ll go there again when I--we visit her,” he said. Once the car was shut off, he turned to Casey. “That is, if you’ll go with me again.”

“’Course I will. She’ll be a lot better the next time we see her, I’ll bet.”

“Maybe,” Zeke replied.

They exited the car and went up to the house; the lights were on, showing that at least one of the parental units was home. Casey stepped in first and kicked off his shoes. “Mom, Dad?”

“In the dining room!” Mrs. Connor called.

Zeke stayed behind to work his boots off while Casey went to the dining room. Empty platters and plates were on the table, along with… “Candles, huh? Man, we leave you guys alone for a few hours and you get all romantic.” Casey chuckled.

“Mmhmm. Now that you’re back, our dessert is ruined,” Mrs. Connor coyly replied with a waggle of her eyebrows.

“Ew,” Casey scoffed.

“Don’t ‘ew’ us,” Mr. Connor chided playfully. He sat back and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So, you went to visit Zeke’s mom?”

“Uh… yea,” Casey said. He rubbed his hands together and darted his eyes around nervously.

“Is she okay? You wrote that you were visiting her in a hospital,” Mrs. Connor asked.

“Hey,” Zeke said, now at Casey’s side.

Mr. Connor made a small smile. “Oh… hello, Zeke. Is, um--everything all right with your mother?”

Zeke went quiet, nodding in tiny jerks. He then rubbed the back of his neck and moved to look Casey’s way, though his eyes were set on the archway behind him. “I’m gonna go outside and set up the telescope. Wanna check out the skies?”

“Yea, sure,” Casey answered. With that, the older boy nodded more and left to go outside. Casey watched him go with a heavy sigh.

“Casey? What’s going on?” Mrs. Connor asked. “Is his mother hurt, or something?”

“’Could say,” Casey softly replied. He sat at the table and crossed his arms. “He told me about her when we went to that astronomy overnight thing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t think I could. I guess he wouldn’t mind now.”

“Tell us what?” Mrs. Connor asked.

“His mom--she’s going into rehab.”

Both his parents went still and quiet at this piece of news. “For… what?” Mr. Connor piped up.

Casey licked his lower lip. “Drugs. She’s been on and off for years now, since Zeke’s dad left.”

Mrs. Connor sat back as if she’d had the wind knocked out of her. “How… has Zeke lived through this?” she asked. Casey shook his head and shrugged.

“Dunno.”

“You said you went to a hospital in Wooster. So, did she OD, or… what?” Mrs. Connor asked.

“No. She’s staying at the psych ward a day or two before she’s enrolled back at ‘New Horizons’. But look, don’t get on Zeke’s case about it. He’s been having a hard time--hardly touched his dinner,” Casey told them. “Whatever you might think of all this, she’s gonna be okay, and Zeke will be, too. So… don’t judge, okay?”

“We won’t, Casey. We haven’t so far, so why start now?” Mrs. Connor said. Casey made a solemn nod and looked to his father. He’d noticed how quiet he was, choosing to sit and rub his chin while staring at the table. Mrs. Connor stood up then and took up plates and silverware. “I’ll clean this up,” she said, then left the room.

Casey didn’t acknowledge her, too concerned with how his father looked at the moment. “Dad?” he finally spoke up.

The man lifted his eyes to look at his son. “You… really care about him, don’t you?” he asked.

This made Casey’s lips part and eyes blink furiously. “Yea… yea.”

“I can tell,” Mr. Connor said. He groaned to a stand, pushed his chair in and walked over to Casey’s side. With a hand placed on Casey’s shoulder, Mr. Connor leaned forward and kissed him on the top of his head. “You’re a damned good young man, Casey.” With that, he left the room, letting Casey sink into his chair to process what he’d just said.

~*~

Zeke lucked; while there was a lot of foliage surrounding the Connors’ backyard, the western part of the sky was clear. The whole sky was shimmering with stars, even with the brightness of the moon. It wasn’t enough to block out the bright point that was Saturn, which was still high enough to focus on. Zeke situated the telescope with perfection and peered through.

“Zeke?”

His concentration fumbled at the sound of Mrs. Connor’s voice and the small slam of the screen door. He turned his head to the woman and sighed. “Hey.”

“Hey, sweetie,” she said. She curled her arms tighter over her chest. “It was so nice out today… but it got cold fast.”

“Not as bad as the last few weeks, though.”

“Hmm,” she hummed. Zeke turned back to his work, knowing what was coming; he heard the smack of lips, the sigh… “Casey told us about your mom.”

“I figured he did,” Zeke quickly replied.

“Are you all right?”

Zeke swallowed and tried concentrating on the celestial body. He hadn’t gotten this clear a look at it in a while. “Yea,” he finally replied. Wanting a switch of subject, he tried smiling. “We just missed a display of four planets. Mercury, Venus and Jupiter set just before the sun took off.”

“Really?”

“Yup. All in a row. We might’ve been able to see at least Vee and Jupe, if we were out here an hour ago. They’re really, really close together…”

“That’s amazing,” Mrs. Connor said. She came closer and stared where the telescope was pointed. “Y’know… if you ever need to talk to someone…”

“Mrs. C…” Zeke interjected, now standing and looking at her again. “You’ve been awesome to me. You really have, and I appreciate it. But… when it comes to this, I’d rather not talk about it.”

The woman blinked, looking the tiniest bit hurt. Before Zeke could feel bad, she smiled warmly. “All right, Zeke. But if you need to… that’s all I wanted to say.”

“’K. Thanks,” Zeke replied.

“So… Saturn?”

Zeke smiled now and stepped back. “Yea. Check it out.”

Mrs. Connor beamed, went to the telescope and peered into the eyepiece. She gasped, seemingly startled. “I can see the rings!” she exclaimed. “And… there’s something next to it… no, a BUNCH of somethings!”

“Saturn’s moons. The one near the bottom is Titan--that’s the biggest one.”

“Zeke, I’ve never seen anything like this. This telescope must have cost you a fortune.”

“Five-K,” Zeke said.

“WHAT? Oh my god…” Mrs. Connor blurted. “That’s pretty hefty.”

“Eh, one thing my dad does come through with is cash. I get to spoil myself,” Zeke replied.

Mrs. Connor looked back to the sky and shook her head. “Well, I guess that’s good for something. And… you spend it wisely. This could be something you could really work on and use in your college studies. You’ve kinda got an edge.”

“’Guess so.”

“Wowing my mom?” Casey said as he emerged from the back porch.

Zeke turned back to the telescope and grinned. “Saturn.”

“Ah--I made Stan cream himself over that the other night.”

“Casey…!” Mrs. Connor said with a gasp.

“What? I did,” Casey said.

“Don’t be fresh to your mother, Casey,” Zeke chided. Mrs. Connor made a satisfied hum.

“Thank you, Zeke.”

With a roll of his eyes, Casey sauntered over and shoved Zeke aside. “Gimmee a look.”

“Rude,” Zeke said.

~*~

Zeke could hear Casey’s moaning and groaning in the kitchen from the living room; the boy was really begging, now.

“Mom, it’s winter break. I don’t think staying up past eleven is going to kill me.”

“It’s the rule of the house, sweetie. That’s the time me and your father go to bed, and…” she said, but stopped. A long pause followed before the woman groaned. “Fine. One o’clock--no later, and no bedroom. Watch TV downstairs with Zeke or… something.”

There was a long sigh of relief. “Thanks, Mom.”

“All right,” she replied, her voice teeming with apprehension. Hearing footsteps in the hall, Zeke lay back down on the couch bed in a shot, picked up a magazine and relaxed. Mrs. Connor came to the doorway and looked in. “I told Casey you two can stay up a bit tonight. But he needs to be upstairs in bed by one.”

Zeke nodded and put the magazine down on his lap. “Yea, sure. Thanks.”

It was Casey’s turn to appear; he looked tense. “Thanks, Mom,” he said. He could barely hide the ‘Now go away’ tone to his voice, and she seemed to take the hint. With one last smile, she tucked her robe closer to herself and nodded to them.

“Goodnight, boys,” she said.

“’Night,” Zeke replied. The woman ascended the stairs slowly, but was soon gone from sight; Casey let out what sounded like a long-held breath and hopped onto the mattress.

“That was so lame,” he said. “It’s like I’m a baby.”

“You ARE a baby,” Zeke teased while grabbing Casey’s wrist and pulling him down.

Casey slid next to him like butter on warm bread, smiling like the devil. At the last second before settling in, he snatched the TV remote from the small side table and turned it on. “What do you wanna watch?” he asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Zeke replied. He put his arms above his head and let Casey nuzzle in. It wasn’t long into channel surfing that Zeke lowered his hand to Casey’s back and held him close He was just about to spread his fingers out and massage between the boy’s shoulders when Casey stopped flipping. Zeke groaned. “Oh god.”

“There’s a show like this every week on Sci-Fi,” Casey said.

“Nostradamus. Fuckin’ Nostradamus.”

“People believe this shit,” Casey said with a sigh.

As the show prattled on, touching on subjects involving the end of the world, war, death, destruction, Zeke shook his head. “Has there ever been a famous cleric that’s said, ‘In the year two-thousand, there will be countless rainbows all over the world, and everyone will have all the cotton candy they want’?”

Casey snorted. “C’mon, that’s boring. I wanna hear about comets and shit turning the world into kitty litter.”

“Or aliens taking over a school in a hokey town in Ohio,” Zeke added.

“Eh, that’s boring to everyone, now. I can’t remember the last time someone called me for an interview. And hell, I haven’t gotten any more of those UFO nuts clamoring for my autograph in months.”

This was a relief to Zeke; he’d been sick of the attention, especially when it’d come to Casey. The press ran them ragged for weeks, but Casey had nearly been suffocated by the aftermath. Now that things had tapered off, they could do what they liked best. “Can you change this crap?” Zeke asked. Casey replied by flipping to the next channel, to the next, the next…

“Nothing’s on,” Casey concluded. He left it on Lifetime.

“The ‘Crazy Bitch’ channel. Great.”

“Who says we’re gonna watch anything?”

Casey’s coy voice made Zeke look down at his face; he found Casey’s eyes glinting with mischief, his smile wide and showing off his front teeth. Zeke blinked wildly and smirked. “What else can we do that wouldn’t get your dad running down here to bust my head open?” he asked.

“Oh, stop.”

“No, serious…” Zeke trailed off; he brought the hand at Casey’s back up to his neck. He pressed his fingers into it, making Casey close his eyes and hum. “You heard your mom. She doesn’t want us in your bedroom.”

“And we’re not,” Casey whispered.

“They’ll probably do a bed-check, y’know.”

“So they see us kissing a little… big deal.”

Zeke shook his head and put their noses together. “Since when did you get so… sex-crazed?” he asked. A sudden pinch to his arm made him tense up and gasp.

“I’m not sex-crazed!” Casey retorted.

“You are.”

“Zeke… c’mon,” Casey murmured. “Kissing isn’t going to get me disowned.”

The boy’s soft voice made Zeke’s insides tremble. Taking a quick glance to the stairwell, Zeke leaned in closer and placed a light kiss on Casey’s lips. He was still nervous, thinking that Mr. Connor would come down the stairs at any moment wielding an axe. But when he pulled away, Casey made a light, soft moan that made Zeke moved in again to put their mouths together harder.

One of Casey’s hands slid up between them and rubbed over Zeke’s t-shirt; the thin fabric offered heightened sensations, especially when his palm brushed over a nipple. Zeke was tempted to interrupt this to say, ‘This is more than kissing,’ but he found that he couldn’t. If Mr. Connor was going to kill him, Zeke would make sure he earned his death properly. He put his hand to Casey’s back again, this time moving it just above Casey’s backside. They pressed together, moaning into each other’s mouths.

“Zeke,” Casey whispered during a brief pause in kissing. He moved away and rested his cheek on Zeke’s shoulder. It was easy to tell how excited Casey was growing; their position allowed Zeke to feel the hard ridge that had formed between Casey’s legs, pressing against Zeke’s own erection. Kissing the boy’s temple, Zeke sighed.

“If we were alone…” he said, needing to swallow before going on. “What you did in the shower… I’d return the favor.”

A puff of muted laughter escaped Casey’s lips. He bent back and pressed their foreheads together. “That wouldn’t look… suspicious, or anything.”

“Yea,” Zeke said. His eyes were locked on Casey’s, his breathing going shaky as he slipped his fingertips past the waist of Casey’s pajama pants. The boy stiffened but didn’t move away; his Adam’s Apple bobbed up and down in his throat as Zeke dared to go lower. While he wanted to grope at the rounded flesh, Zeke resorted to dusting his fingers over it… Casey wasn’t stopping him, so he let them travel around, going from one side to the other, up and down. Unable to take it, he stilled his hand and grit his teeth. “I wanna go inside you.”

A hard shudder ran through Casey’s body; the boy bent back and stared at Zeke with a confused gaze. For a moment, Zeke was almost annoyed. Here Casey had been practically throwing himself at him, and was now acting shy? It was a step for the boy, perhaps, but still… “Hold… hold on,” Casey stammered.

“For what?”

Saying nothing, Casey sat up, put his legs over the side of the bed and walked out of the room. Zeke’s brow furrowed as he lie back on the bed and stared at the TV.

‘Don’t be mad. Don’t be mad, this is all new to him,’ Zeke thought. He watched the sitcom playing--which one it was, he didn’t know, while listening to the sink in the bathroom running. What was Casey doing? ‘Who knows?’ Zeke asked himself and shook his head.

A few minutes later, Casey returned and crawled onto the bed again. He shuffled to the other side of Zeke, grunting a little. “I’ll go here, on this side, in case… y’know, someone comes down… and the blankets…” he rambled while putting the blankets over them. Zeke peered at him with curiosity, especially when he drew out a small jar from one of his pajama pockets.

“What’s that?” Zeke asked.

“It’s… all I could find. Some kinda stuff my mom uses on her face.”

Casey handed the pink container to Zeke and cleared his throat. When Zeke saw what it was, he couldn’t help a snort. “‘Mary Kay Timewise Age-Fighting Moisturizer’?”

“Well, it’ll work, right?”

“You mean… if I…?” Zeke raised his eyebrows at Casey’s small nod. He then looked back to the bottle and puffed a few breaths through pursed lips. “This shit’s probably a bit expensive.”

“It’s not like we’re gonna use the whole thing,” Casey retorted.

Putting things in their proper perspective, Zeke concluded that getting this intimate with Casey was worth a whole bottle of this stuff. He could always say that he bumped into it while in the bathroom, spilled it… he uncapped the bottle and put it to his nose. “Smells nice,” he remarked. Casey responded by putting himself closer and hoisting his foot over Zeke’s calves. It curled under his knee and locked there; hissing breaths escaped his nose.

“Do… something,” Casey said with a whimper in between the words.

Zeke’s head spun a little; the boy wasn’t just allowing this, but he wanted it. Zeke squeezed a dime-sized dot on his finger and snaked his other hand underneath Casey’s hip. Getting to tug Casey’s pants down, inch by inch, felt like he’d won the lottery. Heavy swallows kept jerking in his throat as the waistband was tucked under Casey’s ass to his thighs, bracing there and exposing him. Zeke carefully slipped his hand under the blankets and to Casey’s hip. He then extended his fingers, reached behind and smiled. “You washed… it,” Zeke said with a light chuckle.

“Would you rather I didn’t?” Casey asked.

Not waiting any longer, Zeke placed his finger past the boy’s cleft and began rubbing the cream around his anus. Casey moved closer to Zeke and clenched his hands around Zeke’s waist. “Oh…” he moaned.

“Shh,” Zeke whispered, the sound shuddering from his lips. He had to hold back the urge to get rough, but it was difficult; touching Casey so intimately was making him dizzy. Zeke closed his eyes and kissed Casey’s ear, then began probing more insistently. “Feel good?” he asked.

“Yes,” Casey murmured. “A little… w-weird… but yes.”

Zeke smiled. His other hand smoothed over one side of Casey’s behind, stopping every now and again to squeeze his fingers into it. Each time Casey irked out a groan and tightened his grip. Zeke wouldn’t be surprised if he had hand-shaped bruises around his sides the next morning, and he liked the idea. “Turn around,” he said, letting go of Casey to help move him around. Once Casey’s back was against Zeke’s chest, Zeke slid his fingers back to Casey’s ass and slipped his finger deeper than before. Casey jerked and grabbed the arm Zeke had snaked around his chest. “Still okay?” Zeke asked.

“Mmm-Mmhmm,” Casey hummed. “Mmm…”

The boy was pushing back to take even more, so Zeke gave it to him. Soon enough, his entire finger was in, rubbing against the moist, heated flesh. When he pushed up towards Casey’s prostate, the boy slammed back, stilled and trembled hard. “Oh… that’s gooood…” he drawled.

“Yea?”

“Yea…”

Zeke moved his free hand to one side of Casey’s chest and made whisper-like movements of his palm over an erect nipple. “I’m glad… that you like it,” Zeke said. He then began kissing along Casey’s neck and shoulder; he could both smell and taste the boy’s pheromones, the scent of his sex almost drugging him. “Someday… I’m going to do more than this,” he said, almost growling as he spoke. “The minute you say ‘yes’ is the minute I fuck you.”

“Oh fuck,” Casey said. He let out a lone chuckle and turned his head to nuzzle Zeke’s ear with his nose. “Maybe… s-soon. This is good--so good, Zeke.”

“Good,” Zeke whispered. The idea of Casey being so relaxed and even comfortable was exhilarating. Soon, however, the boy sighed, gently pushed away and turned back to face Zeke. He kissed Zeke’s lips in light brushes.

“I’m… done,” he murmured.

“Okay,” Zeke replied; Casey made one last kiss and smiled.

“I love you,” Casey murmured.

Zeke swallowed. “Love you too--”

“Now go wash your hand,” Casey said. As Zeke blinked, Casey smiled and blushed. “Reasonable request.”

“Riiight,” Zeke drawled, kissed Casey’s nose and retreated to the bathroom.

~*~