Flaking Out
Jay was asleep when the
banging began. Deeply, warmly, cosily asleep,
wrapped twice round in his duvet like a sausage
in a roll, and he didn't want to wake up. Whoever
was banging, though, had other ideas.
"G'way,"
he mumbled through a mouthful of sheet, then
spitting that clear, followed it with a yell.
"Fuck off and let me sleep!"
The banging
carried on. In the light from his clock radio -
which read 3.45 am - he could see his bedsit door
shake from the force of the pounding.
"Okay,
I'm coming." He unwrapped his limbs from the
duvet's clinging folds and shuffled to the door,
unlocking and opening it and expecting to find
half the local police force outside at the very
least. Instead, it was Rob.
Roberto, to
be precise, the new and totally delicious guy
from Brazil who'd arrived a month before. Jay had
been longing to jump him ever since, and taste
that lush mouth or climb inside the painted-on
jeans, but so far he hadn't had a chance. Was
that about to change? Not judging by the look on
Roberto's face.
"Jay,
come quickly, you have to come now," he
babbled, dark eyes wide with what looked like
fear.
"Hey,
calm down," he said, putting an arm round
Rob's shoulders and patting him on the back.
"What's wrong? Is someone trying to break
in?"
"No,
no. You must come."
As Roberto
had grabbed his hand, Jay had little choice.
Feeling rather as though the dog was taking him
for a walk, he let Roberto lead him, presumably
to Rob's own room. But Rob ran past his door,
heading for the stairs.
"Where
are you taking me?" said Jay.
"Out,"
said Rob.
Outside? In
January, in the middle of the night, in their
jim-jams? But then he saw Roberto was fully
dressed, with a duffel coat over jumper and
jeans. It was only idiots like him who were
dragged outdoors half naked on one of the coldest
nights of the year. He needed to find some
clothes, but there was precious little chance
with Roberto nearly pulling his arm out of its
socket. The Brazilian only stopped when they were
through the back door and standing in the yard.
"Look!" he commanded, and swept an arm
in the air.
Jay looked.
And could see nothing much that was new. The same
dingy back yard, a few dustbins that loomed at
him out of the dark - it looked just like it
always did. There wasn't so much as next door's
cat out of place. "What the hell's wrong
with you?" he said, turning to scowl at
Roberto. "You drag me all the way out here
in the freezing cold in the middle of the night.
My feet are numb and I've practically got icicles
hanging off my nose!" He wrapped both arms
round his chest in a vain attempt to keep warm,
and stamped his slippered feet up and down.
Roberto
turned and grinned. "Yes, but look!" he
said, and waved again.
Realisation
began to dawn on Jay. His feet were buried in
something soft and cold and wet, the floor of the
yard was white, and there were feathers dusting
Roberto's hair. "Oh. It's snowing," he
said, and headed indoors.
"Yes,"
said Roberto, and the catch in his voice made Jay
turn back.
The
Brazilian was stooping to pat the surface of the
snow, tracing the glittering grains as they
reflected the light from the open back door. He
dug his fingers in, scooping the snow into his
hand, then laughing, he launched it straight at
Jay.
"Hey!"
Pyjamas or no, Jay couldn't let that pass. Wiping
snow from his face he grabbed a handful of his
own and threw it back. It caught Roberto on the
back of the head and he yelped, then ran at Jay
with the biggest snowball yet. Now it was Jay's
turn to laugh as he dodged this way and that,
trying to escape his cold wet fate. Roberto was
too fast for him, though, and he felt the slide
of freezing water down the back of his neck.
Howling, he raised his face to the sky - and saw
a dozen lights come on at once.
"Can't
you shut up? There's decent folk up here trying
to get some sleep," yelled an irate voice,
and somewhere a window slammed shut.
Jay
grinned, and held out a tentative hand. Roberto
took it and together they watched the snow. The
flakes were whirling down more thickly now and
even the scruffy old yard had a magical air.
"Better go back inside," Jay said at
last. "I'd forgotten how much fun this was,
but I'm frozen right through."
"It's
beautiful," said Roberto with a secret smile
of his own.
"I
still don't see why you were hammering on my
door. It's only a bit of snow."
"But I
have never seen snow before." The look on
Rob's face explained everything.
Jay felt
his own breath catch in response to the beauty
and childlike joy. But the instant he stopped
moving the cold attacked and he began to shake.
"You
are cold," said Roberto, noticing, and began
to unbutton his coat. "I will try to warm
you." He drew Jay towards him, wrapping the
coat round them both and capturing Jay's legs
between his own.
As lightly
as snow settling on a blade of grass, they
kissed, dry lips brushing against one another.
Jay felt like his mouth was the only part of him
that was warm, and wished he could get that close
to Rob with the rest of his body. Even the coat
didn't seem to be making much difference.
"C-c-can
we g-go back ind-doors now?" he asked, teeth
chattering so much he could barely get the words
out. "I'm f-freezing."
"Sure."
Still shielding him in the coat, Roberto led the
way back inside. They struggled briefly to get
upstairs while joined at the hip, but eventually
manhandled each other back to Jay's room. Jay
handed his half of the coat back and held open
the door, but Roberto hung back.
"Good
night," he said at last. "Thank you,
Jay. Snow is fun." And he turned and walked
down the corridor to his own room.
Jay felt
like a bicycle tyre with a puncture. Roberto had
been kissing him only a few minutes earlier, so
why hadn't he come in? It wasn't fair. He'd been
attracted to the Brazilian for so long - to get
so far and no further was cruel. He sighed,
closed his bedroom door and clambered back under
the duvet, pulling its soft folds round his
shoulders and huddling until his frozen limbs
began to thaw. As he relaxed, he sank back
towards sleep, visions of laughing faces and
snowflakes whirling round in his brain.
Minutes
later he jumped awake as the door reverberated to
another assault. Pushing the duvet away from his
chin he yelled, "Roberto? If that's you, get
in here before one of us freezes to death."
The door
cracked open and Rob's handsome face peered
through the gap. He saw that Jay was holding the
duvet up for him and grinned. "I could not
sleep," he said, as though that explained
everything, then kicked the door shut and
catapulted himself onto the bed.
"Oof,"
said Jay as a large lump landed squarely on his
chest. "Steady on!"
But there
was no stopping Rob. He burrowed beneath the
duvet like a beetle under tree bark, hands, lips,
fingers and tongue moving over Jay's skin in an
arousing dance. It tickled, and Jay squirmed
against the sheets, laughing and trying to evade
the assault.
"Stop!
Stop it," he said at last, breathless from
the effort. "Or I'll take you back outside
and bury you in a snowdrift."
Roberto's
teeth gleamed in the darkness. "I am sorry.
You do not like?"
"Yes,
actually. Very much. But Rob - it's the middle of
the night and I'm knackered." He suited
actions to words with a massive yawn that almost
cracked his jaw. "Just come here and let me
cuddle you."
Rather to
his surprise Rob did as he was told, and soon Jay
had an armful of solid warm masculinity. It felt
good, and he knew this wouldn't be the last time
he shared a bed with the Brazilian now they'd
broken the ice. He grinned at his own pun, and
felt grateful to the snow for bringing them
together. The window was just above the bed and
if he stretched he could reach the curtains. He
drew one back a little and gazed out. It was
still snowing thickly, dancing white feathers
against the black night sky. With Roberto
breathing softly on his chest, he watched the
dance for a while. Then, mesmerised, he finally
fell asleep.
© 2007
Fiona Glass
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