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ajremixTitle: Strength, Courage and Wisdom
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG? Still with the situational nudity and gay feelings, though.
Word Count: 1228
Characters: Ted, Booster
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - anguish
Summary: Sequel to Caught Up in You. The moral of today's story- acceptance isn't always as simple as it sounds. Alternatively: I probably shouldn't be allowed to play with storylines for extended periods of time.
Ted was awake and Booster knew it and knew Ted knew he knew, but neither of them moved, trying to pretend the other was still asleep. When Booster first woke up he wasn't certain if Ted was up or not and by the time he was certain, he realized Ted had likely been awake for a while and it felt too awkward to break the silence. The longer neither of them did anything, the more awkward doing something was. Though really, asides from the stifling heat and his thudding heart (and Ted's, under Booster's lips) it wasn't such a bad situation to be stuck in, wrapping up and being wrapped by his best friend. But, as with all good things, someone had to break this and given Ted's nature to either ignore things that freaked him out or freak out about them, Booster supposed he should be the one to do so.
He pulled away from Ted's chest, just enough to tilt his head upward and give his best innocent look as he asked, "Feeling better?"
Ted's face was still a little more flushed than normal but it could've very well been from the trio of blankets on top of them. "Yeah."
"Ready to face the world again?"
"Yes," Ted's voice was quick and a little rough, arms pulling away from Booster slowly and Booster could feel from the tension in them that it was either because he was suddenly treating Booster as if he were some wild, potentially vicious predator, or he didn't want to alert his best friend to the fact that he really didn't want to be touching him anymore.
Ted rolled away from Booster and Booster's arm slipped from his body, brushing against Ted's erection as they parted.
There was a brief- extremely brief -moment where they both froze then, just before Ted managed to bolt, Booster had his wrists pinned to the mattress, covering Ted with his own body just enough to make it clear he wasn't going to let the man go, but not enough to make him panic. "Ted," Booster ordered, "listen to me. I'm not going to get mad at you for a perfectly natural physical reaction, okay? We're guys, it happens. Sometimes in embarrassing circumstances, but we learn to deal with it. Got it, Ted? I'm not upset. It doesn't mean anything-"
"God- Booster, shut up," Ted twisted his head around, trying to hide in the pillow and Booster realized it did mean something. He just wasn't sure what, yet.
Booster let go of Ted's wrists but didn't move away. Ted crossed his arms tight across his middle, still trying to turn away from Booster without 1) inadvertently touching him to do so, and 2) actually doing so.
"Talk to me, Ted," he said softly. "I don't want to lose you. You're the best friend I ever had and I don't want to lose this."
Ted's mouth opened but an anguished expression crossed his eyes and he bit down on his bottom lip instead. Booster had to take a deep breath and force himself not to growl in frustration. Damn these people and their hang ups.
With another deep breath, Booster lifted himself on his arms and said, "I'm attracted to you."
Ted's eyes snapped open wide and he stared up at Booster silently.
"I'm fine just being friends- your friendship means more to me than anything else in the world and if you don't want anything more, then I'm not going to pressure you or presume you're going to change your mind one day. So even though I say this doesn't mean anything, it does to me, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I'm not even going to make a little deal out of it, I just want to know that we'll be alright."
That time, Ted didn't even attempt to hide it- his shoulder brushing against Booster's chest as he curled up into a ball on his side. Booster, hesitantly, touched his fingers to Ted's back. "Dammit," he said, his voice small and tight, "it was easier to pretend I was normal before you said that."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it was easier to pretend I liked having you around just because you're my friend before..." Ted scrubbed at his face with a curse. "It's hard enough just trying to admit it to myself, let alone to you."
"Ted- hey," Booster tried to lean over his shoulder with an easy smile, but Ted refused to look at him. "It's okay- I'm not going to get mad at you."
"It's not about you, it's me! I can't just switch off a lifetime of being told some things are wrong and disgusting- I can't just magically stop suppressing things just because someone's finally telling me it's alright!" Something that sounded suspiciously like a sob was smothered into the pillow. "It would've been easier if I could just keep pretending."
Booster brushed back Ted's hair and was relieved when the other man didn't flinch or pull away. "And have it keep eating at you for the rest of your life? We don't have to do anything about this if you don't want to. If you want to forget about how I feel about you, that's okay. I'm not going to push you. If you want to give it a try but you're too scared right now, that's okay, too. I can give you all the space and time you need. The only thing I'm not going to let you do is keep repressing yourself like this." He leaned over until he could see Ted's face and brushed a thumb against his cheek. Ted looked meekly up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "Don't hide from me, buddy. Because I'm not going to let you go without a fight."
They stared at each other for a moment before Ted eventually wedged out a hand and gripped Booster's with it, offering him a watery smile. Booster grinned back and squeezed his hand before sliding behind Ted once more, tentatively putting a hand around his waist. Ted shivered in his arm, still a little tense but not pulling away. Booster felt bold enough rest his forehead against the curve of Ted's neck.
For a long minute they lay in silence. Then Booster, with his lips brushing the space between Ted's shoulders, impulsively admitted, "I've always been attracted to you."
A hard tremble went down Ted's body and he abruptly sat up. Booster pulled his arms away, tucking them tight against his body and trying to stifle a curse for pressing his luck when he should've been relishing what he already had.
Ted reached over, grabbed the top two blankets and flung them off before flopping back down on the bed. "Too damn hot, 's giving me a headache."
Booster blinked at Ted's back as it lay in front of him again. After a moment of not doing anything, Ted scooted back an inch or so and Booster, daringly, let his arm slid over Ted's body once more. Bit by bit Ted slowly relaxed in his hold. Booster pressed his face against Ted's shoulder and drifted off with a smile.
(At one point Booster woke up and found Ted had turned around, snoring a bit into neck. Booster just smiled and placed a kiss against his hair.)
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG? Still with the situational nudity and gay feelings, though.
Word Count: 1228
Characters: Ted, Booster
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - anguish
Summary: Sequel to Caught Up in You. The moral of today's story- acceptance isn't always as simple as it sounds. Alternatively: I probably shouldn't be allowed to play with storylines for extended periods of time.
Ted was awake and Booster knew it and knew Ted knew he knew, but neither of them moved, trying to pretend the other was still asleep. When Booster first woke up he wasn't certain if Ted was up or not and by the time he was certain, he realized Ted had likely been awake for a while and it felt too awkward to break the silence. The longer neither of them did anything, the more awkward doing something was. Though really, asides from the stifling heat and his thudding heart (and Ted's, under Booster's lips) it wasn't such a bad situation to be stuck in, wrapping up and being wrapped by his best friend. But, as with all good things, someone had to break this and given Ted's nature to either ignore things that freaked him out or freak out about them, Booster supposed he should be the one to do so.
He pulled away from Ted's chest, just enough to tilt his head upward and give his best innocent look as he asked, "Feeling better?"
Ted's face was still a little more flushed than normal but it could've very well been from the trio of blankets on top of them. "Yeah."
"Ready to face the world again?"
"Yes," Ted's voice was quick and a little rough, arms pulling away from Booster slowly and Booster could feel from the tension in them that it was either because he was suddenly treating Booster as if he were some wild, potentially vicious predator, or he didn't want to alert his best friend to the fact that he really didn't want to be touching him anymore.
Ted rolled away from Booster and Booster's arm slipped from his body, brushing against Ted's erection as they parted.
There was a brief- extremely brief -moment where they both froze then, just before Ted managed to bolt, Booster had his wrists pinned to the mattress, covering Ted with his own body just enough to make it clear he wasn't going to let the man go, but not enough to make him panic. "Ted," Booster ordered, "listen to me. I'm not going to get mad at you for a perfectly natural physical reaction, okay? We're guys, it happens. Sometimes in embarrassing circumstances, but we learn to deal with it. Got it, Ted? I'm not upset. It doesn't mean anything-"
"God- Booster, shut up," Ted twisted his head around, trying to hide in the pillow and Booster realized it did mean something. He just wasn't sure what, yet.
Booster let go of Ted's wrists but didn't move away. Ted crossed his arms tight across his middle, still trying to turn away from Booster without 1) inadvertently touching him to do so, and 2) actually doing so.
"Talk to me, Ted," he said softly. "I don't want to lose you. You're the best friend I ever had and I don't want to lose this."
Ted's mouth opened but an anguished expression crossed his eyes and he bit down on his bottom lip instead. Booster had to take a deep breath and force himself not to growl in frustration. Damn these people and their hang ups.
With another deep breath, Booster lifted himself on his arms and said, "I'm attracted to you."
Ted's eyes snapped open wide and he stared up at Booster silently.
"I'm fine just being friends- your friendship means more to me than anything else in the world and if you don't want anything more, then I'm not going to pressure you or presume you're going to change your mind one day. So even though I say this doesn't mean anything, it does to me, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I'm not even going to make a little deal out of it, I just want to know that we'll be alright."
That time, Ted didn't even attempt to hide it- his shoulder brushing against Booster's chest as he curled up into a ball on his side. Booster, hesitantly, touched his fingers to Ted's back. "Dammit," he said, his voice small and tight, "it was easier to pretend I was normal before you said that."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it was easier to pretend I liked having you around just because you're my friend before..." Ted scrubbed at his face with a curse. "It's hard enough just trying to admit it to myself, let alone to you."
"Ted- hey," Booster tried to lean over his shoulder with an easy smile, but Ted refused to look at him. "It's okay- I'm not going to get mad at you."
"It's not about you, it's me! I can't just switch off a lifetime of being told some things are wrong and disgusting- I can't just magically stop suppressing things just because someone's finally telling me it's alright!" Something that sounded suspiciously like a sob was smothered into the pillow. "It would've been easier if I could just keep pretending."
Booster brushed back Ted's hair and was relieved when the other man didn't flinch or pull away. "And have it keep eating at you for the rest of your life? We don't have to do anything about this if you don't want to. If you want to forget about how I feel about you, that's okay. I'm not going to push you. If you want to give it a try but you're too scared right now, that's okay, too. I can give you all the space and time you need. The only thing I'm not going to let you do is keep repressing yourself like this." He leaned over until he could see Ted's face and brushed a thumb against his cheek. Ted looked meekly up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "Don't hide from me, buddy. Because I'm not going to let you go without a fight."
They stared at each other for a moment before Ted eventually wedged out a hand and gripped Booster's with it, offering him a watery smile. Booster grinned back and squeezed his hand before sliding behind Ted once more, tentatively putting a hand around his waist. Ted shivered in his arm, still a little tense but not pulling away. Booster felt bold enough rest his forehead against the curve of Ted's neck.
For a long minute they lay in silence. Then Booster, with his lips brushing the space between Ted's shoulders, impulsively admitted, "I've always been attracted to you."
A hard tremble went down Ted's body and he abruptly sat up. Booster pulled his arms away, tucking them tight against his body and trying to stifle a curse for pressing his luck when he should've been relishing what he already had.
Ted reached over, grabbed the top two blankets and flung them off before flopping back down on the bed. "Too damn hot, 's giving me a headache."
Booster blinked at Ted's back as it lay in front of him again. After a moment of not doing anything, Ted scooted back an inch or so and Booster, daringly, let his arm slid over Ted's body once more. Bit by bit Ted slowly relaxed in his hold. Booster pressed his face against Ted's shoulder and drifted off with a smile.
(At one point Booster woke up and found Ted had turned around, snoring a bit into neck. Booster just smiled and placed a kiss against his hair.)
