Flames

Muscle flexed, body ground against body, sweat glistened across tight, hot flesh. He brushed one hand over his face to loose the strands clinging to him as desperately as he clung to his lover. Their bodies moved in tandem against one another, connecting again and again as the lines between love and lust blurred into blazing passion. His hands cupped his lover's hips as he trust deep inside, issuing a low moan of pleasure. Their bodies trembled, one just after the other as they came and collapsed in a mass of flesh and limbs in the center of the bed.

They lay together, both struggling for breath, their bodies tangling around one another in an intricate knot. Their mouths fumbled for one another, issuing proclamations of love between heated kisses. Sex was always this way for them: strong, passionate and utterly amazing. He had never failed to deliver and Ferdinand was glad to not be alone again tonight. There would be no more nights of his own hands roving over lonely flesh and bringing himself to orgasm alone. They were together again and the promise was always kept: they would spend the next three days in bed, fucking and cuddling and feeding each other whatever takeout they could have delivered to the house. Sometimes Maki would have surprises from the places he had visited rather it was food or a present. It was generally either used in foreplay or tossed aside to be examined during sexual downtime as they were curled around one another. It wasn't so much what was brought as long as he had some proof he had been on Maki's mind as much as he had been on his. All that really mattered to him was he was remembered and missed. It was hard being here alone.

Maki ran his hands over Ferdinand's face, neck and shoulders, starved for the sight and feel of him. He had missed him more than he had realized. There was nothing quite like coming home and falling into his arms. While he enjoyed touring, he enjoyed coming home more.

"Did you miss me?" Ferdinand asked his usual question quietly, staring up into Maki's eyes. He laughed gently and responded as he always did.

"Like breath."

Ferdinand buried his face in Maki's shoulder and pulled his full weight down on top of him, wriggling into a more comfortable position. "And not just the sex?"

Maki bit Ferdinand's shoulder playfully. "No, not just the sex." His voice was gentle, amused and slightly irritated. He wrapped his arms under Ferdinand's shoulders and under the pillow beneath his head. He shifted to the side a bit so he was resting partially on his hip and moved so Ferdinand's eyes had to meet his. "I mean that."

"I know you do," he stated, wrinkling his nose a bit, "but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy hearing it."

"Is that why you always ask me the same questions every time?"

"Of course." His tone was playful as he twisted the long strands of Maki's black hair into half braids. "Would you expect anything less. Or different?"

Maki shrugged and sighed. "I might worry about you if you didn't."

"Oh? Why is that?"

Maki leaned in and rubbed his cheek against Ferdinand's lovingly. "Because we have this ritual, you and I. I go out, I'm gone for six months or more at a time and here you are, sitting idly by, waiting on me to come home. It has to be lonely as fuck for you but you still do it. And when I come home, we spend the first few days I'm home fucking like rabbits."

"We don't fuck like rabbits."

Maki quirked a brow and smiled. His dark eyes danced. "Oh, you don't think so, do you?"

"We don't fuck like rabbits, Makiros," he stated rather matter-of-factly. "We fuck like we're from a third world country."

Maki laughed out loud. "What? Where the fuck did that come from?"

Ferdinand, who was trying very hard not to giggle and was failing, shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. I just made something up."

"Are you going to open the present I brought you?" he asked, rolling toward the side table beside their bed. "You didn't seem very interested in it when I first came home but I think you can appreciate it now."

Ferdinand sat up against the headboard of the bed and took the wrapped package. He was sure it had been gift wrapped at the store before Maki had even left it. "The wrapping is lovely." He slipped the ribbon off of the package and dropped it to the bed between them before carefully tearing the paper.

"You can just tear the paper off, Ferdinand."

He looked slightly hurt. "I know I could but I really just wanted to save it. You didn't have to have it wrapped. You could have brought me the plain box. The little things mean a lot to me, Makiros, and you know that."

Nodding, he gestured back to the package. "Go ahead. Finish opening it. I want to know what you think."

Without tearing much of the paper, he retrieved the small white box from inside the wrapping and lifted the lid. Inside was a rather large locket. Maki pressed a button on the right side of the locket. The face opened. Inside was a small version of the snapshot Maki carried in his wallet of the two of them, nose-to-nose and forehead-to-forehead, smiling at one another. A faint song played from the locket. Ferdinand listened closely.

"Is that..." he questioned, dropping off again to listen.

"It's our song," Maki whispered, his lips brushing Ferdinand's ear. "Do you like it?"

Instead of answering, Ferdinand began singing with the music box song. "Close your eyes. Let me touch you now. Let me give you something that is real. Close the door. Leave your fears behind. Let me give you what you're giving me."

Maki sang with him, "You are the only thing that makes me want to live at all. When I am with you, there's no reason to pretend that. When I am with you, I feel flames again. Just put me inside you. I would never ever leave. Just put me inside you. I would never ever leave you."

Ferdinand wrapped his arms around Maki's neck and hugged him as tightly as he could muster. The locket swung loosely from his hand. "It's absolutely beautiful, Makiros. Thank you. I love it."

His head was bowed, his hair covering his face, but Ferdinand could see him smiling. "I was worried you would think it silly."

"Sentimental," Ferdinand corrected, "and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm rather fond of it." He fingered the locket for a moment before closing it. "Will you help me put it on?"

"You want to wear it now?"

Ferdinand nodded vigorously. Maki snorted softly and took the locket gently from his hands, unfastened the clasp, and placed it around his lover's bare neck. He fastened it and leaned in to press kisses along the chain. "I must have picked the right gift," he murmured. His lips brushed Ferdinand's flesh. "I was going to make you wait until your birthday but I wanted to be sure you liked it." He wrapped one arm around Ferdinand's waist and hugged him. "Want to know what else I have been meaning to give you and have never managed to do?"

"Hmmwhat?" Ferdinand leaned back against Maki's chest and closed his eyes, enjoying his warmth and skin on skin contact.

"You need to re-braid this lock. It's grown out a lot since you last did it." He fingered a single lock of his hair just behind his ear.

"I'll do it for you later."

"Before I leave next time, I want you to braid the other side like you did this one. I can cut it off and leave it with you so you'll have a piece of me with you."

Ferdinand chuckled and nestled against Maki's chest. "You really must have missed me. You're never this... mushy." He wrapped Maki's arms around his waist and sighed heavily. Maki shifted and curled down into the bed and pulled Ferdinand with him, spooning around his body. He yawned and tucked his chin against Ferdinand's neck, drifting off to sleep.