Five More Minutes

On waking, it took Shaw a moment to orient himself. A modest room: door in the south wall and window in the east that let in the anaemic dawn light. Hearth, table, armchair and the bed he was currently lying in, all unfamiliar to him. The battered long coat slung on the chair was unmistakable, however, and so he probably should acknowledge the man snoring face down into his shoulder as well.

Shaw extracted several strands of Fairwind's hair that clung to his moustache, then gave him a nudge. Fairwind's snores tapered off as he stirred awake, and he lifted his head to regard Shaw with sleepy contemplativeness.

"Still here then, are you?" he said, rolling onto his side and propping up on one elbow.

"You didn't ask me to leave."

"Didn't think I'd have to." Fairwind stretched, an extensive press of warm bare skin against Shaw's side, and made luxurious yawning noises. He relaxed again, one arm falling across Shaw's chest, a foolish—and, unfortunately, catching—grin on his face.

Nobody would believe Fairwind if he let slip about any of this, so Shaw allowed himself to be caught.

"Would you look at that." Fairwind brushed his thumb over the corner of Shaw's smile. "Good start to the day. Hey, give me a sec and I'll scrounge us up something to eat."

Morning had barely shown its face and the sky was dim with rain. Shaw wouldn't be expected at his post for a short while yet. He had a tendency to rise early and would usually get to task early as well, so his absence may be noted, but he was warm, pleasantly aching and disinclined to move. His hand trailed under the blankets, roamed over Fairwind's soft thighs and found where he was hard.

"There's no hurry," he said.

"Oh. Good. Five more minutes, then." Fairwind's eyes fluttered shut and his chest rose in a long inhale. "… Ten. Thirty. An hour. I don't know, are you all that hungry?"

Rain flurried against the window. Shaw watched a flush slowly spread up Fairwind's neck. "I won't starve," he said.

Fairwind laughed at that, a deep vibration that Shaw felt all through him, and he spread one hand wide over Shaw's hip. He caught his lower lip between his teeth when Shaw began to stroke him, though soon his face relaxed, his head lolling back against the flat pillows. His breathing evened out.

Not a particularly resounding endorsement of his technique, though in this instance Shaw would lay the blame wholly at Fairwind's feet. All that heckling for his attention and this was his response when he finally got it.

"Still with me, Captain?"

"Yep," Fairwind said after a moment, still with his eyes closed. "Don't worry about that." His hand journeyed from Shaw's hip to shamelessly grope his ass.

"I give an inch and you take a nautical mile," Shaw said.

Fairwind cracked one eye open. "If it's inches for inches you want, there's no need to be coy. I've got—" Shaw tightened his grip in warning, but he was ultimately undeterred. "Got some I'm happy to share."

"I don't know why I put up with you."

"You could've left any time."

"You were lying on my arm."

Fairwind's shoulder hitched in a laugh, and he nuzzled at Shaw's cheek until he relented and angled his face so they could kiss. It was as slack as everything else about Fairwind this morning, and lazy enough that it irritated him, so he tried his teeth on Fairwind's lower lip.

That inspired him to greater efforts, along with the understanding that some reciprocal attention wouldn't go amiss—but instead of just getting him off like a reasonable person would, Fairwind manhandled Shaw with gentle implacability, and no small amount of frustration on Shaw's part, until he was straddled across his thighs.

"For Light's sake," Shaw muttered, and braced himself on the broad curve of Fairwind's shoulders when he took them both in hand.

"Thought you'd appreciate the efficiency." Fairwind hooked his free hand around the back of Shaw's neck and drew him into an insistent kiss. "First one to come buys breakfast."

"The war budget has already taken a hit it will never recover from settling your tab. You buy breakfast."

"Hey, that was pretty funny. Well done. But the fact is I'm doing all the work here, so—"

Shaw took measures to make a lie of that. He covered Fairwind's hand with his own, his fingers slotting between his knuckles, and picked up the pace.

Fairwind grunted, shifting beneath him. His thighs tensed hard. "Slow down, mate. You can still enjoy it, you know."

"I haven't got all day," Shaw said, not unapologetically.

"Pity, that."

Something in his voice made Shaw lean in and bump his brow against Fairwind's, who gazed at him with a brief flash of unguarded affection. For a moment it felt as though something fierce was trying to claw its way out of Shaw's chest, but fortunately Fairwind bucked under him and came before he could think much of it.

Less fortunately, Fairwind was not a man fazed by such a thing as afterglow. With a curse and a wild laugh he rolled them over, pinning Shaw by the shoulder. He finished Shaw that way, while Shaw dug his heels into the mattress and stifled what noises he could against Fairwind's neck.

"Okay," Fairwind said, leaning over him breathless and sweating, beaming as though he were the one triumphant. "What can I get you."

"Fruit," Shaw said, once he could. "Not overripe. Coffee, without rum in it, if you please."

"You mainlanders have strange taste."

"Apparently so." Shaw went to brush Fairwind's unruly hair out of his face, which was a mistake; he leant into the touch with such abandon that he tumbled back onto the bed and halfway over Shaw, his beard prickling when his face ended up pressed against Shaw's shoulder.

"I'll get to it," he said, muffled. Outside, the rain breat a steady tattoo. "Just… five more minutes."

Shaw probably didn't have the time, although—he closed his eyes and pictured the Redemption's deck in all its miserable wet glory, and found it somewhat alleviated by the thought of Fairwind bringing his breakfast to him there.

"All right," he said, skimming his fingers over Fairwind's back. He could let the sound of the rain wash over him for just a little longer. "Five more minutes."