Finale (no sex)
"That's all you ever do." David glanced over his shoulder to see Tico standing behind him. "No matter where we go, what we're doing, what time it is, if there's a piano, you play it."
David shrugged, not even pausing the movements of his hands across the keys,
"It's four am, the lobby's deserted, we're all tired. All you could talk about the whole flight was getting somewhere stationary so you could sleep, but the first thing you did was pass your luggage off to Jon and sit down at the piano."
Tico sat down on the bench next to David, watching his hands, smiling when he looked up and saw the serenity in his friend's face.
"Why?"
"I like it."
"I like drumming, but I don't do it all the time."
"'Cause it's too loud. And it's not just 'I like it', it's - I don't know, it's hard to explain. You'd get it if you tried it, I bet." His hands never stopped as he spoke, his arm brushing Tico's as he reached for the lower notes.
Tico shrugged. "Maybe. Probably not. Jon plays, and he isn't up at all hours of the morning playing any piano he can get his hands on."
"I didn't say everyone who plays gets it, I said you'd get it. Here." He reached out and placed Tico's right hand on the keyboard, arranging his fingers. "Watch, then copy me."
David plinked out a simple melody, then stared expectantly at Tico. Tico got the first two notes, but forgot which key David had hit third. His pinky came down when he pushed a key with his ring finger, the resulting sound making him flinch.
"Um. Okay, try this." David shifted so he was closer to Tico, arranging his hand next to Tico's. "When I move a finger, you move a finger."
One note right. Two notes. Three. But once again he hit two keys and cringed. David smiled at him. "Well, you're progressing."
"Sonatas are next, eh?"
David laughed. "Not quite. Here, scoot forward a little." Tico did, and David swung his leg over the back of the bench, shifted so he was right up against Tico, and brought his leg back over on the other side, moving to sit behind him.
"Okay, put your hands on the keyboard." David rested his hands on top of Tico's, arranging his fingers on top. He pressed down Tico's right index finger with his own, then the middle finger, then the ring. He hooked his pinky under Tico's to hold it up, then held up his ring finger while he pushed the pinky down. "There we go."
He tried to repeat the process with the left hand, but Tico's fingers were stubborn. Three tries, three failures, and David sighed, resting his chin on Tico's shoulder. "You have to relax your hands."
The heat of David's breath against his ear sent a little thrill down Tico's spine. He turned to say this was stupid, he was tired, it was time for both of them to go to bed. His protests died in his throat when David's lips met his.
His eyes widened, but he let David kiss him, moving his own lips as he relaxed against the strong body behind him. David started to move Tico's fingers against the keyboard, playing a soft melody with the other man's hands as his tongue sought access to his mouth.
Tico let him in, a warmth spreading through his body, every inch of him acutely aware of every inch of David against him. The hands on his set his nerve endings racing with undefined feelings, the little bit of warm skin on warm skin mimicking lips against lips.
David smiled softly when he pulled away, something unspoken dancing in his eyes as he once again rested his chin on Tico's shoulder.
"Where'd that come from?"
David shrugged - Tico couldn't see it, but he felt the shoulders behind him rise and fall. He glanced down, watching David's fingers running over the backs of his hands, lazily tracing aimless patterns on the skin, sending shivers through Tico.
"Why'd you come down here, Teek?"
"To find you." Why else would he be wandering the hotel at five in the morning?
"Why?" Good question. Off the top of his head, Tico didn't know. The most logical answer was Tico knew David would stay down here all morning if someone didn't drag him away. He'd sit and play, smiling at people walking in as the city and the hotel came to life, never caring that he hadn't slept and wasn't going to sleep. He would go to his room just before they had to leave for the arena, trying to convince the others he had indeed gotten a good night's rest even while he was falling asleep on someone's shoulder. Tico was just trying to get him back to his room and prevent that exhaustion from setting in.
But that wasn't the truth. "Because I knew you'd be here."
"That doesn't make any sense."
It did, to Tico. David sitting at the piano was one thing he could always count on. Late at night, or early in the morning, when he couldn't sleep for all the whys and what-ifs and hows and whens that plagued his mind, he could get on the elevator and find David behind a piano, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. He'd come to expect it, to rely on it. David's mere presence set him at ease, the fact of his existence in this one place something that all the restless late night questions and doubts and fears couldn't shake.
"Does it matter?"
David smiled again, Tico was sure he could feel the way his face shifted. "No." He leaned forward and kissed Tico again, curling his fingers around Tico's and bringing both their arms up to hold him close. It was unnecessary, neither one could move away on the small bench, but the gesture meant something both of them recognized.
They kissed for what could have been days, gently, softly, taking time to explore each other. There was no fire, this was no lusty precursor to the two of them ending up in bed together, but there was just as much passion. It coursed through their veins, passed between them through entwined fingers and fusing them together. Neither one cared that this was a hotel lobby, a public place, someone could walk by at any minute and see them. They were obscured from the apathetic man at the desk by an array of potted plants, obscured from the rest of the world by nothing more than their refusal to acknowledge anything but the simple fact of the two of them on that bench.
Somehow, somewhere in the back of his mind, teasing along the edges of his subconscious, Tico had known this would happen. Some part of him possessed the clairvoyance to see that this tender kiss on a piano bench was an inevitable conclusion.
And it was, indeed, a conclusion. The beginning of a new turn in their relationship, most definitely. But this - clasped hands, joined lips, closeness of bodies, breathing with and for each other - was the answer to a question, the answer to "Why'd you come down here, Teek?". David had unknowingly put into words the root of all Tico's late night whys and what-ifs and doubts and fears, then answered it himself. David's presence at the piano had put Tico at ease for years because this was where David needed to be for Tico to really, truly find him. Tico's trips to the lobby to watch David play were simply pieces of a larger puzzle that he had known existed but hadn't recognized.
The quest was over, the puzzle complete, the conclusion reached.
The kiss broke, David's soft smile underscored by the light in his eyes.
"Teek?"
"Hm?"
"It makes sense."
David shrugged, not even pausing the movements of his hands across the keys,
"It's four am, the lobby's deserted, we're all tired. All you could talk about the whole flight was getting somewhere stationary so you could sleep, but the first thing you did was pass your luggage off to Jon and sit down at the piano."
Tico sat down on the bench next to David, watching his hands, smiling when he looked up and saw the serenity in his friend's face.
"Why?"
"I like it."
"I like drumming, but I don't do it all the time."
"'Cause it's too loud. And it's not just 'I like it', it's - I don't know, it's hard to explain. You'd get it if you tried it, I bet." His hands never stopped as he spoke, his arm brushing Tico's as he reached for the lower notes.
Tico shrugged. "Maybe. Probably not. Jon plays, and he isn't up at all hours of the morning playing any piano he can get his hands on."
"I didn't say everyone who plays gets it, I said you'd get it. Here." He reached out and placed Tico's right hand on the keyboard, arranging his fingers. "Watch, then copy me."
David plinked out a simple melody, then stared expectantly at Tico. Tico got the first two notes, but forgot which key David had hit third. His pinky came down when he pushed a key with his ring finger, the resulting sound making him flinch.
"Um. Okay, try this." David shifted so he was closer to Tico, arranging his hand next to Tico's. "When I move a finger, you move a finger."
One note right. Two notes. Three. But once again he hit two keys and cringed. David smiled at him. "Well, you're progressing."
"Sonatas are next, eh?"
David laughed. "Not quite. Here, scoot forward a little." Tico did, and David swung his leg over the back of the bench, shifted so he was right up against Tico, and brought his leg back over on the other side, moving to sit behind him.
"Okay, put your hands on the keyboard." David rested his hands on top of Tico's, arranging his fingers on top. He pressed down Tico's right index finger with his own, then the middle finger, then the ring. He hooked his pinky under Tico's to hold it up, then held up his ring finger while he pushed the pinky down. "There we go."
He tried to repeat the process with the left hand, but Tico's fingers were stubborn. Three tries, three failures, and David sighed, resting his chin on Tico's shoulder. "You have to relax your hands."
The heat of David's breath against his ear sent a little thrill down Tico's spine. He turned to say this was stupid, he was tired, it was time for both of them to go to bed. His protests died in his throat when David's lips met his.
His eyes widened, but he let David kiss him, moving his own lips as he relaxed against the strong body behind him. David started to move Tico's fingers against the keyboard, playing a soft melody with the other man's hands as his tongue sought access to his mouth.
Tico let him in, a warmth spreading through his body, every inch of him acutely aware of every inch of David against him. The hands on his set his nerve endings racing with undefined feelings, the little bit of warm skin on warm skin mimicking lips against lips.
David smiled softly when he pulled away, something unspoken dancing in his eyes as he once again rested his chin on Tico's shoulder.
"Where'd that come from?"
David shrugged - Tico couldn't see it, but he felt the shoulders behind him rise and fall. He glanced down, watching David's fingers running over the backs of his hands, lazily tracing aimless patterns on the skin, sending shivers through Tico.
"Why'd you come down here, Teek?"
"To find you." Why else would he be wandering the hotel at five in the morning?
"Why?" Good question. Off the top of his head, Tico didn't know. The most logical answer was Tico knew David would stay down here all morning if someone didn't drag him away. He'd sit and play, smiling at people walking in as the city and the hotel came to life, never caring that he hadn't slept and wasn't going to sleep. He would go to his room just before they had to leave for the arena, trying to convince the others he had indeed gotten a good night's rest even while he was falling asleep on someone's shoulder. Tico was just trying to get him back to his room and prevent that exhaustion from setting in.
But that wasn't the truth. "Because I knew you'd be here."
"That doesn't make any sense."
It did, to Tico. David sitting at the piano was one thing he could always count on. Late at night, or early in the morning, when he couldn't sleep for all the whys and what-ifs and hows and whens that plagued his mind, he could get on the elevator and find David behind a piano, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. He'd come to expect it, to rely on it. David's mere presence set him at ease, the fact of his existence in this one place something that all the restless late night questions and doubts and fears couldn't shake.
"Does it matter?"
David smiled again, Tico was sure he could feel the way his face shifted. "No." He leaned forward and kissed Tico again, curling his fingers around Tico's and bringing both their arms up to hold him close. It was unnecessary, neither one could move away on the small bench, but the gesture meant something both of them recognized.
They kissed for what could have been days, gently, softly, taking time to explore each other. There was no fire, this was no lusty precursor to the two of them ending up in bed together, but there was just as much passion. It coursed through their veins, passed between them through entwined fingers and fusing them together. Neither one cared that this was a hotel lobby, a public place, someone could walk by at any minute and see them. They were obscured from the apathetic man at the desk by an array of potted plants, obscured from the rest of the world by nothing more than their refusal to acknowledge anything but the simple fact of the two of them on that bench.
Somehow, somewhere in the back of his mind, teasing along the edges of his subconscious, Tico had known this would happen. Some part of him possessed the clairvoyance to see that this tender kiss on a piano bench was an inevitable conclusion.
And it was, indeed, a conclusion. The beginning of a new turn in their relationship, most definitely. But this - clasped hands, joined lips, closeness of bodies, breathing with and for each other - was the answer to a question, the answer to "Why'd you come down here, Teek?". David had unknowingly put into words the root of all Tico's late night whys and what-ifs and doubts and fears, then answered it himself. David's presence at the piano had put Tico at ease for years because this was where David needed to be for Tico to really, truly find him. Tico's trips to the lobby to watch David play were simply pieces of a larger puzzle that he had known existed but hadn't recognized.
The quest was over, the puzzle complete, the conclusion reached.
The kiss broke, David's soft smile underscored by the light in his eyes.
"Teek?"
"Hm?"
"It makes sense."