Riptide Ficlet - Out Loud
Title: Out Loud
Author: tinx_r
Fandom:Riptide
Pairing/Characters: Cody Allen/Nick Ryder
Challenge: 184 Sleepless for slashthedrabble
Crossposted: writers_choice, pier56
Rating/Category: PG/Slash
Word Count: 300
Summary: Some things need to be said out loud...
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money being made. No copyright infringement intended.
Beta: oddmonster who rocks. Srsly.
Notes/Warnings: Part of the Out of the Dark series, but I've skipped ahead some. Set pre-canon - 1981.
Out Loud
We were in the middle of a filthy heatwave, the daytime air stifling and laden with the taste of the city smog instead of the clean salt we usually breathed. Night was worse, the after-dark breeze stilled by the heat, and we sat on deck, irritable with the world and with each other.
That night Nick went to the other bunk. Since we'd been on the boat we'd never slept apart, but it was so damned hot, I didn't blame him.
Heatwave or not, I don't sleep well unless he's beside me, and I woke at two, uncomfortable and uneasy without him. "Nick," I whispered, hoping he was awake, and smiled when I heard him move.
His skin was hot against mine but I pulled him close anyway, relaxing as he rubbed my back. "I've got you, Cody," he muttered in my ear.
"Nick." I nuzzled his jaw, breathing him in. "Nick..."
"What is it, Cody?" His voice was soft, gentle, concerned. "Were you dreaming?"
"No." I hesitated, then said it out loud. "I just... needed you."
"Cody..." I heard the emotion shaking in his voice. "I need you, too, man. You know?"
"I know," I agreed. Nick and I had never put what we were to each other into words, but Nick doesn't have to talk to tell me things. I learned to read his eyes a long time ago. Sometimes he tells me more than he means to, that way. I squeezed my eyes shut, and said, very quietly, "I love you, Nick."
I felt him catch his breath, and then he said the words I'd seen so often in his eyes. "Cody, I love you too."
I didn't sleep any more that night, and neither did Nick. But this time it wasn't the heatwave keeping us awake.
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Author: tinx_r
Fandom:Riptide
Pairing/Characters: Cody Allen/Nick Ryder
Challenge: 184 Sleepless for slashthedrabble
Crossposted: writers_choice, pier56
Rating/Category: PG/Slash
Word Count: 300
Summary: Some things need to be said out loud...
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money being made. No copyright infringement intended.
Beta: oddmonster who rocks. Srsly.
Notes/Warnings: Part of the Out of the Dark series, but I've skipped ahead some. Set pre-canon - 1981.
Out Loud
We were in the middle of a filthy heatwave, the daytime air stifling and laden with the taste of the city smog instead of the clean salt we usually breathed. Night was worse, the after-dark breeze stilled by the heat, and we sat on deck, irritable with the world and with each other.
That night Nick went to the other bunk. Since we'd been on the boat we'd never slept apart, but it was so damned hot, I didn't blame him.
Heatwave or not, I don't sleep well unless he's beside me, and I woke at two, uncomfortable and uneasy without him. "Nick," I whispered, hoping he was awake, and smiled when I heard him move.
His skin was hot against mine but I pulled him close anyway, relaxing as he rubbed my back. "I've got you, Cody," he muttered in my ear.
"Nick." I nuzzled his jaw, breathing him in. "Nick..."
"What is it, Cody?" His voice was soft, gentle, concerned. "Were you dreaming?"
"No." I hesitated, then said it out loud. "I just... needed you."
"Cody..." I heard the emotion shaking in his voice. "I need you, too, man. You know?"
"I know," I agreed. Nick and I had never put what we were to each other into words, but Nick doesn't have to talk to tell me things. I learned to read his eyes a long time ago. Sometimes he tells me more than he means to, that way. I squeezed my eyes shut, and said, very quietly, "I love you, Nick."
I felt him catch his breath, and then he said the words I'd seen so often in his eyes. "Cody, I love you too."
I didn't sleep any more that night, and neither did Nick. But this time it wasn't the heatwave keeping us awake.
More Stories