Fic :: Priscilla :: Alice (2/2)

[zoicite]

Adam looked around the room and said, “I can’t believe I abandoned Felix for this.”

Tick had been surprised to see Adam, had tried to get him to go back to Felix, didn’t seem to realize that it was all too late. And now here they were, standing around, awkward and uncomfortable in some random child‘s bedroom.

“I can’t believe you did either,” Tick agreed. “I said it wasn’t important.”

The plan was juvenile. Tick wanted to get revenge on a ten year old kid for hiding his son’s toys by hiding Kent‘s toys instead. It was the kind of plan Adam would come up with.

Kent’s room was lined with action figures, mostly small army men. Boring. Their clothes were plastic.

“What’s the point?” Adam asked, poking at one of the soldiers.

“I don’t know,” Tick said. Tick probably had loads of plastic army men as a kid. “Help me out here. What do you think this Kent is really attached to?”

“Certainly not the same things I was attached to at his age,” Adam sniffed. He sat on the edge of Kent‘s bed, crossed his legs and smoothed the skirt over his thighs.

Tick grinned. “You don’t feel love for Madonna emanating from this bedroom?”

Adam snorted now, turned away, then figured what the hell, what else could he possibly lose today, and said, “You know, I always wanted some big butch man to fuck me while dressed as a ‘Like a Virgin’ Madonna.”

“I know,” Tick said, poking through a stack of comic books. “You’ve told me. I’m amazed that you haven’t managed to cross that off your list yet.”

Adam stood and moved toward Tick, leaned against the edge of the bookshelf, toes pointed as he smiled, long and slow.

Tick looked up at him and his eyes went wide as he held up his hands. “No,” he said, and took a step back and away from Adam.

“Married, wife and child. Doesn’t get much more butch than that,” Adam pointed out. He reached out to run the tips of his fingers down Tick’s arm.

Tick shook his hands at Adam, his laugh high and nervous as he looked away, eyes crinkled with it. It was almost the least butch thing he could have responded with.

“What about Felix?”

“Really, Mitz,” Adam said. “This family man side of you is kind of sexy.”

“Shut up,” Tick replied.

The scary part was that Adam was actually serious. It was sexy. He reached out for Tick, caught a hold of Tick’s shirt even as Tick tried to step out of the way. Eventually he had Tick cornered between the shelf of army men and a giant inflatable punching bag. He took Tick’s hand in his, guided it to his stockinged thigh, right where it disappeared beneath the skirt. Tick pulled his hand away as though he’d been burned. Adam smiled and shrugged and then leaned in and kissed Tick.

He’d imagined, hoped, that it would go differently. That they could start where they’d left off the other day, Tick’s tongue curling Adam’s toes, but they’d rewound much further than that, all the way back to the Tick who stood there frozen, had never kissed anyone before in his life and didn’t know what to do.

Come on, Adam thought. You can’t fool me anymore. I know you’re good at this. You could get me off with just a kiss. He wrapped his arms around Tick’s back, pulled their bodies close as he tried to persuade Tick to join him in this.

Tick was still holding his hands up in the air, wasn’t touching Adam at all, was just standing there letting Adam kiss him.

Adam was just about to give up when finally, finally, he felt Tick shift against him, felt Tick’s body fall out of its frozen state and relax against Adam. He kissed Adam in return, just once, not nearly enough, and then his hands found Adam’s shoulders and he was pushing Adam back, breaking them apart.

“What are you dong?” Tick asked, once he’d put some space between them.

Adam thought that maybe it was time. Time to just admit everything, put it all out there. “You know,” he offered. “I spent the first year we knew each other flirting with you.”

“I know,” Tick said.

“What?”

“I knew,” Tick repeated

“Well, why the hell didn’t you say anything? Because you’re straight?”

“No,” Tick said.

“When’s the last time you - “

Tick shrugged his shoulders and then reached out to wave his hand in Adam’s face, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re just not my type, Felicia.”

“Oh.” He’d known that really. Or he’d assumed.

“Listen,” Tick said, reached out to rub Adam’s bare shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just - “

Adam shrugged, brushed it off, and said, “How about his underwear?”

“What?”

“Steal the kid’s underwear,” Adam suggested.

“All of it?”

“Yeah,” Adam said. “This kid steals Benji’s stuff all the time. Let him walk around uncomfortably commando for a while. See how he likes it.”

Tick seemed to think this over for a long moment and then he grinned and crossed the room to Kent’s wardrobe.

**

Marion made the suggestion one week before their month-long contract was up.

“Why don’t you stay?” she asked, one hand on Tick’s knee, the other holding Adam’s hand. “You could live here with us. Benji would love it.”

“Live in Alice Springs,” Adam laughed, sure the others were thinking the same thing.

“Bernadette has already agreed,” Marion offered.

Adam felt his mouth fall open as he turned toward her. Bernadette looked away.

“I asked her to help me run the entertainment side of things. I could really use the help. And there’s Bob -”

“Being a wife is far from the end of the world, eh, Bernice?” Adam asked. She screwed up her face at him, but Adam could tell that she knew what he wasn’t saying. He was happy for her. He was even jealous, just a little.

“And Tick - “

“What would we do here?” Adam cut in, asked the real question since Tick seemed to be at a loss for words. He looked to Tick for support, but Tick didn’t look at all like he thought Marion and Bernadette were both off their rockers.

“Marion offered us another show,” Tick said, which was when Adam finally realized that he was the only one being convinced here. “Whatever we want. I was thinking a two-woman Madonna show.”

“Two?” Adam asked, offended that Tick would have already counted him out.

“I’m retired,” Bernadette said.

“I was hoping you’d stay on with me?” Tick asked.

“Live in Alice Springs,” Adam repeated, this time actually thinking about it seriously.

He remembered back to the exhilaration of standing on Ayer’s Rock in frocks with his closest friends. He thought of the way that Tick had stared at their hands intertwined there, just the three of them and the wind blowing through the feathers attached to their heads. He remembered the look on Tick’s face when they’d returned to the casino afterward and Benji had run to hug him, didn’t even blink at the sparkling hearts adorning Tick’s chest.

He thought of the way that Benji took his hand when they walked together, the way that he giggled, high and unfiltered when Adam picked him up and tipped him upside down. When he laughed like that he looked just like Tick.

He’d miss everything if he went back to Sydney.

And on top of that, he’d have to do the drive back alone. He’d probably break down in Coober Pedy of all places.

“Adam?” Tick asked.

“Oh, all right,” Adam concluded finally. “Alice Springs it is. Not forever, just until we finish this second show, okay?”

Tick’s grin was enormously wide as he reached for Adam, pulled him into a tight hug. Adam pressed his face to the warm skin of Tick’s neck and held on.

**

They started rehearsing the next morning, Benji watching from his spot on the floor, legs folded underneath him and chin resting in his hands.

Tick even let Adam have some input on the choreography, and when Benji clapped and cheered at the end of each number, there was no other word for it, Tick glowed.

Bernadette slipped in once in a while, stayed for one song, then rolled her eyes at them both and left. She wasn’t fooling anyone. Adam caught her smile just before she turned. Love looked good, even on someone as old as Bernice. Even more so on Tick, whose usual shtick of playful slaps and wrestling had evolved, most likely to make up for the slight from days prior, to include the caress of his hand along Adam’s back before coming to rest comfortably on Adam’s shoulder. This new Tick hugged him sometimes just because.

He was overcompensating.

Still, Adam didn’t plan to comment on it, hugged Tick back instead, lingered maybe just a little too long.

The Adam of a few months ago never thought he’d say this, but despite the fact that he was horny as hell, had been rejected by his best friend, and there wasn’t a fuck in sight, life in Alice Springs wasn’t actually looking so bad.

**

Adam watched Tick and Benji splash around in the pool, throwing a ball back and forth. Benji had awful aim so each time it was his turn to throw Tick dove dramatically in an attempt to catch the ball and Benji dissolved into hysterical giggles that sputtered with water as he jumped up and down.

“See that boy over there?” Marion asked from her perch on the chair beside Adam‘s.

It was her day off, which meant Adam couldn’t get rid of her.

“Where?” Adam asked.

“Folding towels by the bar,” Marion clarified.

Adam squinted. “Sure,” he said. “That your boyfriend?”

“No,” Marion laughed. “But he’s gorgeous, he’s gay, and he’s been at your show on all of his nights off.”

“What’s his name?” Adam asked. Benji was calling Adam’s name and Adam watched Benji jump and down in the shallow water, waved back.

“Dex,” Marion supplied.

Adam glanced over at Dex. He was blond, probably had gorgeous blue eyes. He looked young. He looked boring.

“He’s going to the show for Mitzi,” Adam concluded. He leaned back and flopped his arm over his face, blocked his eyes from the sun. Benji was still calling him.

“Maybe,” Marion agreed. “But Tick’s not going to give him the time of day, so if some other gorgeous bloke decided to step in, I’m sure - “

“I’m trying out celibacy,” Adam grunted from beneath his arm. “I hear it’s very rewarding.”

“What?” Marion laughed, and then laughed harder when Benji suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flung himself at Adam, soaking wet child flopped across Adam’s chest.

“Come in the pool,” Benji demanded. “Benji the Avenger orders you to come in the pool!” He wiggled his arms and legs around on Adam, the hair on his head brushing Adam’s chin as he tried to get Adam as wet as possible.

Tick was out of the pool now too, standing over Adam and dripping down on him. He nudged Adam’s side and then sat down on the edge of Adam’s chair. Benji slid off Adam’s chest so that he was resting beside Adam now, head resting comfortably on Adam’s arm. Tick shook his hair over Adam, not that it mattered now, Adam was already pretty wet, then danced his fingers up Adam’s bare chest and said, “Benji’s been asking me to get you into the pool.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Adam asked, squinted up at Tick.

Tick shrugged and then stretched out on the chair beside Adam, body pressed to Adam’s side, his feet hanging off the end and his cheek resting on Adam’s other shoulder. There wasn’t enough room. These chairs weren’t meant for one adult and a child, let alone two adults and one child, and Tick had to wrap an arm across Adam to keep from rolling off. He played it off by reaching over to muse Benji’s wet hair. Benji laughed.

“Adam’s celibate now,” Marion’s voice cut in, tone laced in knowing amusement. Adam didn‘t know what she thought she knew, but whatever it was, he had a feeling she was probably wrong. “Have you heard?”

“What are you celebrating?” Benji asked. He copied his father, stretched his small arm across Adam’s chest so that Adam was effectively wrapped in them both.

Tick laughed at the misunderstanding, turned his face into Adam’s shoulder and pressed his smile to Adam’s skin.

“What?” Benji asked. He pushed up against Adam, the press of his hands painful on Adam’s chest as he reached across to poke at Tick’s face. “Is it Adam’s birthday?”

“It’s not my birthday,” Adam said.

He couldn’t sit here like this anymore. It was too intimate, too close to what he’d caught himself wanting lately, too close to what he‘d already been told he couldn‘t have. He dislodged his arms and slapped their shoulders, “Okay,” he said. “Get up. You win. I’m going in the pool.”

**

“I want to dance,” Adam groaned.

They’d just finished the final show of their original contract with Marion. They had been scheduled to head back to Sydney tomorrow morning. No one was going anywhere. Adam had called his mother and told her the news and she’d fluttered and sighed and asked if he’d met any nice girls. He said yes and then hung up on her.

He was going crazy, itching with it, ready to climb out of his skin. It was one thing when he knew that things were going to change, that he was going back to his old routine at home. Now though, now this was home, at least for the time being. Adam needed an outlet, and so far dancing was the best he’d found in Alice Springs.

“Not me,” Bernadette said. “The only dancing I’m doing from now on is ballroom.”

“Boring,” Adam sang, dismissed Bernadette with a wave of his hand. He plucked at his frock, not ready to take it off, his heels tapping at the floor. “I’ve gotta get out of here. Dance and fuck and scream.”

“So much for celibacy, eh?” Tick laughed. He slid off his shoes and rubbed at his feet.

“Celibacy?” Bernadette repeated, aghast.

“Come on, girls,“ Adam tried again. “Let’s celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?” Bernadette asked.

“Our last show,” Adam said. “Our next show. Who cares. Madonna.”

“Madonna,” Tick laughed. He stood and then reached for Adam‘s hand. “Okay, let’s celebrate.”

“Really?” Adam asked, sure he’d be on his own.

“Count me out,” Bernadette said.

Adam took Tick’s hand, let him pull until Adam was standing, almost the same height as Tick now that he was wearing shoes and Tick was barefoot.

“She’s honeymooning,” Tick said, voice low as he leaned in toward Adam.

“Oh, shut up,” Bernadette said, then she smiled and added, “It’s true.”

Of course it was.

Adam and Tick left Bernadette to her honeymooning.

They left Bernadette and they got pissed and donned their favorite frocks and went to the only dance club in the casino. The patrons mostly knew them, had seen the show, and they were swarmed and fondled, handed drinks left and right. They danced half the night and when Adam reached up and pulled Tick down into a kiss, Tick held on, kissed him back immediately, all tongues and urgency there on the dance floor for one long moment until Tick ruined it by laughing.

“What?” Adam asked.

“I‘m fucking pissed,” Tick admitted, hands on his mouth.

“I know,” Adam agreed as he reached for Tick and kissed him again.

Adam wasn‘t an idiot. He wasn‘t going to try to push anything while they were both in this state. Maybe three years ago, but now he valued their friendship too much to fuck it up like that. Instead he kissed Tick again, allowed himself a moment to revel in the feel of Tick’s mouth, hot against his, of Tick’s hands gripping him, holding him close.

Eventually it was time to leave and Adam helped Tick back to his room, tossed Tick onto his bed and removed his shoes.

Back in his own room, Adam stripped off his clothes. He jerked off, eyes closed tight, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about Tick the entire time.

**

Adam was starting to think he must have been out of his mind when he agreed to stay in Alice Springs indefinitely. He’d been cornered, someone must have slipped something into his tonic.

“My dick might as well shrivel up and fall off for all the use it’s getting,” Adam griped, stretched out across the sofa in Bernadette’s room.

“Poor dear,” Bernadette said, her voice dry.

“It’s been almost two months, Bernice. Almost two months between being stuck on Priscilla with you and sexual purgatory in Alice Springs.”

“Maybe it’s time you found a nice bloke and settled down,” Bob suggested. He reached out and set a hand on Bernadette’s thigh as he said it. It was disgustingly sweet. Even so Bernadette snorted at Bob’s suggestion and Adam rolled his eyes.

“My life doesn’t need to end at 27, thank you.”

“Well, what about you and Tick?” Bob asked. “You boys looked pretty cozy over at the bar a few weeks back.”

“Oh, sure,” Adam said. “Mitzi’s always been a wonderful performer, hasn’t she? Unfortunately, Bob, I’m not Tick’s type.”

Bernadette laughed.

“What’s so funny now?”

“Of course you’re his type, sweetheart,” Bernadette said. “Why else would he have asked you to come all the way out here?”

“I’m his best mate,” Adam said, eyes narrowed. “Why wouldn’t he want me to -”

“Oh, his best mate,” Bernadette said, turning to Bob, eyebrows raised, lips pursed, disapproving. “And I suppose I’m chopped liver.“ Now back to Adam. “Besides, wasn’t it just a week or two ago that you assured me that none of this was what I thought?”

Adam waved her off. “Not the point.”

“You’re feeling rejected,” Bernadette suggested. “You spent a long time pining after Mitzi Mitosis only to find out she just wasn’t interested.”

Jesus, everyone had known.

“How many friends do you think Tick has?” Bernadette asked.

“So what,” Adam asked.

“Really good ones.”

“Two,” Adam said. It was probably three. Adam was pretty sure that Tick would count Marion in the list.

“Two,” she agreed. “And what would have happened if Tick had let young Adam Whitely mount him backstage at the Cockatoo Club three years ago?”

“How should I know?” Adam sniffed.

“I’m guessing we probably wouldn’t be sitting in Alice Springs together having this conversation now, would we? After all, who wants their life to end at twenty four?”

“I didn’t mean - “

“I know, dear,” Bernadette said. “But you know how Tick can be. And he’s been a mess this last month. Either way, rest assured, from everything that I know of Tick Belrose, you are most definitely his type. And nothing we‘ve learned since we left Sydney has changed that.“

“See, there’s some good news, eh?” Bob asked, hopeful.

Adam just shrugged. When he got up to leave, Bernadette said, “Be easy with him.” The tone of her voice was soft, but Adam recognized the edge there, the unspoken addition. “or I’ll break you.”

**

Adam watched Mitzi put on her makeup, the lipstick, the glitter, and thought about what Bernadette had said.

Why else would he have asked you to come all the way out here? How many friends do you think Tick has? Of course you‘re his type, sweetheart.

Tick positioned the blonde wig on his head. He lifted the black coned bra from the table and slid it onto his shoulders, turned to glance over at Adam. He huffed a little when he saw that Adam was just sitting there watching him.

“This is a dress rehearsal, Felicia,” Tick said. “You’re supposed to be dressed.”

“Fuck off,” Adam said. He’d started getting ready. He’d shaved. He was down to his skivvies. Then he’d been distracted. “Some of us are born with the beauty it takes you an hour to achieve.”

Tick snorted and shifted the wig on his head.

Adam clicked his knuckles against his dressing table. Dammit, Bernadette drove him crazy. Why else would he have asked you to come all the way out here?

“Why didn’t you ask Steve to come out here?” Adam asked.

“Farrah?” Tick laughed as he clipped the bra at his back.

“Sure,” Adam said.

“Bernadette would have left Farrah on the side of the road,” Tick said. “We never would have made it all the way here.”

Adam reached for his black corset and Tick stood to help him hook it in the back. Once it was on, Adam sighed and said, “Farrah’s a better drag queen than I am.”

“Shut up,” Tick said and slapped Adam‘s bum, hard. “You’re a great performer.”

“Is that why I’m here? For a show?” Adam sat back in his chair and started arranging his makeup in front of him.

“Of course not,” Tick said.

“Right,” Adam said. “I guess that wouldn’t be true. You did invite Bernadette.”

Tick reached out and placed a hand on Adam‘s shoulder. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Adam said.

Of course you‘re his type, Bernadette had said.

Bernadette would know. She was always ahead of the rest of them when it came to this kind of thing. She got Tick, knew him in ways that Adam didn’t. Of course you’re his type.

If Bernadette didn’t think that Tick had a soft spot for Adam, she probably would have left Adam on the side of the road too.

Why don’t you just do what you normally do? Tick had asked him back in the bar. Back when Adam thought Felix would do just fine. Stick your hand down his pants, push him over the table and mount him.

And okay, Adam had sort of already tried that with Tick. In a child‘s room though, which didn‘t exactly set the right mood.

“Guess who I ran into this morning,“ Adam said.

Tick groaned. “Please don’t tell me Farrah is here. Is that what all of this is about?“

“No,” Adam said. “Not Farrah. That kid that steals Benji’s dog.”

“Kent,” Tick supplied.

“Yeah,” Adam said. “Walking around the casino with a scowl on his face. Picking his shorts and adjusting like crazy.”

Tick smiled. “His mother refuses to buy him new underwear until he figures out how he lost all of the old.”

“Guess he hasn’t thought to check the secret passages yet,” Adam said.

“Oh, I moved them,” Tick said. “Didn’t want him to connect them to Benji and retaliate.”

“What did you do with them?” Adam asked.

Tick crouched down beside Adam, his hands on Adam’s knees. He was all Mitzi as he leaned in close, as though he planned to kiss Adam, but instead said, “I threw them away.”

Adam gasped. “Evil, Mitz.”

Mitzi’s grin was slow and wide, intentionally suggestive. Stick your hand up her skirt, Adam thought. Bend him over the table and mount him.

Tick wasn’t actually trying to suggest any of this, was flirting just because that’s what he did when he was on, but still. Bernadette’s words echoed in Adam’s ear and Adam thought, maybe. Maybe it was worth another shot, a proper shot. Everything out there on a plate so that all Tick had to do was give in and take it.

He looked past Tick and his eye caught on the white frock he’d wear during his ‘Like a Virgin’ number. He’d brought it with him from Sydney, hadn’t had any reason to put it on in weeks.

He turned to find Tick watching him, close. Tick reached up, brushed a piece of hair from Adam’s forehead. As Tick stood, Adam saw him glance back, discrete, checking to see what had caught Adam’s attention.

“Anyway,” Tick said, turning back to Adam. His smile and the tilt of his head suggested full on Mitzi again. “Guess who I ran into this morning.”

“Who?”

“Felix,” Mitzi grinned. She extended a finger and bent it toward Adam in that stupid miniature wave. “He asked about you.”

Adam hadn’t been back in the bar much since Felix called everything off. He’d been busy with the show, with rehearsals, with Tick and with Benji. He shrugged now and opened a drawer beneath his table, pulled out a pair of tights.

“Uh oh,” Tick said. He sat in Bernadette’s empty chair, leaned forward to hear the gossip. “Did you fight?” He made a face then and lowered his voice as he continued, “Is he bad in bed? Small cock?”

There it was again, the miniature one finger wave, but this time Adam laughed despite himself.

“No,” Adam said. “Just not sure Felix is my type after all.”

Tick was quiet for a while after that. He watched Adam get ready, watched as Felicia donned her frock and tended to her face.

Eventually, when Adam had faded to the background and Felicia was nearly ready to take the stage, Tick sighed and said, “Well, you know what Bernadette would say. You never know unless-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adam cut in with an exaggerated roll of the eyes. Felix wasn’t going to happen. Felix had been a distraction. It was always about Tick, had been for years.

“Let’s go, Madonna,” Tick said, held out an arm for Adam to take. Adam took it, let Tick twine their fingers together as he pulled Adam toward the door. He felt Tick’s thumb slide across his wrist, the movement rhythmic and comforting. It reminded him of the rhythm of the dance floor that night, the way that Tick, high on the music, drunk on it, had held on when Adam had kissed him, had kissed back, had wanted it.

Maybe Bernadette really was right. Again.

You never know unless you give it a go.

**

Laughter wasn’t really the reaction that Adam expected.

He’d spent an hour in their dressing room applying the make-up and getting situated in the white frock. He’d spent an hour making sure that his wig was just right, preparing himself in every way possible for this.

He frowned now, hands at his hips, waiting for Tick to collect himself.

“Are you finished?” he asked when Tick finally stopped giggling.

“Just about,” Tick said. “I’m happy for you, Felicia.”

“Happy?” Adam repeated. He hadn’t planned talking. He’d planned to get inside, get Tick onto the bed, get things moving before anyone tried to ruin the mood with words.

“Fulfilling another dream, I see,” Tick clarified. “Felix is going to be a lucky man tonight.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Even with the revelation that Tick had been aware of Adam’s flirting years ago, Tick still had to be the most oblivious person Adam had ever met. He probably had no idea what was going on until Marion had him standing there at the altar. Probably didn’t even notice that she was pregnant until the doctor announced, “It’s a boy!”

Adam didn’t say any of this though. Now was not the time for bickering with Tick, as fun as that could be. Instead Adam tilted his head, smiled long and slow.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Tick frowned at Adam, his face scrunched as though he sensed now, finally, that something was up but was still too dense to pinpoint the reason that Adam would be showing up at his room decked out in a wedding dress and strategically ripped fishnets.

Didn’t they just have this conversation a few days ago? It shouldn’t be taking Tick this long to catch on.

Eventually Tick stepped aside and Adam slid into the room past him, sliding his fingers across Tick’s chest as he went.

“What are you doing here?” Tick asked, finally.

“We just spent weeks packed in together on a bus like sardine’s and now I need a reason to see you?” Adam asked.

“Fair enough,” Tick agreed. “But if you’re planning to get fucked tonight, you better get on with it.”

He was talking about Felix, Adam knew, but he smiled anyway.

“What do you think I’m doing here?” he asked.

Adam sat on the edge of the bed, leaned back, spread his legs so that the layers of lace settled between them.

“Adam,” Tick started.

Adam reached up, pulled the wig from his head and tossed it aside.

He wasn’t an idiot. Tick wasn’t going to be seduced by Madonna in drag. There was a reason Tick had run from his wife. Tick wasn’t looking for some illusion of femininity, at least not outside of himself. Adam leaned back further, lifted and bent his left leg until his foot rested on the edge of the bed. He reached into his corset and pulled out his tits, tossed those to the floor with the wig.

Tick stood there in his ridiculous green pyjamas, feet bare against the carpet. His arms were folded tight across his chest, his brow furrowed, frozen there in a state of indecision.

Come on, Mitzi, Adam thought. Last chance. Make up your damn mind. Have your fun, mock me, kick me out. Or get over here and let’s get to it already. Don’t just stand there.

Adam reached toward his knee, fingers tangled in the layers of his skirt. He slid his hand up his thigh, pulling the skirt up as he went until finally Tick’s furrowed brow smoothed out, the troubled expression sliding from Tick’s face, replaced by an open look of something - fear, lust, Adam wasn‘t quite sure.

Adam knew what Tick was seeing now. He’d chosen a pair of cheap fishnets that Tick had purchased and then bitched about for weeks. The tights were net all the way up to the waist band. “Cheap uncomfortable pieces of shit,” Tick had said. Adam had grabbed them from his hands. “I’ll find some use for them,” he offered.

And he had. He’d skipped underwear entirely, had gone straight for the fishnets and now he was hard, could feel his cock straining against the netting, knew how it must look.

“Adam,” Tick said again, nearly chocked on it. His hand flew up to cover his mouth as though he’d just cursed in front of his grandmother. His fingernails were painted red.

Adam was sure Tick’s next move would be to turn away, had no other tricks to pull out, nothing else to offer. He’d imagined that it wouldn’t mean anything, this. Just a fuck between friends, but now that he was here, ready, he suddenly knew why he’d never pursued this harder years ago. The idea of being truly rejected by Tick was terrifying. Tick knew him better than anyone and if Tick really didn’t want him, not even for something as uncomplicated as a roll in the sack, well then -

Tick turned suddenly toward the door, exactly as Adam predicted. Adam’s sharp intake of breath was audible in the quiet of the room, out before he could contain it. Tick heard, of course.

He turned back toward Adam, took the few steps to the bed and then reached out to set a hand on Adam’s knee.

“Come on,” Tick said and reached for Adam’s hand. Adam was going to kill Bernadette.

He wanted to refuse Tick, wanted to spit out a biting retort. He couldn’t come up with anything though and settled for tilting his chin up in a defiant stare. He didn’t lift a finger, didn’t reach for Tick’s hand. If Tick wanted out, he could be the one to leave.

Eventually Tick seemed to get that Adam wasn’t going to give in and he dropped his hand back down to Adam’s knee, plucked at Adam’s stockings.

“I get it,” Adam said, finally, sick of the holding pattern they were stuck in. “Just go then.”

‘All right,” Tick agreed, but he didn’t leave. He’d finally been pushed to the limit of his predictability because instead of leaving, Tick dropped to his knees in front of Adam, no longer visible behind the wall that Adam had created with his skirts.

“What -” Adam started, but didn’t finish because Tick was removing the pump from Adam’s right foot. Then Tick’s hands were on Adam’s left, grabbing at the shoe and tossing it aside before he began pulling Adam’s leg off the bed and toward him. Adam pushed himself up into a sitting position and Tick reached for his arms, pulled him down until his mouth met Tick’s in a kiss.

Adam almost couldn’t believe, even with Tick’s tongue pushing its way into Adam’s mouth, that this might actually be happening.

Couldn’t believe it, but Jesus Christ, he was hot for this. He grabbed for Tick as he slid off the edge of the bed, desperate to get closer. He straddled Tick’s thighs, fingers holding tight to the green sleeves Tick‘s pyjamas.

Tick reached up and pulled the stocking cap from Adam’s head, ran his fingers through Adam’s flattened hair. Tick seemed just as desperate for him now and Adam wondered how they couldn’t have guessed that this was how it would be between them if they’d just paid attention and given it a shot.

You never know unless you give it a go.

“She always has to be right,” Adam said, his words a little breathless against Tick’s mouth.

“What?” Tick asked, didn’t wait for Adam’s answer before his mouth was on Adam’s again.

Adam kissed him back, his hands everywhere, on Tick’s shoulders, his neck, in his hair. He was hard and uncomfortable and he didn’t care as long as Tick kept doing this, kissing him, sucking at his tongue. Tick’s hands slid down Adam’s back until they were gripping his arse, pulling him forward, closer, closer. They had too many clothes between them and Adam‘s hands slid down to work at the buttons of Tick‘s shirt.

He managed to get the first few loose. He pushed the shirt back off Tick‘s shoulders, abandoned Tick‘s mouth to kiss the exposed skin of his neck, his chest. His fingers continued to work the buttons free as Tick held on, kept him close, his nose pressed into Adam‘s hair. Finally Adam reached the last button, but his fingers kept moving down until finally they reached their destination, palm pressed flat to the bulge at the front of Tick‘s pants.

Tick thrust up into his hand, turned Adam’s head back up so that he could claim his mouth again.

Adam smiled against Tick‘s kiss, pulled back just far enough to say, “Guess you can’t be totally straight then, can you?”

Tick pinched his side hard and then pushed Adam back. He shoved at Adam’s skirts, pushing them up, exposing Adam’s confined dick, and then, without another word, Tick leaned over Adam, bent down until he was lost behind the wall of lace. Adam gasped when he felt Tick‘s mouth on him, licking around the lines of the net.

Well, it certainly proved that point.

And then Tick started laughing, puffs of warm breath against sensitive skin.

“Are you laughing?” Adam asked.

“Sorry,” Tick said.

Adam tried to get the layers of his skirt out of the way so that he could see Tick. “What’s - are you laughing at my dick?”

“No,” Tick said, “No, just - I can’t believe you - this looks so uncomfortable, Jesus.”

“It is,” Adam grunted.

“These fucking tights,” Tick said. “I can’t believe you kept them.”

“Will you shut up and do something down there already?” Adam asked. “You’re ruining this.”

Adam thought he saw Tick shrug and then Tick’s fingers slipped through the netting and pulled. Everything got too tight for a second and Adam gasped, twitched, ready to kick at Tick, but then he felt the tights rip free, and Tick right there so it felt like his dick fell from its net straight into Tick‘s waiting hand.

Tick held it for a moment, felt the weight of it as his thumb slide up and down the length. Adam threw his head back and waited impatiently for what Tick planned to do next. Adam didn’t care. All he cared was that finally someone was touching him, that best of all that someone was Tick. Fuck, it was like all of his dreams from three years ago finally coming true.

He wasn’t paying attention, so he jumped a little when he felt Tick’s lips, warm at the tip of his dick, and he thrust forward before he could stop himself. Tick set a hand at his thigh to steady him, but he wasn’t thrown by Adam’s movement, was slowly sliding his mouth down Adam’s cock, his tongue pressed firm against the underside, until finally, Tick’s mouth met the spot where his hand was wrapped around the base.

Well, he’d certainly done this before.

“Jesus, Tick,” Adam groaned. He pressed down the layers of his skirt until his hands found Tick’s head, fingers in his hair, not pushing, just touching, wanting that additional connection.

He was going to come if Tick kept this up. He was going to come fast and hot down Tick’s throat and while the thought made him gasp, twitch against Tick‘s tongue, it wasn’t the ending he’d envisioned.

He pulled at Tick’s hair and Tick grunted around Adam’s dick. He got the hint though and his hand disappeared from Adam’s thigh, only to reappear lower. His finger slid in, easy, and Tick made a noise in his throat as he slid it out only to return with two.

His fingers disappeared again, replaced with the press of Tick’s thumb, and then finally, just in time, Tick’s mouth abandoned Adam and he sat back, laughed, and said, “You little slut.”

“What?” Adam asked. He’d spent an hour getting ready. He’d spent time preparing for this in every way. “Didn’t want you to rip me apart.”

Tick face read offended horror.

Adam rolled his eyes. “You were supposed to push me against the wall and fuck me. I wasn‘t anticipating all of this foreplay.”

“Well,” Tick said, removed his hands and held them up. “Sorry I’m not living up to your - “

“Oh, shut up,” Adam snapped, sitting up so that he could reach Tick, pull him down into a kiss. Tick laughed against Adam’s mouth, his hands finding their way back between Adam’s legs, but only for a moment and then Tick was talking again.

“How do you want to do this then?” Tick asked.

“I don’t care,” Adam said. “Just do it already, will you?”

“It’s your fantasy,” Tick reasoned. “I thought you might - “

“This is not my fantasy,” Adam assured him. It was a lie. This may not have been exactly his Madonna ‘Like a Virgin’ fantasy, but he and Tick here, this, there was still definitely something getting completed on his list tonight.

He’d tucked a condom and a small bottle of lubricant into the top of his frock and he pulled them out now, pushed them into Tick’s hand.

“You really thought this through,” Tick said, but he was moving again, shoving his pants down off his hips as he ripped the package open with his teeth.

Been thinking about it three long years, baby. Used to think about it every night, sitting there in Mitzi’s dressing room.

As soon as it was free, Adam’s hands were on Tick’s dick, pumping once, twice, and then reluctantly releasing him so that Tick could slide the condom around the end.

“Get up on the bed,” Tick said, and it sounded low, butch, an order. This was more like it, Adam thought. Tick was getting into this now, remembered what Adam had wanted. Fuck, this was going to be good.

Adam scrambled on the floor, kneeling on his skirts and nearly falling before he finally got himself up onto the bed.

“Turn around,” Tick said, and his voice was still gruff, though it looked a little like he was trying not to smile. Adam ignored that part, did as he was told. Tick’s hands were a little too gentle as they moved Adam back toward him, as they pushed the white skirt up around his waist, even as they ripped a larger hole into the fishnet stockings. When he pushed inside it was slow, careful, but Adam gasped anyway, pushed back against him, waited for more.

“Come on,” Adam said, urging Tick on. It’d been so long since he’d been fucked. He wanted it harder, faster. He wanted it to last forever.

Tick obliged, gripping at Adam’s waist as he found a rhythm, deeper, faster. Adam could feel the nettimg, tight on his thighs, the corset cutting in at his waist, and Tick’s hands, holding him steady as Tick fucked him.

Jesus, it was finally happening. How many times had he fantasized about this back at the beginning? How many times had he sat there at the Cockatoo Club imagining the things he’d let Tick do to him? And now he was here, in Alice Springs, frocked up as Madonna, bent unceremoniously over a bed as he felt every inch of Tick sliding inside of him.

Tick lifted a leg onto the edge of the bed to give himself better leverage, and his next thrust was deeper than the last, hit all of Adam’s favourite spots. Adam reached back, his fingers brushing at Tick’s ankle before he buried his hand beneath his skirt, wrapped it around his dick, swollen and ready.

Tick’s hand slid up the length of Adam’s back, palm curling around Adam’s shoulder, right close to his neck so that his thumb brushed the back of it with each thrust.

It was too much, all of it, and Adam gasped and turned toward Tick‘s hand, buried his face against his shoulder as he cried out and came hard across his palm. Tick moaned in response, felt it, the way that Adam’s body clenched with it, gripped Tick harder as the orgasm coursed through him. Tick continued to push, in, in, and Adam felt it spark through his body again and again.

Adam let his dick fall from his hand, wiped his palm on his thigh, and then reached back for Tick.

“Don’t stop,” Adam said. “Keep going.”

“Okay,” Tick agreed, each syllable a gasp. But he didn’t have long. It only took another moment before Tick was following Adam, before Tick’s fingers gripped hard at Adam’s shoulder and Tick shuddered and pressed above him. And then Tick was pulling out, reaching for Adam again, turning him and pulling him in so until their mouths met.

It had been too long since their last kiss, and this one felt full of renewed desperation, lewd promise. He hoped that he was reading Tick right, that the kiss meant that there was more to come, that nothing had really been quenched here. They‘d be doing this again. And again and again.

Eventually it was Tick who broke the kiss, rolled away from Adam to stare up at the ceiling, chest still heaving just a little.

Adam reached up, mimed drawing a check mark in the air above them, and Tick laughed.

“It’s about time you crossed that one off,” Tick said. “It’s only been, what? Three years?”

“Yeah,” Adam said, “About time.“ though he suspected they might be talking about slightly different things.

Adam sat up and looked around at the mess they’d made of the room.

Tick reached out, a hand on Adam’s arm, and said, “You staying?” He was asking about that night, but Adam knew he meant longer.

Adam turned and looked down at Tick. He looked a mess. His hair stuck out every which way and Adam’s lipstick was smudged on his lips. Adam could only imagine what he must look like if Tick looked this disheveled. Didn’t matter, really. It had been worth it.

Adam began undoing his corset, tsked at the black smudge of makeup on the white fabric.

“Fuck,” Adam said, licked his finger and rubbed at the spot.

“I’ll get it out tomorrow,” Tick promised.

“Bernadette is going to have a field day with this,” Adam said.

Tick shrugged. “We don’t have to tell her.”

“We do if we’re going to keep going at it,” Adam countered. “Bernie’s old, but she’s not senile. Not yet anyway.”

“Adam - I - “ Tick started and then frowned and said, “I don’t know if this is a good time for this.”

“I’m not saying we start planning a gay ol’ wedding here. I was thinking more of an I’ll scratch your itch if you scratch mine arrangement.”

Tick rolled his eyes, laughed, and said, “Oh, well, if that’s what you were thinking then we’re definitely keeping that between us. Me and you. Benji doesn’t need to know about anything unless it’s serious. Bernadette doesn’t need to know.”

“Bernadette’s going to figure it out,” Adam scoffed. “She’ll smell it on us. Old dog.”

“I know,” Tick said. “Let her figure it out though. It’ll be fun for her. She’ll enjoy it.”

Adam shrugged. “Fine by me,” he said. He finished pulling off the corset and the skirt, leaned over to roll the ripped fishnets down to his toes. He felt Tick’s fingers low on his back and he smiled, turned back to see Tick’s face as he kicked the fishnets from his feet and onto the floor. Tick was staring at Adam’s back, watching the path of his fingers on Adam’s skin.

Adam leaned back again, settled in beside Tick. Yeah. He‘d be staying a while.

**

They kept it from everyone for weeks. If by keeping it from everyone meant that Tick told Marion and Tick told Bernadette and Bernadette told Bob and Adam didn’t say a word about it to anyone just as he‘d promised. It was pretty much exactly what Adam had expected to happen.

It didn’t matter that nearly everyone knew. It still felt like a secret, like an affair, as they pushed each other into hallways and cupboards, mouths sucking, taking, hands groping over clothing fast and furious as they glanced over their shoulders to make sure they were still alone.

Adam couldn’t keep his hands off of Tick, secretly thought he must be making up for lost time.

His knees ached from the press of the concrete floor in their dressing room. His jaw was sore and his mouth watered with the taste of Tick, with the shape of him stretching past his lips.

Tick hadn’t wanted this. “Not now,” he’d said. “Wait until we’re in my room.” He was worried that they’d be interrupted, that someone might be waiting now that the show had ended, Marion or Bernadette. They could wait.

Anyway, Tick didn’t seem that worried anymore, hands in Adam’s hair, fingers pressing against Adam’s scalp. Adam thought of all the orgasms that they’d wasted, that should have spilled like this one, thick over Adam’s tongue as Tick buckled and moaned above him.

Adam had a lot of catching up to do.

When they were alone, locked in one of their rooms, they took their time, kissing each other, fucking thoroughly, completely. Adam was in love with Tick’s face, with the way the lines smoothed out, an open expression of pleasure as Adam pushed inside him. It looked a lot like love in that moment and Adam felt it in his dick, in his stomach and his heart.

Tick liked it on his back, liked to be able to see Adam as Adam pressed into him. Tick was a fucking disgusting romantic, worse than Adam had imagined, and Adam was loving every single moment of it.

Tick sighed beside him. The sigh sounded heavy and Adam turned to him and said, “What? Don‘t tell me you‘re up for another go already?”

Tick smiled. “No,” he said, then shrugged, looked away, and finally admitted what was on his mind. “I don’t remember ever being this happy before.”

“Wow,” Adam said after a long moment of silence. “I always knew I was a good shag, but really Mitz. And here I thought you agreed when Bernadette said my ego was larger than her ass.”

“She didn’t - she said to get your head out of - never mind,” Tick gave up. “You know what I mean.”

“Sure,” Adam conceded.

“I always just assumed that to be true to myself, I had to give up what I had here,” Tick said. “That I couldn’t be me and have Benji too. And now I have Benji and you and Marion and Bernadette. Bob. I’m not sure I deserve it, really.”

“Oh, I’m heading back to Sydney in the morning,” Adam said, dismissive.

Tick laughed. “Benji would never forgive you,” he said. It sounded a lot like saying that Tick would never forgive him.

“Mm,” Adam shrugged, kept his face serious only until he saw Tick’s smile falter, suddenly unsure. Then Adam laughed, leaned in to kiss him.

“I just don’t want anything to screw up what I’ve started here, you know?”

“You’re going to be a great father,” Adam assured him.

“Yeah,” Tick said. “I’m going to try.”

“And anyway, Benji‘s all for this.”

“What?” Tick asked, his voice hard, clearly surprised.

“We talked about it,” Adam said.

“You talked to Benji about you and - about this? When?”

“Well, not this,” Adam said. “It was weeks ago, before any itches were being scratched. We were joking around. Benj was offering to help me find a boyfriend again, you know how he can’t let that go. I said I didn’t need help. He said he thought I did - your kid’s mouthy, by the way - I said, ‘oh yeah? Maybe I’ll date your daddy, how would you like that?’ thinking he’d be disgusted and we could talk about superheroes or tree houses or something instead.”

“What did he say?” Tick asked, his face pale and serious.

Adam’s voice was high and nasal as he did his best Benji impression. “Oh, really, Adam? Really? That would be perfect.”

Tick turned away from Adam but even looking toward the wall, Tick’s grin was blinding.

“And that was when I decided I was packing up and moving back to Sydney,” Adam concluded.

“Liar,” Tick laughed. “God, he’s so amazing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adam agreed. “He’s the love of your life. Heart so full of Benji there‘s no room for anyone else.”

Tick laughed and pushed at Adam. When Adam put his arms out to defend himself from being pushed right off the edge of the bed, Tick took it a step further, rolled until he had Adam pinned down. He smirked, triumphant, as though Adam couldn’t take him down if Adam actually tried. Adam raised his eyebrows, his mouth set in a line that said he wasn’t quite as amused by all of this as Tick seemed to be.

Tick leaned down, kissed his mouth.

“Maybe there’s a little room left in here for someone else,” Tick admitted.

“There fucking better be,” Adam agreed.

**

It had to be a thousand degrees. It was fucking sweltering. Another step and Adam might fall over, melt into the dust.

Who‘s idea of fun was this? Trudging through the desert in an attempt to enjoy ‘nature.’

Only Tick would every think to suggest such a thing. It was like he’d completely forgotten all the ‘nature’ they’d experienced on their journey to Alice.

Benji ran ahead and picked up stones from the path, tossing them at invisible targets and shouting in triumph when he hit them. Now, forty minutes into the walk, Benji seemed to be the only one actually reveling in it. Tick wasn’t complaining, but he was quiet. Adam was choosing to read the silence as regret.

The only thing that redeemed the afternoon as far as Adam was concerned was that when Benji wasn‘t looking Tick would move closer until his hand bumped against Adam‘s, his fingers catching with Adam‘s for just a moment before he released Adam‘s hand again. Adam wanted to grab onto Tick’s hand, pull him in to kiss, to lick the sweat from his neck and the frown from his lips.

The next time Tick’s hand bumped his, Adam did grab it, and Tick squeezed for just a moment before he released.

Benji whooped and turned to shout back at them, “Did you see that?!”

“Of course,” Tick said. “Great job, Benj!”

“You didn’t actually see anything, did you?” Adam said.

Tick shrugged. “I saw him throw that little rock.”

Benji came racing back toward them, wrapping himself around Tick’s waist as he ran in a circle around him.

“Oh!” he said suddenly, releasing Tick in favor of Adam. He skipped, walking backwards in front of them as he said, “I forgot to tell you. I found a boyfriend for you.”

Adam ducked his head with an exaggerated frown. “Sorry, kid. I’m off the market.”

“What does that mean?” Benji asked, looking to Tick for a translation.

“Found a boyfriend for myself,” Adam clarified and then raised his eyebrows, taunting.

“Felix?” Benji asked, and Tick looked over toward Adam at the obvious disappointment in Benji’s tone.

“No,” Adam said. “Not Felix.”

“Shep?” Benji tried again.

“Shep’s -?” Tick started loud, then made a big production of it, stopping and pulling Benji in toward him, covering Benji‘s ears as he continued even louder, “Shep‘s gay?” He sounded a little too interested all of a sudden.

Now it was Benji’s turn to roll his eyes, having clearly heard what Tick said. Adam reached out and slapped Tick‘s hands from Benji‘s ears and Tick laughed. It was nice to see him relaxing a little around Benji, even if it was at Adam‘s expense, even if they had to walk into the desert to have this moment.

“What? Okay, not Shep,” Tick added. He looked up at Adam for a long moment, then nodded and leaned down closer to Benj. “One more guess.”

Benji whipped around toward Tick, nearly knocking their heads together. “Really?” he asked, catching on almost immediately.

Tick did that thing he did sometimes when he was unsure of a situation. He breathed out a heavy puff of air and flashed his teeth in a smile at the same time. It’d always driven Adam crazy.

“Yeah,” Tick said, straightened and reached out to set a hand on Benji’s head. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“I thought so,“ Benji said.

“You thought so?“ Tick repeated, his voice a little horrified.

Benji turned back to Adam then. “See, I told you I’d find you a boyfriend,” he said, his smile awfully smug for someone who’d only been alive seven years.

“Didn’t need your help,” Adam countered. He leaned in toward Tick until Tick took the hint. Instead of brushing Adam off, which was pretty much what Adam expected, Tick leaned forward, Benji between them, beneath them. Tick kissed Adam just light on the lips and then looked shocked at himself that he’d done so with Benji right there. Benji didn’t care. Benji’d moved on.

“This is great news,” Benji said, as he started walking again.

Tick laughed. “I’m glad you think so.”

“I do,” Benji agreed.

Adam took a step toward Tick so that their hands knocked together again. Tick responded by wrapping Adam’s hand in his and this time didn’t let go, not even when Benji turned back to say, “So does this mean Adam’s staying in Alice Springs with us forever?”

Tick held tight to his hand as Adam sighed heavily and surveyed the landscape. Alice Springs. Of all the places in the world. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

“Alice Springs forever, eh?” Adam repeated, turned to catch Tick’s eye. Tick smiled and it looked a little forced, a little unsure. Adam shook his head. Tick had nothing to worry about.

“Oh, what the hell,” Adam said. “Wouldn’t miss it.”