Jainah sideTRACKs

Corinn is sent to fetch a fellow rebel from his hiding place in Trelissac, and the journey home turns interesting. Takes place during chapter 18 of "Mount Robillard".

- Written in August 2003. Rating MA (definitely!)

Special Delivery

It was a perfectly ordinary-looking, slightly battered transport van. The rays of two suns, passing through the maze of city superstructures and the climbing plants hanging on them, were reflected in ornate patterns from its darkened windows, common in all vehicles on this sun-drenched planet. Not one of the people passing by in their cars, on scooters and cycles or on foot, paid it any attention, for it was just like hundreds of others in this city. Standing in a small parking lot next to a large complex packed with stores, clubs, malls, gyms, restaurants and beauty parlors, it waited patiently for its driver who had locked it up and disappeared on some errand. Its metallic blue surface shone a little, as if it had been freshly painted, and in fact it had. Not that too many people knew it, but the vehicle was accustomed to changing color at regular intervals. And really, the current shade was rather becoming.

Nor did anybody pay any attention to the tall, muscular man in a faintly uniform-like overall and cap who emerged from somewhere, probably from one of the underground entryways that dotted the surroundings of the shopping complex. Not surprisingly at this time of the day, his cap had been pulled down on his forehead so that his eyes were hardly visible at all, and despite the heat the overall was primly fastened all the way up to the low, standing collar. The sleeves were pulled down, too, probably to protect his arms from being chafed by the corners of the large crate he was carrying. He stopped to look searchingly around, and didn't need long to locate the blue transport almost directly ahead of him. His lips drew into a small smile, he walked to the van and, balancing the crate on one raised knee, keyed a combination into a small panel next to the rear hatch.

It slid open with a faint whooshing sound to reveal a spacey goods compartment where several other boxes and crates had already been stacked, most of them right next to the rear door, while some free space could be seen looming deeper inside, behind them. The man grunted to himself and stepped inside, placed his crate on top of some others but then shook his head. It was too precariously there, not even fastened with anything. He closed the door behind himself and began to rearrange the cargo so that his crate would better fit in, preferably on the floor.

No one of the passers-by even looked twice. No one noticed that the man didn't come out of the van.

About half an hour later another tall, broad-shouldered man in a similar overall and cap strode unhurriedly to the transport and opened its side door. He slid in with rather surprising grace for such a large guy and closed the door again. A brief glance towards the back of the van told him that his cargo had been shuffled around a bit, and he nodded to himself sitting in the driver's seat and throwing his cap on one of the free seats behind him. At his first touch the engine came alive, and big brown hands on the controls steered the transport expertly out of the parking lot and to the streets, one level lower at the next junction, and finally to the trunk road leading out of Trelissac.

When the city was left safely behind and the van accelerated to a comfortable cruising speed to keep up with the rest of traffic, the driver flipped the controls to automatic and relaxed in his seat. He turned to take another look towards the goods compartment in the rear and frowned. All right, the things he'd stacked in there had been moved, but it had been so completely silent all the way that he had begun to doubt whether everything had, after all, gone as perfectly and without a glitch as he'd thought. He had done his round as per instructions, parked the van in the correct parking lot at the correct time, been away exactly the agreed time, and seen that somebody had indeed rearranged the goods, just as he had been told to expect. But the silence was getting rather unnerving. He was supposed to smuggle someone, a rather hotly wanted fugitive, to safety. And he honestly hoped that nothing had gone wrong, that the fugitive hadn't been apprehended at the last minute. Was he there? Or she? Hell, now that he came to think about it, he didn't even know whether the fugitive was a man or a woman!

"Hey," he said casually. "Anyone there?"

At first only a slight rustle answered him, then he heard a rather deep chuckle. A man, then, and not very old but with a nicely resonating deep baritone.

"Yeah, I'm here all right. Okay to come out now?"

"Sure, I'm a law-abiding driver so I dare say we won't be routinely stopped either."

He turned his head enough to glance over his shoulder as he heard a scraping sound, crates being pushed a little aside, and caught a glimpse of a large man who scrambled out from among the cargo and made his way towards him. A strong hand grabbed the back of the seat beside the driver, across the aisle.

"Can I sit here?"

"Sure thing." The driver nodded, braved another glance aside, then swallowed with some difficulty when a burgundy-red overall towered over him and he momentarily got a close-up view of the stranger's ass. He had time to observe that the cloth fit rather snugly over what seemed to be very firm buttocks, then his attention was caught by the interesting way in which it stretched over a muscular thigh as the man settled in the seat to his right.

"Whew..." The man pulled the cap off revealing a firm profile, skin tanned to a warm copper color, and shockingly blond, nearly white hair that was cut very short. "Guess I got so used to cramped quarters that I felt pretty cozy back there. I'm afraid I might have dozed off for a while." He grinned, teeth flashing very white in the bronzed face.

"No problem, you were supposed to stay out of sight anyway until we're out of the city," the driver said and relaxed with some effort. The road ahead was straight, no problem for the cruise control. He turned to have a better look at his passenger, and his breath nearly caught again.

The man's eyebrows and even lashes were extremely blond as well, his eyes a penetrating shade of pale, icy blue. Like a frosted bronze statue, the brown man thought, feeling slightly dazed. He looked admiringly at the arms that came to sight when the newcomer rolled up his sleeves, and couldn't help staring at the enticing contours of massive muscle that peeked out when the front zipper of the overall was pulled down nearly to the man's navel. It sure was hot in the van, even with the air conditioning blasting happily away at maximum power...

"I'm Corinn Jakunschek," the driver said after swallowing another strange lump from his throat.

"Vanya Shenovski, nice to meet ya," the blond man replied and reached out a broad hand. He spoke with a laid back drawl, something very unlike the quicker, more precise Jainah accent that some people had the guts to call snobbish. Corinn took the offered hand and gave it a quick squeeze, marveling at the way that brief touch seemed to cause a definite reaction somewhere around the lower front section of his uniform. He firmly resolved not to even try and identify the exact location in any more detail than that.

Corinn cursed quietly and yanked the transport a little to the side when two sports cars zoomed past them, seemingly in hot pursuit of each other. Vanya's eyes widened.

"Damn, those guys drove fast!"

"The plague of this planet," Corinn mumbled. "Kids whose parents have a little too much money to burn. I wish they'd go and run amok among the kangaroos, instead of putting other peoples' lives in danger on public roads."

"I bet the police only patrol the public roads?" Vanya glanced at Corinn who grimaced in agreement.

"That's right. And of course that's exactly why those goddamn kids do that. There's no fun in going to the plains where there's no danger of getting caught or killing somebody innocent."

"Nice kids," Vanya snorted. "Somehow I don't much fancy being involved in a car crash right now, when I'm at last just about free again, instead of holed up like a mole."

"What happened to land you here?" Corinn asked, deciding to divert his mind from the extremely fascinating and very hot man beside him by focusing on sheer curiosity. "You weren't supposed to come here, I think?"

"Nope." Vanya shook his head firmly. "I was headed to... uhh, another planet, to aid the locals on a sabotage mission. Sorry," he grinned disarmingly, "it's all classified, and I've been trained hard not to disclose mission parameters to anybody, not even allies unless it's absolutely necessary, so I don't think I can be more specific than that."

"It's okay," Corinn nodded. He didn't mind, a Jainah boy through and through, those names wouldn't really mean much to him anyway. "So, what happened?"

"I was traveling on this cruiser that was making a few scheduled stops along the way," Vanya sighed and raked a hand through his wildly spiked hair. "It's slower or course, but looks less suspicious. Then I got an emergency message from Ashanti, decoded it, and learned that the guys in the other end had been caught. The whole thing had gone bust."

"Ouch!" Corinn made a face at the thought. "But they managed to send a warning?"

"They did, and I'm really grateful for that." Vanya shook his head in dismay. "I hate to think what's probably happened to them. But after that I couldn't take the risk of going on. Plus, the warning I got was pretty forceful -- get off the damn cruiser as soon as you can and disappear. So that's what I did, jumped off right after we landed in Trelissac. I didn't know how exact information the Union had about my route and expected time of arrival, so I had to assume that they might know I was on board the thing."

"Then you contacted Maurice, and he got you underground?"

"Yeah. The guy's really efficient. Lucky I had memorized possible contacts along the way, just in case. Came in handy, those contacts."

Corinn nodded again, eyes on the road. The traffic was still rather heavy, as there were another two big junctions ahead. There the trunk road would split, and quite a lot of the traffic was bound to flow to the other highway leading to a group of 'company towns' around Trelissac -- the ones dominated by one or two big companies that practically fed, employed, housed and serviced the entire town around them. But their trusted transport would continue straight towards the mountains and the city of Remball that sat snugly at their foot, a few hundred kilometers away.

"Maurice is a super guy," he agreed a little absently, letting a faster vehicle overtake them. "I can't even imagine the amount of money he's poured into the rebellion over the years. And he's always helping us in every way he can -- such as getting supplies. Even things nobody should be able to get their hands on, if the Union has any say to it."

"Pity I didn't get to meet him," Vanya said. "Just talked to him twice. Sounded competent enough. I'm not the most trusting guy in the universe but I found myself trusting him right away."

"That's what he's like." Corinn hesitated for a moment, realized that the bulge in his trousers showed no signs of disappearing, and continued his efforts at diversion. "What do you do, anyway? Your specialty, I mean. You've got to have one to be sent out like that... or is that classified too?"

"No. My main line are explosives of all kinds," Vanya said easily. "Besides, I've been trained as a transport pilot. I'm hoping that I might yet prove useful to your people at some point, in either capacity. After all, I've got no idea how long my stay will be. I'm not gonna budge until I get a definite all clear from Ashanti, and that might take time."

Corinn nodded and firmly quieted the little voice in his head that was sighing with pleasure at the last bit of information. His diversion tactics didn't seem to be working too well on his suddenly insistent libido. Too bad, that meant that he'd have to give himself some more time to get his body back under control. More questions, then.

"What's it like on Ashanti?"

"Pure hell. On Ashanti, that is." Vanya grinned. "Underground, where the Base is, not bad at all. But the surface is bad. There's this very strong radiation battering down all the time, and it's such a paradox that practically the whole place is covered with this giant rhubarb, or whatever you want to call it. Those plants, they just thrive there, and they somehow absorb the radiation enough so that it is possible to go on the surface for limited periods of time, provided that you wear one of these special suits. They're heavy, thick, stiff --"

Corinn swallowed.

"-- Just pick your least favorite form of uncomfortable and they're sure to give you just that."

"Sounds really wonderful," Corinn said with a grimace of distaste, and a little something else.

"Believe me, they're horrid," Vanya nodded. "But the place is damn well protected, secure, everything. A perfect place for a base, it is. I just never really got used to it too well. I'm from a Terraform planet myself, so I truly hated it to start with. Luckily I've got sent away on missions before, and at least some of the places I've been to have been tolerable."

He studied the landscape flying past the windows for a while and then heaved a deep, satisfied sigh.

"This, now, this is something I could well get used to," he added a little wistfully. "So beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous."

Corinn felt a slight heat in his cheeks. He could have sworn that the man had given him a slanted glance on the last word. And that was certainly just his stupid imagination. Just because the guy sitting across the aisle was such a fine specimen of a big, muscular male, sex on two legs (damn you, keep your eyes on the road, man!), his mind was still playing tricks on him. Great.

"Hey, why don't you tell me what kind of people I'm gonna meet once we get to your Base?" Vanya asked and turned in his seat so that he could look at Corinn without turning his head. His long, powerful legs sprawled across the aisle. Corinn didn't look at them.

"Well, in all we're about three hundred there," he said thoughtfully. "The biggest number are of course working in various support tasks, base maintenance, catering, technical, medical, you know. Then there's the pilots and Control staff who specialize in their primary tasks. Most of us do two or more things, really -- I'm basically a technical guy, but I also work in the trash patrols..."

"Trash patrols?" Vanya's whitish eyebrows jumped and Corinn laughed a little.

"Materials recycling," he reformulated. "After battles we go out with our vehicles and pick up anything and everything that we can reuse. Getting materials and spares for repairs is tough going, so we've got to make do with anything we can get our hands on."

"Oh, I see!" Vanya looked interested. "And then you also double as the deliveries guy?"

"I do," Corinn said. "For one thing, I'm not a wanted man --"

This time he was sure that Vanya's gaze raked him slowly and deliberately up and down, one eyebrow rising as if to refute his words, and couldn't stop the unfamiliar flush that again heated his face. What was the man actually doing?

"I mean, for example most of the pilots are originally Union-trained and listed as deserters," he continued hurriedly. "But I haven't done anything to get face to face with law. And I know Trelissac like the back of my hand, so I'm really an obvious choice."

"From what I saw of the city, there's really something to know about driving in there!" Vanya sounded amused. "A real jungle, if you ask me."

"All those levels take some getting used to," Corinn admitted. "Well, anyway, most of us are originally from Jainah. The most prominent guy who's from elsewhere is Osip -- that's one of our Commanders."

The corner of Vanya's mouth drew to a surprised smile.

"One of the Commanders?" he echoed. "Do you mean you've got several?"

"Yeah, two."

With very little prompting Corinn launched into a long and winding explanation that started from the two Commanders and jumped back to how they were chosen to their posts, before progressing into a long and vicious rant concerning the late Commander Seranno. It concluded with an incisive, self-deprecating account of what fucking cowards they all had been during those days, to let the stick-up-his-ass bigot have his way for so long. He also managed to deal with most of his best friends and at least two types of Union clones along the way, dropping names at such an offhand manner that Vanya was soon craving a notebook.

Vanya felt seriously light-headed after the barrage of information, and more than a little intrigued. Corinn sure wasn't tight-lipped about the place and its people, something he very much liked. He had learned over the years that being just dropped in to a place was always tough. His mere looks put some people on edge, and he hated the feeling of walking on glass that was so inevitable when he had to start building a position from scratch, with people he knew nothing about. Not to mention that some people found his personality frankly abrasive. But this place, now -- if he had understood everything right, this sounded very good.

"The way you speak about the commanders," he said thoughtfully, "does it mean you're on first-name basis with them?"

"Yeah, in everyday situations. It's very low-profile and all. But when the Base is in action, everybody knows their roles." Corinn thought about it for a while. "I guess we mostly slip to 'Commander' then. But really, both Osip and Arria are guys who don't like underlining their authority. They've got it anyway."

"That sounds weird, and yet somehow comforting." Vanya shook his head in wonder. "I'm betting, though, that it wouldn't even occur to anybody on Ashanti to ever call Quenty anything else than 'sir'."

"What's he like?" Corinn was curious. He had only ever heard about the illustrious Quentham Oyston, and here was a man who had actually lived in the same base with the legendary rebel pilot. Vanya pulled his face into a desperate grimace.

"Oh boy. That's a tough one," he mused. "I mean, he's everything you've probably ever heard -- brilliant, absolutely fearless, a fantastic pilot both in the atmosphere and in space. Dedicated. Determined. Hard as titanium. Ruthless. But but... it's my very solid opinion that the Wolves really wouldn't be nearly what they're now if it wasn't for Nita. Bonita Heywik, I'm sure you know about her?"

"Sure. Who wouldn't have heard?" Corinn said. "Is she really as beautiful as they say?"

"Depends on what they say," Vanya said and smothered a sigh. Shit, the guy was not supposed to be inquiring about the looks of any representative of the female sex... but on the other hand, he had sounded merely curious. Well, maybe it was just that -- basically uninterested curiosity. "Yes, she's a beauty. Like the latest fighter model. Sleek, not a line wrong anywhere, and lethal."

Corinn glanced at him in surprise and Vanya shifted, of course quite accidentally, so that his already half-open overall opened a little more to show a well-defined six-pack. Corinn quickly turned his eyes back to the road ahead, and Vanya bit his lip not to smile in satisfaction.

"Quenty is such a zealot, more than a bit of a fanatic really, and that kinda defines the atmosphere in the Ashanti base." Vanya frowned, trying to find the right words to describe the peculiar mixture of feelings that he could still almost taste in his mouth. "Quenty is... ahh... he just tends to look down at people who aren't as high-minded as he is, you know -- people who don't breathe and live only for the Great Cause, who want to have a slice of a life, too. If you're not as fanatical as he is, you're a little bit flawed. I really don't know how he explains his relationship with Nita to himself."

Vanya grinned at the memory. "They're lovers, as you might know. And Nita is a superb pilot herself, really I think that the sole reason why she's not talked about so much is that she's more reasonable. Not crazy like Quenty, pulling mad stunts and somehow so far surviving each one. She's also far more tolerant of humanity in general. Understands that people actually live there, and want to have a breather, some fun... she's the cushion between Quenty and real life, I guess..."

Vanya's voice trailed off and Corinn braved another look at him. The man sighed and shook his very blond head before leveling a grin across the aisle.

"But... I hope I got you right, or this question might put you off rather badly... did you mean to hint that your two Commanders are an item? A couple? As in, sex involved as well?"

"Oh yes," Corinn nodded without a blink. "They're a couple. Only it's been a really tough time for Arria recently. Anybody with eyes knew they'd been skirting around each other for ages -- can't really figure what the hell took them so long in the first place -- and then, only a couple of weeks after they finally did get together, there was an air battle and Osip was very nearly killed..."

Corinn had to pause to fight a sudden wave of nausea at the memory.

"Sorry," he managed after passing a hand over his face, "I was there when his plane landed, half burnt --" He started at the comforting touch on his arm and continued with determination. "He's still at the ward, so they haven't had much opportunity to get intimate recently. But a couple, definitely."

"Sounds like your people don't mind gays, then?" Vanya asked.

"Since Seranno, definitely no problem." Corinn grinned to him. "Hey, were you in a complete blackout while hiding? No access to any entertainment, huh? That was Trelissac, Jainah, you were staying in! Anybody who has problems with gays on this planet, and especially in Trelissac, is an import that should be quickly shipped back to where he came from."

"How the hell did you then get along with Seranno at all?" Vanya asked, astonished. "I mean, a guy like that in a place like this? And you said most of you are from here, anyway!"

"I guess he sorta took us by surprise," Corinn grunted. "I dunno, I came here when he already was the Commander, and there's no going back once you join. My guess is that at first everybody was just paralyzed by amazement, and once they got over the shock the old bastard had already such a deathgrip over them... at least that's what happened to me. We were all scared shitless."

"Well, luckily he's not here any more!" Vanya stretched his long arms and smiled. "And I think I'm in love with this place already. I'm so fucking tired of this 'hush-hush' and 'don't talk about it' and 'really I'm not gay but a guy needs some release and there aren't any chicks around' kind of thing. Feels good to know I'm not gonna be the only openly gay man around."

"That you won't be, for sure!" Corinn said decisively. Shit, but his trousers were getting really uncomfortable. Not that the current topic of conversation helped any, either. "At the moment there's another established couple as well, Lancer and Scott, they're... ah, now this is beginning to look promising!"

His eyes swept the stretch of road, and the scanners confirmed it: they were definitely alone, not a single vehicle within ten kilometers.

"Huh?" Vanya looked at him and Corinn grinned.

"Hold on, pal, we'll say goodbye to the public road system right now!"

The metallic blue transport practically jumped off of the road and soon dove into the green shadow of the forest. Despite his seatbelt, Vanya clutched the armrests with both hands to stay in his seat during the bumpier stretch, then relaxed again and his appreciative gaze swept the sight around them.

"Oh boy," he said breathlessly. "This place truly is something special! Jeez, I think I'll really feel at home here!"

"I guess this is where I ought to tell you that our base is underground as well," Corinn said. "Inside Mount Robillard, to be exact. But we do get out every now and then, occasionally even just for fun."

Vanya whistled quietly. "Inside a mountain? Sounds pretty safe to me!"

"Yeah, the entry chutes are really the only vulnerable part, and even they're well hidden. By all accounts, the Union doesn't know we're in there. They think we're lurking somewhere around the foot of the mountain."

Vanya laughed, a low, rolling sound that made Corinn's insides twitch impatiently. Not to mention certain external organs as well. Perhaps it was lucky that, now that they were actually in the middle of dense forest, he simply had to concentrate on steering. No stealing peeks, now, even though what could be seen inside the overall would definitely have merited some.

"Ohh, surface water!" Vanya exclaimed and sat up in his seat when he caught a fleeting glimpse of a little pond. "Hey, do you think we could stop for a moment? I'd really love to stretch my legs a bit and just gape at all this lushness around."

"Can't really see why not," Corinn nodded after checking the ambient readings. "I managed to make my round quicker than expected, anyway. Besides, the suns aren't nearly at their zenith. That's the only time when it's better to limit the time you spend outside, you see."

"Goodie!" Vanya sat back and then raised inquisitive eyebrows when Corinn changed course again. "Where're we headed?"

"I know just the spot for a break," Corinn said smugly. "Since you're from a Terraform planet yourself and used to surface water, I'm betting you're gonna like it a lot."

Vanya split his attention between admiring the scenery around them and the man just within an arm's reach from him. Corinn was focused on his task, eyebrows slightly frowned in concentration, broad brown hands relaxed and sure on the controls. Vanya had experience enough to know that the guy was definitely responding to his stealthy flirting, and by now the only uncertain factor was what Corinn himself thought about it. By his own admission, he had no problem with gays. But it still just might be possible that Corinn had always believed himself straight before and was now extremely baffled by the way his body was reacting to Vanya. That had happened before, at least once. Vanya unconsciously rubbed his nose; it had nearly been broken in the scuffle that had ensued when he'd assumed a little too much and made a rather blatant suggestion to a slightly drunken guy. Hell, how was he supposed to guess that a man who had been practically drooling over him for nearly an hour and sporting an impressive hard-on would get so mad at a simple question? Vanya sure knew how to hold his own in a fistfight, but the guy had taken him by surprise...

He looked again at the outside. The engine was not struggling in the least but they were clearly driving uphill, he could feel it. He swallowed experimentally and his ears popped. The trees were a little smaller here, a little less dense, and he caught glimpses of plains that stretched out to the horizon much lower, a little to their left. Hopeful that he'd see more, and happy to rest his eyes on Corinn's masculine profile even if he didn't, Vanya kept his eyes turned to that direction.

Just as he was about to ask how far their destination actually was, the van slowed down and then stopped with a jerk. Corinn smiled, secured all the brakes and opened the door waving his arm in a welcoming gesture.

"Just step out and take a deep breath," he said with a grin. "Then tell me what you think about it."

Vanya jumped out and gasped as his feet sank a little into the ground. A glance down told him it was because the ground was covered by a thick, soft layer of brownish-green moss. He surveyed the small clearing and inhaled the moist, cool air, feeling almost dizzy as a wave of emotions rolled slowly over him: freedom, relief, and an inexplicable feeling of belonging, of being home. They were surrounded by taller trees that cut off visibility downhill, so that the only direction where they could see unhindered was up, to the sky. Droplets of water hung in the air, amply supplied by a fast-flowing brook that jumped from one wet, glistening, partially mossy stone to another on one side of the clearing. Fascinated, Vanya walked closer to look into the clear water. It looked surprisingly deep, and when he turned to peer uphill he saw it emerge from the deep shadows beneath broad trees in a busy, loud torrent.

"Wow," he said reverently and turned to look at Corinn who had followed him. "This place is simply -- shit, man, you've accomplished something big. You've stunned me silent. That doesn't happen often, you know."

Corinn looked very pleased with himself and sat down on a stone. "I knew you'd like this place. Awesome, isn't it?"

"I guess that's the word I didn't find right away." Vanya glanced at him. "Or maybe 'gorgeous' would be better."

He turned his back to Corinn, hesitated a full second, then shrugged out of the top half of his red overall. He grinned as he heard an astonished yelp from Corinn.

"What are you doing?"

"I bet that water is cold?" Vanya said speculatively, pulled down the rest of the zipper and eased down the overall together with his underwear in one swift sweep. He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder as he toed off his shoes and stepped out of the clothes pooled around his ankles, onto the cool moss that felt like a wet sponge.

"You bet..." Corinn managed to croak, eyes riveted on the bunch of powerful, toned muscle standing nude in front of him, and barely resisted the insane impulse to grope. Vanya went to the edge of the brook, sat carefully on a stone and swung his legs into the water. His eyes flew wide open.

"Shit! This is freezing..."

Nevertheless he lowered his weight on his feet, after first making sure to have at least a relatively stable spot to stand on, and noticed that the stream was stronger than he had expected. Nothing that wasn't several degrees below the freezing point of alcohol had any right to be this fucking cold, he decided as he stood on the gravelly bottom, leaning against the icy, flowing water, feeling like his lower body up to his hips had been suddenly amputated. Including his most precious assets. Now that wasn't a pleasant thought.

Vanya crouched quickly and dipped himself completely underwater, then stood up again and clambered up before his legs would stop working altogether. He was shivering, but he knew from experience that it would soon pass. In a while he'd feel simply fantastic. A surreptitious glance towards Corinn told him that the man was totally lost in just staring at him, so Vanya obliged by standing up and raising his arms to rub water off from his short hair. He knew he was something to ogle, anyway, so he didn't feel any need to be modest about his body.

Corinn's throat was completely dry. He would gladly have plunged into the water, too, it sure was cold enough to take care of the most stubborn erection, but the problem was getting out of his overall and over the edge without Vanya noticing. He knew he shouldn't be staring at the glorious body the way he was staring, but he couldn't help himself. Oh jeez, if I could sometimes get my hands on something like...

"What?" Corinn spluttered when it penetrated his brain that Vanya had said his name. Pale blue eyes looked at him measuringly, the man was slowly rubbing his arms and doing nothing to conceal his nakedness.

"You don't happen to be gay yourself, do you?"

"Well." Corinn swallowed. "In fact I am."

"Okay," Vanya said and put his hands on his hips. "Then just one more question. You don't by any chance happen to find me even remotely to your tastes?"

"I... even remotely... my tastes?" Corinn knew he was practically wheezing but damn, even such a simple thing as breathing had just become oddly difficult. "You... you're the most handsome guy I've ever seen."

A slow, satisfied smile spread on Vanya's angular face.

"Perfect," he nearly purred. "Looks like this is definitely one of my luckiest days."

"Huh?"

"The rebel base I'll be accidentally joining sends the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen to pick me up." Vanya took one step forward. "And he even happens to be gay himself." Another step. "And he thinks I'm his type."

"Gorgeous?" This was such an outrageous claim that Corinn found his voice again. "Me? What're you on?"

"Nothing worse than you, gorgeous." Vanya grinned and Corinn gulped again, realizing that his face was less than a meter from the man's crotch. "So, what do you say? How about some al fresco?"

Corinn stood up on jittery legs and their eyes locked, confused hazel with playful arctic blue.

"No objections," he had time to sigh before Vanya's hands shot up and expertly yanked the zipper down, plunged underneath the cloth and began to peel it off. Corinn closed his eyes when the hands smoothed down his back and sneaked under the waistband of his boxers, tucked them down and at last freed his cock that sprang gratefully up from its earlier confinement.

"Mmmm," Vanya hummed and looked down with a smug smile. "Impressive. Just as gorgeous as the rest of you."

Corinn's hands joined his to get rid of the overall, the shoes were kicked off as well, and finally Vanya could wrap his arms around the nicely built body to pull the man close. He snaked a hand between them and gently closed a palm around both of their erections, rubbed the silky smooth members together and chuckled at Corinn's husky moan. Corinn opened his unfocused eyes but they slid closed again when Vanya kissed him, hard and demanding. He opened his mouth and sucked the invading tongue deeper, hips pressing against Vanya, almost desperately pushing his hardness into the man's hand. Teeth, lips, I'll go crazy in a moment he thought hazily and plundered Vanya's mouth with his tongue feeling the big hand that possessively grabbed his ass and squeezed him still a little closer.

"How do you want it?" Vanya panted, pulling back enough to look at him. "What do you like?"

"I'm game for anything, as long as it's sex," Corinn gasped. "You choose, but damn quick, man!"

"You got anything to use as lube?" Vanya cocked his head and Corinn forced himself to focus, hips still moving in absent circles against Vanya who winked to him. "No, wait, I think I know..."

He pulled away, walked -- with some difficulty -- to the van and opened the rear hatch. Some rummaging among the crates and boxes revealed the small bag that held his travel gear, and some more rummaging in the bag of toiletries yielded something that made him give a triumphant cry. "Hah, I knew I'd never leave without some, just in case..."

Corinn slumped on the ground when his legs simply refused to carry his weight any more, and caught the tube Vanya tossed him.

"I want you to fuck me," the blond man said and licked his lips. "Unless you want to know why I'm also known as Mr. Blowjobman?"

Corinn's hand that had begun to smear the lube on his twitching, aching cock, froze in place. Vanya grinned devilishly and kneeled beside him.

"Shame on you, Corinn. Of course it's because I work with explosives... blowing up things, you know." He pushed Corinn on his back and straddled him, an expectant smile hovering on his lips. "I think you're lubed enough. But I'm not."

Corinn eased a finger in, then two, and watched in incredulous fascination as Vanya gasped and squirmed above him, pushing back into his hand. He pulled his fingers out to take some more lube but a hard hand closed around his wrist.

"Enough..." Vanya sighed. "Not my first time, Corinn. Although I freely admit that yours is the biggest thing that's ever been rammed up there."

"You're incredible," Corinn moaned when Vanya sat up, positioned himself and sank slowly down on his shaft. "Plain incredible... ohh jeez... fuck, Vanya, you're too much!"

"Right now that's supposed to be my line, big boy," Vanya hissed. Corinn's eyes flew open, for a moment he peered incredulously at the tense face above him and then dissolved into deep, breathless laughter.

"Stop laughing," Vanya commanded, eyes crossing at the way Corinn's body -- including the excruciatingly magnificent thing inside him -- was shaking with mirth. He leaned carefully backwards against the man's muscular thighs, raised himself a little, glided lower again. "Oh sweet hell!"

Vanya gasped loud, fingers digging into Corinn's shoulders when the man bucked and hit unerringly home causing a minor supernova explosion. The hand on his hips was urging him to move and move he did, groaning with abandon, Corinn's other hand pumping him with fingers still slick with lube. Corinn was equally loud, he just couldn't believe this was really happening no matter how much his every sense was trying to convince him it was true. In between less articulate moments he did his best to tell Vanya that the man was his every single wet dream come true, the most perfect chunk of male flesh he'd ever even seen, let alone held. And even though the delivery was not exactly coherent, Vanya did get the genuine sentiment all right, especially as Corinn used his entire impressive physique to back up his words. "Vanya... fuck, Vanya, you're... perfect... ohh..." He wanted release so insanely much and yet he wanted to go on forever, but when Vanya arched his back with a groan and orgasmed in his arms, he couldn't hold back any more. Corinn buried his face against a broad chest and came so hard that he blacked out for a moment.

When he began to come back to his senses again, he was leaning his head against Vanya's shoulder, arms firmly locked around the sweaty torso, still buried to the hilt inside the man who was trying hard to catch his breath again.

"Wheww..." Vanya sighed, hands sliding down Corinn's back. "I have a feeling that I might be your type, then?"

"Sure thing," Corinn chuckled and raised his head to look at him.

"Super." Vanya raised an eyebrow. "'Cause you definitely are my type. So you think we might do this again, hmm? In near future?"

"How near?" Corinn asked suspiciously.

"In a few hours, maybe," Vanya grinned. "Not even I have such a recovery time that I'd be up for a second round right after this."

"Sounds like a deal to me," Corinn agreed and lay back on the mossy ground, hands smoothing down Vanya's body and to his thighs. Vanya pushed himself gingerly up and then sat beside Corinn with a quick wince. Corinn looked at him with an apologetic frown. "Sore?"

"No problem, gorgeous," Vanya waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing I couldn't handle. And besides," he grinned wickedly, "let's see what you'll say later today, after I get to return the favor."

Corinn smiled lazily. "What's so gorgeous about me, anyway?" he inquired with a yawn. "Something wrong with your eyes, or? Not that I'm complaining, though..."

"Oh boy. What about you is not gorgeous?" Vanya crawled to lie beside Corinn. "Let's just say that the whole package is so absolutely delectable that I had trouble keeping my hands to myself all the way up here. Good enough?"

"I don't get it, but that's enough for me," Corinn said, more baffled than he let on. "Besides, I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road, so I guess we're even."

"Suppose so..." Vanya mused and nuzzled his face against Corinn's shoulder. "Mmh. I could get used to this..."

"I have a room of my own," Corinn mumbled indistinctly. "Ever since Shaun latched himself on Fonzo and I decided to move out... and they're all rooms for two. Mine even has a double bed..."

"Are you sure it's sturdy enough?" Vanya asked innocently. "I mean, we're pretty big guys, both of us. Rather heavy, too."

"We'll have to try it out, and be ready if it collapses," Corinn said. He couldn't help the laughter that bubbled irresistibly inside him and cracked an eye open to look at the relaxed face beside him. Vanya's eyes were closed, lips drawn into a little smirk, one cheek resting on a fist. Damn, he wanted to get to know this guy better; he had a feeling that they had a lot in common, in addition to being instantly and vastly turned on by each other. Corinn had never before felt this easy with anyone he had only known for -- what, a few hours now -- wait a minute...

"Fuck!" Corinn's eyes shot open and he nudged the dozing man beside him with some urgency. "Vanya, don't you dare fall asleep! We've got to get to the Base, they're waiting for us."

"Huh?" Vanya lifted his head and peered at Corinn under heavy lids. "Oh, right. Hey, don't you think you're being a bit too hasty now?"

"Hasty?" Corinn stopped pulling his overall up and looked at Vanya questioningly. "We've got to be going and quick!"

"Don't you think we ought to tidy up a bit first?" Vanya reached out a hand and swiped a finger down Corinn's smeared stomach. "We're positively reeking of sex, man. And there's water right behind you, even though it's damn cold. I suppose it wouldn't harm to at least try to look presentable?"

"You're right," Corinn admitted and dropped the overall. "But hurry up, will you?"

After splashing around for a while, both of them securely perched on the slippery stones by the icy stream, they decided they were clean enough to get dressed, and very soon the trusty transport was once more churning its way through the forest. Corinn kept stealing glances at Vanya who was lounging in the other front seat with a self-satisfied grin plastered on his tanned face.

"I'll contact the Base in a while," Corinn sighed. "They're sure to be worried about us by now, thinking something's gone badly wrong."

"Well, I'll tell them I distracted you a bit," Vanya offered helpfully.

"You're not doing that for sure!" Corinn yelped.

"And why not?"

Corinn looked at the picture of innocence beside him and snorted. Vanya shrugged and slumped deeper, the grin broadening. "So you're going to let me bunk with you?"

"If you've got no objections."

"Definitely not. And if you're gonna tell everybody upon our arrival that I'll be taking up residence in your room, with the double bed and all, don't you think they'll guess well enough what happened?" Vanya waggled his eyebrows. "What's so horrid about it anyway?"

Corinn thought about it for a while. "Nothing, really," he concluded. "I'm just not used to -- well, being this impulsive. I mean, I'm a bit out of practice, after living in the Base for a few years now. It's a pretty closed environment, and you tend to get a tad cautious when meeting new people who you know you're going to be stuck with... well, of course you know all about it."

"I do." Vanya nodded with a wry smile. "And believe me, I'm not in the habit of fucking a new guy by way of a handshake, either. You were just too good to let it pass... besides, I did ask, right?"

"You did," Corinn confirmed. "Guess I just took myself by surprise."

"Surprises are good!" Vanya laughed a little. "Oh boy, I can't wait to meet the people at your Base." He laced his fingers together behind his neck. "Though I guess, for all practical purposes, I had better start thinking about it as our Base now. Right, partner?"

Corinn flashed him a broad smile, savoring the warmth that rushed through him.