Six Days, Seven Nights

by Keelywolfe

Day One

*

5:27 AM

Being an underaged vigilante sounded a lot more fun before the realities of it had hit home. Training had only been the first course of it; no one had mentioned to Mia that finding time to do her homework, much less to sleep, would become an Olympic event. Although it did explain why there were so many textbooks lying around the Titan tower on the weekends.

She had never really considered that she might someday end up sitting in the kitchen in her uniform trying to make the symbols in her Trig book look a little less like an alien language so she could actually get some sleep when she came home from school, and yet, it happened all the time. On the sleepier days, the 'Superboy Method' of letting Kid Flash do his assignments looked pretty damned tempting but there was no way in hell she was letting Robin see her do that, so, no. Morning trig and fresh coffee, in her uniform, and God, her life was so cool sometimes.

She was just finishing problem #34 and reaching for her second of the doughnuts that Ollie had thoughtfully donated to her cause when Kyle walked in the kitchen. In his underwear.

She watched him get a cup out of the dish drainer and splash coffee into it. No sugar, one spoon of that nasty non-dairy crap that Ollie liked, and then he held the cup up and just inhaled, deeply. Yeah, she drank coffee like that some mornings. Like she could absorb it right through her pores and get the caffeine a split second sooner than the actual liquid touching her lips. He leaned against the counter as he sipped it. Boxer-briefs. Nice.

He was drinking in slow, measured sips, practically rolling the coffee in his mouth like a wine tester. Kyle seemed to have the same proper appreciation for the bean that she did, so add that to the boxer-briefs and he seemed like a pretty fine guy.

Coffee finished, Kyle rinsed the cup and put it in the sink, and walked away. Up the stairs.

Surreal moment of the day past, Mia went back to her Trig.

It was nearly ten minutes later when Connor came in, yawning. Mask off but still in uniform and when she pushed the box of doughnuts in his direction, offering, he very politely ignored it. The veganistic brat.

"Hey. Kyle was just here," she said, neatly writing her answer for #39. One more and she could embrace her shower.

"Kyle?"

"Yeah, you know. Kyle?" She lifted one hand and waggled her ring finger. "He was here."

Connor stood up abruptly, any signs of exhaustion vanishing. It was a trick she was going to learn from him one of these days. "What did he need? Is something wrong, did he tell you he needed help?"

"I guess he just stopped by for coffee."

"Coffee," Connor repeated blankly.

"Yeah." She shrugged and gestured at the stairs. "He went that way."

"O-kay." Connor stood up to go after him.

"Ask him what's up with the underwear."

Connor blinked. "Will do."

Homework finally finished, Mia tucked the works into her backpack and headed up the stairs after him. Morning trig, good coffee, tasty men in their underwear, and now, a long hot shower. Yeah, her life was of the good. Oh, yeah.


*

5:45 AM

The search and sweep for Kyle ended pretty much as quickly as it began since he was in the first room Connor checked; his own. Sound asleep, blankets up to his chin, in Connor's bed. He also snored, quietly, but that was definitely a snore. He was drooling on the pillow and there was already a wet spot, vaguely the shape of Texas.

At least he was verifiably alive.

This was a very good thing in Connor's opinion since the night had been extremely long and extremely busy. Dealing with a dead person in his bed, which normally would have upset him quite a bit, now only seemed like a great inconvenience that would keep him from sleep.

So, Kyle had drunk a cup of coffee and then went to sleep? Strange, not in the least because he was doing it in someone else's house. Alien possession, time warp? Who was to say? Only one person and he wouldn't be talking until he was awake and as tired as Connor was, he still couldn't just dump Kyle out of his bed and resume command of it. He had to find out why Kyle was sleeping there instead of, say, his own bed where he could drool on his own pillowcases. Helping people in situations like this was in the superhero handbook somewhere, Connor was sure of it, so help him he would. Then he could dump Kyle out of his bed, and possibly make him change the sheets.

Unless it was the alien possession thing. After stuff like that, it was usually kinder to let the person go home and deal with it in whatever ice cream/shower combination seemed best.

None of this was getting him closer to sleeping.

"Kyle?" Using his bow, Connor carefully nudged him with the wariness of one used to waking people who woke up hitting. With weapons.

Slowly, Kyle opened his eyes and blinked, twice, before he sat up and stretched with no sign of either weapon or alien possession so already the morning was better than it had been five minutes ago. He yawned and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Hey, Connor...what are you doing here?"

Connor was still trying to form an answer when Kyle sat up abruptly. "What am I doing here?"

"I admit that's a question I've been asking myself."

"I -- is this your bed?"

"Yes, which is sort of why I'm surprised that you're in it." A thought occurred to him, one that had to be shared. "It's probably a good thing that you're here and not in bed with my father. He sleeps in this house too, you know."

"Oh, my God." Kyle buried his face in his hands. "Please, never make me think anything like that again."

If it wasn't the alien possession thing then a little added torture wouldn't hurt. It was the advantage of most people believing in the goodness of your heart; they never suspected you to gleefully twist the knife. "Most people think my father is quite attractive. In fact--"

"Please, stop," Kyle begged, the words muffled into his hands. "Could we please get back to the potentially embarrassing reasons I might be in your bed?"

"If you've got a good reason, now would be the time to bring it up," Connor said agreeably. He pulled up a chair from the far corner and straddled it, giving the bed a longing glance. Maybe he could just flip the pillow over. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any idea what happened to your pants, would you?"

"My --" Kyle gingerly lifted the sheet and looked beneath it. His lips pursed and Connor noted with some interest that the mortification in Kyle's expression could, in fact, increase. Time warps or possible alien invasions aside, if Connor wasn't so tired, he'd be sincerely enjoying this. Kyle dropped the sheet, actually pulling it up a couple inches, and muttered, "That's another good question, go ahead and add it to the list."

"Mmm. Mia was wondering about it."

"Mia?" Kyle went distinctly pale. "She --I didn't --"

"No, no!" Connor hastily assured him. No need to make the trauma too permanent. "All she said was that you had coffee. In your underwear."

"You know, once upon a time this all would have seemed strange to me," Kyle said, to no one in particular. Possibly the blankets since that was where he was looking. "Once waking up in someone else's bed would have just meant one too many whiskey sours and now...okay, this is still strange to me. We're going to have to consult an expert, Connor."

"They have experts on this?"

"In the JLA, they have experts on everything. But first, could I borrow some pants?" Kyle asked sheepishly.

"What's wrong with your uniform? Don't you use your ring for that?"

Kyle looked at him.

"It's just, when I loan clothes to other people, I tend not to get them back," he tried.

The look continued, with the addition of an eyebrow being raised. All right, so that didn't quite sound right and adding that Roy sometimes raided his wardrobe was only going to make it that much worse. There was really no reason to inspire yet another conversation about his sexuality and he hadn't had any coffee.

Finally, the look eased back and Connor sighed in relief, only for Kyle to ask, "So you're objecting to me wearing pants?"

"No! I just -- Never mind. Pants. Right." Kyle is my friend, Connor reminded himself firmly. A very good friend and I know where he is staying so I can always get them back myself.

He wasn't Roy's equal when it came to accuracy but it was still a sort of fiendishly delightful to smack Kyle in the face with a healthy sized piece of denim. With a distasteful glance at the brand name, Kyle pulled them on and finally, oh, finally, got out of the bed.

"Shirt?"

Connor wondered if this was how super villains began. It probably started with something simple just like this, a friend or two borrowing clothes and then they realized none of them ever returned them, or when they did they didn't wash them and the neck was all stretched out and there was a stain the size of small country on the back that looked exactly like something that would never wash out, and doesn't anyone in the known world know how to use a stain stick for ONCE and --

It was possible that he really needed to sleep.

Shuffling through his closet turned up a t-shirt that was actually Roy's and his level of fiendishness rose when he gave it to Kyle. He was really going to have to keep an eye on his evil ratio the next few days, lest he tip over into clothing deprived supervillain-hood.

He didn't ask for shoes, so Connor decided Kyle was probably clothed to his satisfaction. The rumpled bed was whispering enticing things and Connor pulled his own shirt over his head, and he'd just sleep without a pillow, he didn't really need it anyway --

"You're not coming with me?"

Okay, there were limits to friendship.

"Kyle--" he sighed and stopped. It was an all different Look, the one designed to make him think of sad little puppies and all things lost and pathetic. It was not a look that should ever be worn by a Green Lantern but then, when had that ever stopped Kyle before. Oh, this was just what he needed, more heroism in a landmark night of being heroic. There was a brief, albeit vicious, inner battle between his conscience and his fiendishness but the victor was never really in question.

Sometimes being a good guy sucked.

"Fine, but please, whatever construct you come up with as a mode of travel? Let it be comfortable."

*

11:57 PM

"Sleepwalking." Ollie scanned the alley beneath them. Two figures hovering just on the corner of the dark. Muggers, drug dealers, maybe just a couple of homeless people. Worth a short wait to see which it was.

"Seems like. They checked him over and he came out clean. J'onn's going to work with him but they said it seems like just a manifestation of stress." All of which he heard from Kyle after he'd woken Connor up from where he was napping in Kyle's bed in the Watchtower. It only seemed fair.

Ollie grunted something that might have been an affirmative. "Don't see why they just don't take the ring away at night until he works this out."

It was actually a little horrifying to think of Kyle flying all the way down from the moon to their house while he was asleep. The Tower had been designed to keep hostiles out, not their teammates in. Not that much could stop a Green Lantern ring and his dad was right in that it was a nerve-wracking thing to consider. Still. "It's not theirs to take."

"Yeah, yeah." Ollie waved a hand at him impatiently, saying very clearly without words that it wouldn't matter so long as the Greater Good for Oliver Queen benefited. Better to just move on than try to discuss that.

"They said if he stops by again to not wake him and to call if it gets too...weird. J'onn will be keeping tabs on him, too." A young man was walking down the street, towards the perhaps-muggers and both Green Arrows tensed, hands halfway to their quivers before the young man stopped at a car and got in. They relaxed, easing back into watcher positions.

Ollie wasn't quite ready to let it go just yet. "I'm still not sure I like the idea of him wandering around loose in our house. What if he sleep-imagines, too?"

The idea had occurred to them, but J'onn seemed confident enough about the whole deal. "Look, I know you're not that fond of Kyle--"

"I like Kyle just fine," Ollie interrupted, somewhat huffily. Connor ducked his head to hide his smile. Kyle and his dad got on about as well as two cats with a single can of tuna. Which was to say, not at all. "He's a good teammate, works hard, and doesn't get in the way too often."

"He's single too, Dad." Connor didn't bother avoiding the light slap to the head.

"Yeah, yeah." The maybe-muggers seemed more likely to be homeless people settling in for the night, and Connor followed his father silently up the fire escape. They paused on the roof long enough for Ollie to give him a firm clap on the shoulder, his way of sealing a deal. "Okay, do what you have to but see if you can't get him to wear some pants around the house."

Mm, yes, pants. Hopefully not Connor's since he fully expected his to be returned. Hey, it took a long time to get a pair of jeans just right. "Did Mia complain?"

"No, and that is why it should be stopped."

 

Day Two

*

4:36 AM

It was possible his guilt complex needed a little work. Begging off patrol early on account of practically no sleep the day before was a perfectly reasonable excuse. Mia and Ollie could handle the seedier side of Star City for one night and neither one of them had so much as blinked about it. So it had to be a guilt complex; it was the only explanation for why he'd wake up so early on a day meant for sleeping in.

Unless it was the very human-feeling furnace pressed up against his back with an equally human arm draped over his waist. This was not how he remembered going to bed last night. Connor was quite sure he would not have forgotten about bringing one of these with him.

In fact, he was positive he'd gone to sleep alone the night before because that was how he always went to sleep. Alone, without any other creature, animal, or mineral aside from the normal ones like pillows and blankets.

"Kyle?" he whispered and immediately felt stupid. Like a sleeping person was going to answer him. Who else did he know was having bed hopping issues that had nothing to do with sex? Surely J'onn would have mentioned if there was a sudden rash of superheroes wandering into alternate beds at night. A brief flashing thought of Superman sneaking into Batman's bed was enough to wake him up completely.

Stupid, maybe, but if it wasn't Kyle slobbering on his back, he really, really wanted to know. Warily, Connor sat up enough to look behind him. Dark hair, faint snore, glowing green ring? Check. Unless Hal had taken up sleepwalking too, it was Kyle.

Connor flopped back down and took back his portion of the pillow before Kyle could finish an attempted theft. Heck with it, it was too early to care. Besides, aside from being a little cuddly, Kyle was pretty warm. Comfortable, even, although the whole drooling thing was going to become an issue if Kyle kept winding up here until they figured out why he was wandering in his sleep. It would probably be drier to cuddle with a Saint Bernard, geez, did they have drool patches, like those things for snoring...oh.

Um, okay. Connor swallowed, hard. That wasn't cuddly. That felt a lot more like Kyle rubbing against him which was at least the creepiest thing that had happened this month. Maybe this year -- no, there was still the bank robbery by Jell-o incident, so Kyle took a distant second. Except for the fact that Kyle seemed to have another early morning problem aside from drooling, a very hard problem that he was rubbing against Connor's ass and...oh, fuck.

J'onn had NOT mentioned this as a side effect.

Kyle was making soft, breathy, whimpery little sounds against Connor's ear, and his breath was sour and damp, and he didn't have Connor in anything like a pin, just that one arm around him but -- J'onn had said not to wake him up. Had, in fact, said that waking him up could be very bad and one just didn't shrug off J'onn's idea of very bad unless one wanted their internal organs rearranged in a more feng shui manner.

Worse, he could even admit it wasn't the most horrible thing he'd ever felt before. Creepy, sure, but Kyle was still warm and Connor was still tired, and his own dick seemed perfectly willing to harden in sympathy.

Breathing, breathing was a good thing and Connor struggled to keep it deep and even, and tried hard not to match the rhythm Kyle was working with. Just breathe and then he'd figure out a way to deal with this that wouldn't wake Kyle up.

The bed was starting to make little creaking sounds, not really loud but enough that Connor made a brief but fervent prayer that Mia and his dad were not back from patrol yet. Never before had he prayed for an increase in the crime in Star City, but he'd also never felt a hard dick rubbing his butt either, so today would be a day for firsts.

A hand that wasn't his own sliding into his boxer shorts was another one and half-panicked, Connor grabbed Kyle's hand and held it, laced his fingers with Kyle's and that seemed to satisfy him. In more ways than one; Kyle made a shuddery little sound and then relaxed, pressing his forehead between Connor's shoulder blades. His sweaty forehead, which wasn't much better than, ugh, the rapidly cooling, wet sensation somewhat lower.

Connor was never complaining about drooling again. Ever.

He supposed this was one way of dealing with the problem.

After a moment, snoring resumed. Connor didn't move for a few minutes longer, fear of the redecoration of his intestines not even a part of the reason he wanted Kyle to stay asleep anymore. Never in his life had he been so grateful for his training than this moment when it allowed him to squirm away from his friend's renewed and much creepier cuddling fetish. Kyle made one noise, a loud, snuffling groan and then he'd let go and rolled over on his back.

Now would probably be a good time to call J'onn. Connor took one step towards the door, wrinkled his nose, and then went to his dresser. New boxers first, then he'd call J'onn and tell him...what? Connor paused, fresh underclothes halfway up his legs.

What exactly would he tell J'onn? J'onn had said to call if it got too weird, but exactly how weird was that? It wasn't like there was a weirdness scale from one to ten. Was morning wood considered extremely weird, or only if you got rid of it rubbing against the other unwilling occupant of the bed? Or, well, he hadn't exactly tried to fight Kyle off, what if he'd thought it was a willing occupant or he'd been dreaming of someone else entirely? Maybe if Connor hadn't been there he'd just have used the pillow or his hand, or...well. Okay. Maybe this wasn't quite weird enough to call J'onn. Not yet.

But...so much for the bed hopping not being about sex.

Connor added a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, no longer quite as willing to sit around in his underwear as he had been a half hour earlier. He settled into one corner of the room and closed his eyes, slowly evening his breathing. A half hour of meditating wasn't going to change anything but it might help him straighten out his thinking so he could decide what to do.

His first real sexual experience with another person and they hadn't even been awake.

There were times when meditation seemed entirely beyond the tasks he set for it.

*

5:45 AM

"Oh, you're wearing pants," Mia said, disappointed, when Kyle hesitantly stepped into the kitchen. Connor did not look up, keeping his interest completely on his whole-grain cereal. His father was behind him, making some sort of god awful chili and egg monstrosity that Connor had no intention of warning Kyle about.

A failed attempt at meditation and a cold shower hadn't given him much perspective yet this morning.

He could hear Kyle pushing his fingers through his hair nervously and had no doubt he was turning a brilliant shade of red. Pale skin, Irish blood, Kyle was doomed to visibly blush forever. "I've been informed that pants are a requirement in your homestead."

Mia gave Ollie a sly look. "Gee, that must be a new rule."

He smacked her lightly. "Eat, Miss Thing. You have school." Ollie shoved Kyle in the direction of a chair. "You might as well eat, too. We can try to have some form of hospitality around here, even if it is the ass crack of dawn."

"Even if I'm sort of forcing myself on you guys?" Something in Kyle's voice finally made Connor glance up. Kyle was looking at hands, twisting the ring on his finger like it was some toy designed to relieve stress. "Look, I know this is all really -- I'm just -- "

He trailed off, looking more than a little lost, enough that Connor almost reached out to touch him, if Mia hadn't done it first. Stood right up and just hugged him and after a moment of startled hesitation, Kyle hugged her back, tightly.

Connor wondered if maybe he wasn't being the greatest friend lately and it didn't have anything to do with guilt complexes, at all.

Kyle was having a rough time of it, he knew that. If the fading bruises his father and Kyle both still had from bringing Hal Jordan, literally, back from the dead didn't tell him that then simple knowledge of everything else that Kyle had been through lately should. Dumped by his girlfriend, beaten up by intergalactic beings, and even thinking his mother had been murdered. It was probably lucky all he was doing was sleepwalking.

It made not forgiving him for an unintentional morning rub-off unthinkable. Sex just made Connor feel like -- like he had no idea what was going on or what he should do, and it was not a feeling that sat well with him. But that was hardly Kyle's problem; he had more than enough of his own.

Mia finally let him go, ruffling Kyle's hair in a move that was, probably, more about comforting him than feeling him up, and Connor doubted he was the only one who saw Kyle hastily rub a hand over his eyes. Just as well, every person in his family was a classic sucker for a hard luck case and a glance at Ollie confirmed it. Oliver Queen had a decent habit of picking up strays even if he didn't know quite what to do with them after that. Kyle was going to be a welcome morning addition, for now.

The yowl of the smoke alarm broke the moment and then it was just a typical morning with Ollie swearing and flapping a towel at the black smoke pouring from the toaster. Mia dragging the fire extinguisher out from under the sink, ignoring Ollie's command that he did not need that damned thing and the only thing new about it was the little green mice with suction cups on their feet who were taking the batteries out of the smoke alarm.

"Never liked that damned toaster, anyway," Ollie muttered, tossing the newly mangled appliance into the trash bin. "Guess you might be useful around here, new kid."

Kyle grinned. "Yeah, that's me. He cooks, he cleans, he can kill a smoke detector with a single mouse, but don't ask about the windows." The grin faded, a little. "Thanks, Ollie."

Connor studiously did not look at either of them. Sure, give the gratitude to the guy whose bed you didn't expose to your DNA, Kyle, thanks ever so much.

"No problem, kid," Ollie said gruffly. He slapped Kyle on the back and shoved a plate of dubious chili-eggs in front of him. "Eat up, plenty more where that came from."

Connor still didn't feel much like talking but he wasn't completely cruel. He did get Kyle a glass of milk before he tasted the eggs.

He was a hero, after all.
 

Day Three

*

2:23 AM

Connor hadn't been a vigilante hero as long as some. It didn't mean he was bad at it, though.

He wasn't afraid, not of fighting his enemies and his death was only worrisome to him in that he knew how much his parents and friends would be hurt by it. It only helped to make him careful and aware. Lacking a fear of death didn't mean he sought it and he wanted to keep his family close as long as he could.

He knew fear but he was not ruled by it.

Until now.

Connor sat on the floor and stared at his bed.

He'd been thinking about it for the past twenty minutes and so far, he knew this. On one hand, he was very tired and hadn't had a decent night's sleep in several days. So he needed to rest. On the other, any rest he was likely to get would was quite possibly going to be interrupted by the flying Lothario presently on the moon.

It was a dilemma.

Unless...he didn't sleep in this bed. Connor slapped his forehead and groaned. Of course, a guest room! It wasn't like the house didn't have a couple of other rooms to sleep in. At this point, he'd curl up on the floor in the basement if it would give him some sack time.

Oh, yeah. Batman had nothing on him.

Connor snagged a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and went in search of a room that wouldn't have an extra occupant come morning. Somehow, sleeping in just his shorts had lost its appeal.

*

4:53 AM

Slowly, he became aware of two things. The first was that Kyle had found him like some kind of ring-enhanced homing beacon. The next was that he must have been sleeping on his back because Kyle was on top of him.

Lovely.

He bet things like this never happened to Robin.

Connor sighed and didn't bother opening his eyes. Not supposed to wake him, right?

Not supposed to wake him and trying to get him to move would certainly do that. He'd had Kyle do his naughty dog routine on his back the day before so how different could his front--

Oh.

Oh, damn.

This was -- really not the same at all.

For starters, the last time he hadn't been looking at Kyle -- and yes, it was some relief to see that it was still Kyle -- above him with his eyes closed and his breath a warm gust on Connor's face while he, oh, geez, moved and last time the movement hadn't been there.

The hard line of Kyle's cock right next to his own and Kyle shifted his hips, slowly, dragging them together and -- oh. Oh.

"Oh." The sound slipped from Connor's mouth. He bit his lip, no noise, no waking Kyle. Not even if that felt embarrassingly good, slow rocking against him and Connor couldn't concentrate, could barely remember to keep breathing because Kyle was kissing his neck, wet, biting little touches and it made him shiver, made him tremble. Kyle had one hand on his shoulder and the other on his ass and -- and --

The only place that this wasn't a form of sex was the Clinton administration.

They couldn't do this. He couldn't let Kyle do this, he wasn't even awake, he may as well be getting a quickie from one of his constructs, and Connor couldn't just let this keep happening.

A hot rush of air against his ear was followed by a tongue, wet and clever and Connor tilted his head into it with a gasp, it felt so incredibly, unexpectedly good and for the first time he had some dizzy awareness of why Ollie and Roy might want to do this every opportunity they had.

One of Kyle's hands slipped beneath the hem of his shirt, squirming upward and it just kept touching him, moving in delicious little circles and pinching his nipple hard enough to make him wince. It was barely a distraction from the main show a little lower, Kyle pushing against him in a sweet sort of rhythm that was absolutely nothing like masturbation.

Not to mention that Kyle was suddenly kissing him and it felt--

Oh, sweet -- !

Whatever little sound he made was lost in Kyle's mouth, against Kyle's tongue which seemed to be making its own fun whether Connor helped or not, and it was like he'd never come before, and he hadn't really, not with help, and Kyle tasted good, hot, felt hotter. He felt it when Kyle came, groaning into Connor's mouth and his pants were no match for the rush of wet heat that wasn't, somehow, quite as disgusting as it had been the day before.

A very long moment until Kyle's breathing reached a normal level and then he rolled off and settled on the other side of the bed, one arm loosely draped over Connor's waist. Snoring slowly resumed.

Connor didn't move. He wasn't entirely convinced he could or that if he did the world might start melting around him like a lost Dali painting.

He was going to lay here very still and very quiet, and any moment now he was going to wake up and find he had not just had the equivalent of sex with his friend while the man was asleep.

Any minute now.

Any minute.

*

5:17 AM

"Connor?" The outline of a head appeared in Connor's side vision.

"Kyle."

"You know, I'm not positive I want to know the answer to this but...are we in a different room?"

"Yes."

Silence. "But this is still your house, right?"

"Of course."

"Oh, thank god." Kyle dropped his head back on the pillow. "I was ... I keep having nightmares that I end up sleeping in the middle of a road or the White House or something."

Apparently he was safe from that unless Connor did it, too. Since he wasn't sure how much of a relief that would be, Connor decided to keep the information to himself for the moment.

Carefully, he turned his head, just until he could see Kyle. He seemed to be squinting at the ceiling. "Did I put us here?"

"You put you here. I put myself here."

Kyle blinked. "All of that was English, but still, all I can think is, 'huh?'"

"This is the guest room. I was planning on letting you have my bed and just sleep here. It didn't quite work the way I hoped." Really not.

"Oh." Kyle leaned up on his elbows and took in the general blandness of the room before venturing, "At least it's a big bed."

Not that that seemed to help. "Yes."

Silence.

"I was talking to J'onn yesterday."

I'll bet you were. "Yes?"

"He said he was confident I was making progress." Kyle sounded distinctly hopeful.

Is that what they called it. If this was progress, Connor wasn't sure he wanted to see Kyle in his cured state. "Mm."

"You think it'd be okay if I took a shower? My hair is --"

"Please do." Please, get out of this bed. "My room is two doors down, help yourself to some clean clothes." With the state of his chastity in danger, worrying about his clothing seemed to be a slightly more useless point than it had been days before.

He waited until Kyle had closed the bedroom door behind him before pulling the pillow over his face. Not that he was trying for asphyxiation; for starters, it was a fairly disgusting way to die, but the pillow seemed better than actually facing the world.

For lack of a better way to put it, this really sucked.

Not just because it was Kyle, and that Kyle was, you know, sleeping through all this even though Connor admitted it was very high on the suckatude scale.

It was just that he was quite used to analyzing himself, and it didn't take a degree and a pile of inkblots to prove that he'd really liked it. Any person who wasn't catatonic would be able to tell he liked it, or someone who wasn't, you know, sleepwalking. They might have some trouble getting it, too.

Liking it was going to be problematic, and again, not just because it was Kyle.

It was one of the more frustrating aspects of his life. People had been trying to drag him out of a closet he'd never even known existed ever since he left the monastery and some part of him just really didn't want to hear a few dozen, "I knew it!'s from around the world. There was enough outside interest in the state of his homo/heterosexuality for Connor to know he didn't want to talk about it again. Ever.

It wasn't that he had a problem with homosexuality, just that everyone around him seemed to have a problem with HIM being homosexual. Which he wasn't, because he liked girls. Not that his record lately would be convincing anyone. Even he wasn't convinced.

The real problem was that it seemed Oliver Queen's son being gay would be a source of great hilarity and Connor wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being the butt of anyone's joke. Not even the universe's.

An alarm was going off somewhere and Connor glanced at the clock in the far corner. Five-thirty, damn.

Moping later, then.

He tugged down the hem of his t-shirt and prayed briefly for no visible stains. It was the least the universe could do for him today.

The bathroom door was still closed but he couldn't hear the shower anymore so Connor knocked, lightly. "Kyle?"

"Yeah?" Muffled by the door.

"Hurry up, will you? It's Wednesday." He knew without saying that if he didn't snag Kyle then Ollie would and, weirdness notwithstanding, it would probably be better if he did it. Connor wasn't sure just how much he wanted to trust the truce between his friend and his dad.

"And this is special, because...?"

"Don't worry. You'll see."

*

12:45 PM

If there was one thing Connor had learned today, and there was actually a lot more than that but he was Not Thinking About The Weirdness, it was that Kyle liked kids.

Fortunately, the feeling seemed to be mutual.

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!" Kyle sang along with the children waiting in line for their scoop of vanilla, cheerily ignoring Ollie's flagrant eye rolling before he deserted Kyle and Connor to handle the flock of unruly youngsters on their own. Ollie might own the youth center but he was no fool and probably the thought of Kyle elbow-deep in dirty dishes would bring a smile to his face for a week.

Good thing he didn't know what else Kyle was in deep -- nope, not thinking about it.

"Thanks, Tiger Woods!" One of the boys saluted him happily with a spoon and ran off to a table.

"Tiger Woods?" Kyle smirked at him as he arranged the last few bowls on the tray.

"I get that a lot." Most of the kids were already sitting with their ice cream and though Kyle wouldn't know it, his dad had bailed on them at exactly the best time. From Ollie's point of view, at least.

Leaving the dishes for them aside, Ollie wouldn't be able to say a word against Kyle's work ethic. Kyle hadn't so much as raised an eyebrow when Connor had told them where they were going, just rolled up his -- Connor's -- sleeves and pitched in with the same dedication he used when fighting the good fight on the streets.

It reminded Connor of just why he and Kyle were friends.

The last of the ice cream found its proper owner and the dishes were already stacking up. Nothing left now but to clean up. "Can you take the trash to the back?"

"Absolutely not," Kyle said, so fervently that Connor blinked. "I tried that at the house and I was actually afraid for my life when Ollie saw where I put the plastic wrap. He said I ruined his system and I tainted his universe or something, and it was forever soiled, so I'd just as soon never lay a fingernail on his 'system' again."

"Green Lanterns are supposed to be brave."

"Yeah, well, they also aren't supposed to be stupid. You have his blood, he's less likely to spill it. You do it."

"Coward."

"Anything to keep Oliver Queen from yelling to the world that I've soiled his 'system' works for me."

What about soiling his so--

Nope. Definitely not thinking about it.
 

Day Four

*

5:17 AM

Connor still wasn't sure why it was called a blowjob. There didn't seem to be much blowing involved with it, just a lot of sucking and licking and oh, fuck yes.

He wasn't in much of a position to worry about the name, but he had managed to decide that this was, without question, the best way he had ever been woken up.

"Ohhhh," he tried very hard not to groan as Kyle feathered his tongue ever so sweetly down the side of his cock. He had a double fistful of the sheets and Connor was going to keep holding on to them otherwise he was going to have them in Kyle's hair, and he was going to pull that hot, hot mouth down. Not that he was worried anymore about waking Kyle up. The past few days had taught him that it was possible a tactical assault with a cast iron pan wouldn't wake him up and now he knew the secret to bringing down this Green Lantern. All he needed was to find him when he was sleeping.

He'd heard Mia get up earlier and go downstairs, and please, please, let his father still be sleeping and not possibly hearing any of the little shuffly-bed moving noises. It would be very bad to move, the chance of making those sounds louder was entirely too close. Somehow, Connor had forgotten how to tell his lower half about that because his hips were on a mission, they had their orders and they were to get deeper into that oh, tight, wet and Kyle did this slippery little thing with his tongue because he was a rotten bastard --

His brain informed him, vaguely, that his hands were very much in Kyle's soft, soft hair that smelled a lot like Mia's shampoo, holding him down while he worked his tongue on Connor's dick like he'd been training for it.

There was just enough light creeping in from the window for Connor to squint downward and it was a huge mistake in a sea of bad ideas. The paler sight of his hands clenched in the dark, silky hair, Kyle's lashes dark smudges against his cheeks and his mouth, lips reddened, swollen and stretched around him and why hadn't anyone told him how pretty Kyle really was? They should have warned him, he should have to wear a sign, and oh, damn, fucking hell, all the swear words he'd ever heard seemed appropriate at just this second.

He could, oh, wow, feel Kyle swallowing around him, one hand stroking the underside of Connor's shaking leg soothingly. Kyle pulled off with a wet noise and scootched back up the bed, draping his arm over Connor in the traditional manner. Kyle sighed contentedly, another job well done by Green Lantern, and soon was snoring again.

Connor didn't move until the cool air started getting uncomfortable on his wet skin and then he arranged his underwear back into the proper position and gingerly slipped out of the bed.

Once again, his world had changed in strange and mysterious ways. Connor knew men who had returned from the dead, he'd fought against invading aliens and now, never again would he be able to say he didn't know if Kyle gave good head.

It was getting to look like he was going to need more therapy than Kyle when this was finally resolved.

Kyle rolled over in the bed and made a hurt-sounding little noise, his hand sweeping over the sheets. It was enough to make Connor decide to make a hasty retreat. Meditating in the basement seemed like a much wiser choice today. He skinned quickly into the feeble protection of a fresh pair of pants and a shirt and fled.

Maybe he needed to invest in a suit of armor.

*

6:10 AM

It was possible he was expecting too much out of his meditating skills to hope they'd help him resolve this issue, Connor decided. Though it wasn't like any of the monks had given him any tips on how to focus his thoughts on sex and Connor wasn't entirely sure he knew anyone he could ask about it. He and Nightwing weren't really that good of friends.

When he finally gave up and went upstairs, he found everyone in the living room going through their traditional morning routines. Mia was doing sit-ups. Ollie was working on the computer in the corner and Kyle was...eating that disgusting chocolate cereal of Mia's and watching some cartoon about a living sponge.

His feet were bare. It was sort of annoying that Connor even noticed that he had very nice feet. He sat down in a chair and snagged a book off the coffee table, resolutely not looking at, or thinking about, Kyle's pretty feet...pretty?

Dammit.

"You have such a full life, Kyle," Mia panted out. She stopped long enough to pull one of her socks off, rolling it up and tossing it with decent aim at Kyle's head. It bounced off his forehead and narrowly avoided the bowl in his lap. "When do you find time to work out?"

"I don't," Kyle mumbled around a mouthful of cereal. He picked up the sock and tossed it at Connor. It fell short by at least two feet.

"Weak!" Mia laughed. "But you know, you don't look like someone who doesn't exercise. I've seen you in your uniform, you know."

"Some of us are born this beautiful, beautiful."

"Oh, yeah?" Mia grunted, flipping over to work on her quads. "So how do you handle the hordes of New York?"

A faint green light came from Kyle's hand and Mia was abruptly suspended in a air atop a large glowing throne. Four large, green skinned men in loincloths that each bore a startling resemblance to Superman were at the corners, holding her up.

Connor finally looked up from the book he was pretending to read, just in time to see another flare of green. A crown appeared on Mia's head, tilted in a rakish angle. The Superman clones glistened with sweat as they marched slowly around the room. "Nice attention to detail."

"Thanks."

"Please stop molesting the underage set with your brain, Green Lantern," Ollie said, sparing them a glance. Kyle discreetly stuck his tongue out but lowered Mia back to the floor. "And he's yanking your chain, Mia; he uses the exercise room up at the Tower every day."

"No, he was yanking my chain with those babes, until you made him stop," she grumbled. "I need to get ready for school anyway. Connor, if you aren't too busy today, could you get some of my prescriptions filled? I'm not out yet but the pharmacies plow through this stuff like candy."

"Sure." Anything to get away from Kyle's bare feet and half-naked constructs. Bad enough he was thinking terrible, wrong things about Kyle. If he started lusting after Superman he was going to have to just die. Maybe he could be reincarnated as someone whose life made sense from time to time. It would be a nice change.


*

10:45 AM

Pharmacies always smelled like nail polish remover to Connor which pretty much sealed the deal on his dislike of them. He understood the necessity of medication, especially in Mia's case, but the aisles dedicated to candy-colored pills, painkillers, decongestants, antacids always seemed about ten miles past overkill.

It was an argument not worth pursuing and normally he wouldn't be browsing through them but the pharmacy was busy today. Usually sitting quietly to wait would suit Connor just fine but today he was restless and his thoughts kept drifting back to things he wasn't supposed to be thinking about so instead he was examining the shelves of bandages. Next to the plain ones were the bright cartoony ones for children and he couldn't resist getting the box that had ones emblazoned with phrases like 'Princess' for Mia. Hey, they were medicated and waterproof, it was a practical purchase.

Further down the aisle were other bright packages but further inspection revealed that they weren't bandages, and much as he adored Mia, he wasn't going to bring her a box of condoms. He'd never even bought a box for himself and it occurred to him suddenly that maybe that wasn't a good thing.

Condoms and lubricant would be a perfectly normal purchase. If he did meet the right woman someday he'd need to be prepared, otherwise he'd be raiding the stash in his father's room and just the thought of that would make sure sex never happened.

He'd just had no idea that there was such a selection to choose from. How did people ever manage to have sex? Colored, textured, flavored? He wasn't aware that people would want to taste a condom.

Against his will, his brain chose to flutter back to that morning and Connor shifted uncomfortably. Okay, he supposed he could see why someone would want them to taste decently.

But what about those ones, ribbed for her pleasure? Did they even make ribbed for his pleasure -- stop, Connor. Don't even think it.

Warming? Wasn't it warm enough, it had seemed pretty -- stop it. Speedstrip? He'd always thought people wanted sex to last longer and he sure knew why -- knock it off and just keep walking down the aisle...did that box say glow in the dark?

"Did you need help, sir?"

Connor's central nervous system made a fairly decent try of jumping out through his skin. A young woman in a blue smock was standing next to him with a shiny, helpful smile on her face. "No, no, I -- that is --"

"Dearden?" A woman in a lab coat called from the counter.

"Here!" He fumbled out his wallet and handed the woman some kind of bill that must have been enough and the very second she gave him his change, he snatched up the small white bag and went to find something that would stop him from thinking for a while. Possibly a lobotomy.

The cashier watched him leave and sighed. All the cute ones were gay.

*

6:57 PM

If there was one thing Connor had managed to learn over the years, it was this. If you couldn't subdue your thoughts with meditation or discipline, you could always beat them into submission with exercise. So far, the plan was working perfectly. A few hours of hard training and Connor's brain had run up the white flag.

It left him able to sprawl on the couch and watch mindless television. The living sponge show wasn't on but there were some old MASH reruns and Connor could enjoy the show so long as Ollie wasn't around to go into a frothy rant about the war. It was a good thing he rarely watched television, debating shows with his dad would be enough for anyone to throw their set out the window.

Klinger had just failed another attempt to get out of the army when the doorbell rang. And again. Either Mia couldn't hear it through her headphones or she was taking a nap and Connor sighed before heaving himself off the sofa. His muscles all but creaked from the earlier abuse. Connor didn't care. He was thought-free and planned to stay that way the rest of the evening.

He opened the front door to find Kyle on the doorstep with an overnight bag over his shoulder and his jeans were tight enough in just the right places and he was wearing a tank-top, and all of the banished thoughts came winging right back into Connor's brain. And they brought friends.

Someone help me.

They stood there for several minutes, Kyle looking rather embarrassed, and he finally said, "I keep ending up here, anyway, I thought I may was well just...be here. Before I fly into a jet engine or something on my way here."

There was a frayed little hole at the seam of Kyle's jeans, right near his hip, exposing maybe a quarter inch of skin. It was almost hypnotic and Connor flinched when Kyle shifted a little, holding up his bag. "I even brought clothes."

He couldn't see the hole anymore but there was a smattering of freckles on Kyle's arm, leading up to his shoulder.

"Connor?"

Connor started, blinking. "Oh, yeah. Um. Sure. Come in." He shuffled back enough for Kyle to come inside and watched as he toed off his shoes.

"Cool," Kyle was entirely too cheerful, like someone who'd had plenty of sleep the past few nights. Oh, yeah, gee, he had.

Bastard.

He followed Kyle into the living room and watched him commandeer the most comfortable section of the sofa. But that was just fine, because Connor could sit in one of the other chairs. Far away. Before his brain attacked again.

"Hey, we could patrol together! I haven't wandered around Star City since the alien thing. Not awake, anyway."

And spend the evening watching Kyle in skintight spandex before they went to bed. Together. There were layers of no to that statement that could be peeled back to the core of the planet.

"Actually, tonight's my night off," Connor blurted, a little desperately.

Kyle blinked. "A Thursday?"

Okay, it was odd. Thursday was the day before payday when people were low on cash and crime tended to be on the heavy side until Monday when people were too tired or hungover to be more than a little surly. But his dad thought he needed to stay out of the game for a night because he was, 'acting kind of funky'. Funky wasn't a word he'd ever had a working definition of but he'd take his dad's word on it being that he was the resident expert on how sex affected people.

"Yeah, um, I was going to go to a couple of bookstores." Just stay calm, do not think of the spandex and all will be well. "They get new stock in today."

"Cool." Kyle hopped up. "Can I come?"

It was Connor's turn to blink. It got him a fairly disgusted look.

"Hello, artist? Reading is one of the many important things I do to keep in fashion."

Ah, yes. Well, Kyle had already managed to go with the bisexual stereotype, even if he didn't know it. May as well go for broke.

*

9:14 PM

So it wasn't such a bad idea. Kyle made a pretty good book hunting partner and as a bonus, he had a driver's license so they didn't need to wait for the bus. Plus, he picked up the beverage tab with a reasonable amount of equality.

It took a little while but slowly, Connor's brain was stepping back into the realm of normal. The store they were in now was a little more in the fashionably chique range than he usually preferred but it was hard to argue when they made such good tea. Even he could occasionally fall prey to the material.

Sipping at a cup of it and sitting in one of the artfully shabby chairs with a book made him feel relaxed for the first time in almost a week.

"They have a lot of pretty good bookstores around here," Kyle murmured from around a corner where he was browsing. The eclectic collection of books he'd bought had surprised Connor, possibly more than it should have. If nothing else, he was learning not to underestimate Kyle.

"They really do," Connor agreed. "Roy came with me once but he didn't really enjoy it as much."

"There's a surprise. Let me guess, he made you go to a strip club after." Connor choked on his tea. Wide green eyes appeared around the corner as Kyle looked at him in disbelief. "He did, didn't he. Oh, my God, he totally did! He took you to a strip club?"

"So?" Connor said defensively, scrunching down in his chair. "Maybe I like strip clubs."

"Connor, I wasn't even there and I know exactly what you did. You drank club soda and tried not to look at anything that jiggled. "

Ouch, and he thought Roy was accurate. Still, here he was, thinking of his friend in a new, broadminded manner and Kyle went right for the squeamish Connor ploy. It didn't matter if he was right, could someone at least think for a moment he might enjoy breasts?

"How do you know?" Connor demanded. "Maybe I was tucking bills with the best of them. Maybe I go to the strip clubs every night and...and unload a wad of cash! Maybe I'm an addict and I need to go to a meeting, because I. Like. GIRLS!"

The bookstore was eerily silent. Connor realized that most of the patrons were either concentrating on their books so fiercely they seemed on the verge of igniting the pages or unabashedly staring at them. Or rather, him.

Kyle grinned at him and shrugged. "Thanks for clearing that up for us, pal."

*

10:07 pm

Connor unlocked the front door in silence and Kyle followed him in much the same way into the living room. Without a single word, Connor tossed the bag with his new books on a side table and half a dozen strips of paper into the trash can beside it. Kyle stooped to rescued one of them and neatly tucked it into one of the books like a bookmark.

"At least call the redhead, she was pretty."

"She was a therapist and she told me the first part of dealing with a problem was admitting you had one."

Kyle winced. "Oh, sorry."

"I hate you. It's very important to me that you know that."

"No, you don't." Kyle flopped down in a chair and propped his feet on the coffee table in a way that would give Ollie a nosebleed were he here to see it. "Everyone loves me. I'm charming, heroic, hot."

"Chronically single."

"Glass houses, Connor." A little frown line appeared between Kyle's eyes. "Are you all right? I mean, I wasn't actually trying to be an asshole, earlier, I just --"

"I'm tired," Yes, that was a little testier than he meant and Kyle's little flinch made him feel guilty for it. A little. "Look, let's just go to bed." I did not just say that. I did NOT just say that, please, I did not.

"Sure," Kyle said, a little subdued.

Connor grabbed one of his books and held it like a shield in front of him as he followed Kyle up the stairs. The piece of paper with the phone number waved like a cheery little flag between the pages.

He wondered if Superman could hear his heart pounding. He wondered if Kyle could.

"Connor, do you think we should just sleep in the same bed?"

He was never going to fall asleep.

Day Five

*

5:37 AM

Connor was afraid to move.

Something was going to happen, he knew, and it was going to happen soon. Any minute now the sleeping, snoring man next to him was going to roll over and start doing...things to him.

A handjob? Been there. Early morning frott? Had the t-shirt to prove it. A little mouth action, yeah, yeah, it had been done.

So what would it be this morning? Wondering was making it very difficult for Connor to decide exactly how to lie on the bed. Every position seemed ripe with potential for the Green Lantern and his Kinky Sleepwalking of Doom, and any second now he was going to do something.

Any second.

Why wasn't he doing anything?

There was enough light filtering in for Connor to see the floral pattern on the wallpaper so it was long past dawn. Kyle had never slept this long before without...doing something.

Very carefully, Connor rolled over so he was facing him. A drool-free bed being the better part of sleeping, he'd invested in a few more pillows so Kyle had his own. He slept with his arms wrapped around it, squeezing the poor thing's stuffing so hard Connor wondered if he was going to pop it and add feathers to their morning ritual. Why not, it had already been established that this was kinky. All they needed was some handcuffs and chocolate syrup and they'd pass the final.

Kyle hadn't shaved the day before and without really thinking, Connor reached out and very lightly touched his face. Stubble scraped the pad of his finger as he traced the line of Kyle's jaw. It felt weird, interesting, to feel it on someone else face.

It seemed like this was going to be a porn-free morning. Was it the extra pillows? Did Kyle not feel the need to molest his bed partners if he had a pillow to rub on during the night? Or maybe he actually wasn't getting enough sleep; they had gone to sleep fairly early. Kyle had dropped almost the moment his head had touched the fresh, new pillows, leaving Connor to read his books in the semi-peace of his quiet snoring.

Or maybe the daily talks Kyle had with J'onn really were making progress, it -- oh. Connor winced. He was supposed to tell J'onn if things got weird and even if the rest was simple enough, yesterday's sleeping suck off was probably in the category of weird, in the folder marked 'extremely'.

Oops.

He barely held back a yelp when Kyle suddenly grabbed his hand. He'd half forgotten he was even touching Kyle, just letting his fingertips drift over the man's face and Kyle had caught him just as he touched his lips.

Well, hello, awkward morning. "Sorry, Kyle, I--eep!" Okay, that was a yelp but he could be excused since Kyle had chosen that moment to stick Connor's fingers in his mouth and started sucking on them. Ran his tongue over the callused pads, ticklish soft and made this happy little sound, sucking wetly. It felt extremely strange and, oh, better than it should and thinking about how hard he suddenly was only made it worse. Kyle's eyes were closed and he inhaled sharply through his nose as he curled his tongue into the sensitive skin between Connor's fingers.

Closed eyes. Still asleep.

Connor wasn't sure who to thank for that but he sent a brief prayer up to whoever might be listening.

Slowly, Kyle pulled Connor's fingers free with a wet pop and rubbed them over his lips, giving Connor a quick flash of pink tongue as he licked at the tips before pushing it down his chest. Connor's hand got a brief feel of soft, smooth skin; Kyle was surprisingly hairless until you got to just below his bellybutton and the smooth trail of hair that led -- oh.

Kyle still slept in nothing more than his boxer-briefs and why not, he only thought he'd been flashing teenage girls in the night. He still had no idea he was kidnapping his friend's hands and pushing them right past the elastic waistband and right inside where it was damp and, whoa, hot and Connor's hand just sort of wrapped itself around what it found inside and held on.

This was -- oh, geez, he was holding his friend's cock and it was really hard and the skin was silk-soft, and hair from Kyle's balls was brushing his knuckles, and fuck, Connor was so hard.

Apparently, he hadn't done anything fast enough to suit Kyle, who grabbed his hand through the boxers, trapping it between the cotton and the, oh, hot, skin and sort of pushing Connor's hand into moving. The angle was weird and the shape not quite the same but yeah, he knew how to do this. How hard to make it good, how to rub his thumb over the wet tip and Kyle gasped, burying his face into the side of Connor's neck, breathing heavily.

Tipped his head up and kissed him, so softly, just the tip of his tongue against Connor's lips and hesitantly, he parted them, let Kyle's tongue glide into his mouth so he could touch it with his own. His breath was sour with sleep, his tongue tender and so gentle, just like his hand when it slipped into Connor's sweatpants that he had worn because he knew what Kyle was doing in the night.

He knew everything Kyle was doing.

Connor wasn't sure if Kyle was matching his rhythm or if he was doing it, all he could think was that it felt so amazingly good. Kyle's hand was softer without archer's calluses but still strong, holding him and stroking him

"Kyle," he breathed, shivering and prickling with goosebumps when Kyle ran his tongue lightly over his lips. The scrape of his stubble burned Connor's cheeks and it made him whimper, made him jerk harder and Kyle moaned into his mouth, shaking, kissing him hard and deep and wet, oh, wet in his hand, hot rush of wetness and Connor was coming so hard he saw lights dancing behind his eyes.

He was still trembling with it when Kyle rolled away, back to his pillow and settled into snoring again.

Connor was afraid to move.

Kyle was asleep and his hand was wet but no wetter than his crotch and --

It was as close to a miracle as possible that Kyle didn't wake up when Connor scrambled out of the bed and out of the room and into the shower where he stood under the harshest setting on the spray and let it pound on him while he wondered exactly what the hell he was doing.

No answers came.

*

6:01 AM


"Are you all right?" Mia was standing in the doorway, backpack over her shoulder and a piece of toast in her hand.

"I'm fine." Connor didn't look up from the television. Spongebob was actually not a bad show, he'd decided. "Why wouldn't I be fine? Does someone think I'm not fine? Did Kyle say something?"

"Gee, no reason, Zen master. Did they switch your Sanka on you?"

"I haven't been sleeping well."

"Hey, neither would I if I was sharing the sheets with the hottie you landed." Connor's heart promptly landed in his shoes and only resumed beating when Mia laughed. "Kidding, you dork! God, the look on your face." She was wheezing with laughter, leaning against the doorjamb and Connor couldn't even work up a decent glare. "Anyway, I'm off. Take a nap later or Ollie is going to clip your arrows for another night."

"Yes, mom," he mumbled and slouched back on the sofa. In a moment of defiance he propped his feet up on the coffee table, curled his toes on the edge of the wood. It actually was a pretty comfortable way to sit.

"Morning."

Connor jerked guiltily and then bit his lip when he saw it wasn't his father. Kyle was drinking a cup of coffee with the expression Mia usually had, which meant he'd be taking it intravenously if he could.

He looked back at the television and the sponge show. "Are you going to talk to J'onn today?"

"Yeah, I talk to him every day." Kyle took a deep drink and finished the cup before plunking it down on the coffee table two inches west of a coaster. "Well, it's not really talking, more like I sit there and let him do things to my brain...which is really sort of creepy now that I'm thinking about it."

You do not know creepy.

"Can I come with you?"

That got him a look, a suspicious one, and Connor braced himself for the questions that he was not going to answer until he got a chance to speak to the JLA's resident Martian/mindreader. Not that Kyle didn't deserve an answer but just that Connor had no idea what the answers were just yet and he didn't want to deal --

"Sure."

Connor blinked. "Oh. Good."

"Have you eaten yet? Because I'm not a bad cook, I could make breakfast. I make a great omelet...hmm, no. But I can make...hmm." Kyle flopped on the sofa, the top of his head just brushing Connor's thigh. His eyes were very green and his smile was -- Connor sighed. This was so not good.

"Tell you what," Kyle said, and he sat up. "Why don't we go out to breakfast, my treat? I sort of owe you for turning your house into my own personal bed and breakfast."

"I -- " Connor's mind was blank. "All right."

"Cool, let me just shower and change. Glad I brought clothes this time. At the rate I'm sleeping over, I just about might as well move in," Kyle laughed and he disappeared upstairs.

Connor buried his face in his hands. Help me, Martian Manhunter, you're my only hope.

*

11:45 PM

Although he had long suspected it, today seemed to be all about confirming his suspicions.

The world was against him.

First there had been the volcano erupting in San Salvador which was Kyle's to deal with, and then the riot on a college campus in California which J'onn had sent him to deal with since he was around, and then a dam in India took the time to collapse just for them; Connor knew it had done it deliberately.

Where the hell was Superman when you needed him?

Just when he was starting to be certain he'd never have a chance to just talk to J'onn, he was here and he had no idea what to say. They were sitting in J'onn's quarters and Connor tried not to be too interested in any of the more unusual aspects of the décor while he tried to figure out what to say. At least the supplies at the Watchtower were generally topnotch; if he was going to fake having his attention completely taken up with a cup of tea, it may as well be good tea.

"You're concerned about the sexual nature of your relationship Kyle."

Connor nearly choked on his tea. "How did you -- oh. You read my mind."

"Not at all. I would never infringe on your privacy."

"Then how -- "

"I have been scanning Kyle's mind for the past few days. During his sleepwalking incidents he is not traditionally conscious but his subconscious is aware of what is happening. With that in mind, it wasn't difficult to guess why you wanted to talk."

"I guess not," Connor mumbled. J'onn sipped his tea calmly and watched him. It made him want to squirm and just move until J'onn couldn't look at him anymore. He resisted it, determinedly drinking his own tea. "I'm worried about him."

"And yet, you don't tell him any of this."

"He'd be embarrassed!" That he would be too, Connor didn't say.

"Perhaps."

"And hurt that I didn't tell him sooner."

"Why didn't you?"

"Why didn't YOU tell him?" Connor blurted. "You've known! I thought you were helping him!"

"I am." J'onn's expression never changed. "But he isn't making love to me."

Making love.

Oh.

Just the words made something heavy in his chest shift and ache. Not just a handjob in the morning or a ruboff or whatever, but making love. Sitting here with J'onn knowing and Kyle not, and he hadn't said anything...oh. Suddenly, Connor couldn't look at J'onn anymore. He felt...dirty.

Ollie would laugh. Roy probably would too.

Mia wouldn't.

Kyle...

"You didn't object and I hoped that his actions while asleep would help determine the why of it." J'onn added, calmly. Usually he found talking with J'onn to be very soothing. Not today. "Your being here now, however, leads me to believe that you do object. Why didn't you say something before?"

Connor didn't look up. "I'm not really sure."

"Have you considered that this is perhaps another manifestation of Kyle's wishes?"

It made his heart freeze. "You think I want this because Kyle wants me to?"

J'onn lifted a hand, palm up. "No. I asked if you considered it. It wouldn't be the first time that Kyle has inadvertently caused a manifestation with his subconscious."

It was possible, wasn't it? That all of this was being caused by some screwed up little piece of Kyle's subconscious and maybe now that they knew about it, they could stop it. Connor could go back to his nice, normal, well, as normal as it got, life and find a nice girl and...no.

"No. He's not doing this." Connor set his cup aside and stood. "I think I need to talk to Kyle.

"No other great events have occurred on Earth today that would require his attention. I suggest you try his rooms."

Great, no pressure. Just walk up to one of his closest friends and tell him they'd been having sex every night for a week.

No trouble at all.

Connor wondered if any more volcanoes could erupt today but didn't get his hopes up. It had already been proved, after all, that the world was against him.

He wasn't going to expect any favors now.

Day Six

*

12:03 AM

Why was it that when Connor didn't want Kyle he ended up with the man in his bed, attached to his hip like a terrier but when he did want him, he was nowhere to be found?

Not in his room, which Connor couldn't blame him for that because there was nothing in it but some clothes and an old Reader's Digest. One pair of jeans that were recognizably his but now wasn't the time to stage a rescue. He also wasn't in the kitchen area, so where the heck was he? They were on a space station on the moon, there weren't exactly that many hiding places -- and he was chasing after a man with a ring that let him fly through space. Right.

It took far too long to stumble across him, sitting on the floor in one of the atriums. He was bent over a pad of paper, sketching with quick little movements. Connor told himself that he didn't want to interrupt which was why he hung back a little and watched him.

Or maybe he didn't have to lie to himself this time and he could just admit that Kyle was...he was really good to look at. So focused, his expression serious as he drew whatever was in his mind. There was a little concentration line creased between his eyebrows and just then Connor really wanted to kiss it. He wished he could.

Connor sighed. He really was gay. Roy was going to laugh so hard.

Kyle chose that moment to look up and when he saw Connor, he smiled as brightly as the sun and Connor's heart leapt. How was it he hadn't noticed how much he just liked being around Kyle? He must be the stupidest man on the planet and probably a few other ones. Some Zen Buddhist he was.

"Done talking with J'onn," Kyle asked, his eyes flicking from Connor to the paper.

"Yes," Connor said simply. He needed just a few more minutes to enjoy being around Kyle before he probably made the man hate him for life. "What are you drawing?"

"Eh, just something that came to me. Haven't had much time for it lately and, well, I wasn't in much of a mood for it either, but today felt right."

He flipped the drawing pad around to show Connor a sketch of a woman, her features just alien enough for him to recognize she wasn't human. Tears were making lines down her face, her sorrow so visible it was like something Connor could hold in his hands. Kyle was really very good and he wondered why he hadn't noticed before. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks," Kyle said, his voice subdued. "When I was in space, I did a lot of work on other planets, trying to help out, you know?" Kyle tipped the pad back, carefully smudging one penciled line with his pinkie. "This planet, and please don't ask me to pronounce the name, was being destroyed by internal stresses. We got as many people as we could out, just did everything we could possibly do but --" he shrugged, a little, his eyes shadowed. "Even I couldn't save the planet. All these people are refugees now, going to whatever planets will take them.

"I saw this woman on one of the ships. She'd just lost everything she had, her entire world and there was nothing I could do. I felt so helpless," Kyle said quietly. "I just remembered it today."

There wasn't much he could say to that. Connor settled for resting his hand on Kyle's shoulder, forcing himself to make it brief. "Is this all you've drawn?"

"Nah, I doodle a lot to get in the mood." Flipped back a page and there were dozens of tiny sketches, scattered images. He immediately recognized one of Ollie, his head cartoonishly large with a speech bubble saying, 'Don't touch the system!' Mia sitting curled up in a throne, only a few simple lines and yet recognizably her, lovely and strong. His family.

And...there. Him. Just a tiny sketch of him tucked into one corner. Sleeping with one arm curled under his head. He wondered when Kyle had actually seen him like that. Kyle watching him sleep. Kyle making love to him...

"We need to talk," Connor said abruptly.

"All right." Kyle flipped back the cover on the sketchbook and got to his feet. "But not here. There's always someone listening in this place."

Connor blinked. "Okay. Did you have some place in mind?"

*

1:37 AM

"If I'd had any time to plan, I could have brought marshmallows," Kyle said cheerfully, sprawled across his sleeping bag. Connor couldn't stop looking up through the giant green bubble that was all that stood between them and the vast blackness of space.

Trust Kyle to go camping on asteroids.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Connor asked, scrunching in closer to the false comfort of the flicking green campfire.

"Would I be here if it wasn't?"

"That is not a yes."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's safe. It'll stay even if I fall asleep. Except I'm not going to because you wanted to talk. So talk."

Talk. Right. Connor slapped at a mosquito that was humming eye-wateringly around his ear. "Kyle, I know you strive for realism but there is occasion for taking it too far."

"I take pride in my work and you're stalling. Talk, already."

"I -- " Really don't want to do this. Really wish we were somewhere I could leave after I tell you. Really wish you'd stop being so damned hot and that you'd stayed in your own bed and kept your hands and your dick to yourself and -- "We've been having sex all week. I mean, you've been -- what I mean is -- when you were sleeping you -- we --" Connor stumbled helplessly to a stop. Very smooth, ninja master.

"Yeah." Kyle poked at the fire with a stick that congealed into shape in his hand. "I was wondering when you'd say something."

...what?

"You knew? J'onn said he didn't say anything to you!"

"You know, I don't think I am entirely comfortable with the level of stupid you think I am." Kyle scowled. "I'll admit, most of my detective skills are from old Matlock reruns, but I'm not an idiot, Connor. I went through puberty; I know exactly what stiff boxers in the morning mean. I'm also familiar with a semen aftertaste, I did go to college."

"Why didn't you say something?!"

Kyle shrugged. "Wasn't entirely sure you were involved it in. I could have just been doing it in my sleep and I didn't want to embarrass you."

"You were doing it in your sleep all right," Connor muttered. "With me."

Kyle didn't even smile. "I know what started this, you know. I was just hoping I could work through it and get things on even keel without dragging you into it anymore than I had to. Guess that's not working out."

"So you talk to me now." Maybe hearing Kyle's problems would make him feel better about the ones Kyle had given to him.

"I slept with Hal Jordon." Very softly.

That was not quite the confession Connor had been expecting.

"You...Kyle, you're not gay," Connor said, dumbly. His jaw felt like it would never come off the ground. "I mean, you have girlfriends. Had girlfriends. And I'm pretty sure, I'm almost positive Hal isn't gay, that's--"

"You don't have to be gay just to sleep with a guy," Kyle snapped.

"You -- you do so, I'm sure you do! That's completely what sleeping with another guy means! It means you're gay. I should know, I practically have people stuffing rainbow bumper stickers in my pants!"

"Connor, work with me here, okay? I slept with a guy. I slept with HAL and I don't give a damn if it means I need to march in a parade every year from now on!" Kyle took a deep breath, visibly calming himself. "Let's focus, all right?"

"Focus. Right. You slept with...Kyle, what happened?" It was possibly a stupid question since people didn't usually wander around naked and slip and accidentally sleep with each other but they didn't usually have super powered rings or come back from the dead either, so sometimes the stupid questions just had to be asked.

"I didn't mean--it's just---we went flying, right, only in a plane instead of with our rings and Hal ASKED me to come with him, and we used to hang out before, when he was here from the past, you know? Only, we didn't do anything we just--and this time we just--yeah." Kyle finished lamely.

"So, you two are..." Connor let it dwindle. Geez, how could he sleep with Hal. That would be like Kyle sleeping with his dad...and now that Connor had thought that, he would never be able to have an erection again. But Hal? And now him...oh, Hal was going to kill him. He was sleeping with his father's best friend's boyfriend; his first sort-of relationship was already a love triangle. The universe must be laughing its ass off by now.

Kyle actually laughed, too. "No, it was just that once and he's been really cool about it. Nothing sucks worse than sleeping with a friend and it getting all weird...okay, you might not have a lot of experience in that."

"I'm working up to it," he muttered. "All right, so you slept with Hal and everything is great between you. So what's the problem, then? You're all right, he's all right--"

"Are you all right, Connor?" So softly.

"I'm not the one sleepwalking."

"No, you're the one letting me feel you up while I'm unconscious for my own good."

Well, there was that. Still. "You had a problem first. What does J'onn have to say about all this, anyway?"

"J'onn said that I was dealing with anxiety that was possibly caused by some kind of posttraumatic stress disorder and it was manifesting in a physical form due to the psycho-connective nature of my ring."

Connor blinked. "Oh. And that means?"

"I have no idea, but he seemed very pleased with it."

"Oh." Connor pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them, stared at the fire.

"Connor?" Closer to him. Kyle had crawled forward enough to lean on Connor's sleeping bag. "You like me, don't you?"

"You're my friend." Simply. Please, leave it alone, please, oh, please.

"That isn't what I mean and you know it. Maybe...maybe I just knew how you felt and after Hal, I just--acted on it. Hell, I don't know." He flopped back on the ground and a cloud of meteor dust rose around him. "Matlock was a pretty good detective, but I don't remember ever seeing an episode like this one. He usually worked murder cases not weird sex crimes of the century."

"Of the century? I wouldn't go that far, the century is young." Connor sighed unhappily. "So now what? You think this -- I don't know, resolves it? Now you'll stay in your bed and I can stay in mine and everything can go back to normal?"

Kyle sat up. "Are you serious?" he asked, incredulous. "You are! You're totally serious. I don't believe this."

"What?"

"You aren't a Matlock. You aren't even Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective. What exactly do you think this is all about?"

"Kyle, what on earth --"

"No, on the moon. I've been staying on the MOON and my subconscious has been dragging me a couple hundred thousand miles every night just so I can come to you and you don't get anything out of that? Hello?"

"Kyle, I just -- "

"And you think I'm stupid?"

"I never said -- "

"Do I need to tattoo it on my forehead? Should I say it with flowers? Throw me a bone, here, Connor, I'm failing fast. No, you know what? This has been working for us so far and I really want to know what it's like when I'm awake."

It really was impossible to talk with someone's tongue in your mouth. Kyle's mouth was hard and sure and nothing like he kissed when he was asleep. It gave just a little, enough for Kyle to press his tongue into Connor's mouth, a quick, slippery little touch that vanished before Connor could decide what he wanted to do about it.

"What exactly do you think is going on here?" Kyle panted into his mouth. He had both hands on Connor's face, holding him. "I've spent time with your family, I've been taking you out on dates, and I've been molesting you every night in my sleep. Do I need a dress and a veil before you even consider the possibility that I might love you?"

"But -- you slept with Hal," Connor couldn't help how faint his voice sounded. Another kiss, gentler, and it send a shot of sharp heat right through Connor's belly.

"I wouldn't be the first person to sleep with someone else because I didn't think I could get the person I wanted. I doubt I'd be the millionth." Kyle could really kiss when he was actually conscious, his tongue moving purposefully against Connor's before he pulled back to whisper, "I've all but wined and dined you and bought you jewelry! If I'd known you were already happy and willing in the AM hours, I would have -- "

The kiss this time pushed him back against the sleeping bag until Kyle was on top of him, heavy and strong, and his hands knew what they were doing this time, pushing Connor's t-shirt off before he could even protest which...he wasn't about to.

"I didn't think I could have this either," he panted, trying to lick at Kyle's ear and from his gasp it must've worked. It was nothing at all like his own gasp when Kyle sat up and did this little grind right in his lap, dragged his ass against Connor's cock and Connor had to grab him and hold him still because he really didn't want to come in the only pair of jeans he had with him.

Kyle's grin was sharp enough to cut. "You can have any of this that you want."

"Can I? I mean could you," he swallowed, hard. "Could you take off your clothes?"

The words were barely out before Kyle was out of his uniform in a brilliant flare of green. It left him in jeans and a tank top that he stripped off quickly. The little wriggling movement he did to get the jeans off would have been worth a video tape of its own but Connor made himself focus on his own clothes. Better they both be naked, right?

"God, you are just about the hottest thing out there," Kyle sighed, and, oh, geez, he was touching himself, one hand moving lazily on his dick. Connor wished he'd saved his video idea for this instead.

"Can I -- " Connor reached out, trying not to be as hesitant, as stupid as he felt.

"Have at it." Kyle flopped back on the sleeping bag, his hands behind his head. Gingerly, Connor ran a finger down the side of Kyle's erection, absurdly worried that he was going to do something wrong and then Kyle would change his mind. Then he'd have to just die and he'd never get to do this with someone who was awake.

The way Kyle sighed and pushed up a little into it gave him a little more confidence. He'd touched Kyle's dick before but he hadn't seen it and it was...strange, to be so up close and personal with someone else's. He rubbed a finger over the circumcision scar, under the flared edge of the head and Kyle's sharp groan gave him an idea.

Carefully, he leaned forward and repeated the path with his tongue.

"Ah!" He felt Kyle jerk under him, rested his hands on Kyle's hips with the vague thought of keeping him still. "I -- heh -- I thought you were a vegan."

"Well, if you don't want me to..."

"Please." Quick, breathy little whisper and Connor felt his own dick just throb. Well, if he really wanted it.

Licked and it didn't taste bad, just a warm, salt taste melting into his mouth. It was entirely too easy to let his mouth fall open and take in a little of it, just the tip. Not really a blowjob, it was a suckjob, he remembered, and he sucked as gently as he could on the taut skin.

"Oh, that's -- wait, wait, stop."

Connor flinched back, startled. "What, did I do it wrong?"

"No, no, I just -- trust me, you'll like this."

He let Kyle move him, brow wrinkled in confusion as they were both arranged on their sides on the sleeping bag but their heads were nowhere near each other and -- the wet touch of Kyle's mouth on him slapped into him and Kyle's dick was within stroking distance and, ohh, yeah, this was a pretty good idea.

It made it a lot harder to concentrate, Kyle's perfectly awake and willing suckjob being about a million times better than the other kind, but Connor was used to working with what he had. Took as much in as he could without choking and used his hands on the rest of it, letting his tongue slide over hot, salty skin until all he could taste was his own spit. It was wetter and messier than he'd meant it to be but from the noises Kyle was making, he didn't think he could be doing that bad a job of it.

A soft, humming sigh buzzed around him and Connor had to freeze, pulled off and closed his eyes tightly until he had just a little control again.

"Had enough of that?" Kyle's mouth was obscenely red and wet. "Let's try something else then. Do tell me, did the sex we were having all week involve you fucking me?"

Not helping with the control. "Not -- not as such."

"Good, I'd like to remember taking at least one aspect of your virginity." He reached out and snagged the strap of the bag he'd brought with them. Connor could only blink as Kyle rifled through it and triumphantly brought out a small tube of KY and travel-size pack of condoms.

"Oh."

"What?" Kyle didn't look up as he popped open the package and pulled out a small accordion fold of packets.

"I guess I just thought -- with the ring -- "

Kyle rolled his eyes. "It's not the most powerful sex toy in the universe, you know."

"Right, sure." Another myth ruined. "You actually brought condoms with you?"

"It's a standard JLA survival kit." Indignantly.

"I have one and it didn't come with condoms."

"So I added some homey touches." Kyle gave him a quick lazy grin and then his expression shifted into seriousness. "Okay, this might be weird for you, but I need you to use your fingers to stretch me, get some lube inside," Kyle said matter-of-factly. "It's one of those things about guy on guy sex, you have to get the slick pre-packaged."

Connor was very sure his eyes were just going to plop out of his head and then they'd probably get asteroid dust on them, which would suck.

"I can do it myself if you don't want to," Kyle added after a moment.

"No! No, I can do it, I just -- " Connor picked up the tube and studied it. "I want to do it."

Kyle rolled over on his stomach and did a few little getting-comfy shifts. The feel of the KY made him think of hair gel, cool and sticky-slick on his fingers and he slipped one finger experimentally into the cleft of Kyle's ass, just sort of -- searching. It wasn't like he'd done this before and the tube of KY was pretty small, he didn't want to waste it and --

"Oh," Connor breathed, felt his eyes go wide and he pressed his finger inside, oh, hot. He could feel Kyle's sudden little arch into it from the inside, thought maybe he could feel Kyle's pulse, pattering fast, unless it was his own. This was, wow, just his finger inside but it was so tight, so hot, and it was like getting hit with a heat ray because he suddenly realized he was going to be inside there, very, very soon.

His chance to make love to Kyle.

Who seemed to really like this, enough to squirm when Connor didn't move and he hastily pressed his finger a little deeper, pulled it out a little and in again. Rubbed the small of Kyle's back with his free hand, absently feeling like he should be soothing him or something, just the way Kyle was panting and moving was so -- wow.

"Use another one," Kyle mumbled into the sleeping bag.

Another one, right. It was a lot harder to push in and Connor couldn't help but think this had to be hurting but Kyle just pushed back into it and groaned. "Did -- did you do this with Hal?"

Gaspy laughter. "Connor, there are many rules about sex and one of them is that you do not mention previous lovers when you have your fingers in someone's ass, okay? It's just wrong."

Oh, right.

"S'good enough, anyway." Kyle squirmed away from him and rolled over. He tore one of the condoms off the strip and it was Connor's turn to gasp when Kyle rolled it on him. Too quick movements when he slicked Connor with the last of the KY and pushed him down.

It was...not what he'd expected. Lying on his back with Kyle crouched over him, one hand on Connor's cock, holding him steady, and his eyes were closed so tightly, his lower lip caught tight between his teeth.

"Are you sure this will work?" Please, I want this so much but I don't want to hurt you.

Another laugh, hissed between clenched teeth. "I'm going to break the rule and tell you something. This is not the first time I've had sex with a man, and before you wig, let me add that it isn't the second either, ok?"

He felt it when he slid in the first bare inch, unbearably tight and Connor sucked in a breath, his turn to clench his teeth. "You -- you never said."

"You never asked. I'm not a virgin, Connor, I can't give you that. All I can do is make sure this is as good as I can make it." Kyle grinned at him, green eyes glittering. "Let me know how I'm doing, 'kay?

He slid down, just a little more, and Connor was really inside him, really was. His hands fumbled at Kyle's hips and he couldn't stop himself from arching up, just a little, so hot, so good.

Kyle winced, "Easy -- easy there, stud, just -- let me, okay?"

Connor nodded frantically, stupidly, just anything to make it not stop. Too, too slowly, Kyle pushed up on his knees and then back down, Connor moving inside him just a little. He could see the tremor in Kyle's legs as he rocked so slowly, easing Connor deeper inside.

"Just -- just, I can't -- dammit -- "

A sudden flare of green light and Connor felt the false gravity reverse itself, shifting him and suddenly he was the one on top, Kyle's legs curled over his shoulders.

"I thought you said it wasn't a sex toy."

"I lied! C'mon, Connor, just do it!" He couldn't stop himself, rolled his hips against Kyle and watched as his eyes rolled back, Kyle slurring out, "Oh, god, yes, just -- yeah."

Connor couldn't have said it better. He'd never done this before, never felt this tight, slick heat around his cock but it didn't seem to matter, his body knew just what it was supposed to do. Push in hard and pull back, again, quick-quick rhythm and Kyle was moving so frantically beneath him it was hard to keep it going. Worth every bit of effort he put into it.

Kyle had a hand around his cock, jerking himself frantically and Connor had a dim idea that he should be helping with that. He had both hands braced against the ground and managed to free one, reaching and touching gingerly and Kyle made a sound almost like a scream. "No, no, you just...do that."

Okay, he could do that. Didn't want to ever stop doing that, clenched his fingers into the sleeping bag and thrusting blindly into Kyle as hard as he could manage. Sweat sliding off him and dripping down to dampen Kyle's already wet skin and pretty, yes, beautiful, yes, please, just.

"I love you," Kyle whimpered.

"Oh -- I, oh!" Connor's vision went white and Kyle was feverish and hot beneath him, and he made this soft, broken little sound and clenched hard around him and heat just poured over him, through him, so, so, good.

It seemed like days later when he could finally move. Kyle looked...broken. Lips red and bitten and his face crumpled into exhaustion, and he also looked to be in dire need of a shower. Carefully, Connor shifted back enough to let Kyle's legs down and it made him slip out with a little more abruptness than he'd meant.

Kyle winced. "Okay, that? You're going to need some practice on."

"Sorry," Connor said, trying to think of some way to hold Kyle that didn't involve him getting messy, too.

There was another faint flash of green and they were both abruptly being sponged off with what seemed to be living towels. With eyes. And moustaches.

Kyle opened his eyes lazily. "You read like you have subtitles. C'mere."

Well, fine. But it had worked, anyway. Connor settled himself against Kyle's chest, resting his head on his chest and listened to the slowing thud of his heartbeat.

"Connor?" Kyle pressed a kiss against the top of his head. "I just wanted to tell you, I didn't do this with Hal."

Really? "You didn't?"

"Nope." Kyle slid a hand up Connor's back, petting gently. "Who would have guessed he was a bottom?"

He didn't, actually, know of a move in this position that would shut Kyle up without paralyzing him so Connor decided to let that go.

"So, how long are you planning on being an asshole?"

Connor blinked and looked up. "What?"

"I love you, Connor, I want you, Connor, do me, Connor," Kyle mimicked. "Hello? Sound familiar?"

Yes, actually, but -- oh. "Gee, Kyle, what do you think we're doing here? I let you feel me up, I let you have sex with me on an asteroid --

"Come on, say it -- "

"Do I need to say it with flowers? How about a tattoo?"

"SUCH an asshole."

"Should we watch old Scooby Doo reruns until you find a clue?"

"I hate you," Kyle told him earnestly. "I hate you very much."

"I love you," Connor turned enough to whisper it into his mouth, kissing softly before giving into the tired and flopping back down on his chest. "A lot."

"I love you too, but there is no way I am letting you fall asleep like that."

"Why not?" Connor murmured, not moving.

"Connor, do you have any idea how much you drool in your sleep?"

The Seventh Night

*

9:23 PM

Kyle was, without question, a complete jerk. Which was why he was upstairs sleeping while Connor was stuck explaining his newfound gayness to his immediate family. Just wait until Kyle decided to tell his mom, Connor was going park his butt on the sofa here and not move...unless Kyle used his ring. Damn.

Such a jerk.

Mia was taking it quite well. She'd barely looked up from the screen of her laptop and that was only to ask if Connor would give some details. And pouted a little when he told her not a chance in hell.

His father...was cutting onions in front of the stove and hadn't said a word.

"So is he moving in, or what?" Mia asked, propping her feet on another chair.

"I'm not sure," Connor looked at his father and tried for a little humor. "It is sort of flattering to have someone flying from the moon to see me."

"Oh, please, I think you've been flattered enough. He was having like, full-blown psychotic episodes just to get into your jeans, how many people get that? Well, maybe to get into your jeans."

"There is that."

"Then you and Kyle are together." Ollie still didn't look at him, his head bent over the chili pot.

"Yeah, Dad. We are." Hesitantly.

"But you're not gay, just sleeping with Kyle."

"I...guess so." He did still think breasts were a very good thing.

"Do you think that counts?" To Mia.

"I'd say as long as they're together, it does."

"Good, good." Ollie pulled a notebook out of his back pocket. "I'd say that I am owed at least five hundred bucks, if not more."

Mia scooted closer. "Did you ever ask the JSA?"

"Yep, I got a Ben Franklin from Alan Scott alone."

Connor wondered if this was what it felt like to fall into another universe. "A Ben Franklin?"

Mia looked up. "He's on the hundred."

On the..."You made a bet?"

"Supes wouldn't put in because he claims he doesn't gamble and I got nothing from Bats either because he didn't like the odds."

"Cheap bastard."

"You made BETS?" Connor said, louder. "On whether I was gay?"

That made Ollie look up. "Of course not. The bet was on whether or not you'd get a clue and finally get Kyle into the sack."

Oh, well, that made it all better, didn't it?

Mia flipped through the book, "Ollie, don't tell me you never asked the Titans."

"That was YOUR gig, you didn't get odds on it for them?"

"I got MY Titans, I didn't go after the whole past yearbook crew!"

Connor sighed. Yes, this was his family. "Fine, I'm going upstairs to have sex and you guys can keep whoring out my preferences to your friends."

"You do that, son," Ollie said absently, then louder. "But only with Kyle!"

Not a problem. Not at all.

-finis-
 

 

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