Day 5

Title: Day 5
Author: tarotgal
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: David/Lucas (David/Lucas/Troy mentioned)
Summary: Upon arriving home, David and Lucas work through some things.
Notes: Written during my 12 Ficlets in 12 Days in 2020-21 project project for myownprivatesfc

David stood by the baggage carousel, so engrossed in his phone that he almost didn’t notice Lucas coming to join him. The usual warmth and happiness he felt when Lucas was close was hard to miss, however, as Lucas snuggled up to his side. Automatically, David turned his head and kissed his husband's cheek. “How are your ears?”

Lucas chomped on his gum, making a few demonstrative smacking sounds. “Fine now. Are you texting Troy?”

The man knew him so well. “Yep. He’s still in the air, but I wanted to give him a nice message to read when he lands.”

“Better tell him your tricks for getting ears to pop after a flight.”

“Good thinking, baby.” His thumbs flew across the tiny phone keyboard. Just as he hit send, a buzzer sounded and the light flashed above the carousel to indicate luggage from their flight was finally on its way. Ideally, he would have liked to have had it by the time Lucas got back from the bathroom and the little airport shop, but it seemed to take forever this time. In a perfect world, they would have fit everything in carry-on suitcases so they wouldn’t have had to check anything, but this world was far from perfect. Lucas had packed too many workout outfits so he wouldn’t be stuck in sweaty clothes for hours and wouldn’t have to do laundry in a hotel room sink. And then there had been their formal attire for dinner and dancing at the banquet that David refused to fold small and wrinkle. They were returning one hooded sweatshirt lighter, but there were also all the goodies Lucas had picked up at various booths on the trade show floor: brochures, swag, and product samples of all sorts. Between their two suitcases, they had only just made it all fit.

ehh-HXXXshhh!

David still wished that by now they could be already out of the airport and on their way home. He wanted Lucas tucked into bed with a box of tissues for his newly-acquired head cold. “God bless you, baby.”

A flash of tender appreciation crossed Lucas’ face, and he pressed himself harder into David’s side until he spotted one of their suitcases rounding a curve of the carousel. “I’m on it!” He dashed for it, lunging with graceful form. The other suitcase was only a minute behind the first, and they checked the tags to make certain they had the right bags before heading out toward the parking lot.

“Blue sniff seven-sniff-seventeen.” Lucas' hand rubbed at his runny nose as he flipped through the photo gallery on his phone with the other to find the photos he’d taken of their parking spot in the airport lot. David had insisted on pulling both suitcases himself. He had helped Lucas pack, so he knew every item in the bags, but it still felt like Lucas had snuck a set of dumbbells in his. So he was exceedingly glad to see the blue number seventeen overhead followed by the tail end of their car. The rainbow bumper sticker. The dirty license plate. The Johns Hopkins Alumni cling on one side of the back window and the logo for Lucas' gym on a cling on the other side. The familiarity was such a comfort after the trip and long flight across the country.

HuhChtxxxx! Hehjkk!” He cut the second sneeze short by pinching his nose. David didn’t especially like when Lucas did that, but he must have a terribly runny nose and be banking on the fact that they always kept a tissue box in the car. As David lifted the heavy bags into the trunk, Lucas sat in the passenger seat, blowing his nose repeatedly.

David got in on the driver’s side, started the car, and turned the heater on full blast. It would take a few minutes of their drive for the air to warm up. But he didn’t back out of the spot. He didn’t even say a word until Lucas had his nose better under control. “Can we talk?”

“Here? Now? I’m cold.” Lucas cupped his hands in front of his face and blew warm puffs of breath into them. “I miss California temperatures already. I’m freezing! Can’t we talk at home?”

But David shook his head. California temperatures? They’d only been outside the hotel to go to and from the airport. “As soon as we get home, I’m taking you in for a hot shower, dressing you in your flannel pajamas, and tucking you right into bed with me. No, we need to talk now.”

Lucas waved his hand. “All right. Then let’s talk. What’s… heh? One sec…” He pulled a fresh tissue from the box wedged in the center console. “heh-gonna-huhh… HUXxxshhhh!

“God bless you, baby.” David reached over, brushing the back of his hand against Lucas’ cheek. He almost changed his mind about taking the time to talk now in favor of just getting his husband home where it was warm and equipped with cold medicine and blankets. But he had a feeling that if he didn’t get this out now, he might lose his nerve entirely.

“Thanks. Sniff! Okay, what’s wrong? Let me guess: does it have something to do with Troy?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because having a threesome is the only thing that’s changed in our lives, even though we promised each other we wouldn’t let it affect our relationship.” David looked down, saw he was absentmindedly shredding a tissue into tiny strips, and forced himself to stop that. Lucas prodded him further. “Out with it, David. Sniff!

It was sort of about Troy, but not really. David took a deep breath and let it spill out without a filter. “That’s not the only thing that’s changed. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never been happy or excited to be sick. But you seem to be now. That picture of you sneezing that you had me send Troy, for instance… Lucas, tell me the truth: do your own sneezes excite you now?”

Lucas let out a big breath, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. He coughed, almost doubling over in his seat. David patted the curve of his back, soothing him. At home there were bottles of medicine and cough drops. Here, they were chilly and risking triggering an asthma attack. But there were things David had to know, had to understand. This was the first moment they’d been alone together since leaving the hotel, and if David let this stew any longer, he would go crazy with worry.

Clearing his throat, Lucas shook his head. “I was worried you were going to ask if we could open our relationship permanently.” He smiled, meeting David’s gaze. “But from the shocked expression sniff on your face, that was the last thing you had in mind.”

Their time with Troy had been amazing; there was no denying that. And he wasn’t going to go so far as to say he was against doing it again if Troy found himself back in the US or if they came upon someone else they were both undeniably drawn to. But, no, that wasn’t at all what he’d wanted to talk about.

“To answer your question, no. Sniff! I don’t think my sn-sneezes turn me on. But they… shit, right on time. It’s luhhh like they know I'm talking about 'em. Hold-hhehhhh! Huhh-KJJxxxxxtt! H’Kkxxxsh!” He stopped to blow his nose and catch his breath before continuing. “This is Troy’s cold. So they make me think about him a little bit and remember his sneezes. That’s not why I was excited, though. David, I just spent days watching my husband do what he does best for another man. And as hot as it was to watch you in action and be able to enjoy it because I didn’t feel miserable, I suddenly found myself thrilled to get to be the recipient of all that care. It’s like how you love your home, but you fall in love with it even more when you return home after some time away. Speaking of which…”

David wasn’t finished however. There was one other question roiling around inside him. Part of him didn't want the answer, but the other part of him knew it would eat him up inside if he didn't understand. The car remained in park.

Lucas reached over and poked him. “Just say what you're thinking, baby.”

David did. “I’ve sneezed hundreds of times since we met. Why was it Troy’s sneeze you noticed? Why was it his that turned you on instead of mine?”

Having not fastened his seatbelt yet, Lucas turned in the passenger seat so he could be more comfortable looking at David. His soft, kind expression was just what David needed to see now, but it wasn’t an answer. “I’ve been sniff wondering the same thing. Sniff! I don’t know for sure. This whole thing is new to me. But I have a couple theories.”

“And those are?” David pulled a tissue from the box and wiped at Lucas’ nose for him. Lucas nuzzled into the touch a little then relaxed again, resting his temple against the seat.

“We don’t have sex when one of us is sick, that’s your rule. I never associated the two until now. I’ve never had someone sneeze while he was balls-deep inside me like that. I’ve never had someone sneeze on me, either. I really don’t know for sure what triggered it, but now that I understand what it feels like to have a fetish, my God, David. You should have told me what that was like!”

“I don’t think my explanation could have done it justice.” Satisfied for now, and feeling infinitely better about all of this, David turned the key in the ignition. “Let’s go home so I can take care of you.”

Grinning, Lucas repositioned himself, put on his seatbelt, and settled in for the twenty-something minute ride home from the airport.

*

David was just a few pages away from finishing the book he’d started reading in the airport yesterday morning when the lump of blankets and husband stirred beside him. He reached out and rubbed the lump even as it shook with coughs. As soon as Lucas’ head emerged, David had a tissue and a bottle of water ready. Lucas reached for one then the other, clearing his nose albeit briefly then wincing as he swallowed the room temperature water.

“How are you feeling, baby?” David tousled Lucas’ already mussed hair with affection.

“So buch worse,” Lucas said with another cough. “I dod’t dow why I was so habby about this before. I take it all back!”

“Awwww.” David turned off his phone and set it down on the nightstand. It had been hours since they’d talked long distance with Troy, and David took the lack of communication to be a good sign. He trusted that Troy had found someone to look after him. And now it was his job to look after Lucas. “What can I get you? A cough drop for your sore throat maybe?”

“Yes blease add thadk you.” He coughed wetly again, his head so full of congestion. David unwrapped the cough drop for him and Lucas popped it in, clacking it against his teeth as he sucked and swallowed and sighed with relief. There was a bulge in his cheek as he tucked it there safely to deal with an oncoming sneeze. “Hehttchih! Hexxshhhh! Hihh hih-Iggsshhh!

“God bless you, baby.” Well-equipped with a tissue in each hand, David wiped, guided him to blow, and then wiped again.

“Thadk you,” Lucas repeated, laying his cheek back down on his pillow, elevated with another beneath it to help him breathe a bit better. “You’re so good at this.”

Though he was concerned about his husband, David nonetheless cracked a smile at this. “It’s easy to look after you. I know you so well. And I know what colds do to you.”

Lucas nodded in understanding. “Add I dow what this does to you.” He slid a hand over, fingers sliding over his husband’s thigh. David intercepted before it got any closer to his groin, holding Lucas by the wrist. It was true that they’d made love to Troy when the man was still suffering a bit from his cold, but this was different. By his own account, Lucas was feeling miserable, and David would not let him expend even an ounce of energy on sex. He needed to preserve it all to fight off this cold. But Lucas looked as if he had expected as much and didn’t go any further. “D’you rebeber the gabe we blayed with Troy?”

“Two things I like and one I don’t?” Damn, that had been hot. He wasn’t going to forget that for a long time—hopefully, never.

“Doe sniff! The ode where you told hib how you would have touched be, and he touched be idstead.”

Oh, that game. “I remember.” Where was Lucas going with this?

“Well, it would bake be feel better to know you have sub release. Dow that I dow how fierce fetish urges are…” David was already frowning, so Lucas switched tactics. “Your rule is that we dod’t have sex whed I'b sick. I get it. Hell, I’b too tired to eved rub by dose.” David reached over and rubbed it for him. He would be lying if he had said that didn’t turn him on. Every time he did something for Lucas that made his husband smile, every time he made Lucas feel just a little relief from his cold symptoms, David felt a fetishy tickle in his abdomen and a tingling warmth throughout his body. Often, he had to force himself to remember what discomfort and distress his lover was in to keep his mind on his caretaking duties. “So how about I tell you what to do, add you do it?”

“Luc…”

“It’s techdically dot sex. It’s… guided basterbatiod.”

Said with a stuffed-up nose, the word ‘masterbation’ sounded both humorous and oddly arousing. He had spent most of his life tamping down on these urges, training his body not to want sex when his partner was ill or hurting, learning to wait patiently until he could be sure he was doing no damage when they finally made love. This would go against everything he knew… but Lucas was absolutely right that it wasn’t technically a violation of his rule.

But did he dare to take Lucas up on this? What if it worked Lucas up, too? What if Lucas was going to try this all the time now? What if… what if this was exactly what he needed right now to reassure him that everything was okay between them after all they’d been through? “It’s not sex.”

“Right,” Lucas agreed.

“And you’ll stay relaxed and calm? You promise me you won’t do anything to make your cold worse? Because we’ll stop immediately if you do.”

“I brobise.”

David whispered, “Okay.”

“Really?” Lucas lifted his head, suddenly excited.

David touched the side of his head with one finger, pushing him back down with a laugh. “Well, that was a good try, but you’re already too excited.”

Lucas snuggled into the blanket and pillow and let out a slow, calm breath. “You’re goidg to give ub od be just lige that?”

David softened in one way and hardened in another. “I’ll never give up on you.”

“Good. Thed I wadt you to rub by dose for be. It’s really tickly.”

“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry you’re sick.”

Lucas closed his eyes as David wiped his nostrils with a fresh, soft tissue. “Your touch is so soft,” Lucas whispered to him. “Feels so good, eved whed I dod’t feel good.”

Glowing with pride but fussing with concern, he continued to wipe Lucas’ nose for him.

“I w-wadt you to wrab your other hadd aroud your dick.”

Instinctively, David hesitated a few seconds. This felt strange and new, and he wasn’t entirely convinced even now that he’d made the right choice in allowing even this sort of intimacy between them. But once he slid his hand into his pajama pants and curled his fingers around his half-hard dick, all doubts seemed to melt away. A thrilling, arousing urge filled him, making him want to thrust hard and fast into his hand… but Lucas hadn’t told him to do that yet. He was only supposed to hold himself for now.

heh!” Lucas' voice quavered with an attempt at a warning. “Dav-ihhhh! Ihhh! HihhXxxxshhh! Hehpbtshhhhh!” His sneezes were so wet, but each landed perfectly into the tissue David pressed to his nose for him.

“God bless you, baby,” he breathed, his heart racing as Lucas nuzzled into the tissue.

 “You’re so good hih at dowig whed I’b godda sdee-sniff-sdeeze. Heh hehhh hehhh H’Uhxxxshhhh!

“God bless you, baby,” David repeated, dropping the tissue onto the bed and going for a fresh one now to wipe Lucas’ nose dry. “I’ve known you so long. I know exactly how to care for you.”

“Yes, you do,” Lucas agreed. “Add I dow that you really wadt to stroke yourself.”

Hell yes he did. David uttered an unintelligible sound that was part needy moan and part urgent grunt. His dick throbbed in anticipation.

“Take your hadd out.”

The plea escaped David before he could stop it. “No!”

“Yes.”

Feeling frustrated and gutted, David hesitated for a few seconds then did as he was told. Withdrawing his hand was difficult, but feeling the warm flannel fabric of his pants against the now hypersensitive skin of his dick was torturous. Why was Lucas playing with him like this after spending so long convincing him to do this in the first place?

Lucas coughed and rolled over. He reached to the nightstand, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a few sips. Then he replaced the bottle and slid the drawer open. When he rolled back over onto his side to face his husband, he held a small bottle of lube. He rubbed his hands against both sides for a few moments to start to warm it up. “Ode hadd odly,” he said. “’Cause I wadt your other ode free to take care of be.”

Eagerly, David held his palm out to receive the liquid gift. He should have known Lucas wasn’t being cruel to him, but his emotions had all bubbled up to the surface today, raw and exposed. He felt vulnerable and only in control of Lucas' well-being, not his own. And that was oddly exciting. “What do I do now?” he whispered as the lube warmed further in his palm.

“Stroke yourself the way I’d stroke you. Go slowly. In tibe with by sdiffles.”

David really didn’t care how strange that sounded or how very outside even their normal this was. When his slick hand closed around his dick this time, it felt miraculous.

“H-hold a tissue to by dose agaid? Blease? So… so ruddeh… SNIFF!

Almost instinctively, David’s hand slid down his dick at the sound of that wet sniff. The feeling was more glorious than he could have anticipated. Just knowing that Lucas was controlling him was hot, but being able to take care of Lucas and pleasure himself at the same time was beyond his wildest dreams. His breath caught as his free hand pressed a bunched-up tissue beneath Lucas’ twitchy nostrils.

Sniff! Sniff!

Torn between wanting Lucas’ nose to stop running and wanting Lucas to sniffle more so he could get off, David trembled.

Lucas smiled. And sniffled again. “Sniff! So ruddeh… but you’ll take care of be, like you always do. Sniff… sniff… sniff!” There was a pleasingly steady rhythm to them now. In the back of his mind, David had to wonder how much his nose was really running and how much Lucas was putting on a show for his benefit. But he found he really didn’t care. “Sniff… sniff… sniff… sniff…” Not as long as he got to do these two things he loved.

He dabbed the tissue against Lucas’ nostrils lightly, not wanting to make them too sore or irritated this early into his cold. And he rubbed his hand against his pulsing hardness. He felt his balls tighten, contract. His breath caught. Oh fuck, this was faster than expected. He wasn't going to last very long at all.

“Oh sniff oh David! Sniff! Sniff! I haveta… SNIFF!

David moaned in earnest this time. “Blow… blow your nose for me, baby.”

“Doe sniff! Sniff! Sniff! Sniff! I wadt you to cobe first.”

David shook his head. “I’m close. Oh God, I’m so close already! Just… please… I need you to blow your nose.” All the sniffling couldn’t be good for him, not if his nose was really so runny. The anticipation almost put David over the edge as he pressed his thumb and forefinger against the sides of Lucas’ nose through the tissue. But then Lucas emptied his nose into the tissue and gave such a sigh of relief that David was done for. He made a joyous, whimpering sound as he came in his pajamas, thrusting into his fist as if it were his husband’s. Lucas continued to blow his nose even after David was spent.

“Wait a second!” David gasped, switching to a fresh tissue and then nodding for him to continue. David closed his eyes, the warmth and satisfaction filling him up completely.

“That’s it,” Lucas said when it felt like he was done. “Did you…?”

Concentrating on the blowing, he must have missed it. But he couldn’t fail to notice the heat in David’s face or the way his body moved almost bonelessly. “Yes,” David said on an exhale. He pulled his hand out and wiped it with tissues from the tissue box conveniently located between the two of them. Then he pulled out another tissue and held it to Lucas’ face.

There was a momentary look of confusion on his husband’s face before his breath caught and eyelids dropped closed. “Hehhttttxchahhhhh!” 

“God bless you, baby.” Even tired and tingling, David knew when Lucas was about to sneeze. “Come ‘ere.” He pulled Lucas into an embrace, wrapping his warm arms around the sick man and burying his face into the man’s hair. “Thank you for that.” The whisper was soft but strong. He really meant it. All the fears he’d felt during the flight, all the uncertainty and worry he’d faced in the car at the airport, all of that was gone now. Things in their relationship had changed, and that couldn’t be helped. But unchanged was his attraction and his love and most of all his devotion.

“I love you,” Lucas said, reading David's mind once again. “Sniff! Add I love whed you dow I’b goig to sdeeze eved before I do.”

David smiled lazily. “You’re always so sneezy when you have a head cold.”

“Mmmm.” Lucas drew into himself little at this, and David rubbed his back.

“What is it, baby?”

Lucas half-buried his face into the soft plaid flannel of David’s pajama top. “What you said just now was actually kind of hot to me.”

This newly-discovered fetish of his was going to take some time to figure out. But they had time. They were back home after a strange and wonderful trip. And given Lucas’ condition, they’d be staying home together for a good long while as David nursed him back to health.