Between Friends
Part 15

        Eagle smiled quietly, listening to Geo's sarcastic remarks 
concerning one of his professors.  He felt like he was behind a glass wall 
today.  The nightmares were getting out of hand, getting too bad for him to 
go back to sleep.  He would feel overtired if he bothered to think about 
it, but he didn't.  He just let his emotions be quietly subdued, hoping no 
one would think much of his silence.  They'd probably think he was just 
daydreaming or being "not there," as he often was.
        Only Lantis had looked at him with awareness of that ploy in his 
eyes.  Geo and Zazu were willing to accept his manner without a second 
thought; Lantis was apparently not.  Eagle knew he'd probably be 
interrogated in Lantis' strong, silent way when they were alone together.  
Lantis cared deeply when he cared at all, one of the things Eagle loved 
about him.  He sighed softly to himself and wondered if he should pretend, 
open his eyes a little wider and laugh a little more in order to throw 
Lantis off.
        Only that wouldn't work.  Lantis would still know he was disturbed.
        Eagle mentally sighed again and patiently waited until they drew 
near Lantis' quarters.  Zazu and Geo were going to Zazu's place to work on 
a combined project together, while he and Lantis were supposed to help one 
another with their papers on Autozam mythology, a subject in which Lantis 
had rapidly become more expert than himself.
        He stood waiting in the middle of Lantis' living room as the door 
closed behind them.
        "You haven't been getting enough sleep, Eagle," Lantis observed.
        Here it came.
        "Would you like to take a nap before we start?"
        That threw Eagle off.  Geo would have continued to ask what was 
wrong.  Lantis just offered comfort.
        Eagle closed his eyes and sighed with a soft smile.  "I am a little 
tired," he admitted.
        "Then go in my room and go to sleep.  We only need a few hours to 
finish our papers.  I'll wake you in plenty of time."

        Lantis' blue-violet eyes gentled as he watched Eagle go into his 
bedroom.  Eagle might not think it, but his being upset and worried over 
something was very obvious, at least to Lantis.  And Eagle's lack of sleep 
was patently evident to trained eyes.  He wondered if Geo had noticed it 
too.
        "I thought you were going to get some sleep," he said quietly 
before he even saw Eagle re-emerge from the bedroom.
        "I can't," Eagle said softly, apologetically.
        "You're going to get some sleep," Lantis informed him.  "You need 
it."
        "I can't," Eagle reiterated.  "Not alone.  I've been having really 
bad dreams recently, and I can't go to sleep because of them."
        Lantis' mind took three steps ahead and arrived at a conclusion 
just as Eagle asked it.  "Will you take a nap with me, Lantis?"
        Lantis took only half a second to consider the effect of answering 
in the negative before agreeing with a nod.  If he said "no," Eagle would 
not get any sleep (which Lantis was becoming increasingly sure Eagle 
*needed*), and it would also cause damage to their friendship... 
relationship, Lantis corrected.
        So he followed Eagle into the bedroom and lay down on the bed next 
to him.  Hesitantly, Eagle moved to rest his head in the hollow of Lantis' 
right shoulder.  Lantis smiled at the cute pause in Eagle's actions and 
closed his eyes.  As if relieved that he hadn't rejected him, Eagle slowly 
shifted closer until his warm form was cuddled next to Lantis'.
        Lantis smiled again and dagged the coverlet over the two of them 
and relaxed, hearing Eagle's breathing slow and even as he too drifted off 
into dreams.  Lantis' last concious movement was to curl his right arm 
around Eagle, holding his friend and boyfriend close to protect him from 
nightmares.

        Eagle drifted just below the surface of waking for a quite a while 
after his dreams had ended, sleepily aware that he was warm and comfortable 
and that someone he loved was taking care of him.  It was nice.  But sooner 
or later he'd have to wake up.  So eventually he set about actually opening 
his eyes, and was happy to find that it was Lantis holding him as he 
himself slept.  For several moments he just lay there quietly, adoringly 
watching Lantis' even features shift slightly as he breathed pacifically in 
and out.
        Eagle could definitely stand to wake up like this more often, and 
happily considered if it might happen again, if Lantis would get over his 
hesitancy in the relationship.
        Perfectly content, Eagle shifted and sat up slightly, leaning over 
Lantis until their lips touched.
        A slight change in Lantis' breathing let Eagle know that he had 
succeeded in waking his boyfriend up, and he continued kissing Lantis 
awake, like the prince kissing the princess awake in a pretend story that 
his sister had read to him when he was little.  He'd always wanted to wake 
up someone he loved with a kiss since he'd first heard the story.
        He watched as Lantis' wonderfully indigo eyes opened and waited a 
few seconds before breaking away.  "Hello," he said simply.
        "Did you sleep well?" Lantis inquired gently.
        "Mmmm," Eagle said with a nod.  "And you?"
        Lantis didn't answer, instead tracing his fingers over Eagle's 
cheek.  "When did you get this content?" he asked.
        "I'm with you; why shouldn't I be?" Eagle asked in return.  "I love 
you, Lantis."  He kissed Lantis again so that he wouldn't have to hear the 
silence that would be Lantis' reply to that last.
        Lantis surprised him by breaking away and moving to touch his lips 
on Eagle's neck.  Eagle took an instinctive breath at the kiss; that felt 
heavenly, Lantis' lips gently brushing his skin.  He curled his arms 
delightedly around Lantis as his boyfriend shifted on the bed to be able to 
nuzzle his neck more easily.
        "You think far too much, Eagle," Lantis murmured quietly.
        "Should I give it up for a little while, then?" Eagle asked, his 
toes curling as Lantis continued his attentions to the soft, sensitive skin.
        "Maybe," Lantis replied with a touch of humor in his voice.  
"Except we still have our reports to get done, remember?"
        Eagle glanced over at the chronometer and sighed.  Damn, Lantis was 
right.  "But we could stay here for a little while longer...." he persuaded.
        "Not too long if we don't want to fail the assignment."
        "Twenty minutes," Eagle bargained.
        "Ten," Lantis amusedly countered, wicked humor snapping in his eyes.
        "Fifteen," Eagle retorted.
        "Done," Lantis agreed.  "A quarter of an hour."
        Eagle sighed again as Lantis tasted his skin, tongue flicking 
across his neck to discover his flavor.
        Fifteen minutes cuddling alone and making out didn't seem like 
quite enough....

*********
Kurama: And the next part, yaoi!
Author: Nope.
Kurama: WHAT!?
Author: They're making out, not making love.  It stops there.
Kurama: But... but....
Author: Stop whimpering.  You'll like the next part even if it doesn't have 
 sex.
Kurama: But... Eagle's me!  He's the RayEarth version of me, anyway, and I 
 want to see him with Lantis!
Author: Note to self, Kurama is a voyeur.  What you really want, fox, is 
 for me to write more on your harem story.
Kurama: YYH Christmas is NOT a harem story!  I only get Shizuru and Hiei in 
 that one.  It's a perfectly valid piece of literature!
Author: Do you WANT a harem story?
Kurama: Ye... wait a minute.  You're trying to trick me into saying 
 something incriminating and giving myself a bad name.
Author: No, you've already done that.  Mari's ruined your rep, fox.  And 
 it's all your own fault.
Kurama: It is NOT!!