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The movie was almost over and the boys had run out of popcorn long ago. It was definitely an off day on the
Waverider
, and everyone was enjoying it to the fullest, with casual clothes and pointless activities, including an impromptu movie night in Ray’s room. Zari had fallen asleep in the beanbag chair across the room, leaving Nate and Ray in their seats on Ray’s bed as the final few scenes played out. They’d both seen the movie dozens of times - as was the norm for these movie nights, it was usually more about exposing Zari to them than actually watching them - and their attention had begun to meander.
Nate nudged Ray in the arm and pointed at Zari’s gently snoozing form. “She fell asleep,” he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. “I’ll get the whipped cream, you get the feather.”
Shocked, Ray gave Nate a wide-eyed stare. He hissed in a low voice, so as not to wake their friend. “You want to prank Z? I dunno, seems a little mean, doesn’t it?”
“Aw, c’mon Ray. We don’t get to play pranks on each other nearly enough,” Nate almost whined. “It’s all in good fun!”
“Until she gets mad and blows us out the cargo bay,” Ray hissed back. “At least you can steel up and survive a crash landing.”
With a shrug, Nate leaned back against the wall up against the bed. “Ugh. Fine. You’re so boring.”
“At least I’m consistent,” Ray bit back, but Nate’s smile implied he wasn’t actually boring at all. In fact, Nate really liked seeing Ray be so defensive of his friends, prankable or not.
As Ray started to roll forward to get off the bed, Nate’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the knee. “Wait, wait, wait,” Nate hissed, mischief shining in his eyes. “Let’s play a game.”
Intrigued, Ray grinned. “A game? What game? Do we need a table?”
“No. Just lean back here with me.”
Ray did so, not quite sure what game they could play leaning against a wall, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. Plus, he didn’t get to hang out with Nate as much anymore, so this was probably preferable anyway.
“Okay, so what’s the game?” Ray smiled bright at his friend, who still had his hand on Ray’s knee.
“Put your hand on my knee.”
“Okay.” He did so. “Now what?”
“Now,” Nate said, moving his hand up Ray’s thigh a little, “we see how comfortable we are with each other.” He was grinning in the low light of the room, the flickering from the end of the movie playing across them.
Perplexed, Ray looked down at his hand on Nate’s knee. “What? What kind of-oh. Oh! This is that chicken game.”
Nate nodded his head back and forth. “Yes, Ray, the chicken game. You in?”
Of course he’d heard of gay chicken, but Ray had never played it with anyone. He enjoyed having a close friendship with Nate, and it was an interesting experiment to see where their boundaries were, but the scientist wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. Finally, he figured mimicry was probably the best way to proceed, and he moved his hand up Nate’s thigh a little, as well. He looked up and grinned at his friend, who wiggled an eyebrow in his direction. There was a little flip in Ray’s stomach, but he paid it no mind.
Now that Ray was involved, Nate pushed the envelope. He moved his hand halfway up Ray’s thigh, inward a little, close to the inseam. Ray mimicked the motion, placing his hand almost at the hem of Nate’s shorts. He absently squeezed the mass under his palm, taking note of how toned Nate’s leg was. Nate fought a small giggle, but didn’t push Ray’s hand away - he was lightly ticklish, but both men knew the game’s rules at this point: no pulling away allowed.
Now that Ray’s hand was teasing the skin under Nate’s shorts, Nate figured it was time to return the favor. He moved his hand further up Ray’s thigh, over his sweats, coming to rest on his hip. Looking defiantly into Ray’s eyes, Nate gave a cocky smirk as he squeezed the flesh underneath, issuing a soft gasp from the scientist as he kneaded the area. Ray was taken by surprise by how forward it was, but those were the rules, after all - try to make the other guy uncomfortable enough to pull back. But the
real
goal here, however, unspoken but understood, was to play the game without waking Zari.
Ray had an idea, but he wondered if it was too far, too fast. It was his turn, so he leaned forward a little and practically shoved his hand up Nate’s shorts, grabbing a similar spot of hip on top of Nate’s underwear.
“Is this your way of trying to get me out of my shorts, Palmer?” Nate asked, his voice a seductive whisper. The sound of it raised the hairs on the back of Ray’s neck, and he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.
“It might be,” Ray replied with an air of playfulness. “Take ‘em off and we’ll see.”
Taking off your shorts with one hand while you’re seated on a bed was a lot harder to do than Nate realized, but he wasn’t about to be the one that broke contact. He slipped off his shorts as quietly as possible while maintaining his hand’s position on Ray’s flank, allowing Ray to move his hand out of the way for the maneuver. Ray placed his hand back on Nate’s side, his fingertips actually bending over the waistband of Nate’s briefs. It was there they landed, frozen.
It had been a while since Nate had felt his heart beating this fast when he wasn’t in direct danger, and it brought a blush to his face as he stared into the big, dark eyes of his friend. Normally, Nate would have noticed how innocent they were, but at this moment, Ray’s eyes were full of determination and a little bit of something else Nate couldn’t quite place. Nate felt the invading fingertips tug a little at his briefs and found himself actually moving
toward
them, inviting them. The movement was subconscious, and Nate couldn’t help but grin when he realized what was happening.
It was Nate’s turn. “Okay, I shucked some clothes, so you do the same,” Nate issued quietly. Ray’s face fell, slight panic overtaking his gaze.
“I, uh, I’m not wearing underwear.” The statement was raspy, strained. Ray was really trying to keep quiet for Zari’s benefit.
Still grinning, Nate leaned up next to Ray’s ear and whispered, “
I know
.”
There was a slight squeak from Ray, and a sense of sadistic joy swelled up in Nate’s chest. Ray was always so pure, so innocent - and Nate wasn’t. It was a trip to hear Ray reacting like this.
Always the genius, Ray ran through some scenarios in his head, most of which ending rather badly for himself in this situation. Finally, he settled on a counterpoint. “You don’t want this to go
too
fast, right, pal? Let me leave the sweats on and I’ll take off my shirt.”
Huh. Nate had to admit, this was too fun to end so quickly. He nodded his silent approval, and Ray leaned away obediently, shirking his shirt, revealing the well-formed, muscular body of the Atom underneath. Nate watched in appreciation, taking in how well-built Ray’s chest was in particular. Leaving the one hand on Ray’s hip, Nate shifted on the bed to be in front of Ray, placing the second hand up on his abs, feeling the solid mounds of flesh beneath. From that spot, a tingling sensation spread across Ray’s torso, leading to a bit of a twinge below his belt line.
“Okay. Your go.”
Following Nate’s lead, Ray repositioned himself to be more front-facing, his fingers still fitted into the waistband of Nate’s briefs. He took his free hand and slid it up, under Nate’s own shirt, taking note of how well defined his abs were. Ray almost laughed as Nate flexed his abs under Ray’s touch - probably from being ticklish, as Ray knew - but the familiar tingling in his nether regions were some cause for alarm. Was he actually enjoying this, or was this just a physical reaction to Nate’s admittedly strong hands on his body? Either way, this wasn’t good for Ray in his prospects of the game.
Ray let his hand rest with his thumb in the vertical cleft between Nate’s abdominals, actively trying not to pay attention to how well the flesh underneath filled up his hands or the way Nate’s cocky smirk was faltering, his face turning slightly red. Ray swallowed hard. Is this how gay chicken always went?
Across from Ray, Nate knew he was in trouble. Ray’s hands were barely on him, and his body was reacting in ways that were completely unintentional. It didn’t help matters that when Ray had shifted on the bed, Nate had felt his torso flexing under his hand. He’d tried not to pay attention as Ray settled on his knees, somewhat accidentally thrusting his commando self out between them. Intent on winning this little game he had started, Nate made his best effort to keep his eyes locked onto Ray’s, but that certain, indescribable
something
in the man’s eyes was becoming more prevalent with each movement either of them made.
“Whose turn is it?” Nate asked, suddenly realizing he had zoned out for a moment.
“Yours.” Ray’s voice was steady, just like his gaze. Nate suddenly felt
very
uncomfortable being this close to his best friend.
For his turn, Nate made a small adjustment: he moved his hand off of Ray’s torso, moving it more down onto his ass, along the side. He flattened out his hand, trying to avoid being
too
interested in how the curve of Ray’s body fit his hand so well.
For the first time in a long moment, Ray broke eye contact and looked down at Nate’s hand on his side. It was...so mild. Such a small move. Looking back up at Nate, Ray cocked an eyebrow. “You okay?”
Minding Zari, Nate cleared his throat. “Yeah. Fine. You?”
Ray gave a little shrug, his grin stronger than he felt. “Is it my turn?”
Nate nodded timidly.
Ray realized that he needed to pounce now, before Nate realized he was losing. He shifted forward on the bed, coming up just inches from Nate’s face, their eyes once again locked on each other. He felt Nate’s breath on his bared chest, but Ray’s secret weapon was further down.
“Your turn,” Ray said, his tone almost smug.
The blood drained from Nate’s face as he realized what Ray had just done. He felt a firm pressure up against his crotch, and with every breath Ray took, it shifted. Hyper aware of his own body, Nate slowly looked down to see Ray’s flimsily supported junk pressed up against Nate’s own, briefs-supported bulge. The friction was a problem, but Nate noticed something else that was going to be an issue: Ray was
big
. He was obviously not fully hard, but it reached out a nice distance from Ray’s body before contacting and bending against Nate.
“Jesus,” Nate gasped, a little too loud. His head snapped back up to Ray’s, his eyes wide in a mixture of excitement and fear. When he next spoke, he was whispering once more. “You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?”
Ray chuckled. “If you play to win, play to win big, right?”
“I’ll say.” This issued a somewhat louder laugh from Ray, but soon they were shushing each other and laughing, giving anxious glances at the still-sleeping Zari.
“Your go,” Ray said. Nate noticed that the certain something in his friend’s gaze was overpowering the innocence, and it was unnerving to watch. Even Ray’s grin had...
changed.
It looked almost predatory now, like Nate was the prey.
After a moment, Nate recognized the shift as the demeanor of someone in charge.
Well, two can play at that game, Raymond.
For his turn, Nate removed his hand from Ray’s side - the more innocent hand, as it were - and snapped it down to the projection off of Ray’s groin, grabbing at it. Ray let out a yelp in surprise, trying to quiet himself halfway through. Nate leaned forward, swallowing his nerves, and looked Ray in the eye with renewed confidence.
Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. DON’T.
Chanting mantras while staring someone in the eye within your own personal space was pretty ineffective, Ray realized. Nate’s grip on his equipment was vice-like, with a firm grasp on Ray’s shaft and one of his testicles displaced by Nate’s thumb.
It’s just a game. Stop. Stop!
Nature, however, had other ideas in store for Ray.
There was a surge of blood into Ray’s member, a purely physical reaction to being manhandled. Nate quickly realized what was happening, his eyes being drawn to the thickening bulge in his grasp. He felt the pressure both inside and outside of his briefs increasing, realizing he was getting hard, too. As the two absently grinded against one another, Nate looked up at Ray. Neither of them were smiling anymore. Instead, their gaze was direct, severe.
Ray leaned in and delivered a powerful kiss onto Nate’s lips, forcing his way into the man’s mouth. Nate didn’t miss a beat - his hands reached up and explored Ray’s back, taking in the curve of his ass and the broadness of his shoulders, as the two of them leaned down onto the bed, Ray pressing down on top of Nate.
The kiss didn’t break before Nate realized that they had somehow managed to remove their bottoms, their lengths in the crowded space between their bodies, rubbing and grinding against one another mercilessly. Nate moaned into Ray’s mouth, but a thought of Zari stopped that cold. Nate pulled back, looking over at her - still sleeping soundly in her little beanbag chair - then returned to wrestling with Ray’s tongue.
A moment later, Ray noticed something very specific between them, breaking off the kiss in order to look down at their throbbing appendages, covered in a slick coating.
“Jeez, Nate. That’s a lot of precum for a game,” he whispered severely.
“Who the fuck cares?” Nate demanded in a hushed huff. He pulled Ray back down to his face, continuing their kiss.
Ray pulled back again, taking stock of Nate’s flushed face, the need in his eyes, his labored breathing. “Nate, buddy, I think we should stop.”
“No,” Nate gasped. “No. Please.”
Shocked at this pleading, Ray looked down at Nate in concern. “Nate, you-”
“I need this,” Nate whispered, and Ray was pretty sure he saw a tear fall down the side of Nate’s face in the low light. “Please, Ray.” His voice was terse, desperate.
This may have started out as a game, but Ray was pretty sure it was tapping into something repressed inside Nate. Neither of them were gay, but this physical touch was clearly working for his friend - something that Ray had not expected in the least bit. His best guess was that Nate hadn’t been with anyone since Amaya left several months ago, and with that celibacy came some side effects, as Ray was seeing now. With a heavy heart, Ray leaned back down to Nate’s ear and asked in a voiceless whisper, “What do you want me to do?”
The shiver Nate experienced from that simple question was felt by both men. “Get in me,” he ordered.
Ray shook his head. “What? Nate, I’ve never-”
“I know, but I have,” Nate replied, kissing Ray’s arm. “I’ll tell you what I want. Just go slow at first.”
Ray took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, sure. I’ve got this.”
Nate chuckled. “Are you nervous?”
“Was it obvious?”
“Not at all.” Nate took Ray’s hand and guided it down, past their still-hard lengths, to cup up underneath Nate’s taint. “I take it you know the prep. It’s a lot like a woman.”
Ray swallowed hard, his eyes on Nate’s still-flushed cheeks. “Right. I know the mechanics, strictly speaking.” He pushed a finger up against Nate’s opening, hearing the hitch in Nate’s breath as he slowly penetrated.
“Lube,” Nate hissed. “I’ve seen your cock, Ray. We’re going to need some supplies.”
“In the night stand,” Ray said, nodded to the table next to the headboard. Nate reached over and quietly opened the drawer, feeling around for whatever he could find, including a small tube of lubricant and a few loosely packaged condoms.
Meanwhile, Ray entered and retreated several times, waiting for Nate’s okay to progress. Once they’d slicked up his hand with lubricant, Nate nodded. A second finger joined in, and slowly a third. By this time, Nate had to bite into the shirt Ray had discarded earlier just to keep from being loud enough to wake Zari. Ray himself found the situation laughable, but still strangely erotic, with the hidden danger of Zari suddenly seeing them in such a compromising position lingering in the back of his mind the entire time.
While Ray prepped, Nate reached down at started to masturbate, sometimes slipping Ray’s cock into his fingers, as well. It definitely felt good, and Ray appreciated Nate’s current, almost feral need for this. It had been a while for him, as well, longer than Nate, but Nate’s impulsive nature seemed to have taken over at this point.
Ray stared down at Nate’s face, which was scrunched in pleasure, as he finished prepping his friend. “Okay. Are you ready?”
Nate nodded. Ray sat up long enough to wrap himself and lube up, then returned to being face to face with Nate, their eyes locked. Ray noticed a twinge of fear in Nate’s eyes, and his heart sank.
“You okay?”
Nate gave a nervous twitter. “None of my toys are as big as you are. Go slow.”
The scientist pressed himself against Nate’s entry. “Okay. Here we go.” His heart beat so loudly in his chest he was sure Nate could hear it. He pressed in, issuing a sharp hiss from his friend beneath him, but Nate nodded. Another inch went by, and Nate returned to stuffing Ray’s shirt into his mouth. Another inch, and the moan started, low and quiet in Nate’s chest at first, but by the next inch, it had risen to almost talking level. Ray checked Zari, who was still unmoving, her beanbag chair facing parallel to the length of Ray’s bed. Even if she did wake up, Zari wouldn’t immediately see what was going on.
“Okay?” Ray asked. Nate nodded vigorously, his hands clasping Ray’s arms hard. Ray pulled out, issuing another whine, but the next press in felt much better to both of them. Ray picked up the speed, but decidedly did not push much further in, until Nate started moving his hips in time with him.
“Give it to me, Ray,” Nate whispered in earnest. “I can take it.”
“I know buddy, I just-”
“Come on!”
Ray sighed and increased his speed and penetration, Nate taking him almost up to the hilt. Nate shoved the shirt into his mouth and clawed the bedsheets, his back arching. His pain-ridden, joyous cry into that shirt stirred something inside Ray, and his pumping increased in speed.
Each thrust was accompanied by a whimper or moan by Nate, and every third or fourth thrust, Ray would glance over to Zari to make sure she hadn’t stirred. When it was obvious the woman would sleep through the timepocalypse, Ray focused more on how he was moving, and even leaned down to start kissing Nate’s neck and shoulders.
“Ray.” The word was almost voiceless, but Ray heard it, and it spurred him on. “Yes, Ray. Doin’ - ah - doin’ great, bud. God, you’re big.” Ray chuckled as he continued to pound into him. Nate grabbed Ray’s hand and put it up into his own hair. “Pull.”
Under direct orders, Ray lightly pulled on Nate’s hair, a moan escaping his friend’s lips. He kissed Nate’s ear, his jaw, his chin. He picked a spot on his neck and nursed it, lightly biting it upon request.
With one hand still clenching the bed sheets nearly white-knuckled, Nate reached down and started pumping his shaft, the slick sounds of his self-made lubricant adding to the slapping noise of Ray’s thrusts. His moans ebbed and flowed, but he noticed that Ray had started to grunt. His thrusts became more forceful. Nate felt sweat drip off of the scientist’s body onto his, realizing how much Ray was getting into this, as well.
“Ray, shh. Zari,” Nate hushed between thrusts. “She’ll wake up.”
Ray’s intensity did not abate. “Let her,” he grunted, his face focused up above Nate’s. Nate felt a weird stirring in his chest at this, and a smile split his face.
A minute or so later, hand still pumping diligently on his cock, Nate reached up and grabbed Ray’s shoulder. “Fuck. Ray. I’m-”
Ray reached down and pushed Nate’s hand aside, pumping while he thrusted, Nate’s moans growing into muffled cries as he shoved the shirt into his mouth. When Nate came, it exploded out onto his abs, his chest, and even his face, his muffled moans nearing a muffled scream. His back arched as wave after wave seized through his body, slamming himself back onto the bed as Ray continued to invade him. Finally, out of breath, Nate removed the shirt from his mouth and grinned up at Ray. “
Damn
, Ray.”
Ray gave several more thrusts as the pressure inside him built, grunting hard as he came into the condom still inside Nate. With each of his final thrusts, Ray growled or grunted, the sound so guttural and primal that Nate’s cock almost rehardened on the spot. As Ray pulled out and collapsed onto the bed next to Nate, a smile crossed his face, as well.
Nate looked over at Ray, tired pleasure in his eyes. Ray’s expression was of a similar nature, his breath heavy and sweat beaded on his forehead. Ray reached up and pointed to Nate’s cheek, where a splash of cum had landed. “You’ve, uh, got a little-” he laughed. Nate smacked his hand away and the two of them giggled in suppressed fits of laughter for several minutes.
“That was different,” Ray whispered, leaning in to Nate’s shoulder.
Nate used his shorts to clean himself off and then turned to face Ray, their faces very close now. Nate searched Ray’s eyes for any signs of regret, but he couldn’t find any. “Thank you,” he said.
“What are bros for?” Ray asked, grinning.
Nate caught a big guffaw from leaving his mouth just in time. “Not
that
, usually,” he admitted.
“Maybe they should. It was nice,” Ray replied, reaching up and fixing a stray strand of hair in front of Nate’s forehead.
“Ray, I’m not-”
“Oh, me neither.”
“You mean-”
“Nope.”
“So this was just bros helping bros?” The question almost sounded sad to Ray, who adjusted himself to be looking deeper into Nate’s eyes.
“I guess it was,” Ray said with a sigh.
The two of them lay still for quite some time, until there was a shuffling elsewhere in the room. Panicked, Ray looked over Nate’s still-naked hip to see Zari had shifted in her beanbag chair, now curled in a fetal position facing away from the bed. When he lowered himself back to Nate’s eye level, he was holding back laughter he was sure would wake the dead. Nate shared in his predicament.
“So,” Ray asked after the giggles had faded, “who won the game?”
“Pfft. The point of the game is to
not
fuck your opponent,” Nate said. “And since you did all the fucking, I’d say it was me.”
“Aw, that’s not fair, Nate. I wanted to stop, but you needed my help.”
“I know.” Nate leaned in and kissed Ray on the nose before getting up and putting his shorts back on. “Ugh. Remind me next time to take off my shirt,” he said, looking down at the pockmarked tanktop.
“Next time, huh?” Ray laughed from the bed.
With a warning finger, Nate pointed at Ray. Ray just pointed back at him, his eyebrows hitched. They both laughed, and proceeded to clean up the room.
About an hour later, Zari appeared in the galley, where Ray, Nate (now wearing one of Ray’s shirts), and Sara were sitting at the table, talking about nothing. After grabbing a fabricated cup of tea, she plopped down across the table from Nate, noticing his change in attire.
“Isn’t that Ray’s black crewneck, Nate?”
Glancing down at it, Nate’s face turned the slightest hint of pink, but he nodded. “Yeah, I, uh, spilled something on my tanktop,” he replied.
“Yeah, you did,” Sara said mockingly, issuing a deep red to blossom on Ray’s face.
Zari noticed. “Wait. What?”
“Yeah, what?” Nate asked, looking at Sara.
Sara shrugged. “What? I’m just playing with you.”
“Right.” Ray gave a slightly nervous chuckle, but the four of them just lapsed into an eerie silence.
After a moment, “So, movie night at the Bureau next week, right Nate?” Zari asked.
“Uh huh. Sure.”
Zari took a sip of tea. “Cool. But this time, can we leave out the post-movie coitus, please? It was hot, but it was super hard to sleep through.”
Ray almost choked on his coffee, and Nate turned such a deep shade of red, Zari wasn’t sure if he was still human. Sara just stared at them, her mouth hanging slightly open.
Zari just smiled into her tea, having won the game.