Work Text
The thing about pulling Frank Pritchard’s proverbial pigtails is that, well.Adam Jensen doesn’t really know when to stop.It begins with little things, just for the thrill of having the full force of the Frank’s indignation poured on top of him. Call it boredom, cabin fever from Sarif making them work together, watching over each other’s shoulders ever so often, whatever.Once, Adam leaves his infolink open when he goes to take a piss and the way Frank splutters, calling him a disgusting animal, is just so worth it. He laughs to himself for a good minute after the infolink switches off, not giving a damn about the looks he gets from the other people in the restroom.And that’s how it starts. He drinks the last of Frank’s coffee and doesn’t put on a new pot, steals his cigarettes and once dares to hacks into his email just to send himself a very flattering and compromising message.“Why do you do this to me?” Frank asks one late afternoon when Adam stops by his office with the excuse of checking out the report he’s writing. Truth is, he’s there for the coffee. “You’ll see it when it’s ready, anyway. Can’t you trust me with a fucking report?”Adam smirks. Trusting is not the issue here, it’s that it feels so good to see Frank rise to the bait. Adam wonders, as he has many times over the last couple of weeks, exactly how worked up Frank can get before he snaps.“What? So you can find a way to make me look bad in front of the boss? No way, Francis,” Adam replies with an incredulous chuckle. He drains the last of his coffee and leaves the dirty mug on the first flat surface he comes across.“Alright, you want to read it? Read it! See if I care,” Frank snaps, standing up from his desk after a couple of angry clicks. Adam leans over the computer, scrolls through the report in less than two minutes.The entire time, Frank is ranting about what an insufferable prick Adam is.Music to his ears.“So, what’s the verdict?” Frank asks when Adam straightens up with a sigh.“It’s not bad,” Adam slowly replies. Frank leans over to close the report with a soft click.“Of course it’s not. I’m a professional, Jensen,” he grumbles. “Fuckin’ control freak…”Much later, Adam will not be able to explain exactly what came over him, why he did what he did. He is about to leave, but he needs to have the last word. That’s how this fucked up thing they have works, after all. So he grunts something, something insulting that promptly gets eclipsed by the fact that he slaps Frank’s butt right after he says it.It’s just that…It’s right there, alright? Almost begging for it.And Adam knows that’s not a good enough reason to do anything, but his impulse control hasn’t been stellar as of late and, well, the yelp Frank makes, cupping his buttock with one hand and staring at Adam in that shocked, deer-in-the-headlights kind of way.Worth it, Adam thinks before leaving with a self-satisfied smirk twisting his lips. As much as he might kick himself later for it, he just might have found out a very efficient way to shut Frank Pritchard up.
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The thing is, outraged and mortified as getting his butt slapped makes him feel — like he’s back in high school all over again, surrounded by a bunch of teenaged assholes with no respect for personal boundaries —, Frank doesn’t dare bring it up.And give Jensen the satisfaction of knowing how much it had affected him? No way!Fuck Jensen…Who is, as it turns out, just as shocked as Frank at his own behavior. It’s just not the type of thing he does. At all. Even though he’s not unfamiliar with it, per se. He remembers guys in the locker room, during his SWAT years, were particularly fond of hitting each other with a wet towel. Even an old girlfriend of his thought it was be funny to slap him once or twice when he was getting dressed. It never meant a thing, but he never felt compelled to engage in this kind of thing himself.And at work, of all places.Adam has never been very good at abiding by should’s and could’s, though, which is why he does it again.Because he’s, obviously, an idiot.This time, it’s so deliberate that, even though he has no excuse for his behavior, he won’t be able to avoid smiling when he remembers it, much later. Frank is explaining something about the building Adam will have to break into in that tone of his, like his coworker has the cognitive ability of a three year old, and Adam is barely paying attention, really. He can read a fucking blueprint, Francis, come on, he wants to say, but doesn’t.Because Frank is doodling nervously across the whiteboard and it is just, like, right there, staring back at him. The palms of Adam’s augmented hands don’t tingle, not really, but the effect is there all the same. The impulse.Adam licks his lips.“I mean, you obviously will have to try and enter through the rooftop, I mean…” Frank scratches his head. A thousand possible routes, but he really wants to be the one to tell Adam what to do.“Obviously,” Adam replies, barely listening. A glare thrown over a shoulder is all Adam gets before Frank goes back to the board, muttering about detection risks and whatnot. It’s as good a chance as Adam’s going to get, so he moves closer as if trying to peek at the board, lifts his hand and…
SLAP!
It sounds so obscenely loud in the quiet office, hard enough to sting and Adam can see clearly in his mind’s eye the shape of his fingers across Frank’s skin, but, well, he doesn’t want to dwell on that image. Not now, at least. Maybe later, when he’s alone…Frank doesn’t even make a sound, but his entire body goes tense from the pain. It has to have hurt. Adam snorts inelegantly, taking a step back, but he can’t hold his laughter much longer, especially when Frank turns around, absolutely livid.Adam takes another step back and Frank roars, “Are you fucking kidding me, Jensen?!”Adam only realizes he’s moving when he’s already outside the office, whole body shaking in a fit of laughter so violent his legs would have given out if they were made of flesh and bone. Frank is right behind him, yelling at the top of his lungs, “You fucking asshole, where you think you’re going? Come back here!”Frank doesn’t follow him into the corridor, though, for which Adam is very thankful as he rushes through the stairs as fast as he can while still laughing his ass off. Above his own laughter he can still hear when Frank says, “I should make those fucking hands of yours strangle you in your sleep, you bastard!”And that’s a fucking nice image, Frank thinks, calming down a bit. He’s still shaking with anger, though, and is about to go back inside his office when he hears someone calling, “Pritchard?”And that’s worry in the voice of no one other than David Sarif, who probably heard every part of his little outburst just now. Frank just looks at him for a second, nonchalance slipping through his fingers, and stumbles all over his words, “Hey. Hello. Hi, er… what can I do for you?”Sarif crosses his arms. “That was Adam you were talking to?”“Yes, sir.” Frank doesn’t try to deny it.Sarif looks around for a second as if expecting Frank’s nightmare of a coworker to jump out from behind a wall. After a moment, Sarif sighs. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to know.”
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Frank really considers going after Adam and confronting him about the butt-slapping, but where’s the fun in that?Even if he went to HR or Sarif and complained, thought, what would he say? Hey, here’s the thing, the head of security keeps slapping my ass and I would like you guys to make him stop.Yeah... no. Not going to happen.So when they meet for debriefing after Adam returns from his mission — he isn’t detected, but only because he knocks two security guards unconscious and Frank gets a hold of the building’s security network and disables everything he can reach — Frank does his best to ignore the bitterness in his mouth to chastise the man for being so careless.He should have gone through the rooftop and that’s what Frank keeps telling him as they talk inside Sarif’s office. David has already grown tired of their bickering and gone out with the excuse of getting a file from Athene and Frank knows he’s not coming back until Malik, who’s late, arrives.Malik might be awesome on the field, but try and take her into the office and you’ll have a problem.“I got the information, isn’t it enough? Why can’t you just be happy about it?” Adam more groans than speak, spitting venom. “Oh, yeah, I forgot, it’s because you are impossible to please!”Frank runs fingers through his own hair, almost pulling out his ponytail, and charges right back. “You almost compromised the entire mission, what, a dozen times? And what will happen when they realize that there’s almost an hour of footage missing from their cameras? Not to mention those guards. You just had to leave them inside that broom closet, didn’t you?” Frank gives up on smoothing his hair back. Pulls the dark locks out of the hairband just to tie his hair back again with a groan, movements almost frantic with annoyance. “You wanna see me happy? Do your fucking job and listen to the intel I give you instead of being-”Frank stops himself.What was he going to say, anyway?“Instead of being what, Francis?” Adam challenges him.A pain in my ass, Frank doesn’t say. His eyes narrow.“Fuck you,” he spits, turning his back to Adam before the other can see his discomfort. Frank glares at Sarif’s office, at the bright day shining outside while he’s stuck in here at this fucking hour with Adam fucking Jensen.Where the fuck is Malik?Adam chuckles. He fucking chuckles and it’s a good thing Frank isn’t looking at him because he can’t imagine what he would do if he were, but strangling Adam is starting to sound reasonable.The sorry bastard will end up getting himself killed one of these days. Not that it would be a bad thing. At least Frank’s ass will be safe that way, but his job will only get more difficult. Who knows what kind of substitute Sarif would hire?Frank is so distracted by his own conjectures he doesn’t notice Adam approaching him, but it’s not like awareness of his surroundings is a job requirement for him. Maybe it should be, though, because it definitely would have helped him avoid the third slap and all that came after it.This time, as soon as Adam’s hand touches him, he’s turning around and slapping Adam across the face. It comes so easily, like a second nature, but in his fantasies, it would always be a punch. It gets the message across, at least three of his fingers clear on Adam’s cheek.Adam looks so surprised, too, lips parted and eyebrows drawn up.Fuck, yeah!, Frank thinks, fury rising inside his chest, boiling hot. His palm aches and he’s so proud and angry he’s barely thinking anymore. Hands push at Adam’s chest, closed fists banging, and Frank’s not even aware what he’s saying. He does call Adam a piece of shit, that much he knows, but he ends up with Adam effortlessly holding both his wrists above his head to avoid getting hit.“I’m going to kill you!” Frank promises, struggling against Adam’s one-handed grasp.The corner of Adam’s mouth trembles. “Don’t you need your hands for that, Francis?”Frank pulls his hands uselessly, groaning in frustration just as Malik’s voice greets them with an amused, “Oh, just fuck already, will you?”Her arrival distracts Adam enough for Frank to finally pull free of Adam’s grasp. He turns around, eyes wild, and promptly declares, “Your friend is fucked in the head, Malik.” He straightens his jacket, glaring at Adam over his shoulder before crossing the room towards the door Malik left open. “Out of all the things he could have fixated on, he chose my ass. Literally.”Instead of defending himself, Adam snorts and Frank decides he’s had enough. If Sarif needs him, he’d better send an email, because he’s out. He’s so out. He makes sure to slam the door shut behind him, which keeps him from hearing Adam’s mischievous, “I mean, can you blame me?”Because while Frank might be having a hard time dealing with Adam’s fixation, Adam’s has recently made his peace with the fact that his interest in Frank’s backside might not be so innocent, after all.It’s a damn nice butt, if you ask him.Malik rolls her eyes. “Now that’s just rude, playing with your food like that,” she replies in a mockingly dramatic tone. Her eyes turn serious, though, when she adds, “But I think you’d better go apologize to him, Adam. I think you hurt his feelings.”
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Adam makes his way to Frank’s office as he considers Malik’s words. Apologizing, especially to Frank, is not a particularly appealing idea, but if Malik thought Frank looked hurt…Now, they can’t have that, right? Maybe he did push it too far this time.Maybe.“Pritchard?” Adam calls as he knocks on Frank’s door, softly as if not wanting to be heard. Not Francis. Not Frank. Pritchard.Because obviously now is the time to act professional. After slapping and obsessing about the guy’s ass for… longer than he’s willing to admit.Frank pauses his typing on the keyboard as soon as Adam knocks, but doesn’t look up.“Do you need something?” he asks. He sounds almost bored, but Adam can see right through it. He’s about just as uncomfortable as Adam is.“Wanted to talk to you,” Adam says, stepping inside. He leaves the door open, though. Just in case he needs to make a run for it.Frank looks up, then. He even pushes his chair away from the desk, but doesn’t get up.“Yeah?” he says, arms crossed, face unreadable. “Talk, then. I’m not stopping you.”Adam scratches the back of his neck. In a last attempt at seeming genuine, he retracts his shades. Some unnamed emotion flickers across Frank’s face, gone as fast as it had appeared.Adam swallows.“I wanted to apologize.”Frank looks away from him with a bitter snort, no trace of humor on his face, and anger flares inside Adam’s chest. He’s genuinely trying here, can’t Frank just give him a break?Frank stands up from his chair in one fluid, almost feline movement. He looks tired, Adam thinks, noticing for the first time the deep dark circles under the tech’s eyes.Adam forces himself to stand his ground as Frank approaches him with a snarky, “Apologize? That’s it?” They’re face to face, now. “What for? For being unprofessional? Insufferable? A literal pain in my ass with the self-restraint of a school kid?”It’s Adam’s turn to snort. He wouldn’t use those exact words, but, “All of the above, I’m afraid.”Frank hums thoughtfully. This up close, Adam can smell the coffee on Frank’s is breath and C.A.S.I.E goes nuts picking up on every considering shift of Frank’s gaze. Which is why Adam does what he does. He feels bold.The hand he lays on Frank’s waist feels like the most dangerous thing he’s done all week, even with the job he has. But the payoff comes soon as Frank’s pupils dilate almost instantly, his breathing becoming noticeably shallower, quicker.Up close like this, the difference between their heights is more noticeable than ever and Adam finds himself wondering what it would be like to kiss Frank like this, wrapping both arms around his slim waist and forcing him to arch back.He will keep wondering for the time being, though, because Frank lays an open palm in the middle of Adam’s chest and steps away with a low but sure, “I’ll leave at around six.”The dissonance between his physical reactions, the promise in his words and the distance he puts between them makes Adam frown. The farther Frank gets, the colder Adam feels. Frank clears his throat.“We’ll talk then,” he continues. “You'd better be here, or I'll leave without you.”Adam smirks. “Somehow I find that hard to believe,” he replies, closing in on Frank and pulling the tech bodily into him before the man has a chance to sit back down on his desk.Frank reaction is surprising. Instead of pushing Adam away, he chuckles. It feels good to be held like this, but Frank’s amusement at Adam’s impatience dies off as Adam fits his nose against his throat and inhales, breath tickling against Frank’s neck.“You still could have been caught,” Frank says, but it’s weak, more scared than annoyed. So many unnecessary risks on that mission, but riskier still is what he’s doing. Allowing himself to get closer to Adam fucking Jensen.Adam’s hand venture, tracing the line of the tech’s spine as he whispers, “But I wasn’t,” warm breath tickling against the sensitive shell of an ear, as if his words can make everything okay. “I’m here. I’m fine.” And the fact that Frank hasn’t yet shoved him away speaks volumes.The sigh Frank exhales is one of relief. When Frank finally pushes a hand against Adam’s chest, Adam tightens his arms around him for a second, not wanting to let go even though they both have work to do.“Six o’clock, then?” Adam asks, begrudgingly stepping back.Frank doesn’t look at him when he replies with a quiet, “Yeah.”This time, when Adam slaps Frank’s ass before leaving, it’s soft and playful. He walks out before Frank can kick him out, before he can see the fondness on Frank’s resigned sigh, the small smile tugging at his lips when he returns to work.Neither of them can help looking forward to the night.
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Adam’s ability to focus is shot to shit for the day. He spends the rest of his shift pacing around the Sarif building, roaming through corridors. Two or three times, he ends up in the cafeteria with no idea why, the same train of thought running through his mind on a loop.
He’s got a date with Francis Pritchard. What crazy thought to have, and it’s the truth.
Should he plan something? Find them a nice restaurant? A bar? Should they go to the cinema? Or just go home and, well, bang?
Will they go back to his apartment? Adam can’t remember the last time he changed the sheets. It’s not like he’s had many visitors since… well.
“Jensen, is everything okay?” A security guard, Smith or something, asks Adam, who only then realizes he’s been standing in the middle of the cafeteria staring into space. Adam grunts something about it being a long day and makes his way back to his office. He doesn’t leave again until six o’clock rolls around.
-x-
It’s five past six when Adam goes to Frank. He knocks on his open door to announce his presence, chest tight as if bracing for something massive. When he ventures inside, though, it takes him a second to locate Frank among the dozen of other technicians inside the lab.
Eventually, though, Frank looks up, eyes meeting Adam's.
“Jensen,” he says as if about to announce a disaster. “Something has come up.”
Adam is glad he hasn't retracted his eyeshields, so the only sign of his disappointment lies on the small twist of his lips. As it turns out, ‘something has come up’ is a bit of an understatement. According to a bearded hipster crouching over three laptops on the floor, their firewalls are being bombarded and they can barely keep them up.
“Are you tracking them?” Adam asks. “The attackers?”
“Yeah, that's not a priority at the moment,” Frank replies distractedly. He quickly moves to a laptop on the corner where another tech is freaking out about a terminal being down. Adam stays for another minute or two, but there doesn’t seem to be much he can do at the moment.
“I’ll be in my office,” he tries to say as he leaves, but it almost sounds like a question.
If Frank hears him, he doesn’t show. He might have, though, because almost two hours later, he pops onto Adam’s Infolink.
“Listen, Adam, I really don’t know how long this will take me.” Not even a hello first. “I’m sorry. I should have told you to go home,” Frank continues and then, more softly, “I was really looking forward to… spending some time with you.”
Adam wonders if Frank would have been that honest if they were face to face. A sudden idea on his mind, Adam asks, “Have you eaten yet?”
“What? No, I…” Frank sounds distracted. “I mean... You should go home. At least one of us should get some sleep tonight.”
“Do you like Chinese?” Adam interrupts him. There’s noise on Frank’s side, some typing and angry beeping.
“Food, you mean?” Frank asks, confused. Is Adam seriously trying to make small talk right now? “It’s alright, I suppose. Listen, I have to go now. We’ll talk later. Or tomorrow. Probably tomorrow. Pritchard out.”
-x-
The last time Adam enters Frank’s lab for the day, Frank is alone. It’s really dark outside and most people have already left the building. It takes Frank a couple of seconds to lift his eyes from the computer, but the lines of exhaustion on his face soften when he sees Adam.
“I come bearing gifts,” Adam says, lifting the bags of Chinese food. Frank leans back on his chair, the computer monitor casting a fantasmagoric glow on his face.
“I saw you leaving. I thought you had gone home,” Frank says, getting up from his desk. There’s a warmth in his eyes, an almost ‘you shouldn’t have’ mixed with barely contained appreciation.
Adam grins, self-satisfied, and starts pulling containers out of the bag and setting it on the first surface he finds.
“You haven’t eaten anything since lunch, have you?” he asks. Frank comes around to have a look at Adam’s selection. He got a bit of almost everything on the menu and a couple of beers to go along. Nothing fancy, but Frank’s eyebrows shoot up when he sees the cold bottles.
“No. I’m starving, though,” he says. Adam cracks two bottles open and hands Frank one of them. They take a first swing at the same time. Frank sighs as Adam hands him a paper plate and begins popping the cartons open. “Thanks for doing this.”
Adam nods, spooning some chop-suey onto his plate. He gives the computer a pointed look. “Are you done there?”
“Almost. I can take a break.”
They eat standing up, which is fine. Frank’s spent most of his day sitting at the computer. They do talk, though. About the recent attack on their systems, which has been dealt with, and the aftermath, which Frank is almost done with. Frank steals the onions that Adam leaves on his plate and by his third beer, he looks a lot more relaxed.
Adam even says so. Frank looks a bit embarrassed, but also happy. Their empty plates abandoned, they’re standing so close together Adam barely has to move to slide his hand up Frank’s arm. He can smell the alcohol on Frank’s breath.
Frank looks into Adam’s eyes and Adam wonders what he sees there. The unnatural colors, the lines tracing the synthetic material of his corneas, or the lust clouding his thoughts. He doesn’t linger on these thoughts, however, because Frank licks his lips and, well, Adam’s been thinking of Frank’s lips for a while and if he just leans in a bit…
A beep from the computer has Frank turning away. A curious frown on his face, he walks over, taking all the warmth in the room with him. Adam clears his throat and when that doesn’t help with the tightness around it, he downs the last of his beer. It’s a bit warm, but it’s good beer and he’s so fucking thirsty.
He looks over at where Frank is bent over his computer, those clever eyes darting all over the screen as he clicks and drags something here, types something there. As if sensing Adam’s eyes, Frank pauses and looks up. The corner of his mouth twists into a smirk when their eyes meet, but he goes right back to typing a second later, undisturbed.
Adam almost misses the desk he leaves his empty beer bottle on in his rush to get to Frank. Frank is still working so Adam tries not to get in his way as he wraps his arms around the tech’s middle. Frank freezes for a second before resuming his typing. When he straightens up, leaning back against Adam’s chest, the sigh he lets out sounds a bit shaky.
“You alright?” Adam asks, instantly thinking he misread the whole thing.
Is he that out of practice?
Frank’s hand is on the arm Adam has around him, though, and his voice is soft when he replies, “Yeah.” Adam decides he likes the quality of Frank’s voice like this, all breathy and lazy. The hacker is still looking at the computer, though, so Adam is not sure what to do. As if reading his thoughts, however, Frank whispers, “Keep touching me.”
Adam chuckles darkly, breath tickling the side Frank’s neck, voice rumbling low. “Mmm, bossy.”
Frank doesn’t reply. Adam does obey him, however. No one can say he doesn’t know how to follow instructions. He lets his open palm and fingers trail lightly across the angles of Frank’s hips, the plane of his stomach, his ribs.
Slowly but surely, his nose finds the curve of Frank’s neck.
Adam inhales the scents of a hard day at work, coffee, leather, soap and something woodsy that makes his mouth water.
“I need a shower,” Frank breathes in response to Adam so obviously smelling him. Adam smiles against the soft skin of Frank’s throat.
“I like it,” he says, every vowel adding to the shiver that wrecks Frank’s body. “Come here. Let me kiss you,” Adam asks, pulling Frank impossibly closer to him.
He doesn’t need to ask twice. Still, it feels like an eternity passes as Frank twists in Adam’s arms until their lips brush, feather-light, breath tickling.
This
, Adam thinks as Frank parts his lips with a quiet exhale. Adam can’t help but moan. Frank feels so warm in his arms, even warmer against his tongue. It’s impossible to resist biting into the softness of Frank’s lower lip.
“Fuck, Jensen,” Frank responds immediately to the sting on his lip, one hand grabbing Adam by the back of the head, long fingers tangling and holding on to short, soft hair. Adam smirks into the kiss.
“Call me Adam. You called me Adam before,” he asks as they part for air.
Frank’s eyes are still closed as they linger together, the conscience that this is not the place to get carried away barely coming through the haze of lust that surrounds them. Only a kiss, and here they are. A bit dazed by the intensity of it all, but not surprised.
“Alright. Adam.” The way Frank says it, as if savoring it, has Adam’s blood boiling. He can’t wait to hear all the other ways he can make Frank call his name.
A beep on the computer drags them out of their reveries. Frank takes one look at the screen and slaps Adam’s ass. To his delight, Adam lets out an undignified yelp.
“Looks like I’m all done here,” Frank says, not actually looking at Adam. That’s alright, though. Adam doesn’t trust himself with eye contact at the moment either. There’s a smirk on the corner of Frank’s lips when he suggests, “Shall we take this elsewhere?”
Adam can’t say yes fast enough.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Adam is not surprised to see the state Frank’s apartment is in. He has no more than a second to appreciate the careless chaos around him, though, because as soon as the door is closed Frank presses him against it and pulls him into a demanding, perfect, breathtaking kiss.Of course, in this scenario, some kissing is to be expected. Still, Adam almost forgets to kiss back, shocked into stillness by how surely Frank touches him, hands firm around Adam’s waist, fingers inching underneath his uniform without hesitation.Recovering from his initial shock, Adam eagerly kisses back and proceeds to shed his body armor. As the heavy vest hits the floor, Frank wraps Adam in his arms as the kiss turns slow and dirty, tongues dragging together, breath escaping. Forming a coherent thought is difficult, so Adam gives up on that and melts into the embrace. How long has it been since he was held like this? Has he ever been held like this?There are fingers tracing the small of his back, the back of his neck, and Adam has stamina, okay? It’s not easy to make him run out of breath. Sarif made sure of it. But he is breathing hard as they part, his face warm.“Would you like something to drink?” Frank offers, voice low. He pulls back slightly, giving Adam some space. There’s a glint of amusement in his eyes — not smug or cruel, but it’s there. Then the tech comes closer again, fingers trailing the arch of Adam’s cheekbone, the hard, dark shapes around his eyes. “You alright there, Adam?”Adam clears his throat. It’s hard not to lean against the touch. “Sure. I’d love some water.”Frank nods and steps away, easy as if he hasn’t been all but devouring Adam’s mouth a few seconds ago. Fuck, Adam can still taste him on his tongue and wants more. Can’t get enough. Even though he knew he would have a hard time keeping this casual, a onetime thing, at best, he hadn’t expected this.He shakes his head and follows Frank into the kitchen. It’s mostly empty, save for a few coffee-stained mugs in the sink.Adam watches as Frank pulls two glasses out of a cupboard and gets a bottle of water from the fridge.“You’re staring,” Frank points out, pouring the water and handing Adam a glass.“Can’t help it,” Adam admits. “This doesn’t feel real.”“I’ll say.” Frank finishes his water first, but waits patiently for Adam to finish his. As he rinses the glasses and puts the bottle back inside the fridge, he says, “You’ll tell me if I push you too far, right? You’ll tell me if you’re uncomfortable?”The question surprises Adam. “I will. I’m not, though. Uncomfortable.” Frank glances at him and relief looks good on him. Adam smirks. “But you should come a bit closer.”“Yeah? What for?” Frank wonders, but he is stepping right back into Adam’s space, leaning in for a kiss that is much softer than the first one. Frank’s hands are cold as he frames Adam’s jaw. He nips at Adam’s lower lip, setting the augmented man’s blood on fire, and hums thoughtfully. “I meant it when I said I needed a shower. Do you want one? Or, rather…” his breath tickles Adam’s lips, makes his mouth water. “Would you join me?”And fuck if Frank’s careful demeanor, his fucking consideration, doesn’t make Adam want to scream. It’s been a while since anyone showed him much in the way of affection and it hits him like a ton of bricks. How lonely he’s been. How fucking seen he feels when Frank waits for him to nod, patient as if they haven’t both been hard since before the door was even closed.“Bathroom is the last door,” Frank says. “Hop in the shower. I’ll get you us some towels.”Adam ventures deeper into Frank’s apartment with the sharp awareness that not many people are allowed this close to the hacker. He wonders if anyone but Frank has ever stepped into the pristine looking bathtub. The whole bathroom smells like Frank. The soap he uses, his shaving cream.Adam adjusts the temperature and angle of the shower and turns it on. The water runs cold at first, but Adam lets himself sink into the spray until it warms up, eyes sliding shut. The cold water does very little to placate the heat in his flesh and he can’t help but reach down to stroke his cock a couple of times. Soothing, but not enough. The hard material of his augmented hands is hardly enough on a good day, and now that he knows Frank is right there, more than willing to touch him. That’s what he wants. What he needs.Frank.A sharp inhale makes Adam’s eyes snap open. Frank has discarded every piece of clothing except for his pants, which hang low on his slim hips. The pale light inside the bathroom makes his skin look so pale. Milky, a dark patch of hair on his lower abdomen leading down. Adam gives himself one last shameless squeeze and narrows his eyes.He must bruise like a peach.Frank’s darkened gaze trails hungrily over Adam’s skin, pink tongue running over parted lips.“It’s not fair,” Frank breathes, but he doesn’t sound like he’s complaining. “You have no right to look this good.”Adam has no idea how to answer that, so he just turns his back towards Frank and reaches for a bar of soap. His face feels warm, corner of his lips arching up. “You can do more than just look, you know?”“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me twice.”Frank undresses and promptly joins Adam, who is still smiling at himself when Frank’s arms wrap around his middle. He leans back against Frank’s chest, skin sliding against skin, spreading heat, and Frank peppers kisses across Adam’s shoulders. Adam tries not to melt too obviously into the affection.They wash up quickly in between teasing touches and heated kisses. Well, Frank is the one who washes them, for the most part, massaging shampoo onto Adam’s scalp before washing his own hair. When Frank stands under the water with his eyes closed as he rinses the long dark strands of his hair, Adam can’t help but stare.He can get over finding Frank attractive and even charming in his own, quirky way, but those are not the adjectives that come to mind at the moment. Adam is thinking more around the lines of stunning. Beautiful.Heart thundering inside his chest, Adam loops an arm around Frank’s waist and pulls him close. Frank comes easily, blinking water away from his eyes. This doesn’t feel real, Adam thinks again, but doesn’t say out loud this time. Frank kissing him, on the other hand, tongue tangling with Adam’s, lips hot and wet, feels real like nothing else has felt in a long time.The instant Adam’s lips connect with the smooth skin of Frank’s neck, he knows he’s damned. There’s no way he’ll ever get over the taste and feel on his tongue. Greedy, Adam sucks, marking the pale skin, and Frank shivers under the attention, ticklish, holding on to the curve of Adam’s waist.“Fuck,” Frank breathes, hands sliding over wet skin as he pulls Adam’s hips to grind against where he’s hard and leaking, no rhythm or elegance in their movements. Frank cups Adam’s ass with his hands, squeezing at the tight muscles.“God, Frank,” Adam gasps, letting Frank’s skin escape from his lips as their legs tangle, pressure building. He can feel every inch of Frank’s cock against his and knows he could come just like this if he’s not careful.Frank’s mouth finds his in something that can barely be called a kiss, lips parted against each other, breathing ragged. “Adam,” Frank grunts, both hands on Adam’s ass pulling at the flesh, spreading him as a finger teases against his entrance. “Can I?”Adam is not proud of how quickly he nods. It’s not really how he expected their night to progress, but he’s more than on board, even if he doesn’t want to think too hard about his reasons. As a digit breaches him, he tenses involuntarily, but demands, “Don’t stop.”Frank doesn’t. Doesn’t stop the push of his hips, either, grinding lazily into Adam’s more desperate movements as he carefully teases one and then two fingers into Adam’s body, all attentive care and self-control. Which, of course, drives Adam a bit wild as he bucks and presses forward, the dark mechanisms of a leg wrapping around Frank’s hip as he whines into Frank’s mouth.Adam can barely recognize himself, but he can’t find it within himself to care.“Will you stay the night?” Frank asks, voice tight, fingers pressing, tracing all the right spots inside Adam, who bites back a moan.“Why?” Adam barely recognizes his own voice, more rumble than articulation.A sharp stab of Frank’s fingers punctuates, “The things I wanna do to you.” Adam moans, long and breathless, and pulls Frank a bit faster against him, fingers digging into Frank’s back hard enough to bruise.“What, you have a list?” he teases.“The first item, at least.” Frank shoves his fingers deeper, pressing hard on Adam’s prostate, who bites down onto Frank’s shoulder.“Y-yeah?”Frank nods. “Fuck, you’re so sensitive,” he sounds mesmerized. “Wanna see you come like this. Think you can?”Adam doesn’t even need to think about it. Those fingers inside him, teasing, pressing. Frank’s thigh between his legs, the curve of those hips the perfect pressure against Adam’s aching cock. “You won’t give me much of a chance if you keep talking like that,” Adam shoots back.“I wanna see it, then. Wanna lick you clean, afterwards. Wanna know what you taste like. Though about it.” As he says it, Frank licks a stripe against Adam’s jaw, lips coming to rest against Adam’s ear, breath tickling. “I’ll get you a towel, after. Dry you off as you catch your breath and then take you to the bedroom. Spread you open on my bed. And then? I’m going to fuck you, Adam. Shove my cock into that tight ass of yours, make you take it, but first… oh, first I’m going to make you beg for it.”Adam hisses, body tensing in anticipation as heat spreads. “Goddamnit, Frank.”“Are you close? Fuck, that’s hot.” Adam had no idea Frank talking dirty would have him worked up like this, and then Frank whispers, “Do you want it, Adam? Huh? Do you want my cock?”And Adam shoves forward, so close he can taste it, moaning, “Fuck, I do.” Frank rewards him with a series of sharp stabs against his prostate. “Frank, oh, God.”“That’s it, that’s it. I got you,” Frank assures him, thigh pressing up, all but letting Adam grind against him.“Gonna-” is all Adam has time to say, heat pulsing as he comes is long spurts against Frank’s body, breathless ah, ah, ah’s pouring helplessly from his parted lips. Absentmindedly, he hopes Frank has thick walls, because that was loud.Frank kisses Adam through the aftershocks, presses him against the wet tiles on the wall and then kneels between Adam’s legs to lick him clean. Frank’s tongue feels so good on his cock it almost hurts, but Adam doesn’t have the courage to push him away. Especially because Frank is stroking himself like he can’t help it, tongue running along Adam’s dick.The kiss Frank lays on Adam’s lips after he’s done is soft and quick, but Adam melts into it, inviting his own taste onto his tongue. It shouldn’t, but it makes his head spin, afterglow still warm in his body, arousal not even close to satisfied.After all, Frank hasn’t come yet. Before Adam can return the favor, though, Frank turns the shower off and reaches for the towels. He wraps one around his waist and carefully pats Adam dry with another before they go into his bedroom.Adam can’t help but notice how neatly made Frank’s bed is. Wonders if Frank cleaned up a bit before he joined Adam in the shower and the thought makes him grin.Things don’t remain neat for long, though. Towels left on the floor as they lay together in bed, sheets and pillows shifting around as they kiss lazily for what feels like an eternity, naked bodies seeking one another.They’re both breathing a bit heavily when Frank smooths a hand down Adam’s side, fingers teasing the tender curve where his thigh and buttock meet. With a slap too soft to be anything but playful, Frank whispers, “Turn around.”Adam narrows his eyes, but can’t help but obey.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The only light inside the bedroom comes from the open bathroom door across the hall, the air still soapy and steamy from their recently finished shower. Adam almost holds his breath, afraid to disturb the silence that envelops them, solid and warm. Frank’s hands are warm and sure as they move over his skin, pushing and pulling at Adam’s body until Frank has him just the way he wants. Adam rests his cheek on the black material of his forearms, knees digging into the mattress. His abdomen and chest push against his parted thighs as Frank pulls him back by the hips, ass up and out. Adam hisses at how exposed he feels, but doesn’t dare move, skin electrified. Frank’s touches don’t linger much, though, hands running across the taunt muscles of Adam’s broad back, the sinuous line of his spine. His scars.“You’re so beautiful.” Adam likes how breathless Frank sounds, but still doesn’t know how to properly reply.“Shut up,” he ends up saying. Frank chuckles this beautiful dark sound that has Adam pressing into the hands cradling the globes of his ass, pressing them apart.“Well, you are,” Frank repeats, more seriously, and Adam knows just what Frank is looking at. Adam’s face feels warm, but he forces himself not to cower in embarrassment. “You might just be the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, just so you know.” It sounds so dramatic, but so honest at the same time.“Shut. Up,” Adam insists, self-conscious and more than a bit scared of how hard his heart pounds at Frank’s words. Adam’s cock throbs, heavy with blood between his legs as if he hasn’t come just a few minutes earlier.“You know what I want to do to you, don’t you?” A finger runs between Adam’s cheeks, teasing his hole. Adam shivers, nerve endings he didn’t know he had lighting up at the touch.“You wanna fuck me,” Adam replies, slow and dirty and vaguely accusing.“No,” Frank corrects him. “I want to rim you.” Frank’s breath tickles the skin around Adam’s hole. “Make you wet and loose on my tongue. Fuck, Adam… I want to wreck you.”Adam’s fingers twist into the sheets and he pushes back blindly, gasping, “Please.” Frank’s chin is scratchy against Adam’s bare skin. Adam doesn’t mind, though, not when Frank’s tongue is sliding firm and wet against the puckered hidden flesh. “Oh, god! Frank! My god, mm-” Adam smothers his words against his forearm as Frank flattens his tongue and presses into him as if French kissing, his strokes deep and slow, lips sucking. Adam bites down onto his lower lip hard enough to bruise.“I love hearing you. Don’t stop,” Frank pauses to say and Adam whines at the momentary loss. “You taste like heaven… fuck.”Frank starts gently sucking at the skin and Adam melts into the mattress, going boneless. “Jesus, what—” Frank moans in approval, delighted at Adam’s reactions, and the sound vibrates through Adam’s whole body. “Hnn, yeah. Just like that,” Adam tells him when Frank teases the tip of his tongue forward, barely breaching his entrance.At this point, Adam gives up on maintaining any control over his own tongue when Frank’s mouth is lighting him up from the inside. He shudders and moans, curses and begs in the same breath. Can’t get enough, never felt anything better before and yet, somehow, he feels like he reaches a whole new level when Frank slides the teasing tip of a finger alongside his tongue.“Goddamnit, Frank,” Adam groans as Frank slides inside and crooks his finger, rubbing him just right.“Does it hurt?” Frank asks. He presses down, down with just his fingertip and Adam’s toes curl. Fuck, that feels good. Why does that feel so good?“Not at all,” he replies when he realizes Frank expects an answer.Frank’s finger slides in and out, slow and easy, for what feels like an eternity before he says, “Good, can you take one more, you think?” Adam can only nod, because if he tries to say anything he knows he’ll end up begging for more.The second finger burns in a way that is almost too good to handle, Adam’s nerves frayed and raw.Frank watches his fingers disappear inside Adam, feels the pressure gripping the digits, hot and wet. “Damn, Adam. I need to be inside you,” Frank mutters as he leans over Adam. His body feels solid and warm, his hard cock a line of heat pressed to Adam’s ass.“What… are you waiting for?” Adam chokes out, pressing back just to feel the shape of him. Frank laughs quietly as he pulls his fingers out. At the loss, Adam almost complains, but then Frank’s cock is right there, round head sliding against Adam’s spit-wet entrance, and Adam can’t produce sounds anymore.Adam pushes against the pressure, trying to get Frank to slide inside, but Frank says, “Wait, just-” and then he’s moving away. Adam turns around in time to see him reach beside the bed. “Let me get a condom.”Adam takes a shaky but deep breath and lays on his back against the pillows. This way, he gets to watch as Frank slides a condom onto his cock and he squeezes a dollop of a bottle of lube Adam didn’t even notice him getting onto his hand. Frank gets himself wet and then pushes some of the lube into Adam’s hole with quick, practical movements.“It smells sweet,” Adam comments, trying not to think about what he’s about to do — what they’re about to do.“Green apple,” Frank replies with a self-conscious smirk that Adam has to taste as soon as Frank is close enough, laying carefully on top of him, fitting like a missing puzzle piece between his legs. Frank allows the kiss, but breaks it all too soon to lay a trail of soft, nuzzling nips across Adam’s cheek and towards his neck. Adam wraps arms and legs around Frank’s body, pulling him close. Frank reaches down and lines himself up, muttering a soft, “Breathe.”Adam tries to, but finds he can’t do it properly with Frank’s cock inching its way inside his body, first the head popping inside and then the rest of him burning every step of the way. Open and raw, Adam’s shoulders tremble and Frank kisses his way down Adam’s neck, lips wet and sloppy.Frank can barely believe how tight Adam feels around him, hot and perfect. He almost can’t stop himself from shoving inside all the way, but he can tell this is either Adam’s very first time or his first time in a long time and doesn’t want to hurt him. Doesn’t ever want to see him hurting. Even though he hasn’t always felt this way. Oh, no, not so long ago, Frank would happily watch Adam’s discomfort. Now, though…As he breathes warm and humid against Adam’s collarbone, Frank lets out a disbelieving snort. He’s inside Adam. Adam fucking Jensen. And it feels like this is what’s been missing from his life. Adam’s body and kisses and infuriating everything.Once he’s fully sheathed, Frank pulls away to gaze into Adam’s eyes. Adam’s brow is furrowed, but the moans pouring out of his reddened mouth as he adjusts speak of pleasure, not pain. Frank can’t resist him. Leans down so that their parted lips slide together teasingly as he pulls his cock out, slowly, and slides it back inside again. Adam’s eyebrows shoot up and Frank knows he’s found what he wanted on his first try from the way Adam clutches at his shoulders, hard cock leaking a bit of precome where it’s trapped between their stomachs.“Good?” Frank asks and Adam nods dazedly. Frank pulls out again and pushes in a bit harder, faster. Adam’s moan this time is this little surprised thing that has Frank speeding up with each thrust. It’s almost easier than it should be, getting lost in the sensations, push and pull like the tide, time stretching.“Fuck, you’re big,” Adam says at a certain point, but he doesn’t sound like he’s complaining. Frank likes to hear it, anyway.After all, Adam is nothing but honest. Frank feels endless, carving space for himself inside Adam’s body with every thrust and effectively destroying Adam’s ability to keep quiet. That’s another thing Frank is quickly growing to adore about Adam. How fucking sensitive he is, how responsive. When Frank praises Adam for it, Adam closes his eyes, finger digging into Frank’s shoulders and legs tightening around Frank’s waist, and climaxes into Frank’s arms, cock spurting warm and sticky between their stomachs. Frank fucks him through his orgasm, through the impossible tightness around him, Adam’s muscles tensing and relaxing with every pulse and aftershock. It’s too good, though, and Frank can’t hold on any longer than absolutely necessary. Still, Adam protests weakly when Frank pulls out.Movements a bit clumsy in their urgency, Frank pulls the condom off and throws it to the side. It hits the floor with a small sound that Adam barely hears over the blood rushing in his ears. Frank strokes his own cock, hasty and inelegant, and moans low and dark. Adam licks his lips at the sight of him. Frank’s cock looks delightful, dark red and angry-looking as it disappears between Frank’s tight fingers. Adam doesn’t have a whole lot of time to appreciate him, though, because pretty soon Frank is coming in thick ropes across Adam’s stomach and softening cock.It’s bittersweet in the sense that as Frank’s come coats Adam’s skin, Adam finds himself longing for it inside his hole, leaking down his thighs. Frank lets out a disbelieving moan as he milks the last of his climax with a shaky hand and collapses half on top of Adam, breathing heavily. Adam shifts a bit to be able to look at Frank properly, at his flushed face and dark eyes. It’s like he’s seeing the hacker for the first time and Adam finds himself pulling him into a long and sweet kiss.Their eyes are equally shiny when they break apart.“You okay?” Frank asks.Adam seems thinks about it. “Never been better,” he ends up saying, uncomfortably honest.Frank’s answering smile is tired but kind, soft with hope. “Will you stop harassing me at work, now?” he asks, but his humor doesn’t taint the loving way he looks at Adam now.“I’ll consider,” Adam jokes, letting out a dramatic yawn. “What do I get?”Frank leans closer. Runs the tip of his nose along Adam’s jaw and whispers against Adam’s lips, “Anything you want.”Adam grins and, kissing the self-confident smirk right off Frank’s face, thinks that, yeah, that might just be something he’ll be looking forward to, even if he has to stop slapping the inviting curve of Frank’s backside. At work, at least.