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The day was new, the sun was high and Edward Heffron was alive. Clear water lapped with shining brilliance at Babe’s feet and he shivered from its cold touch. It wasn’t cold like Bastogne or like the death of yet another replacement. It was the cold of a new beginning. The delight of a sensation Babe still got to experience from his intact limbs and beating heart.
“You coming or what?” a voice beckoned. Babe looked up to see Eugene standing farther out in the water. Dark eyebrows raised expectantly. He was shirtless and wading in nothing but his skivvies. His translucent skin melting into the waist high water, blemished only by the occasional freckle or mole, and a singular leaf stuck to the side of his waist. A few feet next to him was the small stone pier that jutted out into the water and seemed to point your attention towards green mountains that silhouetted the sky.
Babe looked coy, having been caught in a wave of his own thoughts. Especially by Gene.
“Haven't been swimmin’ in a while,” he confessed.
“You forget how?” Gene teased.
“Maybe,” Babe waded a little farther in. The water was up to his knees now. “Wanna reteach me?”
Gene huffed and shook his head, casting his gaze somewhere in the far distance. He was clearly amused but trying poorly to hide it.
“Last I checked, I was a combat medic not a swim instructor.”
“Yeah, well I thought I was a paratrooper not a goddamn mole, but you don’t see me complainin’ about all the holes I’ve had to dig since I joined up.”
“Just get over here.” Gene gave Babe a look that had him barking out a laugh and relenting with familiar ease.
Since Bastogne, Babe had been stuck on Gene like white on rice. It was trauma that bonded many of the men in that forest. Babe and Gene were no strangers to it. But for them there was something else as well. Babe didn’t know how to describe it.
Bill Guarnere was by far his closest friend in the company, but even he didn’t give Babe the light feeling that Gene provided. That easy warm comfort that made Babe’s cheeks rosy and abated the constant aching in his chest. A feeling that always felt like drowning to him. Wondering if the next gulp of air might be his last.
“Took you long enough,” Gene said when Babe finally settled next to him in the water.
“Look, I don’t know what happened but somehow my dog tags got all caught up in my shirt while I was tryin’ to get it off and it turned into a whole fiasco. Thank god I won’t have to wear these things all the time soon.” Babe looked down at the tags in question and gave them a little jangle.
Gene mirrored the look at his own dog tags and hummed thoughtfully. He cradled them with one hand along with the crucifix he always wore. His other hand danced carelessly through the water at his waist, weaving it through each finger like he was trying to stitch it up.
“What do you plan on doing– when you get home that is,” Gene asked without looking up. Babe eyed the other man curiously. Gene was never one for prying and if he felt inquisitive about anything he rarely let it show. It was possible that he was feeling the finality of it all and was casting those previous characteristics aside for a moment. It struck Babe with sudden melancholy but he smiled despite it.
“Not too sure. Spend a little time takin’ it easy with the family before I go off workin’ again I suppose. I worked with cruisers before the war which I didn’t hate.” Babe glanced idly down at the lake water. “I wouldn’t mind workin’ by the ocean again but I ain’t picky.”
Gene nodded. Perhaps signaling his approval of Babe’s answer.
“That sounds nice,” he spoke softly. Confirming this notion. But his furrowed brow left something else to be said.
Babe frowned, confused as to why Gene had that look on his face. Like something was bothering him but he wasn’t going to vocalize it at all. It was nothing new. Babe was used to it so he knew it was up to him to figure out the root of the issue.
Serene silence lapsed as Babe racked his brain for the answer. He kept sneaking glances at Gene who was looking off in the distance again. Coincidently, this was how Babe caught him doing the same thing. Sneaking glances that was. Their eyes met and with a jolt of understanding Babe knew what was wrong.
“Pennsylvania sure is far from Louisiana, ain’t it?” Babe asked. He made sure to maintain eye contact with Gene to drive home the fact that he understood. That it was something he had thought about as well.
Gene looked mildly surprised to have been discovered so easily. Nevertheless, he nodded and seemed to soak up that understanding in Babe’s eyes.
“It is.”
“S’good thing trains and buses exist then.”
Gene beamed warmly with gratitude as he repeated, “It is.”
It was such a simple solution but it was one of those things you needed to say out loud. Something that couldn’t be left to chance or be made unclear with assumptions.
The two just looked at each other for a little bit. Babe once again felt that heat in his cheeks and the ease in his soul. It was amplified now with that of the war completely ended and the sun shining down on them. The tentative plans he had just made with Gene. He was feeling weirdly impulsive but for what he wasn’t sure. Gene’s hand sloshed in the water below and Babe was reminded of that leaf that was still stuck to his waist. Without thinking, he lightly brushed it off with his fingers and was pleased with the way Gene’s skin felt. It was smooth and warm and he ran his fingers over it again and again.
“Babe…” Gene inhaled sharply and Babe’s head snapped up with wide eyes.
What the hell had he been doing?
Mortification and shame iced his veins and he stumbled back in the water.
“Gene I– You just had– Shit, shit, I’m sorry.”
Babe knew what they did to queers in the military. Fuck, he knew what they did to them in general. But he wasn’t– he couldn’t be. Mentally, Babe combed through every interaction with Gene that he could recall. Dissecting his own emotions and actions. Growing more and more nauseous with realization.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. For Gene. For himself. “Fuck, I’m sorry.” For every person he was no doubt letting down. “God, I’m sorry.” For the sin of loving Eugene Roe.
He took another step back and prepared to run out of the lake entirely but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t,” Gene breathed. “Just… Just wait a damn second.”
Babe’s thoughts were moving a mile a minute but he still had enough sense to nod and stay still. Gene was chewing on his lip and his eyes were dark with thought but he didn’t look disgusted like he should have. The hand that he had used to stop Babe from leaving stayed planted on his shoulder, maybe for comfort– maybe out of fear that if Gene let go Babe would slip away for good.
Seconds ticked by and Gene seemed to have made up his mind about something. His eyes darted around and he swiveled his head side to side checking to make sure no one else was around. Miraculously, they were alone at the lake today. Usually there were a few men swimming around during the afternoon hours such as these.
Slowly, Gene slid his hand from Babe’s shoulder to his neck. He peaked up at Babe’s face to gauge his reaction and when he was satisfied with what he saw, went farther up to cup Babe’s jaw.
Now it was Babe’s turn to have his breath taken from him.
“Gene… What– what are you doin’?” he rasped.
“Do you want me to stop?”
Babe shook his head. Then, feeling suddenly brave from Gene’s response, tentatively put his hand back on Gene’s bare waist. He felt Gene stiffen for a second but then he quickly relaxed and smiled like all was right in the world.
That was all the confirmation Babe needed to pull Gene closer and kiss him squarely on the lips. Never had an action felt so right so fast for Babe. It was like something had been missing his entire life and he had finally found out what it was. The nausea of earlier melted away into pure affection and Babe sighed against Gene’s mouth.
The first kiss was chaste and sweet but it bled quickly into the second which was open mouthed and needy. They were simultaneously making up for lost time and cherishing what little they had left together.
Babe ran his hand up and down Gene’s side from his hip bone to his ribcage, indulging in the smooth feeling once again. This time with a little less shame. When things started getting more heated it was getting increasingly harder to keep balanced in the waist high water so Babe took charge in dragging Gene over to the stone pier and pushing him against it to keep steady. Now, at a shallower depth, Babe could use both hands to grab Gene’s waist as he licked deeper into each kiss, drawing out sighs and shaky breaths from him.
Babe had never felt quite like this with any of the girls he had been with. There had always been a certain level of formal politeness that prevented any real raw feeling from being exposed. At least in Babe’s limited experience. Plus, none of those girls had Gene’s broad shoulders and stubbled chin, or his odd looks and shy smiles. They especially didn’t have the prominent trail of dark hair that led down to the growing tent in Gene’s skivvies.
Babe didn’t want to let go of Babe’s waist just yet, so he resorted to grinding his own growing erection against Gene’s. This earned him the satisfaction of actually feeling Gene’s entire stomach tense up while he let out a startled gasp. It must have been just what he wanted because he grabbed onto Babe’s shoulders and pleaded for him to do it again. When Babe happily obliged and dragged his own wet skivvies against Gene’s once more, he groaned and tilted his head back against the pier.
Wasting no time at all, Babe set off on Gene’s neck. Kissing under his chin and moving up the jaw behind his ear. He nibbled in between the kisses but never hard enough to leave a mark.
Babe tried his hardest to get fully lost in the passion and lust but a treacherous part of him constantly whispered that if anyone found out about this his life would be over; Gene’s too.
“God, where did you learn this,” Gene breathed against Babe’s face. Babe rutted against him again, feeling Gene’s fingernails dig into his shoulders.
He inhaled and said “Do you really wanna know?”
Apparently Gene
did
want to know though because he moved his hands up to Babe’s face and turned his head so that they were looking at each other.
“From others?” Gene asked cryptically but in a way that made it sound dire. Though, Babe understood exactly what he meant and shook his head.
“Other
women
,” Babe replied. To which Gene hummed and dove in to kiss him again. It was arousing in a way Babe never could have imagined. He was hard and painfully so. He could feel it was the same for Gene. Without even considering it a choice, Babe dipped his hand down Gene’s skivvies and took hold of him instead of doing anything to deal with his own issue.
“Wait, let me–
oh.”
Babe didn’t even give Gene time to argue before he gave his cock one long stroke. It was already wet and slick, both from the lake water and the precum. So Babe had no problem gliding his fingers up and down and up and down until Gene was a panting mess against his face. He had managed to keep hold of Babe’s cheeks and was now pressing their foreheads together while he shut his eyes tight, whispering Babe’s name between breaths
Babe became utterly absorbed in watching him reach climax. Muttering ‘C’mon Gene. C’mon’ as Gene choked a silent cry and went rigid in Babe’s hand. Babe pumped his cock a few more times through the orgasm and then slipped his hand out when Gene’s body went lax against him.
“Here, kneel down a bit,” Babe instructed. He made them both submerge a little deeper into the water in order to clean up Gene’s mess. Gene was quietly trying to catch his breath and was pliant from post-climax bliss, so he didn’t complain.
A swell of pride flowed through Babe as he gazed down at the state of Gene. Something he had accomplished all on his own. In his own weird way, it was a thanks for all the times Gene took care of him– took care of everyone.
And Babe had definitely
taken care
of Gene for real this time.
While Babe cleaned up Gene, he was still acutely aware of his own unmanaged erection. He almost found that he didn’t care though. Maybe he didn’t need to deal with it right this moment. Gene obviously took issue with that and started complaining as soon as he realized.
“Babe, let me–”
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no.”
“...Why?” Gene asked. Completely baffled and maybe a little annoyed.
“I don’t need it,” Babe answered. He stood back up and helped Gene do the same.
“Now that ain’t tr–”
“I think I’ll actually go for a swim now,” Babe grinned. He turned his attention to the glittering lake sprawled out before them. Shielding his eyes from the sun like an explorer surveying the land. A devilish look made its way onto Babe’s face and he gave Gene one last look before he sloshed through the water, running out deeper into the lake.
“What–!? Babe!” Gene gaped. “What on earth–!?
“C’mon Gene!” Babe yelled. High pitched and breathless. The water got colder the farther he went but he couldn't even be bothered to notice anymore. “Would be a shame to waste such a beautiful sunny day, wouldn’t it?”
The day never even got close to being wasted and actually helped define Babe and Gene’s relationship for decades to come. That one day with sunlight on the lake.