Just to get the words out

 -----

"Ya'll must be aching for it to let Reed have his paws all over you, Hank." Ben laughed around the lip of his beer, shooting a mischievous glance toward the older man. Hank brought a warm palm up to the center of Gavin's chest to separate their mouths. "I mean, I know you've gone both ways since your wife died, but aren't you kinda scrapin' the bottom of the barrel here?"

"Yeah, like you've got room to talk, spending all your damn money at the brothel anytime we're in town." The insult could have been amicable, but Ben's comment had rubbed him the wrong way, and he wasn't taking the lip. "Fuck off."

 -----

"Talked you into letting me go, who's to say I couldn't do it to anyone else?" Gavin hated that his voice sounded so wary, but Hank was so much bigger than he was, and would have been lying if he said it wasn't stealing away both his bravado and his breath. He swallowed slowly and let his eyes flicker down to Hank's chest and then back up to his face. Less than a step closer and Hank would be pinning Gavin between himself and the wall.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn'tve listened to more than two words from you if I'd known it meant I'd have to babysit your ass for weeks." Gavin strained to hear the softness in Hank's words, but it was undeniably there beneath the challenge. They should have talked about what happened days ago, but they let the tense silence stretch and it was like a band ready to snap between them.

 ------

Gavin gasped as Hank's hands grabbed his ass, dragging their hips together desperately as they tumbled in the vast meadow. The thrill of Hank defending him had made every bit of Gavin's body sing with want, and when Hank grabbed his arm and hefted him up on his chestnut brown stallion, Gavin couldn't help but feel heady with it. He would have let Hank take him anywhere, and as it was, anywhere was a untamed field below a vast expanse of stars and coated with tall, soft grass.

Gavin rut against Hank, their erections grinding against each other through their pants sloppily. "Oh…" Gavin sighed wantonly to the quiet night, which Hank swallowed with a grin. Hank's hand grasped for the back of Gavin's neck and pulled him into a fierce kiss with a moan. From several feet away, Bender offered an interested snort at the two, making Hank laugh. "Are you mocking me, you overgrown pony?" Hank sighed at his equine companion, letting his head fall back onto the soft earth.

 -----

"You didn't seem to mind having me around after a few drinks." Gavin offered up, mustering some of his characteristic snark. Hank didn't seem to have an answer for that, but Gavin could practically hear the wheels turning in his head. "What, old man, got nothing to say to--" Gavin was cut off with a hard kiss. There was no affection in it, but there was more than enough lust to make up for that. Hank grabbed at Gavin's dark leather vest, hauling him closer and making Gavin go a bit weak at the knees. When Hank pulled his mouth away, Gavin followed it pathetically even as Hank took a step backward to separate them. Gavin looked at Hank helplessly, waiting to see how far he would go. The smell of damp earth and abandoned hay stores permeated the space between them, making the air feel thick and heavy.

"You annoy the shit outta me." Hank blurted, shaking his head, "But God help me, I can't make myself walk away from you." Hands on his hips, he sounded as frustrated as Gavin felt. Gavin sighed.

 ------

Gavin woke with the sun, vaguely aware of the pins and needles tingling through his right leg. A weight was holding him, his head tucked away from the air and into the smell of campfire and booze and something that was entirely unique and right. He shifted, pulling away from the arm wrapped over his shoulders carefully, tilting his head back to look up at Hank who was still snoring softly. He rolled to lay on his back, extracting his leg from where it was tangled between Hank's knees. The sun felt like an assault on his heavy eyelids, and he knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep. He sat up and jostled Hank forcefully, longing for a cup of the most bitter coffee he could find. "Fucking wake up, Hank." He groaned as he rubbed his eyes. As Hank roused, he finally looked around to get his bearings. "The hell are we?"

"Mm." Hank grunted as he pushed himself off the ground and rubbed the dew chilled skin on the back of his neck. "Probably a couple miles from where we made camp."

"The fuck?" Gavin begged, bewildered.

 ------

"Yeah, well, coming on to me while drunk, screwing around with me in the middle of a field, and then refusing to talk about it didn't exactly make more sense than that, so I don't know what I fuckin' expected." Gavin swore, pacing slightly, "If I annoy you so goddamn much, then maybe you should have  thought about that before--"

"There you go off at the mouth again, Jesus, how am I supposed to get a word in edgewise?" Hank cut him off, and Gavin lost most of his venom.

"I'm fucking listening, then." Gavin promised, crossing his arms and watching Hank impatiently.

"Shit, Gavin, I like you way more than I probably should." Hank admitted, shaking his head. "But I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I haven't had-- I've only been around for a good time with doves since my wife died, not anything like this." He locked eyes with Gavin, "I don't wanna ruin a good thing, and I figured maybe you were just drunk and lookin' to get your rocks off the other night." Gavin huffed a laugh.

"You think I'd have to be drunk to want you?" He threw an incredulous grin.

"Weren't you?"

 ------

"Well, look at who finally decided to show face." Ben teased as Hank and Gavin neared their sleeping companions. "Bender made his way back here sometime during the night." He nodded toward the horse who was sloppily drinking from a bucket that he shared with Sumo. "Did you have a nice stroll?" He laughed.

"Glad you're having a good time, Ben." Hank grumped, dropping to sit and pick at the breakfast remnants. Gavin, looking much worse for wear than Hank, dropped a few feet away, laying down unceremoniously and draping an arm over his eyes.

"Rough night, Reed?" Ben offered as he stoked the weakening campfire

"Fuck you, Collins."

"You mean you didn't get enough from Hank last night?" he laughed. Gavin propped himself up and locked eyes with Hank, who threw him a suspicious gaze.

"Nothing happened." Gavin defended sharply, "Except we weren't suffering your company." he rolled his eyes as his back hit the earth again.

"Hm. Well, don’t' get too comfortable, Fowler says we're outta here as soon as y'all were back."

 ------

Gavin let out a sharp breath and looked down at his feet. "I guess I've done some stupid shit in my life. You didn't find me chained up because I was feeding orphaned kids…" He moved closer, "And, yeah, we were both drunk that night, but that doesn't mean it was some whiskey drowned mistake, and it sure as hell won't be next time, either." He was in Hank's space, eyebrows raised in challenge.

"Who says there's gonna be a next time?" Hank posed, offering a smug grin even as his hand raised to grip the open front of Gavin's vest again. Gavin glanced down to Hank's light pull on his clothes, then back up.

"I'd be willing to bet after this time, you won't be able to turn me down." The self satisfied grin that Gavin couldn't contain was dismissed as Hank kissed him with promise.

"Fowler's gonna come t'see what's takin' so long any minute now." Hank seemed to remember. In contrast to his words, he pulled Gavin's purple kerchief away from his neck, planting his lips on salty, stubble-covered skin.

"Then I guess I better get to it then." Gavin tucked his fingertips inside the waistband of Hank's pants and pulled, guiding Hank back over near the wall before dropping to his knees. The sight of Gavin gazing up at him lustfully had Hank's dick stirring to attention as he bit his lip and Gavin unlatched his belt easily. He pulled the fabric down, hooking the elastic of Hank's underwear to drag it down too, licking his lips when presented with Hank's hard cock. He wrapped his left hand around it, stroking slowly and pulling a small moan from Hank as he ran his right hand up the back of Hank's meaty thigh reverently. He gave a gentle squeeze to a handful of Hank's ass, adjusting his posture slightly as his own dick begged for attention.

Hank gasped as Gavin leaned in and pulled Hank into his mouth, sighing with pleasure. He wasted no time on taking it as deep as he could, basking in the shudder that ran through Hank's body and had his knees going weak at the feeling of Gavin's tongue running along the sensitive underside of his dick enthusiastically. Gavin dropped his hand from Hank's cock to his own, tugging his belt open and getting his hand into his pants impatiently. He moaned as he stroked himself, hips jerking into his hand as he hollowed his cheeks. Hank stumbled slightly from the pleasure and threw his free hand against the wall for support, "Goddamn, it's been a while." He groaned, low and filled with desire. Gavin bobbed his head quickly, letting out needy moans as he did.  

Feeling Hank's tension with his efforts to remain upright, Gavin tightened his arm wrapped around Hank's thigh, pulling Hank closer with minimal effort, and letting out a satisfied noise when Hank was forced to move closer. He widened his stance, placing his feet on either side of Gavin's thighs, and the change in posture had him pushing his dick further down Gavin's throat. Gavin let out a pitched noise and dug his fingers into Hanks backside again, pulling him closer still. "You want it so fuckin' bad, don't you?" Hank breathed in awe, and Gavin managed the smallest nod as he encouraged Hank to rock himself in and out of Gavin's begging mouth. Hank pushed his hand into Gavin's hair and used it to guide Gavin to move faster while he tried not to let the sinful shuddering moan that came from Gavin push him over the edge.

It didn't matter, because the feeling of the head of his dick abusing the back of Gavin's throat combined with the blatant want that Gavin couldn't help but radiate had his orgasm approaching relentlessly. If the unrestrained moans coming out of Gavin were any indication, he was right there with Hank. He let Hank guide him completely, thrusting between Gavin's lips sloppily as Gavin writhed enough that he could pull his dick out of his pants. The sight of Gavin pleasuring himself as he submitted to Hank's own pleasure was too much, and Hank cursed and spilled down Gavin's throat without warning. With Hank's cock taken as deep as possible, the feeling of cum filling him further hit Gavin too hard, his throat spasming around Hank and making him jerk backward on impulse. The last of Hank's speed spilled over Gavin's chin and neck.

Hank panted and shuddered with the last of his climax as Gavin leaned back against the wall and tilted his head back to bare his neck and moan again, still thrusting up into his fist at an erratic pace. Hank let himself drop down in front of Gavin, planting a filthy kiss on Gavin's cum-painted mouth. Gavin moaned into it and Hank wrapped his larger hand around Gavin's, letting Gavin gasp and arch into the touch. HIs mouth followed Hank's when they separated, begging for more, but instead it was filthy words that Hank gave him; "You gonna cum for me, Tomcat?" He purred close to Gavin's ear, and that was all it took to have Gavin lurching forward to spill over the dusty earth between their legs.

"Connor!" He barked, keeping his eyes on Hank as he let himself down on the ground. In the moment before Connor was next to him, Gavin watched Hank's face fall and distraction lend him to taking a blunt hit to the shoulder. "Pay fucking attention, Hank!" Gavin scowled at him as Connor pushed his hands away and tore at the punctured fabric of his shirt.

"This is going to hurt." Connor stated as he yanked the arrow out of the fleshier part of Gavin's waist. Gavin screamed.

"You're supposed to say that as a warning!" He yelped as he panted away the renewed pain. Hank lurched away from the onslaught,

"Fuck, Gav, are you--"

"And then you tense up and it hurts more. Stop complaining." Connor spoke over Hank's concern. Gavin watched Hank's back as he swung his sword in a broad arc, taking out another of the few remaining darkspawn. As he extracted his blood-washed sword from the fallen's chest, another came at his side unexpectedly.

It felt like time slowed. Gavin pulled a dagger from one of the sheaths along his thigh and hurled it at the creature's head, puncturing the side of their neck before they could land their claws on Hank. "Oh shit. That worked." Gavin mused, surprised at his own skill.

"Stay still, Inquisitor." Connor said, more irritation in his voice that Gavin was used to. He and Connor may not have been on the friendliest of terms, but Connor had also always been fairly reserved around Gavin, no 'bedside manner' to be shown.

"Oh fuck off. You wanna be trying to save Hank when they rip the damn flesh off of his skull? And don't call me that." He grit out. He wasn't about to admit that Connor was right if only because the move had probably interrupted the spell and made the pain worse to boot.

Over Connor's shoulder, Nines speared the last of the darkspawn on a shard of ice, still retaining his ever present placid composure. "Is he going to be alright?" He mused, stepping close to where Connor crouched over Gavin with his bare palms laid on Gavin's tanned skin.

"He'll be fine, assuming he doesn't make any poorly-judged moves like that again. Hank has a shield, Gavin."

"I don’t understand." Nines mused, looking over to the slain troupe of bodies.

"Connor, do not." Gavin scowled. Connor rolled his eyes,

"He took an arrow that was aimed at Hank." He breathed at his brother, shooting an unimpressed look over his shoulder.

"Foolish." was all Nines said, even as Connor sat back on his haunches. Gavin looked to where he'd been impaled, running fingers over the smear of dried blood.

"Thank you." He offered begrudgingly to Connor as he pushed himself to his feet. He tugged at his shirt to cover the exposed skin and moved slowly over to where his dagger still stuck out of the darkspawn's neck and pulled it out, wiping blood off on his cloak and placing it back in its sheath.

They moved into the forest to camp for the night, though the sun had barely began its descent from the sky. Gavin sat at Hank's side as the brothers made off to find something to eat, kindling the fire.

"Are you okay?" Hank spoke, using some scrap leather to clean off his broadsword with water. Not the best care, but better than leaving it caked with flesh.

"Connor says I will be." He didn't look at Hank. They sat for a long moment of tense silence.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" When Hank spoke up, his voice was tinted with anger. Gavin could feel his steely gaze, sharp as the weapon spanning his lap.

"I fucking wasn't, okay? They both already told me how stupid I was, I don't really wanna hear it from you too." Gavin snapped back. He felt exhaustion wearing on him and Hank's abrasiveness wasn't calming him any. He wanted to sleep, and not on the damn ground in a forest, but he didn't have a whole lot of choice. There was no way of making it back to civilization tonight with him still recovering. "I'm fine, just drop it."

"I'm not going to drop it, Gav." Hank sighed, "You saw a fucking arrow aimed at me and jumped in front of it, that's not something I can just pretend didn't happen."

"You really don't need to phrase it like that." Gavin put his forehead into his palms, trying to rub the tiredness away. "It was impulsive. Next time I'll let it hit you then." He said, shrugging vaguely.

"I don't need you to protect me."

"Fuck, I know you don't." Gavin groaned. "But I don't need to see you get hurt." he added as an afterthought. He regretted it the moment he said it, and sat up straighter, picking up pebbles and tossing them into the campfire. "Just, fucking, leave it be, Hank. I don't want to talk about it."

"Listen, Gav, we've been through a lot of shit, fuck if I don't know that, but I don't care if you don't want to talk about it. Better now than when we've got them pretending not to listen." Hank sheathed his weapon and laid it to the side, propped over his shield. "You tried to banish me, and next time I hear from you, you need me and Connor to escort you to the next city over."

"I didn't--" Gavin groaned in frustration, "I didn't want you banished. I couldn't make the fucking choice. Because I knew that I didn't have any options that I wanted to pick! I fucking-- I was so fucking angry for what you did! I wanted you to hurt the way you made me hurt, but I knew I couldn't make myself go through with it. I never wanted any of this shit laid on me, but you used me!" He made to stand, but was hit with a pang of dizziness and swayed on his feet.

"Gav, you need to sit down and rest." Hank reasoned.

"No, you wanted to talk, so here we are, fucking talking!" Gavin's voice raised as he steadied himself. "I wanted to pardon you, you asshole, but you didn't deserve it. And then I said to get you away and they took that as far fucking away, and shit, I didn't have the balls to say otherwise! This whole trip was an excuse to see you!"

Hank looked up at Gavin, appraising him for a long moment. “If you get yourself killed, you won’t be seeing anything.” He offered quietly, though he couldn’t manage any more anger at Gavin’s confession. “What if I had just fucking left?” He posed, “What if your courier never found me? Seems a shit plan if you ask me.”

“I told her not to come back until she did.” Gavin shrugged, “Tina understood all of it, and if I’m honest she probably understood it better than I did then.” Gavin crosses his arms, watching the flames instead of Hank. “I would have fucking waited until she did. You were... worth it.” His voice was sullen.

“I don’t know about that.” Hank sighed. “But you could have died for me today so I guess I can’t argue with it.” He watched Gavin and noticed that the sun was finally casting gold shadows through the forest canopy. Connor and Nines would be back soon. Gavin finally sat back down, blinking away the lightheaded was as he plopped down clumsily. “I guess the only thing I can say is thank you.” Hank admitted quietly.

“You’re fucking welcome.” Gavin resigned, moving close enough to lean against Hank’s side. He already knew his excuse if any of his traveling companions thought to  question the physical affection: he was feeling weak and didn’t want to lay down before they ate.

It was unnecessary though; after a long moment Hank’s arm braced around his waist supportively as Gavin let his eyes fall closed.

“Don’t pass out.” Hank soothed, and Gavin thought his voice might have been closer than he remembered.

“I’m fine.” He promised, blinking alert again. He lifted his head slowly, “Just worn out.” He mused. He made to sit himself up straighter, though no further away from Hank. Hank brought his other hand up to pull Gavin’s chin toward his own. They locked eyes for a moment, trying to read each other, and  then Gavin closed the distance. They kissed in the quiet twilight of an unnamed forest as Connor and Nines’ footsteps neared, and didn’t part until Connor cleared his throat in an attempt at tact.

Hank smiled at Gavin, who looked more worn than ever, before looking up at the pair of mages.

“Anything good?”