Hi dear. I just saw your post about how John's trying to impress Harold with his gun skills. Would you consider writing a fluffy, smutty bit about John's guns and Harold's reactions towards them? I think that would be pretty delicious :)
Okay so I felt STUCK and unable to write, and then i opened my inbox and saw this and was like huh⊠yep. That would def be pretty delicious and interest. I do apologize for the lack of smut.
SUMMARY: Harold does not feel comfortable with John cleaning his guns in the library. Thereâs more than one reason for that.
Harold knew he had a weakness. Just one: Johnâs hands. Morespecifically, Johnâs hands when they caressed the barrels of the guns, sure andconfident, going through the motions that were basically muscle memory by now.
Okay maybe he had two weaknesses, because he couldnât stopstaring when John pursed his lips and blew air inside the cylinder. And thefocus in Johnâs eyes, the intensity, was yet another weakness on its own,together with the surge of illogical jealousy that accompanied it.
Alright so maybe Harold had a competence kink. It wasnâtsurprising. He had never been someone who indulged in idle fancy. Everythinghad a purpose, and the better it served that purpose, the more valuable it was.And John, well John was competence incarnate, his every move calculated, everyword important, every muscle trained to be efficient and useful.
When you come to think of it, Harold did have only oneweakness after all, one thing that was sure to wreak havoc on Haroldâs senses, distractinghim to the point until he forgot basic codes, and making him unable to doanything but be hopelessly enchanted. And that weakness was John.
So really, he wasnât to be blamed for staring right now, asJohn expertly cleaned the guns, in the middle of the library, again. Harold hadtold him off many, many times. And only the first few times had been because ofhis discomfort at having dangerous weapons so close to him. He didnât lie⊠hewasnât exactly comfortable having John do this in the library twice a week, butthe reasons for that were not what John probably expected.
He resigned himself to not being able to work for the timeit took John to be done with his weapon maintenance, and relaxed into his seat.If he was going to waste time, he might as well enjoy it. His eyes lingered,proprietary, at the way Johnâs muscles flexed and bunched, the way hismovements were fluid and graceful, and he wistfully reminisced about the timewhen the sight of weapons filled him with dread. It surely was better than thelow hum of arousal that accompanied the sight these days. If he didnât knowbetter, he would think John conditioned him like that on purpose, deliberatelyshowing off how skilled he was, how adeptat handling guns, boasting in his ear about his prowess and then proving it,over and over again. Harold was only human after all.
âSee anything interesting, Finch?â Johnâs voice made Haroldstartle out of his day dream. He felt a blush creep up on his face and hedecidedly turned his face away, not wanting to see the smirk on Johnâs face atbeing caught staring.
âHmm,â John mused, and dammit, Harold could hear the smirk even without seeing it. âThatâsstrange, because I couldâve bet you were appreciating the view.â
Harold looked back at him, saw the way Johnâs eyes wereglinting with mischief and gaped. âYou! You were doing this on purpose.â
John shrugged, not denying the allegation. âWhat can I say?I am a man of simple pleasures.â
âAnd pray tell, what those might be?â
âOh, just the way your breath hitches when I do this.â Johntook a rag and carefully, intimately, ran it down the smooth metal, making Haroldremember all the times John had caressed his skin similarly, making his breath,oh what the hell, hitch. John grinned in victory. âAnd the way your pupilsdilate, and your hands clench futilely when I do thisâŠâ
âThatâs quite enough Mr. Reese,â Harold sighed, stoppingfurther calculated assault on his senses. âYou have proved your point.â
John put down the guns then, and stood up, a predator inevery sense. Harold should not find it as attractive as he did. âI likeflustering you. I like knowing I am more interesting than your code, knowingthat I can distract you away from it.â John stalked towards him, and Haroldâsmouth ran dry, his heartrate spiking. âItâs a heady rush.â
âAnd still you focus on your⊠ammunition⊠instead of takingadvantage of your carefully orchestrated distraction.â Harold was not going topout, he wasnât, but he had been bewitched by this routine far too many times tonot feel cheated.
âAre you jealous of my guns, Harold?â
âNo!â And he was totally pouting, against his will. He stoodup as John approached, trying to balance out the height as to not feel like aprey being hunted, but it only allowed John to corner him against the desk moreeasily.
âYou are,â John chuckled delightedly, and Harold felt hisface heat up. âYou are jealous of the way I handle my guns.â
âSo what if I am? Is it so wrong to begrudge the way you arepractically fondling andâŠand-molesting- your equipment.â
John smirked, and the action promised so many sinful thingsthat Haroldâs knees quivered. John bent closer, practically whispering in hisear now. âI wonder, if youâre upset because I am molesting the guns, or becauseI am not molesting you.â
Harold swallowed heavily, knowing that was a rhetoricalquestion. John knew the answer to that. Johnâs other hand came to rest onHaroldâs neck, fingers stroking, caressing, making liquid heat bloom just underHaroldâs kin, pool in his stomach. He whimpered. âThatâs what I thought.â Johnmurmured, annoyingly smug.
He pulled away, despite the whine of protest that leftHaroldâs throat, and Harold tried to be annoyed at the way there was tease andmischief written even in the curve of Johnâs eyebrow, for heavenâs sake. Hewished he had enough functioning brain cells to come up with a clever retort,but they had all overloaded and fried while he watched John expertly dismantlethe guns, before turning his skills at dismantling Haroldâs composure. The twothings were more interlinked than Harold cared to admit.
âWe canât have that, can we? Donât you think itâs about timeI paid attention to my lover, properly, so he would not stop doing absurdthings, like being jealous of mere weaponry?â Johnâs fingers were on thebuttons of his waistcoat now, playing with them, and Harold really should shutup.
âYou like your weaponry.â He pointed out.
âI do.â John glanced up, something bashful in his gaze peekingfrom behind the mischief, âbut I like you more.â
Well, earnest John, Harold found out, he was utterlydefenseless again. So it was entirely Johnâs fault that Harold muffled a moanagainst Johnâs lips at that, pulling him closer and pouring his want into thekiss John eagerly returned.
And John, excellent lover that he was, spent the next fewhours showing Harold exactly how skilled he was with his hands, with histouches and strokes. How adept, at taking apart the things he cherished andputting them back together.