Archive of Our Own

"I stand by what I said before." Bush intoned, wine and the exhilaration of the evening, even if it was vicarious, had loosened his tongue more than normal. "She may not be a republican strumpet but I'd wager the daughter wouldn't mind sharing your berth."

William Bush missed the embarrassed flush his words caused in his friend for the second time that evening because he threw them out carelessly while he was shrugging from his coat and jacket.

"I'm sure you must be mistaken" Horatio Hornblower hated the stiffness he could hear in his voice even as he removed his own outer garments. He felt, all too painfully, that his experience with women was lacking, and as with all of his perceived faults, it seemed to him to be a big gaping chasm just waiting to trap him and reveal his ignorance to the world.

"Horatio, the girl worships you," William assured him blithely. "Her mother on the other hand..." He gave a fake shudder and repressed the grin that would let Horatio know he was teasing, "not the mother in law I would choose for myself but then I have resigned myself to bachelorhood." Fearing for Horatio's blood pressure as his companion tried to turn both red and white at once, Bush took pity on him, "breathe, man. I don't think you need to worry about wedding bells just yet... And you can always join the navy and run away to sea."

Hornblower finally realised he was being had and gave a weak smile.

"Cheer up." Bush clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. His broad hand briefly warm through the thin fabric of Horatio's shirt. "It may never happen. You've an explanation to finish and it would go better with a celebratory toast. Do you have a bottle of something stashed away?"

"I..." Horatio stammered. He hadn't been able to afford such luxuries for some time. Indeed, he had gone without food more than a few times when the cards had been against him and his win that evening had signaled the end of one such period. He was fiercely ashamed of his poverty, and on top of the earlier humiliating reminder of his sexual inexperience it seemed a doubly devastating blow.

If William realised his mistake as soon as the words had left his mouth he gave no sign of it, just continued talking as if Horatio hadn't spoken. "...I bet the old dragon has a drop or three that she hasn't managed to drink yet." There was pure mischief in Bush's eyes, "we should mount a raid into enemy territory."

"William!" Horatio was caught between amusement and outrage at the suggestion, his ignominy forgotten.

"I suppose not," William conceded, unrepentant. "It would have been fun though."

"Like old times," Horatio agreed and felt the familiar wave of sadness wash over him. He wanted to think that all of the sadness was for Archie but he could not deny that a large proportion of that regret was for the loss of shipboard life which he associated with freedom and some resemblance of financial security.

"And here we are sharing a berth again," Bush commented, "I hope I am not putting anyone else out."

This time Horatio felt he handled the ribbing with something closer to dignity.

"Well Mrs Mason did seem disappointed by my continued presence."

William's laugh was a rich, velvety thing that Horatio had only heard a few times before that night. A low rumble like a twenty-four pounder being run out slowly increasing to deep crescendo.

"I would rather kiss Styles. A hit, as Mr Kennedy would say, a palpable hit." Bush acknowledged when he managed to draw breath. "I concede to you sir."

Horatio found himself laughing as well. The enormity of the night; his luck at cards finally turning and staving off disaster for another day... suddenly it all caught up with him. It felt good to laugh, and to laugh with William who was certainly a good comrade and, he would like to think, a good friend. He had few enough of those, unless one counted Maria, and none with whom he could really relax on an equal footing. He found himself laughing quietly until tears threatened. With determination he held them back, unwilling to display such unforgivable emotion.

Despite his victory, all the power of the British Navy could not have done the same for the sudden weariness that spread through him, taking no prisoners and leaving no survivors. The bleak heaviness replaced the energy that had buoyed him since the moment he had known that the winning rubber was his and Pellew's. With a start he realised that he was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, not sure whether he was laughing or crying or both. William's arm draped around his shoulders, warm and stabilising. Horrified Horatio sought to pull himself together and felt that comfort drop away as if it understood it was no longer needed.

"I should make use of the cot having paid it for it," Bush's voice was soft and held only a hint of the uncertainty in his eyes as he regarded the rickety and very temporary structure that had been set up in Horatio's room for him. "The fleas have deserted it like rats a sinking ship so at least I know it's clean."

Hornblower studied the construction for the first time and felt his own mistrust growing as he took in the sight. "I've seen half-submerged wrecks that looked better than that," he admitted, aghast.

"At least I don't face a cold dunking when she finally goes," William reassured him breezily. He continued more seriously as he took in the consternation on his friend's face. "It's not the worst place I've slept by any means. Nor you, I expect. It's in the warm and dry. Enemy action, Mrs Mason notwithstanding, isn't imminent. It'll be fine, Horatio."

"No." Some of Hornblower's sureness and command returned to him from the dreary place it had been hiding during the long months on land. "My bed will fit the both of us. The may not be much room but it will still be more comfortable than that deathtrap."

"If you are expecting an argument from me," Bush confided, "you are going to be disappointed."

"You have never disappointed me," the words were out of Hornblower's mouth before he could stop them.

"That is settled then," Bush said quickly, "I hope you don't mind my sleeping in my shirt. I hadn't expected to be sharing my quarters tonight, let alone the bed. I packed light. Getting my pay once a month is a convenient excuse for getting away from my sisters. They fuss worse than a squadron of..."

Distracted, as Bush had intended, by this revelation Horatio forgot to feel embarrassed at his unwarranted display of emotion. Bush's voice washed over him as he quickly changed into his thin and darned nightshirt. He had no reservations about striping in front of a shipmate who had seen him naked many times before; indeed he was more ashamed about the state of his nightwear. He just hoped that in the dim light of the lamp its condition would not be noticeable.

"...I think they do it on purpose to try and encourage me to find another ship, as if that will help," Bush finished. "Neither of them has married and they are used to running the house as they see fit while I am away, which suits us all. Unfortunately, when I come back, they try and run me as well which suits none of us."

Horatio could never tell when that calm, measured voice was having him on, but on this occasion it didn't seem to matter. Horatio couldn't help but smile at the thought of the organised, competent man he knew Bush to be being chivvied for cluttering up the house by these legendary sisters; women that Horatio had never met but had heard William speak about occasionally on long nights at sea. For all he knew these two formidable women might be nothing more than part of some elaborate joke that he had not yet understood. Whatever the truth their exploits had shortened many a long hour and eased a number of circumstances that might otherwise have been strained. As it was, by the time Horatio had performed his own transformation and carefully put his clothes away William was already under the covers.

"Do you have a preference for side?" Bush asked as Horatio came back towards the bed, clearly willing to move at the direction of the room's more permanent resident.

"That is fine," Horatio assured him. In reality he had never shared a bed with anyone since he had been a child and had no idea as to whether he had a preference or not. It had taken him long enough to get used to sleeping on dry land in a bed that did not sway with the role of the ship. Which side of the bed he slept seemed a small difficulty compared to that. He was getting into the space William had left for him and reaching for the lamp when it suddenly struck him that maybe he should have expressed a preference. Was this just another example of his inexperience? Hand still hovering by the light he suddenly had to know.

"William, do you really think Maria likes me?"

William chuckled. The soft vibrations were easily discernible in the narrowness of the bed. "You need to get some experience off-ship," he said lightly, "yes, she really likes you."

"Off-ship?" Horatio asked confused and not wanting to dwell on Bush's disturbing confirmation.

"With women," William elaborated.

Horatio turned to look at him. The still lit lamp threw Hornblower's face into shadow and the light tangled in his hair until it seemed a halo of gold crowned his curls. It was a very confused angel that spoke with the voice of man.

"What other experience is there?"

Damn Bush thought to himself suddenly realising he was not so much in deep water, as a sailor he liked deep water, but rather in a sudden shallows with a strong wind blowing him him straight onto a reef. If Horatio had sounded offended, droll or even arch then Bush would have known how to answer the query but the real and all to painful honesty behind the question threw him into a quandary. How did you explain something as inexplicable as human weakness to someone who hated to acknowledge such a thing existed? Explain the need to someone who had managed to remain totally innocent of such things well into his commission? If he had held any hope that Horatio would never find out what he had alluded to then he would have strongly considered lying. Such a thing did not come easy to him, at least not to anyone who wasn't blood-related, but he gave it serious thought. Unfortunately Bush was sure that between the close relationship Horatio always developed with his crew and Horatio's intense dislike of being ignorant about anything the man was bound to find out or, more likely, figure it out for himself under some circumstance or other. This might not be the best of occasions to for Horatio to uncover one of the few realities of Navy life that somehow had managed to pass him by but it was better than most that Bush could think of. And at least this way the added knowledge that his so called friend had lied to him to further his ignorance would not compound the issue when Horatio finally discovered the truth. However having decided upon his course of action Bush was unsure how to proceed. He felt uncomfortably like a midshipman taking his first turn at the helm, sure that every touch of the wheel would doom his charge and all souls aboard to a watery grave. For the first time in his laconic life William Bush found himself at a loss for what to say.

"I'm sorry I thought..." William babbled uncomfortably and knew he was doing it. He could feel his cheeks heating under Horatio's scrutiny. "Kennedy... The two of you were so close... it's not unknown..."

An obscure passage in the navy regulations suddenly made vivid sense to Horatio and he found himself blushing bright red at the half-formed thoughts that William's words put in his head.

"But surely... regulations..." Horatio didn't know why he didn't feel as shocked as he thought he should be. There seemed a strange rightness about the idea that he and Archie had been thought of together.

"The Navy's," Bush agreed. "And God's," he added as an afterthought of lesser importance. "But the good book also says not to kill and we do that at our country's behest, so when the men have been away from their wives and sweethearts for months or years then the regulations don't seem as important as feeling another persons touch." William wondered if he should have added the excusing 'or so I have heard' on the end or been more condemning.

"Have you..." Horatio began and then realised what he was asking and fell into a burning silence.

Bush wisely didn't answer.

"You thought Archie and I..." Hornblower braved the issue once more.

The thought 'for my sins' came to Bush but he did not give voice to it. He remembered the look on Archie's face as they had stood together and watched Horatio, naked and glistening in the sunshine, as the curly-haired lieutenant had twisted and turned under the water pumped over him by Mathews and Styles. Even now Bush was sure it had been desire he had seen in his fellow spectator. He had felt such stirrings himself under his amusement at the sight and had not faulted the other man in the slightest, it had been an impressive sight. The memory had certainly kept him warm a few nights when he had been left alone in the berth the lieutenants had shared with nothing to do but wonder where the other two were and whether they were there together.

"I didn't, as such," William hoped that that would be enough to excuse him if Horatio took offense, "but, I admit the thought had occurred to me."

"Why?" Horatio's voice was small and unsure which Bush found more disturbing than any other response he could think of. He resisted the urge to reach out. He wanted to take Horatio in his arms and reassure him, well mostly he wanted to reassure him. But he couldn't.

"A number of things." Bush confessed. "The way you acted towards each other, the way he looked at you. Some things I overheard Kennedy say to young Wellard..."

The look of hurt was plain to see in Horatio's expressive eyes, and Bush kicked himself again. He didn't want to cause this man, whom he admired so much, any more grief, yet he had laid in their course and they could not turn back from it. Horatio, himself, had felt a sense of hurt and betrayal at William's simple words that he could not quite understand. That Archie had known of such things, that Archie had know and not told him... And not only not told him but had spoken of it to another...

"Why wouldn't Archie tell me?" The dignified plea for an explanation no one alive could give cut William to the soul. He could think of many possible reasons, all to do with the rough and dirty side of Naval life, but none of which he intended to share. Archie Kennedy had loved Horatio, of that William was sure, and there seemed little doubt that he had also desired him... but the only act Archie had allowed himself to make on those feelings for Hornblower was to die for him. Bush didn't know whether to feel sad for Archie or think he was one of the luckiest bastards he had ever known.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," William told Horatio as gently as he could.

"Maybe he thought I would hate him?"

"Maybe," Bush agreed although he was fairly sure that that hadn't been Archie's stumbling block. That particular cowardice was all his own.

"I could never have hated him."

Bush's heart was in his mouth as he spoke, "I'm sure he knows."

"William?"

"Yes."

"If he had... if we had... what would we have done?"

Bush shut his eyes against the vision in front of him. He knew he couldn't look into those dark eyes and say the things that Horatio wanted to hear. But he also knew he couldn't deny his friend.

"Turn off the lamp and I will tell you," William Bush said at last.

The dark settled over them like a blanket. The only sounds that could be heard other than their joint breathing was the creaking of the house as it settled and the patter of the night rain on the shutters. Soon a damp voice would tell them all was well and a few hours after that the city would begin to wake up; baker's apprentices stoking their master's ovens before dawn could catch them sleeping. Pie men and publicans readying for the fishermen returning with their morning catch and the money they earned with it.

This was the quietest time in the city when even the beggars and whores had retired for a few hours of rest. Those who plied their trade still, thieves, burglars and conspirators, did so in silence so as not to disturb the peace they hid within. It was a time of secrets. Those who dared to breach the silence did so in a hushed voice for fear of revealing their illicit doings to the world.

"It would have been a calm night," William began at last when they had arranged themselves comfortably. "No chance of action, no concern about squall or storm. You and he would have been alone in your quarters while the rest of your bunkmates stood a mind, and probably finger and toe, numbing watch on deck." He felt Horatio chuckle at the truth of that and was reassured. "You would have been joking around as you two always did, getting up to some tomfoolery or other. Chasing each other around the room after some small item or as the result of some jest. And you would have caught Archie to wrestle the playing card from him or he would have caught you and tried to tickle you in revenge for... it would not matter. In one moment you would be laughing and then everything would have changed and he would be kissing you. Gentle at first, unsure of his welcome, ready to pass it off as another meaningless game. But then you would follow his lips as he moved away and he would know he had his answer. He would kiss you even as he freed your shirt, not just on the mouth but everywhere he could reach skin."

Hornblower shifted and Bush wondered if he should stop but a soft 'William' prompted him to continue.

"It would be dangerous to get undressed too far in case you were disturbed but he wouldn't care, too busy pulling your shirt off so he could touch you properly. He'd know you wanted to return the favour but he'd stop you before you could. There would be time for that later but for once he would be at the helm at would not be ready to give that up quite yet.

"When he loosens your leggings you let him. Let him run strong, weather-roughened hands over your skin, let him touch you and stoke you... let him reach into your trousers and stroke you there until you give yourself totally over to his touch and spill your seed over his hand. You move then, your clothes still hanging open and his closed but quickly giving way before your assault. More serious now you fall into a hammock. Yours or his, which ever is closer. You feel his weight on yours, his body hot against yours and his hardness heavy against your hip. You move together, rocking with the motion of the boat, the sway of the hammock driving you against one another in desire. Maybe you continue like that facing each other until you watch his eyes shut and his face transform in climax. Or maybe he turns you over and places himself between your thighs so he can bring himself to completion in the warmth between your legs. Or maybe he spreads..." William paused for a moment and swallowed, unwilling to follow the line of thought to it's full conclusion while confined to a narrow bed with another, especially with the company as it presently was. "There are so many maybes. And then after, when it is over you cling to each other as a sailor would cling to the wreckage after a storm and take comfort from the other's presence. After a few moments you'd have to get up and clean yourselves lest someone comes looking for you and finds you in that state but you have those few moments and you make the best use of them you can. Then you become just friends again until the next time the watches coincide for your benefit."

Horatio shifted and William had to wonder if Horatio's sudden discomfort had anything to do with his words. Or, more accurately, what kind of discomfort his words had produced.

"We would have stayed friends?" It was more a statement than a question.

Bush smiled in the darkness. "Yes. Nothing could come between you and Archie before, and nothing would come between you afterwards. You would fight alongside each other, closer than brothers, and fight the better for it. It would have been a secret shared between you in your off duty moment. A smile and a thought at other times to add strength to your sword arm and speed to your sails. And then when you had a moment's peace you would reaffirm that friendship with more than words."

"I can't imagine," Horatio lied at last, "it seems so strange. Would you show me?" The last was said so quietly Bush almost didn't hear it.

"Horatio?" William's voice was rough from speaking and for other less noble reasons. "Do you know what you are asking?"

Bush could feel Hornblower's gaze on him, cutting through the concealing darkness to lay him bare.

"And I know who I am asking it of. William."

"Horatio...?"

"Don't make me ask again." Hornblower's voice held a mock sternness that sent a shiver down down Bush's spine and straight to his groin.

It did not take much to bring their bodies against each other. Hardly believing he was not in some sweet dream, bitter in the waking, William reached out for the evidence of the solid reality. He knew better than to question Horatio further. When Horatio had made his mind up about something there was no dissuading him. William had never been so glad of that fact.

Horatio's lips were softer than he expected, opening under the gentle pressure that was all William dared. Hornblower may have felt he had little experience but Bush, had he wanted to think that much, could not have faulted him. It had been a while since William, himself, had been with another man but he found some things weren't forgotten easily or quickly. Horatio's gangly litheness had filled out to give him a slender but muscled physique, underfed as it was at that moment the flat plains and ridges were easily discernible as William ran his hands down the body warmed cotton. He could feel by the pull of the fabric what his words had indeed achieved. Knowing this would be the real test he caressed the hot length of Horatio's erection through the cloth.

Horatio could not hold back a moan at the touch. He knew he had to remain quiet but William's simplest touches seemed to unravel his very thoughts and under that assault his resolve stood no hope. With more instinct than intention he pushed up against William's hand, feeling as much as hearing the other man's breath hitch at the action. He repeated the move, loving the way the material rubbed against skin within William's grip. It was good but it was not enough, not by many leagues. He wanted to ask for more but words had deserted him, replaced by a need the like of which he had never felt before with such intensity. Always he had managed to push such thoughts and feelings away, dismissing them as unimportant. Now he was adrift in them and unclear what course to steer for port. But William knew, he realised. William was chart and compass to guide him though these unknown seas to the unknown shores beyond.

He helped William as much he could when the latter slid the well-worn night shirt up to his waist. The folds of the material rested uncomfortably across his stomach and we wished he could just remove it entirely. Hornblower knew himself well enough to admit he might take risks but they were always calculated ones. Should they be disturbed even now their explanations might be suspect but were believable, anyone with half an eye could see that the cot provided for his friend was not a tenable place to spend the night. However should they be naked then the best they could hope for would be ridicule and the destruction of both of their careers.

He whimpered as Bush drew his sailors' calloused fingers over the more sensitive skin that the cloth had previously veiled. Horatio knew he was not actually being teased but he was permanently impatient for the next brush of those rough but caring hands. Each time his want was satisfied his impatience seemed to increase tenfold until he swung between anticipation and delight. Finally, after what seemed like an age, William had mercy on him and took his cock in one sure hand. Horatio bit his lip to keep from crying out as he bucked into the firm grasp.

"Shhhh," the reassuring word was but a whisper in his ear and hardly audible over the rushing in his head.

The hand moved slowly, trailing sensation as it pumped his flesh. It had never felt like that when he had touched himself and he couldn't help but wonder if a woman's hand felt the same or was different again. He screwed his eyes shut the better to concentrate on the delicious feelings that spread throughout his body only to return, magnified, to pool in his belly. The wonderful attention stopped as William shifted causing the bed, as well as it's normal incumbent, to complain creakily.

"Wha..?" Horatio managed.

"Shhhh," William just said again. If he tried to explain his intentions William feared good sense would mean they would probably never come to pass.

Bush wished they dared a light but, as he couldn't see, he wanted to taste. The smooth skin, almost feminine in it's hairlessness, the firm muscle confined beneath which was not feminine at all... he wanted to feast on it as he had Horatio's kiss-drenched mouth. The first kiss he placed was on the upper thigh where it curved away from him to be rendered inaccessible by the presence of it's twin limb. Then once more again, higher this time but on the other leg, as he slowly worked his way towards his goal.

Ignorant of William's intentions but mutely encouraging Horatio spread his legs apart. With the quickness Bush normally saved for his ship-board duties, he slipped between them. Giving his fellow lieutenant the chance to object at the move Bush waited for a moment before he ran his hand once more over the too tempting flesh that awaited him. Encouraged by the lack of complaints and the soft sighing moans that blossomed at his touch he repeated the route but with his tongue. Horatio's surprised choke turned to a gurgle as William continued, his lips sliding snugly over the head of Horatio's erection, the whole coming to rest in his mouth as sweetly as a boat putting in to her home port.

Bush didn't expect Horatio to last long, he, himself, certainly hadn't the first time he had been persuaded to experience the act what he was currently performing. It had taken some persuading of his much younger self but even then he had not been as keyed up as Horatio had been before he started. Bush didn't mind. This first time it was not about long explorations. Those would happen later if they happened at all. He just wanted to make it as good for Horatio as he could.

William took Horatio as far into his mouth as he was able without choking, sucking his way back up and worrying the sensitive skin with tongue and lips as he went. He would not let himself dwell on what he would like to do to the body the writhed below him. Or what he could only wish that the body would do to him. It was enough as it was. More than he had ever hoped even if it was not more than he had ever dreamed. This was as close to heaven as Bush ever expected to come; lapping at the bitter fluid that leaked from tip of Horatio's erection and loosing himself in the taste and texture of the wonderful man whom fate had made his comrade and mutual regard had made his friend. It would be all too easy to fall in love with Horatio, Bush chided himself, as he wondered if he had not already done so. If he had not done so before William Bush knew he was lost as all his delightful work was rewarded.

"William!?" Horatio's almost surprised whisper was closer to a whimper as his oncoming climax swept over him like a sudden squall.

The world was a warm and sated place but only where William's hands soothed him, their touch relaxing now rather than stimulating. Hornblower reached blindly for his friend, wanting him close against him. Answering the half-formed summons William dragged himself up the the bed until their heads were once again level and kissed the still panting lips.

"You taste of the sea," Horatio whispered muzzily.

In response William kissed him again, the salt tang faded but imagined in his mouth.

"What of yourself?" Hornblower asked at last when his scattered wits had regrouped themselves.

The beginning of an ache in his balls told Bush that he would need to see to his own wants sometime soon but he was loathe to burden Horatio with his desires. He shrugged knowing the movement would be felt in the dark and hoped that would be enough to dismiss the issue.

"Don't be ridiculous man," the determination was back in Hornblower's hiss. In his mind William could hear that steely voice telling him to undress or to pleasure it's owner. And he would do it, enjoying it all the more for the game. The thought of Horatio ordering him to prepare himself, of spreading himself wide on his command... Bush acknowledged it was past time he took hold of himself. Preferably literally, and with Horatio's willing assistance.

At Bush's prompting Horatio turned over until he was on his side facing away from his friend and cocooned in William's arms. He could feel Bush's strength at his back, solid and dependable, and the roughness of Bush's hairier legs entwined with his own where his nightshirt was still pulled up and Bush's had never reached. Hornblower shifted back until he felt the evidence of Bush's own unaddressed desire pressing between them. His back seemed to burn with the warmth of the body that lay alongside it and he basked in the heat.

Curled against him, William reached one arm around to cradle Horatio's lax groin. The other took the weight of Horatio's body, reaching around from below to hold him close and caress the smooth chest under the thin shirt. The aborted sounds that Horatio had made... the feel of Horatio under him... it had been one of the most wonderful things Bush had ever experienced. He couldn't think of anything more arousing and he wanted to share that again, at least for a moment. He moved slowly, touching and barely touching, enjoying the time he had and the person with whom he had been allowed to share it.

Horatio smelt like a battle; smoke, sweat and adrenalin. It reminded Bush of all they had been through together, all the adventures where exhilaration and fear had combined into a heady, seductive high. His meandering fingers brushed one of Horatio's nipples. The feel of the small peak, hard against his glancing touch, made him think of the small rounded fort they had taken from the Spanish. Even then he had admired the wild-haired, daring lieutenant. Being captured had not been as big a blow as thinking his fellow officers, together as always, had deserted him and his men to their fate. Kissing away the memories on the pale throat before him, he mounted his own assault on the pinnacle. The prize a stifled gasp and a twitch that was sweeter victory than any colours dropping. He could feel Horatio's interest waking again and began to rock them both in time with each elongating stroke of his hand on Horatio's length. He was not worried about his own completion yet, he was too mesmerized by the man he had pinned to him at hip and chest. Horatio practically hung from his hands, his head lolled back to rest against Bush' cheek and offer his mouth to his tormentor and saviour. Bush's lips smothered and encouraged the small noises of desire, wanting to hear them yet fearing they would reach anyone else's ears as William pinched one nipple or the other or allowed his lower hand to slip lower still and cradle Horatio's balls before returning to the demanding erection the stood above.

Bush felt that this itself was enough to get him off, just the glide of the sweat-dewed skin against his own groin and the knowledge that he was having this effect on the normally very proper Hornblower. But then Horatio shifted slightly and everything slid into line. Startled William nearly lost his rhythm as his erection nestled along the cleft of Horatio's buttocks. He was unsure whether the act had been deliberate one on the part of his friend or just happy chance and that concerned him slightly. It had never been his intention to take things any further that night. Even should they both wish it, which was not granted, Bush knew they were not in a position to do so without some type of oil to ease their way. Other than the lamp, whose thrice-reused dregs were stained and contaminated with floating flecks best unidentified, they had none. He certainly would not risk either his own or Horatio's well being with the like and he had no intention of cutting corners for what would be Horatio's first experience of such things. His mind decided that whether Horatio's act was intentional or not didn't matter even as his body ignored his deliberation and slipped surely along the groove. Horatio pressed back further, truly trapping William's erection betwixt the firm mounds that hugged the shaft between them and William's own body. It was Bush's turn to muffle the moan that wanted to burst from his throat. It was too good to last and yet he wanted it to go on for ever.

Horatio twisted slightly more to lock their mouth's together, startled but pleased by the unexpected frisson that William's cock brushing against his anus gave him. He had not expected that and his quick mind filed it away for later consideration. But then there was no time or place for such deliberation as the tendrils of sensation wove a net around them both and together they spiraled up into oblivion.

When at last they came back to themselves they disentangled their limbs slowly. They both found themselves reluctant to break their embrace even to perform the necessary absolutions or to rearrange themselves for swiftly approaching sleep. Like a seaside town that has come through a gale, they huddled together and drew comfort from the other's presence. The morning was soon enough to see what damage the storm might have wrought. Moving no more than necessary they ended up slightly less sticky, but with William's larger figure still wrapped around Horatio's slimmer build and their night clothes still rucked up so that they could share as much skin as was possible.

"Is it always like that?" Horatio asked drowsily. Surrender did not come easy to him - even when it was sleep that had him out gunned and surrounded. He wanted to fight it for a few moments more and knew without asking that his comrade would fight besides him.

"No," William admitted, wondering how much more to say. It was definitely not the time to explain to Horatio what good chance and very possibly a an easier victim had saved him from. Equally it would be wrong to leave him with a clearly distorted view if for no other reason than Horatio's own safety. "That was something special," William added at last. He felt the words were inadequate but hoped that Hornblower knew him well enough to read into those few words the ones he could not say.

Horatio seemed satisfied with his response only asking "and in the morning?" with a calm, curiosity that held none of the threat of a father with a shotgun or wailing accusations of betrayal that were always a fear after a night with a woman unless money or a ring had changed hands. It was just a request for information and no more, but still Bush found it necessary to give the reassurances that had not been asked for.

"Then we will be friends," William smiled against Horatio's shoulder and somehow knew that there was an answering smile somewhere in the darkness, "and you will report to Pellew as ordered and I will take care of what I need to in town. Then when both our chores are done we shall meet again at the dock..."

Horatio settled heavily but contentedly in William's arms finally giving in to the sleep that called to them both.

"...And maybe we can look forward to a time when our watches will once more coincide?" William finished with a soft wistfulness, murmuring the words as much in dreams as to the man in his arms.

If there was to be a reply it would have to wait until the next day for neither of the sleepers could have made it or heard it.