Their relationship had evolved over time. Twenty years ago, scrappy young boys helping each other out in a fight. Ten, young men fighting against the world. Five, fucking in an alley and praying they didn’t get caught by the cops on occasion. The last five had been more of a whirlwind, with Rene finally home from his years of service, rather than just a few visits here and there. The last five years had been both chaos, and a slow gradual change that he barely even noticed.
Not a bad change. Just the kind of change that had started with stress release, Rene and Isaac both acknowledging their hotness and working it off, while remaining friends everywhere else. Somewhere along the way, it’d become more than that. It had become late night balcony lounging, or spending nights, or falling asleep with their fingers laced together.
Days off spent walking around town, just enjoying each other. It was no secret that Isaac was his favorite person. The clouds were threatening them, though, and lunch was barely finished before the thunder made them both uh oh quietly and start the walk back to their apartment building.
“We may just make it.” They weren’t going to make it, though Rene was optimistic enough for the both of them, grabbing Isaac’s hand as he moved a little faster along the sidewalk just as the first droplets started. “We shouldn’t have had so much bread.”
Isaac loved that feeling in the air, just before it rained. The way it smelled and the way it followed them down the sidewalk with all the patience in the world. More patience than he tended to have, anyway. Most things made Isaac want to push. Protect. Aggressively give back some of what good fortune had handed him after a shitty start to life. Rene was the exception, though. Days like this one, Isaac could have lingered with no purpose more complicated than getting a little more time in Rene’s company. No pull but to make Rene laugh or get him to do that thing with his eyes that made Isaac’s heart feel too big for one person.
It startled him sometimes, how easy this was, and how precious. He made friends easy enough, but Rene was the kind of connection that inspired words like kismet and soulmate. The resentful orphan Isaac once was wouldn’t have believed he’d ever have such a thing, let alone get to keep it. It made the more at peace adult he was now be just a little more careful not to push.
Of course, pulling Rene back towards him didn’t count, smile wide and warm as he laughed. “What’s the rush? A little rain never hurt anyone.” His hair hated it, but that wasn’t the point. “Rain’s a firefighter’s friend, you know.”
Rene tsked, but he was so incredibly easy that he just melted into Isaac’s arms, hands immediately clutching at the firefighter’s belt loops. He had a grin even as he made the noise of complaint, which was just proof that he wasn’t that bothered, even as rain started to pelt down on both of them.
“Have you seen my hair? It will most definitely my good looks. I look like a drowned rat when sopping wet.” He laughed regardless, his heart swelling to a size where it felt like it could burst out of his chest at any moment. But that was a common feeling around Isaac (it had been a feeling he’d experienced in the past, too, but it took him ages to realize this was different). It obviously didn’t matter to him that they were standing in a public place, smack dab in the middle of a sidewalk. “You look good wet, though.”
“Ah, rubbish,” Isaac laughed, reeling Rene in a little closer. “You’ve never looked like a drowned rat in your life.” Still, feeling gentlemanly, he put his arm over Rene’s head to protect him from the rain that was steadily picking up. He’d thought about bringing an umbrella but who wants to carry that around all bloody day? He’d settled for his hoodie, which wasn’t much in the way of date clothes. Not that lunch was especially a date--
Isaac stopped his thoughts from heading down a rabbit hole and smiled at Rene. The clouds hadn’t quite blocked out the sun and apparently neither had his arm over head, because a sunbeam caressed Rene’s face and made the raindrops that reached his cheeks look golden. “Hell. You look good always. Even when your hair starts to frizz.”
“What a lie that is, I know you remember post-gym when were freshman.” He had definitely been lanky, overly skinny and had too much hair. Rene knew he grew into his looks, right around the same time he managed to put on a little weight and muscle. But the fact that Isaac was so ready with a compliment for him warmed his heart just enough that he couldn’t turn off the bedroom eyes. If he’d had his way, he would have dragged his lover off to the bed right now, but he was being looked at in a way that kept him in the spot, enjoying the attention.
“I have nothing on you, though.” The rain really was coming down now, and it drew Rene’s attention away from Isaac’s face and up to the sky, humming in wonder. “Are you seeing this? Or was there something in that pasta?”
“Ah, fine,” Isaac huffed, flattered and amused. Even though he’d watched Rene grow into the stupidly handsome man he was now, Isaac still had fond memories of seeing a skinny wild-haired teenager with pretty eyes for the very first time and thinking well, shit. “But you were still beautiful, even gawky. That’s not up for debate.” His big grin flashed bright and then faltered as confusion crossed his features. Rene’s gaze had shifted, but his was still locked on Rene’s face and the droplets of water that were now starting to settle on his cheekbones.
Isaac hummed and lifted to catch a few of the droplets from the edges of Rene’s hair, holding them on his fingertips. “Is this the fact that this water almost looks bloody rainbow-coloured?” He glanced up towards the sky, a little wildly. “Is that a thing? Or is this one of those environmental surprises where it’s like sunsets are extra pretty from all the smog...”
Rene could look modest when he tried - he didn’t bother trying often, but the grin was still endearing and love-sick as he looked back down at his best friend. Being told he was attractive by someone who made his heart flutter would never get old, though admitting that hadn’t always been easy. Casual had never been easy for him, when feelings were involved.
And it was proven even more difficult with the looks they were giving each other, and rain pelting down rainbows on them. “I have no idea,” Rene was torn between staring at Isaac and looking around them in wonder, one hand on the firefighter and one out in the sky, being hit gently with water. “Is it the sun hitting the rain behind the clouds just right? I’ve never felt more Queer in my entire life and I like it.”
Isaac threw back his head and laughed. He had a lot of different laughs, and most of them used a whole lot of his body, but this one tended to be for Rene alone. It was the most joyful one, as sappy as that sounded even in his own head. Not that he’d ever deny it. The evidence was there in his smiling eyes as he snagged Rene by the shirtfront and claimed a kiss.
Once he was satisfied that the heat of mouth had countered the chill of rainbow rain and then some, Isaac pulled back. He grinned and lifted his hands to cradle Rene’s face and sweep raindrops from his cheeks with his thumbs. Pointless gesture that it was.
“Extra queer now, yeah?” Laughing, he pushed damp hair up off Rene’s forehead. “Gonna really hope this shit isn’t radioactive or some rubbish because you like a bloody model for one of them cologne commercials right now. All we need is a famous actress saying something romantic sounding in French.”
“Happily so,” Rene murmured, staying in close to Isaac. Okay, so even if he hated discomfort, he could handle being kissed in the rain, most assuredly. And complimented. Isaac did know how to play to his ego so very well.
"Il n’est rien de réel que le rêve et l’amour." He’d known for years that Isaac was a sucker for languages, especially when whispered with a glint in his eye. Or when he didn’t understand a damn bit of it. Or, really just any time, as long as it was coming out of Rene’s mouth - another point to his ego, to be sure. He might not have known the full effect of his very being, but he was at least aware of the effect of his words.
And he followed it up with an evil grin, "Or would Spanish be better, since you know a little? Cuando era niño soñaba con conquistar el mundo, ahora me doy cuenta que tú eres mí mundo y me has conquistado.”
“Showoff,” Isaac growled warmly, like he hadn’t given Rene the opportunity to do just that. And on purpose. His appreciation for languages might have been across the board, but it felt ten times as potent when it was Rene doing the talking. He wasn’t sure he’d remember all the words, but he’d spent enough time in Rene’s home when Rene’s mother was still alive that the Spanish was at least a little easier to hold onto in his mind.
With his heartbeat kicked up a notch and his stare too obvious, too naked for being out in public, Isaac scooted closer and lifted his arm back up over Rene’s head again. “It’s a little unfair that the only bit of that french I got was the word love,” he murmured. The softness in his smile grew into a toothier grin. “But somethin’ gettin’ conquered was a fun twist. Probably?” Isaac laughed. “Fuck, I really should know more Spanish by now. ”
Rene knew he could get away with a little more, especially as Isaac admitted to just how much of that he’d understood. And selfishly, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was pushing the envelope just because he could. It was easier when one didn’t have to worry about declarations of love being laughed off or dismissed - even if he was used to it. Never serious, always ready with a grin and compliment, Rene never had an issue playing something off if he had to.
“Eres mi media naranja”, the word love was one he knew Isaac was aware of in a few languages, so this was safer. And the term he remembered most from when his grandparents had been alive, his abuela was fond of it and that stuck with him. Back to English, he laughed against Isaac’s wet skin. “I can teach you the dirty sayings, if you want. When we’re not drenched in radioactive rain.”
“Ookay, you’re fuckin’ with me now,” Isaac laughed, moving Rene back a few steps until they were under an awning. Well, half an awning. They were already drenched, anyway. “I know for a fact naranja means orange. You know your mum was always feedin’ me.” Mentioning Rene’s mother always came with a bit of sorrow, for Rene and for himself. She’d been damn near a mom to Isaac too for a number of years there and he’d come to her for advice on subjects he couldn’t bring up with the Captain unless he wanted a well-meaning pile of awkward. He hoped the tenderness in his tone kept the comment bittersweet at least. Just in case it didn’t help, he tried to shuffle back into light-hearted territory.
“You can’t be hungry again already. Where did you even put all the bread?” he asked, moving his hands to tickle at Rene’s belly.
Rene had the grace to look embarrassed, his cheeks flushing just a bit as he tucked his head to the side to shake out a little water with his hand. “You caught me.” It was easier that way, than saying it in English and risking sounding less than sincere. His friendship with Isaac was a solid, firm thing that he could always count on, sleeping together hadn’t dimmed that - only made it stronger. And then, more frequently. Until it was to the point where they were practically dating, but not really and Rene had somehow found himself at the point of only sleeping with Isaac.
Which was different. Not necessarily new, for someone who had been through as many relationships as he had, but different with Isaac. It was always easier to turn things sexual, and Rene did just that as he leaned in again for another kiss. “Not hungry for anything that doesn’t involve nudity, my friend. I have to work off all those carbs before they settle in.”
“Mmhmm,” Isaac hummed. The color in Rene’s cheeks was bloody interesting, but Isaac had no way to know for sure what the cause was. He squinted at him for a moment anyway, and ran the spanish words over and over in his head so he could remember them later. He was pretty sure he had most of them anyway. Dipping forward, he pressed a few feather soft kisses to Rene’s throat and hummed again.
“Would it…” Isaac swallowed and straightened back up. “Would you mind if we just...kissed in the rain a bit longer?” As much as Rene was his home and had been for ages, he still felt uncertain about some things. How much was too much. His hands moved to Rene’s hips and a little furrow formed between his eyebrows. “It just feels so nice right here, just like this….Is that too sappy?”
“Oh,” Well, he hadn’t expected that. Rene knew full well the way he got Isaac’s attention and kept it, or how attracted they were to each other sexually. The amount of dragging that was done between them after bar nights or just after a long shift was telling, and he wasn’t dim enough to miss that, but something sappy was a little newer. Both of them were romantics, at least to a certain degree, but usually not with each other.
At least, in telling ways. There were still little things that one would have expected more from a married couple than two occasional lovers. “I don’t mind,” even for the blase words, he sounded a little emotionally charged, as he pulled Isaac in closer, mouth finding a place to land with little hesitation. “But if we get carried away, we’ll ruin your indecent exposure protests all too easily.”
Isaac threaded his fingers into the damp hair behind Rene’s ear and kissed his temple. His nerves hadn’t settled with the answer he’d gotten, too easily reading into that I don’t mind as Rene’s way of going along with things that made other people happy with little care for his own needs, no matter the something else in his tone. But getting pulled in and kissed on helped. Isaac smirked against Rene’s skin.
“Sounds just awful,” he deadpanned. “It’s alright, y’know. If you get to thinkin’ this is too…” Relationshippy was the word in his head, but he didn’t say it. He wasn’t sure he could handle Rene saying yes, this was too much like they were an actual couple. He huffed a little laugh and pressed Rene against the bricks of the wall behind him. “...Hallmark movie? You just say when and we can move this somewhere more private.” Isaac waggled his eyebrows for emphasis.
“I’ll have you know,” That I love being manhandled, please keep doing that, “That I love Hallmark movies.” Neither was a lie, Rene loved both Hallmark movies and being pushed up against things. Lifetime movies, too, but that was probably pushing it a little far. Or at least threatening to hit an area where Isaac would laugh at him.
But God did it do things to him to be moved and twisted around, and the little gasp and enjoyable sounds were unmistakable. He was still being a flippant shit while trying to figure out exactly what Issac meant by that, and if he was in fact throwing the ball in Rene’s court. Was he doing it to take the weight off of that idea, or was he doing it out of genuine curiosity and desire? He’d thread his fingers through Isaac’s hair if it wasn’t for the curls, so he settled with a hand tangled in the wet mess, only tugging enough to bring him in for another kiss, enjoying the heated moment before coming up for air. “If I gave you the impression I didn’t want all of this, I sincerely apologize.”
Isaac wasn’t unaware of Rene’s appreciation for being manhandled. He chuckled under his breath before the hand in his hair earned a heated growl of his own. He pressed the sound into the kiss and hugged Rene. Probably a little too tightly. It was odd. There he was getting soaked down to his socks and yet his throat felt so bloody dry.
Rene’s words only intensified that feeling. Most people wouldn’t have dared to call Isaac a coward, and yet he felt like one sometimes. The closest he could get to being brave in that moment was pressing his forehead to Rene’s and letting his voice go too hopeful, too bleeding vulnerable.
“All of this?” he whispered.
Rene hummed in a little happy sigh, even if everything about the situation aside from the kissing and conversation was uncomfortable - the weather had soaked him to the bone and beyond. It was worth it, with Isaac pressed up against him.
“Kissing in the rain,” He leaned in for another to drive that point home. “Being manhandled, romantic notions, etc etc.” Okay, so he still wasn’t brave enough to put things all out there as far as Isaac was concerned, which had an unintended push and pull between the two with very little distance being covered. He leaned back with that dopey grin of his. “I mean, I am willingly putting myself at risk of a cold for you.”
It wasn’t the clear cut answer Isaac was hoping for, but it made him smile crookedly anyway. He hadn’t exactly put himself on the line so he supposed he couldn’t expect Rene to do so. Stealing one last kiss, Isaac pulled Rene out from under the awning.
“The medical professional, braving the dreaded summer cold for me. It’s really only right that I rescue you from yourself.” Isaac grinned suddenly, which should have been sufficient warning, and he ducked forward to throw Rene over his shoulder. Sure, it was more manhandling than romantic, but he hoped it would get a good laugh on the way back to Rene’s car.
“Oh, my God.” Rene was used to the heart-eyes that came with watching Isaac in the field, and the few times these tactics had been used in the bedroom. But now he was being thrown over a shoulder in public and he was living for it.
“You’re a menace.” The words might have been directed to the view he had of Isaac’s backside, but he’d never tell.