For Your Flesh Do My Curtains Part.

Cigars

The days passed with Stanley and Rick never once leaving each other's side. Stanley had never stuck around anywhere this long before, and neither had Rick. They knew that neither one would get sick of the other. The crazed chaos they ensued would surely see to that. They lived on the road, in the now pimped-up Stanmobile Rick had turned into one of the fastest and most powerful cars in existence, driving with ease with a roaring engine. The two travelled from town to town and performed chemistry experiments in front of audiences for money, Stanley feeling utter humiliation in his role as 'the guy who hands the scientist his tools'. But then that was Rick's plan. Stanley himself wasn't making any progress in his sales businesses. He knew he wasn't an inventor, but he couldn't just stand idly by letting Rick do everything. He was raised to be a breadwinner. He was raised to seek adventure, and he just wasn't getting it in his current companionship with Rick.

One night, in a dingy hotel room with flickering lights and brown tap water, Rick and Staley lay side by side on their double bed in a comfortable silence. Their hands were close to touching, each man feeling heat radiate off the other. Rick had noticed for a while some...tension...between them. And not the bad kind. Whenever he called Stanley his nickname the smaller man would blush and fidget, wrapping a strong arm shyly around his stomach. Whenever Rick was shirtless, letting his slim figure breath and his hair lie on his shoulders as it dried right after a shower, Stanley would flush bright red, refusing to look at him. Stanley was so deep in the closet Rick wasn't sure how to pull him out. And that was just the problem.

Rick didn't want to ruin their friendship - companionship, whatever the hell it was - by making Stanley feel pressured or uncomfortable. Stanley was the masculine type, the violent type, and Rick couldn't be sure of his reaction. He had tried many times to mathematically determine what Stanley would say, but never could. The man was too passionate, to unpredictable. It was unbelievably sexy, but also could become unbelievably dangerous for the scientist. So Rick was going to test the shark-infested water not by doing a cannonball, but by dipping a single toe in. "Lee..." he groaned, turning over on the bed. "My back hurts..."

"Uh..." Stanley shrugged in confusion. "Okay...?"

"I don't have-have painkillers," rick lied; he always had painkillers. "Massage it for me?"

Stanley scoffed in disbelief, fumbling over words as he reluctantly agreed and his fingers began to ghost over Rick's spine. Rick had learned that despite how macho he was, how confident he pretended to be, that Stanley was actually very shy. Incredibly reserved and more than a little awkward. He didn't like making a fool of himself, even in front of someone he trusted as much as Rick. His fingers softly caressed the bones around Rick's shoulders, and after a while even the scientist found himself melting into the warm touch, falling sleepily onto the pillow and forgetting himself. "You're fu-fucking good at that Lee...."

"Hm," Stanley mumbled quietly as a thank you, which made Rick smirk. He noticed Stanley's lingering hand seemed even closer to his own now, and in a bold move Rick closed the gap. Slender fingers fell easily into larger ones., each hand the perfect fit to hold the other, like a wedding ring slipping onto a finger. Like they were meant to lie together like this, on a cigarette-stained bedsheets, fingers interlocked. "Rick..."

"Yes Lee..."

"I like this," he stuttered shyly. Their hands were holding each other more firmly now, Rick shifting even closer so that he was one move away from lying on top of Stanley. They lay there for hours, just staring at the ceiling, Rick's thumb caressing Stanley's palm, making it tickle in a nice, clam way. "Rick?"

"Mhm?"

"What does this mean?"

"It means you're my lover now," the scientist decided with utmost conviction. Stanley's eyes welled with tears, until he quickly blinked them back. "Now go-go fetch me some whiskey hun,"

"I'm your lover not your damn maid," Stanley snared but got up anyway, getting a bottle of Jack for Rick and some beer for himself, climbing back into bed after popping the cap. "What does this mean for us..?"

"Nothing," Rick answered. "We're still best friends Lee, we just get to do more butt-touching," Stanley laughed at that joke, a real genuine laugh. "You know, I've been saving something for a special occasion," Rick pulled a thin wooden box out from one f the many pockets in his lab coat, the wood polished and shiny, a little golden plaque on the edge, Rick's name engraved into it rather crudely. It opened with a clock to reveal two cigars sitting in clean straw, thick and fat wrapped in something that looked like banana leaf, varying shades of brown and green clear. Rick offered the box to Stanley which he held in clumsy hands, thick fingers picking up a cigar crudely and sticking it in his mouth.

Rick treated his cigar with more respect, placing it between his index finger and thumb. Stanley briefly wondered if Rick was that graceful when it came to handling cocks, and he almost burst out in raucous laughter at his thought, at his own perversions. Rick sensed his partner's amusement and flashed him the finger, striking a match and lighting the cigar, coughing a little as he did s. He placed the tip onto Stanley's tip too, the cigars lighting each other in a spectacular burst of embers. It was like the ignition of an emotional spark, something both men had buried deep inside of them, the feeling more intense than love, a closeness closer than solid particles. They went back to lying down, their movements synchronised as the smoked, the room filling up with an exotic taste. Rick thought the cigar tasted like Stanley, Stanley thought the cigar tasted like Rick. That was until..."This isn't just tobacco, is it?" Stanley asked in mock annoyance, trying to keep a stern expression but a glint of amusement ever-present in his eyes.

"Damn right it's not," Rick smirked, pulling Stanley down into an unexpected and passionate kiss.