Deadman Crawling [m×m]

EIGHT

As soon as Eloy spots his bag, his heart swells with happiness. He hurries to his duffle and rummages through it, finding all of his belongings intact.

The first thing he does is change his splattered clothes.

He grabs the clean binder from atop and puts it on, wincing when he has to flex his arm over his head to shimmy it down.

Then he slips on a t-shirt. Feeling fresh and clean he hums in contentment.

And Jace can't help it. He can't help the way his eyes trail after the lithe body without his consent. He's amazed.  Throatily, he clears his throat, drawing Eloy's attention.

He holds up some gauze and bandages, offering to do what he's done for the past few days.

Eloy takes a seat and reaches for the blanket in the man's arm.

"Comfortable?" Jace wonders.

Eloy nods, wrapped in the soft warmth with his injured arm out.

Jace unwraps the old bandaging and exposes the wound.  It doesn't look as bad, doesn't even bleed anymore. It just looks aggravated, especially with all the movement Eloy had to exert.

He begins to gingerly clean the gash with peroxide before rubbing in some vaseline, quickly placing gauze on the area.

He looks up and finds Eloy grimacing, eyes shut tight as he breathes through the sting.

"Are you alright?"

It takes a while before Eloy gets the courage to open his eyes and stare at Jace, "yeah, thanks."

"No problem."

Jace pats the younger's leg before standing up and stretching.

And Eloy can see a sliver of skin peeking under the man's tight shirt, making his heart race for no good reason.

He looks away only to face the man's backside as he turns on the stove with a lighter.

Eloy doesn't talk, simply watches as Jace boils some water and takes out a box of spaghetti.

Jace is too focused on cooking, or not at all actually, to pay attention to what he's doing to Eloy.

His mind is racing with thoughts that have no end. He's tired of everything, of Alexis' childish ways. He wants her to grow up, to act like a mother and think about others for once in her life.

He's so deep in thought, that he doesn't notice when a lithe body is nearly pressed next to him.

He peers down in confusion and finds Eloy working on the sauce.

Eloy looks up at him, "Are they ready?"

Jace nods, draining the spaghetti and tossing the strands onto the thick wondrous sauce, the delicious smell tickling his nose.

"Damn that smells good," he compliments.

Eloy blushes before shrugging, tugging on the edge of the blanket draped around his shoulders, "thank you."

And they're there.

Standing together in the small space of the kitchen, bodies close and warm and alive.

Both with feelings of confusion and something else...

Eloy is the one to look away first, heart hammering inside his chest.

"Wh-What did you do?"

"Hm?"

"Before the whole apocalypse happened," the younger elaborates, choosing to focus on the food and not his heart.

"State trooper," Jace answers, "it was in the middle of mass hysteria that I came here to check on Alexis and the kids."

"That's... That's awesome," Eloy says, faltering just a bit.

"Yeah... uh you?"

"Me? Oh, I was... I was a nobody," he snorts, hand reaching for the stove knob and killing the fire.

Jace frowns.

The question is at the tip of his tongue when Eloy says, "you're very lucky to have your family, Alexis is very lucky to have you."

Jace nods but the way he says it, it's as if it implies something that's not.

"I love Alexis, b-"

Eloy doesn't hear the rest as he turns his eyes to Jace, "sorry, I need to use the bathroom, if you don't mind."

Jace nods, letting him go.

Once inside the small room, Eloy tries to gather his wits.

What the fuck is wrong with him? He doesn't even know the guy!

But if Eloy is honest, he's touch-starved and it kills him inside, kills him when Jace shows kindness, when Jace brushes his fingers against his skin, when he helps tend to his wound.

It kills him inside knowing how weak he truly is.