Watching
*****
For
Spike (from Shame the Devil): How, exactly, do you know that Ace likes Xander?
Or, boys in general?
*****
Sometimes,
they got lucky and they venue was set up for sports. In those arenas there
was often a full gym. Others, like today's location, were more Spartan. Because
of this, Spike and Ace were working out in a cleared area toward the back
of the house. Ace was wearing padded focus mitts and the vampire was throwing
a rapid series of punches and kicks at him.
It
was getting close to showtime - the sun had been down for hours and Spike would
need to start getting ready soon. The two men wound down and stood for
a moment
in companionable silence while Ace caught his breath and unlaced the gloves.
Spike's
attention was caught by movement in the shadows at the side of the stage,
and he narrowed his eyes. A tall man stood, leaning against the cinder-block
wall. A smaller man was held in his arms. Spike couldn't see their upper
bodies, but could tell that they were kissing. Large, tanned hands slid over
blue denim to cup the smaller man's ass and pull him up on his toes.
Ace
gasped, and Spike moved his gaze up to see that lights on the stage were
now dispelling the shadows a bit. The larger man was Xander. He was kissing the other man aggressively, his eyes squeezed shut. The smaller man had streaky blond hair and was compact and lithe. Breaking the kiss, he dropped smoothly
to his knees and started undoing Xander's belt buckle. Spike and Ace watched as Xander tipped his head back against the wall, emphasizing the strong line of his throat.
As
the man on his knees reached into Xander's unzipped jeans, Spike and Ace turned
away. Spike caught a brief look of longing and pain on Ace's face and knew
that it was mirrored on his own. The bodyguard pulled the unlaced mitt
back onto his hand and held it out to his employer to re-tie. Spike did, and they walked a few feet away and resumed their workout. Neither commented if the punches and kicks were a bit more intense, or if the solid thwack of fists hitting leather covered a multitude of ambient sounds.
*****