Another Geass fic

[rkold]

In honor of jusrecht's birthday I managed to finish the GinoSuzu fic I was working on as promised. Happy Birthday and I hope you enjoy it! :D Mostly unbetaed!


Title: Putting It Together
Author: Rkold (me!)
Series: Code Geass
Pairing: Gino x Suzaku with hints of past Lelouch/Suzaku and Euphemia/Suzaku and Arthur x Suzaku
Rating: PG-13 to a light R

Spoilers through episode 07 of Season 02 if you squint, takes place the evening post Suzaku's confrontation with Lelouch in episode 5/6. Possibly playing with the timeline since Sunrise hasn't been really clear on it themselves and making up some background when necessary. >>;

A low groan awoke Gino, as he felt the teen still wrapped loosely in his arms moving restlessly against him. Propping himself up onto his elbow he frowned at the paleness of the younger man's face and the way his pajamas already were sticking to his skin. Another quiet sound of misery came from the boy his expression pained.

"Shhh, it's OK, Suzaku, it's just a bad dream," comforted the larger man as he pet the boy's head before sneaking a tiny kiss to his brow. "You're safe now."

"Mrrow?"

Frowning a little at the loud sound from Arthur, Gino watched as the cat got up from his spot at the foot of the bed and started stalking towards Suzaku.

"Arthur, not so loud!" hissed the blond in reprimand. "You don't want to wake Suzaku."

"Mrrowrrr!"

Ignoring the angry glare and growl from the cat as the boy whimpered again, Gino returned to his soothing. Hoping they hadn't woken the teen, he placed another mostly chaste kiss against one of the thick damp locks of his hair as his fingers brushed it back

"Mrrowrrrrr!" demanded the cat more loudly as he licked Suzaku's chin causing the boy to begin to stir.

"Arthur!"

Stretching partially across Suzaku, Gino tried to swat the cat away from the boy failing to notice that Suzaku had groggily opened his eyes. With a loud hiss, the cat jumped off the bed and meandered out of the room with an air of superiority.

"Gino? What are you doing?"

Blowing a puff of air against his bangs, Gino returned to his earlier position on the bed as he offered Suzaku a smile. "Trying not to wake you up, but someone had other ideas. I don't know why he can't go back to sleeping with Anya."

Frowning, Suzaku rubbed at his eyes before sitting up against the headboard doing his best not to think about the nightmare that had plagued his sleep. Lifting the thin cotton of his pajama top away from his chest he grimaced. "I thought you were supposed to be keeping my nightmares away, Gino."

"Didn't it feel better waking up to someone else being here?"

"No."

"Well, it should have, and would have, if Arthur hadn't decided to wake up too."

"Gino, what time is it?"

Still not releasing the smaller teen, the blond grappled towards the clock. "Uhhh, looks like 1:30 a.m. Maybe you have jet lag?" supplied Gino with a helpful smile.

Sighing, Suzaku, removed Gino's arm from his body and crawled out of bed. "I think I'm going to take a bath." Unbuttoning his pajama top he shrugged it off letting the soggy fabric lie dumped on the floor for a few moments. Gino's eyes drank in the boy licking his lips which suddenly felt dry. Completely oblivious to the reactions he was eliciting Suzaku reached for his bathrobe and threw it on. Picking up the sweaty top, he wrinkled his nose before placing it in the hamper. "Try and get some sleep, Gino, we need to talk to the Chinese tomorrow and the new governor is arriving in the afternoon."

Gently closing the door, Suzaku padded towards the bathroom, hoping that Anya was still sleeping and trying to make sure he didn't trip over Arthur in the mostly dark apartment. Flipping the switch in the bathroom, he blinked at the sudden shock of fluorescent light before pulling off his pajama bottoms having felt an odd sense of modesty around Gino. Neatly, he folded them as well as his plain underwear and placed them on the closed toilet seat. Pushing the shower curtain to one end of the large bathtub, Suzaku twisted one of the knobs and sat on the lip of the tub. When he felt steam starting to rise against his face the teen closed the drain and added a touch of cold water, letting his thoughts vanish with the sound of water. A sudden blast of overly sweet artificial strawberry assaulted his senses causing him to twist and nearly fall into the tub.

"Gino!"

"I thought you'd like some bubble bath."

Grabbing Gino's wrist he yanked both the bottle and hand towards the edge of the tub causing some of the gel to drip onto his bathrobe. "How much are you adding?!?! It's going to overflow and this time you'll need to clean up the mess."

Easily breaking Suzaku's grasp, the blond still grinning lifted the bottle right side up and capped it. "Sure, but just think how much fun it will be until then. When was the last time you took a bubble bath?"

Just sighing, Suzaku didn't even look at the other man. Shutting off the water Suzaku quickly disrobed, the flush from the heat effectively hiding the blush on his cheeks. Climbing into the water the boy was unable to suppress the hint of a smile and a small sound of pleasure.

"I brought these for you too." Pleased with himself, the taller man reached into the sink and removed a few brightly colored objects which he dumped into the tub.

"How many toys do you have?"

"You can't take a bath without a rubber ducky!"

"And the boats?"

"Because they're fun!"

"Thank you, Gino for the--Gino, what are you doing?!?!?" demanded Suzaku his eyes widening as he stared at the tall blond whose face was hidden beneath his t-shirt as he pulled it over his head.

"I want to enjoy my bubble bath too! Isn't it a Japanese custom to bathe together?"

"Not with bubble bath! How do you even know about that anyway?"

"History of the Areas was my favorite subject in Fieldston" smirked Gino as he threw his shirt into a messy pile on the tile and started on his boxers. "I was #1 in my class, my parents were quite disappointed when I picked a military career instead of college."

Grin still firmly in place the blond clambered into the tub before Suzaku could argue, managing to displace some water. "Gah! This is hot!!!" Not even thinking, Gino reached past the boy huddled towards the front of the tub and quickly twisted the cold water knob. "I don't know how you can stand it!"

"I like warm baths," responded Suzaku through gritted teeth, glaring angrily at the arm still resting on his shoulder, before shrugging it off and turning off the flow as more soapy water cascaded onto the floor. "You're so mopping this-- never mind, I remember what you did to the vacuum cleaner. I'm amazed your uniforms are all so wrinkle-free considering your housekeeping skills."

Blushing slightly Gino rubbed the back of his head radiating embarrassment as he leaned against the opposite end of the tub and stretched his legs out on either side of the smaller teen. "Anya irons everything for me."

"GINO?!?!?!"

"I pay her!"

"Gino, you're hopeless. So you expect your wife to take care of everything for you?"

"Or a maid, that's what Mama does."

The boy rolled his eyes as he noticed that Gino had covered his chin in bubbles and was now working on his chest. "They really offered history of Japan in your school?" asked the boy skeptically as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes," smiled Gino as he closed his eyes, his tone a mixture of lecture and amusement. "The Ethical Culture Fieldston School takes great pride in helping its students learn more about all other cultures and peoples, even including the Areas. Maybe that's one of the real reasons I joined the military, a chance to actually see some of the places I studied. But I was always particularly fond of Japan."

"And I bet your favorite opera was Madame Butterfly too."

"Yeah, it is, how did you know?"questioned the blond blinking foolishly for several seconds before sneezing as some bubbles went up his nose.

Turning back to face the taller man, Suzaku quietly seethed as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave Gino a withering look. "No, Japanese would be willing to die for the love of some Britannian man."

For a second Gino just looked completely nonplussed by the boy's vitriol, before his expression became softer and more solemn. "I always felt bad for Cio-Cio-san, and how she was betrayed by the love she put her complete faith in." Tenderly placing his hand on Suzaku's arm, the blond looked directly into Suzaku's eyes. "I'd be willing to die to prove my love for you."

"Don't say things like that Gino, it's not funny."

"I'm not--"

Water splashed angrily and fell onto the floor. "Don't, Gino, just please don't."

Staring at the bubbles, Suzaku cupped some in his hand, before letting them slip back through his fingers. "What sort of boat is this?" he asked quietly.

Normal affable grin returning to the blond's face, he lifted the tiny ship from Suzaku's fingers allowing his to touch the boy's hand just a little longer than strictly necessary. Carefully he examined it. "It's a trireme."

"Ah." swallowed Suzaku.

Dropping the trireme back into the water, the boy watched as it slowly bobbed back to the surface, ever resilient to the vagaries of fate.

"Captain! Bubbles, straight ahead!" snickering, Gino capsized another of the boats and pretended another was sinking. Squeezing Suzaku's forearm, the blond tilted his head. "Neh, Suzaku, aren't your legs hurting all squished up like that?"

"Huh?"

Sliding the teen backwards, the stronger man frowned at the way the boy tensed as the space between them vanished. Soothingly, he stroked the teen's arm waiting for his stance to relax. Reaching into the bubbles with his free hand, Gino retrieved another boat and offered it to Suzaku. "It floats."

"I can see that."

"No, it's the Titanic," the blond pointed out, tapping Suzaku's finger against the name on the hold, his larger hand surrounding the teen's smaller one. "And it floats, so this time nothing needs to end in tragedy. Everyone can safely arrive in New York."

"I don't think you can change the past that easily."

"No, but you don't have to be tied to it. Can I wash your hair?"

"Why are you so strange, Gino?"

"I just am." Cupping his hands, he gently dripped sudsy water onto Suzaku's head. "Lean back, so I don't get anything into your eyes."

Obeying with only a little bit of grumbling, Suzaku tipped back his head, trying to ignore the way his heart started to pound at being so vulnerable. "So are you planning to ask Milly out for a date?" questioned the boy in a mostly nonchalant voice.

"Milly?"

"Milly, the blond girl you danced nearly every dance with at the festival this evening, Lloyd-san's fianncee."

"Really? She's engaged to Lloyd?" laughed Gino. "She's a lovely girl and was lots of fun." Gino continued to carefully wet Suzaku's hair, keeping all the strands pushed back from his forehead and trying not to lean down and kiss the same places he had earlier.

"I'm sure she is," came the flat response

"Are you jealous?"

"No, of course not. But Rivalz was."

"I spent so much time with Milly because she was regaling me with tales of some of the more interesting photos of you from your time at Ashford, Suzaku," teased the older man, his attempt at keeping his tone innocent failing miserably, but unable to hide his thrill at the thought the boy might be jealous. "She promised to send me the one of you in a girl's school uniform, and a cat suit and a cheer--"

"She wouldn't!"

"Oh she most certainly would. And if anyone has a right to be jealous, it's me." Carefully, the blond squeezed out some of the shampoo hidden in the far corner of the tub and started to massage it into the thick waves of Suzaku's hair. "I'm not the one who vanished onto the rooftop at my own festival with some black haired guy."

Suzaku sat upright, his bangs falling back across his face and dripping shampoo in trails downwards.

"I told you to tip backwards, you're going to get shampoo in your eyes." With the least amount of pressure necessary, Gino forced Suzaku's head back and began gently brushing away the heavy locks letting his fingers linger always just a little too long. "So should I be jealous?"

"No," came the barely audible response.

Frowning, Gino caught a few tears escaping down Suzaku's cheeks and tenderly wiped them away, not caring if the cause was the shampoo or the line of questioning. Without thinking he placed a small chaste kiss on the teen's forehead.

"Lelouch is.. Lelouch is.. our target."

"Ah." Pausing for several moments, the blond returned to scooping up water to finish washing the boy's hair before whispering against the shell of the boy's ear. "But you know him, don't you?"

"I thought.. I did," choked out Suzaku, trying to ignore the feel of the taller man's breath against his skin suddenly much more aware of their closeness. "We... I once thought we were friends..." The blond's newest method of teasing working far more effectively at distracting the brunette enough to talk than his usual banter.

"I see." Gino let his lips just barely brush the teen's ears, savoring the sudden deep exhalation as he finished washing out the last of the shampoo. "I promise, will always be your friend, Suzaku, if you'll let me. I would die for you."

"I.."

Grinning against Suzaku's neck Gino started trailing kisses upwards to the teen's chin, listening for any signs of disapproval. Instead, the boy parted his lips moaning and closed his eyes in pleasure as he leaned farther back against the broader man. Dropping kisses along the teen's cheeks before arriving at Suzaku's lips, Gino immediately sought entrance, loving the way the smaller teen melted against him. Water splashed over the rim as Gino started rocking slowly against Suazku when the boy groaned into the kiss expressing his own equal desire. Holding the teen securely to him with one hand, Gino let his other start to explore more fully.

"Gino..." gasped Suzaku desperately, his own smaller hand stroking a knee poking above the water, before tentatively moving higher on Gino's thigh. "Oh.. Gino.."

"Mmmmm.." The taller knight captured the teen's mouth again with his own.

A loud squalling sound followed by energetic scratching on the door caused Suzaku to pull back reluctantly, his vision still hazy with desire as he blinked for several second in the blond's grasp as the noise only increased in volume and frequency. "Arthur..."

"Arthur," agreed Gino in a sour tone, his erection already starting to fade.

"I.. I can't let Arthur wake Anya." Blushing Suzaku hurried out of the tub and threw on his robe, ignoring the way the bath mat squished under his foot.

"Are you my boyfriend?" asked Gino as he leaned his arms against the lip of the tub, eyes admiring how ravished the teen looked despite his obvious disappointment at having their tryst interrupted.

Another loud cry from the cat and more feverish scratching came from the other side of the door.

"Gino, I have to see what Arthur wants." Opening the door, the teen was rewarded by the cat biting him on the big toe before dashing off into the darkness, Suzaku in pursuit.

"I'll take that as a yes." smiled Gino to himself as he opened the drain and began searching for a towel to try to mop up the all the water from the floor.

The End