All The Way Here

Matt dashed out of the kitchen, literally colliding with Mello. Dripping with a towel around his waist, Mello caught him and received a kiss. That was something new, he thought. How often they kissed or hugged, touching each other as they passed or holding hands as they sat. Even a month ago, it wasn\'t like this. Mello would have felt too weak, too embarrassed and Matt was too closed. He patted Matt\'s backside and went to stroll into the living area. Matt called back, "I\'m going into the bathroom. I\'ll be ages."



Mello frowned, then stepped into the living area. The television sat blank and silent. The lamps had been switched off, but for one near the storage area. Lit tealights curved around the Virgin in a semi-circle and a laptop sat just to Her right. Mello padded nearer and touched the mouse. The monitor awoke to display an on-line Confessional. The smaller of his two rosaries were draped over one corner of the screen, the other, of course, being in his possession, even in the bathroom. Mello turned to look at the landing, but Matt was gone. If he listened carefully, he could hear the water running.



Carefully towelling himself dry, Mello dressed and lifted his rosary over his head. Crossing himself before the Mother, he scrolled through the site. Not sanctioned by the Vatican, came the small print on the \'about\' page, it was a long list of anonymous messages. Perfect strangers spilling their hearts without a priest anywhere in sight. No-one to speak the Sacrament of Penance. No-one to enact the reconciliation. He chose not to let the ice stab in his heart. There was no good worrying about it. This would just be one more day to add to the several years worth of days where he hadn\'t confessed. Instead he would retain the emotion of being really touched by Matt doing this for him.



His eyes followed the half-moon of tealights back to the Mother and he shifted the step it took to stand before her. The glare from the monitor was ruining the mood, so he closed it. A note, sellotaped to the back, read, \'Tell her. She\'s listening.\' Mello ripped it off and turned to stare again at the darkened corner around which Matt was bathing. He glanced down again, not believing that his behaviour had been so far predicted with such certainty. There was writing on the back. He wouldn\'t have seen it, if he hadn\'t removed it. \'She doesn\'t look to me to be the sort to get fazed by the Mafia.\' "You\'re definitely persistent, Matty."



Mello reached down to retrieve his chocolate from the table, barely able to see a thing in this gloom. The whole warehouse was in darkness over the railings. He looked back, meeting the Virgin\'s compassionate gaze. No, She didn\'t seem the type. She was the type who witnessed Roman soldiers torturing her own son to death and still forgave them. Feeling very self-conscious, Mello returned to half-sit on the top of the settee, staring at Her. Her statuesque smile never faltered, even in his perception.



Almost unwillinging, his mind sped back over five years of sins, the minor and the major, the mortal and the venial. He stopped it. He wasn\'t ready for that yet. Despite Matt\'s power of suggestion, this was not the Confessional. Instead, Mello stared into the Lady\'s eyes wanting her to understand something. He had never lost faith. "Vjerujem u Boga, Oca svemoguæega." He started, fiercely, as if passion alone could make it true. But it was true. He did believe. The Mother could look into his heart and know that. "Stvoritelja neba i zemlje." Gaining confidence, he bowed his head and spoke the rest more softly, but with no less feeling. "I u Isusa Krista, Sina njegova jedinoga, Gospodina našega koji je zaèet po Duhu Svetom, rodjen od Marije Djevice," The Apostles\' Creed went on, as his affirmation of his Catholic faith, until Mello paused near the end. He wondered if the next was true. Did he believe in the forgiveness of sins? Were belief and hope the same thing? He rushed on, "Oproštenje grijeha, uskrsnuæe tijela, život vjeèni. Amen."



The earth resolutely refused to be rent. No thunderbolts from above. Nothing but the soft flicking of the candles creating a kind of humanity on the features of the statue above. Barely believing that he was going to do this, Mello slid down to his knees and rearranged against in his mind\'s eye all of those sins. Was it his imagination or did the room feel more full, more otherworldly, as he crossed himself? "U ime Oca i Sina i Duha Svetoga. My last Confession was probably five, six years ago." And he told the ghosts, the Holy Trinity and the Virgin, who smiled down upon him, even when he cried.



Rising, Mello felt lighter, almost giddy. He was surprised to find that nearly two hours had passed and that they had sailed straight into the early hours of Christmas morning. Thirsty, but with a childlike gaiety that made him want to dance or laugh or something, Mello lit new tealights from those dying in their own wax. He practically ran to the landing, wondering at how long Matt had kept out of the way. He stopped by the kitchen to take a drink and had to hold the doorway to steady himself. On the worktop was a glass of water and a wafer, obviously pressed out of ordinary bread. Between them sat the crucifix which ordinarily should be on his gun. Yes, it was blessed. That was why it was on his weapon. Mello giggled, reclaiming his talisman, eating the wafer with the sacrament playing out in his mind. He drank the water. "I love him." He told the kettle.



Pouring a glass of wine, Mello sprinted around to the bathroom door and knocked on it. Matt spoke lazily, "Come on in." Pushing it open, he found Matt, dressed only in a towel, sitting on the closed toilet lid with his feet up on the edge of the bath. He was playing his handheld and looked like this was just fine. "You look... different."



"I love you." Mello burst out. "I really, really love you."



Matt blushed. It didn\'t stop with his face, but travelled down to pink his neck and the top of his chest too. "You\'re getting really good at saying that."



"She wasn\'t fazed by the Mafia." Mello held out the glass of wine. "Did you have a nice bath?"



"Yes, very relaxing." Matt stood up from the toilet and switched off his game. "Happy Christmas."



"Happy Christmas. Come on, let\'s open my present." The blond smirked, swinging himself off the door-jamb and back out into the landing.



Matt followed. "Not until tomorrow morning. You\'ll only be disappointed when you wake up and..." Mello took the wine off him and pushed him onto the bed. "Oh. Not those presents."



"Stay there." Mello walked away, peering back with a smile, until he reached the Mother. One by one, he removed the tealights, placing them strategically around the room. On shelves, on the table, on the television cabinet, on the edge of the railings and around their bed. There was a spring to his step and an absolute aura of delighted calm that made Matt smile to watch him. Mello appeared from the kitchen, with a laced doiley that had been in one of the hampers. Crossing himself, he covered the Virgin\'s head until only her linked hands and the rosary within them were visible. "Now, how can I say thank you for that?"



"I don\'t know..." Began Matt, as his wine was taken from him for the second time and his towel pulled from around his waist. Nearly two weeks had done a lot to heal the bruises and cuts, so only the worst still remained, much fainter, less accusing. Mello allowed his appreciative gaze to take every line and crevice of the redhead\'s naked form, travelling over the smooth expanse of his stomach, the valleys of his ribs, the mounts of his pecs. Matt was watching him, fascinated and blushing. Kneeling in front of the bed, Mello bowed his head again. Without hurting him nor asking for anything in return, he took Matt into his mouth and licked, sucked and teased until, ignoring his protests, Matt came. "Oh my fucking God!" The redhead moaned.



"At the last, he finds religion." Mello\'s head popped back up, grinning. "You\'re so gorgeous, Matt."



"Fuck, the pod person is back." Matt countered, but he was smiling. "Wow! That was... yeah."



Mello took a sip of wine and handed the glass to him. "Don\'t think I didn\'t notice that you reacted like that and guess what?" He smirked. "No pain involved at all. Checkmate, Matt."



The redhead sat up, peering at him behind his fringe. "What\'s got into you?" He grinned. "You\'re funny."



"You\'re the great psychiatrist." Mello picked up his cigarettes and threw them to him, then reached for his own chocolate. "Hey! It\'s Christmas!"



"Come back over here." Matt patted the bed beside him, his gaze meaningfully taken in the leather-clad body of his lover. "Do I get to unwrap a present as well?"



"Hell no. I\'ve been to Confession." The blond smirked, as he walked towards the kitchen. His gait and flirtatious glances oozed seductive sex. "Pure as the driven snow now." He called back, laughing.



Matt blinked, then took his wine and cigarettes into the kitchen. Mello was poking the turkey with his finger. Matt had already mixed the stuffing, which stood waiting in a dish beside the sink. "Is it defrosted?"



"Who can tell?" Mello replied lightly. Matt stubbed out his cigarette, taking a gulp of wine before setting it down again and joining the blond at the sink. Mello smiled. "Why don\'t you feel it and see?"



Matt smirked, casting a sidewards glance at his lover. "Then will you stuff it?"



"Of course. It\'s always better with stuffing." Mello ran his hand up Matt\'s naked spine. "I\'ll turn the heat on." He crossed over to the stove. There was the spark of ignition and the oven lit with blue flame. Mello turned to speak again, but was lifted bodily up to be seated on the hob. "What are you doing?"



Matt leaned in, exploring Mello\'s leather top. "Unwrapping. If I can ever work out which of these zips actually does something, that is." He puzzled over another likely entrance thwarted by a wall of sheer leather behind. "Aww, Houdini couldn\'t get in here. "Why do you always buy clothes that take ten years to get you out of?" His gaze took in laces, chains and more zips, not to mention the belt.



Mello raised an arm. "Try this. Open the arms and the whole thing comes off over your head."



"Oh." Matt bent to see. He cheered when unzipping uncovered Mello\'s skin. Repeating the action on the other arm, he pulled it up, Mello lifting his arms obligingly for the shirt to be removed. Matt, remembering how it had felt to have Mello do this to him earlier, let his eyes wander over his lover\'s body, drinking in all that he saw. Mello was so thin, despite the copious amounts of chocolate he consumed, but it suited his frame. There was muscle at his chest and biceps, toning the contours there. The skin was milky-white, except where it was permanently reddened in the blast. His waist was so trim, ending in leather-clad hips.



Matt reached to touch him there and was enfolded suddenly in strong arms, pressing him into the metal of the cooker, as Mello held him in a crushing kiss. The oven was warm on his legs. Mello grinned as he released him. "Go and stuff the turkey."



Matt gave him a withering look, but padded naked over to the sink. He washed his hands and turned his attention to the dish. The turkey lay sodden and slimy in his hands. "Stop looking at my arse."



"I\'m looking at all of you." Mello smirked from the stove, one foot up on the worksurface and the other dangling down. He had procured chocolate from the top of the fridge and was licking it. "Hardly a mark on your back now."



The redhead concentrated on the thawing bird, "Meaning it\'s time to add some more?"



"Maybe." Mello sucked off a chunk of chocolate, letting it melt in his mouth. "How\'s it going?"



"Do I just put the stuffing where the giblets came out?"



"Yes, right up its arse." Mello responded. "Use your hands." There was a chuckle as Matt blushed again. "Slide it right inside and stuff as hard as you can."



Matt appeared in front of him, hands covered with blood and sage and onion. "Wine." He nodded to the glass beside Mello, which was lifted for him to have a sip. "Thank you." He returned to his stuffing, until most of the mixture was inside the turkey and he could get nothing else in there. "Voila!" He carried it across. "Shift your leg."



Mello spread his legs wide, allowing access to the oven. "I\'m glad I didn\'t put you off. Going to be beautiful that is." He watched as Matt washed and dried his hands, then held out his own glass. "We need a top up."



"Oh God. I\'m going to be getting the cork out and you\'re going to sit there making comments about me getting my fingers around it and..." Matt grabbed the bottle and the corkscrew and handed them both to Mello. "I need a top up too."



"I intend to be the one who does it." Mello smirked, screwing into the cork and pulling it out with a loud plop. "This is fun, I\'ve never sat on a stove before." Matt bit back a comment about watching he didn\'t get burned, realising the instant before speaking that it wasn\'t appropriate. It came out as a short gasp. "Trying to remember where you were? I think you were trying to seduce me."



Matt drifted into range again and narrowed his eyes into slits of emerald green. "Stop trying to take over and I\'ll seduce you." He reached for the belt and was immediately whisked into another tight hold, hands ran down his naked back and buttocks. His mouth firmly clasped in a penetrating kiss. He drew back. "How am I supposed to...?"



"You\'re not." Mello stretched languidly and jumped off the cooker. In one short movement, Matt had his back up the fridge, with Mello leaning against him, hands travelling over everywhere he could reach. His mouth sucking at the redhead\'s neck, leaving lovebites in their wake. "Ok, I\'ll let you undo my trousers now." Mello whispered, hoarsely. Matt complied, struggling with the laces, as Mello kept kissing him and so he couldn\'t see what he was doing. When they were finally undone, Mello popped out already hard, growing harder under Matt\'s hands. "You smell lovely."



They were both naked now, hands moving rapidly over each other\'s bodies, Matt leaning back with ragged breathing, as Mello left lovebites all over his neck and chest. "What do you want me to do?" Matt gasped, unsure with his hands free to wander.



"Seduce me." Mello grinned, the instant before he swung Matt back around and threw him to the floor. "Or submit to me. I\'m good either way."



Matt\'s gaze took in all of the various kitchen implements, in a wild attempt at predicting what Mello would do next. The blond surprised him again, by simply dropping to his knees and sliding over to cover him. "I submit." Matt breathed, as Mello fingers pressed inside him and his nipple was sucked.



"Here\'s me thinking it was seduction." Mello laughed, as Matt writhed in his arms. He took his cue and entered him on the kitchen floor.