Quality Alone Time (Saturday night, Ace's condo)

[Kat]

Shutting the door behind him, Ace leaned against the wall and slipped his shoes off, his eyes never leaving Chip as he did so. He was so relieved to finally have the chance to be alone with him. Once the shoes were discarded, Ace stood in front of Chip and wound his arms around his boyfriend's neck, not saying anything as he pressed his lips to the older male's. He had high hopes for tonight, higher hopes then he'd had for any other time they'd previously spent together. After having everything come out, he was finally starting to realize what it felt like to feel truly connected to another person.

With everyone else he was ever intimate and loving with, he was constantly hiding things and never being truly honest. But that wasn't the case anymore with Chip and he felt like he could finally start to relax and just enjoy being with him. Chip knew his boundaries, but he also knew how to push them and when to back away without making Ace feel bad for it, so the smaller blond was certain that their night together would go on without a single hitch.

"So, you want anything to drink? I was thinking of having a glass of wine while relaxing in the jacuzzi. You drink red or white? I have to admit I'm quite girly and stick to white, something my family teases me mercilessly about." Ace grinned and pulled away from Chip, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water first.

[Cres]

Chip felt as though he had waited forever for this moment. He kicked his shoes off - something he hardly ever did, having such high regard for his shoes, and as soon as Ace had his shoes off too and wrapped his arms round his neck, Chip put his arms around Ace's waist. He noticed only after the kiss that he had closed his eyes. It startled him a little. He hadn't closed his eyes while kissing since Flash. Flash, his last boyfriend.

Boyfriend. He opened his eyes slowly as they pulled back from the kiss. He had a boyfriend. The word tasted still odd on his tongue. Boyfriend.

But he liked it. When Ace started talking, he smiled. Yes, he had a boyfriend, and his name was Ace. And if luck would have it, this would last. Forever.

He didn't want to think of the fact that there were a dozen things in the world standing in the way of their happiness. Right now there was only the two of them and an evening spent together.

Chip watched Ace go and started walking after him, pulling his shirt off. It was still damp and he rather took it off as soon as he could, to get himself really dry.

"Then we complement one another, as I drink red," he said.

[Kat]

Ace grinned as he watched Chip pull his shirt off and mention he drank red. "I figured as much, I heard that real Italian men only drink white wine when all the red is gone." He finished off his glass of water and placed it back on the counter, turning back to Chip and running a hand over his chest before snuggling against him again.

After a moment though he pulled away, holding on to Chip's hand and pulling him out of the kitchen and up to the dining area, stooping by the sideboard on the right hand side, in which a wine freezer was built it. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of white, then grabbed a bottle of red from the rack on top, also taking two wine glasses etched with different designs on them and turning back to look at Chip. "Well then, let's go drop this in the bathroom and turn on the jacuzzi, then we can put your clothes in the dryer."

He made his way to his bedroom, placing the bottles and glasses on the counter before setting the controls for the jacuzzi. He sat on the edge of the tub and looked up at Chip. "Well then, dryer time for your wet clothes."

[Cres]

Chip had to chuckle to the mention of "real Italian men". It was true in many ways, though. Most of his family and Dan's held tight to that principle, if not for anything else then at least for the joke's sake. Besides, ever since Papá Rosacci had come into possession of his fairly large wine estate he had obsessed over red wine.

Chip followed obediently when Ace pulled him to the dining area. He felt giddy in a way he hadn't in a long time. It was almost like being out doing mischief. He felt kind of like a little boy. Much like he had felt often with Colorado in the boarding school. Only this was better.

He would have offered to carry the bottles and the glasses for Ace but the blond looked somehow so sweet, being so excited with them, that he felt better just watching and following. No one had filled his life with laughter since Flash had died. Collie and Dan... they were friends, but the jokes, the fun they had shared had never reached heart-deep. But now he could feel that certain joy awaken in him again.

He grinned when Ace sat down at the edge of the jacuzzi.

"Yes, off with the clothes," he said dramatically with a wave of the hand, and then winked. "I wonder if I should make a show of it and striptease for you." He looked round with an interested expression. "Which reminds me, is there a stereo set in the bathroom?"

Well, it looked like the kind of place that might have had something fancy like that.

[Kat]

Ace grinned when Chip mentioned stripping. "That might be entertaining, though I'd feel obligated to return the favour. Mind you I think I'd quite enjoy having my body devoured by your eyes." Ace stood up and walked over to the wall by the sink at the mention of a stereo, flipping up a transparent tile covering the control panel for a special stereo system they'd had installed. It ran off a hard drive when had over 20gb of music stored on it. There were special speakers installed in the corners of the room, hidden into the walls.

"Anything in particular you feel like hearing, or should I just put on some random sexy music?" Ace looked back at Chip and grinned, never failing to enjoy having access to all of the finer things in life. His mother definitely spoiled him in that regard and he was quite happy with that.

[Cres]

Chip was not surprised at all to hear there indeed was a stereo set in the room. He chuckled to the suggestion that Ace would strip for him. Oh, yes, he had to admit that thought really got his blood going. He loved the blond's body and to have him do a little striptease for him would have indeed been one of the most exciting moments in his life.

He decided against going farther with the suggestion for the time being, however. First off, he was still cold and he wanted into the jacuzzi quickly and second, the kind of music he wanted at the moment was not the best for striptease.

"Do you have any Pausini? Laura Pausini? Sweetheart listens to it all the time and I have to admit I've been quite converted." He started taking his trousers off.

[Kat]

Ace smiled and nodded. "Surprisingly enough, I actually do have some of her music. Rex, I told you about Rex right? Dating my cousin Sunny? Anyway, he loves her and got me hooked, so I have quite a bit of Pausini on here." Ace set the stereo to play through some of the Italian singer's music and turned around, watching as Chip took his pants off.

"Not exactly music to strip to, but we can always save that for another time when you're not at risk of hypothermia, right?" Ace grinned and remained leaning against the wall.

[Cres]

Chip indeed remembered hearing about Rex. They had talked about it in the bar, he remembered being surprised about hearing that Ace knew the Giovanni brood at all. By now he had dug out more information on the situation, not having paid as much attention to the Giovanni circles before now. He had meant to make a point of meeting Rex sometime, but hadn't got around to it yet. After all, he wasn't even sure if Rex would be especially delighted to see him. He wasn't sure if Rex knew about his involvement in the mafia. At least Rex probably knew of some kind of family connection between the Tiranos and the Rosaccis. A sudden cold flash went through Chip and he froze for just a moment while pulling down his trousers, hardly even hearing the other comment Ace made about stripping. What if he knew? What if he told Ace? What if this would all crumble to pieces just when it was clicking together?

The thought made him so weak at the knees that he had to sit down at the tub edge, his other hand to his forehead as though he was dizzy. He still had enough senses in him to appear as though he had just got a little light-headed for a moment. Anticipating Ace's worry, he looked up with a rather faint smile.

"Sorry... I... haven't eaten in a long time. I guess it's getting to me, what with the dip in the ocean and all."

He hated lying to him like that. Lying to his boyfriend. What a start of a relationship! But he saw no other choice. Part of him would have just wanted to tell him the truth, explain everything and pray he would understand. But the sensible part of him knew that it was not the right moment. It would destroy everything, they were too close to the beginning, they had had too many shocks already, he would run and fast if he heard now.

He just had to pray that Rex either didn't know or wouldn't tell. But his resolve to go talk to Rex grew considerably. As soon as possible. Just to find out what he knew, maybe cut a deal. Anything. He couldn't lose Ace now.

[Kat]

Ace watched Chip sit at the edge of the tub, worry etched on his face. He was completely oblivious to any real problem though, so he believed Chip's comment about being hungry. He walked over to Chip and straddled his leg, his hands running back through Chip's hair as he kissed his forehead. "You want me to go play wife and cook you something? I can't have you fainting on me after all."

[Cres]

Chip managed to veer away from bad thoughts as Ace came closer. He didn't want to ruin this night now. Leaving his decisions concerning Rex to the background, he smiled and concentrated on Ace's eyes. That always seemed to help. Those green eyes were just the most captivating he'd ever seen in his life.

"No..." It was a lie, after all, and he wanted the bath first. "I want the bath first. Then we can see about a nice cozy dinner before turning in, huh?" He wrapped his arms round Ace's waist and planted a kiss on the boy's chest.

[Kat]

Ace grinned as Chip kissed him, "that sounds good, but just know that if you doze off due to the heat and wine, I doubt my ability to be able to pull you up from under the water. So I guess I'll just have to make sure you stay awake." He pushed his knee into Chip's groin and kissed his cheek. He couldn't wait to slip into the tub with Chip, to just lay back and relax and let the events of earlier in the day melt away. He stood up in front of Chip, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up and over his head and letting it fall to the floor. He stood in front of Chip, a happy smile on his face as he undid his belt, sliding it out of the belt buckles and dropping it on top of his shirt. He hated leaving belts in his pants, he was quite picky when it came to his clothes. His belt was only for style, his jeans properly fit to stay up without help. He made no move to undo them though, hoping Chip would get to that for him.

[Cres]

A quite honest smlie returned to Chip's lips as Ace put his knee into his groin. Oh, yes, he was sure there would be quite enough... entertainment to keep him awake in the tub. When the boy stood up and pulled his shirt off, Chip watched with great interest at the muscles that moved in quite an interesting way as he did so, and continued to watch while he took off the belt as well. When the boy let the belt drop on the floor, he grinned and extended his hands, laying them on the boy's jeans.

"Oh, I'm sure you can keep me occupied," he said as he pulled the blond closer by the waistline of the jeans and then started to undo them with his agile, slender fingers. Soon enough they were open, and he slid his hands on Ace's hips and then started to slide the trousers, along with the swimming trunks [[wasn't that what he was wearing underneath?]] off entirely. As he had got them around the knees, he leaned closer and placed a kiss on Ace's belly, very very close to the groin area.

[Kat]

Ace smiled as Chip pulled off the remainder of his clothes, laying his hands on Chip's head as he was kissed. He closed his eyes and slunk down onto Chip's leg again, his arms encircling the other and his head dropping to press against Chip's shoulder, lips pressing against Chip's neck. Exactly what was he planning for tonight? Ace wondered briefly if he'd be up for trying to let Chip get further again or whether he'd concentrate more on just having a quiet, relaxing night together. The attempt this afternoon had gone horribly wrong as far as he was concerned, even though in reality by allowing Chip to even touch him, he'd come leaps and bounds from where he used to be. But Ace was unfortunately the type of person who saw everything except complete victory as a failure. He wouldn't be pleased with himself until he could allow Chip complete freedom to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, without fear of him freaking out about it. Pushing those thoughts out of his head, Ace remained on Chip's lap, determined to just go with the flow of the evening for once instead of trying to plan what would happen. As much as he said he wanted Chip to control things, he'd become so accustomed to controlling everything that it was hard to let go.

[Cres]

Chip let his hands wander along Ace's body where they could reach, mostly on the blond's back, enjoying the feeling of their bodies against each other like that. He still had his swimming trunks on, but other than that they were naked. It seemed like the appropriate moment to ask a question which had been on his mind for some time now.

"Hey, sunlight," he whispered to Ace's ear, "how do you say 'I love you' in Swedish?"

[Kat]

*hehe, okay let's see how badly I butcher this, since the translation is at home; I remember how to pronounce it but the spelling might be off;)*

Ace smiled when Chip called him by his new nickname, but the question caught him off guard. He sat up and looked at Chip, the smile on his face a bit brighter. "Aw, you really want to learn? That's so sweet." He quickly kissed Chip on the lips before sitting back up again. "Well, let's see. Hopefully the pronounciation won't give you too much trouble. Jag älsklar diy. Don't ask for the spelling though, I don't think we want to tackle that ground yet." He grinned and waited for Chip to try saying it, wondering if he might possibly get Chip to teach him some Italian.