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

[Cres]

[[haha oh yeah I forgot you might not have the translation handy. But that was pretty close! The correct spelling is: "Jag älskar dig" ^-^]]

Chip listened carefully to the words when Ace pronounced them, happy to see him so happy that he had asked. Well, they both had a second language - mother tongue? he wasn't sure which in his case it really was - that wasn't English and at least to him, Italian was very important. He knew what it would mean to him if Ace would want to learn some Italian for him, and so he thought it probably would mean a lot to Ace for him to learn some Swedish. Hearing the pronunciation made him doubt his ability to produce all those sounds, however, for the tone-set itself was already far from anything he'd got used to.

Still, he was willing to give it his very best try.

"Ya elshar day?" he tried, making a horrible massacre of the whole sentence.

[Kat]

Ace listened to Chip pronounce it and couldn't help but laugh. "Uh, not bad for your first try? Swedish is one of the harder languages to get, us Northern Europeans have a sound all our own. Maybe we can have a language class sometime, I can teach you more Swedish and you can teach me some Italian. Sound good?" He grinned, knowing Chip would probably appreciate his interest in learning Italian. He had a feeling it would probably be easier on him than learning Swedish would be on Chip. Being fluent in French, Ace had a good grasp on how to pronounce the romantic languages. He'd also refrain from letting Chip know that he actually had learned a bit of Italian two years ago, when Rex had been determined to teach him a few lines. He didn't remember them, but he did know that his pronounciation had been quite good.

"So, what do you say we pour ourselves some wine and get in the tub? And get you out of the remainder of your clothing as well?" He trailed a hand down Chip's arm and leaned over to kiss him on the neck.

[Cres]

Chip smiled widely at both of the suggestions.

"I can hardly wait for the language lessons," he said. Then he looked down at the swimming trunks. "Yes, I would be more comfortable without those."

He stood up and kissed Ace on the forehead before pushing the blond slightly back to allow for the space for himself to take the trunks off.

"Why don't you pour us the wine, darling?" he asked with a smile as he started to slip his trunks off. "And then get that pretty butt of yours into the water. Or should I carry you in?"

[Kat]

Ace grinned and moved over to where he'd placed the bottles and glasses, glancing back at Chip as he asked about getting in the tub. "Well, if you feel like picking me up there's not really much I could do about that, is there?" Ace winked at Chip and uncorked the wine, pouring both of them a glass. He took a sip of his and walked back over to Chip, glancing down at his now fully nude body. He was surprised he was finally able to look at another guy naked and fully appreciate it, without worrying about anything. He looked back up at Chip's face and just smiled, handing him his glass of wine. "Actually hold on before we get in, I want to put my hair up." He walked back over to the sink and put his glass down, his hands pulling his hair up into a very short ponytail on top of his head. He didn't like getting his hair wet if he could help it, and usually when he relaxed in the tub he tied it up. He grabbed an elastic and twisted it on, keeping the majority of his hair back out of his face. He picked his wine glass back up and turned around, heading back to Chip. "Okay, now I'm good."

[Cres]

Chip was happy to notice Ace's eyes on him when the blond brought him the wine. He liked being watched, and it was a good sign if the boy was looking at him like that. It meant they'd eventually get somewhere in this complicated situation of theirs.

He had to grin when Ace went back to tie his hair. Oh, yes, Ace and his hair. Not that Chip had much room for making fun of it - he was himself at least as bad. Though he didn't care if his hair got wet - it was so short mostly that it would dry right off anyway, and he would have looked ridiculous with his forelock on a ponytail.

"Good," he said when Ace said being ready. Chip came closer and put his other arm round the blond, holding the wine in the other. His hold was strong, commanding. He felt like carrying Ace like he'd said, but he suddenly realised it might not be a good idea after all. He wasn't at his sharpest, and he didn't want any accidents right now.

But while he couldn't carry Ace, he could still walk the blond into the tub with him. He didn't let his hold go as he walked into the jacuzzi, pulling Ace with him. The water was pleasantly warm as he waded in and took a seat, pulling Ace snugly against himself, his arm moving onto Ace's shoulders instead of his waist.

When he was comfortable, he took a sip from his glass, tasting the wine for a moment before swallowing it.

"Quite excellent wine you have, I have to admit," he said.

[Kat]

Ace let Chip pull him into the tub, gracefully sinking down against Chip and sitting on his lap. He turned slightly to look at Chip and kissing him on the neck, one arm sliding around his shoulders as the other held his glass of wine in front of him. "Mmhmm, you can thank Jan for that. Mom and I don't drink red, so any red we have was bought by Jan. But we only keep the best, so I'm glad you enjoy it." Ace took a sip from his own glass, then laid his head against Chip's shoulder. After a long, stress-filled day, this was definitely relaxing and necessary. He took another sip from his glass, then laid it on one of the trays built into the tub and sat up, putting both knees on either side on Chip's legs, sitting back on Chip's knees. Both of his hands met on the back of Chip's neck and Ace simply sat there and stared at him for a moment, not really having anything to say.

[Cres]

Chip simply let himself enjoy as Ace made himself comfortable on his lap. Oh, yes, this was exactly how it ought to be. How it ought to be forever, if possible. He only smiled to what the blond said, feeling rather too lazy at the moment to say anything. The warm water all round him felt heavenly. The involuntary dive in the ocean earlier that day had really not done him any good.

When Ace put the wine away and corrected his position so that he sat on Chip's knees, looking right into his eyes, his mind set itself back into what was going on. His own hand moved slowly to put the wine glass away as well, and - looking at Ace in the eyes the whole time - he moved his arms on the blond's shoulders.

After a long moment of just looking at Ace with love-filled eyes, Chip let his fingers slide over on Ace's neck and pull him closer until their lips met. He felt like he had never kissed anyone like this before. All other kisses faded somewhere at the back of his mind, became less than memories, as he tasted Ace's lips.

This was right.

[Kat]

Ace pressed his mouth against Chip's, his tongue pressing against his lips. His arms wound snugly around Chip's neck as he pressed his upper body against his boyfriend's, his lower half pressing against Chip as well. He was still trying to decide what he wanted to do with tonight, whether he would encourage Chip to do as he wanted or whether he would be straight forward and decide not to push things.

[Cres]

Chip was slightly surprised with how eagerly Ace came to his arms, but it was by no means an unpleasant surprise. He wound his own arms round his boyfriend tighter - still tasting the word in his mouth with a bit of a tingle as he thought about it - and felt the young, muscular, wonderful body pressing against his own. There was the tingle again as their bodies met. His other hand slid down, low on Ace's buttocks, feeling about there while the other explored the shoulder blades. His own tongue darted out as well, meeting Ace's, and he forgot about time.

[Kat]

Ace felt Chip's hands roam around, smiling as they dropped down underneath him. Maybe he would just let Chip do whatever he planned to do. Pulling away slightly he grabbed his glass again and took another sip of wine. "So, you all nice and warm again now?" He grinned and slid his other hand down to Chip's chest, his fingers running over the wet skin softly.

[Cres]

Chip purred a little when Ace broke off from the kiss and took a sip from the wine glass. He let his hands roam about freely, but not doing anything very intrusive, just enjoying the feeling of Ace's skin under his hands.

"Mmm very," he replied with a naughty sort of a smile. Almost reluctantly he took off one hand in order to find the wine glass again. His other hand remained down however, under water and on the blond's bottom, thighs, hips, wandering with skill. He closed his eyes, just enjoying Ace's touch on his chest. He had a considerable amount of chest hair, though not enough to amount to actual fur, like Dan's did. He frowned slightly at the distracting thought of Dan and opened his eyes again, looking away as he lifted the glass on his lips again, taking a sip.

This was definitely not the right moment to start thinking about Dan.

[Kat]

Ace noticed Chip frown, wondering what the other was thinking about. For once, though, he actually didn't think it had anything to do with him. He put a hand to Chip's cheek, looking down at him questioningly. "You okay?" He wondered if Chip would even talk to him about any problems he may have, wondering if Chip would instead do what he usually did with his friends, looking after their problems while hiding his own. He hoped he wouldn't, but he knew well enough that sometimes some problems just weren't quite so easy to divulge.

[Cres]

Chip turned his head toward Ace, looking at the blond again when he spoke. His boyfriend, he reminded himself. And he was actually asking. And not the way he had been asked so many times before - that way which means the other doesn't really even want to know, that they just need and want a reassurance that everything is all right. He didn't even notice that a smile rose on his lips. Ace was such a darling.

And all his own.

Chip let his hand move slowly on Ace's shoulder.

"I don't know," he said. "Not really. I just think of things I shouldn't. But it makes me happy you asked." He smiled.

Then his smile turned to a mischievous little smirk and he put his glass away again, wrapping his arms round Ace's waist, hugging him tight so that his boyfriend couldn't get away.

"You know, you'd look rather cute with wet hair," he said suggestively, the mischievous smirk still on his lips.

[Kat]

Ace noticed the smile and figured that not many people must have taken an interest in what Chip was ever thinking and he appreciated that he'd been willing to admit that he was at least a little bothered by something. While part of him wanted to press on and find out what Chip had been thinking of, he had a feeling that now just wasn't the time. They'd both had enough drama for one day after all.

When Chip mentioned him looking cute with wet hair he summoned a look of playful worriness to his face. "And what makes you say that?"

[Cres]

Chip smirked a bit more, but instead of replying by words, he held tight to Ace and then dove under the water, sliding down on his back until he was fully under the water - pulling Ace along with him, head and all. Then he sat up again, thus getting them both above surface again, and shook his head, sprinkling water all round from his now wet forelock. He laughed and put one hand up onto Ace's head, to undo the ponytail.

"You look ridiculous with that tuft anyway," he said, by way of explanation. His mohawk [] glistened with water, and his forelock was now plastered against his dark orange fur as he smiled. He didn't think Ace would get upset.