Please see Part 1 for disclaimers and archiving information.

"From The Top", Part 9/33
By Clotho (clothomoerae@hotmail.com) and Cathy (huntersglenn@yahoo.com)

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Time operated strangely that week for Dave.  Everything would be normal --
and then he'd think about when Carter was due to go off shift and suddenly
hours would seem unpassably long, and nervously short.  He also kept
focussing on Saturday -- he did fun things all the time.  Skating was fun
-- but the practise with his team on Thursday night seemed to pall in
comparison with Carter on a lake on Saturday.  It was strange and not
entirely comfortable, but when Dave awoke on Saturday morning it was with a
leap in his heart that said *today*'s the day.

He had skates, he had outdoor gear, he had breakfast, he filled his
hip-flask with whisky.  He didn't want to think about why he did it.  He
knew that alcohol outdoors wasn't entirely sensible -- but there wasn't
much in there, it would be enough anyway he thought, without ever
completing the idea *enough for what?*.  And then he rang the Carter
mansion to coolly ask, "You still keen to go skating today?"

Used to waking up in time to be to work by seven, John was awake early on
Saturday morning.  The week had been a good one, with no more desire on his
part to avoid Dave.  He was learning how to be Dave's friend and that was a
good thing.  What wasn't a good thing was how long the morning hours
stretched out as he waited for Dave to call so they could go skating.

When the phone finally rang, John quickly picked it up.  It was Dave.
"Yes, I'm still keen on going skating.  And if we get too cold we can come
back to the house to get warm.  Gamma and Grandpa went to Washington, DC
for the weekend, some pre-inauguration thing they were invited to attend,
and everyone else has the weekend off, so there won't be anyone here to
embarrass you."  There was also a whisper in the back of John's mind about
how his grandfather had said that he and Dave could have sex with each
other at the house provided no one else was home.  But there wasn't much
chance of that happening as Dave didn't seem to want him *that* way.

"Okay, sure."  Dave shrugged.  "Could catch the El to the final stop?"

John nodded, then remembered that Dave couldn't see that.  "Okay.  I'll
meet you there."

Ten minutes later Dave was on a train heading out for suburban Chicago.  He
had everything.  Everything was cool, but he was unable to just sit down,
relax and enjoy the journey. He paced up and down the carriage -- until an
elderly woman grasped her handbag more firmly as he approached her for the
4th time.  Then he reluctantly sat down until the tall buildings changed to
houses and the houses moved further apart and got interspaced with trees,
and finally it was the end of the line.

John stopped in the kitchen on his way out of the house to fill up a
thermos with hot cocoa that he had made.  It was one of the few things he
could prepare without fear of burning down a house, he thought.  And he had
thought that if he and Dave were out on the ice covered lake then a cup or
two of hot cocoa would taste good and warm them up a bit.

When John arrived at the station, he pulled into his usual parking space,
then headed toward the platform.  He didn't go through the turnstile, but
instead waited on the outside of it for Dave's train to arrive.

Dave jumped out of the train and looked around.  In this part of the world
even the El platforms were better tended.  Snow swept tidily away,
non-peeling paint-work and trashcans far from over-flowing.  He walked out,
and immediately recognised Carter's Jeep in an almost deserted parking
lot.  Then he saw Carter standing closer still.  "Hey there, pardner."

John grinned over Dave's good mood.  He certainly wasn't grinning because
Dave looked good enough to eat -- no, friends didn't think of each other
that way, he reminded himself.  But as Dave walked nearer, John tossed
aside all thoughts of friendship.  He wanted this man in his bed again.
And again and again and again.  His smile wavered a bit as he headed over
to where Dave would exit from the platform.  "You ready for some serious
ice skating, Malucci?"

"You ready to get your ass whipped, Carter?"  Dave pushed through the
turnstile, smiling at the smiling Carter.  "Where're we going?"

John's grin widened as he thought about just what his ass wanted, but he
kept his mouth quiet about that.  "I told you that we were going to the
lake."  John turned around and started to head for the Jeep, knowing that
Dave would be following him there.   As he paused to unlock the door, John
said, "And it's you who are going to get your ass whipped.  I may not play
ice hockey, but I'm not a novice when it comes to skating."

Dave laughed and jumped in.  "You and what army?"

John shook his head as he walked around to the driver's side and got in.
"I don't need an army, Dave.  I can take you anytime." John slowly smiled
as he hoped that Dave fully understood the double meaning of that last
sentence.

Dave shook his head.  "No way, my fri . . ." His voice trailed off as he
looked at Carter's smile, and remembered what they'd done, "end..." Dave
stared at Carter.  They were just here for skating -- nothing had happened
at the movie or after the beer.  Whatever Dave was imagining he knew he was
just imagining it.

John chuckled, then started the vehicle and drove to the house.  Once
inside the gate, he veered off on a side drive and a few minutes later came
to a stop beside a closed up summerhouse that stood watch over a frozen
lake.  A porch ran along the front of the summerhouse, and a pier led from
the porch to a gazebo that was perched over the lake.  On the other side of
the lake, just above the tree-tops, John could see the roof of the house.
A short path connected the summerhouse to the main house and when you were
further out on the property it looked as if the house were right beside the
lake.

John opened the door and hopped out, slamming the door shut and then
opening the back of the Jeep to get out his skates and the thermos before
heading over to the gazebo so he could sit down to put on his skates.  He
looked back at the Jeep.  "You coming or not?"

Dave walked slowly to the summerhouse, looking all about him -- the mansion
over the treetops, the lake, the summerhouse, the woods, a swept pathway
going somewhere.  "Fuck, my friend, you are rich.  You could wash in molten
gold."

John began to unlace his boot and he laughed.  "Careful, Dave.  If you keep
thinking I'm King Midas then I just might end up turning you to gold when I
touch you."

Dave laughed and began his own boot for skate exchange -- the real problem
wouldn't be turning to gold it would be turning to liquid.  "Don't think
that'll happen, my friend."  A few minutes later he was done, and taking a
wobbly step toward the ice.  "Race ya to that island over there."   Before
Carter could answer he was off -- skating hard.

"Hey, no fair!  I've only got one skate on," John complained with a laugh
as he watched Dave speed away.  God, but the man was so eloquent moving
that way over the ice.  John didn't even try to put on his other skate as
the sight of Dave's legs pumping to push his body over the lake occupied
all of his attention.

When he got to the island Dave turned around and saw Carter still sitting
down -- he raised his arms and clasped them over his head, yelling "I win",
then turned around and began to go skate around the island -- seeing what
was there.
As soon as Dave passed out of his line of vision, John quickly exchanged
his remaining boot for a skate.  Then he got up and headed around the
island, but in the opposite direction so that he would meet Dave along the
way.  The island wasn't huge, but it was big enough so that John could get
his bearings on the skates before seeing Dave.  It had been a few years
since he had last skated.  It wasn't something he had thought about doing
after the stabbing and he only just then wondered if it would be good for
his back.  John shrugged, as long as he didn't do any fancy moves or fall
down too much then his back would be okay.

John smiled as he saw Dave up ahead and he came to a stop to wait for Dave
to reach him.

Dave saw Carter and grinned.  He was going at quite a speed and swooped
around the other man to use up his momentum letting ice fly up from the
sharp blades on his skates as he made the tight turns "Finally made it did
ya?

"Well, unlike you, I happen to know that the lake isn't going anywhere,"
John replied.  "And it wasn't a fair race since you took off before I was
ready.  I demand a rematch.  A *fair* rematch."

"Hey that was perfectly fair.  You started putting your skates on first."
Still Dave shrugged magnanimously.   "A rematch?  Okay to where?"   He
grinned, the outdoor air was chilly on the little bit of his face that was
exposed, and he had energy to burn.  "To where?"

"To the gazebo, but not until I say 'go', got it?" John asked, grinning at
Dave's exuberance at being outdoors.  He couldn't help but wonder if Dave
would be this energetic while having sex in the great outdoors.  John shook
that thought away though -- right now it was time to beat Dave in a race.
Little did Dave know that he had run track back at boarding school.  Using
the toe of his skate, John marked out a starting line on the ice.  "We line
up here and the first person to reach the gazebo wins," John told Dave.
"Any questions before we begin?"

Dave frowned.  He didn't know which way was shortest around the island --
but then as Carter had found him despite his lead, the way Carter'd come
must be the quickest.  He shook his head.  "No."

"Okay.  No questions.  But there is one rule."  John grinned.   "And that is
that there are no rules.  So, ready, set, go."  John yelled.

Dave took off, pushing back against the ice to accelerate hard.  He just
had to follow the curve of the island and he'd be sure to get back to the
starting point.

He rounded the first corner, moving ever faster and took a quick look back
to see how Carter was doing.

John had remained still as Dave took off, then he turned and raced to the
island itself.  As kids, whenever they would race, Chase would always go
across the island instead of around it, saying it wasn't cheating if no one
ever said they *had* to stay on the ice.  Bobby would laugh at John's
consternation, telling him that Chase had a point and why didn't he set up
the rules beforehand?  But John stubbornly refused to do that, determined
that one day he would actually make it around the island on the ice faster
than Chase could cross it.  He never had.  The only consolation he ever had
was that in going across the island, Chase risked turning his ankle and
dulling the blades on the skates.

Today John was willing to take that risk, too.  He ran down the path that
dissected the island, the gazebo in his line of vision already.  As he
stepped onto the ice just yards away from the gazebo, he looked to see if
Dave had yet rounded the corner.

Dave turned back, cheering to himself -- Carter hadn't even rounded the
first point yet.  Then his eyes widened as he saw a huge old fallen tree
directly in front of him and only yards away.  Shit.  He braked madly,
sending up sheets of ice.

And the approach of the tree slowed until he finally hit it with only
bruising speed instead of bone-breaking speed.  Dave sat down on it, and
looked around for the jeering Carter.  He couldn't see him.  There was no
way that Carter couldn't have caught him by now.

Dave got to his feet and skated further from the island so he could see
around the little points and precipices.  He saw Carter making fast for a
distant pier, and took off in indignant pursuit after him.

John kept his attention on the gazebo, using all his leg strength to slide
across the ice until his hand touched the wood and he sat down in the
opening.  Then he looked for Dave and saw him heading in his direction.

John broke into a wide grin -- he had won.  And he had told Dave that there
were no rules, which had been more than Chase had ever said to him way back
when.  So Dave couldn't accuse him of cheating.

"You're a little slow, Dave," John called out as Dave neared.   "Thought you
said you could skate."

"Thought you'd tell me about damn huge tree-trunks."  *Or a least check on
me after I'd fallen over it* Dave added as a mental rider.  Carter was
looking so smug sitting there knowing he'd won, and Dave felt insensibly
hurt that Carter hadn't even bothered to stop.

"What tree trunks are you talking about?" John asked.  Dave seemed angry --
no, not angry.  More hurt than angry.  "You didn't trip over something, did
you?"

"One that sticks out just round the point.  Damn thing's nearly thigh
high."  Dave skated over to a little way down the pier and sat down,
playing with the snow under him.

"Oh, *that* tree trunk."  John said.  He and his cousins used to climb on
it and use it as a diving board of sorts while swimming in the summer
time.  John stood and skated over to where Dave had sat down.  "You hit
it?  Are you hurt?"

Dave looked up at Carter then away.  "Ya could have stopped."

He rubbed his thigh where he'd hit it against the wood, the memory stang as
much as the wound itself.

John frowned -- how could he have stopped if he hadn't known Dave had hit
the tree?  "How was I supposed to know you hit it?"

"Duh.  You musta skated past me then."

John laughed.  "Dave, I never passed you."  John saw that Dave was still
rubbing his thigh.  "Do you want me to take a look at your thigh?  Make
sure it's not cut or anything?  The cold out here can make you think that
you're not hurt when you are."

"Come off it, Carter.  You got here first didn't you?  It'll be okay."

"Yeah, I got here first.  I ran across the island."  John sat down, then
reached out and lightly touched Dave's thigh where Dave had been rubbing at
it.  "Are you sure you don't want me to check you over?"

"You ran across the island?  You cheated."  Dave looked at Carter in a mix
of admiration and disgust, then swiftly at the snow in his gloved hands --
which a second later he'd stuffed down the back of Carter's jacket.

"Hey," John jumped to his feet.  "I told you that there were no rules.
It's not my fault you didn't believe me."  John said, laughing.

"Cheat."

"You're in for it now, Malucci."  John's days spent wrestling all came back
to him as he tackled Dave down to the ice, grappling to pin him in place.

The ice was slippery under Dave, he kicked back for purchase so he could
roll Carter over.  "Cheat.  Cheat cheat cheatcheatche..."

John grabbed a handful of Dave's jacket with one hand and threaded his
glove covered fingers through a belt loop, then went with Dave's roll,
pushing upward the second that Dave was on top of him and making the roll
continue until he was on top of Dave.  "You might as well give up now,
Dave.  I beat you and you just don't want to admit that you were
outsmarted."

"You cheated."  Dave somehow found himself more firmly trapped than before,
and Carter's bright face with his deep brown eyes was very close.  "You're
a cheat.  A cheat."  There was a hand of Carter's on his ass.  Dave
breathed in deeply, and looked up at Carter saying more slowly.  "You
cheated."

John shook his head.  "No, I didn't.  I outsmarted you.  There's a
difference.  Admit it, Dave.  Say that I beat you by outsmarting you."
John was all too aware of how his body was resting atop of Dave's.  He was
half-afraid of squishing Dave against the ice and he shifted his hold on
Dave so he wouldn't hurt him.

There was more room to breathe now, but Dave could still feel Carter's body
close to his.  He pressed back against the ice once more and pushed - up
and over.  He was on top of Carter now.  "You cheated.  Say you cheated."

John gasped and shook his head.  "I outsmarted you.  You should just admit
it."  Oh, God, but it felt so good to have the weight of Dave's body on his
own -- almost too good, and John could feel his cock growing hard from the
contact.  That had never happened back in school when he was wrestling.
Not even at Penn after he had discovered he was bisexual.  Shit.

"You cheated."  Carter's body felt warm under his -- warm and hard and
soft.  Dave knew he shouldn't be noticing things like that.   He reached
down and pulled his hip flask out, -- careful not to allow Carter to
dislodge him, and took a gulp of the fiery liquid -- some spilling down his
chin and onto his winter clothes.  "You cheated.  Want some?"

The liquor blazed a trail down to Dave's stomach.  It was okay now,
whatever happened was okay.  He'd had something to drink -- it didn't
count, it was an accident.  Whatever happened now, it wouldn't -- couldn't
-- be as bad.

"No."  John did want to lick whatever it was from Dave's chin, but he was
sure Dave didn't want to hear that.  The cold of the ice was seeping
through his jacket and John knew he had to do something before Dave noticed
that he was hard for him.  Suddenly he grimaced, crying out.  "God.   Owww."

Dave rolled over, taking his weight off Carter.  "What is it?  Your back?"

Once Dave's body was gone John ended up missing Dave's warmth, and he found
himself wishing that their bodies were once more pressed together -- only
without the clothing in the way.  His cock throbbed and he stayed on his
back on the ice, plotting his next move.  John squeezed his eyes shut and
grimaced.  "Yeah, my back," he gasped out.

Shit.  Dave sat up.  Whatever he'd imagined was happening there he'd
obviously been wrong.  He'd been stupid he hadn't needed that drink.  And
now he had to stop thinking about what that had felt like and deal with
what really was.  "Want ta move?  You'll be getting cold here soon.   That
can't help."

"Help me get to the..." Shit, where should they go?  The porch?  Into the
gazebo?  No, those places wouldn't do.  John lifted his head up enough to
notice where they were in relation to the gazebo and the pier.  "Help me up
to the bank, okay?"

Dave stood up.  "Sure, buddy.  You okay on the skates -- or want me to get
your boots?"

"The skates are fine.  Just help me up.  You're right about it getting cold
here."  John looked up at Dave.  Lord, but Dave looked so big standing
there like some Roman god of winter.  John lifted his arm toward Dave,
waiting for Dave to grasp his hand.

Dave slipped his hip flask back into place then pulled Carter up.  "Easy
does it pal."  He slipped an arm about Carter's waist, "We're going to the
bank, 'n then I'll get your boots.  'kay?"

John slumped against Dave's strong body, letting Dave help him to the
bank.  But the second that both of John's skates were on the snow-covered
bank, he wrapped both arms around Dave and wrestled him to the ground once
more.  This time he straddled Dave's hips to hold him in place and the hard
flask dug into his knee, but John didn't care.  "Admit it, Dave.  Say that
I outsmarted you."

"What!"  Dave's vision was obscured by the depth of the snow he'd been
pushed into -- but all he needed to see was Carter's face far above him.
"You lying, cheating. . ."  Dave reached for a handful of snow and hurled
it into Carter's face.

Dave's eyes looked lower for a second, and he saw Carter's winter pants
tented by a formidable erection.  The redwood at work again.  All these
games, and this play suddenly felt very erotic to Dave, and he felt himself
hardening in response to Carter's closeness and arousal.

John shook the snow out of his eyes then he reached to either side of Dave
and pushed snow down on him as he got to his feet.  He was pretty sure he
could make it to the summerhouse before Dave got out of the snow bank.

Dave scrambled to his feet as soon as he could, and taking only a second to
dust himself off and another for a second slug of whisky he gathered
material for a huge snowball, then walking carefully on his skates and
hiding the ball behind his back, went after Carter.

John was nearing the summerhouse when he made the mistake of looking back
to see how far behind him Dave was.  And he saw that Dave had one hand
behind his back.  That was bad.  Very bad.  Turning so that he was walking
backward, John paused long enough to scoop up some snow with his glove,
shaping it into a ball.  "Admit it, Dave.  I outsmarted you," John said one
more time.  He knew he could hit Dave with the snowball.  The man was an
easy target.

But walking backward in the snow was tricky.  Even more so on ice skates
and without warning John felt himself falling backward into the snow as his
left skate snagged on a root or something.  The snow cushioned his fall but
John knew he would never be able to get back to his feet before Dave
reached him.  Hell, he was toast now.  Laughing, John couldn't resist one
more taunt.  "I outsmarted you.  Admit it, Malucci."

Dave hurried toward his tormentor.  "You cheated.  You cheated bad."   He
stood above Carter where he'd fallen in the snow and grinned, then dropped
his snowball squarely onto Carter's face.  "Cheat."

"That's cold!" John protested as he raised his hands to his face to wipe
away the snow.  "If you're going to freeze me to death, then you should at
least have the decency to warm me up."

Dave dropped to his knees, straddling Carter's legs.  "It's what cheats
deserve.  Death by snowball."

Lord, but Dave was so close and his groin was touching John's groin and
John's mind just couldn't function any longer.  Instead his body took full
control of his actions and he reached out to press his hand against Dave's
testicles, savoring the way they felt through the pants, but wishing even
more that no clothing at all covered them.  "All things considered, I'd
rather die by these balls."

Dave looked down at Carter, he didn't know how he got himself into these
situations, he really didn't.  He groaned inarticulately in the back of his
throat, then lowered himself until his body covered Carter's.  One of his
hands scrabbled to make another snowball.  "What makes you think you have a
choice?"

John slowly smiled.  "Maybe it's the fact that I've got these in my hand."
John gave Dave's balls a slight squeeze and he wondered if Dave's cock was
hard.  It had to be hard, it just had to be.  John couldn't be the only one
of them who found this arousing.

Dave looked at Carter's face, so close below him, and lowered his own
through half of the intervening distance.  He completed his one handed
snowball.  "Raise your head."

Dave was going to kiss him and John's heart cheered at that realization.
He raised his head up, his lips already tingling from the expected contact.

Dave pushed the snowball ruthlessly down the back of Carter's clothes, and
grinned.

The cold wetness against his skin was a shock to John's system -- doubly so
since he had been expecting a kiss.  He was such a damn fool.  Angry with
himself for believing that Dave had wanted him and angry with Dave for
taking advantage of that momentary lapse of judgment, John pushed his hands
against Dave's chest, trying to dislodge him.  "You bastard!  Get off me."

Dave laughed, and made sure he was firmly in place.  "It's you who started
cheating."

"I mean it, Malucci.  Get the fuck off of me."  John moved his hands to the
middle of Dave's chest, hoping for better leverage while bucking his hips
up in another effort to make Dave move.

Dave let out a groan as he felt Carter's hardness under him come into
contact with his own.  Even through multiple layers of clothing it felt so,
so good.  He wiggled himself into place a little more securely.

"Damn you, Dave.  Let me get up."  The snow that had been dumped down his
back was melting and it made John shiver, but he tried to ignore how cold
he was getting.  His entire focus was on getting away from Dave.

Dave laughed.  "Okay, maybe you've got me twice already today.  But d'ya
really think you can sucker me three times?"

With all the snow around his ears, John's hearing was becoming muffled.
"Suck you?  You're the last man I would suck off, David Malucci.  Now let
me the fuck up or there'll be Hell to pay."  Another shiver went through
John's body, but he ignored it.