Taxes 5 - Halloween / Day of the Dead

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5A, Part 3: After Hours
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Jack had been hoping for wall-to-wall bodies and drunken folk with loose grips on their belongings, as in Byrd's memories of years prior. He found, however, a very sane, if not entirely sober affair, with all the elaborate costuming at least slightly damp.

There was still a decent throng, and Jack marked men dressed as sexy firefighters, three distinct Tina Turners, a Balinese dancer, and the entire cast of 'Kill Bill.' It was acceptable, he decided, though as they stopped before a stage with fairly loud music, he let himself look slightly mournful. Ah, perfect - Will, leaning in to cheer him up. Full lips found his as the light drizzle specked their shoulders. The beat set them both to moving again - nothing so formal as before, just forward-back-twist, touching a little bit beyond street legal. Ludacris, blaring from the turntables...

'When I move you move'
'Just like that?'

...Hips swaying...

'When I move you move'
'Just like that?'

...Thighs locked...

'When I move you move'
'Just like that?'
'Hell yeah! Hey DJ bring that back!'

Wonderful thing, choruses, Jack mused, feeling Byrd agree. Practically guaranteed Will would do that thing with his hips again. Whelp's eyes were closed, too - entirely different kind of sexy from when they were open.

//...too hot...// Byrd murmured, and Jack assented. Only the rain kept them from completely embarrassing themselves...

//...bloody rain...//
//...yeah...//

The music died down for a second and Will opened his eyes, took a breath.

"Ye haven't got a hat..." Jack observed.

"No..."

"So ye haven't got anything t' keep the rainwater off those lips..." Jack suited actions to words. "Can make 'em swell, and while it's a lovely look for Elizabeth...mm. Not sure I got it all." With another kiss they'd edged back against a building, and were leaning on brick, at the edge of a bar patio. Jack found an unattended cocktail on the low brick wall and took good care of it. Then he stumbled back, ensuring Will would reach forward, stumble back himself, further into the alley...

And Jack, halting, as Will fetched up against him, for Byrd was whispering...

//... maybe an alley in West Hollywood isn't the best place for two men to be engaging in illicit behavior... the authorities might actually be watching for that sort of thing...//

Jack gave an authentic sigh as he held the lad against him, and assured his other half that he wouldn't hold it against *him,* for pointing it out.

"You aren't going to have your way with me?" Will asked. "Captain's prerogative..."

"Later, whelp!" But Jack did pull him in for a tight kiss, crushing their lips together. One of them made a little mewling sound deep in their throat, but he wasn't sure which it was...

Very distracting, so he could be excused for barely sensing the sword seconds before it cut the space where they would both have been.

Was it blunted? Bad to assume...after all, *his* wasn't. His sword was, however, out, and locked with someone who very much appeared to be ...black mask, black hat, cape...

Yes, he was, in fact, crossing swords with Zorro.

A click as the swords flicked down, met again...up, back, step...testing, feeling one another out...

Zorro was good.

The D.J. at the hip-hop stage was spinning again, DMX this time.

'Y'all gon' make me lose my mind up in HERE, up in here.'

Slash, swish, spin...Jack ducked, and Zorro hooked his hat. This likely saved the masked man's life, for it demonstrated that his sword was not edged - the hat was balanced, not caught. But...was that a smear...?

'Y'all gon' make me go all out up in here, up in here.'

Zorro backed up, tossed the hat in the air, and whisked his sword as it fell. He caught it low and tossed it back. It was now marked with a black-chalked Z.

"Oh, no ye didn't."

'Y'all gon' make me act a FOOL up in HERE, up in here.'

Past time to be a proper pirate and cheat. Jack closed with him, face intent, and Zorro began to look just a little nervous. Jack made sure their blades caught, then let Byrd's martial arts knowledge sift through for a foot sweep that had Zorro on his behind.

'Y'all gon' make me lose my cool up in here, up in here.'

Seconds later, the black-clad man was tangled in his cape and Jack had his sword. Crouching, he held one blade to either side of Zorro's head.

"Yield?" he asked, now smiling again, and the man nodded. Fairly quickly, Jack noticed.

"Whoa," Zorro said, finally speaking. "That was freakin' awesome! You've got to be, like, the best pirate I've ever seen!"

"Theo!?" said Will, and it sounded a bit like Smith peeking through.

"I mean, most guys have the stuff, but they're, like, too cool to play along, right? Damn, guess you might be good enough for him after all..."

"Theo, have you got to hassle every one of my boyfriends?"

"Oh Will?" Jack shifted eyes back and forth and back again.

Will sighed, and now it was definitely Turner putting on Smith's accents. Poor actor, Jack's pirate a-

"Theo, Jack. Jack, this is Theo Gravas. We used to date. Theo, this is Jack and yes, he's my boyfriend."

"Hi, Jack. No hard feelings?"

"I suppose not, no, as my exes tend t'be far less protective of me person and far more likely t' assault it."

"Cool, cool. So not trying to steal Will back, by the way. I'm in a thing."

//...as if he could...// Byrd, in a feral growl that confirmed they were in fact the same man, deep down. Now, if this attractive, appreciative, *annoying* swordsman could just-

"Can I buy you guys some drinks?"

Or, he could stick around just a little bit.

* * *

"How'd you get us in without cover?"

"I've me own brand of magic, lad, what's got nothing to do with chaos gods and trickster spirits and everything t'do with rum and wanting more of it."

"Right."

"Is that your real accent?" Theo asked. The three were now inside the patio with the low brick wall, Jack sipping a pina colada. Possibly his new favorite rum drink- he'd have to give that matter some thought. They were still close enough to the hip-hop stage to catch all the music.

"Well, it may be that it is," put on Byrd's beach accents, "And maybe not."

"Well, it's cool, anyway. You guys have a good Halloween so far?"

"Mm-hm," Will replied. "Lots of candy corn, trick-or-treating, costume contest, office party, weird magical rituals, blood sacrifice...you know, the usual." He tilted back his Guinness and leaned against Jack, the both of them swaying in time. "You?"

"Decent. Well, I don't have to work tonight, so wonderful. My S.O. does, though. When he gets off the job, he'll head over and we'll meet up, hopefully, but..." Theo trailed off and held out a hand. Sure enough, water was bouncing off his palm, and it was speeding up. Well, a bit of rain never-

*BZZZZT!*

Bright spark and loud buzz from within the club, and the lights went out. The stage provided enough light, but then an announcement came over a megaphone from the bar. "Okay, looks like we've got a short somewhere, and the fire marshal says no lights, no party. Everybody out!"

Jack, Will, and Theo just jumped the wall, not bothering to crowd for the door. The rain increased, water beginning to sluice down Jack's neck - he adjusted his hat and jacket just a bit. Will was soaked and he looked *wonderful* thus, but he also seemed a bit cold. Theo, meanwhile, was heading for cover.

"See you guys!" he said. "I'm not waiting for anyone in this!"

He was gone, then, and Will looked at Jack hopefully. "Car?"

Nefarious plan forming... "Yes, let's do."

* * *

The plan was very simple, and had mostly t wit with the fact that Will, soaking wet, needed privacy to be truly appreciated, at least in this day and age. Nothing wrong with a distraction, though...conversational misdirection of sorts...and yes, he was curious about Gravas.

"So he's Greek this go-round, is he? And, perhaps a bit...off?"

"It seems," Will said slowly, "that Theo feels he must test Smith's boyfriends for some sort of coolness factor, and that you passed. They ended amicably, and Will does consider his opinion. But - this go-round?" Jack watched the penny drop, watched Will blink. "Groves!" Blinked again. "It fits, you know. He's a policeman near where we live, under Gillette. Jill, rather." Will took his eyes off the road for just a second to consider Jack, then turned back. "I've just realized something. I recall...he always admired you, in our lifetimes."

"That I knew - he said as much to me a time or two, once with gratifying regret before I was to hang, though it would've been more gratifying if he'd brought a knife for me bonds or some such."

"And, well, look at him now. Just a bit off-center, as you say, and if you say it, then more than a bit to most. A good swordsman, as well, though I'm better." Candid whelp. "He's become much like you, longings in his old life made fact in the new."

*Insightful* whelp.

"And I fell for it," Will said, almost bitterly.

Self-recriminating whelp, too, for all that Jack did to convince him guilt was just bad for the digestion. "Ah, me William, sounds like ye didn't fall for it long, and anyway, ye couldn't have known what ye were truly waitin' for. Nor, I'll add, did Byrd know - or did ye think I was a monk?"

A smile. Better. "I thought perhaps you had been, but not this time around."

"Not a monk, per se, and I never am going to live that one down, am I?"

"Well, for that, you would have to stop telling the story, would you not?"

"Ye may have a point there." Oh, the storm was following them, overtaking them, and Jack was beginning to feel the tapping of the rain against his skin, right through the metal roof and glass windshield. He closed his eyes, took a breath. Soon, it'd have to be soon, and it would be. Almost there...

"Pull over. Now!"

Will was still trained to him, trained as any sailor who knew that disobeying the captain in a storm or battle could mean death for all. He pulled off, very quickly but without skidding, to a graveled wide spot by the road.

"Jack?"

The rain was pounding, music he could hear and needed to feel. He got out of the car, stood, came around. Throwing open Will's door, he grabbed the lad by an arm and pulled him out, watching the water saturate what little had managed to dry. Then he took Will's wrist and led him down a path to the beach. Will did not resist, and Jack's glad suspicions were confirmed when they were face to face again. The lust in those eyes...

"You look..." Will raised a hand to run along a dripping, beaded braid.

"Aye?"

"Like part of the storm." Will lifted off Jack's hat and they were equal before the downpour. Deep kiss tasting of rainwater and Will and rum and beer and Will...they were on Jack's jacket now, and on their knees. The whelp was making off with his vest and shirt and telling him, "Stand."

"Stand what?\ "S "Stand, *Captain.*"

So he did, feeling the rain beat its tattoo across his shoulders, all cool and cold where the wind touched, and then there came warmth. His eyes shut and he heard the rush of rain on waves, felt Will, Will, rain and Will around him warm and oh, so good...his legs shook and the other man felt it, pulled away, bore him down.

The tips of his hair dripped against his chest as Will climbed him, caressed him as his eyes opened again, drawing bits of his own early pleasure out, stroking himself with it and making certain Jack saw. And the rain kept falling, running along Will's shoulders, falling on Jack's thighs. Will had his shirt on still, clinging *everywhere* and so sinfully Jack had to approve. Clasping, clinging, wet Will was against him as he took Jack's lips and explored with his hands. Eyes frighteningly intent, channeling something wild, the same thing Jack felt in his very bones now.

Wind, loud but not louder than the hushed thud of rain on sand, multiplied a million-fold. Scent of the ocean surrounding them, and Will pressing in without any control or technique, just a gasping pure need that made Jack moan in his turn. Fast immediately, knowing that Jack needed it thus now, or not knowing and beyond caring, Jack was beyond caring which and appreciated both, raw power in the man, in him, and he was far more helpless than he intended to fight it or use it...it used him, used them both...it was a storm, after all, wasn't it? Turned into it, rose to meet Will, crying out and the lad was as well...storm breakers, torrents hitting again and again, through Will and focused somewhere deep within him too...

Oh, god, gods and spirits all...need, force, screaming pleasure in his veins...

"aah....AAAhhh....AAAAHH!"

"God...oh, oh God...ohh...nnh...AAHHH!"

Wind pulled the cries from their lips and whipped them away, but they noticed the loss not much at all, moaning into each others' mouths as the rain fell all around. Bodies quieted, slowly, and pulled more tightly together as they did.

//...oh my...// A wondering murmur from Byrd within. //...what in Heaven and Earth...//
//...both, I'm thinkin'...but just a storm, really. didn't expect it t' take us so...not that we're complainin' but ye know I only intended t' take the lad while attractively drenched...//
//...yeah, backfired, but somehow I really don't mind...//

Will's unc unclouded, likely his own internal conversation at its end.

"What..." he began, gathered himself, began again. "Was that...Halloween, do you think? Or something even more primal?"

"Little of both, perhaps, but I'd call it serin...savon...serapi..." He blinked. "An unexpected bonus. Anyway, I think it may finally be time to get out of the rain."

"Why?" Will asked, resting a damp head against Jack's shoulder.

"Ye do have a point there."

* * * hey hey did, eventually, manage to get up and drip their way back to the car, Will nearly falling asleep at the wheel. Jack felt sleep...and rum...stealing up on him too, and the trip back to his house came in dreamlike snatches. Boots on a slick, wet driveway, moonlight glinting off long, dripping leaves. Clothes pooling on the kitchen floor, towels grabbed and dropped by the bed. The bed, and nothing beyond.

Next morning came upon Jack slowly, with the whistling of wind, loud enough to be clearing the sky and leaving all clear, bright, and cold. He wasn't cold, though, as his body was flush against Will's. He was, instead, warm and languid, warm without and within. It was a well, whole feeling that spread throughout his body, and it made him less unnerved than he might otherwise have been when he realized he wasn't sure exactly who he was just now.

Lying there, eyes shut, he searched himself *for* himself, and bits seemed to sort, align themselves, into Byrd and Sparrow respectively. The sweet feeling within him receded just a bit and he let it go with regret, focusing on that which was Byrd, all of him drawing it to the front and letting Sparrow settle back. They were still so very close, though, so entwined, as he and Will were physically.

//...mmm...// came Sparrow's thought. //...this...is nice...// Sigh, as Byrd felt the pirate use their proximity to give him the mental equivalent of a caress.

//...weird...but nice...wonder what's up?...//

//...it's possible ye may know...I don't...I think it's you...relax and let yerself find it...//

The pirate's urgings were almost an internal massage. Byrd drifted an instant and caught the notion.

"Dia de los Muertos," he said aloud, and Will stirred. //...the Day of the Dead. Spirits that return on Halloween night...become strong, stay to vithe the living world...//

//...spooky season not over, then?...//

//...not 'till the third...could be that's why we're so close now...you were already here and part of me, but it affects us anyway...//

Will came awake then, and Jack saw tenseness in his frame and the set of his eyes that belied the blissful smile on his face. He leaned in close and whispered in Will's ear.

"Relax, but try to focus. Use me...I'm Byrd now, can you feel it? Pull Smith forward, let Turner rest against him..." Will breathed deep and his muscles unlocked. He lay there for several minutes, and then pulled himself up a little to recline on stacked pillows.

"Whoa..." Will said. "This...that was...we felt *good,* but we knew we were getting lost in each other, and...thanks."

"De nada. By the by, we think it's still the time of year getting to us. Today, and tomorrow for some, is the Day of the Dead."

"Dia de los Muertos," Will replied. "Right. Yeah, makes as much sense as anything." Shivered. "Ooh. My feet are cold."

"Going to be chilly today after the storm. I'll go get the fireplace going."

"Good plan."

"Squeak!" agreed Hector, untwisting from the bed-frame, and crawling up on Jack's shoulder once he'd shrugged on a robe. Humming "A Pirate's Life for Me," Jack wandered out into the living room, igniting the fireplace, and moving to the windows. Letting in the filtered sunlight, he blinked twice, and then screamed like a girl.

Which is pretty much what one does when a skeletal face is peering in one's window.

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TO BE CONTINUED IN TAXES 5B:
DAY OF THE DEAD
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TMF