Love in Strange Places 
by Surreal
Feedback:  surreal666@hotmail.com
Homepage:  http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~slr27166/slash.html
Rating:  NC/17 for m/m naughtiness
Pairing:  Langly/Byers.  Duh!
Disclaimer:  Not mine, at least not at the moment.
Archive:  Unusual Suspects, LGM list, Basement
Note:  Written at the request of Sandy, who wanted the boys to
play in the mountains.  Thanks to Sally for her help with the 
medical stuff; it made this story so much more realistic!
Summery:  Fun with nature:  the boys go climbing, camping, and
other such shenanigans.


~~*~~


Langly glared up at the other man from where he had taken his latest
spill, tripping on yet another hidden root.  

"If you would stay on the trail and not so close to the trees you
wouldn't have this problem,"  Byers reminded him, offering the 
fallen man a hand up.

Not in the mood for Byers' natureboy attitude, he swatted away the 
proffered hand and climbed to his feet.  "I can take care of myself,
John," he said sharply.

"Whatever,"  Byers held up his hands in surrender.  He shifted the
heavy hiking pack on his shoulders and turned back to the path.  

Waiting until the older man started walking again, Langly fell into
step behind him.  He felt bad for snapping at his lover, but he also
didn't want him to worry.  Langly knew how much this hiking trip
meant to Byers, and the fact that the younger man was not in shape
to handle the strenuous activity forced him to push himself.  Only
five hours into the hike, he was already feeling weak and unsteady.

He would be the last to admit it out loud, though.

Focusing on the older man's back, he set his body on autopilot and
just concentrated on staying the course.  He knew they would only
be going until it started to get dark, then set up camp for the night.
And he had to admit, he *was* enjoying the trip.

As the hours passed, however, he felt progressively worse.  It wasn't
just the cramps in his legs and ribcage, or the constant stumbling that
was bothering him.  He was having trouble breathing, and it was 
getting worse.  

His asthma had kept him from doing a lot of things like this for years.
Byers knew about it, and made sure Langly kept up on his medication.
Most of the time, the younger man did.  At least, he thought so.

But now, he had to wonder if he was doing enough.  He felt terrible,
his chest was too tight and he couldn't get enough air anymore.  He
*had* to stop, before he simply collapsed.

"John..." he croaked out weakly, the sound barely making it to his
own ears.  He drew as much air in as he could, and called out,
"John!  Stop, I have...to stop," he choked out, his vision graying
on the edges.

Byers turned quickly at the raspy sound in time to see Langly 
clinging to a tree and clutching at his chest, his eyes shut tightly
in pain.  "God," he whispered, running back to the other man.

Langly opened his eyes when he felt the firm, warm grip on his
arm as Byers carefully guided him over to a fallen tree and sat
him down.  The older man shrugged off his bag, then reached to
unclasp Langly's and let it drop next to his.  

Unable to get enough air to even whisper, Langly looked at the
other man helplessly.  He felt like he was drowning, his body
betraying him.  

Taking a moment to squeeze Langly's shoulder in reassurance,
Byers reached for his bag and dug into one of the outside pockets.
His hand closed around the sought item and he pulled it out, reading
the label quickly:  Beclovent.  "Damn," he cursed, groping back 
and finding the other one.  

He took the inhaler marked Ventolin and put it to his lover's mouth,
which opened obediently to accept the medication.  Byers kept
rubbing his back as Langly took two harsh puffs from the inhaler,
his breathing now in short gasps instead of not at all.  The older 
man glanced at his watch, keeping track of when he would need to 
give Langly the next dose.

"It's okay, hon, just take it slow.  Nice, slow breaths.  You know
how to do this," he coached the younger man calmly, while his own
heart raced with worry.

After nearly ten minutes, Langly finally started to feel better.  
He could still barely draw half a breath and he'd started to shake
already, a familiar side effect of the drugs.  Huddled tightly 
into himself, he ran his hands through his hair, ducking his head 
down between his arms and clasping his hands together.

"Better?"  Byers asked softly, his hand still moving in small,
comforting circles over Langly's back.  

Langly nodded a little, but didn't look up.  

Byers could feel the younger man trembling under his hands
and mentally berated himself for not paying attention earlier.
He should have noticed the moment Langly started having 
trouble, instead of waiting until he'd nearly collapsed.

With a soft sigh, he wrapped his arm the rest of the way
around the younger man's shoulders and buried his face 
against the side of Langly's head.  He let his lips rest for 
a moment in the soft hair.  "Sorry," he whispered, hugging
his partner closer as he said it.

Langly looked at him this time with a questioning frown.  He
opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.  Clearing
his throat and taking a weak breath, he tried again.  "What
for?" he asked in a breathless, too-soft voice.

"I shouldn't have pushed you so hard," Byers looked at the 
ground, wincing.  "Should have realized you weren't keeping
up with your medication."

Langly shook his head, then shut his eyes as a wave of dizziness
hit him.  "Not...your fault.  Mine," he wheezed. 

Byers gave him a steady look, not sure how to continue.  "You
*do* need to take better care of yourself, babe.  Scared the
shit out of me, you know that?" he tried to smile but it didn't
quite work.  "But it wasn't your fault.  Okay?"

A shy smile and a nod answered him.  

"Okay," Byers smiled back, then checked his watch.  "You 
ready for another hit?" He held up the rescue inhaler.

"Sure, why not?"  Langly shrugged and reached for it, then 
saw how much his hands were shaking.  

Byers noticed too, and looked at the other man's face.  He 
had a bit more color than before, but was still a sickly gray.
"Let me, it's okay," he told him, and he repeated his earlier
ministrations.

While Langly was working on getting his airways to cooperate,
Byers dug through the younger man's bag for what he knew would
be there.  He found one of the cans of Mountain Dew after a 
moment and popped it open. 

"Here, you should drink some of this.  How you can stand the taste
is beyond me, but you need the caffeine," he let Langly take a 
small sip, then another before setting it aside.  

"Thanks,"  Langly said, his voice stronger and more stable.  "For
everything, I mean.  How do you know to do all this stuff?"  He
leaned into his lover, resting his head against Byers' shoulder.

The older man held him tight, kissing the top of his head.  "I
figured someone had to, since you...well, anyway.  My job to take
care of you, make sure you stick around for a while longer."

That made Langly smile.  "Yeah, someone has to," he echoed
quietly.  

They sat in silence for a while, Byers listening to Langly's rough
breathing.  He finally decided the younger man was going to be
fine and rubbed his arm briskly.  "Okay, here's the plan.  I saw
a clearing a little bit further up the trail.  We can set up camp 
there for the night, and go the rest of the way up in the morning."

Langly sat up straight and faced the other man.  "John, it's still
light out.  We can still make it to the top of the falls tonight."

"I'm not going to risk it, Ree.  You need to kick back and let your
body heal.  That was a pretty serious attack, you know."

"I'm fine now, I can--"

"No, you aren't, okay?  I know you feel all hyper like you can
take over the world right now, but that's because we just pumped
you full of steroids and stimulants.  Trust me, in about half an 
hour you'll be ready to pass out."  Byers stood, and helped Langly
to his feet.  He pulled his bag onto his shoulders first, then bend
down to help Langly get his on.  "Got it?" he asked, fussing with
the younger man's straps.

"Good to go," Langly assured him with a smile, despite his pale
features.  

It wasn't long before they emerged from the woods into a small,
secluded clearing.  Langly felt ready to collapse and decided that
dropping his heavy bag was a good starter.  It took all his willpower
not to follow it down.

He didn't have to hang on long, however.  Before he knew it, Byers
had settled him down propped up against his own backpack with 
his pillow and covered him with the blanket from inside the bag.  
Langly looked up to meet warm blue eyes.  

Byers kissed the tip of his nose affectionately.  "You just hang out
here, 'kay?"  

His mind was ready to protest, but his body wouldn't let him.  Langly
simply nodded and gave him a grateful smile.  He reached out and 
took Byers' hand, squeezing it briefly.  "Let me know if you want 
me to help, okay?" he said sleepily.  

"I will.  Just rest, okay?  And don't lay down flat, stay like this 
with your head above your heart."

"Hmm?  Oh.  Where did you learn all this stuff?"

Byers reached up to brush the hair out of Langly's eyes.  "I read the
brochure."

Langly fell asleep still trying to figure out what that meant.


~~*~~


Content that everything was done that could be done, Byers sat back
on his heels and threw a few more small branches onto the fire.  He
stood, wiped his hands on his jeans and wandered back over to the 
sleeping figure.  It was nearing the end of the sunset, only a hint of
orange light left surrounding them, but the glow of the fire made up
for the lack of light.

He paused briefly next to the younger man, just watching the steady
rise and fall of his chest.  Reluctant to break the calm, soothing 
rhythm, he knelt down and ran his fingers lightly down Langly's cheek.
Langly sighed and leaned into his touch.

Opening one eye first, then both, Langly blinked into awareness.  
"Hmmm..." he murmured and started to roll onto his side lazily.  He
forgot his position and ended up face down in the grass.

Chucking, Byers reached down and helped him sit up.  "Wakey, wakey,"
he said cheerfully, brushing the dirt off Langly's cheek and picking
the pine needles out of his hair.  

"Time 's it?"  Langly slurred, pushing his fingers up under his glasses
and rubbing his eyes.  

"Little after six.  Hungry?"  Byers reached over and stirred the 
contents of the pan balanced over the fire.  "You should be able to
keep down some soup.  It's chicken, and there's saltine crackers to
go with it."

"Sounds good," the blond smiled, scooting up closer to the fire and
crossing his legs in front of him, bunching the blanket up in his lap.

Byers handed him an already filled bowl and the package of crackers.
They ate together in companionable silence, listening to the sounds of
the forest around them.  In the distance was the soft roar of the 
waterfalls they had come to see.

Rinsing their few dishes off and putting them away, Byers settled
down behind Langly, wrapping his arms and legs around the younger
 man and hugging him close.

"Feeling okay?  You've been quiet for a long time,"  Byers said 
softly into his ear, rubbing his cheek against the soft expanse of
blond hair.

Langly leaned back against him with a sigh and brought his hands up
to where Byers' arms crossed over his chest.  "Yeah, babe.  I'm fine.
I...I just feel bad about today.  I mean, I wanted this to be a fun 
trip and you're doing all the work..."

Byers squeezed him and kissed the cold, red tip of Langly's ear.
"Don't.  First thing, you had a serious attack today and that took
you down pretty hard.  Second, I *like* taking care of you, okay?
So don't worry about it.  Just kick back and relax with me."

So he did.


~~*~~


Byers woke up sometime after midnight when Langly rolled over
and curled around him from behind like a human blanket.  

The older man smiled warmly, sliding his hand up and down the
arm Langly had draped over his chest.  He felt Langly's warm
breath against the back of his neck, the soft, sleepy sigh and
unconscious wiggle as he tried to move closer.

Pressing his face into his pillow, Byers was settling in to go 
back to sleep when he felt Langly push up against him, and 
drape one of those long, slender legs over his.

He also felt Langly's hard-on pressing against his ass.

"Ree," he whispered, reaching down to pat the leg draped over
him.  

A soft, warm kiss touched the back of his neck and he knew
the younger man was no longer asleep, if he ever was.  

"Sorry, can't help it," Langly mumbled next to his ear, but made
no move to back off.  

Byers could feel his own body responding, so he rolled over to
face his lover.  He was met by a pair of soft blue eyes, dark 
with arousal.  Even in the dark, he could see the tender smile
in his memory.  

"Hey,"  Langly breathed, reaching up to stroke his partner's 
face softly.  He traced the cheekbones, eyebrows, and back
down along the neatly trimmed line of hair along the jaw.

He felt the warm, wet lips under his fingers, felt them part
and let him in.  Hot, slick tongue running over the tips of his
fingers and he purred happily. 

"You sure you're up to this?" Byers asked, his voice already
husky with desire.

"Oh, yeah," Langly grinned and tackled his lover.  Settling
his weight over Byers, he kissed him deeply, lazily, for as
long as he had air, then buried his face against his neck.

Byers shifted beneath the surprisingly substantial weight of his
lover, placing one thigh between Langly's legs and moving it
against the warmth of the younger man's arousal.

Langly moaned and thrust back against Byers' leg, growing 
harder.  "Ooohh..." he made a sound from deep in his throat
that made Byers grow warmer everywhere.  He loved that he
had this kind of power, this ability to give this beautiful man
exactly what he craved.

"UH...oh, GOD,"  Byers sobbed when he felt long, talented fingers
wrap around his erection and stroke once, so tight and slow.  His
hips moved with the motion, and his legs moved again.  He 
positioned Langly between his legs, lining their groins up perfectly 
and drew his legs up, bending his knees.

Slipping one hand between them, which proved harder than he
would have thought, he finally found Langly's cock and imitated
the long, slow caress.

"Aaahhh...je--sus..."  Langly groaned and thrust into the tight hand
gripping him.  They were both already slick with sweat and pre-come,
gaining a rhythm by pushing against one another, into the other's 
hand and along his whole body.  

Byers stroked his free hand down Langly's back while they touched
each other.  He listened carefully to the younger man's breathing, 
making sure he didn't start wheezing from the exertion.  

He felt a strong, rough thumb slide over his tip and lost all other
thought.  His head fell back against the pillow and he gasped out
the other man's name.

Regaining a semblance of control, he slid his hand down and ran
his fingers over Langly's entrance.

The man sprawled over him suddenly tensed up everywhere at the
unexpected touch and bit his lip.  "Gu-uh.." he panted heavily,
making his body relax again.  

"You okay?"  Byers looked at him, his hand resting in the small
of Langly's back.

"Yeah...god, do that again and I won't last much longer,"  Langly
laughed breathlessly, leaning down for a deep, needy kiss.  

Byers moaned into his mouth and bucked into the hand still 
surrounding him tightly.  "'S'okay, me neither," he managed to
choke out, running his lips over his lover's lightly stubbled jaw
and cheek.  

"Okay....okay, fuck, I'm close too...do--do that again, please...."
Langly clung to him tightly, the rhythm of his hand and his own
thrusts becoming more rapid, more unsteady.  

Langly shuddered and cried out as Byers slipped his middle finger
into the younger man's body.  It was tight, but slick enough from
their sweat to not be uncomfortable.  He curled his finger up and
found the sweet spot, brushing over it with a fluttering motion.

"AH...God, ah, uh--oh, John, John..."  Langly writhed on him 
frantically, reaching his climax in mere seconds.  His back arched
and he threw his head back with a wild cry erupting from between
swollen, wet lips.

Byers watched, transfixed, as Langly came hard, slick wetness
between them and muscles clenching around his hand and the sweet,
almost pained grimace of ecstasy that he would never tire of seeing.

Thrusting up against the shuddering, slick, heavy body, Byers followed
with his own orgasm before Langly had stopped spasming.  

Langly opened his eyes in time to take in the beautiful sight of his
lover in extremis, at his peak.  He grinned and kept stroking the 
jerking cock still in his hand, growing more wet and hot with each
shudder.  He gave it one final slow, tender stroke before releasing
it.

Sticky, hot, breathing hard and reeking of sex, they looked at each
other and shared a smile.

Rolling them onto their sides, Byers flung one leg over the other 
man's and held him close, stroking his fingers through the sweaty,
tangled hair.  He kissed Langly's forehead, tasting the salt on his
lips.  "How're you doing?" he whispered.

"Mmmmm...much better now..."  Langly responded, a smile in his
voice.  Suddenly remembering something Byers had said earlier,
he looked up.  "Did you learn that from the brochure too?" he 
smirked.

Byers looked confused for a moment, then smiled back secretly.
"Yeah, I did."

Langly pinched his ass playfully.  "What is this mystery booklet
you neglected to mention before today?"

The older man snuggled into the bedding and pulled his lover as
close as possible.  "Care and Feeding of One Ringo Langly."


~~*~~


End.