Sleeper Train

Romance short. Two boyfriends head up north on the sleeper train.

850 words, rated T, M/M. Short, sweet, romance and slice-of-life. Adapted from a TweetFic.

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Adam stands in the doorway of the little sleeper cabin in awe, loosely gripping the sliding door to keep it from sliding closed — he stares at all the neat little shelves, at how deep set in the wall the narrow bed looks, at the little fold out table.

Behind him, Lucas leans in to kiss his neck. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs in Adam’s ear, his breath warm against his earlobe, against his little moustache earring. “As soon as we get into Edinburgh and we’re in the house, I’ll head over to the office. I’ll be there until 2 at the absolute latest, and then the whole weekend is yours.”

“Why sorry?” Adam asks faintly. “You think I’m angry?”

“That your birthday trip has been turned into my business trip?”

“Lucas, we’re on a train. In a sleeper’s cabin. Overnight.” Adam breathes in, filling his lungs, and then says breathlessly, “It’s like Poirot.”

Lucas laughs, burying his face in the back of Adam’s neck before he says, “Please don’t kill anyone.”

“But, Lucas. It’s my birthday.”

“It’s your birthday tomorrow — no murder today. It wouldn’t be a mystery if one of us did it, anyway.”

“Fingers crossed someone else gets killed, then.”

Lucas grins, kissing the back of each of Adam’s ears. “Get a drink?”

“Would you be angry if I said I wanted to lie down?”

“No, not at all. Pyjamas?”

“Can I?”

Lucas laughs again, squeezing his shoulder. “Sure, why not?”

“You’re not worried the train people will think I’m weird?”

“I couldn’t give a toss what they think. If you want pyjamas and your fluffy dressing gown, have them.”

“Undress me,” says Adam. He says it imperiously, mock-commanding, but Lucas doesn’t even hesitate: pushing him into the room and letting the door slide shut behind them, he reaches around Adam’s body and starts undoing his shirt.

Adam thrills with it as he lets himself be undressed, relaxes into Lucas’ hands as he pulls off Adam’s shirt, sits him down to take off his shoes for him. It’s nice, in the moment, to let Lucas treat him like a doll — he likes this, enjoys the weight of all of Lucas’ attention to him as he unzips the side of and helps him off with his binder, slides off his trousers, his socks, massaging his feet for a moment before he goes for Adam’s pyjama bottoms.

Lucas is smiling.

“Better without your binder?”

“Yeah,” Adam murmurs, and a minute later, as he buttons up Adam’s pyjama shirt, Adam kisses the other man, brushes their lips against one another. The train is starting to move now, just beginning to chug out of the station, and Adam grins as he nudges up the blind, looking out of the window and knowing there’s a dreamy look in his eyes.

“Can I stay in bed the whole time?” he asks.

“Of course, sir,” says Lucas in his best valet’s voice as he puts Adam’s clothes on one of the little hangers provided. “I’ll get you a pan to piss in.”

“Ugh,” Adam says, reaching to shove him in the thigh, and Lucas laughs.

The bed is comfortable even if the blanket is a little too thin, but before he can say anything Lucas has thrown the weighted blanket out of his suitcase on top of his body, and is falling into bed behind him.

“I want to sleep on the inside,” Adam tells him.

“Are you sleeping now? It’s not even dark outside — I just want to kiss my boy.”

“Oh,” says Adam, and trying to sound put-upon, says, “Fine. If you must.”

Lucas cups his cheek as he kisses him, the train tracks shuttering past beneath them, the carriage rattling in a comforting, calming way.

“Bet Poirot never did this,” says Lucas.

“Blasphemy.”

* * *

He really does spend a lot of the trip in bed — lying on his side and watching videos with half-hearted interest on his phone, he almost dozes as Lucas looks at work reports on his laptop. It’s relaxing, the regular chug and rhythm of the train beneath them.

“Gonna go grab something to eat,” Lucas says, touching his hair, curling a lock of it around his fingers. “You want anything?”

“Just a sandwich, please.”

“Soup?”

“They have soup?”

“If you want it.”

Adam nods sleepily, and leans his face into Lucas’ hand as he cups the side of Adam’s jaw, thumb touching against his cheek.

“Sorry,” he says again.

“I really don’t mind,” says Adam, smiling up at him. “This is nice.”

Lucas bends down to kiss him again, but he doesn’t pull away immediately after, rubbing their noses together. The tip of his nose is cold.

“If I find a body,” he says in a low, solicitous voice, “I’ll send someone to get you.”

“Promise?”

Lucas’ laugh is low and rich, and as Adam sprawls back on the little bed, he watches with heavy-lidded eyes as Lucas slips out of the door and down the train corridor.

The dreamy smile is still on his face when Lucas comes back ten minutes later, soup in hand, and finds him fast asleep.

FIN.