Title: Five + One (A Kradam Choose Your Own ~Adventure)
Author: sprat
Rating: PG-13
Length: ???
Warnings: Schmoop!
Summary: Five kisses (and then another one)
Previous Part: HERE
Note: Last section! Thanks for your encouragement and patience, everybody. This has been really fun to write.


Six

Adam loves the boat. It's his favourite big purchase, better than the house, even. He's always loved the water, and in the back of his mind he also has this plan: if everything goes to hell after all, if his albums stop selling and the foreclosure guys come to take away his house and his car and his McQueen collection, he's going to sail the boat out into international waters and just. Live on it. From now on.

"Oh," Kris says, when Adam tells him this. "Because, hey. Then you could become a pirate, maybe." They're lying on the upper deck of the boat, which is docked at the marina, still, rocking with the swell of the incoming tide. Kris has his head turned so he can look at Adam, his eyes bright. "You know? You could grow a moustache. It'd be awesome."

"Ha ha," Adam says. "Jerk. That's the last time I tell you any of my secret plans." He's smiling, though, his eyes on the sky and its crazy spill of stars, the arm of the milky way stretching out toward the horizon like a blanket made of light. The wind is warm and smells oceany and fresh, and Kris is here, actually here, next to him, toes of his scuffed sneakers knocking together right in Adam's line of sight, shoulder solid against his own. Sometimes when he's touring he forgets why talking to people on the phone is no substitute for actually seeing them, being with them in person. He forgets how much he's missing this. "Hey," he says after a couple of quiet minutes. "Did they get you a release date yet?"

Kris nods. "They weren't going to give me one. Like, why have a meeting at all then, you know? But Aaron scared them into it."

Adam turns his head to look at Kris, lifts his eyebrows. "And?" he says finally.

Kris blinks. "Oh. Ha. November 15th."

"Christmas season," Adam says. "That's good." He shifts, turns onto his side and pillows his head on his own curled arm. "You know which studio yet?"

Kris shakes his head. "I want something in L.A., though. I don't. I want to stick around for a while. I'm tired of travelling."

Adam hmms. Kris looks tired, even in profile; Adam can see a web of fine, tiny lines at the corner of his eye, dark circles like bruises. Touring takes its toll, but so does a year spent fake-smiling for the cameras, telling people that the end of your marriage was just one of those things, and nobody's mad, and everybody's friends. Adam reaches out without thinking about it, touches Kris's temple gently with the back of his finger. Kris turns his head, smiles at Adam, uncertain but not concerned. Adam lets his hand fall to Kris's arm, wraps his fingers around it. "You want to go home?" he says. "I forgot you spent the whole day on a plane."

Kris shakes his head. "I'm good," he says. "In fact, I think I might never move again."

Adam smiles. "Well, I don't know about that. How am I supposed to get any pirating done when you're lying on my deck?"

"Why can't I be a pirate, too?" Kris says.

Adam purses his lips. "I don't know," he says, dubious. "Can you even grow a moustache?"

Kris smiles again. "Shit," he says. "Guess we're at an impasse." Adam breathes out a laugh, strokes Kris's arm with his thumb. Kris laughs, too, but he doesn't take his eyes off Adam's face and after a moment or two, the laughter dies away. They look at each other. Adam strokes Kris's arm again, questioningly, and Kris takes a deep breath, gives his head a tiny shake, lowers his eyes to Adam's chin, to his chest.

Adam swallows. "What?" he says.

Kris's face is flushed. He licks his lips, lifts his gaze to meet Adam's again. "Um," he says, and clears his throat. "I just. Would it be weird if I wanted to kiss you?"

Adam breathes out, his fingers tightening their grip on Kris's arm. "Is that a hypothetical question?" he asks.

Kris rolls onto his side, too, his face open and serious. "No," he says, and then he takes a breath like he's going to say something else, give Adam more of an explanation, but it never happens, because Adam's already kissing him. He keeps it light, a brief warm press of their lips, lifting the hand he'd had on Kris's arm so he can stroke the backs of his fingers over the side of Kris's face.

He pulls away, after, meets Kris's eyes. "Like that?" he says, and Kris nods and swallows and grabs Adam's wrist, puts Adam's hand back on his face. Adam huffs a laugh and kisses Kris again, a little deeper this time, teeth closing around Kris's bottom lip, tongue swiping gently at the bitten flesh after he lets it go. Kris moans, rolls onto his back and pulls Adam over with him, on top of him. Adam gives up on restraint, pushes the fingers of both hands into Kris's soft hair and tilts Kris's head a little, licks into Kris's open mouth and kisses him for real.