Underneath the Milky Way

Posted on Fri Apr 26th, 2024 @ 8:41pm by Hale Stratton & Alonzo Blazevic

1,330 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Winter is Coming
Location: House Outside the Blast Zone, Maine
Timeline: 5 September 2010 - 11:00 p.m.

Alonzo Blazevic had approached the Jeep Cherokee with Hale Stratton, winds picking up a bit but just small gusts. What was nice about the lack of electricity and being out near a farm was that one could actually see the stars quite clearly in the night's sky especially on a clear night. The two men were set to spend the night in the Cherokee, Alonzo looking at Hale and smiling ever so slightly. "If it wasn't for the whole reanimated dead thing and not having access to electricity and internet, this really wouldn't be so bad, would it?" said the journalist. At least that was what he used to be.

"We have cover, privacy, and a makeshift bed," Hale said. "The only thing that's missing is room service."

Approaching the back of the Cherokee, Alonzo opened the hatch back and looked at Hale. "This actually is pretty spacious. We can fold the back seats down and sprawl out" commented Alonzo. This will be kind of like camping but safer he thought, especially if they closed the hatch back.

"Room service would be nice, but the privacy is better" he said with a bit of a mischievous tone. He did point out the Jeep Cherokee as an option for certain reasons. Having more alone time with Hale was definitely part of that. "Just you, me, and the stars."

"Nice that we can see them, isn't it," Hale said but he wasn't looking out the window. He was looking at Alonzo. "The stars, I mean."

Alonzo took a deep breath and exhaled unsteady, it was a shaky trembling exhale. Perhaps the few years of Marlboro vice catching up to him, or maybe that was just how Hale affected him. "Sometimes, it just takes an apocalyptic event to see nature, raw and often overlooked" replied Alonzo Blazevic.

He moved himself closer to Hale. It felt nice and natural to be as near Hale as he could get. Out underneath the stars and inside the Cherokee, Alonzo could be closer to Hale than ever. Nobody else was there. Nobody to say anything, see anything, and that left two souls to occupy a space uninterrupted. The military was peeling back, government was fading, nature was reclaiming it's stake in the world.

"Nice that I can see you," Alonzo said leaning in towards Hale and kissing his lips. Alonzo's hand resting on the back of Hale's neck. Locked in an exchange of emotion, Alonzo was looking to fall back flat inside the Cherokee, ideally with Hale atop of him.

"Very nice," Hale murmured as he returned Alonzo's kiss with interest. "Privacy and a touch of danger all at the same time." He nuzzled Alonzo slightly, his breath warm against the man's neck, "I like how your mind works."

Alonzo looked up into those blue-gray slates that were Hale Stratton's eyes knowing very well and admittedly so that Alonzo could get lost in them if he were not careful, but he felt safe with Hale. The need to be careful was falling to the wayside.

"My mind," Alonzo replied and pulled Hale's body closer to his. He started working on taking Hale's shirt off. "You've been on it since we left."

Hale cooperated, pulling the top over his head, revealing a sleek, muscled torso and washboard abs. It had never been a vanity thing with him; rather, it was what happened when a combination of training with his team and extreme running competitions consumed a large portion of his time. He folded the shirt and tucked it away in a webbed pocket on the side.

"Has it now," Hale murmured as he started working on Alonzo's shirt. "And what exactly were you thinking, hmmm?"

Alonzo placed his hands lower on either side of Hale's hips and pressed Hale down firmly against his body. "A lot of things" he added and moved his hand maneuvering towards the front to Hale's slacks, unfastened the button. "We are alone out here," he added.

"Yes ... we ... are ..." Hale said as helped Alonzo out of his shirt and tossed it over the front seat.

It was at times like this that Alonzo felt a complex duality that came over him. He was simultaneously anxious and yet the most relaxed he'd ever felt. Being with Hale did that to him, and the more he relaxed, the more he was willing to explore with the Major. There was the anxiety though. It was always nagging him.

He was sixteen again every time they kissed. Sixteen with a very angry father who had caught Alonzo kissing a boy from school in his room. Not under my roof and No son of mine. He always remembered what his father said to him. It was the beginning of the end of their father-son dynamic; the one that had always been good when he was a kid. No amount of words, no amount of saying he was sorry had ever made his father look at him the same way.

Alonzo had spent the next few years as a disappointment to his father, eclipsed by his brother. He had never kissed another boy, never touched a man this way until Hale. His father had sent him to camp that summer. It just wasn't the sort of camp where you learn excellent knot tying or fire making. That would have actually been useful.

Part of Alonzo wanted to stop, to just roll over and close his eyes. To sleep until he had to get up. There was a defiant streak in him though. Why, he thought in his mind. Why would I give up what made me feel not only good but alive?

He pushed the past from his mind as he pushed down on Hale's slacks and everything else. It had all been theoretical to Alonzo until he put theory into practice, allowing Hale hands to rest on his head or shoulders, wherever the Major had felt to place them. All Alonzo was focused on was Hale. They had begun something the other night, and tonight in the Cherokee, Alonzo was determined to continue where they had left off in the guise of the night, in the dark where people could surrender to passions.

And then there was Hale. The leader and warrior with the ability to compartmentalize, the man who had kept parts of his life completely separate from one another, for most of his life. The Green Beret who had learned a long time ago how to focus on the moment, even while a part of him was listening, aware of his surroundings. Since things had ... changed ... because how did you describe the dead shambling through the streets? Since things had changed, the walls of those compartments were much thinner now. Leaking maybe. But there just hadn't been a lot of time to think. Not when he was living in a war zone. Not when there was so much that needed to be done. Not when there was Alonzo to consider and Ethan.

The walls were thinning but they hadn't broken down. He was still able to do his job. To keep them all safe. And to enjoy these moments. To let himself hope for a few moments that there was something other than the fight. That this was more than the need to hold onto something good in the midst of so much bad.

Hale took what Alonzo was willing to give and gave what he could in return. His skills as a warrior. A safe harbor when the day was over and for now anyway, a bit of humanly warmth. Which was why, when Alonzo's movements became more purposeful, more decisive, Hale responded in kind and the clothes, they went flying.

Alonzo's Infinite Playlist

 

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