Paradise Post #17

 

Notes: Well.  I did promise you descriptive prose, and *ahem* here it is.  This is a very R-rated chapter, guys and gals.  Just saying.  So!  EnjoyJ

 

Title: Paradise

 

Part Seventeen:  Side Effects

 

 

***

 

 

In the early days of its development, Regen was something of a mixed blessing.  It could heal horrific wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, but if someone was wholly submerged in it, instead of being given the small injections that staved off aging, the process did more than heal their physical wounds.  It went in and completely rewrote genomes, perfected imperfections, and made the body in its liquid embrace the equivalent of a blank slate.  Soldiers would go into it dying and come out of it like flesh dolls of themselves, with no memories and no physical abilities beyond the most basic of functions.  It turned back the clock, literally, and turned the grown back into children.

After being sued almost into oblivion, TerraPharm, the company responsible for the technology, had gone back to the drawing board and come up with ways to protect the brain and preserve memories and motor functions.  A doctor skilled enough in using it could design a Regen treatment that dulled the psychological pain of a traumatic event while keeping the memory of the event itself.  In the mansion’s infirmary, a place designed to treat any trauma a soldier might have to contend with, the doctors were artists with Regen. 

So, Garrett was allowed to retain his memory of the traumatic event that precipitated his landing on his back in a pool of gel, while not really feeling the emotions that had gone with it.  The process had been extra tricky, given that he was in for a biochemical treatment in the first place, but the doctors managed.  That was what gave Garrett the ability to wake up slowly and calmly, quietly assessing his surroundings, instead of bolting off the bed he was on and running around in a panic, which had definitely been a possibility a little while ago.

The bed was familiar.  Comfortable.  The infirmary did its best, but there were too many technological worries in a medical bed to make it truly comfortable to lie on.  This one was nice, and it smelled like warmth and Jonah.  Jonah…wasn’t there something Garrett was supposed to tell him?

He let his mind mull it over as he gradually took stock of his senses.  Warm, soft bed, although his cheek was pressed against something that felt a little harder.  There was a heavy weight across his middle, and something was rhythmically fluffing his hair.  The weight moved, and Garrett finally identified it.  Arm.  He smiled and snuggled closer to the owner of the arm, because it had to be Jonah, and that was good.  He loved being held by Jonah.  It was kind of a surprise, but…wait…why should his fiancé holding him ever be surprising?

Because you freaked out and broke his ex’s arm in two places, after spying on him and going off your meds, the asshole part of his consciousness said.  Nice going, genius.

Shut up, bitch, Garrett retorted, but he had made a good point.  Or two.

“I can tell you’re awake now,” Jonah murmured.  He sounded drowsy.

“Shh, I’m not ready to wake up,” Garrett replied.  He had the beginnings of butterflies in his stomach, so he figured he should take advantage of his medically-induced calm while he could.

“Can’t be sleepy.  You’ve been out for almost three days.”

“I can be sleepy if I want to,” Garrett told him.  “That way I can avoid facing the music for a little longer.”

“Where’s that sayin’ even come from?” Jonah asked.  “Doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know.  We should look it up.”

“Later.”  Jonah kissed his bare forehead, and Garrett sighed and turned his face further into Jonah’s shoulder.

“I probably don’t deserve that.”

“Oh, you probably do,” Jonah mused.  “I think you probably deserve a lot more, but you’re not gonna get any of it until we talk this out.”

“You sound tired.  We can wait until you’re awake and alert.”

Jonah chuckled.  “I don’t think so, darlin’.  The more time you lie there and stew, the worse it’s gonna get.  And I don’t fancy chasin’ your ass all over this compound in order to have words with you, so.  Let’s talk.”

Oh, glorious.  “Where do you want to start?” Garrett asked, starting to pull away, but Jonah put his head right back where it had been.

“Let’s start with why you let your meds slip.  It’s not that hard to get ‘em, right?  You just use the gauntlet.”

“Right.”  Garrett smiled, but it felt a little brittle.  “Here’s the thing.  Back on Pandora, I use the gauntlet about once a week.  When I’m in a stable situation that I’m accustomed to, my symptoms are far less acute.  I’ve actually been using less and less medication since moving in with you and Cody.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“It’s good,” Garrett agreed, “but then our situation changed.  We came here, and the protocol is for me to check every day while away from home, but once we landed my regular routine went to hell, and as the stresses built, so did my need for the stabilizers.  When I missed a day and got a double dose the next day, the enhanced effect sent my confidence level skyrocketing, which made it easier to allow myself to miss the next day, and the next.  I had so much work to do, and I was worried about you and Cody fitting in and, well, all sorts of things.  It just got worse after you met with Kilroy.  When I finally realized how far I was from all right, I knew I’d have to go under to get things set straight, but I still needed to be there for you.”  Garrett swallowed hard.  “So I put it off again.”

“And was this before or after you bugged me?”

Oh, so he knows about that.  Shit.  “After,” Garrett admitted.  “I was having some problems by the time I bugged you, but mostly I was just…worried.  And a little jealous.  I made Robbie help me.”

“Oh, I’ve already had a long talk with that guy,” Jonah said sarcastically.  “He doesn’t apologize easy, does he?  And jealous?  What in the world did I do to make you jealous?”

Garrett shrugged awkwardly.  “Nothing.  Jealousy is an irrational emotion, or haven’t you heard?  I thought maybe you would reconsider, maybe you missed aspects from your old life that I couldn’t give to you.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Jonah sighed.  “Darlin’.  If anyone in this relationship has reason to be insecure, it’s me.  I’m the one that’s an uneducated former smuggler with a natural kid and emotional baggage a goddamn mile long.  You’re smart, you’ve got more degrees than I can count and a pedigree that goes back to the founding of the Federation.  You’ve given up almost all the benefit of that to live on a fringe colony makin’ a fifth of what you could on other planets, with none of the entertainment I know you love, for me and Cody.  I know we’ve had this talk before but I don’t think it’s sunk in for us yet.”  He tilted Garrett’s chin up and looked him in the eyes.  “I’m crazy as hell in love with you, and I’m so goddamn grateful that you’re mine that I barely know how to face it.”

“Oh,” Garrett said, feeling his body start to respond to Jonah’s tone and close proximity and not minding that one bit.  “Good.  Me too.”

“That bein’ said,” Jonah continued, “if you ever put a slimdisc on me again, you and I are gonna have a hell of a lot more words to say than a simple apology.”  He was dead serious.  “You need to trust me for this to work.  We have to trust each other.  Otherwise it’ll all fall apart.  I’m not gonna do wrong by you, but you have to be up front with me.  I want to know when you’re worried or sick or jealous or fallin’ apart, because when you hide it from me it makes me think you don’t trust me to help you or explain.  I know you were already off the meds when you made the call, but you still knew it wasn’t right.”

Garrett didn’t look away, even though he really wanted to.  “I knew it,” he said.  “I’m sorry for doing it.  I was going to tell you.”

“I know.”

“What happened with Jack?”

Jonah smiled, suddenly so easy and bright that it was a little shocking.  “He’s not goin’ after Cody any more.  We’ve agreed to consider visitations, though.  Cody wasn’t against it and Jack seems to really want it.”

Well, at least the first half of all that information was welcome.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Garrett asked doubtfully.

“No, but there’s time to figure it out.  I’m not gonna let the man screw up Cody, and neither will you.”

“Exactly, we can screw him up far more efficiently all by ourselves.”

“Cynic,” Jonah accused, nuzzling into the soft hair of Garrett’s temple.  His erection surged to life at the simple touch, and Garrett groaned.  Coming out of a major Regen treatment temporarily gave him the libido of a teenage boy.  “Ah, the doc warned me about that,” Jonah said, and he sounded like he was trying not to laugh.  “Said I should be gentle with you for a while ‘cause you’re bound to be sensitive.”

“I’m not sensitive, I’m horny,” Garrett informed Jonah loftily while trying to rub against his hip.  “There’s a difference.”

“Yeah?”  Jonah reached down between them and palmed Garrett’s cock, and even through the lightweight scrubs he was wearing, it was enough to make Garrett hiss and clench his teeth.  “Seems like both to me.”

“Lucky me,” Garrett snarked.  “Or really, lucky you, because while I might be on a hair trigger I can come and come and come, and everything should be nice and,” he squirmed a little, “tight.”

“Thought you were sleepy,” Jonah teased, but his expression was getting hungry.

“That was before.  This is now.  Try to keep up, sweetheart.”

“How long,” Jonah asked, rubbing Garrett’s throbbing cock, “do you think it would take me to get you off?”

“The first time? Maybe five seconds,” Garrett gasped.  “Let’s find out.”

“Let’s.”  Jonah moved in for a kiss as he pulled Garrett’s pants down his thighs, then gripped his length and stroked him.  Jonah had big hands, calloused in just the right places, and even though his palm was dry Garrett was leaking enough to compensate, to make what should have been too much friction a delicious pull and glide, and then Jonah brought his palm up to the head and rolled it around in a circle, and that—

Fuuuuck.  Garrett moaned into his lover’s mouth and brought one leg up to rock Jonah’s body against his as he came.  Well.  So that might not have even been five seconds, but it was so good he had to let it happen.  Jonah pulled back from the kiss with a grin and rubbed his tacky, wet hand off on the sheets.  “You’re a quick shot, baby.”

“I warned you,” Garrett replied loftily, still riding the endorphins.  “But I think I could last for longer, if you want to go again.”

“You think you can?”

Garrett smiled.  “I’ve been through this before.  I’m probably going to stay hard for hours.”

Jonah pushed Garrett over onto his back and shimmied down his body.  Jonah was in a pair of sleep shorts and nothing else, and Garrett enjoyed having so much naked skin pressed so close to him.  He kicked his pants the rest of the way off and made space for Jonah between his legs.  “You have someone to help you through it last time?” Jonah asked, his voice a little throaty as he leaned in and licked the head of Garrett’s cock.  Garrett shivered.

“Just me and my toys,” Garrett replied.  “It was a quarantine situation.”

“Have to tell me about it sometime.”  Jonah licked again, and Garrett lost track of what he was going to reply as his fiancé started to use his mouth on him, licking a slow line up the length of his cock before dipping down over the head and swirling around his tongue in a circle.

“Gaah—ungh.”  Jonah hummed approvingly at Garrett’s incoherence, and Garrett shut his eyes and tried to ride out the first, sharpest sensations.  He was doing okay, he really was, he could handle the swirly thing and the way Jonah’s throat relaxed to let him in so deep, and he could hold out against the warm, wet pressure and the way the strands of Jonah’s hair tickled when they fell across his abdomen and thighs, but then Jonah pushed a slick finger into Garrett’s incredibly tight ass and touched his prostate, and it happened so fast that he had no time to react, no time to give any warning at all, he just thrust his hips forward and came into Jonah’s mouth.  Jonah drank it all down, and then waited patiently for Garrett to get his voice back.

“You—uhm—you should fuck me,” Garrett panted.  The finger was still inside of him, moving gently.  “It’ll feel amazing, I swear.”

“I want to, but I think you’re still too tight for that, darlin’.  Gonna need some prep first.”

Garrett was mostly blissed out during the manhandling, and by the time he was really aware that he was on his stomach with the bed adjusted to lift his hips, his legs spread obscenely wide, Jonah’s tongue was already tracing a circle around his hole.  “Yesss,” he hissed, and his fingers clutched the sheets convulsively when Jonah started to press his tongue inside.

Despite having come twice, Garrett was still hard.  It actually ached a little, in a good way, and his ass was gradually opening up to Jonah’s patient attention.  He moaned and pressed back against that thick, flexible muscle, trying to relax and let Jonah inside.  Garrett loved this, he loved being touched so intimately.  It was one of the few things that he’d never found a toy to be able to adequately replicate.  Simple fucking was easy enough to mimic, but having his lover’s mouth so close to him, having his tongue going someplace so utterly personal, that was special.  He let Jonah work him open, sometimes substituting his fingers for his tongue, and reveled in it. 

“I love it when you’re in me,” Garrett said as he began to get close again.  “I don’t care what part you use, I want all of them, I want your tongue and your fingers and your dick, I want your whole hand in me.”  Jonah’s fingers jerked against his prostate and Garrett groaned.  “You’ve never done that, have you?” he breathed.

“No,” Jonah said, and his voice was gravelly with need.

“It’s so good.  There’s nothing like it, and you’d love it, you’d be looking at it and wondering how I could possibly take you like that, and your hand would be so warm and everything so soft and I’d be going crazy and you’d feel it, every movement I made, inside and out.”  Garrett was warming to the idea.  “I want you to do that.  I want it now.”

“No time right now,” Jonah ground out, and then he was stretched out against Garrett’s back, holding his hips at the right angle as he quickly slid inside of Garrett.  He’d lubed himself up at some point, clever man, so it was an easy enough glide after all the preparation, and Garrett sighed with satisfaction and reached down for his cock.

“No, baby.”  Jonah caught his hands and pressed them flat to the bed.  “No touching.  You don’t need it, you’re just gonna come from my cock inside of you.”  He rolled his hips and any objections Garrett might have had melted away with the pleasure of the motion.  Pleasure…it seemed like a pallid word for something that felt so fucking good.

Jonah leaned on him heavily, working in and out of Garrett’t tight channel in a slow, deep rhythm.  Garrett tried to rub against the bed but Jonah’s weight was too much, he had almost no room to shift and so after a few minutes he stopped trying, and just relaxed into the fuck.

“That’s it, baby.”  Jonah started to speed up, his breath coming unevenly.  “Hell, you’re so fuckin’ tight, even with…Garrett, god…”  His thrusts grew shorter and sharper, bumping against Garrett’s prostate with every new penetration, and Garrett felt it start, felt the base of his spine start to tighten as his ass began to clench, felt his back arch and his fingers dig into the pillow as his third orgasm, slower and more deliberate than the other two, took control of his body.  He didn’t know what kind of sound he was making, he just knew it was loud and filled his head.  His dick felt unbearably hard, and with the very next thrust, with the tiny rubbing movement it gave him against the sheets, he was done.  He came, and it felt like a wave of fire rushing over his body, fast to flicker to life and slow to burn out.  Garrett pumped his load onto the bed, slicking up his stomach, and just as he started to come down Jonah thrust in one more time and stayed in, as deep as he could go, groaning loudly, almost mournfully, as he orgasmed.  “Fuckfuckfuck…Garrett, darlin’…”

Jonah stayed inside of him for as long as he could before slipping free.  “That was amazin’,” he said, rolling Garrett over into his arms.  “How did you—oh, baby.”  The look of astonishment on his face was quite frankly amusing. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.”

“Nope,” Garrett purred smugly, rubbing his erection against Jonah’s belly.  “What can I say, it’s good to be me right now!”

“Well, give me a minute and I’ll help you out with that.”

“Oh sweetheart, you relax.  Enjoy the show,” Garrett said as he reached down and finally took himself in hand.  If he took his time, Jonah would probably be ready to go again if he needed more.  Garrett rather hoped that he did.