“I knew what you meant.” For years Raven had been certain that joy was a brief, fleeting thing. An enchanted stag you spotted in the forest. You could search for him for years, until your skin was bloodied by branches and your heart was heavy with longing, and still, you’d never stop hoping for another glimpse of him.

For the possibility.

Now, as Raven crawled into Jack’s lap, it seemed as if all his searching had been worth it. His limbs weren’t aching anymore. His heart sprang to life as Jack rose to meet him. Then, in one elegant movement, Jack had flipped Raven onto his back, and was crawling over him, and the rightness of the moment seared Raven like a flame.

Jack’s lips were warm and delicate, at first. Then hungry. Then feral, as they sought to devour him. Jack’s lips were his religion. Jack’s hands were holy. Jack’s body was his temple, and Raven had come to worship like he’d never worshipped anyone before. He was helpless against this feeling. He liked being helpless, completely at the mercy of someone who’d never try to hurt him. Someone who’d always tried to protect him. Save him. Heal him. And as much as he liked seeing those clothes on Jack’s body, he wanted to see them on the orchard floor.

“Can I?” he asked, fingers lingering over the buttons of Jack’s shirt. Jack nodded, biting his lip, and a tremor of anticipation shot through Raven. Of longing. Of reunion. He’d never felt so much like himself as he did in that moment, looking up to find Jack leaning over him.

One button came undone, then another. His fingers trailed down Jack’s chest, lingering over the jeans that had once been his. “Can I?” he began again, and Jack shuddered, leaning into him.

“Yes.”

Raven was in heaven. He knew he’d never tire of the ritual of asking and being told yes. Soon, Jack’s jeans and collared shirt were reunited, crumpled together on the ground, and it didn’t take long for Raven’s own clothes to join them. Two shirts and two pairs of pants. Four socks and four shoes. Off to the right of the clothing, two friends became so much more than that. Their limbs entangled like vines. Jack’s fingernails trailed down Raven’s back and Raven brushed his fingers over Jack’s body, memorizing him inch by inch. Soon, he had almost reached Jack’s center, had almost done the thing he’d been longing to do since that first fumbling night in the garden, when they hadn’t known what they were doing.