~2 weeks earlier~

Though the actual trip to get from their new home to its twin planet did take mere seconds, ‘rough’ was an understatement for that journey. When Will and Kyle returned from whatever nether or piece of space and time Will could actually traverse, they didn’t even have time to take in their new surroundings. Both of them immediately felt like their lungs were literally exploding, or collapsing, or perhaps both, as their feet finally came in contact with that solid ground beneath them once more.

Both of them instantly dropped whatever supplies they had brought with them, and clawed desperately at their helmets to get them off and try to take in the air on that new planet. Before their departure, Kyle had already assured Will that the tests the ship’s team had ran over a year ago did confirm the air there was nearly identical to that on the planet they had just come from; and it had to be an improvement over whatever they had just passed through, high above those two planets in space, even if it had been for only moments.

The time it took for them each to begin to be able to breathe normally again actually seemed longer than the trip itself, but their lungs did adjust, at last. Once those first moments of terror had passed, was when Kyle finally found his voice, “well, I guess you’ve got pretty good aim after all” Kyle stated raggedly to alleviate the tension of the last several minutes.

Though before either could say any more, their eyes moved to take in the strange landscape they now found themselves in. Surrounding them on all sides, as far as their eyes could see, was a literal field of black glassy rock which most resembled the obsidian found on Earth in times past. They each swallowed a bit as they tried to make out any break in that eerie landscape and the even stranger purple light reflecting off those rocks from the gray sun above that had been shared by the only home either of them had known for the last year, if not their entire life, as in Will’s case.

Finally, in the far, far off distance, they managed to make out shadows of what appeared to be trees of some sort, but at that distance, nothing was certain. Kyle took another breath and looked back at where Will seemed a bit surprised by the scope of his own abilities as well.

“Considering that’s the only other things I see, I guess we go that way” Kyle suggested with a slight shrug as he gestured to where it looked like that forest might await them off in the distance.

Never one to speak much anyway, Will simply nodded with his own ragged breath, helped Kyle to re-collect their supplies, and left it to the younger of them to lead the way from that point on. After all, they were both in completely foreign surroundings now; a situation that Will had not found himself in since the day he had started exploring their former home, all those years ago.

They walked for what seemed like ages before that strange obsidian field finally gave way to slightly less alien surroundings of a forest. Of course, the forest brought with it other concerns, such as predators and such, but nonetheless, a forest also provided life. And that life was something that any of the ship’s survivors would have been drawn to as well.

As they took their first few shaky steps past the edge of the tree line, Kyle couldn’t help looking up at where Will stayed close behind each of his own steps. He shook his head at the way the older man’s long unkempt locks constantly kept anyone from getting too clear of a look at his face when speaking to him, but figured they had much bigger concerns than that right then.

“So, you can blink me outta here the second anything tries to attack us, right?” he asked warily before taking any more steps into the sprawling forest before them.

“Yes, I can save” Will assured with a nod down at where Kyle stood a good five inches shorter, even though the eighteen year old was already 5′10” himself.

Kyle shook his head again as he couldn’t help moving his eyes down over Will’s frame, which included a waist that couldn’t have been more than twenty inches around, if that; of course that fact, along with the long locks & deep brown eyes only added to the older man’s androgyny which Ian had chided him about before the two had become so much ‘closer’ during recent weeks. Kyle wryly thought that maybe Ian was straighter than he claimed to be, as his newest lover was prettier than ninety percent of the females Kyle had known, even back when he had known more than just Lili.

“My hero” Kyle mumbled, more to himself, as he looked away from Will before taking another breath and letting his feet carry him deeper into that woods.

It was the wee hours of the morning before the two of them found their way through the forest to a clearing with a rather large stream running through it. They both smiled slightly at the find and moved to replenish their water supply and most likely set up camp as the hour was already past three am.

As he filled his water, Kyle couldn’t help letting his mind wander back to that first night at their camp on the other planet. And of course, that led to him thinking about what had happened between him and Lili in the water there that night. He silently cursed his eighteen year old hormones and their seeming allergy to his nearly half a year of abstinence.

The errant thoughts he had allowed about his current companion that same day were proof enough that he had gone way too long without that sort of fulfillment; never mind all of his claims of being willing and able to refrain from making love to Lili anymore after the baby came. He began to feel painfully aware of exactly how unlikely that promise would have ever been for him to keep after all. He supposed that he should be thankful that he was now an entire planet away from her, where he wouldn’t have to try and suppress all those desires every time she happened to walk by him.

“Something wrong?” Will asked in response to Kyle’s frustrated sigh as he set up their tent a few feet from the water’s edge.

Kyle turned his frustration on Will, even though the other man had done nothing to deserve it, as he spoke in a slightly annoyed tone, “tell me again why we only brought one tent?”

“Problem?” Will asked with that ever-present innocence of his.

“It’s going to be a bit crowded” Kyle complained, trying to avert his eyes as Will bent over to secure the final tent post.

“Only need one for only two. You shared tent lots with your female” Will reminded with that same completely unassuming smile of his.

Kyle gave him another annoyed look at that reminder, then had to mumble, “that was different.”

“How?” Will asked in that continually guile-free tone of his.

“Because I didn’t mind having to be that close to her all those nights” Kyle complained, though all his empty arguments seemed to be barely making it past his lips with much volume that night.

“I’m good to be close with. Ian liked being close to me. Made him finish, always” Will smiled with the slightest bit of pride, while still sounding somehow childlike while speaking of such activities.

“Excuse me?” Kyle returned with a bit more volume.

“What?” Will returned as he gave him a questioning look.

“Are you actually suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Kyle had to ask, if for no other reason than to buy himself time to digest the comment.

“I...don’t know” Will shrugged slightly, “still hard to understand all the words you say” Will stated in an almost apologetic manner, blissfully unaware of the effect his so innocently talking about carnal matters was sure to have on those that had grown up in some sort of society, unlike him.

As much as he knew he should just drop the entire conversation at this point, Kyle couldn’t help pressing on, “when you say, finish...” Kyle swallowed a bit, “exactly what is it that you’re referring to again?”

Will thought on the question for a long moment before trying to find a way to answer with his limited vocabulary, “when hard becomes soft, after touching, or tasting, or being inside me, and then his wetness comes” he made some attempt. Though he spoke as innocently as ever, whilst describing their sexual encounters the way in which one would describe a nice walk in the park, or along a beach...

Kyle wasn’t even sure what reaction he could have to such a description as his breath seemed to leave him for a long moment before he could find his voice again, “so, you mean...finishing” he returned, voice ragged.

“That’s what I said” Will responded with a small chuckle as he turned back to arrange their bed for the night.

Kyle once again cursed his hormones as he felt his body reacting to such a discussion. At that moment he had no idea how he would get through spending the night laying close to a young man who was prettier than most girls, and literally had no taboos or preconceived notions about his own sexual identity or desires in any way shape or form.

As jarring as it was, it was also proof that growing up alone and isolated from the entire world may have seemed like a terrible fate for any child, but it had somehow made him into literally the freest soul Kyle had ever met. And he suddenly understood fully why Ian had so easily found everything about this man so attractive, in more than just a physical sense.

Being blissfully unaware of how his prior statements affected Kyle, Will smiled back at him as the two pulled off their flight suits to sleep more comfortably in the normal clothing they wore underneath; even though Will’s outfit was hardly considered ‘clothing’ by the strictest definition of the word. Will then simply offered another smile and moved into the tent to settle in for the night. Kyle stayed outside the tent for several long moments though, trying to imagine exactly what it was going to be like to make this trek with only Will for company until they did finally find the ship.

It was true that he had narrowed down the probable crash location to a radius of about a thousand miles or so, but considering this was only his first few hours alone with a creature such as Will; Kyle was sure it was going to be a very difficult adventure indeed.

When Kyle finally forced his feet to carry him into the tent after his companion, Will simply smiled up at him and rolled onto his side, gesturing to the pillow next to him. Another deep breath as Kyle awkwardly moved to lie down next to where Will turned off the battery-powered lamp they had brought along.

Before Kyle could attempt to figure out where to even put his arms and legs, Will had already moved closer to him, gently sliding his arms around Kyle’s waist and laying his head on the younger man’s chest the way Lili had curled up next to him so many times in nights past, before the baby changed everything. Once again, Will appeared so much like a girl, it almost made Kyle question how surprised he should be about feeling any attraction at all to another man, especially when this was the ‘man’ in question.

“Will...” Kyle attempted tentatively, his voice already hoarse as he looked down at where Will had already contently closed his dark eyes against Kyle’s chest, leaving the teen no choice but to move his arm to encircle the older man’s narrow shoulders right then.

“Kyle” Will responded with what almost sounded like a giggle, though he made no move to look back up at Kyle’s face, or move away from him either, for that matter.

“Um...” Kyle was once again caught by that almost somehow equally childlike and sexual nature that Will seemed to be quite comfortable encapsulating with almost every word or act. He was so childlike as a matter of fact, that Kyle had to mentally remind himself that Will was actually the elder of the two of them; but what a difference their upbringing made, in so many ways.

Will offered nothing else to the conversation as Kyle continued to try to struggle for any words at all, his entire body tense at this point. It was then Will cuddled even closer, bringing his leg up over Kyle’s own legs to literally wrap himself around the eighteen year old, continuing to seem as content as ever in doing so.

At that point, Kyle just had to speak again, “What are you doing, exactly” Kyle asked him in another hoarse whisper.

“This comfortable for sleep. And we’re close, if I need to save you” he smiled against Kyle’s chest again, though still made no attempt to change his chosen position.

Kyle shook his head up at the roof of the tent, once again at a loss for words for several moments. Finally, he found his voice again, “you know, normally people only wrap themselves around each other like this if they’re actually lovers” was the only argument he could find through his current state of heightened distraction.

“What’s lovers?” Will asked as he moved a hand up to trace a thread that had loosened itself from Kyle’s worn t-shirt.

Kyle just scoffed, “you know, people that have sex with each other.”

“Sex? Doesn’t that just mean male or female?”

“Well yes,” Kyle began with another shake of his head, “lovers means when two people...” a deep sigh as he tried to frame the words in a way that Will would actually understand, “people are lovers when they spend a lotta time...making each other finish” he forced his way to the end of that sentence.

Then with all that innocence once more, Will looked up at him at last, “is that what you wanna do now?”