Appreciative One requested a Pinto Flash Fic this week. The prompt was a publicity opportunity for Chris and Zach to christen a new Naval ship called the USS Enterprise in Virginia. Entirely fiction of course.
Chris closed his eyes and leaned his head back as the car service that was to take him to his hotel room from the airport began to move. God, he was tired.
Why had he agreed to this again?
Paramount mostly. And his agent. And his publicity people. Good for the franchise. Good for the future. Good press.
And then there was seeing Zach again. He’d been told Zach was already onboard before he’d agreed. He wouldn’t have otherwise. He was working like crazy. Had only come back from Scotland where he’d been filming Outlaw King, only to have to begin One Day She’ll Darken. He liked working. Keeping busy. But it was getting to be too much even for him. And soon he’d have to start publicity for Disney for A Wrinkle in Time.
This was just a quick two night stay. Friday night come in, as he was now, do the christening of the new USS Enterprise Aircraft Carrier at the Naval Shipyard, stay over Saturday night, and then fly home to California early Sunday.
He’d been to this part of Virginia before, so he didn’t bother looking out the windows. It was getting dark anyway.
He opened his eyes and took out his flip phone.
You here yet?
There was no immediate answer and Chris wasn’t even sure he expected one.
But he’d suddenly had a dreadful thought.
What if Zach wasn’t alone? What if he’d brought Miles?
And what if he had? What could Chris say about it? Lately Miles always came. And Chris just dealt with it.
It wasn’t as though Chris had any kind of hold over Zach. That had ended when Zach moved to New York. Got worse after he met Miles. And now—
Friends. Firmly in the friend zone.
Great.
“We’ve reached the Hilton, Mr. Pine. My instructions are to bring you up to the private side entrance,” the driver said.
Chris straightened and stuck his phone in his pocket. “Thanks, man.”
He always arranged to have the tip included with the initial payment so he didn’t have to deal with the cash scene, so the driver helped him out of the car, and with his luggage, as Chris went into the private entrance.
It was a quick check-in as they’d been expecting him and pretty soon he was riding up the elevator with his small bag to the tenth floor where his suite was located. He didn’t bother to get assistance since he had packed light.
When he accessed his door, he was more than a little surprised to see the figure of a man standing by the floor to ceiling window. His heart began to pound in fright until he recognized the silhouette of Zachary Quinto. And then it pounded for another reason.
“Zach.”
He set his bag down and closed the door behind him.
Zach turned from the window. He was dressed in black jeans and a black turtleneck sweater. There was a smattering of a dark shadow over his chiseled jaw. He looked…amazing.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hello to you too, Christopher.” Zach smirked. “There was a mix up with my room and it wasn’t ready yet.”
Chris frowned. “And so they let you in my room? Some security.”
“I sweet-talked the desk clerk. Turns out he’s a fan.”
“You mean of your ass.”
Zach shrugged. “Whatever works. Are you really bothered?”
“I should be. He could easily be fired for that.”
“True. But you won’t do that.”
Chris sighed. “No. But you could have asked. I sent you a message.”
“I saw it just now.” He raised his eyebrows in a way that was both reminiscent of Spock and not at the same time. Some of it was all sardonic Zach. He was an expert at that.
Chris walked over to the window and looked out, standing beside Zach. “It’s starting to rain.”
Zach’s gaze was on Chris’ face. He felt it like a brand. “Yep.”
“Where’s-where’s Miles?” He made himself ask.
“Paris, actually.”
Chris turned and look at him then. “Oh.”
“Modeling. I was supposed to go with him but I canceled when they asked me to do this.”
“Yeah?”
“Well. After they said you had already agreed—”
“Wait. What?” Chris laughed. “They told me you agreed.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Typical PR bullshit.”
“You…you look good.”
“Chris—”
“No. I mean it. Really good.” Chris licked his lips. “I’ve missed you.”
“Really?”
“And don’t start in on this was all my doing,” he said softly. “I know all that.”
“Well…good.”
Chris looked away. “I still miss you.”
“Listen—” Zach’s phone sprung to life, playing the music from American Horror Story. He hit accept. “Zachary Quinto.”
Chris moved away from the window over to where his bag was. He picked it up and tossed it on the king-sized bed.
“Yeah. Okay. Thanks. I’ll be right down.” Zach ended the call. “Room’s ready.”
Chris nodded. “Okay. I’m going to take a shower and head to bed. See you tomorrow.”
For a moment, Zach said nothing, didn’t react at all. But eventually, he nodded in agreement and headed for the hotel room door. “See you in the morning. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
Chris had barely refrained from asking him to stay. But really.
Friends.
****
The publicity part was over. It had been a long day of being at the Shipyard, christening the Enterprise, smiling for the press, doing interviews. Chris’ jaw muscles hurt from smiling. And his body was tense and wired being next to Zach all day.
“You want to grab some dinner in the restaurant?” Zach asked as they were dropped off at the private side entrance of the Hilton.
Chris shook his head. “I’m really not in the mood to continue being on display. I think I’ll go for room service.”
Zach eyed him sideways as they entered the elevator. “Sounds good. Mind if I join you?”
Friends ate together all the time.
“Sure.”
“I’ll just get some stuff settled in my room and be over to yours. Go ahead and order us something.” Zach smiled. “I defer to your good judgment.”
Chris went over the room service menu and picked a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to begin with. Then he chose Beef Bourguignon for two along with mashed potatoes and gravy and cheesecake with strawberries for dessert.
Zach came over about ten minutes later. He had changed out of the suit he’d been wearing into the black jeans from the night before and a buttoned down navy colored shirt open at the throat to reveal his dark dark hair against pale skin.
Chris himself had changed into a pair of loose fitting sweats and a T-shirt. He didn’t fail to notice the way Zach’s gaze had swept over him either.
They said little until room service arrived and when the server left and Chris handed Zach a glass of wine, Zach was back to smirking.
“I see you haven’t changed at all. Still a Cab.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “It hasn’t been that long, Zach.”
“I know.” He stared into his glass of wine. “It’s just…I’m floundering a bit here, Chris.”
“You? Calm, cool and collected Zachary Quinto?”
“It’s not easy for me.”
“No?” Chris shook his head. “Because God it sure seems easy for you from where I’m standing.”
Zach stared at him. “Why are you standing way over there, anyway?”
Chris swallowed. “Because if I get any closer—”
“You’ll what?”
He closed his eyes. And then Zach made the decision for him. He came to Chris. He was no longer holding his glass of wine, and instead had both hands on Chris’ arms as he pushed himself into Chris’ personal space.
“I had to see you,” Zach said softly. “Touch you.”
“Is that why Miles isn’t here?”
“To hell with him. I don’t want to talk about him. I want to talk about us.”
“Us?”
Zach leaned in and began to kiss Chris’ rigid jaw. “I want you, baby. Please?”
He opened his eyes to stare into the dark depths of Zach’s gaze. He was lost and he knew it. Knew it when he’d made the decision to come to Virginia.
“You have me,” he said softly. “You always have me.”
Zach kissed him. “I hope you have lube.”
Chris laughed. “Three bottles.”
Zach snorted. “Why the hell did we waste last night?”
“Fuck if I know.” Chris grabbed Zach’s face in his hands. “Fuck me.”
****
His phone buzzed as he sat in first class waiting for the plane to take off. He flipped it open.
Are you sore?
You wish.
Safe travels.
He smiled as a beating heart appeared. Leave it to Quinto to get it to work even on his barebones flip phone. He closed the phone and put it in his pocket.
What the future held for them, he didn’t know. But at the moment, he felt good.
Very.
