Fire in the Firehouse 9

...His two worlds would collide in mere months. Those were words that Colby played over and over in is mind. The weeks had flown by; what with both men working such trying and often times conflicting schedules. At times it seemed the two men barely had time for one another. But, by that very token its what kept things so strong. They lived their lives together, yet they also had plenty of apart-time.

It was now late June and things for their handfasting ceremony were coming together. Thing was, neither had gotten together with their families to announce their love and their intentions. Part laziness, part overly busy with work, part of out apprehension. Both men had talked about the need to get together with their families. They both recognized their revelation would change their lives and neither was sure they were ready to risk it. But the one thing remained clear, their love for one another.

They had even gone so far to consider if they should just elope and announce it upon arriving back home. Neither wanted to take the cowardice way out. They were both adult men. Adult men in love with another man. It even sounded funny in their minds. It was like when a boy turns 18 and he realizes he can no longer be called a boy, but a man. Its hearing those words that made it real and true. Or when a young man sees himself naked or shaves and thinks back to when he was a pre teen or early teen and then sees hair in places it wasn't always present. Then you stop and think that this is your body, this is you. You're not taking glances at Dad, or a brother or cousin, even an older buddy. It was reality.

The same feelings applied in the sense they both were coming to term with the fact they'd never lead conventional lives. Conventional in the way society, this society viewed love between to people of equal sex. It was fact that in some European countries it'd not be looked on so badly, but in the United States, it was a whole different ball game.

This particular late June morning, it was about 6:30 AM and Colby was just heading home from his most recent tenure at work. The ride home was pleasant. With the windows rolled down all the way, the wind whipped through his golden hair. It flowed softly in the breeze like wild grass that had been kissed and dried by the sun. The air was so mild for this time of year, not to mention so early in the day. A huge part of the West coast was wracked with a heat wave and the Sierras were no exception. The sun was cracking the horizon, scurrying over the high mountain peaks, begging to bake the area again for about the sixth day. The heat was making everyone insane. Especially in an area that wasn't used to heat like this.

Colby muttered to himself, "Stupid fucking heat. Go away already. Keep this shit up, the right conditions arise, we're gunna be fucked..." By that he meant to set off some pretty bad fires. The heat somewhat made sense. After the snow storm back in January, and several other, less severe storms had come through, too, it almost made sense they were getting bashed by this heat. Like Mother Nature had to balance it all out.

As Colby drove down the road, he saw hotel, motel and inn signs all screaming out 'No Vacancy.' People had seemingly changed their plans. Colby deduced the fact that in other areas it was even hotter. Cities like Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Reno, Las Vegas, cities in Washington, Idaho, Arizona, and Oregon, too, were all inundated with sweltering heat. Readings in the low 100's was the order of the day everywhere. Vegas and other milder climates had seen a few days of near, at or above 115 degrees. It was murder. This particular region was just a tad cooler. Lake Tahoe itself was already brimming with people enjoying the lake this early in the day. Pools in all the motels and the like had opted to stay open all night long. People were hungry for relief. Lines in stores and restaurants were ridiculous as people piled in for coolness. The casinos were jammed with people seeking relief. Tempers flared all over. The police were reporting to added domestic calls. They were attributed to the added heat.

Colby took comfort knowing full well Mitch would have the air on as high as possible, and knowing him, have a blanket on. He was weird that way Colby thought. Hot as hell, and he'd have a blanket on. To his defense, he kept the room as apartment as cool as possible and in a way it made sense to need a blanket. Luckily their place was modern enough to feature central air conditioning. 

As he pulled in the driveway, he glanced around the area, silently hoping his worst fears wouldn't come true. No man or woman would want to be trapped inside a fire suit on a day like today was shaping up to be. 

He looked to see if the pine trees or any leaves were moving. Still as could be. It was almost frightening the air was so still. The air was hugged tightly with a brownish haze. Nothing quite like the bigger cities that were being raped by this heat, but unusual enough for this particular region. It took hold on the area and no one knew for sure when things would return to normal. The Lake itself which was always effected by the weather showed signs of the conditions. The clearer the day, the bluer the lake. Lake Tahoe is notorious for being 3 or 4 shades of blue. The deepest part the darkest and it changed colors as it came towards shore. It was that very lake that was so deep that man had not even explored it at its deepest part being that it was so deep.

Colby took out his keys, sighed a bit, fearful of what he knew in his heart was almost inevitable, a fire in heat. He dwelled on how the lake reflected the sorrow that was strewn across their horizon. The lake was symbolic to the area and the beauty was special to all those that lived near it, worked by it, or traveled to it. He took some comfort knowing he'd be off for the next three days. Unless conditions got so bad that all personnel would be called in. He'd work just one day with Mitch, separate shifts, but they'd be in the station for about four hours and Mitch would be off. He felt for the man his heart belonged to knowing he'd have to possibly endure this heat in a fire suit. As was the price of their chosen careers.

The blonde hair man disrobed totally, climbed into bed as softly as he could as to not wake Mitch. The other still had a little while to go before he was on duty and they both tried to soak up enough rest and sleep as they could when they could. One never knew when a structure fire or a brush fire might break out and keep you up for ridiculous periods of time. 

Colby; being exhausted and happy to be in his own bed with the man he loved got comfortable quickly and dozed off just as fast. The cool sheets from the blowing air, sans Mitch's body heat felt so good on his toned body. It helped soothe him to sleep.

A brief bit of time passed. Mitch suddenly started to thrash about on his side of the bed. Colby was far too exhausted to realize this as he was already in a dream state. His breathing increased along with his heart rate. His cool body was now drenched in sweat as it beaded down his troubled brow. His hair was just soaked on his neck. Even the silly soft hair under his arms curled up in response to the heat.

Suddenly Mitch shot up, Colby lay almost unaffected by the rapid movement of his lover. The brown haired man sat where he just shot up from trying to gather his senses. He deduced he'd had a nightmare. As he awoke more he began delving back into his mind hoping to garner some sort of semblance of what caused him to awaken so violently. He tried to put his mind on rewind so to speak, trying to recall what it was that put him in such a state.

The memories were fuzzy at first, but the more he dwelled on it, the more things came back sketchy. He saw Colby in his mind and saw another man. He rationalized it had to be Drake. What perplexed him most, was it a dream, or were his powers coming into play? Was it a premonition? 

Drake looked nothing in his dream like the updated picture he'd sent Colby. Though that meant nothing. But he figured for it to be a premonition it would be more precise, at least he'd hoped so. 

Mitch knew now there was no way he could get back to sleep. But he wasn't about to shoot right up and start his day after waking in such a state. He laid back down, pulling the covers up some. The cool air mixed with his sweaty body wasn't a very pleasant way to begin a day. His mind began to race with thoughts that had been apparently been right under the surface for quite some time.

To himself he reflected. I wonder if this dream was a premonition or if its just a reflection of my true feelings toward Drake. I need to just get over it and accept it. My insecurities are going to boil over and Colby's going to catch on soon. He tried to recall what day it was. He deduced after dwelling on it for a bit that it was Friday.

A few more moments passed, soon the alarm clock was going off. That part Colby did hear. "Morning baby. Its pretty hot out there already today. Just hope we don't end up with a forest fire out of this. The conditions are extremely high and the likelihood of it happening is equally high."

Mitch feigned sleepiness, not wanting the other to catch on to his hidden feelings about his dreams and sort of just nodded and smiled. He knew he must save face before his lover caught on. "Well, I guess its time to start some coffee, shower and shave. Sounds like it might be a long one..." 

He crawled out of bed, taking a good long look at the calendar. Wondering how much longer before Drake's inevitable arrival. The calendar happened to be a copy of their benefit calendar. It just so happened other men wanted to be involved in it and they all knew the more hot men involved, the better it would boost sales. They opted to make an 18 month calendar. And the sales were phenomenal. They were getting requests well out of the area for copies. 

As he left the room, he reflected on taking the pictures that day. The mood was fierce and electric. Mitch and Colby had to really work at containing themselves. The men around them were all gorgeous. Well built gym bodies that were only helped more by their hard work being firemen. Lifting hoses, ladders and all sorts of training. The men on set just oozed masculinity and sex appeal.

When they got home that night they made up for it and had more bind-blowing sex. The sights of those men drove them crazy. As it was, both men both had to ice themselves-meaning their cocks to cool off while on set. Being young, getting a hardon was pretty easy and they spoke silently not wanting to give the general public more than they bargained for.

Anyhow, he escaped into the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash some water on his face to help wake up and wash the goopies out of his eyes. He was quick to finish that.