shine_again | (no subject)

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The idea's been in Dan's head since that first trip to East Hallow, but he's not about to indulge it there. What it means that he feels Darrow is safer than that place, or safer than the world he'd left behind, he'll unpack later.

A few different places fit the bill, and Dan picks the corn maze furthest out from the city proper, one that's going to be low on people and low on being anything but an acre or two of cornstalks, hay bales, and some cheap Halloween decorations. There's a reason most of the teenagers don't come here, and a reason no one brings the smaller children.

It's as neutral as Dan could hope to find.

And still, it sets his heart to thumping, bumping under the skin of his wrist as he stands in front of the entrance with Marcus.

"It's something I want to do," he says, again, for his own benefit. Marcus knows about the power of the hedge maze, and Dan reaches out for him, seeking to loop their fingers together. The touch of Marcus's skin grounds him, always, and just maybe, there's a chance for adrenaline over dread.

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Marcus isn't unsure of this at all. Better than most, he knows the power of exorcism, even if it exists in a more metaphorical sense such as this and if this is something Dan wants to do, then Marcus is here by his side for every single moment of it, absolutely no questions asked.

But at the same time, he wants it to be clear they can stop this at any time. They can push through a wall of cornstalks and get out whenever they feel the need, make their way back to the truck and then head home. He's already said it, but when Dan takes his hand, he looks over and tells him again.

Not with words exactly. But in a way he knows Dan will be able to read.

"Corn maze safeword," Dan finds himself saying, purely off the feelings seeping through his future husband. That helps too, to think about his future husband and the ring on his finger. He's smiling, just a little, as they walk under the archway, ashen plants lashed to the most impressive part of the whole thing, a wrought-iron affair that also contains fake spiders and bits of skeleton.

Bones. Bits of skeleton would be bones.

They step through, and Dan uses their linked hands to pull Marcus toward him, kissing him for a bit of courage, certainly-- but also because he wants to, and it's fun.

Funny how he's starting to see where a scare, something safe and far from real fear, turns so easily to other adrenaline-building activities.

Never one to decline a kiss, Marcus meets Dan's mouth happily, then presses another quick kiss to the tip of his nose before he leads Dan a little deeper into the corn maze. They take it slow, which is perfectly fine with Marcus, who is in no particular rush at all to go back to reality when he can spend this time within the walls of a maze with someone he loves very much.

All this would have been out of reach not so long ago. He means to enjoy it.

"Corn maze safe word," he echoes thoughtfully, the tips of his boots kicking up dry bits of cornstalk as they walk. "Pumpkin pie?"

Dan laughs, and though he can feel something, something he knows has nothing to do with actual danger, thrumming softly in his veins, he can ignore it. The discomfort exists, but he finds it easy enough to simply acknowledge, to find a coexistence until it goes away. They move further and further into the maze, and of course it's no Overlook. Dan's deeply grateful there's no snow to be found.

"Pumpkin pie works," he says, as a small group of kids just old enough to be on their own pass. "Not that I really think I'd need that. You'd know." A scarecrow looms above, its jack-o-lantern of a head starting to dry up and curl inward. "And I don't think I have to worry about this place having anything more wrong with it than the more competitive hay maze closer to town."

"I would know," he agrees, because he really does believe he would. There's an ease between them he hasn't had with many other people and certainly no one he's been in a long term romantic relationship with. Of course, those have been limited, but even still, he thinks this would be special.

"The only thing wrong with this place is that the scarecrow might begin to fall apart before Halloween even really begins," Marcus points out as they walk past it hand in hand. He gives it a gentle nudge as they pass, just wanting to make sure, but no, it's simply filled with straw.

"No ghosts in the immediate area," Dan says, reaching up with his own free hand to tap an hanging white sheet. "They must be sacking out for an early night." He considers for a moment. "Or, if they're nocturnal, they're sleeping in."

They continue to wander, Dan not worrying about a destination.

After a while, there's a shouted announcement that things will be closing up soon, and that doesn't bother him either.

In fact, a very particular smile crosses his lips.

"Do you think they'll find us if we hide well?" Marcus asks in response to that smile. It's a very clear response to the announcement from Dan and even if Marcus wasn't looking directly at him -- which he is now, just from the corner of his eye -- he thinks he would be able to feel the shift in the air.

Dan has plans. Marcus is more than happy to follow along.

"Or maybe they won't look all that hard to begin with," he muses. "It's probably run by a bunch of teenagers who just want to head home."

God, he loves this man.

His man.

"You're right, actually," Dan says, after a moment of thought. "Someone's very tired aunt who'd like to go home and take a bath, and a bunch of teenagers who are way too focused on a particular group of girls that's heading out about now. No one's thinking about the two old guys still wandering around."

He pauses long enough to lean close and graze his lips along Marcus's jaw.

Marcus laughs, low and rough, and leans close to Dan for a moment before he pulls him further into the maze. They're getting further and further away from the entrance and the light is growing dimmer as they move. Soon the shadows will begin to stretch and no one will even bother looking for them.

They've turned another few corners when Marcus comes to a stop, then loops his arms around Dan's shoulders.

"It's rather peaceful out here, isn't it?" he asks.

"More than I'd even hoped," Dan says, with a crooked smile. "I knew-- I knew it would be fine."

And then he's spanning his hands across Marcus's hips, stealing him further into the shadows until they're tucked into a corner made by two massive, solid slabs of hay amongst the corn maze.

"They're gone now," he says, even as a few of the lights wink out. "And I know how I want to end my night in the maze."

"And how is that?" Marcus asks, his tone playful, his smile teasing. "You've been impossible to read all night, I haven't the slightest idea what you might be thinking we'll do out here alone, just the two of us, without anyone around to find what sorts of naughty things we may get up to."

Before Dan can answer, Marcus leans in. He tugs Dan's collar away from his throat to reveal more skin and presses his mouth there, lips against his pulse. Then he kisses higher, under the edge of Dan's jaw, tasting the day on his skin, stubble rasping on his lips.

He loves this man. In ways he'd been afraid were impossible.

Dan laughs, low and without shame. "I thought I was the psychic here," he answers, most of the mock-outrage drained out by the way that Marcus reveals that sliver of skin, puts his mouth there.

So many better things to do with his energy.

His hands slide around to tuck into the back pockets of Marcus's jeans, pulling their hips snug and keeping them there as he tips his head just enough to feel more of Marcus's mouth. "Add this to this list of horny teenage things we missed out on," he says, tilting his chin back down so he can find Marcus's mouth with his. "But not for long."

Marcus doesn't have an answer, doesn't need to give one when Dan already knows how he feels. They've both missed out on too many things, both had demons in their way, and while Marcus wishes a better life for Dan, he also doesn't wish any of this to happen in any other manner. While he may no longer have been the mostly inexperienced priest he'd once been by the time he and Dan met, there are still so many firsts for them to experience together.

As they kiss, Marcus shifts backward and the backs of his legs hit a hay bale. He sinks down to sit on top of it, finding it sturdier than he'd expected, entirely solid, and so he tugs on Dan's hips, wanting to pull him down, too.

Dan picks up on the soft rush of Marcus's thoughts, tracing the direction more than anything specific, and he almost responds, because God, yes, something fitting so perfectly shouldn't be possible. Not with the lives they've led, and he really does almost speak the wonder aloud.

But then he's being pulled down and all he can think about, beyond the hot static fuzz, is whether he wants to straddle Marcus's lap or get him on his back. He splits the difference, over one thigh, pressed against a hip, elbow bending so he can press Marcus backward and kiss him harder.

"Can't believe corn and hay bales are going to one my list of instant hard-ons now," he says, low and laughing, just barely pulling back enough to let the words free.

"So no corn on the cob for dinner anymore," Marcus jokes as he lets himself be laid back against the hay bale. It's prickly even through his shirt, but he relishes it, a shiver tracing down his spine, hands moving over Dan's ass and then higher.

Tilting his head slightly, Marcus presses his mouth to Dan's throat, the stubble rasping against his lips. He slips a hand between them, cupping Dan through his jeans, rubbing with the heel of his palm as he can feel Dan's cock thickening.

"Good God, you really are incredible," he murmurs, replacing his hand with his thigh, rolling up against Dan.

Dan laughs, the sort of giddy and breathless sound he's only ever known in this man's arms. "I hadn't thought of that, you jerk," he says, leaning in to make his point with his teeth gentle on Marcus's lower lip. "But now I will."

He groans at the first press of Marcus's hand against him, certainly scandalizing that weird scarecrow peeking around the corner; he can't help laughing again either, or at least making that sound, more and more consumed with desire. "One of the many ways I know you love me," he says, now fully pressing Marcus down, one hand moving to cup the back of his neck, protect if from the hay, "is that you think my ability to get hard in a corn maze is incredible."

Only part of that's teasing.

"I think all of you is incredible," Marcus answers. He knows Dan is teasing him, but he says it still. It's important he knows it and even if he doesn't believe it, that he hears it regularly. There has been so much loss between the two of them and Marcus has no intention of wasting the time they have here. Their time together may be limited and it may be not. But he won't ever take it for granted.

"In case you couldn't tell," he adds mischievously, rolling his hips up again. His own cock is already hard, aching in his jeans, and the friction of his briefs against skin when he presses against Dan is maddening in the most delicious possible way.

"Might have figured it out," Dan gasps, groaning loudly as he presses back, never quite able to get over the illicit feeling of grinding against Marcus like this. Funny how it's this that gives him that dirty but good because of it feeling, considering how regularly there are spine-melting orgasms in their bed or many other places.

Then again, sinking down on Marcus's cock, or feeling himself get stretched inch by incredible inch, that's as close to religion as Dan has found.

Dry-humping in a cornfield has some sort of attachment to those lost teenage years, he'd have to guess-- but he doesn't have to choose, thanks to the little tube of lubricant in his pocket. He mouths at the skin just under Marcus's jaw, teeth scraping a little.

Marcus makes a low, pleased moaning sound deep in his throat at the scrape of Dan's teeth and he pushes up with his hips again. It's not meant to be as forceful as it is, but before he knows it, they're somehow both tumbling over the edge of the hay bale, ending up on the corn husk littered ground.

Marcus laughs from where he's now on top of Dan, but he doesn't pause. Instead he just leans down to kiss him again, more thoroughly now, really taking his time.

They're making out on the ground of a corn maze. He feels deliciously, delightfully young.

Dan laughs into the kiss, a happy gasp of sound into Marcus's mouth, as he hits the ground. He likes being pressed down just as much as he likes to be the one holding Marcus down and licking into his mouth, running his hands over his body.

Now, he encourages Marcus's full weight on him, urging him forward and then wrapping his legs around the back of Marcus's thighs.

"I don't think," he breathes, seeking out another press of kiss-swollen lips, "that it's warm enough to strip down, but I want you to fuck me anyway."

"I think we can make it work," Marcus promises, nuzzling his nose and lips against Dan's cheek, the line of his jaw, stubble rasping against skin. He nips sharply at Dan's throat, then tugs the collar of his jacket aside so he can get at that wonderful place on his collarbone that he's so come to love. The place where he likes to leave a mark, something that can be seen only when Dan is without his shirt, something of a reminder.

"We should have smuggled in a blanket," he murmurs before he resumes sucking on Dan's skin, the mark nice and red before his tongue sweeps over it once more. "Put it under you. Kept your ass warm."

He grins when he pulls back, then pushes his palm between their bodies, grasping Dan's cock through his jeans.

"Next time we plan sex in a cornfield or other agricultural venue," Dan answers, breathing shallowly, "we'll bring all the bells and whistles." And then, with feeling, he adds, "Fuck," as Marcus finds that perfect spot with his mouth. "Yeah, leave a mark."

And then he's laughing and groaning at the same time, arching up shamelessly into the delicious pressure of Marcus's hand on his erection. "I feel like you're going to keep my ass warm anyway," he says, though talking coherently is starting to get more difficult. "Here."

He makes himself pull away so that he can turn over, on his hands and knees, immediately pressing his ass back into the cradle of Marcus's hips, swiveling against the hardness of his cock. A vulnerable position, but easily offered to the man he trusts above all.

Most of the time Marcus thinks Dan doesn't have the slightest idea how incredible he is, how utterly beautiful, and for a moment he just sits back on his knees, his hands framing Dan's hips. Then he leans forward and kisses the back of Dan's neck lovingly as he rolls his hips against his ass, feeling his cock pressing against Dan through their jeans.

His hands grip Dan's hips a little harder as he pulls back and then thrusts against him again. Even with their clothes still on, it feels amazing. He always feels amazing with Dan, feels loved as he never has before.

Dan can feel his face heating up, but it's in the best of ways, coming not from shame but from boldness, this great big fuck you to a cursed place. Not only can he find pleasure here, love, but he can let himself be vulnerable with the man he's had to travel across worlds to find.

He groans loudly at the thrust and press of Marcus's hips behind him, rubbing against the thickness in his jeans, still hot and hard despite all the layers of clothes. "Marcus," he breathes.

"I love you," Marcus breathes, the words easier and easier for him to say with every passing moment he spends with Dan. Not so terribly long ago, they had been nearly impossible, but Darrow has changed him. Helped him heal and helped him learn.

He reaches around, fumbling for the button of Dan's jeans. They both know this isn't going to be something they can take their time with, but it has a different purpose and it's one Marcus is more than happy to fulfill. He wants Dan to feel good and brave and whole.

Slowly, he eases Dan's jeans down, careful not to pull them too far and risk him getting too cold.

"Yeah," Dan breathes, feeling utterly lovestruck, openly adoring for someone who came prepared to get fucked in a cornfield. It's just what Marcus does to him. "I love you too. So fucking much."

Cool air hits his skin, but does nothing to flag his erection, hot and straining, or keep him from pushing forward for more touch, more. His own hands go to do the very same work, and the thought of the urgency of not even getting their pants down more than absolutely needed makes him throb.

"Fuck," he breathes, shaky and horny and joyful.

As he eases Dan's jeans down, Marcus reaches into his front pocket for the lubricant he knows is there and he pulls it free, grinning as he ducks to press a kiss to the back of Dan's neck. He pulls back only enough to make sure his own jeans are open, tugged down enough, and then he spills a little of the lubricant onto his fingers and slips down into the cleft of Dan's ass.

"Cold?" he asks, feeling the air on his bare skin and delighting in his. He's hot, flushed from being so close to Dan, from the slight danger that comes with the possibility of being caught and the cool air is wonderful against his skin.

Carefully, even as he waits for a response, he presses one finger inside of Dan, twisting gently as he eases him open slowly and lovingly.

"Not in the bad way," Dan manages to get out, half-gasping, half in a huff of a laugh. "Feels good," he adds, and then one of Marcus's clever, clever fingers is easing its way inside of him. His head drops forward as he groans, knowing instinctively that the only ones who might catch them are a small herd of deer half a mile away, deep in a thicket.

"Keep going," he begs, inhaling the smell of fresh air and harvest soil, drying greenery. He sucks the air in, relaxing himself around the slick finger inside him. "So good, always so good."

In this moment, Marcus feels as if they're doing something positively daring. He's done a thousand things more dangerous than this and he knows Dan has, too, but that delicious feeling of potentially being caught surrounds him and fills him and excites him as he presses another slick finger into Dan's body.

"You look incredible," he murmurs, smoothing his free hand up under Dan's shirt and jacket. "Waiting for me like this. Just for me."

Marcus is aching. He's trembling, he wants to be inside of Dan, but he needs to make every moment of this as loving as he can. He knows what they're fighting here.

There can be time later to reflect on the slight absurdity of the corn maze itself, and about how he doubts either of them will be able to look at an ear of it quite the same way.

Right now, Dan's held and safe and feeling so good. He couldn't say the last moment he had even thought of their surroundings as a maze, as a place that had haunted him so deeply. There can be time later, too, to tease Marcus about sexorcisms.

The second finger joins the first and Dan whines appreciatively, just barely keeping himself for grabbing for his own cock, throbbing and leaking onto the ground. Sex and soil and the drying cornstalks around them make for a potent fog in the air, and like everything Marcus does with him, it's so strangely right.

"I'm good," he gasps, begging a little. "Please, give me your cock."

Marcus loves how that sounds. That begging tone in Dan's voice, the please, the words themselves, knowing Dan wants him, wants his cock. It makes Marcus moan appreciatively before he withdraws his fingers slowly, then finds the lubricant again and slicks his cock carefully.

With his fingers wrapped around the base of his cock, his free hand on Dan's hip, Marcus guides them together, the head of his cock nudging against Dan's hole. He's already open for him, prepared, waiting, and he teases a little at first, just barely pressing inside before he pulls back again.

Then he's sinking into Dan, inch by inch, groaning the entire time, unable to help himself. It just feels so incredibly good.

"You can hear me beg any time you want," Dan gasps, all walls down, completely open for Marcus in all ways. "Even when we first met, I was begging for you to touch me, just not-- in so many words."

And then he feels the perfect blunt head of Marcus's cock pushing against his hole, and he groans, ready to whine at the teasing. He's not made to wait long, thank god, and he shakes a little as Marcus fills him up.

It's exactly what he needed, taken and loved and vulnerable in an echo of a place that would do him harm.

"If only I could have read your mind then," Marcus breathes with a rough laugh, although he has absolutely no regrets about how things happened between them. It happened as it was meant to and Marcus has loved every single moment of it, including this one, with Dan on his hands and knees in a bloody corn maze.

He thrust, long and slow, pressing his cock all the way inside of Dan before drawing back and doing it again with a soft grunt.

"You're incredible," he breathes, his hand slipping under Dan's jacket, his shirt, sliding along his skin. "Dan, you're amazing."

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