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It was 02h00. They really should have been asleep, but Steve and James were in the guys shower. A hard day's mission, a hard night of repairing weapons for the busy day tomorrow. They'd barely had time to grab a MRE and a coffee. They were both far too fastidious to head straight to bed covered in gun oil and dirt, though.
After a particularly hard set of manoeuvres to avoid Cerberus ships, not to mention hours standing at his station, Steve just felt like one big knot of tense flesh and muscle. He tried to reach behind him to get his back and moaned sharply in pain. He wasn't as young as he used to be.
"Hey, Esteban. Let me get that for you," James' baritone vibrated through the steam off the close walls of the stall.
Large, calloused fingers gently took the cloth from Steve's willing ones. He smiled softly up at his lover in quiet thanks. James lathered up the cloth again and started to rub it in gentle circles all over Cortez' back. Steve closed his eyes, leaning his arm against the shower stall, and resting his tired head against it. The intoxicating scent of Vega's spicy shower gel filled his nose. In fact, too strongly.
"Hey! Are you using my soap or yours?" He whined.
"Mine," came the nonchalant reply.
Cortez wriggled into the water. He muttered. "Great! Now I'm going to smell like you all day," He let his palms fill up with water and threw it behind his back.
From James' indignant "Hey!" he knew he hit his mark.
Cortez laughed, his eyes twinkling as he looked over his shoulder. He felt his heart fluttering as Vega's face melted into a look of adoration. James reached out to wrap Steve in his strong arms, leaning them both against the wall in the stream of hot water. Steve relaxed, his back against James' broad chest, and just let the water and steam work over them.
James nuzzled the back of Steve's neck and whispered reverently, "Mi corazón."
Cortez's eyes fluttered closed. "Te amo, Jaime."