Work Text:
Hell It Was You
“Can you explain, again, how this personal information is going to be used?” Ron Speirs asks as he sits on the couch with his tiny little teacup and tosses a toy to the standard poodle running around their guest’s feet.
Mike Ranney appreciates the distraction for the excited dog even if it looks like a handcrafted ragdoll of Hitler. The dog takes off running out of the room, bounding up the stairs to enjoy the toy out of view. Meanwhile Carwood Lipton sits beside Speirs on the couch with an equally inquisitive look, waiting for an answer. He expected as much. He sits down in a chair opposite them and sets his notebook on his lap. “You know exactly how it’s going to be used, because Nix is your boss.”
“You’re the one taking the notes, I want to hear it from you.” Ron smiles and sips his tea.
“You’ll have a full review of the book before it’s published. Don’t think incorporating your answers subtly won't be a challenge in itself, before I’m challenged by both of you as well as Winters.” Mike says and wonders what Nix is expecting him to get out of these two.
It’s Carwood who leans forward to ask a question now, as he’s more familiar with Ranney and his methods. Subtle wasn’t exactly the word he would use for someone who helped staged a mutiny to get rid of Sobel. “We already filled out your questionnaire about Normandy and D-Day.”
Mike laughs. “And for some reason Lewis Nixon will not publish this book for his husband, despite buying the publishing company, unless he is satisfied with, and I quote, ‘The gay subtext that will make people question what was going on in those foxholes for years after our deaths’. So, can we get on with this? I'm not sure how I'm going to pull this off, so the more time I get to write the better.”
“Fine.” Lip says and looks to Ron who shrugs his consent.
“Who made the first move and how?” Mike Ranney looks up from his questionnaire at his subjects, who have already begun to make faces at each other in a silent, but not subtle, act of communication. Communication, no , taunting.
Ron glances at Lip, and raises his eyebrows, a smirk appears and he continues to stare until Lip huffs in annoyance and answers.
“It was me.” Carwood Lipton confesses. “I saw him take that fourth gun at Brecourt Manor..”
“From his position in a tree getting shot at.” Ron chirps and immediately gets slapped with the back of Lip’s hand in the stomach. He frowns.
“I saw it from my superior position on the high ground .” Lip continues.
“In a tree . No. A sapling . Getting shot at. With no cover. In the worst possible place to take up a position in all of occupied France. Plus he was clearly distracted from what he was supposed to be looking at–the krauts shooting at him.” Ron says with a smile and Lip’s hand goes over his mouth this time.
“I arrived with the TNT and was ordered to deliver it to Lieutenant Speirs who just took the fourth gun by himself. When I arrived I discovered he had also just stepped on a live grenade, to either blow his foot off or set it on fire, still unclear.” Lip says and gives Ron a glare, which is returned with soft eyes full of adoration. The man was hopeless.
Mike smiles at them, amused but not deterred. “First move in your relationship , not in capturing the gun during an assault on the enemy position at Brecourt Manor.”
Ron pries Lip’s hand off his mouth. “It was both. I took the gun and he came running.”
“With TNT .” Lip clarifies and fights to take his hand back, ends up squeezing Ron’s instead. Hard. “It was the bravest, most insane thing I had witnessed and I was eager to meet the idiot who pulled it off. And there he was, pulling off his boot and putting the fire out with piss.”
“I had to pee.” Ron shrugs. “And my boot was on fire. Some would consider it resourceful.”
“And that was the beginning of your relationship?” Mike clarifies.
“Of this bullshit , yeah.” Lip takes his hand back and Ron frowns, that adorable fucking frown that makes him melt. “Yeah. I walked up to this idiot holding a Tommy gun in one hand and his cock in another and thought, there he is—that’s the man that’s going to make me question my sanity, morals, and everything.”
Ron grins with pride.
“He smiled at me,” Lip sighs, giving up any pretense that he wasn’t still just profoundly and inexplicably in love with this man, “Just like that and I thought, God dammit, how did I ever think I was straight?”
Mike hums. “Not the first or last man to ask that when looking at him. Next question, who is the most insecure and what makes them feel better?”
“Just jumping right into the hard shit, huh?” Ron’s grin disappears as he considers the question.
“About your relationship .” Mike clarified.
“Me.” Ron admits. “I have no idea why he’s with me. I’m pretty blunt and also kill without mercy, so uh, not sure why he’s still here?”
“We’ve been married for ten years!” Lip says incredulously. “We own a house together, paid for with shit you stole. We work for Nixon together. You quit the army for me.”
“Still have no idea.” Ron chirps.
“What makes you feel better?” Mike asks. "About your insecurities."
“Oh definitely the sex.” Ron answers and Lip gives him a disappointed, admonishing look. Ron winks in reply.
“Who is the most romantic?” Mike asks as he doesn’t really want to see how the sex makes him feel less insecure.
“I love giving him gifts.” Ron admits. “Not stolen, by the way. Not anymore. Books. Antique clocks he can take apart. A Mercedes we will not put bullet holes in.”
“I’m better at actually recognizing he’s stressed or needing to be ordered around." Lip licks his lips as he sees Ron smiling in his peripherals.
Ron hums. Mike sighs.
Lip continues. “But we both show our appreciation in our own way. I feel it's very balanced.”
“Who can’t keep their hands to themselves?” Mike asks.
“Ron.” Lip answers immediately.
“Who said ‘I love you’ first?”
“Ron.” Lip answers. “Rachamps. In front of everyone.”
“He said the words ‘I love you’?” Mike asks.
“No. Better.”. Lip admits and Ron glows.
“Who would you ask if you ever had a threesome?” Mike reads it aloud before he can comprehend what he is asking. Nix...what the hell.
“Chuck Grant.” They answer in unison.
“Bold of you to assume it hasn’t happened.” Ron snorts.
“Which doesn’t happen anymore on account of us being married.” Lip explains.
“Yeah because the threesome is going to be what invalidates our marriage and not the homosexuality.” Ron rolls his eyes.
“Our marriage, that is not in any way legal anywhere outside of this town of Ryer Island, California, yes, that one.” Lip nods.
“Fuck legality, I gave you my word. A vow. I honor that.” Ron says sincerely.
“Yes, dear, I know.”
“Who wrote these questions? That one sounds like Nix.” Ron asks.
“Probably wanted us to name him for the threesome.” Lip chirps.
“Write in the margins on that one that he should stop fantasizing about us and remember what Dick is like when he’s jealous.” Ron says and points to the questionnaire.
“How do you even know about Dobie?” Lip asks. “Weren’t you shot in the ass before that rescue?”
“Moose.” Ron answers. “The man was in absolute hell in the hospital, wrapped up in so many bandages and immobilized and on so many drugs. Told me all about the awkward tension between them, some story about how Dick threw piss in Nix’s face, and then Dobie not shutting up about how much he wanted to suck Nix’s dick while they were trying to rescue his men.”
“Noted.” Mike scribbles that one down. “So, what do you get up to on a night out?”
“Museums. Sometimes we play cards with the guys.” Lip answers. “We travel a lot, on account of work. I manage a few of Nixon’s businesses and Ron is handling the accounting side. We check in periodically, take in some of the local sites when we can.”
“Clear nights at home we go to the beach and look at stars then swim naked in the river and the gay ass neighbor watches.” Ron adds.
“Nix owns the beach.” Lip sighs. “The town. The island.”
“He’s also watching. Makes a point of radioing ‘we have penetration’ at the lifeguard station as soon as it’s obvious what we’re doing.” Ron says. “ Every time.”
“And you two then discuss it in graphic detail during poker night and try to make Dick turn redder than his hair.” Lip counters.
“Trying to win is what I’m doing.” Ron smirks.
“Our sex life isn’t supposed to be a competition with the neighbors or used to help you win at poker.” Lip replies and turns to him on the couch.
“I’m competitive. They’re competitive. I love everything we do everywhere. And you have never complained about anything we have won at those games.” Ron winks.
“He lets you win so he can go whisk Dick away and tease him about the raunchy shit you say at the table.” Lip gives him his disappointed look again.
“ That is my strategy.”
Lip throws up his hands and looks at Ranney. “This is my life .”
“What do you like in bed?” Mike asks and then looks at that again. Nix!
“Carwood Lipton.” Ron answers then adds, “Stop adding your own questions, Nix , or we’re going to think your sex life with the Quaker is getting boring.”
“I like shutting him up.” Lip admits.
Ron grins.
Mike laughs, these two are making so many faces at each other it’s adorable. Just like Nix said it would be. He was kind of pissed at him for adding those questions though, but it was on him for not looking over them prior to arriving. “What is the most embarrassing thing you have done in front of each other?”
“I thought my balls got shot off in Carentan, he walked in on me making sure my dick still worked. I broke one of the bones in my thumb, it was in a splint. So I was using my non-dominant hand to take care of that and it was…frustrating.” Lip admitted. God did he feel like a teenage boy being caught masturbating in the closet on that one. Nowhere to go in the hospital, he had to do it at night when he thought nobody was awake. Of course, silent but deadly Ron Speirs was always watching and popped up next to his bed and scared the hell out of him. Dick in hand, erection not shrinking like he thought it would under the circumstances. ‘Here, let me’ was all he heard before Ron was under the sheets with those callused hands of his… helping .
“I helped.” Ron chirps and puts his hand on Lip’s thigh.
“ That’s your embarrassing moment?” Lip asks, skeptically. “Helping me jerk off in the hospital?”
“Oh no. That was definitely after I got promoted and got drunk, thanks to our asshole neighbor, and I barely made it back to our billet. Crashed into his bed. Cried about it.” Ron said. “My whole damned life I took care of myself and my body and Nix has to buy one round after another to celebrate my promotion. Ruins it. And me. And I cried like a bitch.”
“What two luxury items would you take to a deserted island?” Mike asks.
Ron answers immediately, “Tommy Gun and Carwood Lipton.”
Lip laughs, “I’m a luxury item?”
“Yes.” Ron smiles and squeezes his thigh.
“I guess if you’re taking me..I’ll have to pick something to keep us alive.”
“It’s what the gun is for.”
“Then ammunition and blankets.”
Ron grins. “Sounds like an average evening on the beach.”
“Yeah, guess I don’t want to give that up if we’re stranded somewhere.” Lip says and Ron starts rubbing his thigh forcing him to lift his hand and move it away. “ Stop. ”
“What do you hide from one another?” Mike asks.
“Body count.” Ron replies.
“His 1911 every damned night so he doesn’t put it under his pillow, or under the bed, or disassemble it in his sleep.” Lip answers and Ron gives him a look that says ‘you think I don’t have more than those?’.
“What first changed when it started getting serious?” Mike asks.
Lip shakes his head. “Definitely not his concept of self preservation.”
“Nor his.”
“I got more touchy feely. Everyone liked it.” Lip admits
“I stopped scaring people with my reputation.”
“You did that running across Foy. Easy adopted you so fast.” Lip said and then followed it up with, “And you completely lost it when you stood in front of everyone in that convent and talked about me like you did then followed it up with doting on me when I was sick.”
“I definitely stopped shooting POWs.” Ron adds.
“Did you?” Lip asks. “We’re talking about Rachamps, here.”
“They were not POWs, they were indecisive Krauts who didn’t surrender fast enough.” Ron clarifies.
“Ron.” Lip sighs and shakes his head.
“Fine. It got serious when I thought you were dying of pneumonia. I even prayed. I was seriously going to lose you, I did everything. Even used schnapps and apple strudel. That German couple thought we were adorable American gays, by the way, I’m sure they would love a copy of this book.” Ron says and pulls out a cigarette, needing to do something with his hands. He puts the pack on the table for the other guys and picks up his lighter.
“You did?” Lip asks, surprised. “You never told me that.”
“Well, you hold your liquor about as well as I do.” Ron says, puffs the cigarette to life, and puts the lighter back on the table.
“I’m not talking about that . I’m talking about you praying.” Lip pokes him in the ribs, smoke blows out his nose and he coughs.
“Well, I did. Not sure it counted as praying, more like begging, but I would have given anything for you, even my own life.” Ron says and Lip’s eyes are just soft, brown and full of love. “I was scared. I was scared the whole war in a different way, resigned to fate, but watching you fade away because of some cold? That was a feeling of helplessness I couldn’t handle. I couldn't fight pneumonia, couldn't kill it either because we didn't have penicillin.”
“Oh.” Lip says and considers some fuzzy memories of those nights he just wrote off as hallucinations because of the fever. Ron’s voice had sounded so small, so pitiful, he just could not imagine it ever coming from him. However….
Seizing the silence to move on, Mike asks, “When did you realize you should get together?”
“Sadly when I walked up to him and he was pissing on his boot. That stupid stunt of running outside the trench got me.” Lip admits. “Most beautiful fucking man I ever saw and no way was I able to write off what it did to me. Then he jerked me off in the hospital and really did me in when he kept whispering to me to be quiet right next to my ear, as if he didn’t know that would set me off faster. Yeah, I wanted him.”
“He looked at me like he would have dropped to his knees and blew me right there if, you know, I wasn’t peeing on a boot. I mean, say it’s riding the high of adrenaline or whatever, it’s not like I didn’t hear plenty of war time buddies doing things in foxholes as I walked the line. He, however, didn’t look at me like I was just something to do before you died. He was impressed. And he gave me TNT when I was done peeing and we blew that gun together and sat in that trench side by side for a hot minute and just laughed about it. Yeah, I was done for.” Ron admits. Lip smiles wickedly at him. Bastard still loved blowing things up, and blowing him.
“When one has a cold, what does the other do?” Mike asks.
“Schnapps, apple strudel, hold him like he's going to die.” Ron answers.
“Try to chase him down and make him stop working before he collapses and has to be confined to bed for three days.” Lip says. “Never works. Always makes himself worse before his body tells him to take care of himself.”
Mike moves on, “When the zombie apocalypse comes, how do you cope together?"
“Kill them all.” Ron says.
“I’d like to say I’m better than this but…when he’s like that it turns me on. Sex.” Lip admits.
“When you find a time machine, where do you go?” Mike asks and is impressed Ron answers immediately. He’s thought of this.
“Back to Toccoa. Meet him sooner.” Ron answers quickly.
“That's…sweet.” Lip admits.
“Take Sobel’s company earlier.” Ron adds.
“Mmm..worrisome.” Lip hums. “I’d like to fix a lot of things in my life, but I see how they made me who I am and put me where I have been. I’ll have to go with avoiding getting some shrapnel in my eye at work. With no ocular damage I could have made it into the Air Force. Might have married a different Speirs.”
“That is never funny.” Ron says coldly.
Lip laughs, “I think any change in my past would have cost me this.”
“Your smart ass comments about my brother still might.” Ron mumbles.
Lip ignores him even though he blows smoke in his direction. “I…can’t help but admit I have thought about what would have happened if Ron was with us in Toccoa. The reality of it is he would have probably competed with Sobel, and pissed off Winters, and fucked Nix. There are more than a few people I’d like to have saved along the way, but you move a piece away you never know the ripple effect that it will have. Could we go even further back and prevent the war? I think things are always in motion and you can only correct so much without it rebounding.”
“Spoken like an engineer.” Ron says appreciatively.
“I noticed you’re not correcting me on the fact you would have fucked Nix.” Lip says and sighs.
“What makes you think I didn’t?” Ron smirks.
“Because he’s not the one who dubbed you ‘Sparky’.” Lip says and Ron’s amusement fades a little and he shrugs.
“Yeah. Can’t fault me there.”
Mike looks at them. “Fill me in?”
“Derwood Cann.” Lip answers. “G company Captain later in the war? Son of a bitch is beautiful, hell of an officer. Probably the only officer who could challenge Dick Winters for the title of Sink’s Golden Boy and win.”
“He called me ‘Sparky’ when I was an S-2 and yes, despite giving hand jobs to Lip, I was not a fool and didn’t miss that opportunity.” Ron hears Lip grumble. “Oh? What was that Carwood ? Not so funny when you’re not talking about fucking my brother, is it ?”
“First off, your brother is flirty .”
“He is my brother , he’s always wanted what I have.”
“Second, ‘A man is what he eats’ was his superlative and I wasn’t supposed to ask? You gave me the yearbook!” Lip points out.
“You were supposed to ask why my brother, four years older than me, only graduated a year ahead of me in high school! Not talk about radio, planes, or his stupid yearbook riddle which was designed to lure people into asking him ‘what did you eat’?” Ron snaps.
“Well, you should have clarified that before sending me into that conversation at Thanksgiving at your parents house.”
“Yeah, because Mom needed to be reminded that both her sons were eager to get between a man’s thighs.”
“Kinda like that time you threw me to the wolves on my first mission as platoon leader before I was even officially promoted.”
“You were on the radio…” Ron grunts. “You were in contact with me the entire time. You did fine. I had all the faith in you to do the job you were already doing.”
“Anyhow, Mike, did you have another question?” Lip asks.
Mike just tosses the next one out since it wasn’t on the questionnaire, feeling the mood in the room change and something was crackling between them, “When you fight, how do you make up?
“Sex” They reply in unison.
“Do you need to take care of that now?” Mike asks and Ron looks like he is about to say 'yes' but Lip immediately replies,
“No.”
Ron frowns.
“No!” Lip says. “You start shit, you pay the price.”
“That’s exactly what I’m hoping to do…”
“Ronald Charles, we’re in the middle of an interview, please focus.”
“An interview where half the questions are about our sex life and I’m still not sure how any of this is going to be subtly worked into a book about E Company history.” Ron says and looks at Ranney.
“Honestly, I don’t know either. I’m beginning to think this questionnaire was designed to have you be more honest in front of me so when Pat and I go through some of the varying accounts of things that happen, that I wonder if you two were up to something.” Mike admits. “Nix is a fucking genius.”
“He is.” Ron says. “Anyhow, what is the next question?”
“Where did you go on your first date?”
Ron answers, “Scotland. I showed him where I grew up.”
“We go back there a lot.” Lip says with a smile. “He can speak some Scottish Gaelic, you know.”
“Mostly things my father used to curse at us.”
“Where do you go on vacation?” Mike follows up. “Scotland?”
“Yes.” Lip answers. “And Austria. Really was an amazing place to end the war, we have a lot of good memories there.”
“Where do you get nervous about going with one another?” Mike asks.
“Austria," Lip sighs, "Because somehow he always finds a weapon and someone with information about a former Nazi officer.”
“It makes him focus more on keeping me busy.” Ron grins.
“No. It makes me worry about you being arrested for murder.” Lip counters.
‘Where did your first kiss happen?” Mike asks.
“Holland” Lip answers. “He got slammed up against a wall by some eager local in Eindhoven and his guys were laughing their asses off at how red his face got. Beautiful women, huge breasts that were going to pop out of her dress and into his face if she pressed any harder against him. After, I, uh, found a moment to pull him into an alley and ask him if he needed help as he was wiping lipstick off.”
“He caught me off guard. I was expecting a handkerchief or something and he pushed me up against the wall and kissed me.” Ron says and looks at Lip, his voice drops a little. “Slow, surprising, perfect. Took my breath away.”
“Also the lipstick.” Lip adds.
“That too.” Ron says and smiles fondly at the memory. “He also buttoned up my shirt and flipped up my collar and told me to watch for snipers. Then he walked away, looked over his shoulder at me and gave me the most salacious smirk.”
“Derwood Cann didn’t do that, did he?” Lip asks.
Ron narrows his eyes. “You knew ? Then! That's why you did that!?”
“Nix.” Lip says.
“Of course.” Ron rolls his eyes. “Anything he knew he told Winters immediately.”
“Where is your favorite place to be together?” Mike asks, seeing the answer coming a mile away.
“We shared a billet from the very first night I took over Easy. Where do you think?” Ron asks.
“Where do you first have sex?” Mike asks. “Hand job doesn’t count.”
“After Hageneau, after he recovered completely from pneumonia .” Ron says. “Look, I wanted him bad but we hadn’t showered in months and he couldn’t breathe and I thought he was going to die. I think once we got beyond that, started moving off the line it began to really feel like we might survive the war. Hated waiting, but we started something in an entirely different mentality than just surviving and wanting.”
“Yeah.” Lip agrees. “No question of ‘are we just doing this to experience it before we die’. It was ‘looking forward…. I really want to see where this goes’. Sexual tension was off the charts, don’t get me wrong, but it was more than just ‘in the moment’ and we both knew it. It was a choice instead of a reaction, if that makes sense?”
“It does.” Mike can see now what changed ‘Killer Speirs’ to the Company commander of E who the boys wanted to keep. Next question, “Why do you fight?”
“Nazis are bad.” Ron answers.
“Not the war, each other.” Mike says, but can see Ron just is screwing with him.
“Nazis are bad and all need to die.” Ron repeats.
“I could have used a lot less executions to attempt to justify.” Lip says.
“Look, their ideology and actions were only going to die if they died with them. Kill them all. Fuck those guys. “ Ron says. “Locking them up, what does that do? Leave them to talk to visitors and tell their bullshit?”
“So why didn’t you shoot Floyd Craver who shot Chuck Grant?’ Lip asks.
“There’s your answer, Mike. What did we fight about, our worst fight? Why I didn’t execute Craver.” Ron says and crushes out his cigarette in the ashtray.
“It's only a fight if you don’t sit there and let me yell at you.” Lip counters.
Mike leans forward. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I didn’t think we got the right guy.” Ron answers. “Summary action never bothered me, why would I hold off then?”
“Because Carwood Lipton changed you.” Mike answers. “And the war was over and you had a future you wanted to see.”
“No.” Lip says. “I love him, but he’s not going to hold off killing a guy for me. Especially knowing the guy shot Chuck. No.”
“Why did you have doubts?” Mike asks.
“I just did. My reputation was in that room with me, all those men putting a sacrifice for what happened to Chuck in a chair in front of me. Beaten half to death. Talbert was a fucking wreck, he executed a Nazi commandant for me, he knew how to pull a trigger. He thought it was wrong, sure he turned in his stripes because of that. Hack Hansen came in ready to off him, gun jammed. It was on me to make the call and I did.”
“And they court martialed him and found him guilty.” Mike says. “Review board concurred.”
Ron looks at Lip and can feel the heat from his eyes, the anger from years ago when he burst into the office and yelled at him. Told him how disappointed he was. That was the greatest wound of the war. Carwood disappointed in him for not being able to kill. “This doesn’t leave this room.”
“What?” Lip softens immediately.
“Mike, your word. This is off the record.” Ron says to him.
“Sure.”
“This guy stole a life away from Chuck Grant and he was acting like we had the wrong guy. That guy looked at me and said ‘What gun?’ after being beaten like he was? I have executed Nazis who die believing they were in the right and happy to die for a cause. Many of them see freedom gone, see either death or life in prison as an option. Choose death. Some replacement who shoots two officers dead, and almost kills Chuck? He had to know there was no escape other than death. They wanted to paint him as insane, drunk or high, and I recognized someone with no remorse. They found him trying to rape a local girl. I wanted him to suffer. And I have seen guilt, I have seen defiance, I have seen fear. He looked at me and was going to die before he confessed to those murders because it meant he would have an opportunity to get away with it. Not have to pay a price because his life was already shit. And I wanted him to suffer for life, like Chuck was going to have to do….and eye for an eye if you will. Death would have been too kind. I wanted to see him rot in prison. Freedom to move gone, pain inflicted everyday instead of quick death. So, I didn’t kill him. I interrogated him and turned him over to the MPs.”
There is a silence in the room that is deafening. They can only hear the clock ticking.
“And I stand by that decision.”
“Why didn’t you tell me ?” Lip asks.
“I thought I was going to lose you too.” Ron admits. “You never judge me hard enough for what I did. That time…you were genuinely disgusted with me. I owed it to you to let you go if that was the case.”
“Next question, Mike.” Lip prompted.
“Why do they need to have a serious chat?” Mike frowns.
Ron shakes his head. “Fucking hell Nixon, you knew ?”
“He knew?” Lip sinks into the couch. “Nix knew, but I …didn’t see it.”
“Well played.” Ron says and looks at the clipboard and smiles a little in appreciation of how well those questions were stacked against him.
Mike looks at the next question and shakes his head. Wow, he was going to be writing an entirely different book now. “Why do their friends get annoyed with them?”
“Because I talk about my sex life at the poker table.” Ron says and Lip reaches over and grabs his hand and squeezes it.
“I’m sorry.” Lip says sincerely.
“Why? It’s not you're talking about getting railed or hoping Nix gets drunk enough to slide under the table and ‘twist one off’ just like the old days.” Ron says.
“Ron.” Lip says softly. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t shoot Craver's hand or dick off.” Ron shrugs. “If I had to do it again I would have sent anyone but Grant on that patrol. He was too nice, too understanding. He got fired upon first, Craver shot at their truck which made them stop. Chuck should have been out there with a fucking gun. He was too understanding. The war was over, nobody had to die, and he paid the price. Anyhow, next question.”
“Why do they get jealous?”
“I don’t get jealous, he genuinely only looks at me when I’m in the room. Gravitates to me. Touches me. Honestly I don’t know how anyone can think we just work together?” Lip answers, still thinking about Chuck.
“Luz. Bert. Smokey.” Ron says. "I think that British Major you tried to order around liked it too much, I can't imagine him just letting you off with a warning otherwise."
“Moving on.” Lip says before Ron can rattle off more names.
“Why do they fall a little bit more in love?” Mike asks.
“Finding out the reasons he did dumb shit during the war.” Lip admits. “Going to museums and hearing obscure stories he has about things that even the curators don’t know. Watching him race the damned dog and Dick Winters across the Sacramento River every morning. Him chasing someone down at one of the companies to explain an expenditure that doesn’t make sense on the balance sheet.”
“This asshole was on the roof fixing something he should have paid someone to do, but climbs his stupid stupid ass up there anyway. He’s brilliant, finds something in the paper that piques his interest and goes to the library to read up on it. His suggestions on problems at work are always simple but complex, just impresses the hell out of me. Incredible with people. Then he comes home and if I’m lost in work he’ll do things that surprise me. Danced around me in the kitchen, unbuttoned his shirt and poured water on himself and then came over and sat on my lap…I am married to the most incredible man in the world who comes up with the most amazing solutions to problems. He also loves to blow things up.”
“Last question.” Mike says as they look at each other like two newlyweds. Yeah, without this questionnaire he probably wouldn’t have seen how deeply in love they were. Nix was a brilliant bastard. “Why does it work between you?”
“He’s my Lieutenant.” Ron says simply. “We work together, understand motives and strategies, rely on each others skills.”
“Helps I like blowing things up.”
“It does.” Ron says. “Mutiny kinda turns me on too.”
“Careful, I’m not the only mutineer in the room.”
“Brave, brilliant, kind, but also a crazy shit who climbs trees and laughs in the face of danger.”
“Honest. Insane. Fearless. You cared about your men, still do. Always running out to do it first, do it yourself if need be, a real leader.”
“I think this is supposed to be about us? Why do we work?” Ron says, staring into Carwood eyes, feeling the warmth of his love and smile.
“How could we not?” Lip asks, and his smile grows.
Mike stands and whispers, “Thank you both.”
“Mmmhmmm.” Lip says, not taking his eyes off Ron and Ron staresat him so soft, so in love. He hears the door close and is on Ron in an instant, pinning him to the arm of the couch and kissing him. “Bed. Now.”
“Who’s in charge here?” Ron asks, between kisses.
“Me. Bed. Now.” Lip repeats and gets off him and the couch and starts pulling him by his belt.
“Yes, sir.”