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To Bull's surprise Johnny had gotten home early. Usually the smaller man got home around five and Bull was home on his day off; but it was still only just passed three thirty and Bull was happily resting in the large comfortable easy chair.
"Johnny?" Bull pulled off his reading glasses, "You okay?"
Johnny yanked off his work suspenders and kicked off his unlaced steel toed boots. "I'm fine, but some damned kid decided to sledgehammer his own shin. Now he's down at the hospital and we had to stop driving in rebar because our employer wants to make sure this kid isn't gonna file a damned lawsuit." A hand aggressively swiped through dark curls, breaking up the sweat soaked mop. "And not only did the kid break his leg, he broke the handle on the hammer when he tossed it. Splintered worse then a bat when it hit the concrete. Now that house's foundation is also cracked and we're behind our fucking schedule by a couple days."
Bull chuckled lightly, setting his feet on the wooden floor and tossing his glasses and book onto the coffee table. "Sounds like one hell of a day of bad luck. Now, why don't you take the easy chair while I get you a beer."
Johnny shook his head, marching over to the large lazy boy and it's occupant. He put his hand up signalling Bull to quit moving and crawled into the other mans lap, sitting sideways so his shoulder was digging into Bull's armpit, his head resting in the crook where neck meets shoulder and so his legs curled over the opposite arm rest.
Bull's eyebrows raised a fraction but he didn't move, knowing his house partner needed him to stay put. "This is new."
"Are you complaining?" Johnny asked, hours of frustration in his tone.
"Not in the slightest. It's just I never would have pegged you for a cuddling man Johnny Martin. I always took you for one of those stubborn types who topped face first into a pillow and screamed until lungs were winded and throat was hoarse." Bull drawled.
"How long have you known me Bull?" Johnny questioned.
Bull hummed, one of his hands placing itself onto Johnny's lower back, "Long enough I suppose, but you've never done this."
Johnny pressed back into the large hand, feeling it respond and gently move, soothing out a few knots. "Well, thought I'd try somethin' new to get my temper down; I have to say, I kinda like it." Johnny's head ducked, trying to fight off a blush rising to his cheeks.
"Good, it's comfortable on my end too. You fit right enough." Bull curled his other arm around Johnny's legs.
With a large sigh, the tension in the smaller man melted from his bones, his muscles screaming with their unfurling from a taunt posture. Bull hummed in Johnny's ear, the hand on his back curving over to support him before he fell onto the floor.
Not a few minutes had passed before, "Is this weird?" sounded in a small voice from Bull's neck.
Bull pulled Johnny back a bit to look at the man, eyes locked onto each others. "Johnny Martin, I've known weird and this is far from. Hell, even what Winters and Nixon do ain't weird. We've bonded through a lot of things and no one in this whole damned country is going to stop us from keeping it maintained. Even ol' Toye hunkered down with Wild Bill when they got stateside."
"But, aren't Winters and Nixon queer?" Johnny pointed out.
"Mhmm, so are most of the boys, they may have sweethearts but they got stuff going on on the side. I was talking to Lipton's gal in a few letters back and she's been told of him and Speirs. She's alright with it but she ain't no audience." Bull's eyebrows raised, his forehead wrinkling in turn. "Is that it Johnny, afraid that this is queer?"
Johnny's blank stare was confirmation.
"Johnny, if this is bothering you then I can get up and let you sit here and we can forget about this." Bull offered.
Johnny's mouth opened and closed for a moment before Bull shuffled in the easy chair to lift Johnny up and to move them so Johnny was back in the chair by himself. "Wait."
Bull made an inquiring noise.
"What if I am queer Bull, then what?" Johnny looked at the living room wall, not daring to take a glance at his buddy. "What if I've been for a while?"
"Then I'm okay with that. Ain't no shame comin' from me." Bull said, he squeezed the hand around Johnny's thigh, easing them both back into the chair.
Johnny's lower lip was sucked into his mouth, teeth chewing at the chapped skin. "What if- what if I'm--." Johnny shrugged, praying to who knows what that Bull would catch on.
"What? Queer for me?" Johnny nodded, a quick blush consuming his cheeks. Bull chuckled, stomach bouncing. "That's fine then. I guess that makes it equal." An icy stare greeted Bull's mirth. "Hey, what happened in the foxhole stayed in the foxhole, my feelings are carried over from Toccoa, boy."
Johnny's glare chipped away only to reveal some form of confusion. "All this time?"
"I might be from Arkansas but fuck all if I'm dumb. I knew the first week of training Pee Wee. The boys had bonds as well, you could spot it a mile away." Bull levelled Johnny's look with one of his own. This one with a sad smile and small shrug. "We had a moment in front of the whole of Easy back when I jumped out of the ol' jeep. If the boys didn't say anythin' they either respected us too much, were afraid or just didn't really care as long as we didn't smooch in front of them."
"Would you have cracked eventually?" Dark eyebrows furled into ivy like curls.
"Not unless you caved first. Which you just did. It ain't like anything is going to change, maybe some foolin' around and some other things, but only if you set the bar." Bull's smile grew, cheeks revealing dimples to Johnny.
Johnny was back to biting his lip, cheeks ablaze and eyes back to staring at the wall. A few moments passed, nothing but the ticking of the grandfather clock in the entrance hall creating noise. A look fell across Johnny's face, something in his brain clicking together when a slow smile spread over his lips. "We're equals in this Bull, I don't think it was just you feeling it from the very beginning."
Bull gave a hearty laugh this time, calming down to bring the hand on Johnny's thigh up and press itself into Johnny's neck, thumb fitting to his jaw.
Johnny's breath sped up but he leaned into Bull's hand, eyes flitting over to Bull's bright ones. "Are you gonna kiss me?"
"Well that's how they do it in the movies when someone has a revelation. So yeah, I'm going to kiss you, is that okay?" Bull's eyes never looked away when a nod was the answer. They did however, close when he leaned in for a sweet, chaste kiss.
Pulling back, Johnny brought a hand to his lips and touched them. "You know, I could get used to this. Might have to get Vaseline now too."
It was Bull's turn to blush but it was worth it when Johnny grinned at him, a flick of the devil in the curl of his mouth. "You're going to be my ruin boy."
"Well, we have all those years to make up for." Johnny shot back, his humour back in full swing.
"That we do but let's get dinner started first before I go in search of the jar we have already." Bull retorted.
Johnny nodded before climbing off of Bull, socked feet padding into the tiled kitchen. Bull shook his head before hauling himself up to follow.