Simple as That
By: Ryocha

Graham had always been perplexed over certain aspects of his co-worker; it wasn't an every day occurance to come across someone working in the military that kept their hair long, said person being a man no less made it even more strange. When he first met his technical advisor those many years ago he merely chalked his hair up to one of his many quirks and continued working with him as though he were perfectly normal. He couldn't complain; Billy was a brilliant person with his work despite giving credit to Proffesor Eifman half of the time out of sheer admiration.

Many years after their fated meeting, and Graham couldn't help but smile wryly as he admitted himself thinking such things; perhaps Billys' selfless-ness was what he found attractive in him. He glanced over at the still body beside him, his brown locks usually tightly bound in a ponytail opting instead to trail out behind him freely, one strand ever so gracious enough to lay over the Flag pilots' bicep. Idle fingers played with the piece as he watched the sleeping form move up and down with each shallow breath he took in and let go, quietly admiring how serene and peaceful he looked.

He began running over abstract thoughts relating him and his advisor together; when the Gundams had attacked the MSWAD base in Iowa, and how even despite his injuries from the attack, Billy demanded that he finetune Graham's OverFlag with a broken arm. His spirit hadn't dampened one bit from what the newly appointed Captain at the time remembered. Billy had always been optimistic, usually offsetting his own dark, sarcastic demeanor, which he hid behind his proffesional mask in front of colleagues and strangers.

Deep chocolate eyes decided to open themselves lazily as a soft chuckle disturbed their peaceful slumber. At first there was a blurr around the fine edges of the objects in his line of sight, but then they smoothed out, and Graham was seen looking far off into the distance, suddenly appearing far older than he seemed in those few distilled seconds of silence between them. Billy noted dully that his side ached from him sleeping on it all night, and propped himself up on his elbow in a lazy fashion, still trying to gain his bearings. "…Graham?"

Emerald orbs snapped back sharply to the slurred voice that caught his attention with some difficulty; he too was also very tired from the night before, and found himself often feeling that way more often as of recently.

"Mm?" Graham questioned back, letting his torso slide back into the warm comfortors and edge closer to Billy out of habit. A pale arm slid languidly around his friend's shoulders, chestnut locks splaying across his pecs and abdoment as Billy layed his head down into the comfortable crook of Graham's neck. The pale expanse of skin was a welcoming sight, and Billy let go his urge and licked at a perculiar red splotch that sat firmly below Graham's ear upon settling down.

"S'too early for that, Katagiri." The blond ace slowly mummured into chocolate bangs, stray strands of hair disturbed from their resting by the warm breath. Billy held back a sigh, moving in closer to the body of heat, "I'll play nice, then." He whispered quietly, almost afraid to break the tranquility that lay heavy around their entangled forms like the thick comforter that covered their naked bodies.

Grahams' hand, lying limp on tanned shoulders, coyly began working its way into the long strands of unkempt hair, tangling momentarily. A grunt from somewhere in his neck signalled that he should stop, and the green-eyed man layed the tangled strands down.

"Why do you keep your hair long?" The deeply thought about question arose and even surprised Graham himself. It even surprised the person in question, for he could feel his muscles tense, and then relaxed again against one side of his body. Billy turned over so his face aligned with the ceiling.

"I never found a good reason to cut it, to be honest." He chuckled, craning his neck to glance with amusement at the blond ace. Graham returned the adorned look with some confusion laced in his expression, unsure of himself for a moment. "Do you find that odd?" Billy pursuid.

"When I first met you, it was odd; strange even. I'de never met a man who kept his hair long, but after a while…" he paused in thought, his eyes trained on a far-off point on the ceiling, "I just accepted it as a part of you, and suddenly it wasn't so strange anymore."

A warm sensation pooled in Billy's abdoment. "That's what humans do when they become friendly with someone." He let a small smile dangle on his lips before curving it outwards, and he leaned over Graham and began tracing soft kisses up his collarbone. The blond ace sighed in content while his hands steadied the taller mans' shoulders, his free one coming to rest on the back of Billy's neck, running his fingers through the baby hairs around his ears roughly; they pulsed quicker with every second the older man spent tenderizing his skin with his caresses.

With long weaves of chocolate hair falling around him now, forming a translucent curtain that shielded the world from view, Graham could simply look up and gaze at those matching chocolate brown eyes that held so much of him in them. He felt a feeling he only remembered briefly in his childhood, the feeling of his mothers' soft hands on his shoulders and neck as he was tucked into his new bed, that warm feeling that was sparked by Billy's hand softly going up and down his exposed neck.

The feeling of being secure, that blind hope that only a newborn baby would be able to understand was between them at that very moment.

Awkwardly, Graham ran his fingers through the silky chocolate curtain, marred only by a few knots, and said with a slight husk in his voice, "Don't cut your hair," emerald eyes looked up with all the emotion he could muster, "It looks really good on you."

The emotions were received. "Don't worry." Billy whispered back, inching forward every so slightly until his lips were pressed up against Graham's, the safety blanket wrapping them both up in its confinement, "I'll keep to my word."

Swollen lips and hasty tongues conveyed what they wanted to say to one another without any words. Toes curled and throats moaned earthy pleas as their basic needs were filled. Somewhere, somehow, in many years to come, the two of them might come to look back on that time they were with one another and call it a spiritual enlightning for each separate individual.

However at that moment, when they both helped each other reach that undefined point with hands clutching and nails digging into sensitive flesh while their voices cried out each others' names, and while Graham was being filled with all Billy had to offer – they both knew from the start it had been nothing but a childish, playful banter that had turned into something serious, something deeper than what they had intended.

Neither wanted to say it. Neither wanted to admit it.

It was love. Simple as that.

-OWARI

A/N: Reviews are appreciated muchly. :3 Thank yous go out to everyone who has read my fanfics thus far! Lovelove!