Title: After Tonight - Ch 1

Characters: DG/Cain

Timeline: Post eclipse

Genre: PWP! (1st one of THOSE in awhile...)

Rating: MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM for language and...*ahem* smut.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man

Summary: Cain has become a bit of an insomniac.

A/N: So. I've hit a roadblock with Interesting Instances…Here is my apology for the delay. :D

A/N2: I don't own the song 'After Tonight' by Justin Nozuka. I actually only borrowed the title, but I just now listened to this and was like, holy crap – it's like…made for this story. So go listen! He's very Jason Mraz-ish…

TMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTMTM

The sky really was a remarkable thing. Its radiant suns illuminating a brilliantly blue sky during the day, and its inky blackness dotted with thousands of stars and hundreds of constellations at night. It had been a particularly long time since Wyatt Cain had the chance to marvel at it, but after being released from the suit, stargazing had become a bit of a habit rather than a hobby for the ex-Tin Man.

Seeing its wide open canvas of unchanged patterns even after all of these years comforted him the first few nights of freedom from a certain projection. And now, a few months after the Eclipse, he still found himself staring up, at the night sky in particular, for hours into the night, especially if something was making sleep difficult.

Tonight it was his dreams that were keeping him awake. And so he decided to leave his tangled sheets in favor of lying on a blanket out in the field by his new house. He liked the solitude, away from the chaos that Central City was becoming.

When he left the Royal Family he wasn't set on a direction, and just took to walking. Soon he found himself at the Crack in the OZ but far away from the place they had originally crossed. Part of him wanted to be close to Adora, part of him wanted to start over completely new, and still another part realized he was still right on the way to Finaqua.

Speaking of Finaqua…

"That one looks like a giraffe…" DG commented, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

Cain's brow furrowed and he blinked at the stars overhead.

"…'the hell is a giraffe?" he asked, not entirely concerned, but looking at the stars all the more closely.

She snorted, clearly having elicited the response she desired from him. "A kind of animal…four legs, long neck…"

Well that didn't clarify much.

"I'll draw you a picture of one sometime…"

His grunt was non-committal. She had offered to draw some of the things she described from the other side before, but both of them usually forgot about them in short order anyway. They lapsed into silence again and Cain breathed deep through his nose, relaxing further and letting sleep edge in closer around him.

His thoughts swam lazily around the girl currently occupying the other half of the blanket. Her feet hung off the opposite end of the blanket from his, their heads next to each other in the center. Her presence was unobtrusive and comforting, something that had been hard for him to find since being released from the suit. He liked that she wasn't uncomfortable with silence. Constant chatter like the headcase provided could only be tolerated so much anymore.

The fact that she too, was a bit of an insomniac, also helped.

Just because he didn't want to be alone with his dreams didn't mean he wanted to just be plain alone, and so her presence was welcome on nights like these. Even if it was just like this: not focused on what the other was doing. He knew her company would not always be here though. Which brought his thoughts back to Finaqua.

She would be continuing her journey from Central City to Finaqua the next morning. She had planned to only stay with him for a week, though that had easily melted into a second. At first he had protested her staying at all. It was improper for two unwed people to share a house for however brief a time. Even though their misfit little group had traveled all over the OZ full of singles, now that she was known as the Princess…

He hated that such a thing changed the dynamic of their relationship. She did too. Which is why neither of them fought too hard to keep up decorum. They may have been proper the first couple of nights she stayed, but soon their domestic routine relaxed and their midnight meetings began to occur.

They taught each other card games one night. Gazed deep into the embers of an impromptu bonfire another night. Cleaned his entire cabin from top to bottom a few nights later. Placed wagers on droplets racing down the window panes during the brief rain shower a few nights ago. But still, stargazing had been the most frequent event.

He was going to miss her, he realized.

"You about ready to head in?" she asked quietly.

"Not quite yet…" he mumbled. "You?"

She hesitated. "I'm getting cold…" she stated, sounding almost regretful. She sat up slowly, and moved to stand. "I think I'm going to head in."

"I'll come with you," he said, sitting up.

"No, no…don't let me stop you… I just…" she trailed off as he continued to stand.

"Nope," he cut her off her half-hearted protests. "I'm up now." He walked around the blanket and offered her his hand. She sighed at it but grabbed it anyway and he pulled her to her feet.

She muttered her thanks and he gathered up the blanket. He followed her back to the cabin, his eyes scanning the surrounding area out of habit.

The step leading up into the cabin groaned in protest as they made their way inside. She placed another log on the fire and pushed it into place with the poker that was next to the fireplace. He frowned at the blanket he was holding, noticing it was the one that DG usually used where she slept on the couch. She had refused to let him give up his bed for her and so he had given her the heaviest blanket he had.

"Blanket's wet…" he mumbled, draping it over a chair carefully and smoothing out the wrinkles.

"I'll get a different one," she offered, making her way to his room, where the blankets were stored in his closet, before he could protest.

His eyes trailed after her, watching the way she glided comfortably through his home. Something uncomfortable solidified in his chest. He didn't want her to leave. His thoughts broke off as he spied his empty bed through the door as she disappeared around the corner. He hesitated for a moment and when she didn't return promptly he realized that the extra blankets might be too high up for her, forcing him to make a decision. His hand trailed along the blanket as he moved towards his bedroom as well.

He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the following conversation, and made his way through the door. When he rounded the corner he saw her up on her bare toes, stretching to reach the pile in the top of his closet. Her long sleeved shirt had ridden up, revealing a stretch of bare skin above her pajama pants.

His thoughts became a bit jumbled and he faltered for a moment. His intentions decidedly…shifted.

"Uh…dammit," he heard her mutter as her fingertips barely brushed the edge of the desired blanket. "Cain?" she called loudly, thinking he was still in the other room. "Can you-"

She cut off with a gasp because when she rocked back onto her heels, she bumped against his chest. He was already reaching up from behind her to grab the blanket on top of the pile. His other hand hovered near her waist to steady her as she righted herself from almost stepping on his feet. She turned as best she could, given the space he allowed her between him and the things in his closet.

She found him staring at her, not necessarily an intense look on his face, but she quickly averted her gaze anyway. She tried to only stare at his chest, but her eyes eventually found their way to his lips. He noticed her try and swallow the lump in her throat. And then his own gaze found her lips. Could it be more than just him wanting her to stay?

"Is this what you wanted?" he asked. He indicated the blanket after hesitating just a moment too long. He tried not to question why his voice decided to be so…rumbly.

Cain wasn't a fool. He had seen her looks, no matter how subtle. He had watched her closely too, and knew he had been caught a few times. He also knew that she was out of excuses for delaying her trip and it was now up to him to get her to stay longer.

"Yeah," she murmured, clearly flustered.

They both ignored how he wasn't backing up to let her pass. He lowered the blanket and tried to hand it to her but she was too distracted by his proximity to get a hold of it. His head tilted down towards her further and the blanket fell limply to the floor next to their feet with a soft thwump. By then, Cain was also too distracted by her gaze to notice.

All he knew was that his hand was now free to cup her jaw, which he did. Her eyes drooped and finally closed as their lips met and his other arm encircled her.

After savoring the feeling of her lips for the briefest of moments, he began to think he may have read the situation wrong because of her lack of response. He pulled his lips from hers and opened his eyes slowly, worried at what he would find staring back. Their eyes met and studied one another for a few of the longest moments in Cain's life.

He breathed slowly as his mind raced. He began to open his mouth to apologize when she suddenly closed her eyes again and pressed her lips to his, a hand sliding up his chest. He eagerly responded as she gripped his shirt, pulling him closer, wrapping her other arm around his neck and shoulders.

She melted against him as he continued moving his lips over hers, first sucking on her bottom lip, and then switching so that she could kiss his. They broke apart to breathe heavily, leaving their foreheads pressed together, and soon tilting their heads the other way to continue kissing. He fought to keep his hands from wandering too far too fast.

They soon paused to breathe again, the need to establish their attraction to one another a little less intense. Cain's eyes flickered over her face, looking for a sign of how she was feeling.

A faint smile appeared on DG's face.

"So I take it you'll miss me…"

Cain breathed a laugh and looked down, hanging his head. He found himself nodding as he rubbed his hands up and down her sides. He glanced back up at her with a crooked smile.

"Something like that…"

A/N: Your 3 new favorite letters are, come on, say it with me now: T B C :)