"No country!" Hunter shouted, as the unmistakable sounds of a fiddle and steel guitar burst into the air and echoed down the hallway. He knew who the culprit was without even having to look. "I mean it, Jamie! Take it back or turn it off!"

There was the sound of snickering, and then nothing--the music stopped as abruptly as it had started. He frowned, as surprised by the lack of protest as he was by the sudden silence. The stereo had been on all morning, providing background noise while they moved into the newly completed teachers' wing. It hadn't been this quiet for hours.

He gave his Academy issue trunk one last shove, pushing it far enough out of the way that he wouldn't trip over it in the foreseeable future, and stepped back to find out what had happened. It wasn't just the music that had stopped. There weren't even voices coming through his open door. Unless the entire wing had emptied in the last thirty seconds, that was even less likely than the absence of music.

Before he could turn, though, a voice from just behind him made him grin. "You have something against country?" the calm and slightly superior tone inquired. He made it sound like he was giving Hunter a chance to take the words back before he embarrassed himself.

Hunter swung around, taking in Cam's attitude, attire, and early arrival in a fraction of a second. He wore a small smile that dissolved into an actual laugh when Hunter yanked him out of the doorway and into an endless hug that he felt he was owed. It warmed him all the way through that Cam was happy enough to laugh at him, and he hugged him tighter, deciding he would hold on all day if Cam let him.

Something flashed, and it occurred to him that they had an audience at the same moment he realized someone had just taken their picture. "Lose the camera," he ordered, not lifting his head from Cam's. "And don't forget, I know where you live."

"Sure thing, Sensei." Ethan didn't sound the least bit intimidated--not that he should. He could knock Hunter on his butt with a bo without even trying. And he did, regularly. It was a humbling experience.

He heard someone mutter something about the Academy yearbook, and he released Cam with an exaggerated sigh. "All right, clowns, back to work. We only have a day to get this done."

The teachers who had gathered in the hallway dissipated with surprising celerity, but he supposed they were still slightly in awe of the Wind Academy's head teacher. While Cam commanded respect just by being who he was, Hunter went out of his way to make his students see him. He wasn't infallible, and he couldn't afford to have anyone thinking he was. Any awe of Hunter had worn off the day he confided to the other teachers that being a Ranger was more about the wardrobe than the power.

"You got all this stuff moved in here yourself?" Cam had wandered into the room while he was giving the entire hall the evil eye, and now he stood still, considering the suite to which Hunter had been assigned.

"Nah," Hunter said, shaking his head in exasperation. "I was helping the guys with their stuff, but every time I turned around they were sneaking this stuff in here behind my back. It's a good thing I didn't leave anything embarrassing in my tent, 'cause I think it's pretty much cleaned out by now."

Cam paced around the room, peering through doors until he had figured out where everything was. "That was nice of them," he said, turning away from the bedroom to consider the main room again. "This is all Academy furniture, isn't it? Where's the temporary stuff from the tents going?"

"Back into storage," Hunter said with a shrug. "Until the next call for students, anyway. We'll probably spend the afternoon putting the camp furniture away and breaking down the tents."

"It's pretty ambitious to try to get the entire staff moved in a day," Cam remarked, glancing out the nearest window. The campus was crawling with teachers and trunks and personal belongings--the only thing that was missing were the students, who had been given a free day while the staff tried to sort itself out.

Hunter was completely content to watch Cam, standing there in the winter sunlight while chaos streamed past outside. This was the first quiet moment he'd had since breakfast, but he knew that wasn't where this peaceful feeling came from. Cam would really laugh if he knew that Hunter found his presence relaxing in a way that nothing else seemed to be lately.

Cam turned toward him, giving him a curious look that made Hunter realize he'd said something. Something to which he had apparently expected a response. "Sorry," he muttered. "What?"

"Ambitious," Cam repeated, as though Hunter was just being difficult. "To only plan for a day."

To move, that's right. He remembered hearing the words now. "We're very efficient here at the Thunder Academy," he informed Cam.

Cam snorted. "Is that what it's called," he replied in kind.

Hunter raised an eyebrow at him, recognizing a challenge when he heard one. "You have another word for it?" He was perfectly willing to give Cam an opening, if only to see him smirk.

"Several," Cam agreed. "Authoritarian. Inflexible. Obnoxious."

And this was Cam in a good mood. "You make it sound like no one would ever want to come here," he observed, watching Cam without really knowing what he was looking for.

"Well, there is the extremely good-looking head teacher," Cam admitted with apparent reluctance. "He makes up for a lot."

Yeah. Cam really was in a good mood. He tried not to grin, fumbling for words to cover his reaction. "So you come just to look at me, is that it?"

Cam just smiled. "Among other things."

The grin escaped, widening as it spread across his face, and he wouldn't have passed up an opportunity like that if every teacher in the school were in the room with them. Cam shuffled idly toward him, as though he just happened to be wandering in that direction anyway as Hunter advanced. They met in the middle of the room, sharing a chaste kiss that would have disappointed their nonexistent audience.

Hunter couldn't say that it disappointed him. He was glad just to have Cam here. It had been a week and two days since he'd even seen Cam, and he would never admit that he counted the days but he did and it was more than just loneliness that made him keep track. He was good on his own--he rarely sought out friendship that wasn't offered to him first, and he didn't consider himself particularly peer-conscious. He missed Blake, more than he'd ever expected, but as the head teacher of his own school he had found whatever companionship he did want was surprisingly easy to come by.

Except for Cam's. He had ninjas to train with, people to learn from and students to teach. The other teachers had accepted him without protest, even the ones that had been disciplining him little more than a year before--some of that Ranger awe had lasted just long enough to make them give him a chance, and he was good at what he did. But it didn't get him any closer to Cam.

Since returning to the Thunder Academy, he had been startled to realize that he made friends more easily than he once had. It was nice to think that maybe, just maybe, the Rangers hadn't been a fluke. That maybe they hadn't just put up with him because he was there. Despite that, though, he wasn't any better at relationships than he'd ever been, and most of the time he was just relieved to be holding ground when it came to Cam.

Cam hadn't pulled away. Hunter kissed him again, trying to keep his mind on something else. Cam wasn't easy, but somehow Hunter had gotten this far without totally screwing up and he wasn't about to start now. Because, yeah, he'd thought about serious make-out sessions with Cam, and he still remembered the close heated nights at Ninja Ops that they never, ever talked about afterward.

Remembered, hell. He dreamed about those last weeks before Lothor was defeated all the time. They hadn't known what was coming, but the ninja elements had been humming, strengthening around them, practically vibrating in the air. It had put them all on edge, sparking tempers and passion and squabbles everywhere he looked.

He and Blake had fought over Factory Blue. Cam had actually thrown Shane out after a fight about skateboarding in Ninja Ops. Even Dustin, normally the most laid back person Hunter knew, had flipped over a misplaced order and shouted at Kelly for it.

It wasn't all bad, of course: their training just before the Action Games had been something to see. They had been able to channel a degree of force he'd never felt before--or since. And as irritable as they had all been, they had felt everything more strongly. He had convinced Cam to break his "no kissing at Ninja Ops" rule not once, but over and over... they would make out like it mattered, then, like they meant something.

Cam had managed to avoid being alone with him for two whole days after the Abyss of Evil. Hunter still didn't know whether that had been intentional or not. He had gotten the message regardless: he was there, Cam was there, and emotions were running high. They hadn't talked about it then, and they weren't going to talk about it now.

Cam's hands were on his waist, and he took that as an invitation to slide one arm off his shoulders and around behind his back. Cam accepted the half-embrace without protest, his slow, open-mouthed kiss enough to drive a lesser person utterly insane. There was no way Hunter would give this up, but he was running out of Innocuous Things To Think About While Kissing Cam.

Actually, he had run out of innocuous things a few minutes ago. Now he was just trying to think of anything that would distract him, because they were Grown Up about their relationship now. Now it was about being there for each other, and supporting each other, like any mature couple in a serious relationship.

Except that he was pretty sure even mature couples got to have sex. Not that he was after sex, specifically... but there were things his body remembered that it complained bitterly about missing now. He remembered what Cam was like when he was too mad to hold back, how rough he was when he stopped caring. He remembered finally understanding that Cam's restraint didn't come from aloofness at all, but from a fear of how easily he might hurt someone if he lost control.

He remembered Cam's tongue down his throat. He remembered the tattoo on his left shoulder blade, and how Cam had refused to tell him what it meant. He remembered a lot fewer clothes and a lot more skin.

"Sensei!" The shout came from somewhere outside the room, but he couldn't tell from how far away. He did notice, as Cam stepped back, that the music was on again and Jamie must have won, because it was a distinctly country sound. Any revenge he exacted now would be half-hearted at best, so he elected to ignore it.

"Yeah," he said, raising his voice and offering silent thanks when it didn't break. "Need something?"

"Nah." The caller had given them plenty of time, and he barely even poked his head into the room as he added, "Claire's doing a coffee run; you want any?"

Hunter glanced at Cam, who shook his head wordlessly. "I'm good too," Hunter said. "Thanks though."

"Sure thing, Sensei. And Sensei." He managed to make it sound more respectful than comical, disappearing as quickly as he had come.

There was a quiet moment, one in which Hunter wondered whether to be disappointed by or grateful for the interruption. Cam was the best stress test his self-control could ask for, and he didn't even know it. Given the chance, he would see Cam every day, but if he did they wouldn't still be dancing around each other like this. One of them would have snapped by now. He still didn't know whether that would be a good thing or bad, though, and until he knew for sure he wasn't going to push it.

"So," Cam said uncomfortably, being the first to break the silence and not looking particularly thrilled about it. "How can I help?"

"Depends whether you've been sleeping," Hunter said, given him a critical look. "You up for physical labor?"

Cam narrowed his eyes. He hated being taken care of, he knew Hunter knew it, and he knew Hunter didn't care. "Why else did I come?" he asked rhetorically.

"To see the extremely good looking head teacher," Hunter reminded him. "I'm just glad you're here; I don't care if you work or not."

Something about that softened Cam's glare, but he didn't back off. "The sooner you tell me where you want things, the sooner we can have lunch."

There actually wasn't as much to do as he'd expected, thanks to the teachers he had helped earlier. They really had carted all of his stuff into the building while he wasn't paying attention, and now that Cam was here all that remained was rearranging the furniture and assigning boxes to the appropriate rooms. It went a lot faster with someone to help him, though, and he wasn't sorry that they ended up with more time than he knew what to do with.

He was sorry that Cam didn't know how good he looked helping to shove the bed into place against the wall opposite the windows. He was maybe a little sorry that Cam didn't look at all suspicious when Hunter straightened up and circled around behind him, ostensibly inspecting the room from his perspective. But he wasn't even slightly sorry for the mischief that made him shove Cam forward, tumbling him onto the bed when Cam automatically resisted and pinning his arms to keep him from pulling away.

Satisfied with Cam's open-mouthed astonishment, Hunter grinned down at him. "So you're not ticklish, huh?" You didn't forget a challenge like that, no matter when or why it was made.

Cam just stared at him, his expression of shock frozen in place until Hunter released his arms and made his fingers spider across Cam's midsection. It was the first and only clear shot he would get and he made it count, delighted by Cam's gasp before he curled into the assault and grabbed for Hunter's hands. Hunter evaded his grasp with practiced ease, too used to having a younger brother to let anyone squirm out of a tickle fight that easily.

Cam was an only child. His grin widened as he realized just how bad Cam might prove to be at this game, and he renewed his attack. He slid his hands under Cam's arms, raked his fingers across Cam's stomach, and tugged his shirt free before Cam could protest. Cam was laughing, truly laughing as he caught one wrist and then the other, trying to stop the onslaught instead of retaliating--he really didn't know anything about tickle fights, but his laughter was the best sound Hunter had heard all day.

Then Cam lunged for him, as though he had heard what Hunter was thinking or just remembered something about tactics, it was impossible to tell, but Hunter flinched away at the first brush of fingers against his ribs and Cam pressed his advantage mercilessly. Doubling over in self-defense, he felt Cam's entire weight shift onto him, trying to confine Hunter's hands while keeping his own free and only partially succeeding, but wasn't that the whole point? He didn't know whether to laugh or scream because hadn't he known what it would mean to be on a bed with Cam!

They were panting, gasping, totally wrapped up in a silly game that was fast driving Hunter out of his mind. Cam tried to sit up, knees on either side of Hunter's hips, and Hunter yanked him down and rolled him over with more force than he needed because no, he was not going to have Cam straddling him no matter how goddamn adorable he was when he laughed like that. His hands were under Cam's shirt and he wasn't even sure how they'd gotten there, but between Cam's laughter and his almost supernatural ability to twist out from under an attack, any tickling Hunter did was so accidental that he didn't even notice when he hit a sensitive spot--

Except that Cam's breath caught and he choked on his laughter and his grin was fading as he stared up at Hunter, his eyes very wide and very dark. Hunter slid his hands free, rueful, aching, chest heaving as he braced himself on one elbow and told himself to pull away. He couldn't, and he was sorry, but he needed this and he couldn't turn away from an expression like that when his entire body was singing with hunger.

He lowered his head, pressing his mouth to Cam's as tentatively as he could and almost shaking with the effort of holding back. Cam's mouth opened to his and he groaned in relief, feeling the heat surge between them as he leaned in closer and took everything Cam would give. Kissing consumed him, for the briefest moment filling every part of his awareness and satisfying the lust that had somehow caught him by surprise.

Until Cam moved under him, and a sharp stab of desire made him whimper. He tried to pull away, he tried, but Cam's arms snaked around him and drew him closer, kissing him, clinging to him, drawing him in. And he fell into that embrace, losing himself in it so deeply that there was no denying what it made him feel. He wanted.

Cam rolled over on top of him, making it look easy, effortless. He held Hunter down with a strength that he didn't often exert, his breath hot and harsh on Hunter's skin as he whispered, "Door's open." And he just hovered there, so close, so controlled, eyes glittering as he waited for... for what?

If he was waiting for Hunter to care, then he was in bed with the wrong guy. "So close it," Hunter growled, his breath little more than a gasp as he rocked his hips up, into Cam's, and felt every point of contact between them begin to throb.

Cam squeezed his eyes shut, not moving. But his shoulders trembled, and the sudden realization that he was struggling just as hard as Hunter was to control himself was a total turn on. Hunter arched up against him, and one of them made a sound as those brown eyes snapped open again. Cam flung a hand out without even looking, power erupting from his fingertips and the door slammed shut so hard the entire floor must have felt it.

Then Cam's tongue was in his mouth, his body hot and hard against Hunter's as his hands crawled across bare skin, and if this wasn't heaven he didn't know what was. His fingers dug into Cam's shoulders, long sleeves crumpling in his grasp as he tried to wish the shirt away. When the hell had Cam's hands gotten under his t-shirt, and why didn't he just yank the damn thing off--

He moaned as Cam's fingers found a nipple, his thoughts dissolving into a pleasant shock of restless need. His breath was swallowed up by an aggressive kiss just before Cam drew away, tugging at his shirt impatiently and apparently reading his mind. He lifted his shoulders just far enough that Cam could pull it off over his head, then strained toward him again even as Cam shoved him down.

There was a wild look in those dark eyes, a ferocity he hadn't seen since the last days before the Abyss opened up. Now, as then, he couldn't help wondering if it was really him Cam wanted, or just someone. And just as he had then, he decided he didn't care. When you were burning up inside, you didn't question the guy with the water.

The guy... and wasn't that ironic, he thought distantly, closing his eyes and surrendering to Cam's insistent demand. He had girls falling all over him, and it took a guy to turn him on. And not just any guy, but Cam. Cam, with his stupid computer and stiff superiority and insults that were as easy as "hello" and "goodbye." His gorgeous eyes. His rare laughter. His surprising vulnerability, and his buried passion.

God, he loved Cam.

He was in so far over his head that he couldn't even see the surface anymore.

His breath hissed between his teeth as Cam's tongue flicked across his chest, and only child or no, that was the ultimate in tickle torture. He writhed under the assault, wanting it, wanting it to stop, choking back a cry as Cam's legs tangled with his and he found something more solid pressed up against his groin. He arched into it instinctively, heat flooding his body, felt Cam falter as his hands clenched convulsively where they were.

He lifted his hips off the bed again, scrabbling for leverage he didn't have but it didn't matter because just the friction made him groan. He didn't care if it was right or sophisticated or clever; he had never been this close to someone before and all he knew was what felt good--and that felt really good. He wanted more, and he wanted it now.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours, and all he felt was the heat and the rush and the pounding need that had crashed down on him seemingly from nowhere. He was embarrassingly aware that he was doing little more than responding to Cam, but what else could he do when those hands were everywhere and the sensations they evoked demanded all of his attention? He couldn't focus, couldn't speak, could barely breathe as he gave up any hope of control. Cam was in control, he trusted Cam, and oh god he hadn't known it would feel like this!

He cried out, shoulders digging into the mattress as he flung his head back, overwhelmed by those long fingers in places no one else could touch. He reached for Cam blindly, struggling to return at least this invasion of privacy in kind. He heard Cam's moan, abruptly choked off, like he couldn't lose himself completely even now, and it only made Hunter more determined to shatter his restraint. After... after--

For one timeless moment, their rhythms matched. It was all he knew, all that mattered. Slick fingers tangled around each other in their haste. There was a suffocating need to move, an ache so harsh it screamed. A pressure he couldn't hold back. Cam's eyes: open, desperate... honest. The world exploded silently around him.

He would have sworn he couldn't hear anything for several seconds. Except that he heard Cam's strangled gasp, felt warmth not his own on his skin, saw Cam move and didn't care. Didn't care about anything but the shocks still rippling through his body, the fading waves of pleasure prompted by Cam's movement as he squirmed free and crumpled bonelessly onto the mattress beside him.

He found himself staring up at the ceiling, then, and that was really about all he could handle. He watched until it started to get dim and sparkly, and he blinked hard. His breath was finally catching up with him, the panting that was now the only sound in the near-silent room starting to abate. He felt maybe moderately capable of movement, but not in any way motivated. He could at least turn his head, he thought.

Cam sprawled next to him, one arm across his face to hide his eyes, like it was too bright for him to look. His clothes were disheveled and haphazard, but surprisingly present, and Hunter wondered when he had tugged his unzipped jeans back up around his hips. He was almost naked. Cam was almost completely dressed. How did that work?

"Have you done this before?" he blurted out, his voice rough in the oppressive quiet.

Cam didn't stir, and the mumble that replied was curiously free of inflection. "Once. A long time ago." He moved his arm, then, just enough that he could peer sideways at Hunter. "Don't tell me you haven't," he muttered, searching Hunter's expression.

Hunter considered that for a moment. "Okay," he said at last. "I won't."

Cam let out his breath in a sigh, but his tone as he lowered his arm was more curious than anything. "You don't seem like the type," he admitted, rolling onto one side to regard Hunter through half-lidded eyes.

"To be a virgin?" he guessed. If this was afterglow, he'd take it, because nothing could bother him right now. "I wasn't supposed to grow up gay, either. Look how that turned out."

"Are you?" Cam wanted to know. "Gay?"

He didn't have the energy to muster the appropriate indignation. "That's a really stupid question."

"Well." Cam sounded a little defensive. "Some people experiment."

Was that what this was to him? An experiment? It was a crushing thought, but not one he'd never entertained before. "I'm not experimenting," he said evenly. "Trust me, if I only wanted to jump you, I'd have tried it a long time ago."

There was some of Cam's usual sardonic humor in his voice as he replied, "I'm sure you mean that in the most positive way."

Hunter wasn't sure of anything, but he didn't say so out loud. "I just mean..." He hesitated over the rest of that sentence longer than he should have, but ultimately he chickened out. "Thanks for helping me break in the bed."

Cam's breath escaped in what was almost a chuckle, and his eyes flicked across them both critically. "No sheets," he said, a hint of chagrin in his voice. "I wonder what the penalty is for defacing an Academy mattress."

"Too bad there's no one to turn us in," Hunter remarked, deadpan.

He could hear the smile in Cam's voice. "I guess being head teacher's not all bad."

It wasn't bad at all. Lying on a bed with Cam, sweat drying on his skin and an open invitation to talk sex--as long as he could stand the answers... life didn't get much better. No, it wasn't so bad being where he was. No matter what happened at the end of the year, he wouldn't trade the choices he'd made for anything in the world.