"I don't deserve you. Unless it's some kind of hidden message to show me life I precious. Then I guess it's true. To tell the truth I really never knew, till I met you I was lost and confused…"
 

Walter Skinner stepped out of the bathroom and just stood in the doorway of the hotel room for a moment, enjoying the view. His lover didn't notice him, being engrossed in a rock video blaring out of the television.

Still towel-clad, Fox Mulder lay sprawled across the hotel bed on his belly, waggling his hips suggestively to the rap music and singing along lustily.

"You're my butterfly, sugar, baby…" as he turned and caught site of Skinner grinning at him, the words faded away and his cheeks flushed bright crimson. But he recovered quickly enough, jumping up from the bed and turning down the volume on the television in one smooth motion.

He crossed the room in three long-legged steps and planted a kiss on the corner of Walter's mouth, nuzzled his cheek briefly and made a face when he discovered the older man hadn't shaved yet. 

"I figured I had plenty of time," Skinner said, rubbing the two-day-old stubble with a rueful grin.

"That's right," replied Mulder. "the whole day—wow! What are we going to do with a whole day off from our quest, Walt?" Mulder knew the abbreviated form of his name was more annoying than endearing to Skinner, but he just couldn't help himself. Too much sleep was making him cocky, he supposed, and he mentally steeled himself for a surly complaint, or at least a stern frown. He was surprised when instead, Skinner pressed a lingering kiss on his mouth, gave him a saucy grin and replied.

"What are we going to do? Anything. Everything. Think extreme possibilities…" he paused, and his grin intensified into something wicked, "…Foxy."

"Bastard." That was even worse than 'Walt', thought Mulder.

"You don't want to get into a pet name war with me," Skinner warned, but his eyes still twinkled merrily, "Remember, I was married for seventeen years."

Mulder matched the older man's good humour with his own. It was infectious that way. "Bastard is not a pet name."

"It is when you say it," Skinner retorted.

"No, it's not. 'Walt' is a pet name. 'Wally' is a pet name. 'My burly love-badger' is a pet—oof!"

Mulder fell back on the bed with a grunt as Skinner tackled him.  Towels were lost in the first few seconds of the scuffle, but neither man noticed.

A furious tussle ensued, and when the smoke had cleared, Mulder was on his back with Skinner straddling his body, his knees holding the other man's arms pinned to the bed.

"Get off me!" Mulder was laughing even as he yelled and struggled.

"Love-badger?" Skinner asked sternly.

"Burly love-badger!" Mulder corrected him.

Skinner cocked his head to one side pensively, then gave Mulder an experimental poke in the side with one finger.  So pleased was he with the resulting girly scream that he did it again, twice.

"Stop it! Just stop!" Mulder squirmed and bucked, but Skinner was unshakeable. "Oh, man! You are in big trouble, mister! Just you wait, Badger man! When I—" The rant was cut off mid-stream as Skinner dug both hands into Mulder's very vulnerable, very ticklish ribs, and reduced his lover to helpless thrashing and eye-watering laughter.

When Skinner stopped to regard him again, Mulder picked up where he had left off, albeit a little breathlessly, and not just from laughing.

"You're not playing fair here, Walt." There was that nickname again, and Mulder wasn't even aware he'd used it, although Skinner noticed immediately. "Now let me up. Are you listening to me? Get the hell off of me already. Christ! You've made your point, now—"

Skinner put a hand over his mouth. Mulder's eyes bulged comically, and his thrashing movements increased tenfold.  Skinner realized that if he held on for just eight more seconds, he would win a gold belt buckle. 

Keeping his hand pressed firmly to his lover's face, he bent close to his ear and, after nipping at his earlobe just for the pleasure of feeling the vibrations of a groan against his palm, he whispered, "Love-badger says Mulder needs a pet name worthy of him."

Sitting up again and readjusting himself on his lover's stomach, he smiled nastily and declared, "Punkin."

More vibrations against his hand, these ones nearly audible, and a darkening of hazel eyes told him exactly what Mulder thought of that, and he snickered, then relented.

"No? Hmmm…" In a frighteningly bad French accent, he suggested, "My little apple pie filling?"

He was nearly dislodged from his seat by Mulder's opinion on that.

"Hmmm, let me think." Apparently part of the thought process was to turn Mulder's head and attack his ear again, nipping gently at it, then licking delicately at the lobe and the skin just behind it.  For the first time since this conversation had began, Skinner realized that they were both naked. And that suited him just fine.

He sat up again, pausing along the way to give his lover a quick kiss on the nose.

"Poodle?" he offered.

He thought he could make out the words behind the hand, and they weren't flattering.

"I like Poodle," he said. "But maybe something butcher…hmmm…" As he was thinking, he reached behind himself and lightly brushed Mulder's thickening penis with his fingertips. The body beneath him nearly fishtailed, and Mulder's eyes got even wider.

"Well, yes," Skinner said, "'Slut' is definitely an option here, but it's a little demeaning, don't you think?" Another soft pass of his fingers and he could feel the head prodding at his backside. "And not very romantic," he added. He felt puffs of hot breath on his hand, and hectic red spots flared up in Mulder's cheeks.

"Puppy," Skinner declared, sliding off of Mulder's arms, down the length of his torso, and across his burgeoning erection. He trapped the howl with his hand, then replaced his hand with his mouth, and Mulder's lips clamped over his. 

As soon as he had feeling back in his arms, Mulder wrapped them around the older man and clung to him tightly, thrusting his hips forward and gasping at the soft friction created as their cocks collided, dueled, slid over one another.

Skinner forced his tongue deep into Mulder's mouth, chasing the other tongue like a puppy chasing it's tail, and the thought made him smile and pull away.

"Puppy," he said again. Mulder was in no mood to argue.

Skinner burrowed his way under Mulder's chin, paused to lick and bite at the throat that was suddenly bared to him as Mulder tossed his head back, then moved on, blazing a wet trail of kisses down his lover's chest.

Mulder had thrown his arms open wide as Skinner shifted to allow the other man to move down his body. Now he wrapped his long muscular legs around him instead, holding him fast and rubbing harder against him.

As he suddenly found himself immobilized, Skinner decided to enjoy his captivity, and he ground his hips into the trembling body beneath him, receiving a long drawn out moan for his efforts, which he turned into a squeal and a whimper as he worried one small nipple between sharp teeth, and pinched the other with thumb and forefinger.

They rocked  their bodies together in tandem, creating delicious, sweat slick friction that moved them closer to the edge.

Mulder pulled Skinner off of his chest and dragged his face up for a kiss.

"Puppy…" Skinner's voice was rough with need, and Mulder felt his balls tighten at the sound. He decided abruptly that Skinner could call him any damn thing he wanted to, so long as he could and did make his body feel this way. He bit at Skinner's lips and lapped at his chin, his movements growing more restless, his kisses more sloppy. Skinner didn't seem to mind. 

Suddenly Skinner arched his back and the thrusting of his hips became wild and erratic. Mulder felt the other man's cock pulsing against his own, and liquid heat as Skinner fell forward just as suddenly, his orgasm erupting out of him with a shout.  It was enough for Mulder, and he came right along with his lover, their seed mingling to cover their chests and bellies.

Skinner reaquainted himself with an earlobe, and Mulder put his arms around him again, stroking up and down the broad back and shoulders and relishing the trembling of well used muscles under his hands. His own body jerked and gently shook as Skinner nibbled at his skin, then licked, nuzzled and blew softly.

When both of them had rediscovered the joys of oxygen, Mulder pulled Skinner's face up to his own and gave him a gentle kiss.

"There's got to be rules, Walter."

"Huh?" Post-orgasm lack of higher brain functions were impeding Skinner's usual quick response time to this latest Mulder segue, and the befuddled look he gave the younger man was enough to cause him to laugh out loud, then kiss him again, bolder this time, even as he winced at the razor burn he could feel on his mouth, cheeks, nose, even his chest.

"About this puppy thing…" he added by way of explanation.

"Mmmm, puppy…" Skinner replied, murmuring the term of endearment into the other man's mouth. Mulder pulled away with determination undermined only by a small whimper.

"Rule 1-only when it's appropriate." He declared, giving Skinner a hard look that was quite unconvincing when coupled with his kiss swollen mouth and sex-mussed hair.

"As in, 'I love you, puppy'?" Skinner asked innocently. Mulder rolled his eyes.

"Rule 2-never on an unsecured line."

"Paranoid puppy," Skinner's voice was low and agreeable, like a wild cat purring it's way through a field of catnip.

"And Rule 3-this is the important one, Walter, so pay attention. Never, ever, EVER in front of Scully."

"Mmm, wouldn't dream of it…" With what felt like the last of his strength, Skinner rolled off of Mulder and onto his back, swiped ineffectually at his sticky stomach and chest, and turned his face towards his lover.

"Unless it's appropriate, and the line is secure," he murmured.

He closed his eyes and felt Fox laughing as he kissed him, then felt the bed shift as his lover rose with a groan. A moment later he felt the rough drag of terry cloth across his body as Mulder used one of their forgotten towels to wipe him down with.

"Breakfast, Walter?" Mulder asked as he climbed back into the bed and snuggled up close to Skinner.

"Call room service," he replied, throwing a lazy arm around the other man. "Ask 'em for Puppy Chow for two." He drifted off to sleep on the sound of Mulder's laughter.