Title: Pillow Fight
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 52_challenge
Prompt: 5, Feathers
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ryan smiled as he opened the bathroom door and padded barefoot down the hall towards the bedroom. It had been a long, tiring day, and he was happily anticipating snuggling in bed with Greg before falling asleep in his boyfriend's arms.

Greg had seemed more than a little high-spirited when they'd gotten home tonight, even though hid day had been just as tiring as Ryan's had been. Ryan couldn't help wondering just what his lover had up his sleeve; he was looking forward to finding out.

Ryan knew what that gleam in his boyfriend's eye meant; Greg had something planned, and Ryan wondered what he should be expecting. He didn't know if their evening would be romantic or unusual, but whichever it was, he was prepared for it.

That thought changed immediately when he walked through the bedroom door -- and was met by a pillow in the face, flying across the room from the direction of the bed. He spluttered for a moment, bending to pick up the pillow where it had fallen at his feet.

Greg was kneeling on the bed, a mountain of pillows all around him. Ryan hadn't realized that his boyfriend had taken the pillows off the living room couch while he was in the shower, and apparently had taken others from their apartment next door.

"So, what's all this about?" Ryan asked with a laugh, unable to be annoyed by being hit in the face with a pillow when Greg looked so happy. His boyfriend was smiling, almost smirking, already reaching for another pillow, presumably to throw it at him.

"A pillow fight!" Greg told him, aiming the pillow in his direction. Fortunately, Ryan had seen it coming; he dived for the bed, landing next to Greg, the pillow hitting the wall by the door and lying on the floor, where neither of them could pick it up.

"You want a pillow fight, then you'll get one!" Ryan said with a laugh, struggling up o his knees and grabbing one of the pillows. Within moments, he and Greg were hitting each other with the pillows, their breathless laughter mingling with the soft thumps as they were hit.

Feathers were flying everywhere; Ryan knew that they would have a mess to clean up when they got up the next day, but he didn't care. Having fun like this was worth spending a few minutes running a vacuum cleaner over the floor and sweeping up some feathers.

It took a while before they were out of pillows; Ryan grabbed the last one, swinging it to hit Greg's shoulder and send his boyfriend falling to the mattress. Laughing, he rolled over on top of Greg, pinning him down, then leaning down to kiss him.

Immediately, the atmosphere changed from playful to erotic; Greg's arms wrapped around his neck to pull him closer, his lips parting under Ryan's. the kiss became heated in a matter of seconds, their hearts racing, their breaths mingling, their bodies yearning.

But Ryan raised his head and broke away from the kiss, looking down at Greg with love and laughter in his eyes. "That was fun," he said softly, raising a hand to smooth his knuckles along the soft skin of Greg's cheek. "But it's only made me even more tired."

"Then I think we should snuggle up and go to sleep," Greg told him, smiling up at him, his own movements mirroring Ryan's as he stroked the dark hair back from his boyfriend's face. "I just thought it would be good for us to have a little fun before bedtime."

"But not the kind of fun that we usually have?" Ryan asked with a soft laugh, turning over onto his side and wrapping his arms around Greg's slender waist. "I don't think either of us was in the mood to make love tonight, so this was a good idea."

"Well, I'm pretty much always in the mood to make love," Greg told him with a soft laugh. "But you're right -- we're both tired tonight. I figured a pillow fight would tire us out more, so we'd fall asleep pretty quickly. Neither of us have been able to do that lately."

Ryan couldn't keep back the blush that suffused his cheeks; so Greg apparently knew that he'd been having nightmares and hadn't been sleeping well, even though he'd tried not to wake his boyfriend up with all of his tossing and turning during the night.

"I'm not going to ask you to talk about what's been keeping you awake if you're not ready to talk," Greg said softly, resting his forehead against Ryan's shoulder. "But when you are, just know that I'm here for you, Ry. Whenever you need me. I'm always here."

"I know you are, baby." Ryan's heart constricted at Greg's words; he was sure that he could feel it turning over in his chest. He wished that he could talk to Greg, could pour out everything about his past, but he wasn't ready for that yet.

He loved Greg. He truly did. But he didn't want his boyfriend to have his problems heaped onto those slender shoulders. Greg was a strong person, but he shouldn't have to carry someone else's burdens and worry about them, even the person he loved.

"I'm just having some bad dreams," he murmured, wishing that he could tell Greg more, but knowing that he didn't feel comfortable with doing that just yet. He would one day, he promised himself, raising a hand to stroke Greg's hair. This just wasn't the time.

And it wasn't like he was keeping anything from Greg, he told himself. His boyfriend knew about his past; he just didn't know that it was coming back to haunt Ryan. But Greg knew what that was like; he still had nightmares himself.

"I know what that's like," Greg told him, nodding as he raised his head to look Ryan in the eye. "I know it all too well. It's something you've got to deal with in your own time, Ryan. I understand that. But I'm still here for you. Any time. Whenever you need to talk."

"Thank you for that, sweetheart." Ryan was having a hard time holding back tears; he knew that Greg loved him, but he had never had anyone offer him such unconditional love and understanding before. Not for the first time, he thanked fate for bringing this man into his life.

"We're going to have one hell of a mess to clean up in the morning," Greg murmured, sounding sleepy. "I hope you don't mind doing a lot of sweeping and vacuuming. I didn't think about before I got the idea of a pillow fight. Oops. My bad."

"Not a problem," Ryan told him, feeling sleepy himself, smiling as hugged Greg close against him. "I don't mind doing a little cleanup." He reached for the lamp on the bedside table, turning it off; then plumped up the pillows he was lying on.

A feather drifted through the air, landing on his cheek. With a smile, Ryan brushed it away. He didn't mind cleaning up feathers in the morning, not after he and Greg had enjoyed such lighthearted fun. Somehow, he didn't think those nightmares would be disturbing his sleep tonight.

***