It happened on their third mission together. Lockon had been working with Setsuna for about six months and the kid was really coming into his own. He seemed less jumpy and had gained a lot of weight and grown almost three inches. He was looking all around healthier and not so much like he would knife you in the back the first chance he got.

On their missions together they ended up camping out on remote islands or in the desert more often than not. The two of them had taken to eating and sleeping together. Lockon tended to get lonely without some else around, Setsuna did not seem to care either way.

The best part of Lockon's life had been being a brother, and while his own brother was not around to be friendly, loving and supportive with, Lockon tended to collect substitutes. Starting with Allelujah and continuing with Setsuna. For some reason Lockon got the feeling that Tieria wouldn't be too into the whole friendly-pillow-fight-loser-gets-wedgies deal. It took Setsuna a while to warm up to it too, but the kid was so damn passive most of the time he sort of just adapted to Lockon's personality and mannerisms. Well, so long as Lockon didn't try to rough house too much. That tended to spook the kid.

Other than that, things had worked out pretty well between the two of them. The only problem with the arrangement thus far was Setsuna's propensity for nightmares. He had them a few times a week and while the nightmares were not nearly as bad now as they were six months ago, they still woke Lockon every time. It wasn't the missed sleep that got to Lockon. It was more the idea that Setsuna still did not feel completely safe yet.

Though he knew Setsuna was making a great deal of progress, Lockon was never very startled when he woke up to the sounds of Setsuna's low groans and violent movements on the sleeping pad next to his.

They had banked the fire before they went to bed so he used the dull illumination of the coals to find the fluorescent lantern he'd packed. Lockon switched it on and placed it on the ground next to Setsuna before trying to gently rock him awake.

It wasn't until Setsuna's eyes shot open that Lockon realized that his face was flushed and not paper white with terror, and that his pupils were dilated wide instead of panicked pin pricks. Setsuna was not trying to run away from him, he was bringing his knees up to his chest and curling into a ball with his back to Lockon. The kid was panting and making low little noises in the back of his throat and Lockon wanted to hit himself.

No nightmare this. Setsuna had been having a good ol' fashioned wet dream and Lockon woke him up, like a moron, and probably scarred the poor kid for life.

Lockon started to stammer out an apology when Setsuna's voice broke though his own, low and scared. "L-Lockon?"

Jesus, maybe it had been a nightmare, the kid sounded really upset.

"Setsuna? What is it? What's wrong?" Lockon leaned forward and rested a hand lightly, comfortingly, on Setsuna's shoulder. The kid's whole body flinched at the contact and he made a little whimpering noise.

"I think-- I think I have a fever." His voice was little more than a sob.

Lockon shifted his hand from the tiny shoulder and slid it up to Setsuna's sweaty forehead. "You are a little warm. Does anything else feel bad? Do you have a headache?"

"Nooo." The answer was drawn out and miserable. "But my skin feels like it does when I have a fever a-a-and..."

"And what?" Lockon lowered his voice, making it as soothing and calming as he could. The kid was freaking out.

"And there's something wrong with--with--"

"With what, Setsuna?" Lockon asked, a sinking feeling beginging to make itself known in the pit of his stomach.

"Down there." Setsuna whispered and sounded miserable.

Well, Lockon was feeling pretty miserable himself. It was just a wet dream all along. Was the kid messing with him?

Setsuna had never teased or joked around with Lockon before, and the kid really did sound abjectly miserable.

"Setsuna," Lockon began, trying to keep his voice low and comforting, but he was pretty sure a hint of wry irony slipped into his tone. "I think that maybe you just have an erection."

Setsuna turned his head to look at Lockon, his face still flushed. "An erection?"

"Haven't you ever had an erection before?" And this time his tone was most decidedly wry, but it seemed to calm Setsuna more than the comforting angle, so Lockon stuck with it.

"I... No."

This was getting even more ridiculous by the moment. "How have you managed to make it to sixteen without having had--"

Then it hit him. Probably being immersed in a world of starvation and terror was not exactly conducive to sexual self discovery. Setsuna never spoke about his life in the Kurdish Republic, but his emaciated frame and scars all over his body spoke volumes. So did his lack of communication skills.

Lockon was starting to get the feeling that, where Setsuna came from, The Birds and Bees discussion tended to take a back seat to more important matters like life and death.

Now that Setsuna was well fed and well cared for and usually pretty safe his latent biological functions were catching up to him.

And Lockon was left doing damage control.

Shit.

Setsuna, thank God, seemed to be calming down and he was looking at Lockon with curious eyes rimmed with dampened lashes. Jesus Christ.

Lockon tried to think back to his first erection. He couldn't really remember it, or if he had been scared. But then, everyone reacted to things differently so just because he wasn't freaked out by his first hard on didn't mean that Setsuna wouldn't be.

How the hell was he supposed to deal with this?

Setsuna was sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.

"Setsuna, how much do you know about sex?"

Setsuna shrugged, "I know the basics: Guy. Girl. Makes babies."

"And guy and guy." Lockon corrected absently, still trying to figure out how to swing this conversation.

"What?" Setsuna looked startled.

"Sometimes men have sex with each other, too." Lockon tried not to think about Allelujah when he said that. The last thing he needed to right now was distract himself.

Setsuna looked pensive for a few minutes. "I thought men couldn't have sex with each other. I thought you could only have sex with women." Setsuna's voice was a little suspicious, like he thought Lockon was lying to him.

"No, men can have sex with other men." Lockon was feeling awkward.

"How?" There was that accusatory suspicion, back in the kid's voice.

"Well, all different ways. Sometimes they'll just touch each other or one man will put his penis in another man's erg... butt and--"

"What!?!" Setsuna's voice was startled. "Isn't that dirty?"

"Sometimes sex is dirty..."

Setsuna's eyes were wide and very startled. He looked pretty horrified. Belatedly, Lockon vaguely remembered Sumeragi mentioning certain Kurdish purity taboos to him when he first started getting missions with Setsuna. He recalled sharing eating utensils, and anything to do with shit and pubic hair were among the list of things to be stridently avoided. Sumeragi said she wasn't sure how strongly Setsuna abided by these taboos, but it was pretty impossible to avoid cultural influences so chances were good he would have at least a few of them.

Clearly shit was one.

"I'm not making this the least bit relatable, am I?" Lockon asked, trying to keep the self pity out of his voice.

"No." Setsuna still sounded a little stunned.

"It would make more sense in the context of the situation."

"What kind of context would make sticking my penis in a guy's butt make sense?" That was probably the longest sentence Lockon had ever heard Setsuna speak and he was hard pressed not to laugh.

"Not just a guy's butt, it could also be a girl's vagina." Lockon was hoping this addition would help. Maybe the kid was just really straight.

"That's even less relatable." Setsuna sounded disgruntled.

"Oh?" Lockon raised a brow.

"I know about butts, I don't know anything about vaginas." Setsuna said matter-of-factly.

This was surreal.

"Well, it doesn't always have to be about butts or vaginas."

This seemed to hearten Setsuna.

"It doesn't?"

"No, you can use your hands or your mouth to stimulate the penis or the vagina or even the butt." Lockon was trying very hard to be both clinical and balanced.

Setsuna sounded exasperated. "I thought it wasn't about butts and vaginas anymore?"

"Ok ok, we'll stop talking about butts and vaginas. But you need to remember that butts and vaginas may not seem like much fun now, but your perception will change when you meet someone you like, trust and who you want to have sex with."

Setsuna seemed to think about this for a minute. Lockon decided to go with things while he was ahead.

"Sex isn't always complicated. Sometimes it's simple things like masturbation."

"That's when you touch yourself." Setsuna said, sounding like he was on firmer ground here.

Lockon tried to smile reassuringly. "Exactly."

"But... I thought masturbation was something you're not supposed to do..."

The way Setsuna emphasized the word 'not' made Lockon think that it was something Setsuna had heard a few dozen times. So someone had spoken to him about sex, but only enough to utterly confused and mess him up.

Fantastic.

"No, that's not true at all. Masturbation is healthy, especially for someone your age..."

Setsuna thought about that for a minute, his brow furrowed. "So how do you do it?"

"How...?" The question made sense in a dim sort of way. Lockon supposed that no one instinctively knew how to masturbate. Sex was instinctive in ways, but masturbation? Not so much. It also made sense that Setsuna would ask because Setsuna liked to do things right.

Lockon didn't really want to answer this question, but what if the kid did it wrong? What if Setsuna hurt himself? Or something...

Shit.

"Um, well, you just sort of... hold your penis and... uh... rub." Lockon finished lamely. The look Setsuna was giving him made it clear the kid had figured out that much by himself, at least.

"Show me." Setsuna demanded flatly.

"What!? You've to be kidding me, I can't just--" Setsuna cut him off.

"You said it wouldn't be relatable until I found someone I liked and trusted. I like and trust you. Show me."

When they weren't fighting for their lives, Lockon had a tendency to forget how aggressive Setsuna could be. He was usually so passive, so sullenly agreeable that when his force of will came out, it was always slightly shocking.

Setsuna's eyes were dead serious and determined as he looked into Lockon's. Lockon could only stare back. He wasn't really sure what to say but he sure as hell wasn't going to let himself be bullied into...

Then Lockon saw the determined look in Setsuna's eyes fade into something more unsure. Setsuna's brow furrowed in thought and he took on a slightly worried expression.

"You said it's healthy? Would I... Would I get sick if I don't?"

Oh, for Christ's sake...

Lockon sighed a rubbed a sweaty hand over his face. "Just--come here."

Lockon reached over and grabbed one of Setsuna's arms and dragged him into his lap. He settled the slightly squirming form between his outspread legs and rested left cheek against the slightly bushy hair on the side of Setsuna's head.

Lockon wrapped his left arm comfortingly around Setsuna's still too thin belly and let his right slip into the waist band of Setsuna's pants, purposely not giving himself time to second guess his decision.

It was now or never time.

Setsuna was still a little hard from his dream and damp from sweat. Setsuna breathed in sharply through his nose when he felt Lockon's hand close around him and Lockon had to catch a small aborted thrust of Setsuna's hips with the arm cast across a slender belly.

Lockon could feel him getting harder with each caress of his hand and he made sure to keep his grip light and gentle. God, his skin was unbelievably soft and--

Lockon pushed Setsuna's pants further down his hips making him gasp and exposing a darkly erect cock and nothing but smooth skin.

"Setsuna," Lockon whispered, trying to keep his voice low and soothing and the movement of his hand steady and even. It was easier now without the pants in the way. "You really don't have any pubic hair, do you?"

"Wha?" Setsuna breathed and Lockon could see his brows furrowed in concentration. It was cute.

"Pubic hair. You shave it?"

"Yes." Setsuna answered distractedly and took advantage of Lockon's absent left hand to thrust his hips up into Lockon's fist.

"Why?"

"Dirty..."

And there were the purity taboos.

"Who told you it was dirty?"

"Everyone."

Score another one for Sumeragi.

Lockon breathed a laugh into that course brown hair and watched the kid trying not to fuck his fist.

Setsuna was starting to sweat and his breaths were coming in quick pants. When he spoke to Lockon, his voice was high from fear and worry.

"Maybe-Maybe you should stop."

Lockon startled and then sat dead still. "You want me to stop?" He asked without inflection.

"I don't--I don't know. I feel-- It feels weird, like my heart is going to explode."

Setsuna had shifted slightly away from Lockon, but he pulled the panting man back close, holding him tight and letting his hand slip back around Setsuna's cock. Lockon dropped his face to lay reassuring kisses on Setsuna's neck before whispering gentle reassurances against his skin.

"It's going to be intense, you might even be scared a little at first. But it will feel good. You'll enjoy it. I promise."

Setsuna's body was still stiff with tension, as if he could not quite bring himself to believe Lockon.

"Don't you trust me?" He whispered in Setsuna's ear. Either the sensation or the words made Setsuna shiver slightly.

"I trust you." He whispered back and contorted his skinny body so he could turn back and face Lockon. His golden eyes were serious, if a bit wary, and his lips were wet and bitten.

It was a determined look.

It was a sexy look.

Lockon felt his stomach drop out and for the first in the duration of this entire episode, Lockon found himself getting hard.

He couldn't take his eyes off of Setsuna's face and he knew it was silly to keep whispering like this but he couldn't bring himself to raise his voice.

"Do you like what I'm doing?"

"Y-yes."

"Do you want something else?"

"Y-yes."

"What?"

"I don't know." His brows furrowed with the frustration that was clear in his voice and it made Lockon's cock twitch.

He knew what Setsuna wanted.

Pulling Setsuna's body as tight against his own as he could, Lockon sped up the pace of his hand. His's fist was slick with sweat and pre-come and the minute he sped up his movements Setsuna's eyes went wide and made a low sound in the back of his throat. Setsuna's head dropped to Lockon's shoulder and he bit at his lips as he breathed hard against Lockon's neck.

Setsuna's ass, which was bony at the best times, still felt incredible against Lockon's erection. The stimulation rough fabric of jeans was course and hard and only slightly mitigated by his cotton boxers.

Lockon dipped his head to the left to plant a gentle kiss to Setsuna's cheek. The kid was sprawled out on top of him, his hands locked firmly on Lockon's arms.

"Setsuna, I want you to move your hips. Can you do that for me? Just try and move into my fist."

Setsuna made a high whining noise and started to move his hips again. At first the movements were jerky, stilted; but in almost no time at all Setsuna had found a rhythm, one he clearly liked. His slender fingers were scrabbling against Lockon's arm for purchase and he was breathing with these high hiccupping sounds.

The best and worst part was that Lockon knew that Setsuna's pants were pushed low enough down his hips that if Lockon were to undo his fly, Setsuna would be thrusting the smooth, hot skin of his ass right against Lockon's cock.

The idea made Lockon feel a little dizzy around the eyes.

"Lockon-Lockon-I need-I need--" Setsuna's voice was high and so heavily laden with desperation that Lockon knew they both needed more. He move to get his feet under him, barely registering Setsuna's startled cry, and shifted into a kneeling position. Propping Setsuna in his lap, Lockon started to move his hips in time with Setsuna's. He rubbed himself hard against Setsuna as he fucked the other man into his fist faster and faster and faster until he heard a chocked cry and felt his fiingers get slick with Setsuna's come.

Then Lockon's mind shifted to bright white and blinding pleasure as he came hard all over his own clothes and Setsuna's back.

They both sat there for a minute, gasping before Setsuna inquired in a slightly bemused voice.

"Is that how it usually works?"