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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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3,587
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Of Mosquitoes and Men

Summary:

Gil and Warrick get stuck in an elevator.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Of Mosquitoes and Men
by Zacari Revere

 

There had been a murder on the ninth floor of the ancient apartment building. At three P.M., Gil Grissom, head of the Las Vegas Crime Lab arrived to investigate. Warrick Brown joined him with the video camera just as he boarded the rusty elevator.

“Anybody else coming?” asked Grissom, viewing his co-worker.

“Nope. Willows took the others to another site. This one’s just you and me.”

Gil nodded. “We can handle it,” he decided as the elevator lurched into motion.

“Let’s hope so.”

“Okay, so far what I’ve got is that the building was in the process of being condemned and the vic chained himself to the radiator in his apartment so the landlord couldn’t evict him. The landlord got an official eviction and the sheriff found our vic dead.”

“Gunshot?”

“Nothing that easy. The sheriff says the guy’s face is beaten to a pulp.”

The elevator made an ear-splitting screech and stopped. The doors opened reluctantly, depositing its boarders on the ninth floor. They were greeted by the familiar stench of a corpse.

“Man, that is ugly.” Warrick commented as he approached the naked body. “I can tell you one thing, Griss. Whoever did this to him sure was pissed off.”

Gil made a slight face and circled the body. Squinting, he shined a flashlight onto the posterior and pointed out that something was protruding.

“What is it?”

“It looks like a dildo.” Grissom said matter-of-factly. Stooping closer, he verified the foreign object. “Yeah, that’s what it is.”

Warrick shook his head grimly but began filming the gruesome scene. “Damn.”

During their diligent investigation of the body and surrounding area, the lights repeatedly dimmed, flickered and winked out for two-second intervals.

In their search, they discovered a drawer full of sex toys and bondage attire in the closet. “The dude was a bona fide pervert.” Warrick commented. “No wonder he died with a fake dick up his ass.”

Gil didn’t bother with criticism.

It was after seven P.M. when they finally finished and called in the medical examiner to take the body away.

Weary from a long day’s work, they took their bags of evidence and trudged back down the hall. The elevator began its protesting descent, but stopped short between the fifth and sixth floor. Insistent button pushing only caused it to tilt to an oblique angle in its shaft, pitching its occupants against the wall. The light flickered and went out with a loud snap, leaving them in total darkness.

Gil groaned at their hopeless situation. “Do you think we’re stuck?”

His sarcasm was outshined by Warrick. “I think we’re fucked.”

“I smell smoke.” Grissom was seated uncomfortably against the leaning wall. He reached out to find Warrick’s arm and moved closer to him.

“Don’t try to cheer me up, man.”

“It’s not strong, but it’s definitely smoke.”

Warrick flipped on his flashlight and aimed the beam to their ceiling. “No visual on smoke in here. Maybe it’s the wiring. Smells electrical.”

“This place is a deathtrap.”

“Not a good thing to say to me right now.” Warrick struggled to his feet and tried to reach the trap door. Gil stood to assist, steadying him. On tiptoes, one foot on the floor, the other on the wall, the tall, dark investigator stretched until the flashlight touched the tiny door that was too small for a man to crawl through. Carefully, he shoved at it, but it didn’t budge. “Bolted down.” He said.

“Do you have your cell phone?”

“It’s in the car.”

“Yeah. So is mine.” Gil sighed again. “No call box, right?”

The light’s beam moved around the four walls. The phoneless call box was missing the door. The light was switched off. “The M.E.’s office might realize we’re here when they find they have to climb down nine flights of rickety stairs.” Warrick suggested in the dark. “But then again, you know those guys. Heads in their asses, all of them.”

“You can say that again.” Gil said under his breath. “Okay, we have no choice but to wait for somebody to miss us.”

“That could be tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I know. I hope that smoke isn’t attached to a raging fire.” The voice trembled slightly.

“You’re not scared, aren’t you?”

Grissom jumped as a shadowed face was suddenly outlined in glowing light and an accompanying scary deep voice sang a mournful ‘WoooOOOooo!’ He struck out in annoyance, knocking the flashlight from his friend’s chin. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Killing time.” Shutting off the light again, Warrick plopped down on the floor. “You’re no fun at all. I hope somebody finds us fast.”

Gil sat down beside him. “I think there’s a storm predicted for tonight.”

“Double whammy.” Warrick stretched out his long legs and crossed his arms. “Why don’t you tell me about the sex life of mosquitoes so I don’t get so bored?”

“How could you possibly get bored? Which kind?”

“Huh?”

“Which kind? There are over twenty five hundred different species of mosquitoes, you know.”

“No,” Warrick’s voice bordered on incredulity. “I did not know that.”

“It’s true. The Spanish speaking people call them ‘zancudos’. They go through four stages of life: egg raft, larva, pupa, adult. Only the females bite – for blood protein.”

“Very interesting. I have a question.”

“Okay.”

“Are there any gay mosquitoes?”

There was a pause. Gil cleared his throat. “I suppose so,” he answered slowly. “As far as I know, there are gay members of every species that has sex.”

“Really? Every species?”

“Of course. Did you think homosexuality was exclusive to humans?”

“I actually never thought about it before. What causes bugs to be gay? Isn’t it their purpose to reproduce?”

“Pheromones. They secrete them and other bugs are attracted to them. Some people think an accident occurred in nature and sometimes males secrete pheromones that attracts other males rather than females.”

“But you don’t think it’s an accident, right? You think that’s the way things are supposed to be?”

“I don’t know if it’s supposed to be that way, but that’s the way it is. I don’t think there are many accidents in nature.”

“Why do you feel that way?”

“Maybe there is an abundance of that particular species, not enough food to go around, so nature gives some of its members homosexual tendencies so they won’t reproduce.”

“That’s your theory.”

“Yes, one theory.”

“Why doesn’t nature just get rid of them? There are plenty of predators out there that feed on bugs.”

“Every living creature deserves a chance at life, don’t you think?”

“Not mosquitoes.”

“Yes, well, mosquitoes are one of the least popular insects.”

“What about people?”

“What about them?”

“What makes people gay? Is it pheromones?”

“I think there are probably as many reasons as there are people. I think pheromones play a big part in attraction in some.”

“Tell me some other reasons.”

“Why are you asking me for answers? What do you think? I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe in ‘gaydar’. It just doesn’t work unless both guys are flaming queens.”

“I take it you’ve put moves on guys and had them look at you funny?”

“No.”

“Then how did you come to that conclusion?”

“Common knowledge.”

“I see.” Although unable to see the boss’s face, Warrick knew the precise expression and shook his head in frustration.

“Do you think the vic was gay?”

“From all the toys we found, that would be my guess.”

“Do you think the killer was an ex-lover?”

“I can’t even speculate on that yet. I need more information.”

“I got a thought for you.” Warrick shifted as if to face him although they sat in total
darkness. “If the killer was a male ex-lover, why did he have to use a dildo on him?”

He felt Grissom’s shrug. “I don’t have a clue.”

“Do gay men use those things? I was under the impression those were for the ladies.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“But you’re gay, aren’t you?”

“I’m not an authority on what other gay people do.”

“You don’t buy magazines? Watch the films? You haven’t been with a guy who liked it kinky?”

Grissom was silent.

“Come on. Talk to me.”

“I’m not that kind of guy.” Grissom said.

“What kind of guy are you? What do you do when you’re with another guy?”

“I talk. I’m not exactly in my twenties any more, you know.”

“You mean to tell me you don’t have sex any more?”

“I never said that.”

“When’s the last time you got some?”

Grissom exhaled noisily. “I cannot believe I’m talking to you about this.”

“Talk to me. When?”

“It’s been a while.”

Warrick patted him on the shoulder. “Join the club.”

“Well,” Dismissing the subject, Gil sniffed the air. “I don’t smell smoke any more. I’m a little relieved about that.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Warrick’s hand remained on his companion’s shoulder. “You know, Griss, I have to tell you that this subject has me intrigued. I would like to talk about it some more.”

“About mosquitoes?”

Brown chuckled. “Yeah, sure. Mosquitoes. You know what I’m talking about. I think it’s interesting what makes people gay.”

“I’m sure there’s a purely biological reason for most.”

“When did you first realize?”

“Well, first let me say that I’m not clinically gay. I’ve always considered myself bisexual. And the first time I was attracted to a member of my own gender was when I was thirteen.”

“Did you have a relationship with the guy?”

“Of course not. I was thirteen! He was just fantasy material for when I masturbated.”

“I see. When was your first time? With another person, I mean.”

“With which sex?”

“Which did you have first?”

“Female. I was nearly eighteen.”

“When was your first guy experience?”

“Twenty one.”

“Will you tell me about it? How did it happen? Who made the first move?”

Gil hesitated a moment. “Since I’ve already disclosed way more than I meant to, I’ll tell you about it. I just need your assurance that this is strictly between you and me.”

The dark man snorted. “You know me better than that, Griss.”

“I’m sorry. Okay.” The crime lab boss drew in deeply and began. “His name was Jack, and he was in the Air Force. We first met at a hockey game, believe it or not.”

“Hockey? Cool.”

“He was one of the biggest hockey fans I ever met. He sat next to me. I was impressed by how passionate he got about the game. He was really into his team. The only reason I went that night was because I had won the ticket in a trivia contest. I wasn’t biased at first, but before the night was over, I was yelling for his team, too. He was a huge influence on how I felt about hockey. Well, maybe not hockey. I think it was just his enthusiasm about it. When our team won, he gave me a great big bear hug and invited me to have a beer with him. I accepted.”

“Go on. It sounds like the beginning of a beautiful relationship.”

“It was. He was very nice. He liked to act dumb, but he wasn’t. He was one of the most intelligent people I ever met. We became friends that night and started hanging out together a lot.”

“How long before you got with him?”

“I’m getting to that.”

“Good.”

“We had been friends about two weeks, I think, maybe three. He came over to my place one night to watch TV. That’s how it all began.”

“Keep going.”

“There was a screen kiss on the movie, a hetero kiss, of course, and Jack made a comment that they weren’t very good actors. He said the kiss looked too ‘forced’. I asked him what a kiss was supposed to look like and – out of the blue he just kissed me.” Grissom paused in a moment of fond memory.

“So, I take it you liked it.”

“You could definitely say that. At first I was a little reserved, but his passion won me over. I just loved that about him. He went at everything with that kind of passion.”

“So, what happened next?”

“Well, that night, nothing. He kissed me a few more times, we got sort of embarrassed about it. We laughed it off. He went home and I went to bed by myself.”

“Horny as hell, right?”

“Well, yes. He came over the next afternoon and things got a little hotter. He asked for a beer and followed me to the fridge. When I turned around with it, he kissed me again. We stood in the kitchen for a while, just kissing, and then we went to the couch and kissed some more. He felt me up, I felt him up-- you know, general groping. He brought up my tee shirt and messed around with my chest for a while. Then the night ended and he left.

“Wow, what a tease.” Warrick groaned. “He sucked on your nipples?”

Self-consciously, Gil nodded. “Yeah, why? Does that turn you on, too?”

“Sucking on nipples? Yeah, very much. Makes me hot.”

Clearing his throat, Grissom went on. “I was his first, too. He admitted that to me later. We were both so hesitant to go all the way that we acted like teenagers. It was on the third night that he got brave enough to undo my pants and touch me.”

“Touch you? You mean jerk you off?”

“Yeah, if you want to get graphic. We jerked each other off. In fact, that’s the way it was every night for the next couple of months. He would come over, we would sit on the couch and fool around. We gave each other hand jobs, kissed a while, then he would go home.”

“Wow.” Brown had managed to surreptitiously slide an arm around him as he talked. “Did you ever do more than that?”

“Oh, yeah. One night it was storming and I asked him to spend the night. We took off our clothes and got into bed. He asked if I was ready to do more than just whack off. I think we were both nervous. We performed oral sex - clumsily, and then we tried anal sex.”

“You played bottom or top?”

“Bottom.” Gil answered without hesitation. “It hurt pretty bad, so he stopped. He didn’t want to hurt me. He was very kind-hearted. That meant a lot to me. The next night, we tried again, and that time I was able to let him finish.”

“Made you pretty sore, though, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, pretty sore.”

“Did you ever play top?”

“Once. I found I preferred him topping. After I got used to it, I liked it. A lot.”

“So it turns you on, huh?”

“I enjoyed it very much.”

“You still feel that way? Anal sex still turns you on?”

“I haven’t tried it in a while, but I’m sure nothing’s changed aside from the fact that I don’t have a partner now and I’m one of those crazy guys who accentuates monogamy.”

“So, what happened between the two of you?”

“He got transferred. The Air Force sent him overseas. When he was sent stateside again, it was to a different base, and he ended up hooking up with a woman.”

“Did you miss him?”

”Are you kidding? I was in love with him. I cried for a year.”

“I’m sorry.” Warrick gave him a light squeeze. “Have you seen him since?”

“Yeah, a couple of times. He came and introduced his wife and baby son to me once, and then he called me when his son died. He was drunk and pretty torn up. I haven’t heard from him since then.”

“Bad scene.”

“Because I have access to some military records, I know that he’s a colonel now and is working out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. He’s divorced and living alone.”

“Did you ever think about popping in on him?”

“I’ve thought about it. I just couldn’t do it. It’s been twenty-five years. We’ve both changed too much for me to go chasing after him.”

“I understand.” Warrick leaned closer to him and asked, “What about the other long-term relationships in your life?”

“He was the only man I ever let touch me.”

“You mean your only gay relationship?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Grissom’s voice was just short of breaking. “I couldn’t let that happen again.”

“What do you mean by ‘pretty much’?”

“I mean I didn’t fall in love with anybody else.”

“You’re being deliberately vague, aren’t you? You know I want to know if you’ve had sex with a guy since Jack.”

“A few times in the late seventies. Every time was a disappointment. By the early eighties, I just sort of regressed to being asexual.”

“Just in time to avoid the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic.”

“Yeah, that, too.”

“That’s what the pills were for.” Warrick said suddenly.

“What pills?”

“The ones I found in the vic’s medicine cabinet. He was taking two different prescriptions. One was Zidovudine, which is an AZT. It’s a retrovirulent drug prescribed for AIDS patients.”

“I’ve heard of it. He was also taking iron supplements. I found them on top of the refrigerator. AZTs can worsen problems like anemia, so that would make sense.”

“I’m willing to bet the killer had been infected by our vic. What we saw was revenge.”

Gil shrugged in the darkness. “I think you’re probably right.” He yawned and stretched, then made himself comfortable with his head on his friend’s shoulder. “You’re pretty smart for a Class Three CSI technician.”

“Thanks. So are you.” Resting his cheek on the top of Grissom’s curly head, he closed his eyes and let silence embrace them. “And whether you know it or not, you’re a very sexy guy.”

Somewhere in the distance, they perceived the sun coming up. Grissom shivered at the chill and snuggled deeper into Warrick’s side. “Too bad we didn’t bring a blanket.”

“We’ve got a roll of plastic.”

“Get it.” Gil sat up to let him reach for his bag.

The roll was the consistency of Saran wrap, but after covering themselves with it and tucking the edges beneath them, they were warmer.

“So, Warrick, I told you my story. Time for you to tell me yours. You never had sex with another man before?”

“Nope. Never. In fact, this is the first time in my life I’ve spent the night holding another guy.”

“How does it feel?”

“Nice. I like it. You’re kind of soft like a teddy bear.”

Grissom laughed. “Does that mean I need to shed a few pounds?”

“No way! I like teddy bears. Anyway, you don’t have an ounce to spare.”

“But I don’t have this kind of muscle tone.” Gil said, tracing the other man’s abdomen and chest. “Do you work out?”

“Sometimes. I’m not fanatic about it.”

When Gil’s hand withdrew from his body, Warrick sighed in discontent, caught hold of the hand and tugged it to his stomach again. “You neglected my favorite muscle.” He said quietly.

“I did?” With humor, the crime lab boss lifted his hand to touch the other man’s head.
“This muscle?”

“Funny.” Warrick took hold of the hand and kissed the palm. “You’ve got such soft hands.”

“Warrick, are you trying to seduce me?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am. Is it working?”

“You could just say what you want, you know. We’re both adults.”

“Okay. So, what about it?”

“I’m not into meaningless sex.”

“Sex with you would never be meaningless to me.” Warrick gently seized his face and kissed him. “I’m not into the one-night-stand thing, either. I’m not that bored.”

The kiss went unprotested but was not returned. “Is this what you really want to do?” Gil asked, passively.

“Well, I don’t see us having sex in this elevator. No conveniences here. Maybe later. Right now, I just have to say that I think that dude Jack was a real loser. He should never have given up on you. He does not know what he’s missing.”

Grissom sat quietly for a moment, but responded when Warrick kissed his lips a second time. His arms rose and went around the taller man’s neck. They shared several more kisses that increasingly deepened.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Warrick murmured into his ear. “I just couldn’t figure out how to tell you.”

“I didn’t know you were into men. You hid it well.”

“I’m only into one man, and that’s you. I can’t explain it.”

“Warrick, we have to be careful.”

“Yeah, babe, I know. Got to keep this thing a secret. Crime lab’s no place for romance. I got you. Just so I get to come home with you at nights.”

“Are you serious? You want to be with me at nights?”

“Yeah, man. I want to be with you every night all night long. I don’t know if it’s proper to tell you this in a broke-assed elevator, but I happen to love the shit outta you, Griss.”

Grissom’s smile was audible. “You love me?”

“Yeah. Now tell me. How do you feel about me?”

Gil squeezed him hard. “I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. Just promise me one thing.”

“I’ll promise you anything, babe.”

“Promise me we’ll get out of here alive so you can spend every night with me.”

Gently, Warrick gave him a lingering kiss. “I promise.”

 

~The end~

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Zacari Revere.
If this work is yours and you would like to reclaim ownership, you can click on the Technical Support and Feedback link at the bottom fo the page.