Romance Sonambulo



--Pero yo ya no soy yo,
ni mi casa es ya mi casa.

--Dejadme subir al menos
hasta las altas barandas.....
Barandales de la luna
por donde retumba el agua.

--But I am no more I,
nor is my house now my house.

--Let me climb at least
up to the high balustrades....
Balustrades of the moon
where the water resounds.

(Federico Garcia Lorca -- Romance Sonambulo.)

**************************************

'Starsky? How you doing, son?'

Starsky looked up to see Captain Dobey standing in the doorway to the waiting room.

'I'd be doing better if they let me back in Hutch's room. Did you see him? How is he?'

Captain Dobey entered the room, and chose a seat across from his detective. Starsky was sitting on a sofa, under a landscape painting. Some sort of night scene. A large house on a hillside, in moonlight. Pretty.

'He's fine. Just like he was an hour ago, when you saw him last. He can go home tomorrow. Why don't you go home and get some sleep?' Dobey knew his words were wasted, but felt compelled to try.

'I am home,' Starsky answered, and went back to reading the article in the magazine he had found on the coffee table. How to Have a More Exciting Sex Life With Your Husband. Starsky was sure that his own sex life was about as exciting as it could get, but it was better to carry lots of ammo you didn't need, than find yourself in the middle of a firefight with an empty chamber and no extra clips.

Tip # 1: Wear sexy lingerie to bed. --   Look awful in black lace. Just get naked. Never found that to fail.

Tip # 2: Try out some different positions. -- What positions hadn't they tried out, here, or on the moon? Were there more? Hot damn!

Tip # 3: Seduce HIM sometimes. Don't wait for HIM to seduce YOU. --  My God! If I'd waited for Hutch to seduce me, we'd still be walking around with hard ons, pretending to be pals.

Tip # 4: Take a vacation once in a while. -- Bingo!

'Uh, Captain?'

'Yeah, Starsky?'

'We'd like to take some of the vacation time we have coming to us, if that's okay. We've been working hard, and now he's been hurt in the line of duty. Again. We both need a break after this.'

'Sure. Um...where you gonna go?'

Starsky looked at his captain's face. Dobey looked embarrassed, and suddenly Starsky just couldn't stand it any longer.

'Where do you think, Captain? Amsterdam.'

'Amsterdam?'

'Yeah. Isn't that where they do the sex change operations? We're gonna both come back as women. Lesbians, actually.'

Dobey stared at him for a moment. Then he sighed.

'Isn't sarcasm more your partner's forte?'

'Guess I picked up a few things from him over the years.'

'Starsky, I didn't think you were gonna turn into women.'

'Then what do you think? If you don't mind my asking?'

'I'm just worried about you two. Well, that's nothing new. But now? For God's sake, Starsky! What happened? What changed?'

'What do you mean, what changed?'

'What do you mean, what do I mean what changed?'

'Huh? Didn't follow that.'

Dobey looked as if he were about to bellow at him, before he remembered where he was.

'Starsky,' he hissed. 'I'm losing patience.'

Starsky refrained from pointing out that his superior officer had never had any patience to begin with.

'Nothing changed, Captain. Hutch and I have always been lovers.'

'But... that's not true, Starsky. The both of you ran after women, like....'

'Like dogs after a bone? Yeah, we did. We came to our senses, I guess, so that changed. But the love hasn't changed.'

'How can you say that?'

'Because it's true.'

'How can it be true? You were friends. The best of friends. How could you ruin a friendship like that? For what? Just to get in each other's pants?'

Dobey looked at Starsky's face. He'd never seen that expression directed at him before.

'Look, Starsky. I care about the two of you like you were my own sons. I just want what's best for you.'

'Then never say such a thing to me again. And never say it to Hutch even once. Hutch was knocked out by some guy who tried to beat up his son's lover. Did you know that? Right here in this room.'

'I read your report.'

'Good!'

'There's no need to be disrespectful.'

'I'm not disrespectful, Cap. I'd never make some remark like that about you and Mrs. Dobey.'

'That's not the same thing.'

'The Hell it isn't.'

Dobey looked as if he were about to blow up, but fortunately, at that moment, the door to the waiting room opened, and Huggy walked in.

'Hey, Starsky, ma man. I just saw Hutch for a minute. He's doin' fine. Don't look so worried.'

'Everyone gets to see him but me.'

'Not what I heard. Hutch told me you were in there all evenin'. Besides, he'll be goin' home tomorrow. Told me, tell Starsk to go home, get some sleep. Told him, you'd say no way, Jose.'

'Home,' said Starsky. 'I am home.'

'We know that bro'. But look now, Hutch is fine. Really fine. They just wanna observe him over night. They don't want you under their feet. This room ain't no place to spend the night. Nothin' you can do, here. Why not call it a day?'

For some time, Starsky had been feeling the vibrations in his very bones. Oh yes, he and the painting on the wall behind him were definitely on the same wave length, which was why he had his back to it. Not again, he thought. Not twice in one day, with Hutch down for the count. I can settle Dobey's hash in this world thanks. Back off, ya' hunk of canvas!

'Maybe you're right,' he said out loud. 'I'll be here in the morning with some clean clothes for him. Captain? We're on vacation, right?'

'Sure, Starsky. Get some sleep. And Starsky?'

'Yeah, Cap?'

'I'm sorry about earlier.'

'Okay. Forget it. Night, Huggy. Captain Dobey.' Starsky didn't see the questioning look that Huggy directed to the Captain.

Hutch's place was dark and lonely without Hutch, but was better than his own house in the same circumstances. Hutch's bed was the first place they had made love. They had made love there last night as well, and the room still smelt of sex.

Sex. Making married sex more exciting. Starsky would settle for the dull variety right now, if it meant Hutch were here with him, instead of in some cold, institutional hospital room, full of painful memories. He looked down at the magazine he had accidentally brought home from the hospital. Have to return that tomorrow, he thought.

Tip # 5 Make your husband feel like a Real Man. -- Do I? We take turns screwing each other. As much as possible, that is. I mean, it's not like we have a chart on the bedroom wall and cross off who does who, and how and when. Do I make him feel like a man? Could I? I'm a man, too. There's the unavoidable reality of my dick. It's there whenever we make love, however we make love. Doesn't it ever feel strange to him?

But no. Hutch had done this before, making love with another man. It was familiar territory to him. Not like the Mountains of the Moon. Or rather, the Moon was Hutch's territory, and Starsky was his guest.

His welcome guest. His eager guest.

Starsky skipped the rest of the Sex Tips, and crawled into Hutch's bed, just to sleep.

*****************************************

Starsky's horse was tired, and the green hills were wild with rain. He had left pursuit behind him when he crossed the border into night. Now, the moon floated above him in the moody sky, leading the way to candlelight and sanctuary.

His horse climbed the last hill, and stopped at the wall that guarded the casa. Starsky dismounted and patted his horse, who found his own way to the stables hidden in the hillside. Starsky climbed the wall of the casa. Starsky climbed the balustrade leading up to the moon. The moon floated above him, leading the way to candlelight and sanctuary.

Upon the balustrade, there stood a man, looking out over the green hills wild with rain. He wore a shirt of dark blue silk, black trousers and boots of Spanish leather. Moonlight dripped over his hair, over his shoulders and over his arms. He watched Starsky climb the balustrade, and then he smiled and said, 'Amigo,' giving the word that intimate tone that meant 'lover'.

'Moon Lover,' said Starsky, in reply. 'Mi amor.'

'You have ridden hard tonight. You are dusty and thirsty. Come inside, for my home is your home.'

'The moon has turned your hair to silver, the only silver that is worth owning. I will come inside, for I have no silver, and no home, but with you.'

The Silver Man turned to lead the way inside, through the balcony doors, where the curtains tossed in the wind like Spanish ladies dancing. Inside, the room was warm, lit by candles and a fire. The candlelight stroked with gold the lines of the body that the moon had caressed with silver.

He poured wine into glasses and handed one to Starsky.

'A toast,' he said. 'To love.'

He smiled at Starsky, who stood there in his bedroom, with his dark Gypsy body covered in dust, his dark eyes red with weeping.

'To love,' Starsky answered. He drank the wine, and then walked over to the table on which were set a basin and an ewer of water. He washed his hands and face, and turned back to his lover. Water dripped from his hair.

His lover had taken off his shirt, with the long full sleeves of silk, and stood now, clad only in black trousers and boots of Spanish leather.

'Amigo,' he said, giving the word the intonation which meant 'lover'.

Starsky pulled off his cloak, and tossed it onto a chair. His lover came to him, and helped him to unbutton his coat, and remove his shirt. He pushed Starsky into a chair, and knelt to help him off with his boots.

'Mi amor, you should not wait on me. Your beautiful hands will be covered with dust and blood and tears.'

'Who should I wait upon but you? Who should wait upon you but I? I will drink your tears, and mingle your blood with mine. And when I die, I desire my dust to be mixed with your dust for all eternity.'

His lover drew him down upon the bed, and Starsky wept in his arms.

'I have no home now, but with you. They have taken everything. They have burned my wagons, and all my family is dead. Their rule lies over my land, with the darkness and the silence of the grave.'

'My home is your home. My body is your body.' The man of silver and gold arose and covered Starsky with his body. The white curtains at the balcony doors swayed in the wind like Spanish ladies dancing. Starsky moaned and his body flowed with the rhythm of the wind and the whiteness of the moon.

The man of silver and gold caressed his body and left trails of moonlight like rivers of love all down his thighs. Starsky moaned and the wind and the moon joined with his weeping.

The man of silver and gold filled his body with the tears of the moon and the wind.

'Amigo,' he said. But he meant 'lover'.

The next morning, they mounted their horses and rode down the coast to the harbour.

'My country is ruled by the darkness and the grave, but you are safe and your home is still your home,' said Starsky. 'Will you leave it all for me, a homeless man, with a price upon my head, and no silver but in you?'

'My home is no longer my home, unless you be in it. We will sail toward the moon, and make our own home in our own land.'

And so they did. The dark Gypsy and the man of silver and gold boarded their ship, and sailed upon a sea of dolphins toward the moon.

******************************************

'These aren't my clothes,' Hutch announced, sounding rather put out.

'They are now,' Starsky answered him, handing him the new shirt. 'Here. Put this on.'

It was dark blue silk, with sleeves that flowed. A pirate shirt. Hutch looked gorgeous in it, and Starsky wanted to get him out of the hospital now, before the nurses and some of the doctors came in and attacked him in lust. Hell, maybe even some of the patients. There was an old man down the hall who had been giving Starsky the eye. Just wait till he got a look at this!

After last night, Starsky was glad they were on holiday. Long peaceful days. Long peaceful nights. Nothing much to do, except to discover if there were any positions they hadn't tried. First, they had to get where they were going. Starsky hadn't explained all this to Hutch yet, mostly because he didn't yet understand it himself.

'Detective Hutchinson?'

They looked toward the door. A woman stood in the doorway.

'Mrs. Martin,' said Hutch. 'Good morning.'

'Good morning. Detective Hutchinson, my son told me that you got hurt protecting him. Please. I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do.'

'There's no need to apologize. It wasn't your fault. Don't give it another thought. How's Daniel?'

'He's doing better, now that they let him see Josh. He tells me that was your doing, as well. The two of you.'

'Oh, not all that much. Josh's mother just had a change of heart.'

'Well, it was about time if she did. The grief that woman and her husband have caused my son. Christians, my foot! But never mind. I just wanted to thank you, and Daniel would never forgive me if I didn't say something before you left. He thinks the sun rises and sets on you both.'

Hutch blushed. He blushed even redder than he had the first time Starsky had kissed his sweet ass. He tried to stammer something in reply, and looked down at the floor. Starsky thought he looked adorable.

'Thanks, Mrs. Martin,' said Starsky. 'Say hello to Daniel and Josh for us, will you? We have to go now, we've got a bit of a drive ahead of us. We're just starting our vacation.'

'Oh, of course. Have a lovely one.'

'We will.'

Starsky gently but firmly laid hold of Hutch's arm and steered him out the door. It was a nice sunny California day. A good day for a horseback ride, he thought. Hutch would be so surprised.

*** The End ***



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