Angel in the waves.
You know the drill.
"No I didn't proofread yadda yadda COMMENT with any mistakes, please, or I'll never remember to fix them."
Enjoy?
Taori had always been fond of the beach as it reminded him a lot of the trips the family always made to the States for when it was Thanksgiving over there. After dinner, everyone would go to the beach to simply sit in the sand or stand in the waves-no talking, no playing. Just being there. It was much like that now, just the two of them there, neither having said a word since they arrived a half an hour prior. Taori had opted to stand in the soft sand and simply watch the waves that Shane had promptly waded in to after the removal of his shoes.
Shane had wanted to bring Siva & Diva, likely knowing that Taori had no intention of going in to the water with him let alone playing in it. The guitarist, though, had rejected the idea in favor of it being quiet and calm when they went. It was fairly late as it was and by no means warm outside so the beach was completely devoid of any other people or animals save for the two of them. Taori liked it this way, it was far easier to do his thinking without children and dogs running around or people passing by all the time. Unfortunately, it was likely clear to Shane-or would be, if he looked back at his boyfriend-that Taori was either nervous or uncomfortable. His sudden need to smoke made that obvious. Taori only smoked when something was bothering him and it had been a long time since anything had bothered him enough to make him crave a cigarette.
He hated smoking.
Taori had taken to exhaling his smoke off to the right, allowing the wind to carry it out of the way rather than in front of him where it would obscure the sight before him in a filthy haze of grey. He wondered sometimes, like right then, if Shane realized that he was far from average or pretty in his appearance. As per usual, the blond was sporting a skirt (though longer than normal, as it was always a little windy here) and he had for some reason or other decided against putting his hair up. Instead, both his hair and his skirt fluttered freely about his legs and in his face in a manner that occasionally forced him to smooth the fabric down or pushed his bleached locks from his face.
Then there were moments when Shane would turn just right-yes, like that, just to the side-to look along the shoreline and Taori would sometimes forget that it was in fact essential for his health to actually breathe. He likely would never find the correct adjective to explain to someone just how Shane looked right then but, to be honest, he did not really want to explain it to anyone. Jealous and possessive, remember? This was his sight to see, his memory to hold vivid in his mind. Taori did not share Shane with anyone at any time for any reason. Selfish? Yes, probably. Taori had never liked being selfish…yet when it came to Shane, he made an exception.
Taori makes exceptions for Shane all the time, you know? Taori hates talking on the phone, really hates it. But he will do it for Shane. Taori does not like to dance but lately…lately it is becoming more and more acceptable for Shane to pull him out in the rain to do just that. Taori does not sleep unless he has to, unless he is too close to passing out from the lack of it…but somehow Shane makes it okay. Somehow, the nightmares do not come in the presence of Shane-not anymore, at least. And you know…Taori does not like sweet things, he does not like strawberries, he does not like sugar. But damn…Kissing Shane entails all of the above.
And Taori loves kissing Shane.
Taori watched as Shane tugged his skirt up a little, briefly exposing a little more thigh as he crouched in the waves before he resituated it over his legs as if knowing Taori would be watching his every move. Taori would not have been surprised if someone told him that Shane knew about his admiration of the younger’s thighs. Lately, he doubted he had been very discreet in said admiration-though he was by no means a pervert, nono. In fact, one might be surprised to know that the idea of anything along those lines had never crossed his mind. Perhaps hard to believe, but true all the same.
Shane seemed to be searching for something beneath the water, one hand holding his skirt out of the water while the other appeared to be digging through the sand beneath the lapping waves. Taori observed the soft smile on the boy’s lips, admiring how much easier it seemed for the other to obtain such an expression than it was for himself. Not that Taori did not smile often, because he did…but only when something particularly worth smiling about occurred. Shane’s smiles these days had become far less forced and even more frequent than before, often obtaining that ‘how can you not smile back’ quality that Taori knew so well after receiving them from his father and Kadei and Embry and Rae.
In fact, had something not been on his mind enough to make him smoke, he might have smiled at the sight of Shane’s smile. Taori exhaled again, off to the side so that he could watch the smoke spill in to the air just to the right of the vision of the Shane. It was a sharp contrast to him-the bright, clean white-and-pink of his angel in the waves compared to the filthy curls of smoke in the air. A distasteful look was shot at the cigarette in his hand as it was raised to his lips again but he did nothing to dispose of it, instead refocusing on Shane as the boy seemed to find something of interest, his expression lighting up as he tucked it away before Taori could catch a glimpse of what it was.
Still smiling, Shane stood up and turned his back on Taori again, facing the ocean as he stretched his arms above his head. Taori’s gaze inevitably strayed to the patch of skin exposed in the stretch as Shane crossed his arms on top of his head. Taori could not help but wonder whether it was done on purpose or entirely innocently as he found it rather difficult to pull his gaze from the revealed stretch of back (he did not remember Shane’s shirt being that short earlier in the day…had he changed at some point?)
It was at this point that Taori’s mind locked back on the reason he was smoking at present, the restless thoughts that had been in his mind since the two had woken up that morning. Not easy thoughts, no. Not bad thoughts, either, though…He wondered if it would be wrong, or badly timed. He wondered if Shane would be upset by it-no, best not to think about Shane being upset. The last thing he needed was to imagine tears. Taori scowled, inhaling particularly deeply before reversing the action skywards and staring thoughtfully at the fire-painted sky. Bad time? Perhaps. Wrong time? Perhaps. Should he? Maybe not…
But would he?
Probably.
“Shane.” The name was called only just loud enough to be heard by the other over the waves and Taori’s blue eyes dropped to see the blond lowering his arms but not turning around. Why? Taori drew his tongue anxiously across his lips, taking a moment to inhale-and-exhale again before dropping the offensive object and resting his foot on top of it. He would pick it up later, if he remembered. He waited for a moment, as if expecting the other to belatedly turn around, but received no such response. Deep breath. “Shane,” He called again, bracing himself. “Will you marry me?”
There was a reaction then-a surprised jerk that might have been Shane starting a bit before he slowly turned around to stare wide-eyed at Taori. He seemed to think he had misheard or that he was being teased, yet the expression on the older one’s face left neither as an option. A hand rose to press fingertips to his mouth as he very, very slowly made his way out of the water and towards Taori. The guitarist swallowed painfully, doing his best impression of someone who was not shaking or afraid or unsure. If Shane had not been all of the above, too, he might have seen through Taori’s attempts to hide them. “Tao…?”
Taori had trouble hiding the flinch that came as a reaction to the hint of doubt in Shane’s voice as the boy hesitantly slipped his arms around the elder’s waist. Almost instinctively, Taori found his own arms around the smaller boy’s shoulders and drawing him closer. “Shay…” An attempt at teasing, sparked by Shane’s own ‘unintelligent’ response…but the attempt was thwarted by the slight break in his voice when he spoke. Was he scared? Hell yes, he was scared. It was not as if they had ever talked about it. It was not as if Taori himself had ever seriously considered it…
“Did you…” A pause, followed by Shane struggling for the words he wanted and failing quite miserably at finding them. He looked away for a moment, eyes on the sand at their feet before rising again to questioningly search Taori’s own uncertain blue eyes. Judging by the other’s expression, Shane could only assume that he had in fact heard the words right. That Taori had actually…Shane bit his lip, fidgeting a bit with the back of the other’s shirt before letting out a nervous, breathy laugh. “Yes…yes, of course…”
Taori’s relief and reaction might be described as melting as both hands moved from Shane’s back to his cheeks, thumbs brushing across the skin lightly. ‘Indescribably happy’ fit in quite nicely right then, though there was no smile to speak of on the older one’s face. Somehow, though, it was not necessarily as Shane could quite literally see the smile in the shocking blue eyes. Taori leaned down slightly, placing an infinitely adoring kiss on the blonde’s lips before pulling back just a fraction of an inch. “You are beautiful…” He whispered, as if it had been the topic of their not-quite-conversation the entire time. “You are amazing…and I love you.”
The smile that instantly lit Shane’s face was without a doubt an irresistible one. Shane’s grip tightened, head tilting up a little more to return the kiss a little slower and considerably longer than the one before. The smile never left and it was entirely impossible for Taori to stop the small smile that found his own lips at the sight of such. Shane’s eyes brightened almost triumphantly at the soft smile that Taori had acquired and the boy happily buried his face in the warmth of the elder’s neck and shoulder. “I love you, too, Tao…” He breathed out contentedly as Taori’s arms returned to their previous place around his shoulders, cheek resting on top of Shane’s lighter locks. “Have you…been thinking about this for long…?”
“Hn…No. Just today.”
Shane lifted his head, his expression a little bit surprised as he arched a brow in question of this. Taori shrugged, closing his own eyes and pressing a kiss to Shane’s cheek as he did so. “Just since I woke up this morning…” He started, pausing and wondering if he really wanted to explain himself to the other. It was not like him to open up in this manner, to put voice to his more important thoughts. But this was Shane and there was nothing worth being uncertain or nervous about with him right then. “I woke up this morning…and attempted to roll over as I used to do when alone…but I remembered that I couldn’t because you were curled against my side and rolling over would ruin that.” He paused, inhaling deeply and finding a sort of relief in the fact that it was the other’s scent he was breathing in and not the reek of smoke. He hated smoking. Maybe he could stop now…“I realized that I had grown used to adjusting things I do for your sake…and I know that you’ve changed things for me, too…I suppose…I suppose you could say that I didn’t understand why we were still just ‘dating’. I didn’t see why we were still alternating between your home and mine. I don’t see why we should still have to call each other or ‘visit’ when we want time together…I think I realized that it’s all really unnecessary obstacles now and I don’t want that. I don’t want to have to deal with obstacles when I want to be with you…”
Shane listened intently, his smile increasing in its brilliance with every word it seemed. He had expected a decent explanation but certainly not this much. Shane had briefly wondered about such things too, only to have brushed them away in order to avoid brooding about things that Taori might not agree with him on. For the most part, Shane had learned over time that he did not need to be afraid of what Taori might think of his ideas. The older boy had proved himself understanding and willing to listen to anything Shane had to say. But it was something like this that Shane had still been a little unsure about bringing up as it was no small thing. He supposed, then, that he was lucky that Taori did twice as much heavy thinking as he tended to do these days-and he was definitely glad for the fact that Taori had not shut the thoughts away from Shane.
“Yeah…” So maybe this was not what Shane had intended to say but it was all that he could manage as he buried his face back into Taori’s warmth. But really…did anything else need to be said? Both of them were content to fall back in to their previously maintained silence for a good ten minutes before Shane once again pulled back to beam at Taori. It was a somewhat suspicious expression, due to the playful glint in the boy’s eyes.
“What…?”
Shane giggled, stepping back and slipping his hands in to Taori’s as he did so. “Come dance with me?” He inquired, clearly meaning to tug Taori to the water.
“What? No.”
Yet he was already kicking his shoes away…
“Please~?”
“No. I don’t want to dance.”
Shane smiled sweetly, as if he knew how to get exactly what he wanted.
Which he did, of course.
“But I do.”
“…Alright…”
I give in. I will dance with you just this one time.
"No I didn't proofread yadda yadda COMMENT with any mistakes, please, or I'll never remember to fix them."
Enjoy?
Taori had always been fond of the beach as it reminded him a lot of the trips the family always made to the States for when it was Thanksgiving over there. After dinner, everyone would go to the beach to simply sit in the sand or stand in the waves-no talking, no playing. Just being there. It was much like that now, just the two of them there, neither having said a word since they arrived a half an hour prior. Taori had opted to stand in the soft sand and simply watch the waves that Shane had promptly waded in to after the removal of his shoes.
Shane had wanted to bring Siva & Diva, likely knowing that Taori had no intention of going in to the water with him let alone playing in it. The guitarist, though, had rejected the idea in favor of it being quiet and calm when they went. It was fairly late as it was and by no means warm outside so the beach was completely devoid of any other people or animals save for the two of them. Taori liked it this way, it was far easier to do his thinking without children and dogs running around or people passing by all the time. Unfortunately, it was likely clear to Shane-or would be, if he looked back at his boyfriend-that Taori was either nervous or uncomfortable. His sudden need to smoke made that obvious. Taori only smoked when something was bothering him and it had been a long time since anything had bothered him enough to make him crave a cigarette.
He hated smoking.
Taori had taken to exhaling his smoke off to the right, allowing the wind to carry it out of the way rather than in front of him where it would obscure the sight before him in a filthy haze of grey. He wondered sometimes, like right then, if Shane realized that he was far from average or pretty in his appearance. As per usual, the blond was sporting a skirt (though longer than normal, as it was always a little windy here) and he had for some reason or other decided against putting his hair up. Instead, both his hair and his skirt fluttered freely about his legs and in his face in a manner that occasionally forced him to smooth the fabric down or pushed his bleached locks from his face.
Then there were moments when Shane would turn just right-yes, like that, just to the side-to look along the shoreline and Taori would sometimes forget that it was in fact essential for his health to actually breathe. He likely would never find the correct adjective to explain to someone just how Shane looked right then but, to be honest, he did not really want to explain it to anyone. Jealous and possessive, remember? This was his sight to see, his memory to hold vivid in his mind. Taori did not share Shane with anyone at any time for any reason. Selfish? Yes, probably. Taori had never liked being selfish…yet when it came to Shane, he made an exception.
Taori makes exceptions for Shane all the time, you know? Taori hates talking on the phone, really hates it. But he will do it for Shane. Taori does not like to dance but lately…lately it is becoming more and more acceptable for Shane to pull him out in the rain to do just that. Taori does not sleep unless he has to, unless he is too close to passing out from the lack of it…but somehow Shane makes it okay. Somehow, the nightmares do not come in the presence of Shane-not anymore, at least. And you know…Taori does not like sweet things, he does not like strawberries, he does not like sugar. But damn…Kissing Shane entails all of the above.
And Taori loves kissing Shane.
Taori watched as Shane tugged his skirt up a little, briefly exposing a little more thigh as he crouched in the waves before he resituated it over his legs as if knowing Taori would be watching his every move. Taori would not have been surprised if someone told him that Shane knew about his admiration of the younger’s thighs. Lately, he doubted he had been very discreet in said admiration-though he was by no means a pervert, nono. In fact, one might be surprised to know that the idea of anything along those lines had never crossed his mind. Perhaps hard to believe, but true all the same.
Shane seemed to be searching for something beneath the water, one hand holding his skirt out of the water while the other appeared to be digging through the sand beneath the lapping waves. Taori observed the soft smile on the boy’s lips, admiring how much easier it seemed for the other to obtain such an expression than it was for himself. Not that Taori did not smile often, because he did…but only when something particularly worth smiling about occurred. Shane’s smiles these days had become far less forced and even more frequent than before, often obtaining that ‘how can you not smile back’ quality that Taori knew so well after receiving them from his father and Kadei and Embry and Rae.
In fact, had something not been on his mind enough to make him smoke, he might have smiled at the sight of Shane’s smile. Taori exhaled again, off to the side so that he could watch the smoke spill in to the air just to the right of the vision of the Shane. It was a sharp contrast to him-the bright, clean white-and-pink of his angel in the waves compared to the filthy curls of smoke in the air. A distasteful look was shot at the cigarette in his hand as it was raised to his lips again but he did nothing to dispose of it, instead refocusing on Shane as the boy seemed to find something of interest, his expression lighting up as he tucked it away before Taori could catch a glimpse of what it was.
Still smiling, Shane stood up and turned his back on Taori again, facing the ocean as he stretched his arms above his head. Taori’s gaze inevitably strayed to the patch of skin exposed in the stretch as Shane crossed his arms on top of his head. Taori could not help but wonder whether it was done on purpose or entirely innocently as he found it rather difficult to pull his gaze from the revealed stretch of back (he did not remember Shane’s shirt being that short earlier in the day…had he changed at some point?)
It was at this point that Taori’s mind locked back on the reason he was smoking at present, the restless thoughts that had been in his mind since the two had woken up that morning. Not easy thoughts, no. Not bad thoughts, either, though…He wondered if it would be wrong, or badly timed. He wondered if Shane would be upset by it-no, best not to think about Shane being upset. The last thing he needed was to imagine tears. Taori scowled, inhaling particularly deeply before reversing the action skywards and staring thoughtfully at the fire-painted sky. Bad time? Perhaps. Wrong time? Perhaps. Should he? Maybe not…
But would he?
Probably.
“Shane.” The name was called only just loud enough to be heard by the other over the waves and Taori’s blue eyes dropped to see the blond lowering his arms but not turning around. Why? Taori drew his tongue anxiously across his lips, taking a moment to inhale-and-exhale again before dropping the offensive object and resting his foot on top of it. He would pick it up later, if he remembered. He waited for a moment, as if expecting the other to belatedly turn around, but received no such response. Deep breath. “Shane,” He called again, bracing himself. “Will you marry me?”
There was a reaction then-a surprised jerk that might have been Shane starting a bit before he slowly turned around to stare wide-eyed at Taori. He seemed to think he had misheard or that he was being teased, yet the expression on the older one’s face left neither as an option. A hand rose to press fingertips to his mouth as he very, very slowly made his way out of the water and towards Taori. The guitarist swallowed painfully, doing his best impression of someone who was not shaking or afraid or unsure. If Shane had not been all of the above, too, he might have seen through Taori’s attempts to hide them. “Tao…?”
Taori had trouble hiding the flinch that came as a reaction to the hint of doubt in Shane’s voice as the boy hesitantly slipped his arms around the elder’s waist. Almost instinctively, Taori found his own arms around the smaller boy’s shoulders and drawing him closer. “Shay…” An attempt at teasing, sparked by Shane’s own ‘unintelligent’ response…but the attempt was thwarted by the slight break in his voice when he spoke. Was he scared? Hell yes, he was scared. It was not as if they had ever talked about it. It was not as if Taori himself had ever seriously considered it…
“Did you…” A pause, followed by Shane struggling for the words he wanted and failing quite miserably at finding them. He looked away for a moment, eyes on the sand at their feet before rising again to questioningly search Taori’s own uncertain blue eyes. Judging by the other’s expression, Shane could only assume that he had in fact heard the words right. That Taori had actually…Shane bit his lip, fidgeting a bit with the back of the other’s shirt before letting out a nervous, breathy laugh. “Yes…yes, of course…”
Taori’s relief and reaction might be described as melting as both hands moved from Shane’s back to his cheeks, thumbs brushing across the skin lightly. ‘Indescribably happy’ fit in quite nicely right then, though there was no smile to speak of on the older one’s face. Somehow, though, it was not necessarily as Shane could quite literally see the smile in the shocking blue eyes. Taori leaned down slightly, placing an infinitely adoring kiss on the blonde’s lips before pulling back just a fraction of an inch. “You are beautiful…” He whispered, as if it had been the topic of their not-quite-conversation the entire time. “You are amazing…and I love you.”
The smile that instantly lit Shane’s face was without a doubt an irresistible one. Shane’s grip tightened, head tilting up a little more to return the kiss a little slower and considerably longer than the one before. The smile never left and it was entirely impossible for Taori to stop the small smile that found his own lips at the sight of such. Shane’s eyes brightened almost triumphantly at the soft smile that Taori had acquired and the boy happily buried his face in the warmth of the elder’s neck and shoulder. “I love you, too, Tao…” He breathed out contentedly as Taori’s arms returned to their previous place around his shoulders, cheek resting on top of Shane’s lighter locks. “Have you…been thinking about this for long…?”
“Hn…No. Just today.”
Shane lifted his head, his expression a little bit surprised as he arched a brow in question of this. Taori shrugged, closing his own eyes and pressing a kiss to Shane’s cheek as he did so. “Just since I woke up this morning…” He started, pausing and wondering if he really wanted to explain himself to the other. It was not like him to open up in this manner, to put voice to his more important thoughts. But this was Shane and there was nothing worth being uncertain or nervous about with him right then. “I woke up this morning…and attempted to roll over as I used to do when alone…but I remembered that I couldn’t because you were curled against my side and rolling over would ruin that.” He paused, inhaling deeply and finding a sort of relief in the fact that it was the other’s scent he was breathing in and not the reek of smoke. He hated smoking. Maybe he could stop now…“I realized that I had grown used to adjusting things I do for your sake…and I know that you’ve changed things for me, too…I suppose…I suppose you could say that I didn’t understand why we were still just ‘dating’. I didn’t see why we were still alternating between your home and mine. I don’t see why we should still have to call each other or ‘visit’ when we want time together…I think I realized that it’s all really unnecessary obstacles now and I don’t want that. I don’t want to have to deal with obstacles when I want to be with you…”
Shane listened intently, his smile increasing in its brilliance with every word it seemed. He had expected a decent explanation but certainly not this much. Shane had briefly wondered about such things too, only to have brushed them away in order to avoid brooding about things that Taori might not agree with him on. For the most part, Shane had learned over time that he did not need to be afraid of what Taori might think of his ideas. The older boy had proved himself understanding and willing to listen to anything Shane had to say. But it was something like this that Shane had still been a little unsure about bringing up as it was no small thing. He supposed, then, that he was lucky that Taori did twice as much heavy thinking as he tended to do these days-and he was definitely glad for the fact that Taori had not shut the thoughts away from Shane.
“Yeah…” So maybe this was not what Shane had intended to say but it was all that he could manage as he buried his face back into Taori’s warmth. But really…did anything else need to be said? Both of them were content to fall back in to their previously maintained silence for a good ten minutes before Shane once again pulled back to beam at Taori. It was a somewhat suspicious expression, due to the playful glint in the boy’s eyes.
“What…?”
Shane giggled, stepping back and slipping his hands in to Taori’s as he did so. “Come dance with me?” He inquired, clearly meaning to tug Taori to the water.
“What? No.”
Yet he was already kicking his shoes away…
“Please~?”
“No. I don’t want to dance.”
Shane smiled sweetly, as if he knew how to get exactly what he wanted.
Which he did, of course.
“But I do.”
“…Alright…”
I give in. I will dance with you just this one time.