Crossing the Line 6

[xunre]

See Chapter 1 for the enthralling recital of the customary summary, disclaimers and warnings to the hopelessly bewildered.

Next morning, Ryan stares out the cab window watching Tahiti's bright colours roll by, until Seth reaches over and taps his shoulder. 'Ry, I've been thinking.'

'That's dangerous.'

'This is so wrong. Funny is my thing.'

'You're thinking?'

'We have to teach you to sail. I mean we could be thousands of miles out to sea and I could be in a coma from too much sex or something and you'd need to be able to sail Wryness home without me.'

'You don't want me to fuck you into a coma?'

'Not so fast, dude. I totally did not say that. That's why you have to know how to sail.'

'Okay.'

'So, you do the sailing today. I get us out of the harbour. You sail to Moorea. Moorea's famous. They made South Pacific there. I know a private beach where we can make out.'

'How do you know all this stuff, Seth?'

'The Lonely Planet guide is my friend. I had nothing to do except read and wonder if you'd turn up.'

'I'm glad I came.'

'So, after we eat, do you want to find an empty beach and fuck me into unconsciousness?'

'You've never done it on a beach, have you?'

'No. Why, is there some deep-seated problem with beaches?'

'It's called sand, Seth.'

'Oh.' Seth's grin fades for a moment. 'Hey, we're there. Here's Anita's boat.'

Seth tells the driver to pull up and jumps onto Anita's yacht. Working quickly, he unties the Laser while Ryan hands down a backpack with water and spare clothes. Ryan climbs down into the sailboat, and asks: 'So this is a Laser?'

'This is a Laser 4000. Yep. Tell me the big difference from Summer Breeze.'

'I'm inexperienced, not brain-dead. There's only one hull.'

'I know there's a reason you're my favourite pupil. Now, grasshopper...'

Ryan scowls at the grasshopper joke. 'Someone wants to get pushed into the sea.'

'Only if you rescue me. Preferably with lots of mouth-to-mouth if I drown first. On second thought, just do it whether I'm breathing or not. Give me a hand getting the mast up, will you?'

Seth grounds the mast in its socket while Ryan takes the other end and walks up the boat, lifting the mast until it's vertical. Seth scrambles around and attaches the stays to keep the mast rigid while Ryan holds it up.

'You only want me along as the muscle.'

'There, that's done. Now for the boom.' Ryan lifts the boom while Seth secures it to the foot fo the mast. 'The rig's almost the same as Breeze. I'm the brains, you're the muscle. I love the muscle. You raise the sail.'

'Um?'

Seth hands Ryan a cable, heads back to the stern and grabs the tiller.
'Grab this halyard. The clip at that end goes on the sail head. Keep out of the way once the sail's up.'

'You ready?'

'Sure. Haul away.'

Seth shoves their backpack into a compartment near the stern. Ryan drags on the halyard, aware Seth is watching him. It's a good feeling. The wind spills into the sail, which flaps once or twice, then fills. Ryan ducks under the boom and scrambles back next to Seth.

'What's that for?' Ryan jerks a thumb at where Seth has just stowed the backpack.

'It's the lazarette. It's waterproof. Just to keep things dry. We don't want everything covered in spray. Okay, dude, it's all yours.'

It takes minutes to scud across the smooth harbour and run into the open sea between Tahiti and Moorea. The smooth motion changes to a slow rocking when they reach open water.

Ryan takes the tiller. 'Which island am I steering for?'

'Dude, Moorea is like the only island in sight.'

'I may have to hurt you later.'

'Chester never threatens me.'

'Chester's 10 and doesn't know you as well I do.'

'This is where you learn multitasking, grasshopper....'

'Seth!'

'Okay. No grasshopper. You more or less know the rest, it's just you've never done it on your own before. The mainsheet controls the sail, try tightening sail or letting it go until you get a feel for things. Use the tiller to keep us on course.'

Ryan asks: 'What happens now?'

'Pick a point on the island and keep us headed for it. You keep the sail full of wind and we go to Moorea.'

'So do I pull the rope?'

'Mainsheet, dude.'

'What's the difference?'

'If something goes wrong and I yell at you to pull the mainsheet and you pull something else bad things happen. The boat language is our friend. Learn to love the boat language.'

Ryan rolls his eyes. 'Fine.'

'Anyway, it's still all angst-free time. And I don't have to worry about taking you home to meet my parents.'

'I guess. I promised I'd ask you to give them a call. Tell me more about sailing.'

'Okay, you've got the mainsheet. What happens when you pull on it?'

'The sail gets tighter, we lean over and we go faster?'

'We heel, man. We're sailing, we heel. We don't lean. Okay, you know how to tighten sail. You know how to steer'

'What are you going to do?'

'I'll give orders. And remind you to sit right next to me to up on the side. Try seeing what happens if you tighten the sail without worrying about anything else.'

'Keeping things balanced, huh?'

'The correct nautical word is 'trim', but yeah.'

'That's why you've got your hand down my shorts?'

'There are highly technical navigation reasons. I have to keep my hand down your shorts or we'll fall off of the edge of the world and that would be sad because no-one would ever see us again but on the other hand we'd still be together.'

'Why do I not believe you?'

'I'm hurt. I'm the skipper.' Ryan jumps slightly when Seth squeezes his cock, but he smiles. 'Your life is totally in my hands,' Seth says. 'Would I risk your safety at sea?'

Ryan looks ahead, sees a wave coming, yanks the tiller towards him so the bow swings hard into the wave. Seth gets a faceful of sea water.

'That was deliberate!'

'I don't know enough to splash you on purpose.'

'Splashing your boyfriend is a keelhauling offence, dude.'

Ryan slams the bow into another wave and Seth gets drenched with spray again. 'You want to haul my keel, Seth?'

Seth attempts a glare until he realises it's not working at all. 'Okay, enough splashing. Now keep us on the same course and tighten the sail as much as you can.'

They heel over the mast head almost touching the water. Ryan's eyes go wide. 'Are we supposed to be leaning over this far?'

'It's called heeling, dude. Just keep pulling the mainsheet in.'

A wave crests high enough to catch the tip of the mast. The mast dips into the water. The boat flips upside down.

Ryan tries to hold onto Seth as they go over but loses his grip. When he comes up spluttering, Seth is treading water with one hand on the upturned hull. Ryan spits sea water.

Seth asks: 'Did I mention Lasers are a lot easier to capsize than Hobiecats?'

'No you didn't. What the hell do we do now?'

'You stand on the side and put all your weight on righting the boat. I get on the centreboard and do the same.'

Ryan glares at Seth while the mast slowly emerges from the sea and saltwater cascades down on them from the sail. When they're upright again Ryan growls: 'Well, this is fun. We're wet. You're sure it was just the spray that made you put our stuff in the lazarette?'

'You get used to being wet. Do you think you could right a boat on your own again?'

'Yeah. What do I do now?'

'Nothing much, we're on the right course. Play with the boat. Get a feel for what the wind and the water are doing. No more capsizing instructions, I promise.'

'Could you get me some water from the backpack? All I can taste is salt.'

Sure.' Seth hands Ryan a bottle. ''Anita wants us to eat with her tonight, maybe go out dancing afterwards.'

'You know I don't dance.'

'Not even with me? I could be hurt.'

'Maybe.'

'I can live with maybe. Maybe. After we get back to pod people central, it will be a while before we can go somewhere in public again and just be us.'

'How much does Anita know about me?'

'I'm not Marissa.'

'What's that mean?'

'She knows you're not related to us but my parents are your guardians. She knows I'm in love with you. I wouldn't have told her that much if she hadn't got me drunk the first night we talked. But...'

'But?'

'She's really, really smart. Like she's nearly 25 and she already has a couple of degrees and she may wonder why you're not with your parents. At first she thought you were my brother and I think she found my feelings for you totally unhealthy, so I had to tell her something.'

'What do I say if she asks?'

'Man, it's your call. She's been a good friend to me when I needed... when I was on my own. I don't think she'll ask.'

'Where are we going, anyway?'

'Baie de Cook on the north side. If we run up the east coast, there's a passage that gets us inside the reef.'

'That's Cook Bay, right?'

'Something like that. Hey, there's a totally cool restaurant there. They have an internet connection.'

'I can check my email and let your parents know we're okay.'

'The only email I want is from a guy who's already here.'

Ryan concentrates on the approaching shoreline, steep emerald mountains climbing above white beaches. Ryan thinks about asking if Seth knows why the sand is a different colour here but decides against it because he's enjoying the sounds of the wind and water too much. Breaking waves mark the coral reef that encloses Moorea. The wind is warm on his back and the boat climbs smoothly up each wave before it drops into the trough on the other side. They're both dry before Ryan realises much time has past. Ryan wonders why Seth has fallen so quiet.

Seth says: 'Dude, where'd you go?'

'Sorry. I was just...'

'Hey, we should turn north now and stay clear of the reef. It get's like this sometimes. It's magic. It happened a lot when on my way here.'

Ryan drops an arm round Seth's shoulder. 'The seagulls stopped talking to you?'

'For a while. Seagulls are not great talkers at the best of times.' Seth glances away. 'I talked to you a lot. Well, sort of, because you didn't answer back but then I would have been surprised if you had because you weren't there and...'

'I get the idea, Seth.' Ryan squeezes Seth's shoulder.

Ryan drags the tiller back and they swing into a course parallel with the breakers. Half an hour of silence sees them through a break in the reef and into a deep bay.

Seth ties the boat to the pier and runs a chain through a lock to make sure it's there when they get back. 'You dry enough to eat after the capsize?'

'I'm fine.'

'Cool. You get to find what there is to eat in Paopao. We may be the only people at Harbour who've ever been here. You can tell Paopao stories when we get back.'

'This place is really called Paopao?'

Seth throws a mock punch in Ryan's direction and misses. 'Yep, like in the Batman fights. You know "Pow!" And "Kaboom!" and like that.' A frown ghosts over Seth's face while Ryan logs on to the internet. Lunch is a mountain of seafood. Ryan lets Seth's words wash over him in the warm sun while they at. At last Ryan pushes his plate away.

'That tasted better than that first time you took me to the Crab Shack.'

'That was a long time ago. Must be the sea air.'

'I emailed Sandy and Kirsten that we're both fine. I hate what all this is costing them.'

Seth shrugs. 'Ry, the money's there. It's not going away. Spending it doesn't make any difference to anyone.'

'It's just... Do I take your parents away from you? I'd feel really bad if...'

'No way. It was just never all that good. You came, it got better. It got lots better. I'm still angry they let you go. Like you didn't matter or something.'

'That's not how I felt.' They walk back to the boat and cast off.

'I felt like you were going back to juvie and they weren't getting you out.'

'Chino's not juvie.'

'I know, but you were going on a lie, and I couldn't tell you, and there were all these empty rooms in the parents' house that were totally full of you and it was too much and...'

Ryan leans over and kisses Seth hard.

'What was that for? Not that I'm complaining, because you know getting kissed is always good, and getting kissed by you is always better than good. And getting kissed by anyone else would just be wrong because...'

'No reason. What you said last night won't happen.'

'Even for you, man, that's pretty obscure. I feel like getting a T-shirt that reads: 'Go on, Ry.' to remind you to keep talking.'

'We still get each other.'

'I get scared. I've lost you once and it was a scary, scary feeling.'

'You have other things to be scared of. Summer's email said she wants us to be happy and hopes that I'll stay with you after she rips your testicles off when we get back to Newport. She wants a picture of us kissing. She's going to rip mine off if I hurt you. I gave her my number.'

Seth pales. 'Summer could ring here? I am so staying away from your phone. Anyone else email you?'

Ryan shakes his head. 'No-one. We're fine. You got me back. Be scared of losing your testicles, not losing me. Like you said, at least you don't have to worry about when I meet your parents.'

'I guess the Mum, Dad we're gay scene is really not going to be all that much of a trauma. The testicle-ripping could be a source of trauma. I may majorly need help to escape the testicle-ripping. And it's not like you're a total stranger to my parents.'

'I prefer you in one piece. Where are we going now?'

'We get out of this bay. I'll do it if you like.'

'Just tell me what to do'

'Okay. Hey you're acting like you're enjoying this.'

Ryan grins. 'Maybe.'

'I mean I know you like it when we go sailing but you're actually doing most of it. You know with practice we may make an old salt of you yet.'

'Don't salt my game.'

'So, the raising of the jib. You still have much to learn, my young apprentice.'

'Seth, you need to be intimidating to do Darth Vader.'

'You are so wrong. That's the Dark Emperor's line.'

'Whatever.' Ryan dips a hand in the water and splashes Seth.

'Hey! At least you're not threatening me any more.' Seth scrambles to the mast and hauls on the halyard that raises the jib. When it fills he looks back at Ryan. 'Does the second sail make the boat feel different?'

'Not really. I can't tell yet. Where's the beach you were talking about?'

'Maybe we should just head back to Papeete.' Seth looks up at the clouding sky. 'Lunch took longer than I planned and we don't want to be out in this channel when it starts getting dark.'

'I promised Kirsten and Sandy I'd ask you to call them.'

'They shouldn't have asked you to do that. It's not fair to you, dude.'

'I offered.'

'I so do not want to talk to them right now. I'm not who I was when I sailed over the horizon. Being on your own for so long without anyone to talk to does that. Like, I'm not quite who they think I am anymore and it's going to be easier to deal with when we get home than while I'm still out here. Does that make sense?'

'They'll probably call some time tomorrow. I'm switching the phone on in the morning.'

'Ryan, I seriously don't know if I'm ready to talk to them yet.'

'Can I quote you on that?'

'What?'

'Seth not talking has to be a first.'

'Seth not talking to the parents is not all that new. The parents not talking to Seth is not all that new.'

'Seth hiding behind the boyfriend is new.'

Seth kisses Ryan. 'Yeah, but I've got such a cool boyfriend to hide behind. If we want to make the main island by dark we should get going. Take us home, skipper.'

'I think I'm getting a feel for this.'

'The skippering thing or the boyfriend thing?'

'I'm not sure what to do with the boat, sometimes.'

'Use the force, Ryan.'

'You want me to steer with my eyes closed?'

This time, the sea is calm enough for Seth to sprawl over the boat with his head in Ryan's lap. When Ryan sees a destroyer in the distance he asks Seth: 'Who get's right of way?'

'Sail gets right of way because we only have the wind and they've got power. On the other hand it takes a couple of miles to turn a big ship and we're supposed to avoid making their life difficult so I guess we let them go past. We're not really equipped to take out a warship.'

Seth waves to the crew standing on deck. A sailor waves back as Ryan steers them round the warship's stern.

'Whose is it?'

Seth twists round to look at the destroyer. 'Australian, I think. Their flag's impossible to tell from New Zealand. Do you want me to take over when we get inside the harbour?'

'No, I'm okay.'

'Do you like it?'

'Sailing? I guess.'

A small blond figure a mug in her hand, is waiting on Flying Saucer when they tie up to the yacht's stern. Ryan winces when Seth yells: 'Ahoy, there.'

'Thanks for bringing her back in one piece. Come aboard. I just made coffee if you want some.'

Seth grabs Ryan's hand as soon as they climb out of the Laser. 'Hey, Anita, Ryan tried, but I managed to stop him smashing your boat.'

'Hey, who made me capsize?'

'Dude, that was for teaching purposes only. ' Seth turns to Anita. 'Anita, this is Ryan. Ryan, Anita.'

'Ryan and I met the other day. So how was it?'

'I could get used to sailing. Seth told me to use the force but I insisted on keeping my eyes open.'

Anita glances at their hands.

'Dude I think she wants to know how we are.'

Ryan smiles. 'We're good.'

'Ryan, he's a man of few words. We're better than good, we're...'

'Right. I think I get the idea. Are you still on for dinner then?'

'Dinner will be good. I could eat, well something really big...'

'I'm just about ready. Rangi should turn up soon.'

Seth tugs on Ryan's hand. 'Come on, Ryan. We'll drop the mast, get the sails away, then head for Wryness and change.'

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