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 Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:44 pm
Oh, was he getting into it too much? He certainly hoped he wasn't starting to scare her off with his excitement. That would just... be sad... and pathetic.
He watched Paris as she moved over to the radio to turn up the song that was playing, smiling softly at her as she sat back down. She was cute, no sense in denying that. Was he probably going to end up ruining things and have her leave? Most likely...
Chris leaned against the back of the seat, stretching a bit as the waves gently rocked the boat. It was nice... just being there without a care in the world it seemed... Out on the ocean, away from Destiny City, away from monsters, senshi, negaverse officers, knights, talking cats... all of that was behind them for the moment.
"I'd play along if I had my guitar," he said softly, not wanting to interrupt the song too much. He didn't know all of the lyrics, but he at least knew how it went, and the general idea of the song. "Why is this your favorite song?" he wondered, just as softly, though loud enough to be heard. Maybe it was just how it sounded, or was it the story? Who knew... but he wanted to know more about her, so why not...?
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 2:21 pm
"Because it is," Paris said, taking his seat next to Chris again. "Have you ever laid in bed and heard a song, and wanted to cry just listening to it?"
He wasn't going to cry now. That would be absurd; he never felt comfortable crying in front of people anyway, and he wasn't yet close enough to Chris for him to even considering doing that. But if there were ever a song to cause such a reaction, maybe on a rainy afternoon when he was alone in his room, it would be this one. It was both forlorn and hopeful in all the right ways.
"You got a fast car," he sang to the words drifting from the radio, giving Chris's shoulder a teasing little shove. "I got a plan to get us out of here. I've been working at the convenience store. Managed to save just a little bit of money. Won't have to drive too far. Just across the border and into the city. You and I can both get jobs and finally see what it means to be living."
If he knew about the things that Chris didn't say, if he knew that he and Chris were more alike than he realized at the moment, maybe things would have been different. Maybe this could mean more. Maybe in some ways it already did and he didn't even realize it. This was fun, and normal, and a peaceful break from all the things he had to worry about when Chris wasn't around.
"See, my old man's got a problem. He lives with the bottle, that's the way it is. He says his body's too old for working. His body's too young to look like his. My momma went off and left him. She wanted more from life than he could give. I said, 'somebody's got to take care of him.' So I quit school and that's what I did."
Paris shifted closer again, leaning in to Chris's side. He wasn't shy singing along. He didn't feel he had any need to be. He'd never been trained, but he fancied himself an able singer all the same.
"Sometimes I just want to get away from everything," he said, glancing out over the ocean, not toward the shoreline, but far away where there was no land in sight. "Be free, do what I want, not worry about anything else. Just go and escape all this crap that's always going on. Which is why being out here is so nice," he added, turning back to Chris with a tiny smile on his face. "Do you ever feel like that?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:25 pm
If there was a song that he'd ever listened to and wanted to cry, he couldn't think of it off the top of his head. He was sure there was one or two out there, but... it wasn't something he thought about constantly, or at least it hadn't come up on the radio while they'd been sitting there, talking, so it wasn't fresh in his mind. Even if he could think of a song, he didn't think he would be comfortable enough to share it with Paris. He liked her, he wasn't going to lie about that, but he didn't know her well enough to get into the details in his life that made him vulnerable. He'd already made that mistake before, and he wasn't rushing to do it again.
Chris smiled as he listened to her sing, allowing her to scoot closer if she wanted, smiling softly back as she leaned against him. "Yeah... I do..." he said, wishing it was possible to just get out of town and live a life free of monsters and knight business. It would be easier, all around. But he knew he could never leave... Not without a lot of thought put into it. He had Zia and Daniel and his family and other friends to worry about. As nice as it would be to just... escape, he knew he couldn't.
He watched her face, unable to decide what expression she was wearing. She didn't look happy, even though she was smiling. Maybe it was just... bittersweet...? She'd even just said how she would like to be free of everything, but it wasn't that easy...
It was slower this time, when he leaned down to give her a soft kiss on her lips. It was still chaste in a way — innocent affection, and maybe a little bit more interest under the surface, but he knew it was to soon to worry her with more than was needed. Still... It was nice being there with someone who felt the same way he did, even if it was just something as simple as wanting to get away from everything...
Maybe one day they would...
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 5:06 pm
Paris was a little more ready for the kiss this time. There were some moments when kissing just felt right, and even though he generally wasn't all that sentimental, he had to admit this felt pretty damned right. Despite all the times and all the people he'd kissed before -- and the little voice in his head that continued to gloat and laugh -- he couldn't ignore the little tingle he felt when their mouths met, that rare moment of sublimity when everything came together so perfectly.
He didn't even mind that it was chaste and innocent. He'd had enough of the opposite to last him a life time. It wouldn't seem right any other way. Chris was a gentleman, or like some dashingly chivalrous knight or prince from those horribly unrealistic fairy-tales that make such good ballets -- Florimund in Sleeping Beauty and Siegfried in Swan Lake. Given that, anything more than this would be inappropriate, and Paris had to like the slow pace for once. It left more to look forward to in the future.
In a way, it was also comforting, like Chris was saying "I'm here." He didn't have anyone else who did that. Few other people had ever really tried to get to know him. His father didn't seem to care if he was ever home or not, his mother had left him and shattered his trust in her long ago, and things with his best friend were often so complicated he didn't really know what to do about it but run away and avoid the problems. He didn't feel that way with Chris. He didn't really know how he felt, except pleased and excited, comfortable and wanted. It was all so very simple.
Out here, there were no monsters. There was the shore in the distance, the sky above, and the ocean all around them. There was no one to look at him disapprovingly, no one to snap at him or argue with or make him feel as if he were worthless. There wasn't anyone here to hurt him, just Chris, and as Paris was sure he had all the power in this situation himself, he was confident that Chris would never be capable of doing so.
Paris never once stopped to think that by continuing to do this, he could one day end up hurting himself.
They kissed for a while longer, short, soft kisses that didn't have to mean anything, yet somehow meant more than the moments of contact Paris had shared with others. Paris lost himself in the present. He didn't think about what had happened in his past, or even what could happen in the future. He didn't think about the senshi or the negaverse, or a world that was waiting for him far off in space. He didn't think of anything, just the here and the now and how good it felt to be with someone who didn't expect anything from him.
At least for the moment, he was free, he was doing what he wanted, and he wasn't worrying about anything else.
'We gotta make a decision. We leave tonight or live and die this way...'
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