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Sajahka felt his pulse climb, a gradual, beating progression as Leukos took the moment—and went with it, pants skirting out of place to reveal a tightly encased arse and package. He even had the full benefit of knowing there was no artificial exaggeration there without having the rest come off, but when Leukos’ foot wedged between his knees-

He grunted, eyes snapping up to Leu’s.

He likely still wasn’t supposed to touch, but as his chair tilted, one hand snapped forward instinctively, gripping Leukos’ knee and unwittingly (but not unpleasantly) causing a slight jerk forward and grind of his body to Leu’s boot. He could feel Leu’s skin under his fingers, and if he just slipped them down to trace along the underside of his knee—Leu’s fingers were moving for his underwear. Sajahka’s mind only just had an instant to appreciate the full potential for that before, a moment later, the opportunity was yanked from beneath him like a rug.

Okay, that’s quite enough!

He likely failed entirely at not looking deeply offended for an instant. How dare you, does no one else see how close—?

But, perhaps that was the point, and amidst the few whines of disappointment that followed the pause, there did seem to be a sobering realization among most of their company that this probably was not the type of behavior that ought to go any further than it had, at least. That fact alone did not remove Leukos’ boot from between his legs, nor his fingers from Leukos’ bare skin, and for a few seconds at least Sajah was perfectly content to remain exactly how he was.

Then, someone began clapping. His eyes were not surprised to find Pyra’s bright with shrewd amusement, and focused on the two of them. “Well, bravo, I say. I’m not disappointed, but it does bring some interesting questions to the table. Just a friend of yours, Leukos?”

Sajah likely ought to have left the answer to Leu. He had said something about something about something that involved not—something. But Leu was this close and nearly naked, and his skin was flushed, and he wanted, and felt good. So, when Pyra’s eyes met with his for one curious instant, he felt his lips stretch—and flash a single, bright, s**t-eating grin. Then he winked.

He wasn’t sure what reaction he was going for, but the woman’s open, almost-instant laugh was reassuring and satisfying just the same.

We should go swimming was perhaps among the best ideas that could have been hoped for, particularly from a drunk—though perhaps that contributed at the time. Regardless, though Sajahka couldn’t actually swim that didn’t seem to be a point of concern. Water and wetness usually involved minimal clothing, and possibly, if he was very fortunate-

Saj…

And, it seemed that he was, as Leukos focused in on and prodded at him. At the combination of ‘You don’t need clothes for swimming…’ and ‘important stuff,’ however, Sajah felt sufficiently inspired to think that he should definitely be aiding this process in going forward as actively as possible. Fortunately, Pyra continued to be a godsend. He didn’t even need to find Leukos’ bag, or his clothes, or have him put them back on.

Absolutely everything was perfect, and by the time Leukos tugged at his hand, Sajah could not have been more cooperative. It occurred to him passively as they made their way out of the establishment that no one would believe they were ‘friends’ after this, and they had just managed to make a show of it in front of all of their co-workers. He decided immediately after that he didn’t care. He didn’t mind that revelation in the least and Leukos—well, Leukos could decide later how he felt, but at this particular moment, Sajah was not about to let it give him any concern.

Nothing was his fault and the night was beautiful.

And all the more beautiful with Leukos in it, almost naked.

He gave a bit of a wry grin as they made it into the night air and off, down towards the beach, which truly wasn’t far from here at all. «If you would like me to carry that for you, I can,» he offered, because it felt like the friendly thing to do for a man focused enough on his balance.

Not that Leukos seemed to be having any real difficulty, and when their boots came on the edge of sand, he stooped to remove his—and then his shirt, for that matter, which could for the moment also be conveniently stuffed in alongside Leukos’ in his bag.

As Leukos’ belongings pressed abruptly into his arms and the other man’s taunt singsonged out — Try and keep up! — all but simultaneously with him taking off down the beach, Sajah determined immediately that he would have no hope of doing so. But that did not keep him from following, watching Leu’s hair spill like ink down his back and progressing at a more modest pace himself so as to allow tucking away their things first safely at the base of a neighboring palm. When he did, he opted also to remove his own pants—no need to wet them—before progressing to the water’s edge.

Leukos was—some ridiculous and perfect combination of grace and catastrophe, sending water dancing about him like fairy dust in the night before crashing onto his arse in the sea and then sweeping himself back up again as though nothing had occurred.

Sajah felt a smile pull at his lips.

«It looks like you did…» His eyes, though, moved to Leukos’ mouth — ‘…can still taste the salt…’ — and then down further still, observing where moonlight highlighted the wet angles of the other man’s body and added an ethereal flicker to the atmosphere.

Light seemed to glint off of him and the water, dancing over ripples and at his fingertips, over his shoulders and down the wet black stain of hair now clinging to the shape of his back. Sajah’s eyes trailed after Leukos like something spellbound, and a very small, distant voice whispered in the back of his mind that he was after something the world would never give him—not him, of all other options.

But it was an easy voice to ignore: with liquor in his blood and while being the only other man here—evidently the universe was at least giving him this moment, and he promised himself he needed no more than that for now.

«It is beautiful…» he signed, and when he reached, it was to catch and then trace up Leukos’ bare wrist along the underside as he slid in to crowd the space of Leukos’ dance at his back before touching a kiss to his shoulder blade. His hands had to wind around in front of Leukos to sign when he did. «Would you dance with me, Butterfly?»

Leukos’ fingers laced with his, and Sajahka felt a strange pull in his gut as his fingers gave an instinctive clutch back. A duet? He had intended, perhaps at its outset, a slightly more rapid progression into something that involved his lips on Leukos’, but since this seemed to be the scene intended, it all fell easily enough into play. He had danced with Leukos before, and as his feet padded over the sand and water and his body moved to their own invisible rhythm, he couldn’t help but remember.

They had unintentionally pulled the attention of almost everyone in a room, at a bar, once upon a time. As they had managed to do again, under very different circumstances very recently.

It made it easy to feel entranced and lost in his own thought process, focused only from moment to moment: on the places Leu did touch, on the places their weight did pull and twist and turn with one another, until they had waded out into water. It didn’t bother Sajah to be out in it; he was not afraid of the water or the sea generally, despite his lack of knowing how to swim. At Leukos’ pull, though, taking them distinctly deeper — She’s inviting us in… — he watched with a barely abashed flush as Leu moved under, black locks seeping out again like ink on the clearer surface.

«I do not…actually know how to swim,» he admitted. «But you do look lovely in it, and I would kiss you endlessly here given the chance…»

At the question, Sajah initially blinked. Would he lie? Perhaps, though, that was not the most relevant question, and besides, given that he was out here, already, in a sea of something he knew very well he couldn’t navigate successfully with his own body—it might fairly be surprising. But, Leukos seemed intent on taking it a step further than that.

Sajahka narrowed his eyes.

Not yet out of any true irritation, but how—?

And then, Leu had sunk beneath the surface. He puffed into the open night air, scoffing at his luck. Of course this is what he had to deal with. Silly, beautiful, ridiculous man. He took one step back, steadying himself on solid ‘ground’ though his hips were still beneath the surface of the ocean. In all earnesty, the water didn’t scare him, for some reason. It could drown him, and he appreciated that fact, but so long as his legs were touching solid surface, he didn’t feel the anxious pull of impending—anything.

And, though it probably wouldn’t register thanks to instinct alone, under these circumstances, he felt especially secure: Leukos would not let him drown. Even drunk, he trusted that much.

So instead he watched what he could see of the man’s shape beneath the water, and decided to be pleased instead that the man had not said No, but rather, ‘How will you catch me?’ and catching was something Sajah felt confident he could do in time, particularly since the man needed to come up for air eventually.

Sajahka had thought he’d do more chasing.

Instead, as Leukos bubbled under, he found himself observing, and waiting. And perhaps that was what he did best, he supposed. Besides, it seemed in that instant at least to fully suit the moment—for Leu did love to make theatre of himself. And he gave a good show. Always.

So, Sajahka watched bubbles dance to the surface where Leu trailed. He watched the indistinct shape of color just beneath the surface shift as Leu moved out and under, and observed from his careful distance as Leukos broke above water further away from him, before dipping down again. The night was fully dark by now and quiet all around but for the occasional ocean breeze, distant faint sounds of shore, and the rustle of nearby palms. And the splash of water as Leukos came up again only to toss—a flying seashell. It hit sand with a soft, wet thud.

Sajah felt a grin pull at his lips in spite of himself.

This man couldn’t help but make himself star of the moment, and Sajah had to wonder with some degree of impressed curiosity as he watched just how much time Leukos could dedicate to flitting about underwater without breath-

Until Leukos drew up directly before him, sucking in a heady gasp of air, and Sajah reached forward on instinct, looping his hand to brace at the man’s back as he seemed to sway with light-headedness. Oh…s**t. For a moment, they were just there, hung in the ocean half-deep in the midst of night with nothing about them and nothing between them, and Leukos’ back was smooth and wet and warm under his fingers.

Then, Sajah tipped his head, his lips tisking with amusement. ‘You are such a show off...’ A beautiful, breathless show off.

But the words didn’t even feel worth taking the space to mention in the moment, for Leukos must have known it already, for all the shows he had put on thus far tonight. And he was right there in a way he might never be again. So instead of impressing upon either of them facts they already knew, Sajah dipped to kiss the man’s nose, and then his cheek, and then n** at the corner of a lip, his fingers pinching a fraction inward with encouragement at Leu’s back to draw him nearer.

‘I want you…’

Leukos giggled, and the sound was a warm reverberation against his skin that brought about more than the usual, somehow—a warmth in his belly that was just that, and a pull at his lips. It was good to hear him happy. And then, Saj… it was good to hear him more than that, too. His pulse climbed up his throat, feeling a tickling under his skin as the other man’s fingers moved back, and then-

Everything halted. And somehow, even before the first words left Leukos’ mouth, Sajahka’s mind drew to it prior insistences. Things are different now. They were friends. So, I’m not supposed to do this anymore… felt — in keeping with the tunnel his mind had set for the coming conversation. Still, he expected—what? More…distance? A quicker withdrawal and return to cool sobriety. Instead, there were more words, and no less contact.

I want it so badly…

In spite of himself, Sajahka’s stomach pulled—a tight, knotted reminder that this had always been something he thought he wanted, but couldn’t have. And very recently it had become cemented in truth—so far as he had always imagined it, in any case. But instead, fate had placed this man in his arms, playing all the cards that seemed to draw him and saying he wanted commitment—while speaking of someone else.

…someone simpler, someone I’d be used to handling…

Sajahka listened, frowning as his expectations—side railed in some obscure fashion, for surely, if Leukos was going to go in a positive direction for this boy, that would not- And ‘not’ seemed to be the keyword, as his admittances progressed. In spite of himself, he felt heat flushing back into his ears, and a curious race rebuilding in his chest.

I want other things…

Leukos’ lips pressed to his, and Sajahka’s lashes flit shut, his chin tipping into it on instinct as a hungry grunt muted itself against the man’s mouth. His heart felt like a wild bird newly caged in the confines of his chest and ready to beat free. …you make me so confused and happy and lost and found and-

Sajahka slid a hand up, leaving one to brace Leu’s back while he drew the other up his neck to thumb at the base of his jawline, fingers tangling loosely in the soaked hair at his nape as he took, and savored, at least this kiss before tucking his nose to Leu’s—and snorting softly before he withdrew just enough to sign:

«You are so…beautiful…» His eyes drew over Leu, and he had hoped his heart would calm, but apparently that was not in his cards. «And perfect…I cannot tell you what you want. But if you are trusting me to be the one to tell you to go elsewhere, that trust is misplaced. I do not care if you want…» His chest gave an odd pinch, «simple, and easy, in a way you can handle…and you may continue on that track with or without me if you wish, but…» Leukos was still so close. «If ever, including this moment, you think you might like…other things…and to be confused, and happy…and lost and found with me…I love every moment I spend with you. And I am not going to be the one to give up any chance when offered…I would love to spend tonight kissing you, if you’d let me. You can decide what you wish to do with the rest in the morning…but I promise I will not make more trouble than you let me.»

Sajah listened, watching as Leukos moved through his emotions, and admittedly—he wasn’t sure what to make of it himself, nor did his chest seem to know what to do with the information. Leukos wanted commitment. But he didn’t. But he did. He wanted to kiss him, but he—did, or didn’t? Couldn’t? Might, and that was upsetting? Had, already, Sajah mentally corrected. Several times. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more the finer details of exactly how much more happened at this moment seemed to matter little.

«As I see it…you have already stripped in a public place before me, put your boot between my legs, and walked near to naked from the bar with me onto a dark beach, removed everything, danced with me…and kissed me. We both agree we enjoy it. I think we both agreed it was and is a beautiful night. I do not think your…boyfriend…would approve any more of what we have already done than what we might do now…but thankfully I am not looking for your boyfriend’s approval. I am here tonight with you…and as your friend, if you tell me you would prefer it, we can dress and I will walk you home…»

There was an anxious, stiff pull in his gut that Sajahka attempted to avoid paying heed. But, be it the alcohol, or everything that already been said, a thousand things already on his mind, or any combination thereof, more came after that:

«But I…am not the best at relationships, either…but you are-» ‘-one of the few persons who makes me happy?’ Immediately, the thought made him shy away from the words, because even if it was true, which it was, it wasn’t a burden for Leukos to bear, particularly if he was comfortable and happy elsewhere. What did he truly have to offer? He could not even afford his own food yet. That thought, though, was supplemented by the first quiet but then persistent niggling of what else Leukos had said. Of wanting something else, and more, and the way that he felt—which seemed to at least in some respect mirror Sajah’s own interest.

They always both enjoyed one another’s company. Even if he couldn’t put a finger on it, he always felt so addictingly alive in the man’s presence and there were few rushes like it.

So why should he ever be anything but honest?

«I always find myself chasing you…but you do not owe me anything, and I do not want to be something you regret. I think, if you relaxed…it might not do any more harm than has already been done, if any has, if we simply enjoyed the evening. Still, I stand by my offer. The night is yours, Butterfly.»