dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight [for Thomas]

[krempuff]

The heat during the day was getting back up to a place that Krem remembered, that he had grown up in for nineteen years and that he was built for. The past nine years of his life had not erased his need and enjoyment of warm, lazy summer days and refreshing, cooler evenings.

Coordinating schedules with Thomas was, as always, a balancing act. But they managed. Even when they didn't get to see each other for a few days here or there, they sent each other texts, information about nothing at all, just their days so far. Krem texted him, especially, after he'd gotten all of his tattoos done weeks back; the black ink scattered on his skin was still healing, but it was getting close enough to that mark of readiness that Krem felt safe in venturing outside of his regular daily routine.

Today, Darrow had been hot. Krem had worked both jobs and gotten out of Bardolf's later in the evening, around the same time that Thomas normally got off work at Semele's. The evening was still balmy, almost exhaustive, but the ocean called to Krem. The pleasant memory of going out there with Thomas last summer, practicing swimming in private. Tonight, under a nearly full moon, seemed like a wonderful way to repeat the whole venture and put his mind outside of everything else that had been going on recently.

He texted Thomas as he was already on his way down to the boardwalk, contemplating if it would be better to go toward the lagoon that they'd gone to last year, or just swim out in the open. The beach would be nearly empty, since it was night and there didn't appear to be any parties or festivals going on (surprisingly). He decided to let Thomas decide, saying he would see him on the beach.

Comments

[krempuff]

"Oh, I never said I wasn't fighting back," Krem said with a laugh and a broad, brilliant smile. He pinched Thomas's side gently, just above the hip. "But I'm still going to blame you, I think. Yes, definitely. All your fault."

He punctuated the last three words with little taps up Thomas's spine, then trailed his fingers neatly right back down against.

[shuck_you]

"No cuddling for you," Thomas declared, giving Krem a light shove and kicking some water his way. "I'm perfectly fine with taking some blame that isn't mine -- "

More than some, actually, but that blame he was going to shoulder no matter what. Everything that happened back home was his fault. This wasn't. Not entirely.

" -- but this time, I'm half innocent so I get half blame. Not full."

[krempuff]

Krem hummed about that, letting himself get gently shoved back, laughing softly. He looked deeply contemplative for a moment, and then, finally, he proclaimed, "Alright. It was probably about sixty-forty my fault, anyway. Since I started it, anyway."

It was quite the reversal of teasingly assigning the whole blame to Thomas, but it was certainly more honest. And Krem felt a lot better about shouldering the blame then letting Thomas think he could.

[shuck_you]

"That was a lot easier than I was expecting it to be," Thomas said, reaching up and messing Krem's hair just slightly. That was entirely his fault and it was something he'd take one hundred percent of the blame for.

"No wrestling tonight though," he decided with a shake of his head. He hadn't really gotten his hair wet so Krem was saved from a spray of water. "I'd like to avoid sand in weird places."

[krempuff]

"No point in putting up a fight, was there?" Krem laughed softly, and made only a half grumbling noise as Thomas used his height as a means to reach for his damp hair and ruffle it. He reached up and gently pinched Thomas's wrist.

Then, he shrugged. Maybe no wrestling on the beach. Krem didn't try to push for a compromise or caveat on that stipulation Thomas had made though, just smiled. He was, after all, going to get to sleep beside him.

It still felt a dance, a game of stepping stones, navigating how much of them was friends and how much of them was something else, and where the lines of those were. Krem wished, sometimes, he had a manual for this sort of thing. He knew that the accident in May had thrown a wrench in things, and so he didn't want to push. He was just glad that he hadn't ruined things entirely.

A breeze caught him and he shivered. "Ooh, alright. Skinny dipping in July was a bad idea. Not quite warm enough yet."

[shuck_you]

Thomas couldn't help but snicker at the shiver. Thomas reached for Krem, trying to wrap his arms around Krem and provide some warmth. His clothes were damp and his skin was cool so he didn't know how helpful he'd be but he wanted to try.

"You look nice, though," he murmured, smile in his voice. "I don't want you to be cold but you definitely look nice. So, the cold had a small benefit for me, at least."

[krempuff]

Even damp and cool, having the added buffer of Thomas's body holding his was nice. Krem let himself be wrapped up in Thomas's arms, and he leaned into the feeling of it a little. He covered Thomas's hands, arranging them carefully so he didn't put pressure on any of the new tattoos; they were still tender, after all.

"I'd say you were being selfish, but--" Krem smiled up at Thomas, leaned up the few inches so that he could give him a sweet, brief kiss. "--I like that you like it."

[shuck_you]

Thomas let Krem guide his hands, keeping his touch light because the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Krem. So, he settled his hands where Krem wanted them and sighed.

For a few lengthy moments, he stayed like that, feeling the tingle of Krem's kiss and the heat of his body before pulling back enough to smile.

"Put your clothes on and come back to mine, shank," he said. "I'll feed you and stuff."

[krempuff]

Krem decided that the prospect of warmth and dryness and food was preferable to lingering in any sort of undress. He squeezed Thomas's fingers gently and trudged up through the water toward his clothes and began to pull them on, glad that he didn't care too much if they got damp. The worst part was the sand that got between his toes.

Once he'd pulled his shirt back on--he didn't bother with his sports bra for now; it would cling weirdly on his damp skin--he smiled at Thomas.

"Alright. I'm all yours."

[shuck_you]

Thomas stood back and watched Krem dress quietly. He kicked a little bit of sand towards his ankles just because he was a terrible slinthead but he otherwise let him dress in peace.

Once he was done, Thomas reached for his hand and tugged him along, heading away from the quietly rolling waves and towards the louder sounds of the city.

[krempuff]

Krem laughed and smiled, at the playful, teasing kick of sand even, and when Thomas took his hand he laced their fingers together happily. This was good. Better than he would have expected for himself a year ago, two, more than that. He'd never expected to find some sort of peaceable happiness like this with someone else. To be in love was remarkable.

It was late enough that even though the city still made plenty of noise, they were quieter than the daytime ones. They walked quietly for a while.

After a time, Krem softly said, "I'm having a surgery soon. Near the start of August."

[shuck_you]

"Surgery?" Thomas repeated, glancing over at Krem. He hoped that the darkness concealed some of the concern that appeared in his eyes before he could get himself under control.

Thomas knew that surgery could entail a ton of different things so he tried not to worry until he knew more. "Are you all right, shank? What kind of surgery?"

[krempuff]

"Yeah," Krem assured, giving Thomas's hand a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, I'm alright. It's--it's to make me infertile? It'll help balance a lot of my hormones, too, so I'll have less chance of any complications further down the line. So it's a preventative thing."

He was nervous--frightened. Surgeries were not common in Thedas, and they could be dangerous. He knew they were safer here, and he was trying not to think of frightening outcomes.

"It's just one more step of making me look and feel a bit more like I should."

[shuck_you]

Not for the first time, Thomas wished he'd talked more to the med-jacks back in the Glade to learn a little bit more about the human body and how it worked. He figured that this sort of thing was beyond Clint and Jeff but they had to have known something.

"Okay," Thomas said, taking that in and processing it quietly. "That's good, then. Right? It's good. Are you nervous?"

[krempuff]

Krem nodded, quietly. He wasn't just nervous about the surgery, but the recovery. He was nervous that something could go wrong at any step of the way. He was worried his own stubbornness would keep him from seeking help if something did go wrong. He was even, a little, nervous that he might regret the decision.

"It'll be okay, though," Krem said with a confidence and hope he only felt so deep. If he said it, that made it true. He smiled at Thomas softly. "They want me off my gym work for up to six weeks while I recover, but they think I should be back to tailoring in one to two."

[shuck_you]

"And you are going to listen to them, right?" Thomas asked, a warning in his voice. He knew he couldn't force Krem to stay in bed or at least off his feet but he could make it known that he'd prefer Krem listen and himself heal.

"You're not going to try and start running or training a day later, right, shank?" he asked, tightening his hold on Krem's hand.

[krempuff]

"At least not while I have stitches," Krem assured with a soft laugh. "Once those are out, I make no promises that anyone can keep me resting. Though I'm sure plenty of people will do their best to try."

He gave Thomas a soft, questioning look, still smiling, asking without asking if Thomas would be on the list of people making sure he stayed in bed and let himself rest even as the external healing was complete.

[shuck_you]

"Don't make me sit on you, shank," Thomas said, answering Krem's unanswered question. "I'd rather not have to do that because just sitting on you sounds like a boring use of my time. I'd rather just come over and watch television while you stay still and recover."

[krempuff]

Krem chuckled a little and his soft look turned just a little bit teasing. He was glad for the dark of night, because it covered the bit of heat that colored his cheeks. How could he still be so meek with Thomas, after months with him, after the year of expanding and contracting romantic entanglement he'd gone through.

"Well, yes, just sitting on me would probably be pretty boring. You're right." He bumped Thomas gently with his hip. "We're have to get creative if you wanted to hold me down and not be bored."

[shuck_you]

"Not while you're healing," Thomas advised with a shake of his head. "I am not having your doctor or -- or Hild coming at me because I was there when you ripped your stitches. I'm no med-jack but I know that's bad. You are going to listen to the doctors and then we'll be creative."

[krempuff]

Krem sniggered and chewed at his lower lip for a second. He didn't say anything about how the stitches would be low, and probably not particularly numerous, because--well. They'd have a couple weeks after the stitches came out of him going positively stir crazy, if they decided they wanted to try any sort of creativity.

In the meantime, they had tonight. Quiet and together, warm and close. The playfulness of the whole evening buoyed him.

"I'm holding you to that. The instant the stitches are out."

[shuck_you]

"That'll give you plenty of time to think about things to do," Thomas said, giving his hand a squeeze while he pulled him back along to his apartment.

"Don't mess around with this," he murmured, looking over. "Take care of yourself. No overdoing it, no ignoring doctor's orders, none of that. Take care of you."

[krempuff]

"I'm going to have a list. What else am I going to do, holed up in bed for one to two weeks like some sort of invalid? At least the last time I was abed it was only for a couple of days."

He smiled at Thomas confidently, but stuck his tongue out at him, like he wasn't nearly thirty and the gesture was totally mature. "Yes, thank you, daddy, I'll be very good and on my best behavior. I am taking care of me, that's why I'm doing this. I just--it's a long time to be lazy, is all."

[shuck_you]

"Just make sure it's things I can do," Thomas said jokingly. "Nothing to acrobatic or I might pull a muscle and then you're not going to be the only one unable to do anything but make lists."

Thomas reached over and gave Krem's arm a light punch before saying, "I'm just concerned. And you'll have plenty of people to be lazy with. You'll be fine, I promise."

[krempuff]

Krem sniggered a little, giving Thomas a soft, momentary glance like he was trying to imagine the extent of contortion or flexibility he could get out of him. No; Thomas was plenty athletic, but the more acrobatic things were probably best left to other people. For both of them.

He sighed dramatically, absolutely pressed by these displays of concern and affection, before pressing his shoulder gently up to Thomas's arm. "I appreciate the concern. Everything will be fine. I'll heal faster than expected, like I always do, but I won't push myself. And you'll be one of the people to come be lazy with me while I behave and follow doctor's orders."