Title: Goldenblue Summer
Challenge: 30 Kisses Challenge
Prompt: Radio-Cassette Player
Fandom: Fate/Stay Night
Pairing: Gilgamesh/Lancer
Rating: T for language and mild sexual themes, may go up in later chapters, we'll see what happens.
Summary: Everything moves slower in the Summer. Almost like it's running on another world's time. Lazy, hazy, living in a separate existence until the leaves start to change. They're living on borrowed time, in a borrowed life, but it doesn't matter. No one will remember once these days are over, so no one else can decide how they spend them.
x
"Why exactly do you have this?" Cu asked, watching in mild boredom as Gilgamesh fiddled angrily with a little plastic rectangle. It looked vaguely familiar, not from his own memories but from the ones the grail had implanted in him, and if Gilgamesh had it then it was probably a noteworthy object. After all, the guy prided himself on owning everything worth having- and that didn't limit him to the sorts of treasures you'd expect, like weapons and jewels. Cu had seen him pull ancient looking computers and gaming consoles from that Gate, older models of cars and planes... he had every notable creation ever made by man, it seemed.
"For the same reason I have anything," Gilgamesh snapped in response, spinning one of the little plastic gears with his finger. "Because it is worth having."
"Ok, let me rephrase that- why are you bringing it out now?" Lancer sighed, rolling his eyes.
It was summer, painstakingly hot, and even with the setting sun it didn't seem to be getting any cooler. He and Gilgamesh had been sitting on the church's porch since dawn, small fans and popsicle sticks littered around them. The radio had been crackling some stale talkshow, but now it was only static. Lancer had fiddled wih it, Gilgamesh had fiddled with it, and now he seemed to have given up, and was fiddling with... whatever that thing was.
Gilgamesh heaved a dramatic sigh, then shot him a weary look.
"If you must know, this is a cassette. It has music on it, and it's the only thing this old bauble-" he prodded the radio with his foot, causing it to spit more static- "will play. I'm growing tired of the silence."
"Aw, and here I thought you loved our scintillating conversations!" Lancer pouted, flopping down with mock offense.
"Do you even know the definition of scintillating, I wonder?" Gilgamesh mused, eyes focused on the shimmering tape that dangled from the cassette wth a laser-like focus.
"Something to do with stars." Cu shrugged. His bare arms had stuck to the wooden floor with sweat, making gross rip sounds when he shifted. "I use it right?"
Gilamesh didn't answer, which could have meant either a yes or a no, but probably meant that he just didn't care. He wasn't exactly invested in much of what Lancer had to say. He was much more interested in listening to himself talk, it seemed.
There was a small snap and a tiny curse, followed by the sound of plastic against hardwood, and Cu turned his head just in time to catch a limpse of the cassette skittering across the floor. It slid right out the door, off the patio and into the tall grass. He watched it, staring into the yard after it had disappeared.
"Blasted thing!" Gilgamesh snarled. He seemed to be bristling, shooting daggers with his eyes- which was a nice alternative from his usual shooting of actual daggers.
The radio continued to crackle as the cicadas joined its tune, filling the evening with a rather peaceful white noise. Lancer sighed, crossing his arms behind his head and smiling. Even in the heat, this was a wonderful break from their usual schedules.
"You think Kirei's gonna chew us out for having the doors open all day?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling. There were a couple of moths clinging there, wings quivering sluggishly as the sun sank further and the night got closer. The fake ass priest had been gone all day, which was almost enough to make up for the fact that he'd had no one else to hang out with besides Gilgamesh. Which, considering the circumstances, wasn't the worst way he could have spent the day. After all, he hadn't had any chores to deal with, and Gilgamesh had been surprisingly tolerable.
Honestly, it was hard to tell how he felt about Gilgamesh most days. Sometimes they got along alright, sniggering and smirking about stupid inside jokes behind Kirei's back, and other times they were at each others throats- or, more accurately, Cu was at Gil's throat, trying not to wind up with a slit throat.
"It matters not, I doubt it's affected the temperature all that much." Gil sighed. He was fanning himself with a hand, glaring at the ceiling.
"Aren't you from the desert?" Lancer asked, sitting up. His skin was glistening with sweat, arms exposed and tanktop hanging limply off his shoulders. It was rare he showed off any skin, aside from when he was naked. He wasn't as well-built as his stories implied, but he was still pretty toned, his skin a pale gold, sparkling richly just like the rest of him... Lancer shook his head, kicking his brain for thinking like that. Good looks aside, he was still an asshole more often than not. No use in getting caught up in aesthetics. "Shouldn't you be used to this sort of thing?"
"Desert heat is a dry heat," he replied, voice as dry as the sands he spoke of. "I was not built for this humidity."
Cu nodded. It made sense. He just wasn't used to the damn heat, period. It was never this hot and humid back in Ulster. He missed the frigid rains of Ireland... anything was better than sitting in this oppressive church.
Twisting onto hands and knees, Lancer crawled over to the door, looking through the grass for the tape Gil had thrown away. It was sticking out in between some flowers. He picked it up, brushing off the dirt and shuffling back to his spot.
"What was on that thing, anyway?" Cu asked, tossing the tape up and down. Gilgamesh eyed him sourly.
"Music. It's somewhat old now, not to you or I, but in the eyes of the current generation. Songs from around the time when I was summoned. I was rather fond of them. Back then, CDs weren't yet popular, so I put the songs of my preference on a tape. I haven't listened to them in years." He was suprisingly quiet as he spoke, eying the tape with a look of nostalgia evident in his face. Cu looked examined it, looking at it closely. The actual tape part of it seemed to be a little wrinkled, bent over and jammed into the side. Gently, he tugged at it, loosening it up enough to unfold it. Carefully, he smoothed it out, then stuck a finger into the little white gear, twisting it. It clicked a few times, pulling the tape back in and winding it around inside.
"Here you go." he tossed it to Gil. It bounced against his chest before he reached a hand up to snatch it, sitting up to glare at him.
"What did you..." he paused, turning it over, studying it. "You... fixed it?" he seemed skeptical, as though he didn't believe Lancer was capable of such a thing.
"It was just a little tangled is all." Cu shrugged. "Put it in, see if it works."
Gilgamesh frowned, but nonetheless he got up, pressing a button on the radio and sliding the cassette inside. Cu got to his knees, shuffling over to see how it worked. It just went into a little slot, which clicked closed again. Gil pressed down another switch, one with a little white triangle on it. It stayed down, and the radio went quiet.
Lancer realized he was holding his breath, listening intently as the shiny black tape began circling round inside. Then, suddenly, it crackled to life, a low, staticky voice crooning from the speakers. He grinned, and Gilgamesh laughed. Cu looked up at him, realizing how close they both were now. Faces only inches from each others, hairs brushing together. In the dark, it was getting hard to make out his features, but he could still see his eyes, glowing like flames in the setting sun. he smelled like sand and sweat, every bit the desert king Cu had read about.
Slowly, carefully, Cu leaned in. His lips brushed against Gilgamesh's, soft, experimental. They had done things to each other before, but kissing, that was not one of them. Carefully, he pulled back, trying to get a reading of his face. The evening shadows had finally consumed it. Without warning the temperature had dropped, plunging the world into a evening chill- the space between them was burning up though.
"Well?" Gilgamesh scoffed. "Are you just going to sit there like a dumbstruck pup, or are we going to continue?"
"Pup?" Cu laughed. "I ain't a dog, but I'm definitely no pup."
And with that, the burning space between them was no more.