'Hey Hope, check this out.'

Hope tutted. 'I can't. I need to get dressed. I'm supposed to be going out in…' he checked his watch. 'Nine minutes.'

'You won't be able to get dressed until you come and check this out.'

Hope frowned. He'd only just come out of the shower, was running late as was so often the case for events he didn't want to miss, and didn't have time for Snow's games. He readjusted the towel around his waist and moved into the living room. 'What do you mean? I'm very late, you know. And have you seen my –'

Hope halted at the sight in front of him. His boyfriend, Snow, was standing in the centre of the room, entirely naked – well, technically naked, but for one item of clothing. And his trademark cocky grin. He was wearing that too.

Snow's hands had formed fists and were resting against his hips, superhero style, and his penis was fully erect and pointing towards Hope. Resting along the length of his dick, though, was the pair of black briefs that Hope had been looking for.

'I just saw your clothes all laid out while you were in the shower, and got the idea to compare lengths,' Snow explained, still beaming, seeming pleased with Hope's expression of incredulity. 'Turns out my guess was right! Your waist is so skinny that my dick is actually just as long as your underwear is wide.'

Hope eyed the spectacle in front of him suspiciously. Though he probably wouldn't have believed it if someone had given him this information offhand, the facts in front of him did not lie. Both Hope's waist was so slim and Snow's penis so long that there wasn't even the slightest bit of overhang.

'I think this is more of a reflection on your size than mine,' Hope finally grumbled, retrieving his underwear from where it was hanging and willing himself not to be turned on.

'You're probably not wrong there, kiddo,' Snow replied, and took a few predatory steps closer. 'So, you really have to leave right now? You don't wanna…' He placed a hand on Hope's side. 'Stick around a little longer?'

'Nope sorry gotta go,' Hope stammered, and darted back to his bedroom.

He let out a sigh of relief. Undoing his towel and preparing to don his underwear, he tried to ignore his own erection. Goddamn, it wasn't fair how much of an effect Snow's body could have on him. He was sculpted like one of the mythological demigods he'd seen images of in art history textbooks and on the covers of classic literature back in school. So muscular, so tall… and so well hung. He could be a callous idiot, a vexatious joker, but he was also just so much of a man.

Hope hurriedly changed into the rest of his outfit and checked the time again. He'd be on time if he just walked a little quicker than usual down the street. He fluffed up his neckerchief in the mirror, took one last deep breath, and opened the door to the hallway.

He had hoped that Snow had returned to his own room, but no such luck – he was reclining in the living room, still totally naked but no longer standing to attention, and reading a magazine. When he saw Hope make for the front door, however, he tossed his magazine to one side and darted across the room so as to stand in Hope's way.

'I need to go,' sighed Hope, and crossed his arms over his chest.

'Not until you at least give me a kiss first,' said Snow. When Hope looked up, he softened a little to see what appeared to be genuine affection in Snow's eyes.

'Alright,' he conceded, and stood on his tip-toes to kiss Snow on the mouth, less frostily than he'd intended.

'I didn't mean there,' grinned Snow, and Hope sighed again, even more frustrated.

'You're an ass,' he commented with only half the usual shade of humour, and moved around Snow to get to the door. He looked back in to catch one last glimpse of Snow's apologetic – but still amused – facial expression before closing the door behind him and stepping out of the apartment.

xxxxx

xxxxx

Living with Snow Villiers was trying. Initially it had just seemed like the right thing to do; Hope's father had died and Snow had broken up with Serah, and the two of them were alone in Palumpolum, in need of some company and somewhere to stay. Hope had always been physically attracted to Snow – despite trying to deny that for the first few weeks of knowing him, and not really being able to admit his attraction until after he'd truly forgiven him for what had happened to his mother. Even then, however, this was only something he could admit to himself. It was still more than a year before he admitted this to the big man himself – but that was another story.

Despite their eventual progression into a full-on romantic relationship, however, Hope had always felt something of a reluctance, something keeping himself guarded. He had no idea what it was. He was sure that Snow had sensed it too, but they had never spoken about it. It continued to trouble Hope, though, and it was in fact one of the main reasons he had organised this liaison with some old friends of his that evening.

The weather had changed without him noticing, this year. He remembered winter very clearly, and as he looked around him now it was clear that spring had sprung – sprung right over its zenith and was now descending into what promised to be a heated summer. He couldn't for the life of him, however, remember any transition between the two. He listened to the birds singing in the evening light, the gentle hum of traffic overhead, and loosened the buttons on his jacket – it was, indeed, warmer than he'd expected.

It was quite a walk to the beach, especially since Hope needed to walk far enough down so that there were no other people around, but he always enjoyed travelling through the docks. The sights and smells were quite unique; he'd never visited anywhere else that matched them. While he was walking, he felt his communicator vibrate in his pocket – fishing it out to analyse it, he discovered a new message that had been sent to him.

'Hope you're not mad, I was just horny is all :P' read the message, sent by Snow. Tell me something I don't know, Hope thought, and sent a quick reply indicating that he would likely forgive him, but expected at least a cake in return. He smiled to himself and folded his communicator away again.

When he finally arrived at the determined location, he quickly scanned to make sure that there was nobody around – there wasn't – and sat himself down on the sand. It didn't look as beautiful as the beaches at Bodhum, but it would suffice. He checked his watch. He was right on time.

He lost himself, gazing into the horizon, admiring the setting sun. He'd seen most of what was worth seeing of the city when he was a child, but all of these familiar sights had taken on entirely new depth and meaning since he had helped 'save the world' two years ago. All of the buildings, all of the people, all of the sunsets and horizons – they truly wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't been there to save them. Or rather, if his friends hadn't been there to save them. Hope only really considered himself to have played more of a supporting role.

He had become so lost in his own thoughts, he did not at first register the stirring in the air and the sand around him. The zephyr became a breeze, and the breeze became a wind; the air itself got hotter and began to ripple and glisten, as though being seen through a film of water or a crooked piece of glass. Hope finally woke from his reverie, and rose to his feet.

The swirling of the air still grew, and concentrated into two human-sized vortexes in front of Hope. The sand was rushed up from the ground, twirling through the air and obscuring the view of the pillars of air they surrounded. An ominous humming sound grew louder, and the sparks in the air became more frantic and frequent, until eventually, all at once, like a magician's shroud dropping to the floor, the vortexes vanished and the sand was scattered once again to the ground. In their place, however, were the shapes of two new figures. Hope smiled.

'It's great to see you again, Hope!' called Vanille, looking no different to when he'd last seen her. She ran to give him a hug.

'And you too!' he responded, beaming with joy. Once they separated, he turned his attention to the second figure. 'It's good to see you too, Fang.'

'Likewise,' Fang smiled. She wasn't as much of the hugging type as Vanille had always been, but Hope could tell she was pleased to see him.

'Well I don't know about you two, but I'm starving!' cried Vanille. 'It feels like I haven't eaten in… what, three weeks?'

'Something like that,' agreed Fang. 'Do you have some plans for us then, Hope?'

'I know a great pasta place that I haven't taken you to before – very lovely people there. They don't turn anyone away; not even non-corporeal beings such as yourselves.'

'A shame,' replied Fang. 'It's been a while since I've been in a fight, and I was hoping for some action. But if everyone's going to be polite, then I suppose this will have to do.'

Hope smiled and led them off the beach, back into the heart of the city.

xxxxx

xxxxx

'I'm pretty sure this fusilli is fantastic,' said Fang. She'd been proceeding through her meal at a reserved pace, whereas Vanille, by contrast, had been devouring her food with the fervour of a rabid ceratosaur.

'Yeah, I come here a lot,' mumbled Hope. He'd made the mistake of trying to be daring and gone for one of the spicier options; he was now in the position of having to take a sip of water in between every bite just to keep the heat down. It was still very tasty, though.

'Oh you do, do you?' inquired Vanille with a suggestive tone that made Hope look up. 'Come here a lot on dates, perhaps?'

Hope blushed a little. 'Maybe once or twice,' he said cagily. 'Snow and I don't eat out very often.'

'Too busy rolling around in the sack, eh?' accused Fang playfully in her thick Pulsian brogue. She waved her fork in Hope's general direction and gave him a wink as she did so.

Hope blushed harder. 'I think I wouldn't like to talk about that,' he muttered, and kept his eyes fixed on his plate. Gods, that chili was burning.

'Go easy on him, Fang,' said Vanille. 'You know how Hope gets about these things.'

Hope appreciated the support, even if her defence was a little patronising.

'Aww, I'm only teasing him,' Fang chortled. 'But while we're on that note, I always did imagine that the sex between the two of you would be pretty exciting, so I wouldn't blame you if you didn't get out much and do anything else.'

'What do you mean?' asked Hope curiously, finally looking up.

'Are you alright Hope? You seem a little red in the face,' asked Vanille caringly.

Hope didn't break eye contact with Fang. 'I'm fine. The chili is very spicy. Fang, what did you mean?'

'Well, all I meant was,' Fang began, reclining theatrically in her chair, 'the two of you always did seem to have quite abrasive personalities. In a good way, of course,' she added, clocking Hope's raised eyebrow. 'The both of you could be the most caring, lovely, self-sacrificing people in the world, but you also both had the most potential to be aggressive and motivated by self-interest. In a good way!'

'I don't know what you mean,' Hope growled, taking another forkful of his food.

'And then there was all that tension between the two of you. I think everyone could see it was going somewhere,' Fang speculated.

'If you remember, that "tension" resulted in me trying to kill him,' added Hope.

'Precisely my point,' continued Fang. 'All of the most solid couples have tried to kill each other at least once.' She looked to Vanille and placed a hand on her shoulder, who in turn pursed her lips and folded her arms.

'Well, what can I say. Snow is a very attractive guy. We've certainly… had our fun, yes.' Hope was determined not to be embarrassed further, but he was worried as to where this was heading.

'So you've had sex, then?' pressed Fang. Vanille tutted at her audibly, but Fang ignored her.

'We've, we've...' stammered Hope. 'We've basically had sex, yeah. Loads of times, loads of times…' He shifted in his seat.

'But?' asked Fang.

'But… we've never gone all the way,' confessed Hope with a sigh. 'We've done basically everything else, but we've never… I don't know. I'm not sure why. At first Snow was worried I wasn't ready for it, I was very young, but I'm 16 now and I'm sure I'm ready but I don't feel like… I'm not sure I'd know how… I don't know,' he concluded, and feeling so embarrassed from having confessed such intimate details about his relationship he took a tremendous gulp from his glass of wine, which he otherwise had barely touched, and rested his head in his hands.

Fang seemed compassionate. 'It's true, I often forget how young you were. And still are,' she added. 'But you've changed an awful lot in that time. You're so much more confident in yourself. I remember when we met, you were terribly quiet – barely able to string a sentence together, and mostly kept your thoughts to yourself. Nothing like Snow. But then, I suppose that's just another way you complement each other.'

Hope remained silent. After a few moments, Vanille piped up. 'It seems this is something you're a little upset about… maybe you're just not all that attracted to Snow, physically?'

'Oh, it's definitely not that,' said Hope truthfully. 'He has a fantastic body. I'd noticed that from the day I met him. In fact I've always been rather…' He paused, a look of realisation slowly dawning on his face. 'I've always been rather jealous,' he concluded quietly.

'You have?' asked Vanille, tilting her head slightly to one side.

'Yeah… I hadn't even thought about it until now,' Hope continued, speaking almost as if in a trance. 'He was always so big, so able to protect other people, I guess… that sort of fascinated me. I wondered if I would be that big when I got older… and I am a bit older now, but I haven't gotten much taller… and it looks like I'm always going to be this skinny… and now, when I stand next to Snow, and compare myself to him, I just feel so…' he took a sharp intake of breath before his final word. 'Inadequate.'

'No, Hope, honey, you don't have to feel like that,' said Vanille, trying to comfort him. 'You're by no means inadequate.'

'But I've always felt that way,' Hope continued, the panging sensation in his stomach ringing true with his words. 'The problem isn't that he's not attractive enough to me; it's that he's so attractive that I wonder how in the world I could possibly compare… I look nowhere near as good as he does. He's just so… gifted. That's it. It's the reason we haven't had sex. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge. I worry that he'll realise how unattractive I am and, and,' he tried to keep himself from sobbing, 'leave me for someone else.'

They continued talking at length – though it was mostly Fang and Vanille doing the speaking, attempting to assuage him. They each held one of his hands, and one key thing which Vanille kept reminding him of – which Fang concurred with – was that what was most important was that they loved each other. By the time they'd all finished up and left the restaurant, he was feeling quite a bit better. Hope considered himself lucky to have such friends.

'We're getting quite tired, Hope.' Fang genuinely did seem a little drained as the three of them strolled slowly down the boulevard, taking in the night air. Hope looked over at Vanille, who seemed tired too, but perhaps less wont to show it.

'We'd better get you back then,' said Hope regretfully. He wished they had more time together, as he wouldn't be able to see them again for weeks. It took a lot of energy to project themselves, however, in a physical form, out of their crystal stasis at the bottom of the world, so Hope appreciated the obvious effort that they put into seeing him.

'I'm thinking of trying a different hair colour for the next time we see you, Hope,' said Vanille when they'd gotten back to the beach. He knew she was just trying to keep his spirits up looking forward to their next visit though. He wasn't a child anymore.

'Just as long as it's not any brighter than the pink you already have,' smiled Hope. 'There is a reason we try not to draw attention to your little visits.'

'You're no fun,' Vanille grinned, and embraced Hope once more with a massive hug. 'Remember what we talked about. I hope you and Snow work things out. The two of you make such a wonderful couple and I just want you to be happy.'

Hope knew she was entirely sincere. 'Thank you. And thank you too, Fang,' he addressed the second female. 'Our little talk tonight has helped open my eyes a bit… even if that was unintentional.'

'Well, I share Vanille's sentiments,' said Fang. 'Keep yourself out of trouble. And remember to talk to him!'

'I will!' called Hope as the wind once again picked up around them. There were a few flashed of magical energy, the sand rose from the ground to envelop them both, and when it receded back to the floor again, the both of them were gone.

xxxxx

xxxxx

Hope walked home alone, feeling drowsy both from the food and from the revelations he'd had that night. What was important was that they loved each other, he repeated in his head. He knew that he loved Snow. And he was sure that Snow loved him. He just needed to remind himself of that.

When he got back to their apartment, from the darkness and the silence, Snow was predictably asleep. As Hope closed the door behind him, he noticed something on the kitchen counter directly in front of him – some sort of box, a package that hadn't been there when he left. With his curiosity piqued enough to investigate, he saw that it was a modest sized cake (chocolate fudge, which was his favourite), store bought. Hope melted inside – he had only been joking when he requested Snow buy him a cake; he must have known that, and yet he would've had to run out of the flat as soon as he got his message to buy this before the shops closed. The sweet, lumbering idiot.

Hope felt his way through the darkness to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. They each had their own bedroom – not having been a couple when they first got the place – and they still used their own rooms out of habit when the other was away. Tonight, however, Hope barely stopped to remove his shoes on his way into Snow's room, pushing open the door quietly, slipping under the covers next to his sleeping boyfriend and cuddling up against his large, warm body.

'I love you,' Hope mumbled into the covers, before falling straight asleep.