Wifey prompts, and thus I post!
Kai Hiwatari watches as the love of his life stoops to pick up another dull and sea-worn piece of glass. Of course, Rei doesn't know just how Kai feels about him. As far as Rei is concerned, Kai is just a friend.
They carry on up the beach together, Kai stiff and stoic and not -really- wanting to be there, and Rei scampering along, his shoes and socks off and his pockets full of shells and stones.
An art project, he'd said. One he needed shells for. But his parents- strict as they were- wouldn't let him go to the beach alone. They'd heard stories and rumours about the people who lurked around the beach. No-one else had been willing to go. So Kai had stepped in. Not smiling -he never dared smile, just in case Rei noticed the uncharacteristic expression and realised- he said that he would go.
Kai has never liked the feel of sand. It's too gritty, too grainy. He doesn't want to take his shoes off because then he'll feel the sand underfoot, but as things stand, the sand is getting into his shoes anyway and settling between his toes. A conundrum. And an annoyance. But Kai is prepared to put up with it if it means he can spend time with Rei alone.
He looks back at the footsteps following them up the beach and thinks. Two sets, side by side. They could belong to anyone. A parent and child. Friends. Siblings. Lovers...
"Hey, Kai!" Kai is snapped from his reverie by Rei's clear, pure voice ringing out around the dunes. He's fallen behind. Rei is far ahead, waving. Kai ups his pace and Rei waits patiently, smiling. "Penny for them?"
"Hm?"
"Your thoughts. Penny for them."
"Oh. Nothing. Just there's sand in my shoes."
"Take them off then!"
"I don't like the feel of sand on my skin."
Rei shakes his head, wiggling his braid, and starts to walk again. Kai keeps pace with him this time, and it's him who ends up ahead as Rei falls back to marvel and gasp and collect. Kai doesn't mind waiting. And it makes him feel warm inside to see Rei smiling and happy. He wishes- briefly- that he could be that shard of flint, or that mussel shell, so that he could make Rei smile like that, but he knows that he he has neither the means nor the daring to be anything more to Rei than a surly friend.
"I love the way the sand's always moving..." Rei's beside him now, pointing as a ripple of sand flows towards them, changing the face of the beach. "And it sort of...shines somehow." Kai has never noticed before. His eyes follow another ripple of sand as his feet seek to follow Rei, who is walking ahead, feet sinking in the drier, softer sand.
And then he sees it. A flash of white in the stripe of coal stretching along between the sand and the sea. "Hey...Rei?"
"Yeah?" Kai doesn't reply at first, just walks over to the patch of white. He can feel all sorts of rocks pushing into his feet, mixed in with the coal. But that doesn't stop him. He carries on, stooping as he reaches his destination.
It's a shell. A perfect, unbroken white shell. A cockle. He carries it over to Rei, who obviously hasn't dared to cross the rocks with no shoes. "Oh, wow...that's beautiful, Kai. You don't normally find cockles that big around here..." And he hands it back.
"What do I want with it? You're the one who needs shells for your coursework."
"You don't mind?"
"Don't be stupid."
Kai watches Rei smile as he slips the shell into his pocket.
The beach is empty as they turn and head back. The only noise is the gentle splashing of waves. The tide is turning- creeping in inch by inch. Kai barely glances at it. His attention is solely on Rei. And, in turn, Rei's attention is solely on the sand beneath his feet, scanning for any treasures he might have missed. The sand in Kai's shoes is starting to annoy him again, but he knows that he'll be home soon, and even if he isn't it's more time spent with Rei.
"I love the sea." Kai pauses as Rei does, looking out over the wide blue expanse.
"It's huge." He replies.
"It's -fun-." Rei corrects. "I'm going for a paddle..." He drops his shoes and coat, hiking up his trouser legs and wading in. The water laps at his ankles, then a little higher, and a little higher. "Come on, Kai! You can't go to the beach and not paddle!"
Kai wants to refuse. Indeed he is ready to refuse, the words waiting on his tongue, but for some reason, he finds himself bending down. Undoing his laces. Slipping off his shoes and setting them down beside Rei's. The water is barely touching his toes as Rei goes in further, until the water is wetting the very edge of his trousers. "Come on, Kai. There's no-one around to see you."
Rei turns, smiling, unsuspecting as a particularly tall wave swamps him, reaching his waist and soaking his trousers. He doesn't look distressed- or not particularly, anyway- but Kai still darts forwards, his own trousers getting a soaking as he does. "Are you okay?"
"Just a bit cold." Rei smiles ruefully, then starts to unbutton his shirt. "Oh, what? I'm already wet, I might as well have a swim while I'm at it." And his shirt sails through the air, landing neatly over their shoes. Kai watches as Rei kneels, the water up to his shoulders. He's so busy admiring the faint view of Rei's naked back through the murky water that he jumps and yells when something grabs his ankle. It takes him a second to work out why Rei is laughing, rising up out of the water like Triton himself, dripping and glittering in the warm glow of the evening sun.
"You know it wouldn't do you any harm to actually get in the water, Kai, instead of standing there sulking." Sulking-? Kai is glad Rei's assumption is wrong. Being told off for sulking, he feels, is much less embarrassing than being told off for admiring what he can't have would be. And he obeys again, pulling his t-shirt up over his head and throwing it back onto the beach. And, warily, he kneels. His legs have by now gotten used to the cold, but it stings his upper half, numbing his skin.
"Why did you agree to come with me if you don't like the beach?" Rei asks thoughtfully.
"You needed someone to go with and no-one else would." Kai doesn't look at Rei as he replies- he casts his gaze out onto the horizon, staring intently at one of the far-away boats. It's not entirely a lie. It's just a very sketchy truth.
Time passes in silence as the water moves around them. Kai- discreetly- keeps his eyes on Rei as his braid bobs in the water and he closes his eyes, looking relaxed and contented.
"We should really be going. The tide's about to steal our shirts as it is..." Kai looks back and sees that yes, Rei's quite right. The water is a mere foot away from their clothes and shoes, sneaking closer like a thief. Reluctantly he stands and walks onto the sand. It squidges between his toes, grainy and horrible, and he grimaces. Rei just laughs at him as he picks up his stuff.
As he does, the white cockle shell falls out of his coat pocket. They both stoop to retrieve it, fingers almost- but not quite- meeting, and Rei smiles. "I'll have to bring you with me next time to make sure I get all the nice shells..."
"Okay." Kai shrugs, feigning unconcern. Inside he's smiling. Yes, he thinks. And next time, I might get round to answering your questions honestly...
Fin
R&R please!