#62 – Spring
Prince of Poppies
Rating: R, Mature, whatever.
Author's Notes: Based on the song "Lucky" by Bif Naked.
Fanfic100 story
Shin can still taste the wine; how it burned and made the kiss sour when it spilled from Touma's mouth into his. How Touma had sucked lazily at his tongue until his zinfandel lips trailed a wet path down his throat. He could hear the thunder.
The rain had been so bad that season – not that Shin had minded. The rush of it was a deep vibration in his veins and it made Touma shiver all over him. When Shin had opened his eyes enough to look at him, Touma's were unfocused and soft and he was in silhouette against the slate grey clouds. Drops of rain were beginning to fall, forming long lines in the sky from Shin's perspective before they lit on the grass and meadow flowers around him. The air was heady, thick, and smelled like poppies.
His head swam with one glass too many, just enough to find himself squirming under Touma's body burning both hot and cold. The rain made him feel feverish. The grass prickled his back.
A deep shudder shook Touma and he hung his head, lips parted on the sudden exhalation of his breath. He dropped to his forearms, forehead touching Shin's. They looked at each other for a long moment, panting, eyes registering more an aura of each other than the actual person himself. There was a thin line of negative space all around Touma that Shin tried to reach out and touch. Touma caught his hand, and kissed his palm. Shin groaned.
Touma had suggested the walk; Shin had suggested the picnic. They both had wordlessly agreed on the wine. Sage had raised an eyebrow at the fact that they were both heading out when it so clearly was going to rain – but that's not how they operated. Storms were made for both of them. Touma felt the flash of power through him now as he had when he'd first learned to control the weather with his arrow, only gentler, more controlled. Shin felt the water around him almost like pinpricks of sensation, teasing and coaxing, and the deep swelling in his belly like the sea. Who needed sunshine?
Touma needed Shin's hands all over him, the perfect combination of masculine grace and classic beauty. Shin needed Touma murmuring nonsense into his ears – this time it was meteorological terms to describe what was happening around them. He couldn't fathom why he found it so thrilling; maybe it was the deep resonance of Touma's voice, the comforting notes of his accent, or the way he chose descriptions such as "rising", "deluge" and "intense building pressure".
Touma's mind was on autopilot. The rest of him was melting in to Shin, watching the older boy's pale face in rapt fascination as his breath started to hitch. He had poppy petals in his hair. Shin's eyes opened - dazed aqua pools, glittery and fever-bright.
"And I, what fountain of fire am I among this leaping combustion of spring?" Shin whispered quietly, enough that Touma had to strain to hear it. When he did, he quieted whatever sounds he was making and lightly rested his fingertips against Shin's lips as they moved as if to trace the words being formed. His sweet breath, the rain sliding down his cheeks…Touma quickened his movements.
Shin's eyes glazed over and he looked at a point beyond Touma into the sky. "My spirit is tossed about like a shadow…" His hands danced over Touma's slender, bony frame, exploring all of the dips and curves and urging him on.
"…Buffeted in the throng – ha-ah- of flames…a shadow that's gone astray and-!" Touma silenced him with a kiss. When they broke apart, Shin searched his eyes and found the naked vulnerability only he ever saw. He smoothed Touma's bangs back, kissing him again gently.
"What is it?" He whispered. Touma buried his nose into Shin's hair, smelling the cut grass and rain.
"Look at me," he answered fervently. "I don't like it when you don't look at me."
Shin smiled. That was Touma – all Touma. "Alright," he agreed, but the word broke off in abrupt silence when Touma surged against him.
The rain fell harder, natural laws of cause and effect. Lightning flashed in the sky and almost immediately a huge crack of thunder shook the ground. The storm was right on top of them and neither seemed to care. Shin was loud, but out in the elements could barely be heard. Touma's breathing was ragged, growing more so when he felt Shin start to vibrate helplessly. They locked eyes.
"It's okay," Touma mouthed silently.
"I know," Shin replied.
The storm ripped the sky to shreds and the rain came down desperately, engulfing their wordless cries.
- - -
Shin yawned lazily and rolled to his side, grass sticking to his back. The wind ruffled his frizzy hair and made him shiver. The flower petals were still there. Touma draped an arm languidly over his side, pressing up against him to keep him warm.
From his right, Shin picked a poppy that had been flattened in the storm and blew on it gently to convince it to revive. He used the red petals to tickle the tip of Touma's nose, whose eyes fluttered open slowly. When he saw what Shin was doing, he gave him a sarcastic smirk.
"Lord of lotus-eaters and Bacchae," Shin murmured.
Touma kissed the flower, and the storm lingered on.