Beautiful

We all want something beautiful

Man I wish I was beautiful

So come dance the silence

Down through the morning.—Counting Crows, Mr. Jones

Saturday morning sex was the best invention ever, Reno mused as he started the coffeepot. Well Saturday in general, since it was a day off and all but especially the sex part. He walked out to the balcony and leaned back as he lit a cigarette, Cloud-induced endorphins doing a happy dance through his brain. If his lover's body fit any more perfectly with his, if his compact warmth were any more hypnotizing, his mouth any more welcoming, Reno thought he would die of sensory overload.

The memory of waking up to him kissing his way across Reno's naked chest, of burying himself in his lover's body until insanity took him…damn. If he kept up this line of thinking, he'd be going back inside. But then he remembered how Cloud had dozed back off afterward, curling into him like a plant into sunlight. Reno's breath had caught at the sight; he had wondered just when life had become…this. Closed upon that perfect sleeping face, his vision had blurred and he would have sworn later his heart stopped.

His cigarette burned down and singed his fingers; he swore. Shaking his head to clear it, he opened the paper and noticed the Courthouse Square Art Fair was that weekend. Hell, they weren't doing anything else, right? And last weekend had sucked because Cloud had been away most of it on an out of town delivery. In the rain, no less.

It would be a nice makeup weekend. The walls were still a little bare in the loft anyway, though they'd been there almost a year; some art would do the place some good. He went back inside to drag the Worlds Most Gorgeous Boyfriend out of bed.

It had taken a few minutes to convince Cloud that it was a good idea. Cloud was not an artsy type—neither was Reno—but they did need to decorate the place a bit, it was a beautiful day for wandering around doing nothing, and Reno wanted to go to Five Monkeys.

"Because you need more coffee." Cloud gave him the eye.

"They have really good coffee, yo."

"They are also next door to a head shop."

"Coincidence."

"My ass."

"You do have a nice ass."

It got him a roll of the eyes, but it also got him a trip to Five Monkeys where he ordered a cappuccino with chocolate sauce and an espresso shot. Cloud ordered coffee.

"Dude. Live a little."

"I am! I ordered coffee. I like coffee. Wanna hit Raging Burrito after the head shop? We should be ready for beer by then." Cloud had been ready for beer since he had been awake, but figured he didn't need to belabor the obvious.

They sipped their drinks in comfortable silence and looked out over the square.

Courthouse Square in Edge was a single block and a few side streets of coffee shops, bistros, bars, and galleries arranged around a park and bandstand. It had been part of the great rebuilding after Meterofall and, like most urban renewal projects, it tried too hard at looking old fashioned to appear anything but brand new. It was fun anyway.

Reno tossed their coffee cups into the trash can, making it on the first try.

It was a good day.

The head shop yielded a blue ceramic pipe for Reno. Cloud bought three paintings for the living room from the artists' booths and had them shipped so they didn't have to lug them around all day. They climbed the rickety steps of Raging Burrito's back deck, the only shade in the place. "Morning boys, need a menu?"

"No, just two large amber beers please." They would eat elsewhere; the place hadn't earned the nickname "The Exploding Taco" for no reason. Cloud's stomach hurt just thinking about it. "Wanna go to the Brick Store later?"

"Isn't that place a little…Tseng?" Reno affected a down-the-nose look.

"Yeah, but man, they have some fantastic home brew beer. Vin took me in there one night."

"Figures."

"Well, they have this one beer that's so strong they serve it in a wine glass."

"Now, we are definitely talking Vincent Valentine."

Cloud snorted. Vincent could be an insufferable snob, as bad as Reno's boss. "Well, regardless, I do not remember the train ride back."

"We'll go there after we eat." Reno was so easy, so bribable with alcohol, sex, or caffeine. They finished their beers and walked back out on the street, Cloud making a supposedly quick stop in a deli for his "weekly losing lotto numbers." While he was there, Reno browsed some handmade bracelets from one of the art vendors, drawn particularly to a woven one with beads the color of Cloud's eyes. The warmth of this morning came back to him in a rush.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Thinking of something for my boyfriend."

"Oh, well those are mostly for the kids these days. They're made of hemp."

"I like my hemp smoked, yo."

"I hear you."

He looked into the deli. Cloud was picking lottery numbers with the same agonizing obsessive compulsion that he used for everything else. He could easily be there for hours.

"Got anything in this color that's a little more…permanent?"

They stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at a wing bar. Cloud ordered the garlic barbecue wings while Reno opted for the "asshole meltdown" variety. Cloud mused that only Reno would locate, remember, and order on purpose something called asshole meltdown. It was appropriate, somehow.

The afternoon was turning late and they were working on a comfortable buzz; Cloud talked Reno into one, just one drink at the Brick Store on the condition that it was outside, on the patio, because outside seemed a little less snobbish. The waiter, dressed in a tuxedo in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, looked at them with an expression that said they were welcome, but only if they didn't get too close to the silverware. Reno stretched out his legs, clad in ragged jeans, and lit another cigarette. The beer was indeed strong enough to strip paint and after one glass he could no longer feel his face. Cloud shot him an I-told-you-so grin and they paid out to the unending relief of their waiter. Reno wanted to torture the man a bit more with his non-designer clothing, but the fireworks started at dusk and like two small children, they didn't want to miss it.

Small purchases lay piled around them, ones not big enough to ship. One that Reno was hiding. It felt heavy, making his heart do a funny trippy beat. He prayed he didn't have a heart attack before nightfall. They watched children play in the splash park, young lovers hold hands over wine and tiramisu at the trattoria next door.

He didn't exactly stagger, but he chose his steps carefully.

A rush to the center of the square signaled the beginning of the show. Reno looked down at Cloud, who looked up at the fireworks, his face lit with wonder. For a moment they weren't second in command of the Turks and the supposed Hero of the Planet; they were just, well, who they were.

Before he lost his nerve, Reno put the bracelet, a silver cuff with small blue stones on one edge, around Cloud's wrist. "What's this, a handcuff?" he joked and looked back up at the fireworks.

"Didn't know your ring size, yo."

It took a minute, well a few seconds, for the words to sink in. When his brain finished translating, Cloud forgot all about the damn fireworks and kissed Reno. Very, very thoroughly.

"I don't have a fucking clue what it is either."

"We don't have to make, like, concrete plans or anything right now, you know. I just wanted you to know, it's like, permanent and shit."

"That has to be the most romantic marriage proposal ever."

"I wouldn't mind a box of those candy covered almonds though. The kind you get for wedding favors?"

"I'll make a note of that." Cloud wondered how long there had been tears on his face and if he'd look like a total pussy if he admitted it. In the end, he just leaned into Reno's shoulder and let the fireworks burst over them until it was time to go home.