"Stargazing?, Ash asked in surprise.
He and Eiji had spent the day at the beach. It was still late summer, but it got a bit chilly when evening came closer, so Ash had suggested they return home.
That's when Eiji had asked him if he knew what stargazing was. Rationally, he knew what stars and gazing meant, but he assumed by the way Eiji grinned at him that he didn't only mean watching astronomical constellations in the sky. He lay on a towel next to him, giving Eiji a questioning glance, raising his eyebrows at him.
Knowing Eiji, it was probably something romantic.
"You gaze at the stars.", Eiji simply said.
"Thanks, I know what the word stargazing means. But we don't have a telescope. Or binoculars. Something tells me that we're not doing this the scientific way, right?, Ash asked curiously.
"You have that look. The look you always get if you enjoy that you're smarter than me and know something I don't.", Ash complained while stubbornly turning away from him.
"Ash, don't be like that.", Eiji pleaded with him, enjoying himself immensely. He gently cupped his face and turned it in his direction again.
"It's not always easy to compete with a genius, you know? And I really love teaching you new things that aren't rational but emotional. Or romantic. Things that you can't comprehend on a rational level but are fun nonetheless. This is one of them."
"So? Enlighten me, Professor Okumura?", Ash teased him, his voice dripping with irony.
Eiji flicked his forehead. "Watch it, Aslan Jade Callenreese!" Ash grimaced in pain. "Ouch! Not that name, Eiji."
"Of course, you can go about stargazing scientifically, grab a telescope and go to one of the highest points to see them best. Today, the weather is perfect, too. But it's also romantic lying here in the darkness while looking at the stars with you -
"And freezing to death together probably is romantic as well.", Ash smirked while putting his arms around himself while shivering slightly.
"You have an amazing talent to destroy any of my romantic attempts; you know that? And to top it off, you're a softie.", he chastised him, but Ash could still hear the amusement in his voice. "Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back."
Since it got dark and the wind grew stronger, Eiji picked up their belongings from spending the day at the beach and returned with a hoddie, two blankets and a flashlight. When Ash had put on his hoodie, Eiji held something in front of his face, dangling by a neck strap from his fingers.
"Look what I found!", he said, grinning while pointing the flashlight at it. Ash sat up and looked at it in surprise.
"Binoculars.", he replied happily. "Does that mean I can also show you some constellations, or is that considered unromantic?"
"No, that's the point of stargazing. But we don't have a night sky map. I usually just look at the stars and leave the shapes they form to my imagination.", Eiji admitted honestly.
"That sounds like you.", Ash grinned at him. "But we don't need a map. I can show you some constellations that can be discovered easily."
"Really?", Eiji's voice brightened instantly. "Sometimes, I'm fortunate that my boyfriend is a genius!" He put two small lanterns next to them, so it wasn't totally dark, the weak flame flickering across their faces.
"To come back to the romantic aspect, stargazing is about being disconnected from the busy world and spending time with someone you love and reconnecting with each other in a secluded spot far away from any city lights. You just enjoy the wonders our world has to offer together and admire the breathtaking view. You can try to hunt down constellations or make up your own. And tonight is perfect for stargazing. Look at how many stars are visible in the sky!"
"Thanks for explaining the romantic part to a dumb guy like me. I can see how that can be considered romantic.", Ash reluctantly admitted.
On a perfect day, you can see up to 4.000 stars, did you know that?" Eiji shook his head.
"That's amazing.", Eiji exclaimed in surprise.
"You can see so many stars right now because the sky is darkest shortly before a full moon.", Ash explained patiently.
He would have told Eiji that stars were just self-luminous gaseous spheroidal celestial bodies of great mass which produce energy by means of nuclear fusion reactions. That stars are powered by nuclear fusion in their cores, mostly converting hydrogen into helium.
However, he got the feeling that such a highly scientific explanation would probably be considered unromantic, so he stopped himself. As far as he had learned, romance and science were mutually exclusive, after all. And Eiji looked so happy right now; he didn't want to destroy the moment and even less his pure and overjoyed smile when he looked at the sky.
Before lying down, they drank the rest of the hot chocolate they had brought with them to the beach in a Thermos flask so that it wouldn't get cold. Sitting here with his head resting on Eiji's shoulder while looking at the dark beach and listening to the sounds of the waves felt so peaceful and perfect. It was simple things like that he truly enjoyed in Izumo.
He had never had the time to enjoy such moments in New York, had never even considered them. Yet, Eiji always surprised him with such sweet ideas and explained them patiently to Ash if he didn't understand the meaning (romantic or not) behind them.
He slowly learned that enjoying himself like that was a great feeling. Eiji had taught him that not every experience had to be meaningful, that sometimes it was great to let yourself drift or go with the flow and just enjoy the moment. If you had led a life dominated by action and violence, it wasn't so easy to adjust to a quiet and peaceful life, just chill on a beach or on a couch, taking a nap or read books for hours. But he slowly got used to it with Eiji's help.
They lay back down and looked at the stars. "It's so beautiful. It makes you feel so small and insignificant.", Eiji said more to himself. Then he leaned his head closer to Ash's, giving him a sidelong glance.
"So, what constellations can you see in the sky?"
Ash smiled, put an arm around him, and pulled him closer before pointing at the different constellations and describing to Eiji what they looked like, so he could find them.