"Nowaki! Get up!"
Nowaki nearly flew right off the bed as a hand smacked him hard across his bare bottom.
"What? What!" Nowaki barked, flipping onto his side and sitting up abruptly. Hiroki, who was standing in front of him in his bridal lingerie, pointed at the alarm clock.
12:35PM
"Shit!" Nowaki hissed, launching out of bed. Hiroki set to work on picking up all of the blue flowers from the floor. "When does the ship launch?"
"One!"
"How long does it take to get there?"
"About fifteen minutes if we run!"
Nowaki cursed loudly again, and Hiroki glanced over his shoulder to watch Nowaki wrench his luggage bag open and pull out a random set of clothes. He scrambled into the bathroom, and Hiroki could hear him crashing around. Hiroki hauled himself to his feet and dashed to the trash can, where he dumped the flowers. He reached up to unclasp his collar with one hand, using the other hand to unfasten the straps connecting his stockings to the ruffle outline of his panties. A moment later, Nowaki burst out of the bathroom fully dressed. He gave Hiroki a quick look-over.
"You're still not out of that?"
"Fuck you! You try wearing this!" Hiroki barked. "Help me!"
Nowaki ran to Hiroki's side, only to pick him up and throw him on the bed. He practically ripped the stockings off once they were unclasped from the ruffles, then threw them over his shoulder. Once his stockings were off, Hiroki pulled the ruffles down and threw them. It landed on Nowaki's face. He paused before taking them off, taking a quick whiff before bunching them up in his hand.
"You idiot! You'll have plenty of time to smell my underwear once you get on the ship!" Hiroki yelled, sitting up. Nowaki smirked, about to say something. He didn't dare say a word, however, as Hiroki gave him a deadly glare. Instead, he went to Hiroki's luggage bag, threw it open, and tossed Hiroki a random set of clothes. Hiroki pulled it on in a matter of moments, standing up to zip up the zipper of his jeans. He buttoned up the buttons of his white shirt as he dashed to the door to put on his shoes.
Meanwhile, Nowaki tossed all of the dirty clothes back into the luggage bags, then zipped them up. He joined Hiroki at the door and they both sprinted out, bags in tow.
"I see the ship!" Hiroki shouted, pointing as he and Nowaki ran side-by-side towards their cruise.
"We're going to make it!" Nowaki called back. They glanced at each other, then laughed at the equal looks of exhaustion on their faces.
Within minutes, they were at the entrance of the ship, where the last passengers were just walking up the boardwalk.
"Just made it," Hiroki panted in Swedish to the crew member watching the boardwalk. The crew member grinned at him.
"Yup. Just in time."
He stamped Nowaki's and Hiroki's tickets, then gestured for them to board. Hiroki looked over his shoulder and smiled widely at Nowaki.
"We made it," he said. Nowaki nodded and smiled back.
"Thank goodness."
Hiroki glanced at his ticket as they got to the top and boarded the deck. People were milling about all around them, all of whom were chattering loudly or taking pictures.
"Tourists," Nowaki commented from behind as he rolled the luggage bag up to Hiroki's side.
"Mhm. We're tourists ourselves," Hiroki said, reading his ticket. "Our ticket says we're in room 1317 on deck… eight."
"Eight decks?"
"Yup. And then there's four more decks above that with all of the restaurants and the casino and everything else."
"Damn."
"Yeah, I know," Hiroki said giddily. "Let's go find our cabin."
Nowaki and Hiroki made their way down the deck, small smiles on their faces as they looked around at all of the kiosks, cafes, and the pool. Hiroki wouldn't admit it, but he was glad to see that there was a good amount of children running around as well, happy smiles on their faces as they chased each other. Hiroki wouldn't say that he adored children, but after Fuyumi was born he couldn't say that he hated them, either.
Soon, Nowaki and Hiroki found an elevator. They boarded it, along with an elderly couple and two men with Styrofoam cups in their hands. One of the men had a menacing face but kind eyes, and he smiled down at his companion as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. His companion wore a white cap on his head and had sandy blonde hair, making his blue-eyed, soft face a sharp contrast to his giant friend.
Hiroki could see Nowaki eyeing the taller of the two men, as he was significantly taller than him. The taller man glanced at Nowaki, and they just kind of awkwardly stared at each other.
"Sweden," the doe-eyed man said, nudging his companion when they came to deck eleven. The taller man mumbled something incoherent before they both stepped off the elevator. When the doors shut and the elevator started moving again, Hiroki turned to Nowaki, whose brows were furrowed.
"Did he just call him 'Sweden'?" he asked softly.
"I noticed it, too," he murmured in response. Hiroki was about to say something more, but the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
"This is our stop," Hiroki said with a grin. He and Nowaki got off the elevator and wheeled their luggage bags down the carpeted hall.
"Very fancy," Nowaki commented from behind, glancing into an elegant room where a housekeeping maid was vacuuming the floor.
"I can't wait to see our room," Hiroki said. "This deck is supposed to be the fanciest."
There was a small pause.
"Hiro-san, how much did this trip cost?"
Hiroki chuckled and glanced up at the ceiling.
"Ha… yeah, more than you'd like to know."
"Hiro-san…"
"Nowaki, we're still running off of Akihiko's money. And I've already set a portion of it aside for Fuyumi's college funds."
Another long pause.
"…That's probably the sexiest thing you've ever said."
Hiroki barked out a laugh and looked over his shoulder as Nowaki sped up a little to walk at his side.
"Really? You're such a nerd."
Nowaki grinned proudly.
"Oh, hey, we missed our room," Hiroki suddenly said, glancing at a room and seeing that it was room number 1321. Nowaki and Hiroki backtracked until they came to a stop at 1317.
"I can hardly wait," Nowaki said cheerfully. Hiroki bounced in anticipation as he slipped his keycard into the door and waited for the green light to light up. When it did, he turned the handle and opened the door.
"Hooooooly crap," Hiroki breathed as he and Nowaki walked into the room, awestruck looks on both of their faces. They barely registered the thud of the door closing behind them.
The room had a white-and-mahogany color theme, giving the atmosphere a warm, earthy tone. The mahogany was an interesting shade of reddish brown, and was polished to a point of being reflective. There was one king-sized bed with white sheets and a pile of pillows of all sorts of different shades of brown. Instead of a dresser, they had a full-sized wardrobe on one side of the bed, and an ornate bedside table on the other side with a phone and a table lamp.
On the opposite side of the room was a flat screen television hanging on the dark brown wall above a polished, decorated coffee table with a glass vase holding three large yellow flowers. Beside the coffee table were two plush, white armchairs with mahogany wood as the frame. Between the chairs was a small table, on which was a brochure and a greeting paper from the crew. Under the table was a small cooler.
Hiroki's eyes scanned the room as he walked in more. When he looked around the outside wall of the bathroom, his eyes widened.
"Fuckin' Jacuzzi!" he shouted, gesturing wildly to a large, white Jacuzzi that sat in the corner. Mirrors lined the corner, and Hiroki looked up at the reflection of his excited face.
Through the reflection, he also saw a drawstring curtain.
"Oh!" Hiroki exclaimed, quickly rolling his luggage bag into a corner before dashing across the white carpeted floor to the curtain. "I wonder if we have-"
Hiroki brushed the curtain aside and his mouth dropped open.
"Look at this, Nowaki!"
There was no answer, and Hiroki turned around.
"Nowaki?"
"I'm in the bathroom. Come look at this, Hiro-san."
Hiroki went back to the door of the room, then turned left into the bathroom, where Nowaki had a basket full of all sorts of lotion.
"Look at all of this lotion. We can use it as lube!"
Hiroki stared at Nowaki for a moment, a dry look on his face. Nowaki looked up after a while.
"What?"
"You know exactly what. Come on, put that down. I have something even better to show you," Hiroki said, snatching the basket from Nowaki and setting it on the sink. He grabbed Nowaki's hand and dragged him back out into the room.
"Hey look, a Jacuzzi!" Nowaki said as they passed the Jacuzzi.
"Yes, a Jacuzzi, but look at this!" Hiroki said. He pulled Nowaki to the drawstring curtain, grabbed the string, and pulled it open. Nowaki's mouth dropped open and Hiroki smiled. "I know, right?"
Behind the curtain were sliding glass doors that led out to a small balcony with a chaise on its tiled surface. There was also a small dining table with two chairs right up against the glass-panel railing. The railing was tall enough to prevent anyone from falling out, and on either side of the balcony were two large, white panels that maintained privacy from the balconies of the other rooms. An awning draped over the balcony, giving them privacy from the top deck of the ship.
"Wow," Nowaki murmured, sliding the glass door open and stepping outside. "Just look at that view."
Hiroki stepped out onto the balcony, and the first thing he noticed was the salty sea breeze. His chestnut hair fluttered as he walked to Nowaki's side.
The view outdid everything that the room had to offer. Together, Nowaki and Hiroki gazed out upon the cerulean water of the Baltic Sea, where several boats dotted its shimmering surface. The sun was hitting it just right, and no matter where Hiroki looked, the water sparkled and glimmered like a fine piece of jewelry.
"It's beautiful," Hiroki whispered. He felt Nowaki's arm snake around his waist. Hiroki leaned against his husband's shoulder, reaching around to hug him around the waist.
"It is. But not as beautiful as you."
Hiroki halfheartedly smacked Nowaki's chest, not even bothering to look at him as he continue to gaze out at the water.
"Shut up."
