Steps
Aya + Aki
By: L 0 K I
Tell
Music and colour.
Kaedes parents were gone for the weekend, and they were having a karaoke party. Kaedes older brother was more than happy to provide alcohol, as long as he was allowed to take part. Aya was all for that, always ready to try something new.
Of course, Aki didnt want to. Sometimes she thought of him as her better half---smarter, calmer. She always seemed to forget that her brother was always right. It didnt matter if he was telling her not to climb that tall old pine tree, or that they shouldnt be drinking. In the end, he was always right.
Aya was used to close-calls. She was also used to that look from her brother that said I told you so.
Aki, come dance with us, Aya sing-songed while many of her girlfriends ears perked up in interest. She wondered half the time if she had so many friends because they actually liked her, or because they liked her brother.
Aki shook his head stubbornly and jerked his hand free of hers. He glared mutedly at her, letting her know that he was still sulking about her dragging him into this. Aki had wanted to study for the exam they were having soon, but Aya had absolutely refused to leave him alone until he agreed to come with her.
So there he was. And here she was. And there was Kaedes brother, always edging closer to her.
A song began to play, a melody she didnt remember, but she knew Aki liked it. So she flung herself down on the couch beside him, shouting the words with little care for tone.
What words?
She didnt remember.
Then everyone was sitting in a circle, like show and tell. And it was show and tell. They were going to show how brave they were, how far they would go for the sake of face in front of their friends. And their friends were all going to tell.
They could tell.
They were pushing her, pushing him, trapping them in the circle, and every where she looked there were faces. Some she knew. Some she didnt.
Aki smiled at her, gently, embarrassed. I dare you, he said.
And she moved, reaching out to him. He reached for her, too. She offered her lips, and he took them without hesitation.
Wait, she thought, as he cupped the back of her neck steadily and deepened the kiss.
Wait! This isnt how it happened!
But it was happening, and she was suddenly in two places at the same time. She was there, in her brothers arms, kissing him, pulling at him, and feeling treacherous desire drag her down into an undertow of inescapable sensation. And she was watching, seeing colour and gold, and feeling shock, and a strange sort of curiosity.
The kiss went on. The embrace pulled her closer to Aki. He was like a line of fire against her body. Hard and soft. Skin and cloth. And yet, her hands were cold and empty as they grasped her elbows, as she clutched at her stomach and tried to physically force the emotions away.
His hand was in her hair, guiding her movements, tangling them together.
His hand was on her hip, anchoring her to the moment, urging her closer and closer.
She stood across the empty living room and watched him press her slowly back, sprawling her across the floor and following her down without once breaking their connection. The carpet was strangely soft beneathe her. His hair tickled her face, his scent surrounded her, a heady perfume of love and passion, and Aki.
He tasted so good.
He drew back and she followed, catching his breath and closing her mouth over his in a brief, chaste kiss. Then her lips were on his face, his jaw, she bit his ear sharply, and he gasped against hers, panting hard as his hips pushed forward reflexively.
Aya stumbled on her feet, falling back against the wall as a double-edged blade of desire and shock stabbed right through her gut. She slumped back against that wall, trying to catch her breath and cage her sanity at the same time.
But they didnt stop.
She didnt stop.
She turned, pressing her hands and face against the wall, squeezing her eyes down tight as her heart tried to beat outside of her chest.
His hands slid down to the small of her back, then they tightened, dragging her hips up and closer, even as he pressed down in one rolling motion.
She shuddered violently, her nails digging into the flaking dry-wall.
He gently grasped her knee and drew it over his hip. He settled right into the cradle of her legs, a seemingly perfect fit, and she cried out, falling limply down the wall until she was a rag doll on her knees. Her head hung parallel with her shoulders; her gold hair curtained her face in disheveled strands.
He rocked gently against her. Hot breaths in her ear.
She couldnt breathe.
She stared, unfocused, at the cold floor. Her lips parted, her eyes slowly closed, and she...gave up.
Instantly she felt coils of emotion wrap around her, dragging her with silken thread to her mirror image. Pulling her limbs together, binding her to it.
She opened her eyes and stared up into faultless (guiltless) lavender, long gold lashes, drowning emotion.
He tasted so good.
There was a snap, like that of a camera going off, and suddenly they were on a stage and everybody
was staring at them.
Aya woke with a soft cry, her body still throbbing, the unease still grasping at her breath.
What was that?! What the hell- was that?!
That wasnt how it happened at all.
Though shed had variations of this dream before, it had never gone quite like that.
Never beyond a kiss.
And never a kiss like that.
She hadnt ever given in before either, which was what really worried her.
No. No. No. Nothing to worry about. Its just all this stress. Aki has always been my anchor in this world. Always been my safety net. Thats all the dream is saying.
And dreams...they dont always have to mean anything. Shed had dreams like that before, with complete strangers even.
Except, that she hadnt.
She frowned, turning her face into the soft material beneathe her. It shifted in response, which definitely wasnt supposed to happen.
She drew back slowly, blinking just as slowly. Had she stopped to think about it she would have realized that she had been breathing in a very familiar scent, drifting steadily in a very familiar way.
An angel. Her brother was sharp, and often far too serious for his own good, but in that moment he was...an angel. And it hurt her, because she couldnt remember the last time she had seen him so relaxed.
She promptly forgot her dream and stared at him. Her heart swelled until it lodged painfully in her throat.
But it made her so happy.
Aki, hes really suffered, just as much as I have. Im glad hes sleeping so peacefully.
He turned his head slightly, his breath fanning over her face. And suddenly his parted lips were mere inches from her own. And her dream came rushing back to the surface, all those strange emotions and half thoughts crowding back into her mind until she couldnt think.
His taste...
Did he really taste like that? Like love and passion, and something else? Something sweet and drugging...
And for one moment she thought about it, her eyelids growing heavy with sleep.
What did he taste like, came that fleeting question again. A whisper far, far in the distance.
Good, she thought dreamily. He tastes like Aki.
She fell, the soft arms of sleep rocking her gently as the scent of her best friend comforted her. She wouldnt remember the dream or her musings in the morning, but she would wake up feeling so much lighter than the day before.
And for a moment, later in the day, when Aki smiled at her for some unimportant detail, she would pause, and her eyes would involuntarily catch on the curve of his lips. And she would return that smile with warmth and love...
Even as it felt as if the path was shifting under her feet.
Tell
vt 1 : count, enumerate 2 a : to relate in detail : narrate b : say, utter 3 a : to make known, divulge, reveal b : to express in words 4 a : to report to : inform : to acquaint to; to teach b : to assure emphatically 5 : order, direct 6 : to ascertain by observing : find out ; to discover : to regard : to reckon : to value
vi 1 : to give an account 2 : to act as a talebearer 3 : to take effect : have a marked effect 4 : to serve as evidence or indication. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge : discern or comprehend : A revealing mannerism or behaviour.
Synonyms: To communicate. Impart. Reveal. Disclose. Let Know. Advise. Put in the picture. Enlighten. Convey. Impart. Expose. Distinguish. Uncover. Discover. Have an effect. Make itself felt. Reveal itself. Betray. Tell on. Tattle. Confess.
TBC...