One day as they were driving, Minho noticed an advertisement of a summer festival on a billboard, that indicated where it would be happening and at what time. The Asian boy stopped the car and looked back at everyone with a slight grin on his face. "So, what do you all think about getting some summer partying at a nearby hippie-fest?"
Teresa froze up at that question, but the others immediately agreed to this idea. Thomas gave his own answer without thinking too much as he vigorously nodded. Newt also seemed entertained by the thought of going to a festival, since he joined in to the collective response of 'yeahs'. The only one who didn't perk up was Teresa, but when Minho turned to her she only made a weak smile and nodded.
"Then it's settled," The dark haired boy started the car again. "It's not even that far away, I think, and it spans over a few days, so we'll be there just in time."
Just as he had said, they got to the place in about an hour and it was packed with people. It took them a while just to find a place to park the car and when everyone got out Thomas looked over everything in slight awe. There were tons of stalls and tents scattered around the area, each one of them attracting the eyes of their customers with colourful banners and lively vendors. A huge stage stood in the back and some band was already playing while the nearby people danced. Thomas also noticed a pretty big bonfire that wasn't yet lit up, so he guessed it would be when the evening rolled around.
"This looks awesome." He said to Newt, who was standing closest to him. "I mean we never really had any big events in our small town except from the regular holiday celebrations and the annual knitting competition."
"Is it still going?" Newt asked as they started heading towards the stalls.
"Oh yeah, I think it's gotten even bigger now." Thomas shivered a little from a fleeting memory of his grandma almost suffocating him with twenty scarves. "The contestants are getting more aggressive every year."
His friend chuckled at that and then looked over at him with a smile. "You know, I always kinda liked it. Everyone would get together and it was really fun."
"Then maybe we should attend it this year?" Thomas' eyes lit up as he said that. "I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms and perhaps finally I won't be the only guinea pig for my grandma."
"So that's the reason you're so eager to get me to come?" Newt smirked slightly.
"Everyone has to go through it. Minho was forced to wear a different hat every day for two weeks last year by his grandma, since she wanted to know which one was the most 'functional'. You should have seen it – bunny ears, braided ponytails, Viking helmet, you name it!" Thomas threw his arms up for exaggeration. "Teresa got it slightly better, since her grandparents wanted to try out their luck with mittens and gloves. She could just shove her hands in her pockets and be done with it."
"And what did you get stuck with?"
"Scarves." The shorter boy answered flatly.
"No elaboration this time?"
"Other than the fact that I almost drowned in them when grandma decided to put all of them on me at the same time - no."
"Okay, then I promise I'll take half of the scarves next time." Newt gave him a pat on the back as they stopped next to one of the biggest stalls that was crowded by people. The sign read 'Colour your world' and Thomas noticed tons of buckets and bowls filled with paint. People were painting each other in various ways, some just mostly playing with the brushes and splashing the colours aimlessly, some looking quite immersed in their work as they carefully traced the other persons' skin.
"Ooh, this looks interesting." Newt let out a whistle and turned around to beckon the rest of their friends, who were looking at other nearby attractions, to join them. Minho and Teresa almost collided into Thomas as they slid on the wet from the paint grass while running towards him. Jorge swung his arm over the shorter boys' shoulders as he looked over the stall.
"Feeling like finding your inner Van Gogh?" He asked with a huge grin on his face that made Thomas just slightly uncomfortable.
"Sure, why not?" He answered nervously as the taller boy guided him towards the person who looked like he was in charge of the stall.
Everyone got their own share of paint and brushes and they took their place on the grass next to all the other people. Thomas kept skeptically staring at the paintbrush in his hand; he had never really excelled at artistic things. He just knew he would fuck this up. He looked up to meet Newts' eyes and the other boy gave him a reassuring smile. Well, at least someone believed in him.
After a few seconds Newt shifted his gaze to something behind Thomas and his eyes widened. Thomas turned his head to see what the other was so surprised about and almost chocked on his saliva. Brenda was nonchalantly taking off her t-shirt while chatting with Teresa.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah, what are you doing?!" Thomas ran to her and tried to pull her clothes back down. "We're in a public place!"
Brenda just groaned at him and easily maneuvered out of his hands. "I know where we are and I don't really care about people watching. I want my back to be painted and I'm not going to let that up only because I'm female."
"But, Brenda-" Thomas whined at her like a little kid.
"If it makes you happy I'll put on a tank top later." She softened her look and the brunet boy sighed. This was the best he would get, so he wouldn't pry further.
"Well I think that's a great idea." Teresa joined in. "Maybe I'll follow you in this."
"Oh now you're just doing this on purpose." Thomas tried to look annoyed, but his façade quickly broke as they all started laughing.
"If the girls are doing it, then so am I." Minho appeared seemingly out of nowhere, his shirt already gone from his body. Newt raised an eyebrow at him as he stood with his arms folded and looked like he was about to say something, but he was abruptly cut off as Jorge's shirt landed on his head.
"I say we all should get as much of our bodies painted as possible!" The now shirtless boy declared. "Who's with me?" He got a roar of 'yeahs' as an answer and looked elevated as he sat down on the grass. "Then I shall be the first victim. Go on, let your artistic kills flow," he said as he closed his eyes. "Just nothing too vulgar." He added as an afterthought.
Minho happily sat behind him with his paintbrush extended. "I'm making no promises." They boy cooed and before the other could answer he had already started scribbling something on his skin. Jorge let out an exasperated sigh but didn't stop the Asian boy.
Thomas turned his attention from Jorge, who seemed resigned to his fate, and looked back at Newt, who was starting to take off his own t-shirt. The blond dropped the fabric on the ground as he sat down and looked up to Thomas. "I guess if we're all doing this then you can draw on my back. I just hope we won't get rashes or something from this paint."
Thomas took a few moments to realize that the other boy was speaking to him as he couldn't help but stare at the naked skin before him. He quickly shook himself out of his daze and tried to give a casual laugh. "Well, it's supposed to be organic, so I don't think it'll harm us too much." He walked behind Newt and sat down as he picked up a brush and looked at the other boys' back. He gulped and felt a bit of nervousness pool at his stomach. "I should warn you that I'm really bad at this stuff, though."
Newt just shrugged. "I don't mind if you mess up, it won't be a big deal." He then turned his head slightly to look at Thomas. "You can just paint some swirls and random shapes; it doesn't need to be anything coherent." Thomas felt a little relieved at those words and gave a smile and a nod as an answer. Newt turned his head away and relaxed his body.
After a few brushes here and there Thomas finally decided that he could try drawing something resembling a snake wrapped around the others' body. He took some black paint, but as he dipped the brush his fingers also got smudged in the liquid. He started at them for a few moments before looking at Newts' back and again at his fingers. Before he even realized what he was doing, he felt his fingers gently tracing Newt's back. The other shuddered slightly at the touch, but didn't comment on it and Thomas continued what he was doing, feeling mesmerized by the smooth skin and the muscle and bones beneath it. He carefully slid his index finger around the neck while slowly circling the sitting boy and went over to his shoulder-blades. Newt had his eyes closed, so Thomas wasn't sure if the blond knew he wasn't using a paintbrush.
After finally finishing with the waist Thomas started on Newt's hands and arms. The blond compliantly raised his arms, so that it would be easier for Thomas to work. The shorter boy lost track of time as he kept dipping his finger into paint and returning back to his friends' skin. The action was kind of soothing and he thought he now understood why art therapy was a thing. When he needed to start on the legs he asked Newt to stand up and the other boy finally opened his eyes as he did that. After blinking a few times Newts' eyes widened a bit as he saw Thomas working on his left leg, but then a warm smile crept up on his face.
"So I wasn't wrong in my assumptions that you were using something different from a paintbrush." He said as he still kept his eyes fixed on Thomas, who seemed to be snapped back to reality as he abruptly turned his head up to look at him with a slightly surprised look on his face and a brush in-between his teeth.
"Oh, I erm, I thought this would be more comfortable?" The brunet said, sounding like he was asking the question to himself. "I can use the brush if you don't like it."
"Nah, it doesn't matter," Newt waved his hand dismissively. "I guess you could say it's even more artistic this way."
Thomas gave a wide toothy smile at that and concentrated back to painting.
When he finally finished with the right leg, Thomas stood up and took a few steps back to evaluate his work. Newt stood still as the shorter boy circled him a few times. It looked like a thin black snake had entwined the other boy's body and to Thomas that appeared pretty cool. He stepped in front of Newt with his hands on his hips and looked him up and down again.
"Even if I'm not that good at art, I think this looks awesome on you." He finally said, feeling just a little bit proud of himself.
"Alright then," Newt replied while looking over himself. "Now it's your turn."
"What will you draw?" The brunet asked as he sat down in the same spot that his friend had just occupied and took off his shirt.
"Something similar to what you did." Newt hummed out as he took no time in starting. "This way we'll match a little."
Excitement rushed over Thomas at those words and he closed his eyes to relax. He felt a cold touch that trailed down his spine which made him arch his back and wondered if Newt was using a paintbrush or if he also decided to go with finger-painting. He couldn't tell exactly, but just a tiny bit of him hoped it would be the latter.
Newt started moving around him, so Thomas guessed he would also get his whole body painted. After a bit his friend asked him to stand up but without opening his eyes. The shorter boy shuddered a bit as he felt warm breath near his ear. "It's gonna be a surprise." Newt said softly as he crouched down to start working on his legs. Thomas only hoped that his face wasn't as hot as he felt it becoming.
When Thomas had already begun feeling numb in his legs he let out a sigh of happiness as Newt said that he was done. He cracked open his eyes and blinked a little from the blinding sunrays. When his sight finally got adjusted he saw Newt standing in front of him, looking proud of himself.
"Let's go find a mirror and see how it went." The blond suggested as he spun around looking if anything similar was near. Thomas tried not to look down, since he wanted to see the full view of Newt's work.
They found a pretty big mirror leaning on the side of the painting stall, most likely put there for the reason they were looking for. Thomas let Newt take the first look, even though he was itching to see how he looked like himself. The blond boy stood in front of the mirror for a few moments before he started slowly turning to check his back, but no distinct emotion appeared on his face and Thomas began feeling nervous that perhaps he messed up big time and his friend didn't like what he had drawn.
Just as he was about to start apologizing Newt turned to look at him with a smile plastered on his face. "This looks amazing." He said as he shifted his gaze back to the mirror. "I had only seen a bit of my arms and legs while I was drawing, but the full view seriously looks great."
Thomas exhaled from relief at those words and the look on Newts' face told him that his words were genuine. He kept twisting his body and neck to inspect the drawing that snaked all around him, though after a few minutes the boy seemed to suddenly realize that he wasn't alone and turned to look at Thomas.
"Oh yeah, you also want to see yourself." He said looking a tad bit apologetic. "Sorry I hogged the mirror." The blond then side-stepped to let the other come closer.
Honestly Thomas didn't mind what Newt had been doing and was amused at how he had reverted to acting as an excited kid again. It felt a bit nostalgic. Though he couldn't hide the fact that he was also quite interested at how he looked like, so the brunet quickly stepped in front of the mirror and couldn't stop his eyes from widening.
A maze-like pattern stretched out throughout his whole body, seemingly never-ending. Thomas also tried crooking his neck to see his back and caught a glimpse of the same pattern there too. His breath hitched as he took the whole thing in again while looking back at the mirror and then he abruptly turned back to Newt feeling excitement welling up at the pits of his stomach.
"Oh my god, this looks awesome!" He exclaimed while still trying not to raise his voice too much. "How did you manage to do all of this, it looks freaking professional."
Newt actually looked slightly bashful for a second before a pleasant smile came back to his face. "I took art classes…"
"Well, you're brilliant at it, I even feel like I want to pay you." Thomas said lightheartedly as he stepped closer to his friend. "The others will be so jealous of my awesome paint-job."
The two boys then walked over to Brenda and Teresa, who also seemed immersed in their work. Well, Teresa was; Brenda only sat fidgeting like she was about to jump out of her skin.
"When will you be done already? I wanna see it." She whined.
"A few more minutes, geez." Teresa replied with a tone of annoyance in her voice. "You've been asking that for the last ten minutes." The girl didn't even seem to notice the two newcomers as they silently stood there, watching her work. Thomas leaned in to get a closer look and saw a red and black flower pattern adoring the sitting girls' back. It didn't go through her whole torso, only at her shoulders and shoulder-blades, but it looked quite stunning. Teresa was highly concentrated on her work, the brushes soft and delicate, forming sharp petals all across the skin.
After a few more minutes the girl finally seemed content in her work and took a few steps back. Only then did she notice the two boys standing next to her. "Wow, you guys look great!" She said with amazement. "Like you're just out of a tattoo salon."
"You also did a pretty good job here." Newt nodded towards Brenda, who had stood up and was trying to bend her neck at 180 degrees to see her back. After a few failed attempts she gave up and inched towards her friends.
"You don't think there could be a mirror somewhere around here?" She looked up expectantly at them. "It seems that I still haven't acquired the ability to crane like an owl. Gonna have to keep working on that."
"Actually there is one near the stall where we got the paint." Thomas answered pointing towards the place he and Newt had just come from. "Did you both only draw on each other's backs?"
"Yeah, we figured we could also put on some random stripes on our faces later." Teresa said as she turned around and pointed with her thumbs at her back. "How does it look like? I was told these were supposed to be wings."
On her back was indeed a pair of huge wings, not too complicated, but still seemingly charming as they enveloped her whole torso. Brenda scratched the back of her head absentmindedly as she shifted her gaze somewhere else. "I just thought these would fit her." She murmured and then quickly grabbed the other girls' hand as she started walking towards the stall. "Come on, let's see how it turned out."
Just as the girls left with Teresa making half-hearted protests Thomas felt a harsh slap on his back and stumbled a few steps forward. "Hey, what the hell?!" He turned around angrily but saw that it was only Minho grinning at him. Jorge was standing next to the boy, looking like he had just lost everything he had ever loved and held dear in his life. Minho had markings resembling tribal tattoos all over his body and something written on his right arm that appeared like 'Mean Hoe' and Jorge… Well, Jorge had a ton of scribbles and a giant smiley face on his stomach. It looked like a group of toddlers with paint and crayons were set loose on him and used his body as a canvas.
"Who's ready to party now that we have these killer tats? " Minho asked animatedly.
"Why did I even let him do this to me?" Jorge mumbled. "Why did I even put effort into drawing on him?" He looked at Thomas with an incredulous expression on his face. "Why did you all get normal drawings?" He then looked up at the sky as he whispered. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"
Thomas let out a strained laugh at the older male as he put a hand on his shoulder trying to console him. "Don't worry; it's not too… bad?" He raised an eyebrow at Newt, trying to silently ask for his help. The other seemed to understand him and quickly came up to Jorge as well.
"I could try fixing a few of these if you want."
"Why would he even need that, he looks amazing." Minho smirked. "He did say we could 'let our artistic skills flow'."
Jorge only growled at him and then turned back to Newt with a huge smile. "You would? Then I'll take you up on that offer, it seems like you did a brilliant job on Thomas."
As the oldest boy sat down and closed his eyes waiting for Newt to do his magic on him the girls came back. Brenda strutted towards the blond and whispered something in his ear while pointing towards Jorge. Thomas tried to make out what she was asking, but the girl was too quiet. Newt only nodded and pointed to a bucket of blue paint near his feet. The girl then suddenly grabbed the paint and in a split second Jorge was covered from head to toe in cerulean. It seemed like for a few moments he didn't even realize what had just happened before he calmly stood up, paint slowly dripping from his hair and whole body down onto the ground. He wiped his face with his hand and then turned to Brenda, who was clutching her stomach as she tried to control her laughter and Newt, who stood frozen with a surprised expression.
"So I guess you have a death wish?" Jorge asked in a low voice and Thomas subconsciously took a step backwards, even though he was standing relatively far away from the whole ordeal.
"You seemed kind of blue, so I decided your appearance should match your mood." Brenda hissed out through her laughter. "Now you only need a white hat."
At those words Jorge leapt towards her, grasping with his hands at thin air, as the girl already had managed to start running from him. He chased after her, shouting profanities as Minho laughed in the background. Thomas also felt laughter bubble up in the back of his throat and looked amusedly at Newt, who just stood in the same place he had originally been while shaking his head and seemingly forcing himself not to smile and failing.
The day continued with all of them checking out every stall that had caught their attention. After a while Jorge had seemed to calm down and accept his fate and as the hours passed, he even started looking like he was enjoying himself and didn't even mind how he looked.
Thomas had found a flower-crown making booth and managed to convince the others to join him as he explained that he always wanted to try making one of these himself. Teresa declined the offer immediately and Jorge said that he'd probably just mess everything up, but the other three agreed. Brenda made one from pink and white camellias and gave it as a present to Teresa, who at first tried to turn it down, but eventually gave in and put it on her head.
Minho, surprisingly, weaved an elegant crown from primroses and proceeded to put it on his own head while sticking out his tongue at Thomas. The other boy only looked at him incredulously and continued working on his own, that was made from a batch of forget-me-nots. He smiled softly when it was done and he had managed to make it presentable. He raised his head and caught Newt looking at him. The other boy quickly averted his eyes and practically pushed his own creation from daffodils at Thomas' chest while muttering something about the colour not matching well with his hair, so he had decided that the other could have it.
Thomas stared stupidly at the crown for a few moments before realizing he was supposed to take it. He gently put it on his head and thanked Newt with a genuine smile. Now it seemed that his idea to give his friend the wreath that he had made could work even better. While Newt had turned his head to watch Minho rant how they were looking like true hippies now, Thomas quietly stood behind his back and put down the crown on the blonds' head. Newt looked up sharply, but when he realized it was only Thomas, he let out a sigh and shook his head. He thanked for the gift as he stood up from the booths' table and Thomas couldn't help but think that the colour of the flowers really suited the other.
As the sunlight slowly disappeared and darkness enveloped the sky, the huge bonfire was lit up. Everyone gathered around it even though the evening was quite warm and people were still in summery clothing or even without half of it.
A couple of announcers continued offering all kinds of games for the public to take part in in-between the bands and the songs that they played. At first, while the sun was still up, it was mostly athletic games and relays, but when everyone gathered around the fire and closer to the illuminated stage they became more music driven, such as dancing like the announcers were or even trying out your luck at karaoke.
"All right, everyone!" the male announcer beamed happily and Thomas had to wonder for the umpteenth time that day how he and his female partner had managed to stay so energetic during the whole festival. "Do you see the closest person to you?" He asked and Thomas turned to his right to regard Newt, who was also doing the same with a slightly confused expression. The two boys then turned to look at the announcer again, who was now explaining the task that everyone was supposed to do. "When the next song comes up I want all of you to grab that person and dance your hearts out! It doesn't matter if you know them or not, this could be a great chance to introduce yourselves. Of course, by no means is this mandatory, but let's just have a great time together!"
A slightly fluttery feeling crept up in Thomas' stomach as he realized what the man had said and who was standing the closest to him. He warily turned his head to look at Newt and see if the other would flat-out reject the idea or if there was perhaps the slightest chance that he'd like it. Thomas had admitted to himself that he really wouldn't mind dancing with the blond.
Newt also turned to look at his friend again and Thomas couldn't help but grin as the other shrugged and extended his hand.
"May I have the pleasure?" Newt asked with a small smile on his face. It didn't even look like he was joking or doing it ironically and Thomas gladly took the others' hand. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Brenda and Teresa were also playfully dancing together while Minho seemed like he was trying to impress some blonde girl by flexing his arms and showing her the one with the writing on it. Jorge was nowhere to be seen, so Thomas guessed he had wondered off somewhere at the other side of the group of people gathered near the stage and the fire.
The song wasn't too fast or too slow and it was quite cheerful, so at first the two boys started dancing like a pair of little kids at a kindergartens' party with both of their hands clasped in the others' and just jumping back and forth while not managing to contain their laughter and smiles. They had been standing fairly close to the bonfire, so while they were dancing Thomas took time to notice how the warm fire engulfed Newt with its' flickering light, accentuating his features and shrouding him in a gentle glow. Frankly, to Thomas the sight was pretty breathtaking and he even stumbled slightly over his feet as he kept staring and had forgotten to concentrate on his movements. Newt let out a hearty laugh at that and took a step closer as the song became a bit slower, reducing the space between them.
As they were now standing closer it wasn't comfortable having both of their hands clasped, so without even thinking too much, Thomas let his body move on its' own as he put his hands over Newts' shoulders and laced his fingers behind his head. Newt seemed to understand what his friend as doing, so he also moved his hands and put them on Thomas' waist.
A small thought went through Thomas' mind that this wasn't exactly something two friends would ordinary do, but he ignored it for the moment. He just wanted to have some fun for now.
When the song finally came to its' final chords the brunet boy gave a wide smile as he looked at the other and got a mirrored one in return. Both of them leaned their heads slightly forward as their foreheads touched and they both breathed slightly heavier, though Thomas didn't recall them moving too actively during the dance.
It didn't really matter anyway…
The night moved on and soon the first rays of light started showing up from the horizon. Some people had disappeared during those hours, perhaps to sleep or to do something else, but Thomas didn't care too much about them. Some were still left near the stage, but most of the participants of the festival were moving a lot slower and mostly just enjoyed the company of their other still awake friends.
Right before the dawn Newt had offered Thomas to go and find a quieter place to watch the sun climb up and the boy agreed with the motion wholeheartedly. He did feel exhausted after a whole night of being awake, but for some reason he still didn't feel like going to sleep. He followed his friend as they looked for a more secluded place and found one just behind the stall where they had previously painted each other. The grass was quite colourful around that place, but they found a greener patch to sit down and lean on the back wall of the stall.
Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes and as they waited for the sun to rise Thomas began carelessly tracing the drawing on his body with his finger. The twists and turns seemed never-ending and he couldn't find from where they began and where they ended.
"What are you doing?" He was snapped out of his daze as a voice next to him asked the question. The shorter boy quickly stopped what he was doing and turned to the other, who was looking at him quizzically.
"Nothing really, just looking for the end of this maze." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean these things always have something like an objective or a goal, right?"
"A goal, huh?" Newt hummed out. He then suddenly stood up and looked around. "Wait a bit, I'm gonna come back in a minute." As Thomas just nodded he disappeared behind the corner of the stall.
Newt came back quickly while holding something in his hand. The boy flopped down next to his friend and Thomas saw that he had brought a small cup of red paint. "What's that for?" He asked with interest.
"Well," Newt trailed off as he dipped his index finger into the paint. "You said you were looking for a goal in my drawing, right?"
"Yeah…" Thomas was beginning to understand what the other was trying to do, but didn't say anything else.
"So I'm going to mark a goal." The blond said softly as he pressed his now red finger at Thomas' chest, slightly to the right from the middle of it. He then slowly retracted his hand, wiping his finger on the grass and turned to look at the rising sun. He didn't say anything after that, so Thomas just kept staring at him, wondering if he should comment on what just happened or not.
In the end he decided not to break the silence.