When he was preparing to go to Greece for a vacation with his husband, Jamie was looking forward to the impossibly blue waters and incredible ancient history of the Mediterranean country. What he did not expect was to spend a lot of the day staring at the sky. He'd assume it'd be the same sky he sees from America. It's the same sun and the same moon, so he expected it to look the same.
"Look at it," he says to Mason. He's standing on the balcony of their hotel room with his hands on his hips, and Mason is in the room behind him. "I mean, look. There's not a single cloud anywhere. It's all blue. I'm tempted to draw or paint it, but it's literally just. blue."
Hands touch his hips and slide around his waist, tugging him back a step into a warm, firm chest. Mason's chin rests on his shoulder as he fits himself against Jamie. After years of being together, spending most nights in the same bed, and cuddling every day, their bodies slot together perfectly, every dip meeting every curve.
Jamie leans back into his embrace as he puts his hands on top of Mason's.
"It is really nice, but we didn't fly all the way out here for you to look at the sky for two weeks."
"I know." Turning his head, Jamie kisses Mason's cheek. "I've just never seen the sky look so perfect and endless."
He doesn't know how long he stands there, simply staring at the sky, but eventually, he blinks and shakes his head to refocus on where he is. "I think the jet lag is catching up to me. There's no other reason I'm staring at the sky like it's the most interesting thing on the planet. There's literally nothing there.
"Either way, you can't nap now," Mason says from the bed, where he's shuffling through some pamphlets about local attractions. "The best way to beat jet lag is to sleep only when it's dark outside. You have to acclimate to the time zone you're in."
Flopping onto the bed beside him, Jamie sprawls out on the duvet. One of his hands is near Mason, and he adjusts to put his hand on his knee. "Not even five minutes?"
Mason reaches over and pushes him toward the edge of the bed.
"Okay, okay!" Jamie yelps, pinwheeling his arms to keep from falling onto the floor. "I'm not sleeping!"
"Good. Let's go find food. This says there are a bunch within walking distance, so that'll also keep you awake."
Making sure they have everything, they leave the cute hotel they're staying in for two weeks and walk in the direction of the restaurants Mason found. There are a couple of bakeries with pastries and drinks, and they choose one at random to try. Jamie's sure they'll stop at all of them before their vacation is over.
After their afternoon snack, they walk back to the hotel, making note of other shops and- most importantly- doing their best to remember the way back to the hotel. The last thing they need is to get lost. At the hotel, they change into their swim trunks and make their way to the hotel's pool. It's really pretty with the blue pool against the white stones of the building.
They splash around a bit and play with some of the pool toys (there isn't anyone else around, let alone a kid, to complain about them using the toys) before stretching out on the lounge chairs to dry.
Despite Jamie's best efforts to stay awake, the warmth of the sun shining down on him lulls him into a doze, and he sinks into the soft cushions. He's sure he would have fallen asleep completely if Mason hadn't shaken his arm sometime later.
"Come on, Darling. We should get back inside before you A, fall asleep, or B, burn."
Jamie grumbles but stands and follows him back into the building.
In the shower, Jamie rests his forehead against Mason's shoulder, caressing his back as they stand under the spray. "Can we please go to bed early today? The jet lag is definitely catching up to me now."
"Mmhmm. I'm getting tired too. Maybe we can order in dinner and cuddle, and if we don't finish the food, we'll put it in the fridge and have it tomorrow."
With the promise of sleep soon, Jamie just crashes. He tightens his arms around Mason's waist and nuzzles in closer.
"Not yet," Mason says, lightly smacking Jamie's ass.
Jamie whines but straightens up and turns off the water. He steps out of the shower and grabs one of the towels, turning around to dry Mason first.
Mason gives him a soft, fond smile. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. You can pick dinner."
Drying himself off, Jamie hangs the towel back up and picks up their wet swim trunks from the floor and drapes them over the bar for the shower curtain, so they can drip dry into the tub.
Back in the main room, Jamie finds Mason sitting at the head of the bed, leaning against the headboard. The pamphlets from earlier are in his hands, as is his phone, but his head is tipped back, and his breathing is soft and even. Jamie clears the papers from the bed, plugs Mason's phone in to charge, then climbs into the other side of the bed. He cuddles into Mason and goes to sleep.
He wakes up a couple of hours later, and he can see it's dark outside. Squinting out the window, he sleepily notes that the sky is still completely clear of clouds but is now filled with hundreds of thousands of stars. He'll have to stay up another night to capture the gorgeous scenery on his art tablet, but also in his sketchbook. He wants to try to preserve the Grecian night sky as best as he can.