Chapter Text
shu felt like the horizon above them was spinning like a carousel — stars went blurry to become lines, sparkling and imitating the old bulbs he used to stare at with wide eyes when his parents would take him and his sisters to fairs. the only thing missing was the circus-like music, and maybe the screams of children, but for now he’s had enough of that.
the ashen in front of him continued to run though their pace was slowed down significantly (partly due to the sand). he could feel mysta’s hand still gripping his, scared to lose him too; mysta’s strength gave shu a feeling of weightlessness, akin to floating on water.
the beach they stopped at was dark and empty. if they’d look back, the chaos of the fair was dancing without them, the lucid colors of it bidding them their goodbyes.
shu had never felt his throat and lungs burn so much; he had to swallow a few times, with one of his hands on his knees to keep his upper body from falling over, the other one death-gripping his plush. mysta wasn’t better off, he was sure he would’ve thrown up if he had more of those way too-sweet desserts.
their heavy breathing mixed with the calm rush of waves and mysta could taste the salt of them on his sensitive tongue. he slowly rose his head to check on the ravenette. shu must’ve noticed the movement because seconds later he was staring into amethyst eyes.
silence washed over them, softly and cautious like the late summer surges, and before they knew it, they couldn’t stop themselves from laughing. shu’s entire body felt like it was being embraced in a harmless fire, sunset blue like mysta’s eyes and it imitated the sense of a warm blanket.
their laughter was welcomed by nearby seagulls — which enthusiastically joined in — and the rush of the water came with serotonin, the tiredness settling in them once again. now though, shu didn’t mind. he could feel how his muscles relaxed, as if he was diving into turquoise blue, watching the vivid fish around him scatter away in a natural hurry.
after calming down, short words were exchanged, questions about each other’s well-being and how they would get to shu’s place after the ordeal.
“oh, wait a sec!” mysta looked at shu with a puzzled expression and almost jumped when the ravenette held onto his shoulder before pushing the vulpix into his chest. the brit watched with wide eyes as shu took off his shoes and socks.
“mhm, better”, he hummed contently, kneading the still-warm sand with his toes, feeling his feet relax in an instant as he submerged them in the gold. shu grew up with the feeling of the ground beneath him shaping according to his own body; his weight, the form of his feet, the way he’d walk — all those would affect the prints he’d leave behind before the waves would slowly erase them.
for the ocean, nothing mattered. shu knew his existence was temporary in comparison to what the vast sea had to offer. he felt safe in an environment in which it didn’t matter who he was; he only ever wanted to be himself without getting perceived. the water licking up his skin only curious how fragile his being was before it would welcome him into a blue space of unknowing safety.
mysta wasn’t sure if he’d ever understand that but shu’d never ask him to anyway — the ocean was a scary place to be. carelessness could grab you by the ankle and drag you down into a never-ending deepness, untouched by humans and the sun.
mysta enjoyed the fresh change of air in his lungs; no salt, the tangy taste of the sea long behind him and he was grateful for that, it was starting to make him feel sick. the view in front of him was a canvas painted with yellow and greens, grey stone peaking out between treetops. shu picked the ideal route for their hiking trip, mysta thought (not that he didn’t trust the ravenette with the range of paths, shu himself said he grew up going on outings with this family into the santa monica mountains).
on their way up, the ashen had his fair share of urban legends rooted in california. he already knew of the zodiac killer or the black dahlia, stories which had effortlessly crossed the borders of several countries. as a kid he had watched way too many documentaries about those types of mysteries, eight-year-old him would never believe those crimes vanished with the passing of time.
“for all we know, my car is now rolling upwards.” mysta snickered at that while imagining shu’s old chevrolet slowly climbing up the hill on its own. america had fancy views of physics, that mysta found out, and he didn’t even pass that subject in high school.
“you guys think the ghosts get this bored, wherever they get sent to, and voluntarily come back to this trashy place to play over-dimensional hotwheels?” shu gave him a toothy grin, golden evening sun once again framing his face like a priceless piece of art — at this point mysta was almost convinced the universe was trying to tell him something (the way the light always shone onto the ravenette in every perfect angle), all mysta could do was stare in amazement. shu was so effortlessly pretty, might as well be a crime to not look at him constantly.
“what? you wanna gatekeep the american dream from ghosts?”, the obsidian haired raised a brow, smile still lapping around the corners of his rosy lips. mysta let out an amused snort: “yeah, i’m gonna gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss a bunch of dead kids.” they burst with laugher, sharing the weightlessness of it with the callow and golden air around them.
mysta’s life never felt more fulfilled.
usually, mysta would kill whoever was responsible for making him get up at 5:20 in the morning — but shu, who crawled onto his mattress in the middle of the night and made himself home on the ashen’s chest, was an exception. his soft snores were what he’s been listening to for the past minutes and mysta was amazed how the ravenette didn’t wake up from the ear-deafening alarm they set the previous evening.
for a few short moments, he even considered turning over to his side, wrapping his arms around shu’s waist, and going back to sleep. the warm scent of jasmine tea and lavender were something he never even dreamt to have in his arms, let alone the source of it sneaking out of his own bed and under mysta’s covers out of his own will.
though mysta would blame himself for throwing shu’s plans overboard, the raven had told him about a surprise a few days ago and sadly it included getting up at this ungodly time.
he rested his cheek against the crown of shu’s head, the blonde, obsidian and pink streaks of hair tickling his skin. he felt warm and cuddly, the leg and arm thrown over his body made mysta feel like a life-sized teddy bear (not that he’d complain).
“shu?”, he softly began shaking him, stirring the angel on top of him awake as gently as possible. his voice seemed to be more effective than the phone on max volume because shu started moving his leg off his’.
“no… i wanna sleep…” the ravenette stretched his arm further to fully wrap it around mysta and snuggled even closer to him — mysta let out a small chuckle, shu was too cute for his own good.
“c’mon, we need to get ready for your surprise”, he whispered and tapped his other hand against the small back of shu, which he was also laying on and mysta would be lying if he said it felt healthy and not short of any blood.
“ngh… what? surprise?” amethyst eyes fluttered open, confusion washing over him in an instant. this did not feel like his bed and he also did not remember his pillow to be heated or to have a deep rhythmic pulsing sound.
“yeah, the thing you planned for us, remember?” shu’s brain short-circuited the second he identified the deep vibrations beneath his cheek as mysta’s chest. he jumped up in panic, now wide awake, and if someone would’ve turned on the light, the ashen would’ve been able to see the bright pink blush creeping up his neck, ears and face.
“holy sh- i’m so sorry i- i don’t remember-”, he stammered, hiding his burning face behind his hands, “gosh, this is so embarrassing.” mysta laughed and sat up: “don’t worry about it, your li’le snores remind me of my cats at home.” that did, in fact, not help calming shu’s rapid beating heart down.
beaches in the dark scared mysta even more than beaches at bright daylight. he could barely see the soft wavering of water in the distance, the salt so heavy on his tongue and lungs, it could compete with the mint toothpaste at shu’s sink.
the stars above were saying their hello’s, bright, clear, mysta was in awe how many constellations he could make out without having to squint his eyes.
“damn”, he let out in surprise, focused on connecting the lines of eridanus, “the sky’s massive here.” shu let out a chuckle: “stargazing, it fits you.”
mysta gave him a quick look from the corner of his eyes, the curves of his lips rising at the comment.
“yeah i… they are always there and they never change. i always look for the same stars, it’s nice to see the bigger picture here right now.” shu drew his eyes away from mysta, the melancholic expression on the brunette’s face weighted heavy on both of them.
“london’s too bright for stargazing then?”, shu asked, staring up as if he was searching for something specific; maybe for the answers of questions in the back of his head, ways to lift something off mysta’s chest.
“in the uk the sky is always grey.” the ravenette only nodded slowly at that, amethyst eyes still glued to the night sky above — they lit up when he found what he was looking for.
“you see that over there? the wonky rectangle with the tail?”, shu pressed his side flush to the brunette, finger pointing lightly right of them, “that’s the dolphin.” mysta’s teal eyes found the few stars; the constellation was fairly small, nothing compared to ursa major.
“dolphin, huh? is there a shark too?” he turned his head to shu and almost jumped at how close they were. if he was a brave man, he’d lean in and-
shu chuckled at the joke, eyes squeezed shut and pink lips parted: “maybe.”
the raven-haired led them towards a light blue watchtower, tightly holding onto mysta’s hand, afraid of slipping on the wet grass patches beneath (at least that’s what shu said). the brightness of the moon outlined the sandy rocks scattering the area. he led them down a path and to a small staircase to the beach, sand giving out under their weight.
the horizon in front of them was starting to light up slightly and as shu took a look at his phone, he could count the minutes to sunrise on his free hand.
“c’mon”, he turned his head back to look at mysta, gifting the brunette an excited smile. he could see his sunset blue eyes staring at him in awe, as if he was in trance, and shu almost threw himself into mysta’s arms — he’s never been looked at with so much adoration, he could barely handle it, let alone in a sleepy state.
shu dragged him further, behind some rocks, and to the entrance of a cave. it smelled of sand and more salt; it reminded mysta of shu after a long day at work, when he was busy wiping down the tables outside, the ocean breeze and seagulls spending him company under the scorching sun.
“you can only visit this when the tide is low”, the ravenette explained as they went inside. mysta unconsciously held onto shu’s hand tighter, the cold dark surrounding them was starting to get to him (he regretted not oversharing for once in life, he maybe should’ve told shu about his unreasonable fear of the dark).
shu continued rambling about the currents of turquoise-sweet water and mysta could only listen but not understand nothing, a soft smile decorating his lips. listening to the ravenette’s voice seemed to be the only thing preventing him from having a mood-ruining panic attack.
mysta had never seen a sunrise this clear and idyllic, let alone stood at the beach just to look at something he’s been anxious of his whole life — the soft-sounding waves ahead didn’t sound scary to him for the first time in forever.
“hey shu?” mysta’s eyes were still fixed on the oranges and pinks, shu saw when he turned his head to face him. a low hum was what he replied with, a sign of listening.
“thanks for… taking me here”, he mumbled and shu wondered what he was staring at, “seriously, i’m glad.” mysta finally looked at shu, the warm colors of the welcoming sun contrasting perfectly with the blue in his eyes (shu was close to whipping out his phone to capture the moment). he’d never seen such a serene look on the ashen’s face, almost as if he found peace.
“i’m happy then”, shu smiled somberly and let his inner voice win for once as he laid his arms around mysta’s nape; pressing himself flush against the warm body, enjoying the faint scent of cedar wood while he hid his face in the crook of mysta’s neck.
mysta knew everything had to end eventually — even the summer he never wished to have because wishing for things was a privilege he never possessed. it wasn’t like he’d get them granted anyway, life stopped being pitiful once time had his name engraved, making sure to never miss a beat when messing with his existence.
so wishing to stay beside shu for a bit longer would be fine, right? to look at the sunsets and sunrises of malibu, searching for the dolphins shu saw yesterday when he was walking to work.
shu was holding him while the waves lapped up his bare legs, cold and salty water telling him tales — of fishermen, pirates, and whales — he couldn’t hear, too focused on those warm arms around him, gripping him like they were about to drown.
to mysta, shu was a tiny boat holding him up on the surface and he didn’t even understand how he made it possible; mysta’s chest felt too heavy, too tight, shu shouldn’t be holding him up all by himself. and mysta shouldn’t be so scared of it, shouldn’t be so scared of everything that was shu yamino (to him).
but mysta was starting to realize shu was just trying to calm his hammering heart down before he would drown in a panic. shu, who taught him how warm the sand under his feet could be, how comforting the sun felt like, and, maybe, how pretty shu looked bathing in a ray of orange light.