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Jay wasn't sure why he was indulging in this silliness. He really shouldn't be, but he'd allowed himself to be talked into it for some reason. Maybe because he'd had a really shitty day and he knew that at the very least he'd get some free booze out of this. Jay carefully scaled the side of the single and a half story house. The half a story was because the second had been collapsed by the massive piece of timber that was the Jolly Roger's mast.
When King Triton had flung the pirate ship onto land with a huge wave, the impact had broken several places along the ship's hull and cracked the mast. About a year later, from what Jay heard, a massive storm had blown through, and the damage meant that the thick beam had broken entirely off. The bit of ship had crushed several houses, but nobody had bothered to move it afterwards. Now, the toppled mast was just a feature of the area, which was now called Masts Landing.
The house that Jay was climbing up had wooden shingles, so there was at least plenty of handholds. He stretched up and grabbed the edge of the roof and started to haul himself up. A hand was suddenly dropped down for him, and Jay glanced up to see Harry smiling at him in that insane way he had. Jay huffed a laugh and took the offered help even though he didn't need it in the least. "This had better be good," Jay said as he straightened up.
"It's one a my favorite places," Harry said as he carefully picked his way through the rubble to get to the side of the mast.
Jay's eyebrow went up as he watched Harry climb onto the tree trunk sized piece of wood. Harry must have noticed because he looked over his shoulder with a grin. "Like wha' ya see, Jay?" he asked with an outrageous wink.
"Mm, yeah, I guess," Jay answered casually.
Harry put on a comically, offended face. "Ya jerk! See if'n I suck you off anytime soon."
Jay snorted and went over to climb up onto the mast as well. "Empty threat," he said. "My birthday's coming up, and that's the gift you always give me."
"Well, maybe I'll give ya somethin' else this time," Harry said as they both stood up carefully on the slightly curved, weathered wood.
"Oh? Well, now I'm interested," Jay said as he followed Harry along the mast. The heavy piece of wood crossed several wide spans, so the two boys made sure to take their time to not fall and splat across the concrete. The toppled mast was a convenient beam that many nearby houses had strung clotheslines to and quite a few kids used the timber as a makeshift bridge.
The teens carefully walked the length until they had passed out across the buildings. The mast had narrowed down quite a bit and jut out over a cliff. The waves of the ocean hit the sheer rock face, and Jay felt his heart try to jump out of his chest. He knew down below that aside from the jagged rocks and the waves, there were probably sharks or crocodiles or some other dangerous predators. Not helping was the fact that Jay couldn't swim so even if he survived a fall and there weren't sharp teeth waiting to tear into him, he'd probably drown. "This is insane..." Jay muttered as he made sure of every step before putting his weight down.
"Ah, it's fine," Harry said as he continued with far more ease.
The mast was creaking in the wind, and Jay felt he might just back out of this whole idea. The wind wasn't hardly anything to notice down on the street but up here standing out over the top of a cliff above water it was definitely tugging at Jay insistently. Jay wasn't afraid of heights. Or really of long falls. He had dealt with plenty of both in his life. But this was a combination of so much bad it was hard not to feel that unpleasant tingle of fear creeping down his spine.
Harry must have noticed Jay's hesitation and stopped to half turn back around. "Hey, ya ain't scared, are ya?" he asked.
Jay scoffed. "Course not."
Harry was quiet for a brief moment before smiling. Not smirking, or grinning like a lunatic, but a sweet normal smile that made Jay instantly take notice. "Good," Harry said and held his hand out. "Come on."
There was a brief moment of hesitation before Jay took the offered hand even though he had no real need to do so. Harry's smile went wide again, and he gently tugged Jay forward. Jay let out the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding and allowed himself to be guided along.
They reached the now sideways crow's nest and Harry had to drop Jay's hand to clamber up onto the side. Jay followed with a bit of reluctance as Harry quickly crawled along and then disappeared over the edge, probably landing on the mast again on the other side.
Jay moved slightly slower but just as sure-footed and carefully landed on the wooden post that was the mast. The beam was quite narrow by this point. The wood continued another ten or twelve feet and had a crossbar and a few broken lines blowing in the wind. Jay, however, was more surprised to see Harry sliding off the mast to sit on what had been the wall of the nest. "Come on in," Harry said with a wave.
Jay carefully stepped down, surprised that the wood seemed reasonably new, considering it was repurposed. The sideways crow's nest almost formed a little secret cave that Harry had lined with canvas sometimes in several layers. Jay sat down beside Harry and realized that the nest had been tall enough that now it was on its side Jay could lean up against the floor and stretch out, and still, his feet wouldn't even hang over the edge. "This is big in here," Jay observed as he sat down with his back to flat side.
"Yeah, there was a bench bu' I pulled tha' out," Harry said with a gesture somewhere up the curved side. "Couldn' really use it when it's all on its side like this."
Jay nodded in understanding. "How stable is this?" he asked, feeling the wind cause the mast and therefore their seat to sway.
"I's solid, don' worry yer pretty lil head," Harry said casually as he stretched out and put his arms behind his own head.
Jay wasn't entirely sure how much he believed that, but he wouldn't argue about it. "You promised me booze," he said instead.
"Ah, righ'," Harry said as he pushed himself up and reached to the side. He fumbled with some of the canvas and, after a few seconds, pulled out a bottle. "Cheers," he said.
"Much better," Jay said as he took the bottle and opened it up with a quick turn of his wrist. He took a long swig of the alcohol and then offered it to Harry. "Why'd you want me out here anyway?" Jay asked as he tried to settle himself despite the frankly unsettling surroundings. He was much more used to solid ground and buildings.
Harry finished the swig he was taking and swallowed before pointing over Jay's shoulder. "Watch out there," he said.
Jay turned to look and saw nothing but water and clouds. "What am I watching for?" Jay asked as he turned.
"Jus' watch," Harry said. "Damn, don' be so impatient, gorgeous."
Jay sighed but sat back beside Harry to watch. To actually see around the mast still jutting out into the air in front of them, Jay had to lean back further until he was almost as sprawled out as Harry was. Harry and Jay passed the bottle back and forth a few more times, and after a little while, Jay relaxed more fully. He didn't even really mind the occasional swaying caused by the wind once he realized that it really wouldn't send them careening into the ocean below.
"I still don't know what we're waiting for," Jay said as he shifted to rest his head on the only soft thing around, which just so happened to be Harry's pectoral.
"Somethin' special," Harry said as he dug around in the canvas for another bottle of booze he had stashed. Because of the precarious position of the crow's nest hanging over the ocean, Harry knew that he and his sisters were the only ones that ever came out to it. It certainly didn't hurt that Harry had spread the rumor that the crow's nest was falling apart when it really wasn't.
Jay shifted how he was lying across the hard wooden planks to stare out across the sea. He could see Auradon in the distance, but they weren't facing the actual town and castle, so most of the horizon line was uninterrupted by land. He had half a mind to accuse Harry of there not being anything to look for, but it was peaceful out here oddly enough so Jay wouldn't call him out on it right away. It wasn't often that things were nice on the Isle of the Lost.
Jay felt Harry playing with his hair but didn't bother protesting since it didn't bother him that much. The two of them chatted off and on about various things but were mostly content to just watch the clouds and water.
Then, after a while, Jay noticed something strange about the sky. He frowned as he realized it had gotten... colored? He shifted and pushed himself half upright although he stayed low to not hit his head on the mast cutting through the space.
As Jay watched, the gaps between the thick clouds that always filled the sky above the Isle burst into reds and oranges like fire and blood. The grey clouds seemed to tinge purple like bruises, and every here and there, bright gold-rimmed the edges of those cloudy shapes. The color was slowly growing more and more intense until Jay was certain that it had to be some effect of the drink. "W-what?"
"I's the sun," Harry said softly as he pushed himself up to be next to Jay. "Dad told me 'bout it... said when it goes down, it makes all them colors."
Jay knew what a sunset was. His Aunt had told him and Jade about them once, but Jay hadn't had any idea it might look like this. He had assumed it was just a nice story for his Aunt to tell them. Occasionally streaks of dark colors filled the evening sky over the Isle, but it hadn't been anywhere near this spectacular. The clouds had always interfered and made everything greyer and duller. "... How?"
Harry leaned closer and pointed out into the distance. "Barrier's only 'nother hundred feet o' so out past the edge o' the mast..." he said, still keeping his voice soft. "So's nah as cloudy here... bes' view on the Isle..."
They still couldn't see the sun, Jay doubted he ever would, but the vibrant colors were captivating. Jay watched in awe as the colors slowly shifted hue into cooler and darker ones. Passing through purples and pinks and blues. Harry wrapped an arm around Jay and gently pulled him back. The son of Jafar allowed it and settled back down using Harry as a pillow as they watched the brilliant display in front of them. "It's so bright," Jay whispered. He was afraid if he spoke too loud, he'd somehow ruin things.
"Mmhmm," Harry agreed. "Can' see it all the time... bu' I thought with how bright it was taday we'd get lucky... Glad I was right..."
Jay was glad too. He had never seen anything like it, and, though Jay hesitated with the word 'beautiful' it really was the only word he could think of that fit. He wasn't used to thinking of things like the sky as pretty. Before this, the space above them had just been this big ugly bruise covering everything and keeping away even the basic warmth that the sun supposedly provided. Jay wasn't sure if the constant brewing storm above them was the barrier's fault or the fault of one of the villains or what... but this in front of him was so much better.
There was an odd sense of loss as Jay watched the brilliant colors that he'd only ever seen sad imitations of fade into darkness as the sun must have finished setting. He stayed there watching until every bit of color had disappeared and then turned to look up at Harry. "... thanks, Harry. I didn't know there was anything like that here."
Harry smiled and shrugged. "Jus' felt like showin' off," he said casually.
Jay hummed a little and pushed himself up to face Harry more fully. "Showing off, huh?"
"Yep," Harry said with a pop at the end. "Ya know I love showin' off..."
Jay shifted to straddle Harry and pin him against the interior of the crow's nest. Harry went back smoothly when Jay's hand pushed at his chest, and the pirate's own found a comfortable spot to rest on the thief's hip. "Well, if you're going to show off, maybe I should too," Jay said with a little smirk.
"By all means, gorgeous," Harry said, his smile growing wider. Jay laughed a little and leaned forward to press his lips to Harry's.
After a minute, Jay pulled back just enough to speak. "Seriously, Harry... thanks," Jay said as his hand moved up from Harry's chest to cradle chin. Jay brushed his thumb absentmindedly over Harry's lower lip. "One of your better surprises..."
"Wha'cha talkin' 'bout, Jay? Ya love all my surprises..." Harry said, still smiling.
"Mm, I'm not sure about all... but definitely this one," Jay said before kissing his lover again.