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“Man. I can still smell that gunk” Reki complained as he rolled out his sleeping bag. Langa could too. Even after spending a good hour in the hot spring, taking a cold shower, and scrubbing down his skin with the bar of hotel soap until it was red, a hint of the rotten fish and dirt smell remained. Langa was too tired to do anything more about it tonight, so he just rolled out his sleeping bag next to Reki’s and flopped down on his stomach.
“I’m gonna have nightmares about that thing for weeks.” Langa shivered, but Reki’s laugh instantly warmed him.
“Dude, move over!” Reki playfully shoved Langa over onto his own sleeping bag, basically into the wall. Their room in the budget inn was tiny, so they had to squeeze in shoulder to shoulder in order to fit. Langa laughed and turned the light off before rolling back over onto his back.
“What do you think that thing even was?” Langa asked.
”Maybe it was some kind of radioactive monster” Reki suggested. Langa remembered reading a comic book as a kid with a monster like that, but he recalled that monster looking different.
“Didn’t the hotel brochure say something about a vengeful spirit that comes out after dark?”
“Dude stop I don’t want to think about that right before I go to sleep” Reki whined, drawing his sleeping bag up to his chin.
“So you’re fine with the idea of radioactive sewer monsters, but you draw the line at ghosts?” Langa asked, genuinely confused at Reki’s logic there.
“Uh yeah! Ghosts are terrifying!” Reki drew the sleeping bag tighter around him so that only his face was peeking out. “Dead people who float around and mess with humans for fun?! Plus they can like, mess with electricity and stuff? No thank you!”
“Hm. Fair enough” Langa chuckled, though to him that sounded more annoying than scary. Reki stayed burrowed up in his sleeping bag, somehow pouting while actively looking scared. It was so endearing that Langa couldn’t help but smile.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you bae!” Langa teased, using the macho man tone they used to make fun of Joe. He threw his arms around Reki too, playfully holding him in a protective pose like he had earlier on the beach.
“My Hero!” Reki said with a dramatic gasp and girly voice. Langa paused, suddenly very aware of the fact that their faces were just inches apart. Reki’s amber eyes were basically glowing, and Langa felt a fiery warmth creeping into everything that fell under their gaze. Staring into them felt like staring at the sun.
Langa’s trance was broken by Reki’s laughter, the contagious melody making him chuckle as well. They both flopped onto their backs, settling into a comfortable silence once their giggles subsided.
To wind down from the evening they scrolled through memes on their respective phones, showing each other the funny ones. Eventually, out of the corner of his eye, Langa saw Reki’s phone drop on his chest, and heard light snoring not even a minute later. Deciding he should also get some sleep, Langa set an alarm for their checkout, which at this point was only a few hours from now.
He was about to settle into his sleeping bag for the night when he remembered Reki never plugged his phone in. He would need it charged in the morning to access his ferry ticket, so Langa rolled back over to face him. Using the moonlight streaming in through the crappy paper blinds to see, Langa eased his fingers under Reki’s to carefully pry his good hand off the phone. He went slow and steady; Reki needed to rest if he was going to heal faster, so the last thing Langa wanted to do was wake him up.
After about 10 seconds of holding his breath, Langa got the phone and plugged it in above their heads:
Success! Or so he thought. Reki must have heard something, or felt something, because he groaned in his sleep. Langa froze, hoping he would settle back down.
“Langa…?” Reki mumbled.
“Sorry, go back to sleep” Langa whispered back.
“Mkay.” Reki let out a big exhale and shuffled to get more comfortable. Langa thought he was in the clear until Reki turned towards him and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist, clinging to Langa like he was a giant stuffed animal.
Langa froze again, swearing that he could hear his heart echoing off the walls of the otherwise quiet hotel room.
It was…exhilarating, but in a different way than what he was used to. He usually felt his heart pounding like this in times of danger, where all his senses had to be laser focused to avoid getting hurt, like before attempting a rail side or going over a jump.
However, this was different. Just as intense, but almost in the opposite direction. It was more like the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing along a sunny beach…steady and powerful, but also soothing and warm.
There was no way Reki was letting him go any time soon, So Langa let himself relax into the feeling of his best friend hugging him. He lazily draped his arms over Rei’s midriff and rested his chin on top of Reki’s head.
He was tired, today had been absolutely crazy. In a good way though, Langa couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun.
Like when they skated right down to water and Reki surprised Langa by shoving him in. Or when he and Reki had decided to abandon their race and just walk together up to the hot springs instead. Or when they were running from whatever the hell those stink monsters were and Langa managed to pull Reki onto his board and for a moment…they truly skated together.
Langa wished that moment, and all the others, could have lasted forever…
Oh…
Pieces of a puzzle Langa didn’t even realize he was trying to solve suddenly fell into place: So much suddenly made sense: like how Langa was inexplicably annoyed at Reki’s attempt to flirt with someone else. Why he was always able to forget his troubles around Reki and just be in the moment with him. Why he wanted to spend every waking hour he could with Reki, practicing or listening to him talk about skateboard modifications or just hanging out and doing nothing.
Langa had never really had a crush on anyone before, not like this, but what else could these feelings possibly be if not butterflies in his stomach?
“I like you…Reki” Langa whispered into the air. Hearing it out loud felt right…but it also felt terrifying
What if Reki didn’t feel the same way? It would be unbearably awkward if Langa confessed and things went south. He might as well pack his bags and move back to Canada if that was the case. Reki was his best friend, he didn’t want to lose him.
But then again…what if he did feel the same way? Langa was showered with praise by a lot of people at S, but with Reki it was different. He constantly told Langa how he was an amazing person, not just an amazing skater. Then, at the beach, he had briefly given Langa a look that felt like something more than friends goofing around pretending to be a gross lovey dovey couple. And then tonight, when Langa saved him from falling off his board, he could have sworn Reki was blushing and biting his lip.
And of course, there was right now. Reki had a vice-like grip on his waist and absolutely refused to let go, not that Langa minded in the slightest. It was entirely possible Reki was just still freaked out about ghosts, but…maybe he wasn’t.
Langa resolved to just let himself enjoy this moment and decide what to do about these feelings some other time. He scooted closer, burying his face in Reki’s hair and breathing in the scent of his Sandalwood shampoo (which, thankfully, managed to mostly overpower the lingering mud smell). His arms tightened around Reki, who let out a groan that shot straight into Langa’s heart.
Maybe Reki felt the same way, and maybe he didn’t, but either way, Langa was happier than he had been in a long time.