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“Here.”
Hobie glanced up at the word, noting an outstretched hand holding something very close to his face.
“’S this?” He leaned back to get a better look, gently grabbing Pavitr’s wrist so the other boy didn’t just try to follow him with this unexplained mystery offering.
Pavitr huffed and wiggled his trapped hand at Hobie. “Orange. I’m trying to share my snack with you, jaan. It’s not poisoned.”
Hobie raised an eyebrow. “Well, I wasn’t suspectin’ poison before you said that.” Still, he plucked the fruit segment from Pav’s fingers and popped it in his mouth, humming happily as sweet juice coated his tongue. It had been ages since he’d had fresh fruit, he realised. Too expensive, usually.
Pavitr grinned and grabbed another piece for himself. “Aha! You fell right into my trap!”
Hobie scoffed and flicked a pip at him. “Oh yeah? ’N what trap’s that?”
“Uh, the trap where I poison you, duh.”
“Right, of course,” He snorted, kicking a leg towards Pav lazily before flopping onto his back, “My bad.”
The late afternoon sun was hot on Hobie’s skin, biting incessantly at his cheeks as he closed his eyes against the glare. Mumbattan was always a touch too warm for him (which is to say, it made him feel like he was melting into a puddle in his boots), but he didn’t mind these lazy days spent on the roof of Pavitr’s apartment block when his company was this sweet.
They’d been officially together for a little while now. It had been an unspoken thing long before that. But it was nice to have a label on something, for once. Especially when that label was boyfriend and the boyfriend in question was Pavitr. It still overwhelmed him a little, on occasion, when he caught the other boy’s gaze and noticed that look in his eyes. That unspeakably soft and unconditional affection. Hobie knew he had much the same expression any time he looked at Pav, too, but it still wasn’t fair!
A shadow came between Hobie’s face and the sun that was slowly roasting him, allowing him to crack one eye open to see the cause of his reprieve. Pavitr smiled sweetly, upside down from where he’d moved to sit behind him, gently coaxing Hobie to wiggle back and rest his head in his lap. Well, who was Hobie to say no?
He gazed up at Pav, his Pav, admiring the way the sun’s glow haloed his hair and lit up the warmth of his deep brown eyes. The boy in question seemed completely unaware of his devastating beauty in this light, all too focused on playing with Hobie’s hair and lightly scratching at his scalp. Hobie huffed.
“What are you thinking about?” Pavitr asked, voice warm and sweet like well-honeyed tea.
You. Always you. You you youyouyou…
“D’you reckon ducks have flock drama?”
Pavitr laughed, and the sound made Hobie want to kiss him silly. He settled for reaching up to lightly shove his forehead.
“Hey, I’m bein’ dead serious!” He snickered, “You told me that thing the other day about some animals having best friends—”
“Cows.”
“—so I just was thinkin’ surely the opposite’s true, too. There’s gotta be ducks with enemies. Bit o’ flock barney n’ such.”
Pav bent awkwardly to kiss his forehead, snorting against his slightly sweaty skin. “That is such a silly phrase, even from you.”
Hobie gasped in dramatic mock offence and sat up, turning around to face Pavitr with a hand held pearl-clutchingly to his own chest. “Excuse me? I’m asking a very serious philosophical question and you ‘ave the gall to call me—”
“Your phrase.”
“—stupid!”
“Silly.” Pav reached for his hand, which Hobie grudgingly (not really) allowed him to take. It was definitely the sun’s fault his cheeks were burning, and not the fact that his boyfriend was softly kissing his knuckles in apology.
Still, Hobie sighed with all the drama of a well-loved golden retriever and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Pavitr’s shoulder. “Can’t you just answer the question, love?”
Pavitr laughed again, and it really was all Hobie could do to not completely turn to mush in his boyfriend’s lap. Why was it that everything this boy did was so beautiful? Pavitr must have struck a deal with some god somewhere, he decided. One that specifically wanted Hobie to be constantly blinded by his radiance.
“I’m sure ducks have flock drama, yes.” Pavitr agreed with a sage nod, though Hobie could still hear the smile in his voice. He pressed a kiss against the soft skin of his neck in retaliation, right over Pav’s pulse point, and delighted in the small shiver it drew from the other boy.
They were both quiet for a few beats longer, leaning into each other more and more despite the oppressive heat of the air around them. Thoughts whirled in Hobie’s head, wishes of having something better to give Pav than just his company. He would give the entire multiverse to him if only he could fit it in the palm of his hands, like segments of an orange.
Maybe he was attaching far too much meaning to the orange Pavitr had given him. Maybe it was just a piece of fruit. Maybe it was more than that. Maybe if the roles were reversed, he would’ve given Pavitr the orange as a way of offering up the segments of himself that now irreversibly belonged to the other boy.
“What are you thinking about, my love?” The question was even gentler this time, as if Pavitr could already read his thoughts and was simply giving him an opening to speak them aloud. Was he really that easy to see through?
Hobie found his voice wavered just a touch when he spoke again, emotions threatening to spill over the edges.
“How ‘m I supposed to say I love you when I don’t have any oranges to share with you?”
Pavitr’s lips ghosted over his temple, immediately followed by a gentle nudge with his nose to encourage Hobie to sit back from his shoulder and look in his eyes. Their golden brown depths seemed to glow in the light of the sun, already a little misty with tears.
“Like that.” Pavitr said, his voice barely above a whisper as his face broke into another smile, “You can say it like that.”
Hobie found himself easily mirroring that grin, feeling as though he might burst with the love pooling in his chest. “I love you, then.” He said simply, and leaned forward to taste the orange juice on Pavitr’s lips.