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Angel sat on the concrete edge of the lighthouse, feet dipping into the water as the waves lapped over his legs. It was cool but not cold, and a gentle breeze blew through his pink hair and rippled his white button down. It was just him, the water, and the elements out here.
The moonlight cast a gentle glow over the ocean, only harshly illuminated by the spinning lighthouse light every so often. He picked up a rock and threw it into the ocean just to cause some ruckus in the gentle waves. They responded in turn, splashing up at him and cutting through the silence of the gentle night. He felt a sense of calm wash over him as the waves rippled.
He didn’t exactly feel lonely, he just felt in the absence of company. It wasn’t a sad, overwhelming feeling but it didn’t warm his heart like a comforting home would. It simply ebbed like the waves, and Angel liked that feeling.
He was going to throw another rock when the lighthouse illuminated a faint white ship off in the distance. He frowned, feeling of emptiness completely ruined by the distant presence. He was about to turn around and leave his cement perch when he saw the ship coming closer the next time the lighthouse illuminated it.
Well, that’s interesting, Angel thought. He settled back down into his spot, rock still in hand. He dropped it unceremoniously into the shoreline below.
He looked up at the next turn of the lighthouse to see the boat was almost to the shoreline and felt a frown form on his face. He stood up reluctantly and walked onto the beach to greet his visitor, toes digging into the sand. He hated the texture of sand.
“Who are you?” Angel shouted to the visitor when they were within earshot. They were on a small sailboat, and he could see a tuft of black hair sprouting up from the bow of the boat.
“Are you lost?” The man on the boat simply shouted back.
“Something like that,” Angel dismissed with his hand. He was kind of pissed at the stranger for not answering his question, so he gave him a half-assed answer back.
The stranger was now in full view, and he was a mildly attractive young man with a black ponytail wearing a large black rain jacket and athletic pants. His ponytail flopped around stupidly in the wind as he threw an anchor off of his boat. Once it was secure, he stepped off of it and joined Angel on the sandy beach.
“I’ll get you back by sunrise, it’s not safe to go back out right now. How’d you even get here?” The stranger asked. His pants were too long, and they got covered in sand, which made Angel laugh a bit.
“I don’t really know.” Angel shrugged back.
The stranger seemed dissatisfied with that answer as his face turned slightly sour.
“Well, no worries. We’ll sit out this storm here,” the man replied. He put his hands on his hips as if he was a weatherman surveying his surroundings.
Angel didn’t really notice a storm approaching until the man pointed it out, and he could faintly hear the waves crashing a bit harder than before.
“What’s your name?” Angel asked, meeting the man’s blue eyes. They seemed to pierce through his soul and into his heart, and it scared him a lot. He could hear the wind whistling in the air between them.
“Aki,” the man said. “Yours?”
“Angel.”
Angel found himself back on the ledge of the lighthouse, this time with the added presence of Aki beside him. The man didn’t really seem to know Angel’s (unspoken) rules of the place, because he soon began talking his ear off. Even though the waves were picking up speed and growing to a loud cacophony, for some reason the man’s voice just blended in with them and added to the noise.
In spite of himself, Angel found it peaceful. So, they continued to talk into the night.
Aki talked about losing his whole family to a tsunami, and Angel listened intently. He talked about why he became a sailor and his love for the ocean despite what it did, and Angel thought that someone with that much forgiveness in his heart was formidable.
Angel offered small pieces of his life to Aki, which was more than he was used to giving. He told him how he lost his parents too and he felt a gentle understanding between him and Aki.
Eventually, they lapsed into silence, and somehow Aki’s hand found its way onto Angel’s thigh. Angel smiled up at him to find Aki already looking at him. The waves suddenly became background noise to the beating of Angel’s heart.
Before he knew it, Aki’s lips were on his. They were a little chapped from the wind, but Angel found he didn’t mind. He simply deepened the kiss as he pushed Aki against the cold stone of the ledge.
He got this feeling like this lighthouse, the waves, the storm, all of it was made for this moment. He felt a light sprinkle start to come from the skies and laughed against Aki’s lips.
“What’s so funny?” Aki said, staring up at him as they broke apart. Angel stared into his blue eyes that contrasted with the concrete he was laid out across.
“Nothing,” Angel replied with a smile and a tilt of his head. Aki smiled back in response and Angel thought he would never get sick of his smile.
As Angel was about to go back in for another kiss, Aki’s phone buzzed.
“One second, Angel, I gotta take this,” Aki frowned at the caller id like it has completely ruined his day. Angel nodded, a little discouraged, and sat up to allow Aki to walk away.
Aki walked further than Angel thought he would, into the sand and towards the other side of the lighthouse, so Angel followed him out of curiosity.
“Hey Makima,” Aki spoke into the phone. His tone of voice sounded a lot different than it did in conversations with Angel, and the latter man suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort wash over him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m at the lighthouse.” Silence washed over the beach as this Makima person assumedly responded.
“There was a man here. He seems lost. Yes, I’ll bring him back,” Aki said. Angel felt that sense of discomfort grow as he heard Aki’s jilted words.
“He seems too kind for his own good. He’ll be of use, don’t worry. And he’ll be indebted to me once I save him,” Aki bit back over the phone and Angel froze. He felt dread grip him like cold ice.
Once again, Angel had been a pawn. He felt tears sting his eyes, a warm pulse amongst the cold bite of the wind. Not wanting to hear any more of the conversation, he turned on his heel and headed towards Aki’s boat.
Since Aki was behind the walls of the lighthouse, he didn’t see Angel on the boat silently drawing his anchor back. He then trudged across the wooden floor to the cockpit and turned the key that Aki had conveniently left out in the open in the ignition. Angel felt as if the key sitting there was mocking him, like Aki thought he was too stupid and helpless to fear.
Angel glanced around at his surroundings and found a notepad to the right of the helm. He grabbed a pen and scrawled a quick note.
I never wanted saving, I just wanted to be found.
He ran back to the helm, threw the slip of paper overboard onto the sand, and then started his journey across the water.
He felt the cold water splash his face as he drove, and knew he’d never be manipulated again.