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Amber and vermillion spread themselves like broad, vivid jetstreams out from behind a carved skyline as wispy clouds exhaled their warm breath through the grime-covered streets below. Curtains were ruffled as the gentle wind danced by, all windows flung open in attempts to dispel the stuffiness of upstairs apartments. Fat pigeons were visible on flat roofs, cooing softly, while the people down below flowed over pavement; their voices, usually crystalline and razor-edged, were muffled by the thick blanket of summer heat that rolled itself over the city.
For once,
(and perhaps the only ‘once’,)
New York seemed quiet.
Lance shifted on the fire escape stairs, the breeze velvety like old leather as it grazed his face and arms. He relished it, that perfect weight of humidity, and the atmosphere wrapped around him snug but loose, dense but sheer.
A fond bubble stuttered in Lance’s chest when he glanced up at Keith, whose hand was idly grasping the railing while dark lashes blinked languidly at the vibrant streams of sky. He looked so good-- beautiful, for sure, but also mesmerizing beyond skin. Golden. Perfect.
Keith caught Lance’s eyes, twin blushes covering both of their cheeks. Lance tugged his gaze back to the sunset as he bit down on a smile; he’d seen Keith blush nearly every time he caught Lance looking.
Fingertips bumped against Lance’s own and he jumped a little, sneaking a glance at his left hand, which rested on the step where Keith sat. Keith’s right hand had inched over to meet Lance’s and now barely rested over it, fingers tapping nervously across the skin.
Lance’s breath caught in his throat.
Keith never did that.
Lungs quivering, Lance turned his hand over, steadily, steadily, until he could feel the tops of Keith’s nails against his palm.
Amber and vermillion chased each other out of sight, a rich indigo settling over the carved skyline as the pink-custard clouds dissolved into nothing. Shirts strung out on clotheslines waved at the gentle wind dancing by, and on a fire escape a boy whispered, ‘te amo’ as he pressed his lips to the back of a pale hand.