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Shadow Milk sighs heavily to himself. Ugh. What to wear… he leafs through his clothing, frowning at it all.
Pure Vanilla is practically vibrating with excitement next to him, lightly bouncing from foot to foot. “Isn't this a lovely day, Bluebird? I'm so incredibly excited!”
His smile is lighting up the room far more than the sunlight through the balcony doors, making Shadow Milk pause to smile. “Yes, the day seems nice and warm.” He agrees, returning to his clothes.
“If you don't have anything, couldn't you just… magic up something?” He suggests, getting more bouncy.
He really wants to go soon, I know. Fine dear. He nods, despite his inability to see, waving his hand a few times to pick out a pair of swim trunks. He frowns at them all, before settling on a longer pair, just above the knee, and adorned with his signature cyan diamonds. He grabs an equally black top, off the shoulders and soft for ease of removal.
“Alright, I'm ready!” He grins, offering his arm for Pure Vanilla, who happily takes it.
“I honestly can't believe I coaxed you into a beach day. I know you'd much rather feel the warmth of the sun from inside, so I appreciate you agreeing to come.” He comments, an extra spring in his step.
What a sun hog. He thinks fondly, lightly kissing his cheek. “Eh, I can throw you a bone once in a while ‘Nilla. Besides, it's pretty warm for early fall.” He shrugs, trying to cover the happiness in his voice.
They teleport upon grabbing their bag and picnic basket, making their way to a long abandoned stretch of beach.
“Your kingdom really did have the best beaches in the day, didn't it?” Pure Vanilla comments, smelling cleaner salty air than he ever has before.
“Yeah, it did. We were known for having some of the best beachfront in all of Beast-Yeast. We have some of the biggest stretches, and most of our milk rivers are salted. The only issue is… the laboratorium. It's a bit of an ugly blotch, but there are worse things.” He shrugs, finding a spot with the softest white sands he can for them to settle in.
Pure Vanilla uses his staff to observe, smiling happily. “You can hardly see it, don't worry.” He feels the sand beneath his feet, relaxing a bit. “It's so beautiful here…” he adds, settling down on the blanket Shadow Milk just set up. He flops onto his stomach, looking up at him shyly over his shoulder. “Do you mind helping me with my suncream?”
Shadow Milk takes a moment to study him, all laid out and beautiful in his swim trunks and a sheer undershirt before responding. “Y-yeah, of course. Umm… shirt on, or…?”
Pure Vanilla startles a little. “Ah! Of course! You're quite right, darling.” He sits up onto his knees, tugging the shirt up and off. He silently watches his muscles as they shift and move, blushing a little. So… pretty. I knew he was strong, but not that strong. Sleeper build I guess.
He shakes out his hair gently, handing Shadow Milk a hair tie. “Hold that please. Well, actually…” he snatches it back, holding it between his teeth instead as he reaches to put his hair into a braid. He just watches his partner in flushed silence, pleased to not have a tail.
It would be wagging so much… he studies the fluid grace his hands move with, eyes closed to avoid any distractions. Once his hair is put into a braid that goes down to his mid thigh, he sweeps it up into a braided bun.
“There. Now it should be easy for you.” He smiles at him before laying back down, getting comfortable.
Shadow Milk kneels over him, resting on his lower back for now. He grabs their suncream, as well as an anti-soggage cream, and gets to work. Okay, anti-soggage cream first, then suncream. He reminds himself, starting at his neck and shoulders.
Pure Vanilla settles his chin on top of his crossed wrists, soaking up the sunshine and his boyfriend's gentle touch. “The sugar sand grains smell so deliciously warm from here…” he sighs, glancing up at him.
He's hard at work, clearly only half paying attention to the task at hand as his hands politely squeeze at his back muscles. “That's good. I hope today is everything you wanted for your vacation day.” He pauses to smile at him, before continuing.
“Mmm… that squeezing feels lovely. I could always use a nice back massage, since I'm so dreadfully tense.” He murmurs, relaxing into his hold all the more. Shadow Milk seems to get the hint, continuing happily. It doesn't take much for him to get his entire back done, moving to do the back of his legs too.
He's so inflexible, he'd break his back trying to get that part. He jokes a bit, but can't help himself from watching his face. So pretty… once the first layer is done, he goes back to apply suncream, going a bit quicker with this one.
Once he's finished, he helps as needed, before grinning at him. “My turn~!” He chirps, laying down in his place.
“Of course.” He agrees, going much slower than Shadow Milk did, seeming to enjoy the moment. He traces his fingers along his back, feeling his spine lightly. Just as beautiful as usual.
He tries not to take too long, wanting to get into the water with him as soon as he can. I feel so young… he smiles happily, letting him up and fretting over him as he does all the rest of the work, despite his insistence he can handle it.
The second they're both done, Pure Vanilla makes a break for the water, laughing happily. “Shadow Milk! Come join me! The water's lovely!” He smiles broadly, already deep enough to tread water.
“Oh alright, fine. You know how much I hate getting wet, so you know I love you now.” He huffs, slowly wading his way out to where he is. Once he's there, Pure Vanilla immediately yanks him below the surface, laughing once more.
“You brat!” He huffs, tackling him down into the water. He makes a startled, undignified screech, wrapping his arms and legs around him so he doesn't sink to the bottom.
“Shadow Milk!” He yelps, lightly smacking his shoulder. He giggles, grinning maliciously.
“Hey, that was just payback!” He insists, standing up properly with him. He spins around with him, feeling him release his legs so they can trail in the water.
His laugh is much more happy now, expression gleaming with affection as he presses his face into his neck. Shadow Milk settles for slow dancing him through the water, using his powers to float them out a bit more.
“Already having fun it seems.” He smiles, kissing the top of his head.
Pure Vanilla peeks up at him, nodding happily. “It's so lovely to be here with you. Love you Shadow.” He sighs, pecking his jaw.
“I love you too, ‘Nilla. I'm… enjoying this more than I thought I would. You wanna just stay here for now?” He offers.
Pure Vanilla takes in their surroundings and assesses how far from shore they are before nodding. “Yes, that sounds excellent.” He agrees, his arms around his neck tightening a little to pull himself closer to his chest. The two of them stay there, Shadow Milk lightly swaying them together.
To his surprise, Pure Vanilla starts to float, lightly resting his feet on the surface of the water. He holds a hand out for him, which he accepts, levitating to his level.
“I know we're not in proper attire, but… darling, will you dance with me?” He questions, resting his arms around his neck.
Shadow Milk smiles softly at him, eyes bright. “Yes, of course.” He nests his head into his neck, resting his hands on his waist. Pure Vanilla settles his head on top of his, angled so he can press his forehead against the top of his head and see his face.
They do some mockery of a slow dance, considering neither of them are holding the other correctly for anything other than that. Eventually, Shadow Milk shifts the dance, coaxing Pure Vanilla into spinning him before resting a hand on his waist again, grabbing his other hand.
They stay there for a while, twirling and stepping on the surface of the ocean, uncaring of how it'll look to any potential bystanders. Eventually, Pure Vanilla leads them back to their blanket, floating just above the sand to avoid getting their feet sandy.
He guides him down onto the blanket, laying down his head in his lap. He smiles, letting Shadow Milk unite his bun to run his hand through his hair.
Shadow Milk stifles his pleased purr, smiling at him happily. “You're so pretty, ‘Nilla.” He murmurs, watching him close his eyes to absorb the sun.
“Not as pretty as you, my star.” He sighs, nuzzling his thigh lightly. They stay there for a while, before Shadow Milk lays down with him, wrapping his arms around him.
“Comfy?” He questions, feeling the warmth radiating off of Pure Vanilla's body.
He nods, cuddling closer to him. “Very comfortable. I'm really enjoying this.” He smiles, enjoying the sun.
Once they grow bored, it's back out to the ocean. Shadow Milk casts a spell on them, putting an air bubble around them both so they can go down under the surface.
They've been swimming for a while when Pure Vanilla gasps. “Shadow Milk! Look!” He grins, pointing towards a school of Swedish fish, all in bright colors.
Shadow Milk smiles. “They're very pretty, love.” He agrees, holding him a bit tighter. They traverse deeper, running across even more creatures. Gummy sharks, sour octopi, lollipop clams, chocolate fish, and much more. Pure Vanilla looks more than happy, holding him as closely as he can.
“This is so beautiful… look at those kelp forests beneath us!” His smile is wider than he's seen in a while, making him squeeze him more tightly. Eventually, they head up to the surface again.
“Pure Vanilla~” he coos slyly.
“Yes-?” He cuts off with a squeak, Shadow Milk throwing a large wave of water at him. He huffs offendedly, neatly summoning his staff to dump a huge pile on him.
“Game on you little brat!” Shadow Milk huffs, throwing more towards him. The two of them wind up in a splash fight that gets progressively more aggressive as they go, hurling joking insults and flirty comments at each other the whole time.
Finally, Shadow Milk surrenders, allowing his boyfriend to scoop him up. “Well, I guess you're my prize, hmm?” Pure Vanilla jokes, carrying him back to lay on their blanket.
“Yeah. And our lunch.” He adds, holding up the basket.
They both look towards the setting sun and burst out laughing, leaning on each other heavily from exhaustion. “It's a l-little late for lunch, my darling!” He chokes, softly snuggling his head underneath his chin to tuck against him.
“Maybe a bit.” Shadow Milk shrugs, opening up the basket to pull out the food they brought. They wind up making a campfire to heat up the food they were supposed to eat hours ago, resting side by side as the sun continues to go down.
Shadow Milk looks to his right, finding his boyfriend contently eating his food, eyes closed as he rests them after a long day of sight. He slips his hand to brush his hair out of his face, cupping his cheek as he turns to smile at him.
“Hello beautiful.” Pure Vanilla whispers, pressing a soft kiss to his palm.
Shadow Milk feels his face flush, leaning forward to kiss him gently. “Hey pretty.” He smiles, rubbing his face softly against his as he purrs a bit.
Without saying anything, Pure Vanilla scoops up some of his slice of blueberry pie, feeding it to him with a soft smile. Shadow Milk reciprocates with his own piece, and they cuddle together, feeding each other happily.
The two of them take their time with their meal, with Shadow Milk trying to mentally screenshot every single laugh and smile that glints in the sunlight, as the warm colors wash across his face. Once the sun sets, they decide to stay for stargazing.
He watches Pure Vanilla's eyes sparkle brightly, staring at the sky in awe. “And I thought the view from the Spire was amazing…” he mumbles, the stars glittering in his eyes.
“Yeah, this is the best spot. No lights or smoke to detract from it. You can see the whole milky way from here.” He agrees, smiling at him. Nah. The best view is right here next to you.
Pure Vanilla grins at him, slumping his head onto his shoulder. “And my best view is you…” he responds, grabbing his hand to squeeze it gently.
“Snooper.” He huffs, kissing his forehead lightly. Pure Vanilla laughs, the sound warm and airy, snuggling a little closer. “Regardless… we should head home soon.” He adds, gently pulling him more against him.
Pure Vanilla moves slowly, crawling into his lap. “Then… take me home, handsome.” He smiles, leaning to kiss him deeply.
Shadow Milk flushes heavily. “O-of course, my king.” He dips his head a bit, feeling shy. Too pretty… he can feel him blushing too now, snuggling close to him. Shadow Milk teleports them home, right into the bathroom.
“Shower?” He offers, scooping him into his arms.
“Yes please.” Pure Vanilla agrees, shaking some of the salt and sand from his hair. They get comfortable, taking turns washing each other off.
“Isn't it so nice that they figured out how to work anti-soggage solution into the water? That way we don't get soaked. It's not something that existed back in my time.” He comments, gently rubbing the conditioner into Pure Vanilla's near floor length hair.
“Yes, it's very nice.” He agrees, taking care to get Shadow Milk's hair clean without hurting any of his eyes. Once they're clean, they cuddle in the warm water for a while, before getting out to towel off.
“Do you mind if I put a braid in your hair? I love when your hair is wavy.” Shadow Milk asks hopefully, helping him dry it off.
“No, not at all. Go ahead, Shadow Milk.” He sighs, getting comfortable in the chair in front of their bathroom vanity. He takes his time, carefully braiding his hair into three tight braids, before braiding those as well.
“And now… bed time.” He grins, carefully coiling Pure Vanilla's hair into the silk bonnet he insisted he buy for when he wants to experiment with his hair. Shadow Milk scoops him up, settling him into bed and wrapping him in the blanket.
“Why is it important I wear this again?” He questions, leaning back to relax as Shadow Milk fusses about making bedtime tea.
“Preventing your hair from getting damaged from all your tossing and turning. Normally ya don't braid it, but I dried it thoroughly enough it should be alright.” He shrugs, humming softly to himself as he brings over his tea.
“Thank you love. Today was excellent, truly. You were right about us needing a break for a date.” He sighs, lightly resting his leg on top of Shadow Milk’s once he settles in next to him.
“Of course I was right.” He huffs, leaning against him. “But you're right, it was really great.” He agrees after a moment, his own hair curling around his shoulders.
They enjoy their tea before laying down for the night, curling up facing each other. “No spooning tonight. I wanna wake up looking at you.” Pure Vanilla insists, kissing him lightly.
“Alright, sounds good.” He agrees, curling up against his chest. Pure Vanilla wraps his arms around his chest and shoulders, holding him against himself.
“I love you dearest.” Pure Vanilla smiles, kissing him a few more times.
“I love you too, my darling little lamb.” Shadow Milk holds onto him just as tightly, wrapping his arms around his waist, and his hair covering more of his chest and shoulders.
He chuckles, leaning to kiss him one final time before tucking his head in to sleep. Shadow Milk does so as well, getting comfortable with him. I adore you. Thank you for coming with me today.