Chapter Text
𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝟷: "𝑇𝘩𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐" "𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑑"
One of the things Simon liked most about Earth was its music.
Inside the cult, there was nothing but religious hymns, so listening to such a complex melody easily drew him out of his thoughts; he had mentioned this to Grace in passing, and now, whenever he was home, he would play some of his favorites. They could spend hours talking about trivial things until they realized it had gotten late (it was surprising how Grace’s bad habits rubbed off on him).
Although, in truth, he was still wary of learning to dance—upbeat music wasn't his thing, and he refused to believe otherwise—thankfully, he had a stubborn boyfriend who encouraged him to do things that would usually embarrass him.
"I can't believe you've never danced before," he said while swaying their bodies to the soft music. His cane had ended up somewhere across the room; even at his age, even at his age, he refused to let it go, so, resigned, he gave up, relaxing his body against Grace’s and slowing his breathing.
"A lot of things that are normal for you aren't for me." They kept turning and moving clumsily, narrowly avoiding a few falls along the way.
The shorter man let himself be led by his partner, who was just as flustered as he was; it had all started as a joking suggestion and escalated into a situation that was ridiculous yet comfortable—one neither of them wanted to leave.
"Yeah, the whole cultural difference thing still makes my head spin a bit." He let out a groan when Simon stepped on his foot for the fifth time, watching as the other man's cheeks turned pink. Grace felt his heart racing, as if trying to break free from his chest (this was hardly the moment for a heart attack), and he stared a little too long as Simon apologized.
Simon noticed the sudden lack of movement; looking up, he froze at the goofy, lovestruck smile on Grace’s face—he would never get used to being looked at with such affection. Taking advantage of the blond’s distraction, Grace managed to break free from his hold and stepped back, shivering due to heat loss ; he also complained as he pulled away, suppressing the urge to follow him and wrap himself around him once more.
"I told you I’m not good at this."
"I never said I was." Simon looked up, clearly confused by Grace’s admission, gazing at him as if expecting it to be some kind of joke.
"Are you telling me we spent all that time wiggling around like worms for nothing?" He was genuinely baffled, while Grace seemed on the verge of laughter.
"Well, it was... romantic?"
"Oh God, you’re so weird." Simon covered his face with his hands to hide his smile as Ryland moved in close, wrapping his arms around Simon’s waist and planting kisses on his neck—finding just the right sensitive spots to make him burst into laughter.
"Are you going to deny that you liked it?" he whispered in Simon’s ear, shifting his weight back to give his knees a rest.
"Maybe."
At some point, the music had stopped, leaving them with only the natural sound of the waves drifting in through the kitchen window. They remained in that position for a few minutes until Grace buried her face in Simon’s neck again, murmuring words that were hard to make out but were surely sweeter than candy. "I love you." It came so suddenly that the words caught in his throat, and a sudden shiver ran through his entire body, causing Simon to turn his head in concern; Ryland planted another quick kiss on his neck to soothe him, and—as if by magic—Simon’s body relaxed.
He took a moment to put his worries aside, and as he sank into his partner's warmth, he felt certain the night would end wonderfully—so much so that he even forgot about...
"The potatoes!"
Simon dashed toward the kitchen when a distinct smell hit his nose, leaving Ryland doubled over with laughter because of a silly situation.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
They end up eating burn food because of Grace (ᵕ—ᴗ—)