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Pure Vanilla felt the slight sting of the sun beneath his eyelids, back leant against the trunk of a tree, listening to the flow of river water beside him as he waited for the others to finish unpacking their horses.
The rustle of saddlebags and sound of distant banter finally came to a halt as the two outlaws footsteps began to approach, disturbing the leaves and dirt below them.
“Alright! We’re here!”
“Indeed, we did make it…” Black Sapphire remarked somewhat sardonically. “…But we would’ve been here an hour earlier if you didn’t insist on bringing that keg.”
“Oh, come on. You always complain about having to be the one to plan these things, yet when I finally chip in, this is what I’m met with. Dreadful, truly…” Shadow Milk tutted, still stumbling slightly as he walked with the empty keg slightly obscuring his line of sight.
Pure Vanilla stood, blinking his eyes open, sweeping the back of his sundress of dirt before turning to them with a tired smile. He looked down at the keg, which was the culprit for their delayed arrival, before looking back up to meet eye-contact with it’s carrier.
“Shadow Milk, why did you bring that, anyways? It doesn’t even have anything in it.”
Shadow Milk grinned, dropping the barrel to the ground and putting his hands on his hips.
“That is exactly why I brought it! You’ll see.”
He reached a hand out wordlessly to Black Sapphire, who sighed from the disrespect before handing him a spool of rope.
Shadow Milk tied the rope around the tap of the keg, giving a tug on the knot to test its strength, before tying the other end of the rope around a tree just shy of the river and giving the rope plenty of slack between the trunk and the barrel.
Pure Vanilla just gave him a look of confusion, before Shadow Milk sighed.
“Whatever, just get in the water! Daylight is running out!”
Black Sapphire was already onto it, beginning to shed his layers until he was left to just a pair of shorts. Tentatively, he dipped a foot into the stream, deigning the temperature not too cold before fully submerging himself. With his feet at the bottom, he was able to stand up fully with his shoulders and head out of the water.
“Water’s nice~.”
“You heard him, Nilly! Get in there!”
With that and no other warning, two hands slammed into Pure Vanilla’s back, shoving him into the water.
Completely caught off guard, he was plunged into the water, his face suddenly submerged and rendering him unable to breathe as he scrabbled his limbs around to push at the current.
Realising he was genuinely stuck he screamed underwater, accidentally swallowing water as he tried to breathe on instinct, before two hands caught him from drifting any further in the current. He gasped for air, coughing violently onto Black Sapphire’s shoulder, shaking slightly still from the shock.
“Th-thank you-“
“Are you alright?”
“Y-yes, I’m fine…”
“Shadow Milk, what the hell is wrong with you?!” His tone shifted from one of concern into one of annoyance- glaring at the perpetrator still on the shore.
Shadow Milk swallowed, hands raised only slightly, still looking at Pure Vanilla with a look of concern.
“…I’m sorry, I didn’t think that was going to happen.”
Pure Vanilla cleared his throat one last time, taking a deep breath in and out. “It’s alright, I’m ok now.”
He backed up a bit, coming a bit closer to the shallows (being in the depths with Black Sapphire was a bit too deep for him to keep his head up), exhaling softly and regulating his breath as he felt the water flow around him.
After a moment, he looked up, confused as to what was holding Shadow Milk up.
“Shadow Milk, are you going to join us?”
Shadow Milk wandered into his line of sight, half undressing with his shirt halfway up his arms, cloth hiking up his waist as he tugged it over his form.
“Yeah, just give me a moment. All these layers are giving me a bit of difficulty.”
He stripped down to just his jeans and chaps, Black Sapphire giving him a concerned side-eye as he looked between Shadow Milk’s face and the pants he was wearing.
“…You intend to go swimming in all of that?”
Shadow Milk returned his side eye with a greater degree of vulgarity.
“…You want me to take it off?”
“Ew, gods no. Save that for when Pure Vanilla isn’t here.”
“Don’t imply that shit while he’s listening! Gods, you’re too casual sometimes.”
“…I feel like I shouldn’t be apart of this conversation.” Pure Vanilla muttered, head turned aside and trying to focus on literally anything else.
Shadow Milk snorted, deciding to drop the topic and just get in the water already. He took a step to the edge, gearing up for a dive before remembering that this was absolutely not deep enough to do anything reckless. Begrudgingly, he sighed and walked in normally, grimacing as he watched the layers get wet.
He probably should’ve planned his outfit for swimming; he just put on whatever was fashionable without too much extra thought.
Now in the current, he lowered himself until just his head poked out of the water, letting out a sigh as he floated up to his back, letting the warm rays of the sun settle against his skin.
“Floating’s going to mess your tan up, Shadow Milk.”
“My waistline?”
“Yeah, clean cut from legs to torso.”
“Why are you so concerned? Nobody’s gonna see that shit anyways.”
“Oh really, now~?”
“Oh my god. What did I just say about that kind of implication in front of the guest.”
Pure Vanilla sighed, wading out only a few metres until he met with the others, his limbs slightly scrabbling with the water as he tried to stay afloat in the slightly deeper water.
“You two don’t have a lot of shame, do you…” He muttered with a yawn, taking a deep breath in after he managed his sentence out.
He bobbed up and down, breath uneven as he tried to keep himself up.
Shadow Milk eyed him, watching him dip back into the water every now and again with messy movements.
“You can go back to the shallows, y’know.”
“But you guy’s aren’t there,” He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, “And it’s fine in the sun. I don't burn."
“No, it isn’t that, it’s just-“ Shadow Milk paused, trying to get his words right without sounding rude. “…Can you swim?”
Pure Vanilla forgot to take a breath in for a moment, diverting his gaze away from Shadow Milks.
“…No, not really…”
“Aww, don’t be embarrassed! Sapphy can’t swim either!”
“That literally is just untrue.”
“Semantics, semantics~…” Shadow Milk muttered, flipping himself out of his float in the water into standing. “I can help you swim, yeah?”
Pure Vanilla took to eye contact again, looking up slightly to meet the others gaze.
“…Ok, but as long as that doesn’t involve getting pushed into the water again.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it!” Shadow Milk exclaimed theatrically, already taking Pure Vanilla’s hand to drag him into the shallower depths.
Standing, his shoulders were fully out of the water while Pure Vanilla’s head only just surfaced.
“Are you actually going to teach him how to swim?” Black Sapphire asked with a note of scepticism in his voice, drifting to the edge of the stream, hooking his arm on a low-hanging branch as he leaned back on the water.
“No, no~. That’s a thing people take ages to learn. I’ll just help him, so that he doesn’t nearly pathetically drown again.”
“That was your fault.”
“And it won’t be this time~. Just watch!”
Shadow Milk grabbed him by the waist, flipping him so that Pure Vanilla’s back rested against his stomach as his arms held him in place. Pure Vanilla yelped, immediately trying to shuffle out of the grip as he felt the other lean back in the water, floating on the surface with him still on top.
“Light as a feather, huh?” He mused, drumming his fingers against the others stomach, appraisingly. “…Do you eat enough?”
Pure Vanilla relaxed when he felt that they were doing nothing more than floating, Shadow Milk’s legs only kicking slightly to keep them from drifting down the gentle flow of the stream.
“Well? Do you?” Shadow Milk asked again when he received no response.
“-Oh! Yes, I eat enough, I think? I don’t cook, though. Too much work.”
“What do you eat, then?”
“He eats bread with fruits, I’ve heard.” Black Sapphire mused, responding for him.
“…No meat? Protein?”
“…No? Should I?”
“No wonder you’re as thin as a twig! Sapphy, we got to get some muscle on his bones!”
“Hey, I’ve got muscle-! It’s just… dense, not wide.”
“Right~…” Shadow Milk drawled, tapping his fingers decidedly against his stomach one last time and leaving them resting there for a moment.
“So you wouldn’t mind if I test that theory, would you?” He murmured in his ear, pawing at the other as his hands began to move.
He smirked, and at the lack of any objection, Shadow Milk got to work at taking his hands to gently stroke up the others chest, brushing over his skin through the wet dress until he reached the sides of the others rib cage.
Pure Vanilla felt his breath hitch, opting to stiffen up and remain still while the other began to experimentally poke fingers into his pectorals, gently massaging the skin and kneading it as though it were dough beneath his fingertips.
“Uhm, Shadow Milk-“
“As I thought, you really don’t have a lot of muscle up there…”
Pure Vanilla felt himself go silent again as he felt a finger trailing over one of his shoulders, before a few more fingers joined and wrapped underneath his upper arm, settling there.
“Is this-“
The other gently applied a bit of pressure through his fingers, pinching at the muscle beneath- or lack thereof.
“…Do you do any exercise? You’re, like, concerningly thin.” He muttered into the others ear, bringing his arm lower to press at his forearm as well.
“…No, not really, unless you count gardening.”
“So you don’t exercise…” He trailed off, bringing his hands back to rest at the others waist, fiddling at the fabric of the short sundress he was wearing with his fingers while his palms lay flush to the curves of his body.
“Oh, don’t underestimate gardening. I remember just how much work it was taking care of mine, back in the day.” Black Sapphire remarked, letting go of the branch and wading over to the keg still near the water.
“Well, clearly hasn’t done Nilly any favours.”
“God, Shadow Milk. Can you refrain from insulting his body any less? Poor guy’s ego needs a break...”
Shadow Milk gasped, tightening his grip around the navel underneath his hands. Pure Vanilla's breath squeaked for a moment from the pressure, before the hands drifted over and arms came to hug at his stomach and pull him closer.
“Oh, no, Nilla! I don’t think you look horrible! I’m just concerned for your health, is all.”
“Well, I thank you for your concern, but I do eat enough. I think I just have a fast metabolism, probably…” He sighed, leaning into the hold and letting his gaze lid slightly as the sun shifted to sting his eyes.
“Aw, ok… But you do need more exercise, ok?”
“Like walking? I do plenty of that, but I could add a bit more into my daily routine…”
“No, no! Not that kind of exercise. Here, take a looksy~.”
To his surprise, hands seized Pure Vanilla’s hips yet again, rolling him over so that his stomach rested on Shadow Milks’. Pure Vanilla, yet again, was taken off-guard from the sudden movement and instinctively reached his arms around the others’ shoulders to stabilise himself.
The other tutted, encouraging him to take a look up.
“See? Muscle~.”
Pure Vanilla let his eyes open, lifting his head off the others chest and blinking confusedly, before the other rolled his eyes impatiently and grabbed Pure Vanilla’s arm himself.
“Here.” He moved the others hand to rest at his bicep, smirking when he saw those yellow-blue eyes widen in surprise and stare in fascination, already being greedy enough to give that arm a little squish of his own.
“Not bad, huh?”
Pure Vanilla turned to the others smug face, immediately flushing and removing his hand and trying to sit up on the other to back himself up- yet as his weight shifted completely to the others’ hips, the balance was completely lost and sent them both teetering for a moment.
In his panic, Pure Vanilla tried flailing his arms around for a moment before falling backwards into the water and knocking Shadow Milk down as well him as cold overcame them both.
He fell deep in the water, his limbs seizing up in panic and refusing to properly push the liquid out of the way. Alarmed, he moved his head around, seeing the light above him grow further away as the deeper current pushed him further away from the group.
The current-!
His eyes widened, and in his panic, he forgot that breathing should not be performed underwater. Rugged breaths took over his form, quickly becoming coughs as water flooded his lungs- which quickly served to make the issue worse and drown his airways even further.
Oh god, that just made it worse-
In one rapid movement, a hand seized the front of his dress and pulled him into another hold, swimming him back to the surface. Pure Vanilla looked up, registering as the surface broke and allowing them both up, and as he was pulled up onto a floating… keg.
“Are you ok?!” Shadow Milk panted, holding him from behind as Pure Vanilla began to hack over the barrel.
Pure Vanilla didn’t respond, only sling his arms over the wood as he continued to cough up the water he had just inhaled.
Black Sapphire rushed over, wading through the water from the spot he had just threw the keg from and concernedly looking at the other with wide eyes.
“Good hell, he inhaled a fair bit- he’s still coughing.”
“Should we get him out?”
“Just give him a second, we can always go home early if we have to.”
The hacking stopped after a few moments, the other now just exhaustedly exhaling as he tried to lean himself over the keg. Shadow Milk released him, seeing him alright- not accounting for the important support he provided for the man which now was scrambling at the rolling barrel.
“Oops, that wasn’t supposed to happen-“
Yet again, Pure Vanilla was lifted up, this time flipped around and into a piggy-back over the others’ shoulders, where he blearily panted for a while as Shadow Milk simply continued to converse with Black Sapphire.
“I mean, we’ve still got to wash up. We could at least get that done before we go home.”
“…I’m fine,” Pure Vanilla cut in, taking another breath, “Just maybe I’ll stick close to the shallows…”
Black Sapphire exhaled, turning back to Shadow Milk with a disappointed look on his face.
“See, there was no need to actively tease and flirt with the poor man while in the depths. Nilly has the tendency to get a bit panicky when you’re too forward with him.”
“Right, and what makes you an expert on that?”
Black Sapphire snickered, sticking his tongue out for a moment before offering a shrug.
“Oh, you disgust me- just what have you done to poor, innocent Nilly?”
“Ha, nothing you and I haven’t already done together~.”
“Oh gods, that could mean anything!”
He immediately removed Pure Vanilla from his shoulders, changing his position and holding him out with his hands supporting him from under his armpits. He looked into those confused eyes with concern, flicking his gaze between them as his lips parted slightly.
“You poor thing… Just what has he done to you…?” He muttered, turning him side-to-side with a slight pout on his face. “…Wait. Pure Vanilla, tell me, does Black Sapphire have any tattoos?”
Pure Vanilla narrowed his eyes in confusion, tilting his head slightly.
“…No…?”
Shadow Milk relaxed his hold slightly, breathing a sigh of relief.
Black Sapphire’s jaw dropped, scoffing in offense.
“To ask such a shameless question-! Just how far do you think Pure Vanilla and I have gone!?”
“Well, you weren’t answering me!”
“You know what? Sure. If you’re just sooo~ interested, I’ll tell you in detail what Nilly and I get up to in our ‘free time’. I can get into specifics if you like.” Black Sapphire smirked, putting his hands on his hips and tilting his head back. “I’ll go there. If you’re so curious, I can tell you just exactly what makes him whimper and whine-“
“BLACK SAPPHIRE-!” Pure Vanilla yelped, turning around and swatting water at him despite the hands still holding him up. Black Sapphire chuckled, ignoring the water that lightly splashed at him and just opting watching him through his satisfied expression.
Shadow Milk sneered his nose up in disgust, pulling Pure Vanilla close to his chest and sheltering him from the other man in question.
“…Yeah, that’s fine, keep your private life to yourself. Shouldn’t have asked, that’s on me...” Shadow Milk seethed, turning to Pure Vanilla and nuzzling at his hair with his nose. “I’m so sorry for whatever that man has made you do, Nilly…”
“I heard that. And I don’t make him do anything.” Black Sapphire retorted. Shadow Milk just groaned, lifting his head with feigned effort as though it were actively difficult to look the other in the eye in this moment.
“Ugh, judging by your ‘displays’ with him, I don’t doubt that either…” He combed his fingers through the short blond hair, pushing the others face against his chest and pulling him close. Pure Vanilla sighed, raising his hands to gently push the other away. Shadow Milk noticed yet ignored him to pull him up higher and nuzzle against his cheek.
“Aww, just five more minutes?”
“Shadow Milk, I have to bathe.”
“…Touche.” He said with a groan, giving him one last squeeze before releasing him and letting him walk over to the edge of the stream.
Wincing as his bare feet stepped on gravel and twigs, he shuffled over to the dumped saddlebags, taking out a bar of soap and three sponges before returning to the water.
“Finally, we get to cleanse ourselves, as was intended.” Black Sapphire sighed, taking a sponge and the bar of soap from Pure Vanilla. He wet the sponge and rubbed it against the soap, letting the suds foam up before scrubbing his bare skin with the lathered wash.
Pure Vanilla handed a sponge to Shadow Milk, before taking a look at the floating keg still attached to the rope. It stayed in place as the slight current rippled around it, bobbing only slightly as he opted to take a hold of the rope near the barrel.
Shadow Milk watched with interest as Pure Vanilla was able to stay afloat, one arm resting against the taught rope with the other holding the sponge as he waited for Black Sapphire to finish with the soap.
“I guess that works, too. I just brought it to use it like a float, though.”
“I’m sorry, a ‘float’?”
“Oh, like I planned get Black Sapphire to sit on top while I whack him off. Swimming’s more fun when you get to sit on something or just mess around with.”
“But this thing is so unstable…”
“Hello? That just makes it more fun. He’ll fall off more often.”
“Just who is the one having fun in all of this…?” Pure Vanilla muttered, beginning to brush a few fingers through his hair to remove the knots. After a few minutes, he gave up as the sponge in his grip got in the way too much.
“Here, done with the soap.” Black Sapphire swam over to Pure Vanilla, handing the soap into the hand near the rope. Pure Vanilla struggled, keeping his elbow hooked around the rope while the bar remained in his hand, able to lather it against the sponge and transfer the wash onto his legs with a harsh scrub.
As he did his arms, Shadow Milk watched with confusion as the other stopped at his shoulders, the dress getting in the way of the wash.
“Nilly, how are you going to get past the dress? You can only do your arms, like that.”
Pure Vanilla finished his arm, before he turned to the other with a slight tilt in his head.
“I was going to take it off. I just like wearing dresses, but I can’t really do that in public, so this outing seemed like a good opportunity.”
“So, wearing it while swimming wasn’t a modesty thing?”
Pure Vanilla chuckled, beginning to thumb a shoulder strap and let it fall down his arm.
“And when was the last time we concerned ourselves with modesty around each other?”
Shadow Milk stared, blinking, before he felt a great heat bloom over his face. His lips parted slightly as he blankly fixated on the blond before him. The other was still casually letting the dress fall down to his elbows, faced away from him, revealing soft shoulders and a tan back slightly glazed over with small droplets of water.
Unconsciously, his own legs took him closer, letting a hand settle over a bare shoulder as his other hand took the bar of soap out of the others grips, absently releasing the sponge he was holding without a thought.
“…Shadow Milk?”
“Gods above, Nilla…”
With wide eyes, he brought his hand up, slightly shy of the other shoulder he had not yet claimed yet.
He pressed the bar to Pure Vanilla’s back, pushing it into his skin and watching as rivulets of bubbly liquid ran down his back, frothing at the point where that tan skin met the surface of the water. When the extent of his skin was covered in soap, the bar was pressed back into the others palm.
“Ah, thanks for getting my back, that’s always hard to reach…”
Shadow Milk couldn’t hear him. He was too enchanted on how that smooth, soapy skin felt beneath his touch. Curiously, he swiped his hands through the froth at his back, bringing them up to the others shoulders and pressing down.
Pure Vanilla gasped, quickly melting into the firm touch as he felt his shoulders unravel, the calloused fingers digging in such a way that felt like his skin was being pierced and his muscles were being deliberately undone.
Shadow Milk sighed, drumming his fingers up to the others neck and pressing his digits into his skin, feeling as strands of hair got in his way and began to cling to the dampness. Satisfied, he brought his fingers up higher and began to scratch at the base of his scalp, the other rolling his head back with a slight whine at his touch.
With a gentle stroke, he pulled his hands away, cupping water in his palms and drizzling it over the others’ shoulders, watching as the bubbles trailed down his back and added to the growing foam around the others body. The white dress, only rolled down to his elbows, floated amongst the suds as water lapped at his form.
Pure Vanilla opened his eyes, turning over his shoulder as he wondered when the other would resume his ministrations. Shadow Milk brought his gaze up, noticing the soft look the other was giving him, letting a small smile curve his lips in satisfaction as he guided the other to turn towards him.
Wordlessly, he repeated what he did to his back and translated it to his front, this time wiping his hands over the bar of soap and lathering it on his palms before pressing them to the others chest. He made arcs with his hands, stroking over that lovely freckled skin while the other stared absently aside, a lovely flush on his face as he quite pointedly tried to avoid eye contact. His smile widened, overly pleased by the others reaction, already ready to take things a step further when an exaggerated throat clearing interrupted.
“Ahem~. If you’re going to so passionately caress him, either do it in private or invite me to join. I hardly wish to watch you have fun while I merely float around in the water alone.”
Shadow Milk groaned, lifting a finger to beckon the other over. Black Sapphire grinned, making his way over and swapping his sponge for the one in Pure Vanilla’s grip.
Lingering behind him, he soaked the sponge and pushed it against his grip, scrubbing at his back while Shadow Milk worked at washing his front.
“You alright with this, Pure Vanilla?” Black Sapphire mused, making another arc as he pressed the sponge in the spot between his shoulder blades.
“Mm-hm.” Pure Vanilla hummed in satisfaction, leaning back into his touch as Shadow Milk worked at his front.
“Rinse?” Shadow Milk asked, taking his hands to hold his shoulders in place firmly, Pure Vanilla long losing the need to hold the rope as at some point they had made their way to the shallows.
“…Yeah…”
Black Sapphire took a step back, allowing Shadow Milk to submerge the other below the surface. Pure Vanilla was pulled out of the water, small dribbles of soap running down his form, Black Sapphire quickly gathering the blond hair at the nape and gently squishing it dry.
Pure Vanilla relaxed into the hold he was in, completely blissed out from all the released tension and soft sensations brought about by the others.
His eyes drifted shut, only mildly registering when the straps of his dress were brought back onto his shoulders, the dress smoothed out and his hair given a small pat to the head.
He heard the other two mumbling, the noise barely registered through the haze of sleepiness that had suddenly hit him.
…In reality, he had just travelled very far, and was already feeling the effects of sleep deprivation on the way here…
“…Yeah, I’ll take him back home. You go wash up alone- those pants are sure to get in the way.”
“…Is Candy home? He could stay in her room…”
“She’s home with Salt, but he’s used to our bed…”
Pure Vanilla blinked his eyes open, looking up to see that he was already being carried out of the water by Black Sapphire.
“…Sapphy…?”
“Oh, you’re awake? I thought you passed out on us.”
“I’m not that tired…”
“I don’t know, it seems like that to me~.”
Black Sapphire hoisted him up slightly higher, readjusting his grip as he felt him slip out slightly. His arms sat at the crook of his knee and just under his back, tilting him to lean the body into his own for support.
“But don’t you worry. If you want to rest, I have a few face masks that we can try out together~.”
Pure Vanilla smiled with a sleepy nod, letting himself get deposited against a tree trunk as Black Sapphire began to dry himself off and get changed.
“…Can you show me your tattoo?”
Black Sapphire spluttered, recovering with an “Excuse me?!” while blinking incredulously at Pure Vanilla.
“…Was that not a good thing to ask…?”
Black Sapphire just huffed a small sigh, continuing to button up his Woolen poncho.
“…Damn Shadow Milk for saying anything…” He grimaced, adjusting a leather hat at his head and fluffing up his hair.
“But if you are curious, maybe one day~.”
Now alone, Shadow Milk completely undressed, now able to address his legs with his pants out of the way.
He worked his way up to his shoulders, pausing when he felt the slight absence of feeling at his right deltoid. Sighing, he scrubbed a little harder, trying to bring back the sensation that was so missed underneath the remnants of a surgical scar.
“Wow, took you a while this time, didn’t it?!” He growled to himself.
Made it a full afternoon with Pure Vanilla without thinking about it…
He was getting good at this, wasn’t he?
He smirked, finishing cleaning himself off when he felt an intense, acidic feeling of guilt pool in his gut for so much as daring to swim in this very river.
How disgusting of him.
To fondle sweet, innocent Pure Vanilla like a common pervert. Just downstream of where he murdered his friend a few years ago.
Would it kill him?!
Would it just kill him to enjoy Pure Vanilla’s company without feeling like this?!
Why can’t he just forget about it? He was the only one still wracked by this!
It wasn’t fair!
It wasn’t fair!
It wasn’t fair…