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The last rays of the sun were slowly disappearing behind the horizon, the calm waves of the ocean swallowing them up faster than usual. The night was coming on quickly and Azaziah was starting to feel a bit cold while sitting on the back porch. He had a warm mug of cocoa rested on his lap and was wrapped in a blanket, but without his boyfriend, his fingertips and nose felt a nip from the slight breeze.
He knew his blond haired beauty would be home soon, but he was getting rather impatient.
Collecting his book and nearly finished drink, Az wrapped the blue blanket tightly around his shoulders and gave the beach one last look before heading inside. Living on a coast was more often than not a pleasant experience. The weather could be harsh and unforgiving at times, but he didn't mind it.
Kaeltki, his boyfriend of a few years now, made good money as a singer and they were fortunate to have found a nice beach house tucked away from the loud, sometimes obnoxious people that lived on the other beaches.
He kicked his slippers off near the fridge and shucked his blanket off onto a kitchen chair and sat his mug on the table as he walked by it, casually passing the weird collection of sea oddities hanging on all of their walls. Kae might be a charming, attractive man with the voice of an actual angel, but he was also super weird. To his fans, he was a cool rockstar, but to Az, he was a dork who had an affinity for shiny things, the ocean, and a hot glue gun.
Az made his way into the living room, plopping down onto their fifties-blue leather couch. He grabbed the remote and decided to put on some mindless show to pass the time.
Eventually, though, the show became nothing but a soft noise that lulled Az to sleep, making him pass out sitting upright.
He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep for but he knew it couldn't have been too long since the sun seemed to have just gone down. What awoke him was a soft hand brushing against his cheek, sliding up into his unruly, fluffy, black hair.
The slimness, the carefulness, the incredibly soft skin all told him exactly who it was before he even opened his eyes.
“You're late,” he said, his voice heavy with sleep.
“I know,” Kae said apologetically. “I brought food to make up for it, though,” he sang.
At the mention of food, Az perked up and sniffed the air to identify what Kae was carrying in the plastic bag at his side. Salt and beef were the first things that hit his nose, but a mixture of something sweet wafted to him soon after.
“Chow mein and potstickers with sauce.” Az narrowed his eyes at Kae playfully and glanced down at their metallic coffee table where two sodas were placed next to each other. His eyes traveled back to Kae, noting that he had his long, sandy blond hair pulled up in a neat bun on the back of his head. A single strand was loose and in his face, sticking out against his perfectly tanned skin. “Someone like you bringing me good food? I must've hit my head on the way into the house.”
Kae snorted and rolled his vibrant brown, almost golden eyes at him. “I am a pretty good hallucination, then, aren't I?” He set the bag on the table with the drinks then fell onto the couch next to Az, undoing his hair so that it fell freely over his shoulders in a golden waterfall.
“If you've brought food then yeah. I'm starving.” Az leaned forward and fussed the bag out of his way, reaching in to get the container that had noodles poking out of the sides. The place Kae often bought food from was well known for stuffing their takeout boxes to the brim, and the smell made Az’s stomach give a small growl.
Kae grabbed the remaining container then passed Az a plastic fork, not wasting time to dig into his own noodles. “Man, I didn't get a chance to eat with the guys at the studio today. We have some new stuff coming out and I wanted to make sure I hit everything right. Some of my low notes need work.”
Az stuffed his mouth full of as many noodles as he was able and hummed around them. They were salty and covered in sweet sauce, the two flavors fully nullifying the dull taste of the noodles themselves. “I thin’ the’ soun’ 'ood,” he forced out.
“They do, but I could stand to make them smoother.” The blond lifted his long legs and rested them on the table, letting out a satisfied huff when he was in a good position. “Did you work today?” He asked as he spun his fork in his noodles.
Swallowing a mouthful of his food, Az shook his head. “Ginger told me he didn’t need me today and that he could work alone.” Leaning forward, he grabbed the drink he knew was his to wash his food down. Kae never drank dark sodas but Az was all too happy to indulge in the sugary sweetness of them.
“Wow, Ginger came around? I was starting to think that dude was dead or something,” Kae laughed.
“Nah, he just doesn’t come into the store as often anymore. Something about the smell of books in a small room driving him a little crazy. I think after he clears his head he’ll start coming in more.” Az honestly thought it was more of his boss, who went by Slade, driving Ginger away with his constant tantrums that were often too loud for the small bookstore, but if Az were to mention Slade, Kae would start to go on about how much he disliked the man.
The first time Kae had met Slade was the same time he had met Az. The singer came into the store looking for a book on natural ways to relax his throat muscles and soothe them when he was sore from singing, and it turned into Slade trying to sell him the entire herbal section while giving examples of ways he could possibly kill someone with both the books themselves and the information in them, should he need it. Az just politely smiled and sold him the book, asking for him to just ignore his boss. Kae had told him that his smile was too cute not to ask for a number, and things had just gone up from there for them.
“Well, I’m glad you got to stay at home today. The sunset was beautiful, and I know you love to sit outside to watch it.”
Their conversation lulled while they finished eating, both of them silently watching whatever came up on TV. Occasionally Kae would comment on the lack of grace the characters had while fighting and Az would remind him that it was just a show, but the two mostly kept quiet even once their food was finished.
The empty containers sat on the coffee table and Kae had pulled Az closer so that he was practically on the taller man’s lap, and his long fingers combing through Az’s short hair. His free hand was holding Az’s, his tanned skin looking lighter in comparison to Az’s naturally darker tone.
Az rested his head on Kae’s shoulder and gently rubbed his cheek against the soft cotton of his seafoam T-shirt, making a mental note to ask the blond to wear them more often. He knew his boyfriend wouldn’t mind since he had asked Az to wear too-big T-shirts and even bought him some. They were comfortable, so Az had no issue with it.
“Are you getting tired? ‘Cause we should probably head to bed.” Kae’s voice was soft and Az couldn’t help but smile when he looked up to meet his boyfriend’s stare. He looked tired, but Kae did everything with grace, so his sleepy eyes looked more like bedroom eyes and his hair, which had been made messy from resting his head on the couch, looked like it was done that way intentionally.
“Yeah,” Az yawned. “I’m tired enough to go to bed.” He moved away from Kae and blinked away the sleep from his eyes so that he could carry the garbage into the kitchen.
Kae helped pick up and closely followed Az into the kitchen. The hovering made Az know that Kae was up to something but he wasn’t sure what the blond could be trying to pull just before bedtime.
When the garbage was thrown away and Az had rinsed his mug from earlier, the ground was suddenly no longer below him and he was swept up into Kae’s arms, a loud yelp startling the blond. Az wrapped his arms around the back of Kae’s neck and gripped at him desperately even though he knew Kae would never drop him. Despite his slim build, Kae had the strength to carry Az around everywhere.
“This is not the first time I’ve picked you up,” Kae said in a hushed voice as if he didn’t want to spook his boyfriend further.
“No, but you didn’t warn me or anything,” Az huffed. “Tuck me into bed and I’ll forgive you, though.”
Kae gave a soft smile and kissed Az’s forehead. It was such a tender kiss and it made Az’s eyes flutter shut. He didn’t know why Kae was able to make him melt so easily but he wouldn’t ever change how much he blushed at the blond’s actions. “I’ll tuck you in and read you a bedtime story,” he chuckled as he started to walk to their room. “How does that sound?”
“Depends,” Az hummed. “What’s this story about?”
The bedroom door creaked slightly when Kae nudged it open with his foot. He didn’t bother flicking on the light, instead going right to the bed to place Az onto the side closest to the wall. He moved back so that he could take his shirt off and get into his pajama bottoms, but did so quickly so that he could get back to tucking Az in.
“It’s about a cute little nerd,” he started as he crawled onto the bed, “who buries that button nose into more books than I even knew existed.” Kae pulled the large, gray-blue comforter from the bottom of the bed so that it was over the both of them then wrapped his arms around Az’s waist, pulling the smaller man's back to his chest.
Az adjusted himself slightly to get comfortable then relaxed in Kae’s hold. “And what did this little ‘nerd’ do?”
Kae nuzzled the crook of Az’s neck and gave him a slight squeeze. “He unintentionally romanced a hot musician. His little quirks, his ability to make him laugh, even though it wasn’t on purpose. Sometimes he does try to flirt, but it comes out more like he’s just stating facts. Yes, the musician does have pretty, long hair, and he is very tall and handsome. But, the musician appreciates it anyway and it wins him over every time.” His voice grew quieter and quieter as he went on, the even tone relaxing Az.
“Maybe the little nerd just doesn’t know what could flatter someone so hot,” Az murmured. His eyes had grown too heavy to keep open and his breathing was evening out. Kae was so warm and their large bed never failed to support him perfectly.
“The little nerd being his boyfriend is all the flattery he could ever need. Just knowing that someone so adorable and smart loves him is more than enough.”
Another yawn forced itself out and Az rubbed the back of Kae’s hand, which was rested on his stomach. “So the nerd loves the musician, but does the musician love the nerd? This plot would be very dramatic if you said no.” He laughed but it was so light that it came out as more of a short exhale through his nose.
It took a moment for Kae to respond but when he did Az’s cheeks began to burn from the blood rush. “The musician loves him more than he could ever express. He’s tried to write music to express his love for him, but no words that have ever been written down could describe his feelings.”
Az buried his face into the pillow and tried to ignore how Kae had grabbed his hand in his and was giving it a gentle squeeze. “That can’t be true,” he mumbled into the pillow.
“It is, though.” Kae’s voice was barely a whisper and he started to rub small circles on the back of Az’s hand. “I couldn’t tell you how much I love you if I tried.”
“In a way, you just did. Saying you can’t express it gives it a type of measurement that I can understa-”
“Sh, don’t be such a nerd. Take my love and go to sleep.” He kissed Az’s shoulder and smiled against his skin. “You can measure my love in the morning.”
The two drifted off soon after, Az’s blush still lightly dusting his cheeks. He would measure Kae’s love in the morning, but for the time being, he was going to enjoy the soft, warm body pressed up against him and dream of more of his gentle kisses.