Shad typically disliked the summer.
It was too hot, even the nights being hot enough to make sleep bothersome, and to make it less so he had to pay a small fortune running the AC. He usually enjoyed his morning tea outside or by the open window in the mornings, but with the mornings being so hot and humid with the unexpected heatwave, he would much prefer them inside the fridge. If only he could fit in thereā¦
Not to mention the sun. Sure, Ashei liked to poke fun at him for being on the more reclusive side (he preferred the term āhomebodyā), with his tendency to stay up late in the night reading or researching in his office. The office had a window, though he often kept the blinds and curtains closed.
He also hated dressing down. He enjoyed dressing in layers, finding it more presentable and fashionable for him to do so, but the heat forced him to show more skin which he found displeasurable, as he was much more prone to sunburns than others, always finding he would start the year with a nasty burn before he could even begin to tan, and even the tan was barely worth it, only gaining a shade or two darker.
Link sighed as he sat next to him, stretching his legs out as he sat on the blanket next to him.
Link had insisted they go out today, as it wasnāt too humid and it was nice and sunny. He wanted to go to the nearby creek to do some fishing and swimming. By the cooler he packed, and the fact he forced Shad to pack a change of clothes, towel, and put in his swim trunks, he had a feeling they would spent all day in the heat.
āI love summer,ā he sighed out happy next to him, leaning back more on the blanket, eyes closed as he sunned.
Shad looked over to Link, wanting to whine about the heat and sun, but stopped, looking him over instead.
He wore a cut off tee, an old, graphic tee that was that one wolf shirt, the slit on the sides reaching all the way down, leaving only a couple inches of fabric to connect it to the bottom, which was also slight cropped, the fabric rolling on itself. The hole gave him fantastic view of the muscles along his sides, all of them packed together on his lean frame.
He raked his eyes across his uneven tan, his arms darker than the rest of him, raked them across his legs, with the courser, blond hair clinging to the water of the creek he was wading in just a moment before, sandals on his feet, his default shoes of the summer, which double as creek shoes for him.
He tried not to linger on his swim trunks, black with graphics of yellow rubber ducks wearing sunglasses, clinging to the mold of his body after being dunked into the water.
Link let out another happy sigh as he laid back, stretching out to bask in the sun. Shad couldnāt help the small amused laugh. He reached out a hand from the umbrella he was using to shade himself to burry in his hair, finding it warmed by the sun. Link let out a sigh again as he did so, pushing himself slightly into it.
āAre you warm enough?ā Shad asked, delicately twisting one of his locks between his fingers. Link groaned in agreement, eyes still closed.
Link loved basking in the sun, Shad found, sometimes even just opening up the curtains and blinds in their home to lay on the ground and bask in it, especially in the winter months.
Link absolutely despised the colder months, curled in blankets and quilts. Sure, he tended to grit his teeth and push his way through any challenge, keeping any complaints to himself, but with Shad, he whined. He hated the cold, he was always so cold and didnāt want to go outside because it was cold, and wet and cold. Did he mention it was cold?
Because he was a man of lean muscle, he tended to burn through his body heat way quicker than, say, Shad, who was a lot softer and held onto body fat more readily.
He would curl up to him, burring his face into his neck under the blanket, stuck to his side like glue trying to keep himself warm, especially because Shad preferred to keep the heat a little lower on the winter than some, enjoying all the sweaters and warm flannels of the season.
Honestly, Link being rather clingy and seeming to refuse to take his hands off of him was part of the reason he adored the season so much.
Link laid in the sun for a while, completely quiet, breathing even. Shad kept his hand in his hair, gently scratching his scalp as he looked over the creek, watching a dragonfly zipping over the water, listening to the cicada song in the trees, watched the water ripple as it lazily flowed.
Link sat up after about ten minutes, groaning a bit as he stretched, looking back at the creek, moving his legs in a wiggle, tapping the ground a couple times with his feet.
āWe should go swimminā,ā he said, looking over to Shad with a smile, eyes squinting in the sun. Shad knew Link had sunglasses somewhere, but the man barely used them despite his light eyes. Shad was glad he caved a payed extra for transition lenses, even if they didnāt see the most use.
āYou can go swimming if you would like,ā Shad said, brings his legs in closer under the umbrella, āI would prefer if I didnāt get a sunburn.ā
Link frowned a bit, reaching into the tote of many things that didnāt belong in the cooler, bringing out a bottle of sunscreen that Shad wasnāt sure how long ago he bought and barely used. Holding it out in front of him, wiggling it back and forth.
āWe have sunscreen, yaāknow,ā he offered it out to him. Shad made a slight face. He wasnāt confident in its ability to stave off a sunburn.
Link frowned some more, clearing a bit disappointed.
āItās more fun with ya,ā he insisted. Shad still wasnāt convinced. He would rather stay out of the sun, with a book, and preferably air conditioning, though that was currently unavailable for him unless he wanted to go sit in the car and run their gas and battery down.
āPlease?ā Link asked quietly. Shad glanced over at him, Linkās eyes silently begging him to spend time with him.
Shad softened a bit, sighing through his nose. He and been sulking, ruining Linkās fun as well as his and didnāt realize it. Link dragged him out here to spend the day with him to relax and have fun, and he was just sitting around doing nothing but pouting in the shade.
Shad used to really love the summer as a boy. Back in Termina, he would spend many of his days on the beach with his father and mother, swimming, playing in the San, searching for shells and sand dollars, the like. He wasnāt sure when he started disliking the summer so much, but he knew the transition happened at some point.
He reached over to the bottle and took it from Link. Link instantly perked up, starting to get up from the blanket.
āAh, Iām afraid youāll have to help me with getting my back, old boy,ā he said, unbuttoning the linen shirt he put on after being forced into his swim trunks earlier in the day.
Link shucked off his shirt, laughing a bit as he did so.
āāS no problem, ya know that,ā Link said, grabbing the bottle and wacking the bottleās against his palm a few time before opening it up and squeezing some out.
Shad turned around, so Link could more easily do so, and to hide the small blush on his face.
Link, shirtless, in swim trunks, rubbing sunscreen on him.
Maybe summer wasnāt too bad after all.
