Mostly Whitsantos

The two men grunted as they walk down the old stairs of the lighthouse. The wind blows and the rumblings of the grey clouds signal the impending arrival of rain, mixing with the sound of the angry waves hitting the rocks just beneath: a storm had been announced but the light house needed something fixed immediately so the sailors at sea could have a chance against the waves.

Fortunately, the two keepers live just beside the light house and directly rushed there, it was something tiny but they couldn’t and wouldn’t take the risk to procrastinate it and end up with a much bigger problem.

But now they were complaining, well especially Jack because his stub ached from climbing the stairs an hour ago. "I swear this is discrimination against disabled people. The mayor could at least install a mechanical chair system !"

"This building is centuries old baby, you know damn well it’s impossible."

"Shut up Michael…"

Said Michael chuckled at his husband’s foul mood, kissing his temple "I’ll massage your legs for you at home, stop whining like a baby for now."

Jack grunts but doesn’t push him away, just keeps complaining under his breath until they finally reach the door, a gust of wind shaking them.

"I hate this kind of weather, it doesn’t bring anything good…" Robby sighed as he looked up at the dark clouds before turning towards the shore "May God protects the sailors who are still out there."

Jack only answer is nodding as he scans the rocks, like he already knew something wasn’t right there. His eyes narrow as they catch something lying on the bottom ones, the ones that are usually submerged, and he nudges Robby, pointing at it. "Mike ! There’s something there."

They both walk closer to the rocks, careful but unflinching. Their eyebrows shoot up as they see what it is: a passed out, naked, young man with pearls scattered around and on him.

"Fuck, stay here." Robby lets go of Jack’s hand and quickly hikes down, reaching the boy in under a minute. He asses him: the boy was cold and had a wound under his right pec, not deep enough to do any real damage but still deep enough to require a few stitches. He wasn’t bleeding anymore but dried blood left red trails on him, crashing with the blue pearls around him, Robby had never seen these before.

He curses under his breath and swiftly takes off his coat, he wraps the boy in it, he shoves a handful of pearls in his jeans before passing a hand under his knees, the other sliding in his back and he hauls him up, grunting as he hikes back up with the boy against his chest.

Jack purse his lips as he looks at the boy in his husband's arms. "Who's dumb enough to go swimming in this weather ? Especially naked." He studies the guy's face. "He's not from here. I never saw him and he doesn't look like anyone from here."

"We'll ask him when he wakes up. Think you can do some stitches like you did back in the Army ?"

"I could do it blindfolded, let's bring him inside, it's starting to rain."

Once inside, they took off their boots, Jack lingering in the entrance to take off his coat while Robby carries the stranger in the guest bedroom, laying him down on the bed. He went and grabbed boxers and the first comfortable clothes he could find: one of his own blue flannel and Jack’s black sweatpants, coming back and quickly dressing up the boy, not closing the buttons yet. As he waited for Jack, he gently cleaned the wound with sterile gauze and saline solution.

Jack comes in when Robby pats the wound dry, his arms full with a fluffy blanket and some heating pads. "Sterilised my sewing kit, i’ll bring it after washing my hands and putting on gloves. Can you clean the wound with some antiseptic while i do that please oh dear holder of my heart and soul that i love so much ?" Robby shakes his head but hides his smile as he complies, moving to reach their medical cabinet, pulling out something to numb the area and an antiseptic. Jack takes a look at the stranger on the bed before leaving the room, "Well we know why you’re not a fashion designer.", he threw over his shoulder, his smirk turning into a full-on smile when he hears Robby exasperated sigh and the "Can you not ruin everything ? And you can’t judge fashion, you’re always in cargos !"

Thirty minutes and four stitches later, it’s done, Robby putting everything in the bin and kissing his husband’s temple, "You did great baby, he practically didn’t move which is kinda concerning…"

Jack shrugs and snaps off his gloves. "Well, you did numb him. And he did whine and move a bit so he should be alright. You think he’s going to wake up any time soon ?"

Robby closes the button on the guy’s flannel "I don’t know, probably later in the evening." He gently takes care of the stranger, slipping a heating pad on each side of his unconscious body and wrapping the blanket over him, the boy groaning in his unconsciousness as he moves a bit. "He’s lucky we found him and he didn’t go into hypothermia."

His husband only hummed back as he studies the boy again, lingering on his features: the dirty blond curls who are still damp from the ocean clinging to his forehead that Robby gently brushed away to check his temperature, the rosy lips slightly parted, the deep eye bags under calm, closed eyes. "He’s cute." Jack remarked after a minute of silence, looking back up to see Robby shake his head. "Hey, don’t look at me like that, you know i’m not wrong ! But, other than that, who is he ? He doesn’t look like anyone from downtown, plus I’m pretty sure I’ve met everyone’s kids and grandkids at this point. And it’s not the season for tourists."

Robby hummed and nodded at his words and signed for him to follow him, they were taking this conversation to the living room, Jack followed him without any hesitation, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him.

Jack lets out a sigh of satisfaction when he plops down on their old couch, he watches his husband moves around, grabbing his crutches and placing them next to the couch before kneeling down infront of his lover. "Mikey, your knees." He scolds, even if there’s no real bite behind his words and he’s pliant when Robby rolls up his jeans and moves him to take off his prosthetic.

"I’ll survive two minutes kneeling for you." Robby rumbles, not looking up as he takes off his husband’s prosthetic, putting it down before starting to massage his stub with gentle hands, making Jack go soft, groaning and letting his head fall back. "As for the guy, maybe he’s a young sailor. I’m pretty sure some crews decided to moor in the port before the storm, our guy could be a reckless crew member or a lost one. But what’s bothering me is that he’s naked, nothing around him. Well, expect pearls which is even more weird."

Jack looked up at those words, frowning. "Pearls ?"

Robby stood back up and took the handful of pearls he picked up earlier out of his pocket, "Well, looks like it, never saw a pearl like that before." He hands them all to Jack carefully and sits down next to him, patting his lap and his husband gets the message, placing his legs over Robby’s. Jack whistles at the sight of the pearls, "Damn they’re pretty."

Robby massages Jack’s leg and stub as he studies the pearls in his hands, face set in a deep frown.

The pearls are a deep blue, between a kyanite and a blue sea vein stone, shining brightly, every single one uniquely shaped but resembling a droplet.

"Maybe he collects them ? And shapes them ? Maybe he’s from far away and he brought them with him." Jack finally says, placing the pearls on the coffee table as he relaxes into Robby’s touch again.

"But who goes swimming completely naked with nothing but pearls ? Not even in a pouch ?"

"Well, we can say he clutched his pearls, right ?" Jack chuckled, making Robby rolls his eyes, even though a traitorous smile appears on his lips.

"You’re stupid."

"You’re stupider." Jack straightens up, kissing Robby, a quick little peck. "We should prepare dinner, I’m hungry and our guest will be too when he wakes up."

Robby knows he shouldn’t worry that much about the guy in their extra-room, he’s probably just another soul that the sea swallowed and spit back out after judging him tasteless. But still, something bothers him, deep in his guts, as he cuts brocolis for the dinner, his eyes darts back towards the slightly ajar door of that room every few minutes.

Jack immediately clocked it. He sat on a high chair in front of the stove, preparing a sauce. He watches his husband’s eyes dart back to the door of their guest room for the fifth time in ten minutes, he frowns, his face turning into that scowl that he always does when he knows his husband has something bothering him.

"Mikey, what’s on your mind ?"

Robby looks up, frowning back at him. "Nothing." He mumbled into his beard, looking back at the knife in his hand.

"Don’t lie to me, I’m not blind, what do you really think of him ?" He adds black pepper to the saucepan as he makes a simple gesture towards the door.

Robby groans and stops cutting. "I don’t know. It’s stupid. A gut feeling or something."

"It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you. What are your guts telling you ?"

Robby sighed, his husband, ever the philosopher and therapist. "He has something weird about him."

"Like what ?"

"I don’t know." Robby shrugs and resumes cutting.

"Well maybe it’s just a gut feeling, or he’ll murder us in our sleep." Jack shrugs back.

Robby rolls his eyes, shaking his head for his reply as he drops the brocolis into their steam pressure cooker, turning it on before moving next to Jack. Jack brings the spoon to his mouth to make him taste the sauce, waiting for the final say, Robby taking his sweet time to annoy him. "It’s good, maybe add a bit more salt ?"

Jack nods. "Thought so too." He added when he grabbed the salt.

They continue to move around the kitchen, Robby preparing sautéed potatoes and dressing the table while Jack cooks three salmon steaks.

But the moment Robby takes the plates out of the cupboard to hand them to Jack, a loud noise comes from the guest bedroom, both heads snapping towards the door. Robby quickly places the plates on the counter and rushes into the room, Jack grabs his crutches and follows him.

Inside, they’re met with the stranger on the floor, panicked, lifting his head up to see who are the owners of the footsteps he heard. Robby flicks the lights on, making the guy wince and bury his face back on the floor.

"You alright kid ?" Robby carefully grabs the guy under his armpits, lifting him into a sitting position on the bed before taking a step back, assessing him once again, the only difference is that he’s awake.

The guy’s eyes finally adjust to the light and he lifts his head up to look at the two older men in front of him, looking like a deer caught in red lights. On their part, they stare at him for a minute, staying on his eyes before looking at each other, no need for words to say what they want to say: the colour of the pearls is eerily similar to this boy’s irises.

"Where…where am I ?" The guy stuttered, finally daring to speak up and break the silence. After speaking, he looks down at his legs and feet, a fascinated look on his face but his eyes are wide open, like shocked.

"We found you passed out on the shore with a little wound kid, we took you to our home, we just fixed up your wound and dressed you up, nothing else, we promise." The guy nods at their words and looks down at his chest, at the stitched up skin, he winces but looks back up at them. "I’m Michael but call me Robby, this is my husband, Jack Abbot." Jack waves at the guy and he awkwardly waves back, definitely confused.

They stare at each other in silence for a moment again before the guy realises it’s his turn to present himself. "Oh uhm i’m Dennis Whitaker." Robby winces at the guy’s raspy voice, probably dehydrated, he hands him the glass of water they set down there an hour or more ago. Dennis accepted the glass but frowned at it before drinking it slowly, his face lightening up at the soothing feeling in his throat and mouth. "Thank you. Do you know how i ended up on the shore ?"

"No, you were already dry and passed out when we found you, but it’s never safe to swim in this weather." Jack is wary, that Dennis boy does sound weird, even if he looks inoffensive.

"Come on, you must be hungry, we made a plate for you, we’ll talk at the table." Jack nodded at Robby’s words and both of them turned, ready to head back into the dining room.

But Dennis tried to take one step and falls to the ground in a dull thud, groaning at the feelings of his knees hitting the floor.

Jack and Robby looked at each other, stuck between confusion and worry, Jack whispered into Robby’s ear, "Well at least he won’t kill us in our sleep.", it made Robby chuckles as he moves to grab Dennis again, one hand wrapping around his waist, the other grabbing his arm and wrapping it around his neck, causing a blush to creep up Dennis’ face. "Everything’s okay with your legs Whitaker ? They hurting ?" He asks as he starts to walk them to the table.

Dennis nods. "Yes, they hurt when I", he hesitated, like he was searching deep in his mind for the word, "walk. I don’t think I can walk." The word sounds foreign on his tongue, like it doesn’t belong. Robby and Jack share a confused look, they checked for injuries and the boy’s legs seemed fine earlier.

The three of them sit down at the table, Dennis’s hands folded in his lap as Robby sets their plates down along with forks and knives. He waited for Jack and Robby to start eating, he looked confused at the sight of the plate. The two older men wondered if he didn’t like fish or vegetables but relaxed as he took a bite and looked satisfied.

As the dinner begins in silence, Jack mouths to Robby "He’s sexy in a weird way." Making Robby snorts but he agrees right after.

Jack is the first to actually speak up, clearing his throat before looking at Dennis. "So, Dennis. How did you end up naked in the sea ? You’re from around here ? Anyone we could call to come and get you ? But it won’t be before tomorrow, it’s raining cats and dogs out here." As to prove his point, thunder rumbles and a flash of lightning tears through the sky, piercing the dark clouds, startling Dennis and Jack.

Dennis blinked up at Jack, making the deer caught in red lights face again. "Well, I don’t know how I ended up there, it’s a little blurry." Robby frowned, he’s concerned for the boy who seems to be confused. "No I’m not from here, but I’ve been living in one of the neighbouring villages for seven years. I live with my bestfriend but let’s not bother her, she’s probably occupied and i’ll go back home on my own tomorrow don’t worry."

Robby and Jack shares another look at those last words. "Dennis, you can’t even walk, your legs are giving up beneath you."

"Oh right, my…legs." He winced at the word, looking down at his thighs. "It’s probably something passing, it’ll be alright tomorrow !"

They both looked sceptical. "If you say so kid, but if you’re not in good shape and no one can come pick you up, we’ll drop you off."

"No need don’t worry !" Dennis reassures them but it doesn’t help, Robby would like to push but they both know it’s pointless so they drop it.

Instead they ask about him. He tells them he’s a med student, that he’s twenty-seven, that his best friend’s name is Trinity, that he’s really good with animals, that he likes funky music, that he has three older brothers, he’s the youngest of his family. He also thanks them a million times for the clothes, for taking him in, for the food and for the painkillers that Robby gives him when he finishes his plate, even if he looked at them like they kept secrets in them instead of just being medicine. He asked about them, Robby told him about how his family was one of lighthouse keepers, that he decided to keep the family legacy going, at first it was just part-time, like during the weekends, he worked as a mechanic at the same time. Then the main keeper, his grandmother, died and he decided to dedicate himself to it, being a mechanic was now his hobby. Jack told him a bit about the army, how he not only learned how to kill, but also to save there, it was important for him, so he annoyed the medical team and learned from them. Told him that he lost his leg, told him he was one of the very lucky ones because not only did he survive, his amputation was also below the knee and he has a high-end prosthetic leg. How meeting Robby was like. How marriage was obvious for them. And how they’ve been the guardians of the lighthouse for now two decades. Dennis listened to all of it with a smile, some nods and a lot of interest.

After dinner, they are all more relaxed around each other and they move to the living room, Robby still supporting Dennis to walk, the younger man looks amazed by the sight of his feet taking steps forward. It makes the two men smile, the genuineness of the young man is sweet. Robby gently helps him lower himself on one of the couches.

Dennis’ eyes stay fixed on his feet until he hears the distinct sound and movements of Jack and Robby plopping down next to him, then only does he lifts his gaze. The sensation of being between these two men made him feel warm.

But as he looks up, his eyes widen at the sight on the coffee table: a little pile of his pearls. "Where did you get those ?" It came out too quick, too panicky but Dennis needed to know.

Robby follows his eyes to the pearls, "Oh these ? They were scattered around you. Figured they were yours, picked some of them up."

Dennis felt a wash of relief at those words: they saw nothing, they know nothing. He nodded "Oh okay, I just, wanted to be sure."

"You want to put them in a little box to take them back with you tomorrow ?" Robby tilted his head, sensing the stress of the boy, he grabbed his hand, squeezing it.

Dennis bits his tongue. "Actually, no, take them, as a present. For helping me." He looks back up at them. "They’re uh very rare, they come from deep in the sea, you can make jewellery out of them. Or expose them or whatever." He explained frantically, scratching the back of his neck.

Jack and Robby nod, "You’re sure kid ?"

"Yeah yeah really, you both deserve it !"

"Thank you, I’ll put them away for now." Robby grabbed a bowl, dropping all the pearls in it.

"They’re really pretty, you know what’s their name ?" Jack kept one between his forefinger and thumb before dropping it into the bowl and focusing on Dennis.

"No, I'm not a pro I couldn't tell you." Dennis doesn't maintain the eye contact, shyly looking away.

But Robby feels curious today and he presses. "Are they special to you ? You only had that on you when we found you, nothing else."

Dennis licked his lips and knocked his knuckles against his palm before answering. "I like collecting things and I found a bunch of them, that's all." He shrugged.

The boy was fidgety, too much for the older men, but Jack grabbed Robby's hand before he could ask more, if the boy had things he wanted to hide, it wasn't really their place to push.

And to be fair, he's interesting. It's not like Robby and Jack saw new faces everyday, let alone young ones. And apart from the time he was fidgety, the boy was eager for the conversation, his attention solely focused on every word that came out of their mouths. Even if he didn't talk much about his own life, Robby and Jack had plenty to say for three.

Both men took him back to the guest room at 11am and Robby took out Jack's wheelchair that remained unused most of the year.

"Here, if you need to move during the night, use this kid. And don't hesitate to come to us if you need anything, our room is right down the hall."

Dennis nodded, "Thank you so much for your help and hospitality, I really don't want to be a burden, you already did a lot."

"It's fine kid, no need to thank us. Good night."

"Thank you, good night."

The couple chuckled but left him alone, retreating to their own bedroom.

Only after changing into their pyjamas and settling under the covers did Robby speaks up. "So, what do you think of him ?"

"He's kind. Cool, I like him. But you were right, he has something about him, he's too." Jack scrunches up his, the boy was something, but what ? "I don't know." He finally sighed.

Robby nods, "Yeah, but he doesn't look dangerous, I don't think he'll hurt us, just, something's off." He shakes his head. "Maybe we'll see tomorrow, he'll have to tell us where he lives or call his roommate, if she exists."

"Let's just, sleep on it, good night love." Jack places a kiss on his husband's lips, resting his head against his shoulder. Robby nods and kisses him back, his hand finding purposes in his husband's grey curls and his eyes finding the bedroom's windows.

They can see the waves crashing against the rocks from there, rain drops creating patterns on the vast canvas of the ocean. Michael murmurs a prayer for all the people at sea before closing his eyes.

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