SWIM // FLY

whalesharx‌:

Sousuke is glad to see her pleased with the icy treat. The second question is a little bit easier for him to answer, especially since he’s just recently made his mind about what he wants to do.

“ Well, I was thinking about maybe getting my busted shoulder fixed up. As for right now, does that thing have enough space ?? ”

“Oh I’m flexible enough!” Ariel jokes, gently moving slightly. “This is as comfortable as it can get, trust me I’ve been in more claustrophobic spaces than this plastic pool”.

Shrugging, Sousuke brushes the grass from his swimming trunks and squeezes in beside her, surprised at how cool her tail is to the touch. He looks away, pretending not to have noticed.

@whalesharx​ liked for a starter!

“A-Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

         Makoto was currently cowering behind the taller man, not quite clinging onto him but probably a little too close for comfort.

         He couldn’t help it honestly. If anything, he’d blame Nagisa for pushing them both into this ‘haunted house’ that had been set up for the festival – one of the penguin’s many typical antics. 

         However, now it seemed like they had veered off a little too far from the normal path somehow. Makoto knew the other wasn’t exactly the best when it came to directions, but the brunet was also much too scared for him to muster up the courage to find the way out somehow.

“It… It’s very dark in here…”

To be honest, Sousuke had been blindly shuffling along for the past five minutes (( certainly having taken a wrong turn somewhere )) , but he wasn’t going to admit that, lest he make Makoto more anxious than he already seemed.

“Hmm...” Sousuke slowly and steadily pushed forward in the dark. Even as he felt Makoto close behind him, every step was another step toward the unknown.

@whalesharx​  ||  FOLLOWED lyrieuxsmuses

BOTTLES OF WATER, lined up. Stop-watches and timing sheets, lay out ready. Floor mopped, windows open - as far as the youth was concerned, everything was ready for the swim team’s practice in a short time. His choice to help stemmed from his inability to join in, his own dreams and passions on hold to do what he could to aid those able. “You alright?” he queries, catching the figure of a person through his peripheral vision as he made efforts to neaten up some paper. “No-one else here yet - you need anything?”

Arms crossed over his chest, Sousuke strides into the natatorium with his bag on his shoulder. Usually, he’d do his PT in his room, but having just come from a tutoring session, it didn’t make sense to run back to the dorm and then to the fitness center.

He also wasn’t too keen on being in the locker room before practice, knowing that people would be heading there soon. As he’s met by the voice, he pulls out one of his earbuds.

✖ ┅ “Sorry, the store said you were final sale.” Rin said, huffing a laugh. 

Pushing Sousuke’s head away from his ear, he snorted. “You’re ridiculous. Very funny, ha ha.” Rin deadpanned, flinching when a demon flashed on screen. “Did you see that? What the hell?!” He cried, turning completely over so his face was against Sousuke’s chest.

Cocking an eyebrow at Rin, Sousuke let his boyfriend slam his face into him. 

“Yeah, I saw it, babe. We’ve both seen it FIFTY TIMES, babe.” But Sousuke patted Rin’s back nonetheless and pretended to be scared for the next 15 minutes. When the doorbell rang, Sousuke wrangled the swimmer burrito off of him and fetched the pizza, as promised. Hopefully, Rin was as hungry as he was. It was a lot of food. He set the food on the coffee table in front of the couch and lifted a slice to Rin’s mouth.

whalesharx‌:

He wasn’t the happiest to hear the question, but nonetheless, he let out a sigh as handed her a popsicle and sat in the grass next to the little pool. “I feel like you would know this best. Sometimes our bodies just aren’t what we need them to be.”

Ariel nods, “it’s true, sorry for asking”.

Ariel bites harshly onto the popsicle, earning a delighted sound to come out of her mouth. Ariel swats a stray hair out of her face, “So what are you doing to keep yourself out of the water since you can’t go back in?”.

Sousuke is glad to see her pleased with the icy treat. The second question is a little bit easier for him to answer, especially since he’s just recently made his mind about what he wants to do.

“That’s so sad for you. If only it were your turn to pick a movie… oh wait, it was until you forgot about movie night.” Rin laughed, typing in the movie name and letting himself get dragged across the couch. 

He clicked on the movie before rolling his eyes. “I think that’s a self-roast since these are your clothes. You’re annoying,” Rin jabbed Sousuke in the side, pretending to resist the affection. As creepy music filled the room signaling the start of the movie, Rin instinctively shoved himself closer into Sousuke’s side.

“ I get it already. I’m unfunny, unattractive, and I suck ass. You should just break up with me, ” Sousuke groaned into his own sweatshirt. He jerked when Rin’s hand made contact but quickly swatted it away in time for Rin to stop being the real annoying one and cuddle into Sousuke’s side.

✖ ┅Rin tried to REFRAIN from rolling his eyes, letting out a STRANGLED sigh instead. It wasn’t like Sousuke was his dad. He didn’t need PERMISSION to go places and get REPRIMANDED like a  CHILD when he came back. While he felt guilty about MISSING his own party, he didn’t appreciate being talked down to. 

“I don’t know what you want me to say. How was I supposed to know?” He let out a watery huff, clenching his fists. “I only took this brand deal so you could quit that stupid job that you hate. Why do you think I was in Australia, anyway?” 

‘ Things had been tense before you left, ’ is what Sousuke wanted to say, but instead he let out a frustrated snort. He moved to lean against the doorway that separated the living room and the kitchen, crossing his arms as his shoulder hit the wall with a dreadful thud.

@chronicparagon !!

Sousuke smiled softly, even as sweat ran down the side of his face, residual exhilaration from the show he just played coursing through his veins.

“You’re too kind. Thank you for your support,” he bowed his head slightly. He could feel his voice going, already feeling the tenderness in his throat, but still, he had to ask.

@twiilightmultimayurp !!

Sousuke dropped his phone, regrettably leaving Momotarou’s Snapchat on read as he did so. He quickly spun around and took one last, long blink before shooting a very serious stare into Nagisa’s unnaturally (( but still beautifully )) candy-colored eyes.

✖ ┅ Rin squawked, throwing a PILLOW Sousuke’s back before shaking his head fondly. He dragged Sousuke’s COMFORTER with him into the living room before SPRAWLING out on the couch, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders and SNUGGLING into Sousuke’s sweatshirt. 

“Sure. I promise I’ll even hold your hand when you get scared,” Rin teased, tugging on Sousuke’s shirt to get him to sit down. “We can watch Insidious 2 if you get up when the food gets here.”

A puff of air escaped Sousuke's nose as he flopped onto the couch next to his best-friend-turned-boyfriend.

“Predictable,” he lamented. “Watching Insidious 2 tonight would make it . . . fifty times that we’ve seen this damn thing ?? ” And yet he knew that they’d watch it hundreds of more times.

“Fine fine, I’ll get up when the food comes. Let’s just get this started,” he hands Rin the remote, expecting him to navigate Netflix himself. He drags the sushi roll of a shark closer to him and presses his face into his hair. “You look like shit but smell really good.”

whalesharx‌:

turquoisetail‌:

“You know what? It doesn’t matter at all and it’s in the past” Ariel says before stretching her arms above her.

Sousuke chooses not to pry any further, shrugging with her dismissal. He looks to the pitiful pool in his front yard and wonders if it must be too warm in the sun.

“Do you want a popsicle or drink to cool down?”

Ariel nodded in reply, it was a hot day after all. “I don’t mean to pry, but why have you stopped swimming?” Ariel questions the dark haired male.

✖ ┅ Rin watched Sousuke pace back and forth, hands FOLDED in his lap as he waited for Sousuke to finish his RANT. It wasn’t like he planned on blowing Sousuke off or SKIPPING the special surprise. In his DEFENSE, he didn’t even know about it. 

“I’m sorry, okay? I thought I left you a note or something. You knew I needed to go back to Australia for a few days, and it just so happened that he did, too.” 

Rin ran a hand through his HAIR. He understood the hurt, but the JEALOUSY? Jealousy seemed like it was Sousuke’s thing, but it was really MORE his own. It was different being on the RECEIVING end. 

Sousuke recoiled with displeasure. Even if he was overreacting, he didn’t like the way Rin was treating him so sourly. Clenching his fists, he felt his voice waver when he let out a pained, “ You’re sorry ?? ”

He ran his hands over his face and sighed deeply, disappointedly. It felt like Rin was pushing him away, and it was aggravating.

“ Rin, I invited everyone over to celebrate your new brand deal . . . And your excuse was that you thought you left me a note for me to find after you’d already left ?? ”

Sousuke’s smile and his laugh and his everything, his rare jubilant expression and jovial uptick makes Ai’s heart clench and pulse in his chest. “Sousuke-senpai–!” Ai wails, in between his own laughter, contagious from Sousuke’s, as he’s no less than swaddled.

Playfully, he kicks his legs– but tellingly, his arms are clinging strong around Sousuke’s neck. Then Sousuke’s hold slackens a little, and Ai is left to slide down into an awkward seat in his lap; he adjusts and shifts, so his back is half pressed against Sousuke, and half against the couch’s armrest, legs tossed over Sousuke’s thigh, arms loosely twined around his midriff.

Like this, he’s able to peel his face to look up at Sousuke, whether he liked it or not; he’s pleasantly flushed, eyes a little glassy from laughing and from relief, smile splitting his face clean in two. 

Ah, I just want to kiss him right now. 

“I couldn’t think of a better burden to have,” is his half-tease, half-promise. There’s a moment of hesitation – or consideration? – before he gently lays his head to rest against Sousuke’s clavicle. Silence, and then a bubbled laugh, as if he’d been trying to hold it in, erupts from his lips. “If Rin-senpai knew of the conversation we had these past few minutes, he’d flip.”

Feeling light, Sousuke sighs. Contentment washes over him as he brings a hand up to pet the back of Ai’s hair. The way that Ai is nuzzled up against him is too cute for him to bear. He hums in thought. Why did it take so long for him to own up to his feelings?

He considers telling Ai that it would be okay for him to drop the senpai, but selfishly enough, he likes the sounds of it. As Ai squirms around in his lap, coming to his awkward rest, Sousuke can tell that his leg is going to fall asleep the way that they’re presently situated.

The smile that breaks across Ai’s face (( and his bubbling laughter )) brings Sousuke’s racing heart to a stop, stuttering from his enthrallment. He watches Ai’s lips closely, as if looking at them long enough would bring them closer to his own.

“Rin will learn what he learns when he learns it,” Sousuke jokes snidely. Feeling little pins and needles sprouting in his feet, he promptly finds Ai’s hips with his strong hands, bounces his hips to give himself some help, and flips his best friend around to straddle him.

At Sousuke’s voice, Rin stuck his head out of the CLOSET, throwing the hoodie he was holding onto the FLOOR. He looked at the four others among the long sleeve SHIRTS littered at his feet, shrugging and going back to SHUFFLING through the hangers. “You’re a hoarder. It’s not my fault.” He paused. “You still have this?”

Rin frowned, eyeing the TACKY ‘I heart Australia’ hoodie that he’d sent Sousuke as a JOKE when he didn’t have the heart to admit that he MISSED him. “It’s ugly you should throw it away,” he sniffed. Suddenly, the LARGE selection of oversized hoodies wasn’t so interesting anymore. 

Tugging the next one he grabbed over his head, he KICKED aside the discarded options. “Much better. Movie time.” 

There were only so many times that Sousuke could roll his eyes. Most of the things that he had in his closet were things that were A) given to him by Rin or B) chosen for him by Rin, and whenever he tried to convince his sharp-toothed sweetheart to help him tidy up, it always turned into Rin accusing him of wanting to ‘ throw away precious memories ’ .

“Stop throwing my stuff everywhere,” Sousuke huffed, briskly chopping Rin on the top of his head as he walked past.