<blockquote>ooc. [YOU AND ME, WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER NOW.] Dyo 31st, 81381. ic. [NONE OF THEM CAN STOP US NOW.]The sky darkened over Watani in its cystic blur of lights, its frizz of cosmopolitan energy leeching ever-deeper into the stratosphere, but the night darkened nonetheless, a gathering darkness. It was a black to hurt your ears and blind your eyes, cut through only with the streetlamps. They shredded the black to ribbons, tore it through with white. Gabe stared out his window. His fingers rapped out a steady percussion on the faux-stone sill, and he stretched luxuriously before curling up on the couch, his dreadlocks ropy around his face. He was dressed comfortably – loose jeans and a tee-shirt worn to exquisite softness, with his usual measure of bracelets and necklaces. He lay there, and then he waited for Khodan. He owed him some cuddles.</blockquote>
OoC; Timestamp? Make it sometime that usually has cold/rainy weather. x) BiC; Black. White. Black. White. Waves of brilliant electric light and deep, inky night washed alternately over Khodan as he walked toward Gabe's house. The brisk scent of rain had settled over everything, and there was a certain verdant glisten to the world, so freshly washed. Khodan reveled in it, breathing deeply through his nostrils to catch the scent as he step-stepped along this well-known path. Gabe. Just the thought of him sent a pleasant tingle through Khodan's skin, and he smiled absently to himself. Those dark-ringed eyes, surrounded by yellow, had grown so familiar to Khodan; he anticipated their warm glow as he drew up to the front door of Gabe's house. His knuckles rapped twice against the door, and then he stood back for a moment, vague smile still playing off his lips. The air was gloriously fresh outside, and he intended to ask if Gabe wanted to go for a short walk before any other plans were enacted. Even if Gabe declined, Khodan would be happy. Time spent with Gabe, any place and any way, was always so exquisite.
<blockquote>ooc. [GET INTO THE GROOVE, BOY YOU'VE GOT TO PROVE YOUR LOVE TO ME] -giggles at your interests in profile- ic. [PLAYED ON THE RADIO AS WE DROVE DOWN SOUTH TO SEE OUR FAMILIES] As Pumsa in the Purgatorio hears the voice of his Rausjeka before he sees her - by a few good lines, if Gabriel remembered rightly - he heard the rapping of Khodan Spinner's knuckles before he laid eyes on him. He stretched, back curving into a faint crescent moon as he arched his spine, before rising and padding to the door. He twisted the doorknob, and pulled back. "Khodan," he breathed. Gabe buried his oblong muzzle into the spot just between his neck and shoulder, where he breathed in the scent of him he remembered so well - something flowery, and, believe it or not, steel and wood, as if the glockenspiel he played so often had become twined into his very body. Colors flamed and spun before his eyes with the scents, and he embraced the khell tightly. "I just made some cookies for us," he said. "Chocolate chip."</blockquote>
OoC; Haha, yes, I noticed it this morning. BiC; Khodan let out something between a giggle and a chuckle as Gabe's head nestled itself between his neck & shoulder, and his own head inclined downward to rest against the crown of black and yellow hair. Physical affection had never been high on his list of favorite things, but with Gabe it was different: there was no way to dislike it. Clutching the handle of his glockenspiel's case in one paw, he wrapped his arms around the narrow body that was now pressed tightly against his own. The warmth, the weight, that light scent of something fresh & vaguely citrusy – it was his to enjoy. “I just made some cookies for us. Chocolate chip." “Gabriel," Khodan murmured, drawing out the syllables with a smile in the corner of his mouth. “Let's go for a walk first, okay? It's so glorious outside right now – everything is shiny and rain-smelling. Just grab a jacket, okay? It's a bit chilly." He let go of Gabe slowly, pulling back and setting his glockenspiel by his feet. Then suddenly – cookies! The warm, buttery aroma wafted to Khodan luxuriantly, and he opened his mouth a half inch to better taste the air. Such a glorious scent, so sweet and tantalizing that it stirred a low rumble in Khodan's stomach. “And let's take a few cookies to go."
<blockquote>Once, Gabriel had dreamed that him and Khodan outlived the rest of the planet. They'd stayed there, immortal, until everyone else had died long ago, and then they'd made something new, healed it whole with their music and weaved together another symphony of new life. It wasn't so far from the truth. The world had strayed into madness long ago. Rain was acid, poisonous. The sun caused cancer. Sex = death. Children murdered each other, parents lied, leaders lied, and the temples had less moral credability than a raunchy Hearse ad. But oh, they had each other. "A walk?" Gabe quipped airily, excitedly. "I'd love to." He sat down in a chair and began to lace up his hi-tops, looking up as Khodan from beneath a dreadlocked abundance of anthracite and lemon. He rose, then, grabbed about a dozen cookies, put them in a plastic bag, and over to the coatrack near the door, where he grabbed a bomber jacket and deposited the bag into one of its pockets. "Ready to go?" he asked Khodan, gripping his hand loosely in his. "You can go first; I'll lock the door and set the alarm."</blockquote>
Khodan followed Gabe over to the cookies and grabbed two extra to begin eating right away. No sooner than the first bite touched his tongue, he let out a soft groan of appreciation. Simply put, those cookies were divine -- less than sixty seconds later, the first cookie had disappeared and the second was already half eaten. He reveled in the flavors of the cookies while trailing after Gabe once more, back to the front door. He placed the last bite of the cookie in his mouth with satisfaction and retrieved his glockenspiel case from the floor with one hand. Then he found that his other was twined gently with Gabe's, softly furred fingers woven between his own. "Yeah," he replied, smiling lightly. "I'm ready when you are." He used the hand that already held the glockenspiel case to twist the doorknob and swing the door opened. Then he gently pulled his hand back from Gabe, stepped outside, and waited for the arden to join him. "So, how was your day today?" OoC; Whoa, I just realized that you're only two days older than my little sister. xD You're such a worldly & amazing writer that I'd always assumed you were older.
<blockquote> ooc. Awr! ic. Gabe tapped in the four-digit code, echoing a loud "bleeep" that followed him out the door before he closed and locked it. Following Khodan down the stairs, he pulled him close in a one-sided hug before covering his face in warm, cinnamon kisses at the bottom of the stairwell. One hand was shoved in his jacket pocket, the other weaved through the khell's hair. "It was good," he said. "Finished up a painting, paid some bills. Missed you." He looked up at the sky. So often, the stars in the city were like oil spillage - cold and slippery - but every now and then, they had the nerve to rise and float, even if for a few minutes. "Hello, stars," he breathed. Waiting. For Khodan to hold him closer, tug at his hand a little more. Until the stars were dragged down, down, into the black waters of the Watani sky.</blockquote>
Khodan listened as Gabe explained in a few sentences the hours they'd been apart, half his mind processing words and the other half processes senses: Gabe's arm resting gently about his narrow waist; that brief shower of kisses across his face, which he returned with a slight, lingering sense of shyness; and the light warmth of body against body, the movement of someone else's breathing as it brushed along his ribs. Then, without waiting for the invitation to describe his own day in response, he burst out, “The professors didn't like 'Mr. Corprolalia.'" ('Mr. Corprolalia' being, of course, his latest foray into school-assigned songwriting.) “They said the lyrics were amateurish and distracting." He sighed and leaned deeper into Gabe's embrace. A beat passed, and then he slid one arm around Gabe's waist, pulling them closer – they were evenly attached to one another now. Khodan hadn't quite realized the comfort attainable from physical contact until he'd met Gabe.
<blockquote>In the stuttered span of a heartbeat, Gabriel devoured the distance between them and caressed his lips with his saccharine tongue; the artist's low, husky voice rose on a sudden, sensual purr. Little firecracker. He broke the kiss after a few head-tripping moments, his heart doing acrobatics in his chest. "Well..." he said, reaching for another cookie and nibbling on it. "I like it. And that's all that matters, isn't it?"</blockquote>
That kiss. An eclipse occurred in Khodan's mind -- Gabe overshadowed all and under his beautiful gaze everything problematic in Khodan's life seemed to disappear. Obliteration. Nothing existed outside of their two consciouses, their perceptions, their senses; there was nothing in the world except for Gabe, Khodan, a hint of tongues. There was no world. Then the kiss was broken, and Khodan's body surged foward subconsciously to follow Gabe as the alabaster arden pulled back. A split second. He held himself in check, kept his arm around Gabe's waist and kept a light, steady pressure between their bodies, but he didn't allow himself to fall forward like a lovesick puppy begging for more. What would Gabe think of him if he did? "I like it." Khodan's mouth twitched into a pale smile: it was comforting to hear those words, obligatory though they were. "And that's all that matters, isn't it? Doubt. Was it really all? Khodan's brow furrowed, light creases of worry. He said finally, "I don't know. It's all that should matter, but.. I don't know. They really didn't like it. At all. I never expected them to love it, but they were kind of.. harsh, I guess. And it does matter to me, even though it maybe shouldn't."
<blockquote>Nothing but oblivion. They canceled each other out until they were nothing but each other. A simple equation: 1 + -1 = 0. And zero equaled god. Gabe pressed himself closer, sharing body heat with Khodan - he hadn't been as affectionate as this before, and now... well, he was, and 'Riel loved it! A siren's smile curled at the edges of Gabriel's lips, and a sort of brooding intensity like a smoldering sunrise rose in his piercing, ocean-blue eyes. They were the falcon's eyes: clear as glass, expressive, and powerful. "Y'know... my good friend knows Requiem Falahau. He might take interest if you wanted to meet him, and he could get us signed to a label..."</blockquote>
With all this cuddling and kissing, they were barely getting anywhere on their "walk" -- a few steps past the front door, past the narrow stairwell they had taken only moments earlier to reach ground level. But now that Khodan was folded neatly into Gabe's embrace, he hardly even noticed. He looked up at Gabe's face, and his breath caught in his throat. Those eyes -- those blue, blue eyes were unbelievable, so passionate and playful. Khodan knew that in comparison to the clear, confident gaze of 'Riel, he probably looked like nothing more than a wide-eyed child, caught up in the immaculate aesthetics of the 'dragon that now embraced him. It bothered him for a moment that Gabe probably didn't see Khodan as the exquisitely beautiful creature that Khodan saw in Gabe; but this brief worry passed in a heartbeat. Khodan simply felt so, so lucky to have found 'Riel. In a moment of impulse, he leaned his head against Gabe's chest while the other 'dragon spoke -- and felt rather than heard the next few words of Gabe's sentence, a vibration of melodies. "...and he could get us signed to a label..." Khodan's head snapped back, mouth falling open ever so slightly. Visions of quitting his unappreciative music school and moving on to things so much larger flitted across his mind's eye. And he could do it all with 'Riel at his side, as a team, as partners. He smiled. "Yes." Simple. Declarative. "Let's."
<blockquote>Gabriel clutched Khodan's hand a little tighter, his fingertips nimbly tracing the creases and gently-hewed lines of his palm. It was a beautiful night for a walk, despite the fact that they were hardly moving - traces of Mia's snow lingered in long striations, like the thin fingers of ancient women who refuse to clasp their hands in prayer and decently die. "Let's." Gabe smiled, brushed the khell's cheek ever-so-faintly with the back of his hand before it fell to the other arden's wrist, feeling for his pulse. Assuring himself that they were still both alive. "I can arrange a meeting," he said, grinning.</blockquote>
Entwined in Gabe's limbs, encased in this perfect bliss, Khodan began to walk again, slowly, hoping to pull Gabe along with him. One of Khodan's arms snaked free for a moment, and his hand found its way into Gabe's pocket, where it pried open the bag and carefully lifted out one cookie. "Yeah," Khodan said enthusiastically, his voice soft against the evening, "How soon do you think we can meet him?" And then, to cap off that inquiry full of infinite potential, that inquiry that had not yet led to anything but could so easily lead to everything, Khodan bit into the cookie in his hand and everything became butter and sugar. A burst of cocoa. That perfect soft and chewy texture. Cookies. Moving slowly along on the sidewalk, entwined in the arms of a beautiful arden that he loved, ambrosial baked goods on his lips, and imagining the amazing possibilities of his future -- their future -- Khodan felt complete. OoC; Augh, sorry, not the best reply. :c
