ANGEL | caejose

chapter 12 ; visit venice more often

"This is kinda boring," Caesar grumbles, his voice dry and filled with apathy.

Joseph spares him a look before going back to the sky. "Hm, really?" Joseph answers back with the same flat tone. To which Caesar counters with a rough punch on the shoulder, making Joseph speak up. "I guess stargazing just isn't for you."

"Don't get me wrong, I like it." Caesar quickly defends himself and Joseph opens his mouth to say he believes him until Caesar lets out a disappointing sigh, his shoulders slumping back with a complaint. "It's just that, what's the point of looking at the stars for hours with only one person? It's so dark and creepy!" Joseph chuckles silently at the words he chose.

"It's peaceful, I suppose." Caesar groans at the simplistic reasoning. "And, plus, you get time to think about stuff."

A snapping twig startles Joseph, forcing his attention out of the conversation as he attempts to calm his beating heart. Looking at the blue reflection in Caesar's eyes, Joseph has a minute to think.

He had never gone stargazing before, it was something he had strictly heard from families and lovers, a rare night to enjoy with the people they cherish. How he and Caesar ended up coincidentally meeting at the same stargazing spot, Joseph couldn't even tell himself. All he could do at that moment was just go with fate's course — though he did stop himself before he could finish that sentence — in hopes to spend more time with the blond.

A sudden blow of wind has Joseph realizing that he can barely hear anything but the breeze, the brisk air swaying the grass underneath him, beneath his fingertips, his legs, all while cooling him down.

With no chair to lean on, Joseph had planned on sitting on the grass by himself, not supposing the unexpected guest, he had immediately regretted that decision. But the angel, no longer to his surprise, sat down beside him with a grin.

"But you can think of the exact same stuff at home." He desperately pointed out. Joseph grumbles something inaudible as an answer, but all the same, it makes the blond snicker. "I guess we're just too different for each other."

Joseph was always well-known with jokes, they're something meant to be taken lightly, and considering how light-hearted Caesar is, he undoubtedly shouldn't take most of what he says to heart. And even when knowing all of that, such a simple sentence is enough to shred his heart to pieces and he bites down on his lip to let out a forced laugh.

For the most part, Caesar doesn't seem to notice, or perhaps he does and he just doesn't care. Either way, he goes silent, and all Joseph can focus on is the sound of the blond shuffling. Joseph doesn't read much into it, as he's not supposed to, until the sound of something being lit finally gets him to peek.

"You smoke?" Joseph asks the obvious, staring at the cigarette in Caesar's hand. Caesar looks at him with a questionable expression, an eyebrow raised.

Moving the square lighter away from the cigarette warily, Caesar asks, "Oh, are you not comfortable with that?"

"No, that's not it." Joseph can see the relief in his eyes. "I'm just surprised, is all."

"I get that a lot." With a smile, he places the smoke on his lips and takes a deep breath. "I never really knew why." Even though Joseph practically worships every move the blond takes, he can't help but feel annoyed at the statement.

Watching the smoke rise, Joseph doesn't hide the fact that he's blatantly staring at him, almost as if he's given up on that completely. Caesar doesn't seem to mind, so Joseph continues. Watching his blond hair waver in the wind, the smoke evaporating right before of his eyes, Joseph's started to wonder if he only called the blond an angel because he was beautiful or perhaps he was so beautiful that he made Joseph believe in heaven.

"Did you grow taller?" Caesar's question somehow makes Joseph blush. 

Joseph swallowed a ball of collecting saliva. "Maybe, I'm not really sure."

"Ah, okay." Joseph couldn't read Caesar's expression, no matter how hard he tried."How old are you again?"

"I'm 19 now," The brunet responded. "You're 20, right?"

"21, actually." The blond proudly exclaimed, making Joseph shake his head jokingly.

"Wait, did you bring a telescope?" Caesar inquires.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Joseph answered. Caesar suddenly looks at him with newfound excitement and it's enough for Joseph to reach for his bag. "Here, be careful with it."

Caesar takes the telescope in his hands delicately. Marveling at it, he questions, "Where did you get this? It looks so expensive."

From the way Caesar's looking down, he can't see how taken aback Joseph looks, nor does he see how strangely Joseph collects himself. With a forcefully calm voice, Joseph responds, "I bought it on sale." While it was true that it was bought on sale, it also just so happened that Joseph found it already bought while the real owner wasn't looking.

Before the bronze could see the look on the blond's face, Caesar's already setting up the telescope eagerly, and Joseph doesn't show a sign of care for how aggressively Caesar treats the tool. He looks at the angel warily, taking note of how he's holding the cigarette between his teeth and how his face looks irritated.

"I can hold your cigarette if you want." Joseph offers. Caesar's head perks up and he grins in appreciation.

"Thanks, it's a lot better without holding it in your mouth." And he's already back to fix the telescope.

Joseph looks down at the cigarette in his hand, the place where Caesar placed his lips to be exact. With a quick glance at Caesar, Joseph settles the cigarette on his lips and takes a quiet inhale. His efforts proved useless, for soon, he was coughing relentlessly and a large cloud of smoke was already making its way into the air.

Before long, Joseph could hear the sound of Caesar laughing loudly. With a huff, Joseph reasoned with himself, at least his embarrassment was funny to someone.

"You've never smoked before?" Caesar jested, his laughter gradually easing down. Joseph shoves the cigarette back in his hand, making sure it was placed the right way, of course, and looks away with a bright flush on his cheeks. His bashful response only manages to make Caesar laugh more, this time with him looking into the telescope instead at Joseph.

Joseph, sure that Caesar wasn't looking at him, gazes into Caesar's eyes. It's difficult, with the telescope being in the way for most of it, but he can see a glimpse. He can't decide which color Caesar's eyes are at that moment, similar to a day he experienced before.

Joseph doesn't mind that the blond is hogging the telescope all to himself. As long as he can see the stars reflecting in his eyes, then that's fine with him.