behind the streams | dnf

thirty three | affection

DREAM

"Random playlist." I hold up the speaker, waving it showingly. "Hopefully tonight there'll be some good ones." 

George leans off the doorframe, a slight smile on his face. "You think so?"

"There has to be."

"It didn't work last night," he snips with a tinge of spent laughter. 

I push myself away from the edge of the desktop, clambering onto the bed as the frame beneath me heaves. "I don't think you were in a good mood for that." 

He shuts the door quietly behind him. Slow, meandering strides carry him around the room and I watch him, amused. "What are you doing?" 

Whirling around, he stops on his toes and rocks back to his heels, hands tucked into the front pocket of his hoodie. "I don't know." He grins. "I... I had a really good time tonight."

Pleasant surprise winds its way into my words. "Me too. I'm a good planner, aren't I?"

"Making everything about yourself again," he responds breezily, as his wandering carries him over to the bed and to take a seat that doesn't even disturb the covers. 

I grumble a response but the air is full of mirth. "Well, I'm glad. You seem really happy." 

He hugs his arms to his chest, meeting my eyes with endearing shyness before darting away.  

The phone leaves my hand, thumping quietly into a pillow. Replaced with the more lightweight remote, I press it to his palm in a way that I can feel his fingers brush mine when they close around. 

My eyelids flutter. 

I lean away slightly, back hardly brushing the wall as I'm more centered on the bed tonight. He sits cross-legged, arms dropped into his lap as he inspects the spectrum of hues on the flattened display. 

Only one of the hoodie sleeves is pushed up to his elbow, creating a baggy outbloom from the oversize. The other has dropped to cover half his hand, creating a bothersome asymmetry but... it looks good. 

He hums slightly, slanting the remote at the power source. "Orange?"

Just the hoodie, on him. "Yeah." The charcoal gray, I think it brings out his features even more. There may even be hints of navy in the fabric, but the alien lighting makes it difficult to see.

"Pink?" The room around us falls to a rosier glow. 

It really does; dark eyes and eyebrows against the fairness of his face. "Mhm." 

He looks so... small in it. The material overspans his shoulders, only hugging there and nowhere else, practically swallowing him whole.

"Green?"

The secret, growing smile from watching him, it eases to a laugh as I peer over at the button he just pressed. "It literally says G on it, what do you think?" 

His grin crinkles the edges of his eyes, a happy sight that sends unexpected fondness dancing across my chest. I raise a few fingers to my lips, suppressing the similar expression that threatens to show. 

"Turquoise." The leafy wash of color cools slightly. "Or teal." 

Teal. 

My smile falters, eyes slowly dragging over to the seemingly innocuous color that's now infiltrated the room whole.

I wait, it's all I can do. And wait. 

And then some. 

And my heartrate has spiked, yes, there's a tension in my muscles that wasn't there before but other than that, I'm waiting for nothing.