(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 51

Aoi's slumber was fitful and short-lived, full of nightmares and memories of times long passed. He woke with a start sometime after everyone else had returned and gone to sleep. Somehow his thrashing about didn't wake anyone up, even Suo who had unfortunately been the victim of more than one hardy kick or smack. Aoi considered going back to sleep, but it never came so he sat up and surveyed the room a little better.

There weren't quite enough futons laid out for everyone present, and his memory before he fell asleep was pretty hazy. He pressed himself against the wall under the large window, folding into himself using his knees as a headrest. There was a familiar, but annoying ache in the pit of his stomach as he sat there trying to chase away the fog of his bad dreams. He was hungry, and sore, having missed dinner and feeling somehow even less rested than before as he sat there waiting for either sleep to take him or the cool light of the morning sun to rouse his classmates and friends.

Sleep won out, eventually, just before an alarm from someone's phone nearby startled him right back awake. Aoi tried to ignore it, but the blaring sound was driving him mad so he got up and searched for the source. Careful not to trip over anyone, far less careful about silencing the alarm and dropping the phone on the ground. He returned to his spot, still just barely conscious as he slid down onto the ground and quietly cursed the fan for blowing prickly cold air at him. There was some shuffling to his right, barely earning a grunted acknowledgement as he rifted into a half-sleep.

Another alarm interrupted his pitiful attempt to rest, once again coming from Sugishita's phone. Aoi used every ounce of willpower not to smack the still sleeping boy with his own phone for forgetting to turn off all the alarms. Once he managed to put the phone down without causing any bodily harm, he groaned and stretched his arms over his head. Realizing that one of the room's occupants was missing, a vague curiosity lingering as he dug out a change of clothes and went to find a bathroom to change in.

Once changed, after depositing his clothes into a heap by his bag and jump-scaring the poor receptionist with his awful bedhead, Aoi headed out onto the deck. He didn't find anyone there, not that he wanted to meet, so slowly picked his way down to the sandy shoreline and squinted at the bright sand in the early morning sun. After walking for a bit, and picking up a shell that had started to move in his pocket, he found his classmate and partner sat next to a large stone that stuck out from the sand. He didn't spare a glance or any acknowledgement, laser focused on his morning meditation. Normally Aoi would leave him be, but he was feeling a little more antsy this morning and that meant he was going to do his absolute best to get a reaction out of Suo and break his concentration.

Starting simple with a poke to the cheek, then pulling and stretching his face. Nothing. Next, Aoi went for his hair but realized partway through that he didn't even have a hair tie for his own. He realized the shell he picked up earlier in fact housed a little hermit crab, and had some fun watching it crawl around and swiping at the tassel of Suo's earring after placing it on his shoulder. There was still no visible reaction from Suo, making Aoi pout as he thought of new ways to pester him. He was just about to get up and look for something else, an object for inspiration, when something pulled the hem of the short-sleeved hoodie he wore and pulled him back hard. He landed hard on his backside, a small grunt of pain coming from two sources. Before he could process what was happening, two earbuds were pushed into his ears and a phone plopped into his lap with a song already playing.

Aoi looked up from his new perch, right in Suo's lap, and saw just the slightest hint of irritation on his partner's face. For the briefest of moments, then his gaze was redirected forward with a gentle push of Suo's hand. Gentle but firm, with a little pull on Aoi's cheeks when he started to grin at his accomplishment. His concentration fully shattered, Suo ran his fingers through Aoi's hair and carefully pulled out the tangles until he was sure that the boy was well and fully placated. Only then did he return to his meditation, somehow managing to zone in so fully that he hardly noticed when the others woke up and made their way down, leaving a few belongings piled up around the pair.

"This wasn't set up as a date for just the two of you," Sakura grumbled at the two of them. Kiryu snapped a picture on his phone, the sound of the shutter finally getting the attention of Suo. He smiled up at them innocently, further irritating Sakura.

"Whatever could you mean?," Suo couldn't resist teasing his classmate, even while his partner was asleep leaned into his chest and tangled up in his lap.

"Really, though. Is he just gonna sleep the whole trip?," Nirei popped up to drag Sakura away, shooting back a snide comment of his own. Then they were left alone again, and Suo realized the predicament he had gotten himself into.

With Aoi positioned how he was, slumped into his chest and sprawled out over his folded legs, Suo was having certain thoughts about what he could do to get back at him for the earlier pestering. The things he could do with the full trust he had been given, the lines he could cross and boundaries he could test. All laid right out in front of him, a tantalizing feast for the imagination. Supported by all the new information gained as his fingers traced Aoi's cheek, then brushed over his slightly parted lips free from the cloth mask for once. Further, playing at the zipper of his hoodie while the other hand slid up underneath the cloth from another angle.

Aoi stirred in his sleep, hushed sounds hardly making it passed his lips as he took Suo's slow onslaught of touches and caresses. That should have made Suo stop his advances, but it only served to spur him on further. Slowly, with ragged breaths and shaky fingertips, pushing further beyond the bounds of fabric and pulling Aoi's hips in closer to himself. The way his partner's face scrunched up, the hint of pink on his cheeks as he fought to hold onto that peaceful sleep. It was all too much for Suo's fragile self control, an overwhelming source of stimulation in all the wrong ways.

"Suo?," Aoi's eyes fluttered open, then pinched tight as he was greeted by the blindingly bright scenery of the beach in the early afternoon sun. He adjusted his position a little bit, unknowingly sending Suo further down a path he was trying to desperately reconsider. The little hermit crab, having found a perch on top of Aoi's head, fell off and bounced off Suo's hand before landing on Aoi's tanned thigh.

"Did I wake you?," Suo's voice stalled out on him for just a moment, his composure hanging by a thin thread. Aoi didn't respond immediately, still groggy and foggy as he poked at their little buddy, flinching when the crab's clawed pincer snapped shut on the end of his finger.

"Ow, fucker," Aoi muttered a few curses at the creature, returning it to the sand where it scuttled away with one last threatening wave of its little claws. He shook his head then, dislodging the earbuds Suo had forgotten were even there and yawning.