As the Sun Sets / Akitoya

May 19th, 2024

   I studied his hands as he worked with the thin stems of the flowers, twisting and turning them together skillfully. I glanced up at his face, smiling softly as I took notice of how his sharp grey eyes looked when he was focused, the way his hair fell in his face slightly, his tongue poking out slightly from his soft lips. My gaze flicked up to his bi-colored hair, noting the way he always had his hair tucked behind his ear. I was usually the one to do that, though.

   The sun was slowly making its way closer to the horizon, teasing the impending sunset. I'd watched countless sunsets with him before... usually all in this field, too. Every time was memorable, and I cherished each and every moment I could spend with him before-

   "Akitoo? Are you listening?" I heard him pout from beside me. God, did he look cute while doing it, too... Wait.

   I snapped my head over to look at him again, "Huh? You were talking?"

   He chuckled softly in amusement, his voice was so soft I almost thought it was the wind talking to me instead, "Yeah, I finished mine," He grinned proudly, holding up the flower crown he'd made.

   "Oh, it looks great-" My voice caught in my throat midway through my sentence as he placed the crown on my head tenderly, his touch feather light as if each petal was made of glass.

   "It compliments your hair," He said finally after leaning back away from me. Thank god, I thought I was gonna suffocate with how long I was holding my breath.

   A small smile made its way on to my lips as I reached a hand up, adjusting the crown he'd made on my head. The petals tickled against my hair, reminding me of its presence constantly. I leaned back on my hands, using them to support my weight. The long grass bent around my palms, making up for their presence.

   "How about you? Did you finish yours?"

   I blinked, looking back over at him, "Huh?"

   "I mean your crown. Did you finish it yet?" There it was again, that soft laugh that made him seem even more beautiful than he already was...

   Oh, right, my crown. It was still sitting unfinished in my lap, the rest of the warm-colored flowers to my left. I chuckled sheepishly, "Oops... got distracted."

   Luckily, Toya just tilted his head, smiling at me. He was so forgiving to me sometimes, maybe some tough love from him wouldn't hurt every once and a while...

   "Then hurry up, idiot."

   Okay, maybe I like his softness.

   I leaned forward once again and picked up the crown, grabbing another yellow flower and tying it in with the previous orange one. I wasn't too good at this, I don't know how Toya got the hang of it so quickly... Maybe it's another one of his weird quirks, making flower crowns for fun... Weirdo. I tied another few orange flowers in.

   I glanced up at him through my peripheral vision slyly. He was just admiring the sky. What was so good about the sky? Why couldn't he look at me instead? I glanced up at the sky, noticing the previous blue hues turning to oranges and yellows. I huffed. Sure, it was beautiful, but I'm probably hotter. 

   I looked back at my crown, focusing to make it look good even if it wouldn't even be able to compare to Toya's. 

   I rubbed the back of my neck, studying the crude flower crown I'd made. It was alright, I guess... I don't really want to give it to Toya, its pretty horrible-

   "Oh, are you done? Put it on me, then!" Shit. I look over to see him grinning childishly, his head tilted to the side. He looked really cute like that.. It helped ease some of my anxiety around this stupid flower crown I'd made.