A Whale Shark's Ray (Free!)(SousukexOC)(Boyxboy)

Chapter 14

We started off kind of... awkward, to say the least. I couldn't look at him naked, and he seemed to be avoiding looking at me naked. Which made me wonder why he even suggesting bathing together...

I found out after finishing washing my hair. He suddenly began washing my back for me, the heat rising to my cheeks. Thank goodness for dark skin... I wasn't used to being touched, really, but it felt nice, and I found myself relaxing despite my awkwardness.

But I still couldn't look at him...

"Sousuke..."

"Mm?"

"Do you want me to do your back...?"

"No, that's fine. I just wanted an excuse to touch you."

It still surprises me that he's able to say things like that so calmly, like he's just talking about groceries or something. I stay quiet until he's finished, and then we sit in the bath together. I can relax a little now, as the water makes it so we can't really see the other's body. I sit at one end, him at the other. I'm slightly turned away from him, my arms crossed on the edge and head resting upon them.

We don't speak, but it's not uncomfortable. It's the same sort of silence like sitting on the couch together, but doing different activities. Though at the same time, I can't help but notice out of the corner of my eye that Sousuke looks slightly... intoxicated. Not drunk, or really anything alcohol related, just that he's enjoying something. Like an addiction of some sort.

After a little bit, he pulls me over to him, so he's sitting against the edge of the tub, me in front of him with my back resting against his chest. I glance back at him cautiously as his arms wrap loosely around my waist. It's not that I don't enjoy it, it's just... Not something I'm really used to. Very rarely have I ever been held in a comforting or loving way.

"Is this another excuse to touch me?"

A small, almost smirky, smile reaches his face. His beautiful turquoise eyes stare into my boring cloudy blue with an unfamiliar intensity I've never noticed before.

"Partially. You're lost in my eyes again, aren't you?"

I snap my gaze away a little too quickly, and he chuckles at my embarrassment. We fall back into silence for a little longer, before I hear his deep voice again.

"Do you want to tell me the real reason why you didn't answer when I called you earlier?"

A chill runs through me, despite the warmth of the water and his body heat. I feel uneasy, both at the experience earlier in the day and his sensitivity to my truthfulness. One of my hands goes to my side beneath the water, as if trying to hold me together.

"I told you. I was cleaning."

"I don't doubt it. But I know it's not realistic for you to not have heard your phone."

"What, are you jealous that I ignored you for the broom?"

"Very..."

His tone is just as playful as mine, but it sends a shiver down my spine at the underlying hint of frustration. I turn my head to look at him, finding his gaze already on me. He's worried, that much I can tell. I can't get him involved in Sati's web of lies...

We stare at each other for a long moment in a silent test of wills. As much as I want to back down, I continue staring back at him. Yet he still doesn't cave, though both of our eyes are watering at being held open so long. Is it just me or are his eyes getting closer....?

Just as I'm about to move away from him, I hear the dreaded sound of my phone ringing all the way on the downstairs counter. I look towards the bathroom door instinctively, an image of Sati standing over me with a hostile expression flashing behind my eyes. It's a scene I'm oddly familiar with...

"Munto, look at me."

I find it difficult to look away from the door, but somehow I turn to meet his gaze. He studies my expression for a moment, before sighing.

"I get it. You don't want to talk about it. But please stop making that face.."

"What face?"

"You look so lost and defeated sometimes. I don't like it."

I try to conceal my awkwardness by forcing a laugh.

"Alright then. Would you prefer I look like you then?"

"And what soft of expression would that be?"

I think for a moment, then give him the darkest, most bored expression I can make. He frowns, hands retreating from around my waist as he moves away from me.

"Stop that, it's freaky."

I outright laugh at his opinion of his own resting expression, and at some point, he joins in.

I'm truly glad he's with me right now, to make me smile and laugh during such dark times. But somewhere in my heart, I know this cannot last. Somehow, sometime, it will all shatter like the illusion that happiness is, and the world will begin to grow dark.

The sea is not kind, nor is it hostile. Yet it will drown the fittest swimmer in an instant.

Just as the spider holds no mercy for its prey.