breezeblocks; t.j. + j.d.

YES; IV

"painting is easy when you don't know how."
-edgar degas

josh was humming, and tyler was so in love that he could feel it in his fingertips-- could feel it tingling down the length of his spine. the soft sounds of josh's humming made tyler want to give him the entire world, and if you would've asked tyler to repeat the events on a later date, all he would've remembered was that one, specific, deep, easy sound. he was so distracted by it, so entranced. tyler laughs to himself at the thought, a lazy smile stretched across the brilliance of his face.

"what's so funny, darlin'?" tyler can't see josh's face, but he can tell he's smiling. josh's voice has this little lilt to it-- this amused sound hiding somewhere behind his syllables. it makes tyler's head dizzy with love.

tyler's spread out on their mattress, and their mattress is spread out on the wooden floor; holding the wonderful boy in all of his naked glory. his feet are dangling off the bottom, and the tops of his two biggest toes are almost touching the ground. josh is settled into a sapphire-colored chair across the room, sketchpad splayed open, and josh swears it's just begging for art, and he also, kind of, swears tyler is just begging to be that art. his dark eyes scan over the alabaster skin of his love, taking in the wonderful planes and delicate valleys of tyler's anatomy.

"nothin'," tyler's voice is quiet, soothing even, and josh's mind instantly falls back on the memories of tyler singing to him-- easy, soft, serene-- in his ear on those nights when sleep won't seem to beckon him, "just thinkin' about you."

josh chuckles, and the sound sends shivers through the younger's body. tyler loves josh's laugh. tyler loves josh. "aren't you always?" josh's voice doesn't sound arrogant or self-indulged. it sounds gentle, not accusatory.

"is that a rhetorical question, or do you want me to answer it?" tyler knows the answer before josh gives it to him, but he asks anyway. they ask each other everything.

tyler aches to flip over onto his other side, just so he can see josh, just so he can see what he already knows is there: the furrowed brows, the bottom lip tucked wonderfully under his front teeth, the eyelashes casting those same shadows tyler's been dreaming about for the past decade or so-- but, he can't. he can't move because josh is sketching him and his nude body, and tyler wouldn't dare do anything to harm the process of josh's creativity.

"answer it, baby," josh flicks a strand of hair from his eyes, his tone loving, his chest clenching with the overwhelming fondness taking shelter inside of his body.

"well, then, yes," tyler sighs after his few words, and it's not a stressed sigh, or an irritated sigh. it's a dreamy sigh-- his head filled with all good thoughts of josh, "i think about you pretty much every second of every day. i think about your smile, and your laugh, and how you talk. one time when you were sleeping, i noticed how our breathing was perfectly in sync, and so i tried to throw it off, and even then it eventually led to the most wonderful harmonization, and i think about that a lot too. that was the night i became completely convinced that we were soulmates. i think about how nice your hands look all over my body, in the most intimate places, as well as the most innocent. i think about how your eyes look in every environment-- joshua, your eyes shine a lot-- did you know that?"

tyler's rambling, his eyes closed, his voice a perfect song. josh is still sitting behind him, gazing lovingly at all of tyler's soft edges. at tyler's speech, this large, wondrous grin breaks out across his face. everything is soft shades of red and pink-- the color radiating around the two and throughout their shared residence. their home has always had love inside of it, always been warmed with forgiveness and admiration.