Blinded by the Light: Drabbles

Drabble Twelve: The Ring

'These are the most stupid daisies I've ever encountered in my life.'

Roger's whiny voice broke the almost perfect silence in the park, and Brian looked up from the sandwich he was taking bites of to cast a glance at his boyfriend. Roger was lying on the red and white-checkered tablecloth Brian had brought along to use to sit on, but he should've known better than that; Roger would always find alternative purposes for conventional items. This was why the by now almost empty picnic basket was standing in the grass while the drummer, laying on his front, was sprawled all over the surface of the tablecloth, leaving only just enough space for Brian to not have to sit on the cold, wet ground as well. It was a beautiful day, but it was still early, and the dew on the bright green grass hadn't vanished yet.

'What can possibly be wrong about daisies, dear?' Brian pondered out loud.

'They break or tear every time I try to split their stem,' Roger grumbled. Brian looked at the small, white flower with pulverised stem that Roger was holding, his eyes following the poor daisy when Roger put it down beside him on a small pile of equally abused-looking flowers.

'You shouldn't use both your nails to split them; their stem is too small to fit that without breaking. You should just use one thumb,' Brian instructed. Roger looked a bit sceptical, but he decided to give it a shot anyway. Brian saw him pressing the nail of his right thumb through the stem, more carefully than he had done before.

'Like this?' Roger asked as he briefly turned around and stuck the hand with the daisy out towards Brian, who examined it thoroughly.

'Much better.' Brian smiled, sneaking a careful hand under the hem of Roger's striped shirt, gently caressing the bare skin of his boyfriend's back. The soft, downy hairs of the skin rose at the touch of Brian's cold fingertips along the curve of Roger's spine, but the drummer didn't protest against the chilly feeling; instead, Brian heard him emit a shivery sigh and felt him relax the muscles in his back, indicating that Roger was completely surrendering to his actions.

Brian continued caressing Roger's back and watched the somewhat clumsy fingers pulling out a handful of grass, searching for the few daisies it contained, and going back to puncturing the stems of it again. Even though Roger was facing the other way, Brian could almost see the concentrated expression his blind partner would pull off whenever he was working on something that demanded precision; the slight furrow that would form between his brows and the way he would bite down his bottom lip as part of his routine for delicate tasks like these. Roger's fingers worked to push the stems of a number daisy though the perforations he had created, and much to his excitement, it seemed to work.

'Look, Bri!' he said, turning over to his back and pushing himself up on is elbows, holding the handful of entangled flowers out in Brian's direction. But it was not so much the craftwork that caught Brian's attention; it was the smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes that stole Brian's heart.

'It looks very good,' Brian commented. 'And to see you enjoying yourself is even better,' he added, leaning forwards to Roger and taking his face between his hands to plant a kiss on both his cheeks. Roger blushed slightly at the unexpected display of affection, but he did not hesitate to press a kiss against Brian's jawbone in return, something that never failed to bring a smile to the guitarist's face. Roger got down on his front again and resumed his work, and Brian found his fingers crawling under the hem of his boyfriend's shirt again by their own account. He looked up at the cloudless sky, the barely-there rustling of leaves of the trees in the park, and the morning sun that emitted a light that was only just strong enough to feel its glow on your skin. Everything around them gave Brian the impression that today was going to be a beautiful day in late August – a perfect day for the plan he had in mind.