Bold and Brilliant

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"Are you all good, bro?"
Josuke bit down hard on the sky blue popsicle locked in his mouth, clutching his forehead.
"Brain freeze," Josuke mumbled through clutched teeth.
Okuyasu gave Josuke a gentle laugh in response. "You're not supposed to eat those things so damn fast, Josuke".
Josuke slowly sucked at the popsicle once again, sliding it out from his mouth. His lips were a faded blue from the colored cold treat.
"I know man," Josuke assured. "It's so hot out though, I can't help but wanna take it in."
Okuyasu stares back down into his hands, his own popsicle still wrapped in its paper seal.
"You're gonna wanna start eatin' that before it melts!" Josuke points out, snatching the popsicle from Okuyasu's hands.
"H-hey," Okuyasu protested, as Josuke fumbled with the paper and ripped it open. Josuke slid the popsicle, this one bright red, from the bag and handed it back to Okuyasu.
"You know you can't get that thing open on your own," Josuke chuckled, sucking on his popsicle.
Okuyasu stares at his feet, slightly red with embarrassment. "My fingers are just too big to get those things open," Okuyasu sighed, forcing himself to laugh.
The two friends sat in silence for the next ten minutes, atop Okuyasu's front porch, a box of brightly colored popsicles resting next to Josuke. The sky was a whispery baby blue, clouds traveling with no specific destination, crawling closer and closer to the sun.
Okuyasu wipes his forehead of sweat, begging for a little bit of shade from the raging heat.
Josuke and Okuyasu were already tired enough. They managed to clean the entire ground level, pry the boards off the windows, and dust every speck of space.
"I really appreciate the help, Josuke," Okuyasu sincerely grinned, gently slugging his friend on the shoulder.
Josuke gave him his famous star struck grin. "It really isn't a problem. Cleaning your house on your own would be a damn pain. It's pretty big."
Okuyasu smiled in return, feeling a familiar warm fuzzy feeling in his chest.
"It's nice to not be on my own anymore," Okuyasu whispered, turning to Josuke.
Josuke reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to be alone anymore, bro," Josuke promised, slipping the popsicle back into his mouth.
Okuyasu stares down at his own popsicle, which was slowly dripping red juice onto his wrist, dribbling down his arm.
Okuyasu quickly popped the sweet treat into his mouth and felt the zing of a brilliant bright cherry shake his tastebuds.
He rarely got sweets, back when he was quarantined to the house. Keicho only believed in the necessities, standard brand foods, and bland meals. But on those special days, Keicho would come home in clutch with two ice creams. He always got chocolate, and Keicho always had vanilla. Okuyasu liked chocolate quite a lot. It was a sweet flavor for his sweet tooth.
But ice cream never tasted as sweet as it did when his mom was still alive. Her presence was enough to make sweets overwhelm his tastebuds. His mother loved chocolate cherry ice cream. It would always be on a small standard cone, rainbow sprinkles atop one scoop of ice cream. It would always be the same shop, "Sweet Tea Ice Cream", on the same bench outside the shop, with a generic red striped umbrella. It would always be the same kind of day, warm and sunny, always with her nonstop cheerful vibes, and her silver hopped earring swinging in the breeze.
Ice cream tasted blander with each passing day of his mother's death.
Okuyasu pointed out to himself that now, the frozen treat tasted sweeter now, aside from the fruity and tangy sting of the popsicle.
It wasn't ice cream, yet it felt just as sweet and cool. Just as the ice cream his mother often got.
Why now was it so bitterly sweet?
He turned to Josuke and curiously sucked on the popsicle, eventually biting down on the stick.
"Hey Josuke?" Okuyasu asked.
Josuke glanced at Okuyasu, nibbling on the remains of popsicle clinging to the stick.
"Does ice cream ever taste different to you?"
Josuke bit his lip in a bemused manner. "Waddya mean by that?"
Okuyasu pondered for an explanation. "Like, does ice cream taste different to you when...you're feeling different or around different people?"
Okuyasu's heart was beating faster than ever, feeling strangely light headed and oddly fluttery in his stomach.
Josuke sucked on his popsicle stick, humming to himself, thinking about the question.
"I-I suppose it can," Josuke responded in a still unsure tone. "I mean like I guess that if I ate ice cream with someone I despise it wouldn't taste as good, but if I'm with a friend, it can taste much sweeter." Josuke pointed at him with his popsicle stick, before placing the trash into the popsicle box.
Okuyasu felt his cheeks burn, and he tried to distract himself with the cherry flavored popsicle.
"It's kind of tricky to explain how emotions make ice cream taste," Josuke pouted, crossing his legs and leaning back a bit.
Okuyasu shut his eyes and nibbles on the popsicle stick, searching for remaining patches of cherry flavor.
Was the treat sweeter when Josuke ate alongside with him? Just maybe...
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
Okuyasu's eyes darted up Josuke, the sunlight teasing him with his chiseled facial features.
"H-huh?" Okuyasu stuttered, throwing the popsicle stick into the box beside him.
"Do you wanna talk about what happened up in your room early today?..."
Throat dry, palms sweaty, his eyesight blurry, Okuyasu gulped.
"Waddya' mean? I-I'm fine..." Okuyasu chuckled, trying desperately to pass it off as if it didn't bother him.
Josuke without warning reached out and placed a finger atop one of his scars drizzling down his neck. Okuyasu's face hot and sweaty, he shot back.
"Life shouldn't entail you to bring about your own suffering all alone," Josuke pointed out, retracing back his touch.
Okuyasu made eye contact with Josuke once again and raised a bemused eyebrow.
"Bro...you sound like really smart," he mumbled. "Like er...that one scientist guy Beethoven."
Josuke crinkled his nose. "Uh dude, I think you mean Charles Darwin or someone like that."
Okuyasu felt dizzy and shook his head. "Wait so Charles Darwin didn't write music?!"
Josuke remained silent and gently laughed.
Okuyasu slouched back and sighed.
"S-sorry Josuke...I'm not very smart like you."
"You know that smarts doesn't determine a person's worth," Josuke assures.
"R-really?" Okuyasu asked in a dazzled starstruck awe.
"Yeah man. What else do you like man?"
Okuyasu pondered for a moment.
He liked the morning sun, the faint smell of rain and the teasing sensation of raindrops.
He liked chocolate cold ice cream and cherries on top. He liked books he liked music, he liked the square little keys of a piano...
"P-piano..." Okuyasu mumbled, twiddling his thumbs.
Josuke grinned. "Oh right! You like listening to piano?"
Okuyasu shook his head. "No...playing it."
Josuke ocean eyes swirled like a hurricane as he dropped his jaw. "You can play?" Josuke screeched excitedly. "Now you're gonna have to show me, ya know!"
Okuyasu felt a smile threaten to pull up his cheeks as he giggled.
"No Josuke I'm not very good. I don't think you'd like it."
Josuke shook his head and slugged Okuyasu in the shoulder. "Nonsense!" He exclaimed.
The two shared a short set of laughs, until silence bid them welcome once again.
Summer days, evening lights, a melancholy sense of flight....
That's what Okuyasu felt. He could stare into the clouds and fly amongst the swirls of white. He felt that uplifted.
His mother told him he could be whatever he wanted when he was an adult.
In that moment he wanted to be a bird. A bird with a sense of freedom.
As high as he felt, his heart fluttered back down to earth next to Josuke.
"H-hey Josuke?" Okuyasu mumbled.
Josuke turned his head. "Yeah? What's up bro?"
That same fuzzy warmth he had felt in Josuke's grasp earlier that day made his head pound as he opens his mouth once again. "Can I...have another hug?"
He excepted him to laugh and even point fun at him. Instead he was welcomed in soft yet sturdy arms. Josuke slowly pulled him in.
Okuyasu closed just eyes and scooted closer against Josuke. He melted in his grip and felt strangely at peace.
Starved of affection, akin to what reality was, it made Okuyasu tear up again. Tears like this made him feel happy.
He burrowed into the crook of Josuke's neck, hairspray and tangy cologne filling his nostrils. He smelled of peaches...even honey.
It could have been the cologne, or Josuke himself that made Okuyasu feel woozy with the sweet smell.
At this point it didn't feel like a hug anymore. It felt like those dark starry nights where he was held in the safety of assurances and promises by his mother.
As stupid as it was Okuyasu wanted to fall asleep atop of Josuke.
Josuke stiffened up and slipped from Okuyasu's grip.
"J-Josuke?" Okuyasu stuttered.
Josuke stood up and pointed a finger to the street. A car had just pulled up to the curb, an ever so familiar figure climbing out from the driver's seat.
"M-Mr.Kujo," Josuke called out, as the y'all and lumbering figure of a man made his way up to the front porch.
"Josuke, I'm gonna have to pull you from er..."
He stared down at Okuyasu's hand. "Whatever this is..."
Josuke's hand was clutched in it all a sudden.
Was he nervous? Josuke quickly shook away Okuyasu's hand and cleared his throat.
"Is everything okay?" Josuke asked nervously.
Mr.Kujo nodded and gestures Josuke to come with him. "It's an important matter to discuss."
Okuyasu felt his heart drop as Josuke waved goodbye, taking his honey peach aroma with him.
Okuyasu wanted to reach out and ask to come too. Anything to smell his sweet cologne and to feel his hands around him.
But he could only sit and watch as the car pulled away from the curb and drove down the block.
He was left alone yet again.
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Aight what is up everyone?! I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!
I just wanna quickly say I've decided on the details for the fanart competition. Either digital or on paper, draw fanart of some Josuyasu or from this story I don't mind! All submissions are due by July 13th. Dm them to me on Instagram at pecan_jameson. First place will be made the title piece for this. Anyways this doesn't have to be a competition if no one wants it to, I just want y'all to have fun and obsess over his ship along with me gfkfkfkfkfk. Well that's it for now so I shall see you in a couple of weeks. I need some more ideas so if you have any don't be shy and drop them in the comments!
Okee bye bye now!
-Jameson