contact part deux

[bouchonne]

if this were modern times byerly would probably make you listen to total eclipse of the heart before you were able to leave a message

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[bouchonne]

I suppose so.

[ A hesitation. A droll smile and a shrug. And the real reason at the core of it: ]

I keep so many secrets. We both do. And it gets tiring, doesn't it? Especially because the things that I can be true about are the shit things. I want to be true about one thing that I'm proud and happy about.

[cozen]

[ His smile unfurls again—teeth and everything, this time—and he nods. Pauses. Nods again. ]

Then it's settled. Not a secret.

[ Bastien puts his feet on By's bony and beloved knees. ]

We could still sneak around sometimes, though. For fun.

[bouchonne]

[ A slow smile. It's an unusual smile. It's a little shy, a little self-conscious, but happy. He puts his hands down under water, placing them over Bastien's wonderful feet, fingers hooking around his lovely ankles. ]

Thank you. For that.

[ For being willing to be open and honest. Not for the offer to sneak around. Though that could be fun. ]

[cozen]

[ If he were closer—or maybe even from this distance, if By didn't have him by the ankles—Bastien would kiss that smile on each corner. So perhaps it's good that he isn't. Not a secret and naked kissing in common spaces are two very different things.

So he has to be still and only look, and that makes the impulse to move and touch becomes something softer instead. Something that seeps and settles and makes his skin feel like his skin instead of like a shell. ]

It's what I want, too. [ Nothing to thank him for. ] But if it wasn't, I would want to do it for you, if you asked me. You can ask me for things like that.