OVERFLOW / OPEN

[rekd]

TFLN / OPEN RP / THREADTRACKER

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[rekd]

I still remember all the dumb little rules I had for everything. Like—Mr. Octopus always had to have a house, but you can't just build a house for an octopus, you gotta put three white shells by the door or else he won't know it's for him. Fuckin'—worst day of my life, when I couldn't find any shells no matter how much I freakin' gutted this place.

[ there's a more realistic image for qi fang: reki red-faced and wailing about how mr. octopus won't be able to come home tonight. ]

[tongxue]

[ and somehow that image just makes qi fang love reki a little more. he can't help the reassuring squeeze he gives reki in return, as if somehow the gesture alone could make him travel back in time and find those shells for reki himself. ]

That's okay... I bet Mr. Octopus had a nice sleepover with a good friend that night.

[rekd]

[ it's probably silly to feel comforted for something so insignificant that happened a decade ago, but reki finds himself smiling anyway. ]

See, that's what my parents should have told me. You know what they said instead?

[tongxue]

[ said perhaps a little too hopefully, ]

S...omething else that's reassuring?

[ c'mon mama kyan don't fail him now— ]

[rekd]

My dad goes, "What's it matter? It's all gonna disappear anyway."

[ trust that his impression is definitively unkind. ]

That's fucked up, right? Like, it made me think, can't you say that about anything, really? One day, all of this is gonna be gone and any meaning it ever had will be the first thing to go.

[ you have to laugh. right? it makes him laugh. ]

I could'a spent that night imagining Mr. Octopus having a sleepover with the starfish twins, but nah, instead I just worried about the sun exploding for like seven years.

[tongxue]

[ WELP. ]

Never too early to have an existential crisis, I guess.

[ a moment of silence, and then he's flinging an arm out, groping blindly around in the sand until his fingers brush against something—

ah. ]

Here you go. One outta three done.

[ he holds up a small shell between them, a chunk missing but. the thought's there. ]

[rekd]

[ reki plucks it from his fingers and leans in close to smirk down at him. ]

Sap.

[ but of course he's shoving it in his pocket to covet forever. ]

[tongxue]

[ reki's just close enough that he can easily lean up and press a kiss to the tip of his nose. ]

It doesn't count when it's dark out.

[rekd]

[ if he smiles any longer, his face is gonna get stuck this way, he just knows it. ]

Better get it all out now, then. Looks like the sun's gonna come crush on your gig any second.

[tongxue]

Damn. Guess I should start by saying you're one of the best things to ever happen to me.

[ he's still riding off the high of that joint, yet he can feel his cheeks heating up by that sudden admission. relationships may not have ever been something within his grasp, but he'd always lowkey enjoyed the idea of them, and now he gets why... feeling whole like this — it's addictive in the best ways. ]

[rekd]

[ reki has no choice but to bury his face against qi fang's neck. maybe it doesn't count on a technicality, but he still can't wipe this stupid smile off his face. ]

You sure?

[tongxue]

Yeah... To be honest I think I knew pretty early on but. You know.

[ his hand trails up and down along reki's spine, a nervous gesture. ]

I was young and dumb and embarrassed to say anything.

[rekd]

Oh you're not embarrassed anymore?

[ reki smushes his glowing cheeks a little snugger against his neck. ]

That's cool.

[tongxue]

[ his hands curl a little tighter around reki's sides, holding him close. ]

No... I still am. [ his voice is small, head turned towards reki's hair, burying his lips there. ] But y'know. I think you should know.

[rekd]

[ it's so sweet. he lifts a hand to trace the line of qi fang's jaw with a gentle fondness. ]

You should know too. How much I...

[ MMMmmmm... ]

It's so good, being with you. Like... Yeah, the best thing.

[tongxue]

[ how much i... qi fang feels his entire body freeze at those words, breath held in his throat on a bubbling hope he can't quite name.

said breath rushes out when different words come. different — but no less meaningful. he's squeezing reki again, burying his face in that hair and breathing him in deep. ]

That sun needs to hurry the fuck up cuz I'm ready to fall asleep with you in my arms just like this.

[rekd]

So go to sleep.

[ his fingers drift into qi fang's hair, slowly stroking and softly scratching. ]

Nobody's gonna find us.

[tongxue]

[ he makes a sound of protest in the back of his throat, but the fingers have already got his eyes falling shut. ]

Your mom's gonna kill us... first of all.

[rekd]

[ perfect. add in some soft kisses and there's no way he can resist the siren song of naptime. ]

Nah, she wouldn't kill you. Me she thinks about murdering every single day, nothin' new.

[tongxue]

[ hhhhhh this is definitely some kind of devil's work ]

We're gonna wake up all covered in like.. sand bugs.

[rekd]

[ this boy. reki snickers and gives his hair a few loving strokes. ]

We don't have those on this side of the island.

[tongxue]

That definitely... sounds fake.

[ qi fang's brow crinkles dubiously, but his breathing has already started to slow. there are a dozen more reasons not to sleep out here, like this, he knows it. but suddenly.even thinking up one is proving difficult. ]

[rekd]

Promise. You're gonna close your eyes and wake up safe and warm and happy.

[ and probably not covered in sand bugs. ]

[tongxue]

[ that probably hangs unspoken between them like the blade at a guillotine but by now qi fang is way too cozy and exhausted to fight it. he grunts, once, already feeling weighed down by sleep so all he can muster is a light squeeze around reki's middle. ]

Always do... with you.

[rekd]

[ reki makes sure that sleep takes him with light kisses and gentle hands in his hair. and then, when he's certain that he is dreaming, it occurs to him that he can speak to qi fang's subconscious, sweetly and softly whispering that love you he swallowed down before. he snuggles in tightly and lets sleep take him too, drifting away to the view of the sun rising over the gentle morning waves. ]