Catching up (Ray)

[Deleted]

Was he going to say anything? Nao dared a glance back at his friend only to find the older boy still leering at him in amusements, as if he expected the younger Asian to tell him some mighty secret. And of course, the attention only made him burn brighter. His head was going to explode from the heat if this went on any longer. At the same time, Nao couldn’t deny that the attention sent a tickle trickling through him that was far from unpleasant. It was just… “It’s true, though….” he said unconvincingly. As in ”Don’t ask me anymore, or I’ll end up saying something weird!”

Ray was hardly the reason why Naozumi was so-called ‘corrupted’. He was…well, maybe it was true. He was well on his way from the moment the two met, doing this and that that he never would have considered doing had he not had Ray there to encourage him…or inspire, rather, for some of those things. Nao giggled. “Responsible? Where?” he said playfully, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe the older boy. Though, truth be told, Naozumi was a little nervous about Ray’s plan to introduce him into the world of video games. He was certain he’d be no good at it and would be embarrassingly beat every time. And that….would that even be fun? He knew some people got incredibly competitive over that sort of thing. What if it corrupted Nao to the point where he couldn’t reasonably take a loss with a smile, like he normally did?

Nao was just being paranoid, wasn’t he? If it was an activity with Ray, then surely it was going to be enjoyable. He just had to trust the older boy and believe that.

“Eh?” Nao looked to Ray with a small moment of disbelief. “Do you really think I might?” Naozumi had already grown so much, it was hard to imagine getting any taller. And to overshoot his best friend in height, whom Nao alway admired for being taller than him, left him…unsettled. Though he couldn’t really think of why. “I think I”m happy the way I am,” he admitted with a small blush. To Nao, the way they both were now suited them best. Though before, Nao hadn’t hated it either.

Naozumi was easily caught up in their laughter. If it got any worse, then he may end up collapsing to the floor and rolling around until he died. Or at least until it became too painful to laugh anymore. “If we’re caught? Do you think nobody will notice that we were in class all morning and then suddenly the both of us disappear for the afternoon?” Or maybe Nao was giving the school too much credit? He didn’t really know what to think, what they could get away with and what they couldn’t, as Naozumi had never done anything even remotely ‘bad’ before. Maybe it really would be fine? “Yes, your fault,” he repeated, dodging Ray’s hand and then jabbing again. “If it weren’t for you, then—“ Naozumi was unable to finish his accusation, however, as he was very quickly pulled into a long, breathtaking kiss. It was the easiest way thus far to silence the boy mid-sentence. Nao’s eyes fluttered open when they parted. “That wasn’t fair…” he said, feeling somewhat dazed. A soft smile crept over his thin lips and he leaned in closer to Ray. “Okay,” he breathed just before placing his lips onto Ray’s in a softer, slower, yet no less passionate kiss.

They weren’t going to play any video games at this rate.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

“Mmm-hmm,” Ray muttered again not taking his eyes off of Nao as he became increasingly uncomfortable. That was a very convincing argument. Raylaigh should probably be ashamed, he was playing with Nao now. He wanted to see how much information Nao would give him, if he just acted skeptical. Also, it was too adorable how Nao was steadily getting redder and redder as time went on, Raylaigh couldn’t believe it, he wasn’t even doing anything! This was too much fun! The flyer paused, wondering if that made him a horrible person. Well, if it did then… Ray cut the thought off before it started and put a smile on his face, making himself feel happy by playing happy. It wasn’t hard, he had a lot to smile about when he was around Nao.

Ray swatted in Nao’s general direction, his turn to blush. He was laughing even as he pretended to be offended. Nao had definitely been lying, he was a terrible actor. Raylaigh wasn’t a competitive person, he liked to compete but if he lost he never took it hard. It was as if he was unable to be put down. They were just better and if Nao ended up being good at video games Raylaigh would happily lose to him. Jack had once compared Ray to a dog, even though he was kicked he kept coming back. Raylaigh had never thought too much into it, but it was true, not just in competition but in their relationship. It hadn’t ended because Raylaigh had been strong enough to leave, it had ended because Jack decided to throw him out. Which almost made Ray feel more pathetic than ever.

The flyer shrugged. “It’s possible, but I’m still growing, I won’t give up without a fight!” He giggled and patted Nao’s head. Ray smiled broadly. “Good, never change!” He declared brightly, not only talking about the height and the fact that he was the most attractive human being ever! But he wanted Nao to stay Nao, it would kill Ray if Nao became someone who was shy about their thoughts, someone who was any less curious about the world because it made him seem nerdy. No, Ray wanted Nao to stay just as he was forever. Curious and insightful and a little bit on the absentminded side. Though, the height thing did make kissing him easier…

Ray put a hand over his mouth and coughed dramatically. “I’m sick, remember?” He said though a giggle, “Chances are I got sick off the food, and since we ate together well, who’s to say you didn’t get sick too?” He said raising a brow, clearly pleased with himself and how clever he was. Such a clever bird he was! Ray held his tongue between his teeth in his mirth. He was a terrible influence. Since he was such a rebel! Now that thought made him giggle some more. The flyer watched Nao, his eyes sparkling. “If it weren’t for me…?” Raylaigh prodded curiously. Ray trembled, falling into Nao’s kiss. It was so gentle he could have cried. All of his thoughts got rearranged and he dove into the kiss. When they parted for breath, Raylaigh wondered how it could be possible for two friends to share such a kiss. “You’re improving,” Ray said with approval. He felt weightless and breathless and had a strange desire to jump out of a window, in a good flying way, as if the room was too small for him to be contained.

The declaration to play video games had all but been washed from his mind and Ray suddenly became aware that his room was a mess. “Uh, sorry ‘bout the mess,” Ray said sheepishly and started ‘discretely’ kicking things under his bed. He had one of his sketchpads open on the desk and he straightened the sketches hoping Nao hadn’t seen the one of him, that was now buried deep in the stack, along with sketches of a beautiful man with vicious eyes. He forced himself to turn from Nao and plopped himself on his bed. “You know what we should do?” He said excitedly, feeling suddenly very adventurous. “We should sneak out for ice cream of something.” Ignoring the fact that it was below freezing outside.

[Deleted]

Why was he still staring? Nao had given him an answer, hadn’t he? Why’d he have to…keep putting that face of his in front of Nao’s? Why’d he have to reflect Nao’s blushing face in the back of his eyes? What if he noticed? Put two and two together that the reason why he was blushing so much was because he was thinking of Ray himself. That he wanted to kiss the flyer, so desperately that he’d impulsively done so in the middle of the hallway. That he couldn’t wait until they were alone in Ray’s room just so he could get away with tackling the older boy in a kiss and not have to worry about Ray questioning his motivation for doing it. “Why….stop that!” he quietly exclaimed, with no explanation of what ‘that’ was. It should be obvious, right?

It was a moment like this which made Naozumi wonder just how he managed to not burst into flames of shy embarrassment on any occasion that Ray looked at him with those eyes of his. How did he normally act when Ray was simply staring at him and Nao was thinking of normal things? He did it often enough, yet he couldn’t conjure up that reaction now.

Ray’s face was so naturally close now, it was bound to happen even more often, he realized. Why did Naozumi have to grow so much? “You won’t get any competition from me. I’m just going to stay right here and let you climb all by yourself.” He smiled, turning his eyes slyly to Ray, then moving forward again. Nao had done enough growing for one lifetime. He’d be happy enough to just stay right here.

Naozumi shook his head at Ray’s excuses. “You don’t need to make up excuses for me too,” he retorted. “You’re the one who said I had a good reason to skip today.” If that was the case, then really Ray was the only one doing anything wrong. And so was still being delinquent all by himself. He never got to finish his accusation. It’d become lost and drowned in the two kisses the boys shared, where they too became lost, floating around somewhere in their heads from the stimulation. Nao turned his lips upward. “I hope so,” he said, gazing up at Ray. Where had all that nervousness from before gone? The stuff that made Nao as red as a tomato and paralyzed from head to toe? Who knows, because Nao’s head was flying around, uncaring of pretty much everything right now. Was it from the kisses? Or was it something else?

“It’s okay,” he assured Ray about the mess. It really wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Nao himself was a tidy person, but even his room could get cluttered if he wasn’t paying attention. Fortunate for Ray, the younger boy had issues with paying attention to things around him, and so hadn’t even noticed the sketches on the desk outside of simply noticing that they were sketches on a desk. While Ray shuffled through those papers, Naozumi sat down on the edge of the bed and casually leaned back, focusing his eyes on the patterns on the ceiling. Sometimes if you looked at them right, they would show pictures, much like the constellations in the night sky, or clouds against a blue sky. The abstract shapes took upon more recognizable ones, though Nao couldn’t say exactly what they were, but the longer he stared, they seemed to take upon a life of their own, even seeming to move across the ceiling, interacting with each other.

Nao barely heard Ray’s suggestion. “Sounds….good…” he muttered somewhat incoherently, eyes already completely shut. A small smile stayed on his lips.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Nao was getting increasingly worked up and Ray was finding it endlessly amusing. He didn’t take his eyes off of the speedster, his eyes taking in every detail. He had changed a lot over the summer, but there were still things that hadn’t changed. The large and curious eyes, the ever present smile. The way he got worked up over nothing. Raylaigh’s eyes closed as he threw back his head and laughed. Grinning like a loon Ray turned back to Nao and batted his eyes innocently at the Asian. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he drawled. He giggled, holding his tongue between his teeth.

Admitted, Ray would probably be in the same boat if their roles were reversed. He would probably be preening. This bird brain consider most attention good attention. He caught Nao’s dark eyes and started giggling again. It going to take some getting used to but he was enjoying having Nao at eye level. “Awe, it’s no fun to go alone,” he said with a pout. Ray hadn’t stopped growing, as far as the doctor was concerned he’d gained a half inch from last semester. The man had joked that he could see Raylaigh growing while he was standing against the wall getting measured. Which only made the doctor lament about Ray’s weight. For all that they stuffed him he would not gain weight. He was underweight by all standards but he wasn’t unhealthy. He just burned through calories faster than he could take them in.

“So there you go, I’m sick and you’re sleepy, no big deal.” He was convinced they were in the clear. In the grand scheme of things they might get a detention or something, no big deal. Unless his dad found out… Raylaigh did not care to see the man angry, he was scary. Not to mention that was the sort of thing that his parents tended to team up on, which made it all the worse. The kisses were distracting and made skipping class totally worth it. If he could just keep kissing Nao… but did Nao want that? Did he want something where it was just friends? Ray’s thoughts were quickly dismissed by the second kiss. Why not have fun like this, if Nao was so willing. Ray pulled away after the kiss needing to occupy his hands that itched to touch Nao, feel his skin under his hand. Now it was Ray’s turn to flash red. Of course Nao had just said he didn’t want anything sexual. Damn, he was really testing Ray’s self control.

Ray looked over and caught Nao looking up at the ceiling. A look of wonder on his face, as if he was seeing something beyond. The artist in Ray was captured. The light from the window feel across Nao’s cheeks illuminating his eyes from underneath, making them seem multidimensional and there were many more colors in Nao’s dark eyes than Raylaigh had realized. He was disappointed when Nao’s eyes closed, but the smile on his face made it all worth it. Ray dismissed his previous suggestion and sat in his computer chair. “Tired? Feel free to take a nap, I don’t mind,” he said warmly resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. Nao looked so peaceful. Ray’s hands itched to catch Nao on paper and he wondered if Nao would be willing to model for him, didn’t he say he’d done something like that before. It would be much better than the ones that Ray had done from memory.

[Deleted]

What was he looking at anyway? It wasn’t like there was anything particularly interesting about Nao’s face. Was there? Nao didn’t see it. Even having grown a little, Nao still saw the same old feminine face in the mirror. The same one he saw everyday since forever. And now he was laughing….at what? At him? That…..what was Nao supposed to think about that? He wasn’t sure, but it was making him ridiculously self-conscious. “Liar,” he accused with a glaring pout. “You’re doing that on purpose. Meanie.” Great, and now he sounded like he was 5-year-old. Only Ray could elicit such a response from Nao.

“Too bad,” he replied to Ray’s pouting. “I am quite tired enough from growing. I want it to be over with already.” Naozumi was also getting sick of tripping over his own feet, miscalculating distances, being hungry all the time…granted, Nao already had a bottomless pit of a stomach, but it had noticeably grown worse over the summer. Considering he didn’t have much money in the first place, that was just going to put further strain on his wallet. That was all just wishful thinking, however.

Raylaigh, sometimes, took things too lightly, Nao thought. Such as ditching class. Though if it was something that Nao was adamantly against, then he wouldn’t have agreed to this ridiculous venture. They probably would get detention over it. Which was fine, Naozumi was no stranger to detention, though had only gotten it a couple times since coming to Hammel over very insignificant things. He got it a lot more at his old school, for fighting, even though it was always the other guys picking it. And since that was a little more serious than simply ditching class, Naozumi took them without complaint, then went back to his business. He was often accused of being disrespectful because of how indifferent his attitude was towards it…and that it never seemed to stop the fights. But..Naozumi getting in trouble didn’t really deter other people from wanting to poke at him to satisfy their own twisted curiosity.

Nao hadn’t had that problem at Hammel. And he was thankful for it.

Though if Naozumi really thought about it…he really did seem like such the delinquent back then. And Ray thought he was corrupting the younger boy with his kisses and slacking off. Though admittedly, Nao was becoming more and more addicted to Ray’s kisses, the more he received them. But that wasn’t too bad a thing…was it?

Couldn’t be. After all, what harm could they do by just ditching class and kissing each other for the rest of the day. Which was exactly what Naozumi was hoping for…right up until his head hit the mattress and his eyes closed before he even realized he was falling asleep. “Mm…m’not tired….” he mumbled, completely thinking that he was still wide awake and actively conversing with his friend, though whatever he thought they were talking about was only coming out as the occasional incoherent utterance. “Mm…nn……ice cream……….chocolate…..kiss….” Nao licked his lips and shifted, his smile growing bigger. “Want…..” Finally, his face relaxed completely, and his breathing became steady.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

The more riled up Nao got the more it egged Raylaigh on. The brunette grinned wickedly and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m doing what on purpose?” He giggled, wickedly amused at the reaction he was getting from Nao. He wondered if he could have this effect on other people, though other people probably wouldn’t handle it as adorably as Nao. If to make it better, the more mature look of his features melted away and the old Nao was just as he was when he’d left. It wasn’t a mystery as to how much Raylaigh was enjoying this exchange. Getting Nao riled up was one of his favorite past times and well, he was absolutely sure that if Nao really got upset he would let Ray know. In fact, the flyer counted on it, he didn’t have a very good judgment of where that line rested.

Patting Nao’s head Ray could only laugh and nod with sympathy. “Oh my friend, we all do. Give it a few years and maybe you’ll be done.” He still tripped and bumped into things and if anything he was more coordinated than he was a year ago. When he’d gotten his first growth spurt as Nao was getting now, he was a wrecking ball doing serious damage to object and himself alike. Ray was at least glad that Nao was a fully functioning human with normal people bones. He would not wish that on anyone, when he was growing his bones had weakened further, as if despite their growth they refused to add any mass. At the beginning he had been so brittle he’d had to take calcium supplements and drink more milk than he cared so. Eventually his bones strengthened to back to normal, which was to say, not very strong at all, but at least he didn’t snap just thinking about it.

Raylaigh had never been in trouble, well at least not enough to get himself in detention. He’d never been caught for that prank that he’d pulled with Alex and he hadn’t been much of a trouble maker before. Mostly the teachers just scolded him for not paying enough attention, which was to say, Ray was doodling, but that never got him in detention. Now skipping class might just do the trick and Ray would probably be a mess. He was really a coward at heart, which he acknowledged and accepted. He’d never stood up to anyone in his life. He tried and failed. He just tried to be likeable enough to stay off of the radar, or find a good protector. Van had been his protector before and then Kyle was his protector at Hammel (though also a bit of a tormentor).

The flyer giggled and shook his head at Nao. “Right,” he said softly as to not break the spell that was falling over Nao. This was what the silly child got for trying to go to class after being jet lagged and getting little sleep. Nao was a hard worker, he didn’t know how to turn it off and the more Ray got to know him the more he realized how much Nao needed someone to pull him away from work and get him to have fun. Likewise, Ray was starting to realize that he needed someone who would make him do work when he actually needed to do so. Nao was so cute, sleeping in Ray’s bed. The thought made Ray go hot then cold then hot again as he looked at Nao. Nao looked so adorable there. Ray stood and grabbed a throw blanket from the closet and draped it over his friend. His muttering was completely adorable and Ray suppressed a giggle. Nao would be dreaming about ice cream…

Startled, Ray looked down at Nao with surprise. And kissing? Kissing Ray? Ray brushed his fingers gently across Nao’s forehead and kissed his cheek. Ray pulled back and took a few steps back until his knees hit the chair. Then he sat, the shock and fear mixing in his eyes. He didn’t love Nao, did he? Well of course as a friend he did. And he definitely loved hanging out with Nao and kissing him and holding him and… But that didn’t mean… did it? He looked back at his desk and caught Jack’s angry eyes. The flyer jumped, it taking him a moment to realize those were drawn and Jack wasn’t actually here. He gave a huff and turned the stack of pages over so he couldn’t see Jack. He didn’t know why he still drew Jack. He loved Jack, despite everything. He shook his head to clear it and looked back at the slumbering Asian in his bed.

He couldn’t waste this opportunity. With a sly smile he set to capture Nao. So he sat and as the light fell over Nao’s face Ray scratched his charcoal across the sketchpad.

[Deleted]

How much longer was this going to go on? “You know….” Ray knew exactly what he was doing and Nao was pretty sure he knew it. And he knew that Ray knew that Nao knew it. So why was he continuing on with this game? Ray really should stop. Nao should make him stop somehow. But how? He wasn’t listening to anything Nao was saying already. What to do, what to do…?

At a loss for ideas, Nao pouted into a small frown, reached out, and placed his hand over the older boy’s face. “You know exactly what you’re doing. Stop it!” he insisted, still feeling the flush on his face. If it wasn’t already as red as it could get, then that action would definitely have made it redder. Nao forced himself out of his natural pout into what he hoped was a playful smile.

Naozumi sighed as the flyer gave him hints of what to look forward to. “Years….I don’t want to wait years,” Naozumi said softly, unsure if Ray could hear him. That was just far too long for Nao to wait. While the boy was a patient one, there were just some things he didn’t like waiting for. Like food. Or getting somewhere. Or making money. Or growing….maybe Ray was right with his previous comment? That Naozumi never did anything slow. How funny was that? That Naozumi didn’t know such things about himself until Ray brought them up. It was just one more thing to smile to himself over.

He even fell asleep fast. The tired boy didn’t stand a chance against the comfort of a bed to sleep in. Whenever he finally would wake, Nao would feel bad for doing so when the two of them had so many things planned for their surprise day off. Ray covered him with the blanket and almost immediately the sleeping boy turned to his side and curled up underneath, mumbling all the while. He likely would not awaken for a few hours, unless roused by someone before then.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

A coy look crossed Raylaigh’s face as he grinned at Nao, just loving every second of tormenting him. The flyer finally stopped when he dissolved into giggles at Nao’s reaction. Adorable as always Ray closed his eyes and laughter bubbled out of his throat. He put an arm around Nao’s shoulders and just smiled in his mirth. He’d been caught redhanded. Joy spread through his veins and fueled his laughter. He peaked an eye open to catch Nao’s reddening face, which only caused more giggles. He caught Nao’s grin and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry,” he said clearly not sorry. The bright eyed boy couldn’t keep himself from looking at Nao, though now he no longer watched with a steady gaze as he had before. Raylaigh was altogether giddy about the reaction he’d been able to get out of Nao.

“Sorry, Nao, that’s growing and growing is life.” He shrugged his shoulders feeling rather clever for that one, despite the elementary concept and speech. They were alone in his room and all Raylaigh could think about was how passionate those kisses had been. Like conspirators, sly troublemakers getting away with something. Though chances were they weren’t completely getting away with it. It was taking a great deal of Ray’s self control to not reach out and touch Nao, not to kiss him all over his body, not to… well, Ray was feeling tried like a Saint. Especially after Nao decided to take a nap in his bed. If Ray could occupy his hands then maybe his mind would keep itself away from the gutter.

Nao looked so beautiful, so innocent, as he slept. He curled up under the blanket and Ray sat with a half finished sketch on his lap and just gazed at him. memorizing his features and enjoying the way the colors bounced off of his face. He finally picked up his charcoal and started scratching the page again. A while later, Raylaigh wasn’t sure how much later, he was left with a sketch of strange and interesting bends of figures. Nao’s face was clear and his hands cupped comfortably under his chin, but the rest of his body vanished into blankets. Instead of finishing Nao’s head Raylaigh had swept out the landscape and imagined what he thought Nao might be dreaming about. Ice cream, swirling shapes, fuzzy animals, walls full of ancient tomes and endless scrolls.

Ray himself felt like he was waking from a dream when he realized he’d gotten to the point where ‘fixing’ anything else would ruin the whole thing. At least at this point. He stood up and stretched putting the sketch in the safe folds of one of the books. He was content, glad to have gotten away with this clever mastery of sneakiness. Without something to occupy him, the flyer quickly became bored and he reached out and lightly brushed Nao’s cheek, pulling back his hand quickly, as if afraid of actually rousing him. Ray covered his mouth with his hand to stifle a gasp. Idiot! He’d neglected to wash his hand and now there was a nice gray charcoal stain on Nao’s cheek. Oops… Ray pulled his hand away from his mouth and frowned at it. Staring at the stained hand he realized he was being extra intelligent today.

The flyer went to the bathroom and low and behold gray smudges where he’d put his hand to his mouth. He washed his hands and his face clear. Now to see about Nao. He grabbed a small hand towel and wet the edge and went back toward Nao. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do this without Nao waking up and noticing. It wasn’t like it was easy to ignore something wet and cold touching someone’s face. Ray decided he could do it quick. He went over and slowly reached out the cloth, he pressed the moist towel to Nao’s cheek and tried to wipe off the charcoal smear.

[Deleted]

The events which had just transpired were still fresh in Naozumi’s mind when he fell into his slumber, so it was no surprise that his dreams would be affected by them as well. But having not even realized he’d fallen asleep, Nao wasn’t even aware that he was dreaming. Then again who was aware when they dreamed? A select few of the population, none of which were Nao. In his mind, the two boys had continued their conversation as normal, though Nao felt that his body was heavy and uncooperative. Like it was difficult to move from that spot, despite attempting to get up so many times. But still their conversation continued. What was it about? Naozumi couldn’t quite place the topic anymore, but he was certain that it was important. Like ice cream. Ice cream was important.

So was kissing, and he was certain that subject came up again as well. It must have been chocolate. The ice cream, not the kisses. Or were they? Naozumi took a large mouthful of his three-scoop dark chocolate ice cream, uncertain of where it had come from, but knowing that they must have gotten it at some point and made it back to the dorms to eat. Naozumi ate as though it was really delicious. And it was! So much, that he wanted to share the flavor with his friend. Nao offered the cone out to his friend, who was sitting on the chair before his desk, sketchpad in hand, scratching away at something. What was it? Nao wondered. He peered closer as he held out the ice cream, trying to make sense of the lines that dared to form a picture. Before he could see it, however, Raylaigh tilted in and wrapped his lips over the other boy’s, invading his mouth for a taste of the ice cream that had yet to melt on Nao’s tongue. Mmmm, yummy…

Naozumi would have taken another bite of the cone, but his mouth was otherwise occupied by something far more delicious. The cone disappeared from his hand, presumably to fall on the floor of Ray’s dorm room, but no mess was made. Nao drank up the kiss, however, and was before long swooning onto his back, the soft of the bed bouncing as the two fell upon it. Naozumi looked up at his friend, deep into his….blue? Were Ray’s eyes always blue? He couldn’t remember, but that didn’t seem right. No, Xun’s eyes were blue. But this person was definitely Ray, right? Even if he was now looking more and more like that chiseled and gruff brunette from that TV drama he’d been watching lately. Regardless, Nao continued to gaze up at Ray(?), waiting nervously and wondering what might happen next. Ray(?) slowly leaned down, moving their faces closer and closer, until their noses were no more than a millimeter apart. Then Ray(?) opened his mouth…..and roughly licked the side of his face.

Naozumi’s eyes snapped open, shocked awake by the sudden wet and rough sensation on his cheek. His body twitched him up, the boy now leaning on one arm while the rest of him still lay nestled under the blanket that had mysteriously appeared. Nao looked around, still very fuzzy in his mind and confused in his just woken up state. Where was he? What was going on? “Ray…?” he said. His voice sounded tired. “…..did I fall asleep?” That seemed to be about right. Nao’s heart began to thump and his face flushed upon the realization that he had fallen asleep! Right in front of---! And…! And in Ray’s bed too! “Sorry! I wasn’t supposed to do that.” They were supposed to stay up and play video games, weren’t they?

Guilty eyes rose to meet up with his friend’s. Images of the dream had already started to fade, but what still stood out, reminded to Naozumi from seeing Ray’s face alone, was the short scene of when Ray was kissing Nao until he fell onto his back below him. His face grew red again, and there was a strong tickling in his stomach. Nao touched his cheek, where Ray had ‘licked’ him. “What were you doing?” he asked, trying not to think about that other thing.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Watching Nao, Ray wondered what he was actually dreaming about. Maybe it really was ice cream. Ray chuckled lightly to himself, that would be just what t he smaller kid would be dreaming about for sure. They were getting older and Ray was glad he found someone who wasn’t embarrassed or judgmental of Raylaigh’s childish tendencies. In fact Nao only succeeded in enhancing Ray’s childishness. It was great fun, after all being an adult was so boring! It was much more fun to hang out and not have responsibilities. As a junior Raylaigh was very aware that his life in this blissful world without responsibilities was quickly coming to an end. He didn’t like to think about it, though his parents kept reminding him. Sooner than he wanted to think about he needed to start looking at colleges and think about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

Ray wanted to just fly all the time, was there a job where he could just fly everywhere? He smiled to himself, he could always be a mail carrier, he supposed, it would be fun for certain, being an actual messenger. He’d be more like Hermes than he already was. He rested his chin in his hand as he regarded the slumbering Nao after he put the sketchpad on his desk. It was just his luck that he would have gotten charcoal on Nao. Shit. How was he going to explain this one? Any wish of Nao never finding out was washed away when the boy came startling awake after Nao tried to wipe away the mark. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said but it seemed to be lost as Nao seemed partially asleep still. The flyer simply nodded with a smile on his face to give that information. Nao had been sleeping so soundly, Ray felt bad about waking him up.

The flyer shrugged, clearly not upset. “Don’t worry about it. You were exhausted, I’m surprised you made it as long as you did,” he said and retreated to his chair and pulled his feet up onto it, wrapping his arms around his knees. He rested his chin on his knees and smiled at his friend. His stomach rumbled, it wasn’t quite dinner time, but then again he was always hungry and they’d left lunch early. Ray cocked his head in confusion. “Are you okay?” He asked and unfolded just enough to roll toward Nao and put a hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling sick? You’re really red.” Raylaigh said, wondering if the sudden coloring in his face wasn’t just embarrassment but actual illness. it wasn’t too unreasonable for Nao to get sick when he was running on so little sleep.

“Me?” Ray grinned sheepishly, “Ah… there was a fuzz. It looked like it might be tickling you so…” He closed his eyes and laughed scratching the back of his head. “But I forgot I had been drawing and I got charcoal on you on accident.” He said, lying about the fuzz but telling the truth about getting charcoal on him. There was still a slight smudge on Nao’s face and Raylaigh felt terrible guilty about it, but he didn’t want Nao to see it in the mirror and think Ray had wickedly been drawing on his face. Ray liked pranks but he wasn’t that evil. “Did you have a good dream?” Ray asked giving Nao a wink as he folded himself back up on the chair and rested his chin in his hands, watching his friend with thinly veiled desire.

[Deleted]

How could Naozumi have fallen asleep? And in Raylaigh’s bed, of all places! He was….he was positively horrified that he’d done such a thing. No, no….he didn’t have to feel bad about it, he was…tired. It was just that he was tired. And besides, part of the point of skipping classes today was so that he could catch up on the sleep he lost from traveling the night before. He’d fallen asleep in class, as well. The fact that he fell asleep even in a place where he was being active and engaged was probably a sign that doing all those things they spoke of earlier was not going to happen. Naozumi should probably go back to his room. Who knew when he was going to pass out again?

He hoped he didn’t, because Nao wasn’t sure he could….well, he was pretty sure some of those dreams weren’t exactly….and if he were to have them again. Nao flinched slightly when Ray moved in to feel his forehead, and his face felt like it was burning even more, if it could at all. “I…I don’t know. Maybe,” he replied in a rush. It was better to be sick than having to explain what was going on in his head. Why didn’t he think of it like that when Ray was purposely trying to get Naozumi to blush by simply staring at him? Well, that was a different situation entirely, he supposed, but since Ray was the one who suggested it, Naozumi wasn’t going to deny it.

“Fuzz?” he repeated. That didn’t make him feel any more at ease. In fact, that only emphasized the fact that Ray had been watching him sleep this whole time. And he’d been drawing…? Hopefully, not Nao…while he was sleeping…? “Oh?” he said, raising his hand to wipe at his cheek where he still felt the lingering feeling of Ray’s touch. He’d have to wash his face later. Or maybe he should do it…no, now was not a good time. Definitely not, now that he thought about it.

And then came the subject of Nao’s dream, the subject he’d been avoiding from the moment he woke up. His face flushed again, if it had ever gone down from it’s flush before, as he remembered the few details he could remember. It was all so jumbled up, but he did remember that Ray was there, and there was ice cream, and….more kisses…. “I don’t really remember,” he lied, avoiding eye contact with Ray. “You know how dreams are…”

Why was he looking at Nao like that? It was just making his “problem” worse, the one he’d only realized was there a moment ago when he shifted up to sit off his legs, which he kept hidden under the blanket that Ray had left on the sleeping boy. He needed to calm down before it got any worse. “You were drawing?” he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from himself. Naozumi needed to get back to his room now….but it was going to be difficult to do so without Ray asking questions he didn’t want to answer. His mind raced to think of a solution.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray couldn’t lie, the amount that Nao was freaking out right now was kind of entertaining. The panic was written all over his expressive face. Ray didn’t blame him honestly, and it wasn’t like Nao needed to stay awake to entertain Ray. The flyer smiled softly as he watched Nao process… something behind those dark eyes of his. His smile stuck on but internally his heart fell. What had Nao so jumpy all the sudden? Was it something Ray had done? The flyer cocked his head at Nao his lips pursed as he tried to form a question that he didn’t know how to ask. What if Nao had thought that falling asleep in Ray’s bed had meant that Ray had done something? Would Nao really think that of him? The flyer pushed it out of his head, maybe Nao really was feeling sick. Leave it to Nao to exhaust himself to the point of illness.

He shook his head at the Asian and tsked. “This is what you get for not getting rest before coming back to class. If you’ve gone and made yourself sick, don’t you think you’re going to make yourself miss more class?” He scolded, buying into Nao’s story completely. At least with the amount Nao was blushing, the heat in his face definitely did make him feel warm. Not quite feverish, but then what did Ray know about feeling foreheads anyways. Ray would have thought that by now Nao wouldn’t have enough energy to keep his face so red, so maybe it was a fever, there was no way Ray actually had that kind of effect on him. Not when he was so horrible, as Jack had told him.

Nodding, Ray breathed a sigh of relief that Nao had believed him. A fuzz was a lot better than, ‘hey so I was being creepy and drawing you while you were sleeping’. “Yeah, I looked up and saw it and then stupid me.” He bonked himself in the forehead and laughed. Why was Nao so jumpy? Did he actually know? Nao had no idea the kind of patience he was test Ray with as he sat there blushing and innocent in his bed. Ray wouldn’t do that to someone, not when it had been so horrible for him like that. He smiled innocently when Nao touched his cheek and he tried his best to keep his thoughts PG. How embarrassed would it be if he admitted something to Nao and Nao wasn’t actually attracted to Ray? And how embarrassing if he found out when he tried to take things further than a kiss.

“Uh-huh,” Ray said, with just enough inflection to let Nao know he didn’t believe him, but he didn’t press the issue, especially not after Nao asked for verification that he was drawing. Ray panicked a little bit and he laughed nervously, scratching his head. Oh god! He was a terrible liar! What was he going to do now!? “Yeah, I have a project for art coming up,” he said, well okay that was true enough. He rolled his chair away from Nao, feeling cooling of his own nerves coming with the distance. He shifted his sketchbooks on his desk and instead of retrieving the one he’d just been working on he grabbed his art sketchbook. He rolled back toward Nao and flipped through a few of the pages to a charcoal drawing, half formed.

“I’m supposed to draw something that represents my power, so naturally,” he giggled and flipped it so that Nao could see. The page showed half formed wings, they hovered in air mighty and strong, but there was an absence of space between them as Ray hadn’t decided what he should put into flight. He was a little nervous, the last person that had seen his work was Oriel and he had stomped all over it. Ray was just grateful he seemed to have fallen out of Oriel’s interest. “I think the feathers need a little work, I just can’t seem to get it right.” He shrugged.

[Deleted]

Only someone as close to Nao as Ray would think he had an expressive face.  Truth be told, it was only because it was Ray that he was with that his expressions became as dynamic as they had been today.  Or right now.  Normally, when by himself, Nao simply sported a vacant resting face, where you had to be watching closely to spot the subtle differences in his expression.  When Nao was with Ray, however….he was worried that everything he was thinking ever was painted clearly in every expression he made, whether he knew he was making it or not. 
 
So Nao was convinced that Ray knew what was wrong and was just playing dumb. Or being polite. Oh, god, he was secretly a telepath and was seeing every single unclean thought and image from that dream which was still involuntarily churning through Nao’s normally vacant little brain.  Ray secretly had x-ray vision and could see his…his….right through the blanket!  It must be true because…because…
 
“Sorry,” he murmured, looking down with red still coloring his face.  “I didn’t mean to.”  Nao didn’t get sick very often, he had a pretty hardy constitution actually, so he was certain that it wasn’t going to happen the way Ray said it would.  But Ray didn’t know that, so…he didn’t have to know any differently.  He nodded at Ray’s story.  A fuzz.  Okay…no need to panic, he was just picking off a fuzz.  He wasn’t watching him sleep the whole time, he was off doing something else and happened to see it.  That brought Nao just a little bit more relief….a little.  “Okay…thanks,” he said softly, still nodding like an idiot.  He stopped.
 
Did he know?  That tone….he did, didn’t he?  Nao was a horrible liar, so Ray must’ve figured it out by now if hadn’t already.  At least Nao had succeeded in diverting the topic from himself and his dodgy dream to Ray’s drawing.  Luckily for Ray, as much as Nao was bad at telling lies, he was also at actually spotting them(rather than just imagining them), so when Ray fed him a plausible explanation, Nao bought it without a second thought.  He felt a little bit better when Ray moved away, and the moment Ray’s head was turned, Nao shuffled himself under the blankets.  It was uncomfortable, but it was better than the alternative.  He leaned forward a little to get a better look at Ray’s drawing when it was presented to him.  Nao looked over it in awe.  “This is really good!” he said earnestly.  “I think it’s great!”  It was just like Ray to draw something that had to do with wings and flying.  He was such a flying/wings otaku, Nao was certain Ray would fly around in his sleep if he could.  Nao could draw a little, doodles really, but nothing as intricate as this.  He smiled up at his best friend.  “Maybe….” he started hesitantly. This was such a silly and selfish request, Nao couldn’t believe he was asking.  “Maybe you could draw me…sometime?”  Nao would like to put it on his wall if Ray ever did. 
 
But regardless, now came the problem of getting back to his room in one piece. Should Nao really feign illness? But then Ray might insist on walking him back to his room…and Nao had absolutely no intention of walking there, not like this. Nao sighed, and rubbed his eyes of the sleep still in them. “I think I should go back to my room and sleep after all,” he said finally with a guilty expression that was not even half faked. Nao lowered his head apologetically. “I’m sorry, Ray. I know we had plans.” Sort of.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Nao was giving Raylaigh an awful lot of credit, really he was a dope, he had no idea what was going through Nao’s mind. The flyer was blissfully ignorant to his friend’s suffering. He just couldn’t figure out what had Nao all fidgety and red faced all of the sudden, Ray hadn’t even done anything. Ray made the only connection he could, obviously Nao had to be sick, right? Nothing else explained his sudden behavior. Nao was a very peculiar person, one moment Ray thought he was just napping peacefully and now he seemed like he wanted nothing more than to be gone. Ray couldn’t figure it out. Was it because he thought Ray might have done something to him? Raylaigh could say he was hurt, he thought Nao trusted him. Now Ray wasn’t saying it was easy to keep his hands to himself but he had otherwise occupied them with drawing to keep himself in good behavior.

Ray flapped his hand dismissively. “Don’t apologize you silly boy,” he giggle, “You’re just too hard of a worker. Now if you were more like me we wouldn’t have this problem.” He leaned back in his chair and grinned. “You sure you’re okay?” He asked cocking his head at Nao and watching him. “We can go to the nurse if you want?” He suggested, he wasn’t sure how the nurses would take it if he helped carry Nao into their office more than once. They had to admit that at least it wasn’t the other way around. Ray laughed. “No problem Nao, I’m here to help,” he said giving the Asian boy a saucy wink.

Ray ducked his head a little and nervously watched Nao for a reaction. Ray was nervy, his artwork hadn’t always been well appreciated, even by those he loved. Sure his mother always loved them and his siblings of course teased as siblings were wont to do, but they had always been supportive. But Jack had torn more than a few pages and then there was Oriel and well… maybe Nao would just tell him to give up. Ray visibly brightened, preening under Nao’s praise. A faint humming could be heard from his wings as they fluttered with excitement. “You think so?” He asked despite the fact that Nao just told him so. Ray was grinning so broadly that his eyes made little arches. He couldn’t believe Nao liked it! He really liked it! Someone might have just came and told him he’d won a year’s worth of ice cream. A curious expression crossed Ray’s face then broke into another smile. “Sure!” He exclaimed, now he didn’t have to feel bad about all of the sketches, it would have to be perfect.

“No worries, Nao, go get some sleep,” he said and rose to walk his friend to the door. He put his hands on the bed and swooped in to steal a kiss. Still close to Nao he smiled. “We’ll reschedule when you haven’t worked yourself into the ground, eh?” He laughed as he backed off and stretched upward, his long arms getting dangerously close to the low ceiling. The sky was blue and it looked perfect for flying, there might even be some fun clear air turbulence to ride on. “We should definitely go get some of that ice cream soon too,” he said turning back to glance at Nao before he headed toward the door.

[Deleted]

If it wasn’t for….for that, then Naozumi wouldn’t have any reason more to be nervous than the simple fact that Ray had been watching him sleep. He was trying to be patient, he didn’t want Ray to think that he wanted to leave….but regardless, Naozumi had to find a way out of there somehow, otherwise he was never going to be able to calm himself down. But if he kept acting fidgety, then surely Ray would notice and ask about it, wouldn’t he?

“I can’t help it,” he said meekly. Working hard, that is. Or apologizing, especially since he felt guilty that they wouldn’t be able to carry out all those plans they had been talking about over lunch. Nao was looking forward to being taught how to play video games….and that stupid dream had to go and ruin it all!! Stupid subconscious…

Nao nodded, less furiously, but still quicker than normal. “I’m okay, I promise, I don’t need a nurse, just…..” Just rest. And privacy. The wink wasn’t helping matters, and he blushed again. Ray wasn’t going to let his face ever return to normal, was he? Not as long as they were together.

At least concentrating on the drawing had been a welcome distraction from his own problems. He’d calmed down somewhat while they were talking about it. Naozumi nodded, smiling widely. “It really is. You have a lot of talent.” He dipped his head shyly. “At least, I think so. I couldn’t ever do something that great.” Nao’s smile grew at seeing Ray brighten up so merrily at Naozumi’s compliments. How was it that Ray’s expressions and emotions has such a strong impact on Nao’s? It was really confusing sometimes.

Nao breathed a silent sigh of relief when Ray agreed to let him go. The boy was still tired, so he’d probably end up sleeping anyway once he got back. “Okay,” he said with a nod. When Ray came in for that kiss, Nao reached up and grabbed hold of his shirt to make it last just a little bit longer than a quick peck. “Okay,” he said again, a small smile on his lips. His stomach was tingling. Nao rested back down and slipped his legs over the side of the bed. He was fine, right? Yes, it was going to be fine, he told himself. Still, Nao kept the blanket crumpled in his hands and draped down in front of him, carrying it like a child would carry a security blanket, as he stepped to the door. “Sure,” he said softly. “I’d like that.” Nao arched up slightly and pecked Ray one last time before handing the blanket to Ray and turning out the door. “I’ll see you later,” he called back over his shoulder. As soon as he left the dorm room, Nao would rush back to his own room as quickly as he could safely do.