Just One? (Nao)

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

If there was something Raylaigh had a problem with it was figuring out what people were thinking. He was extremely inept at that kind of thing. Especially if someone was upset and wanted to hide it, well Ray wouldn’t be very good at all at figuring out that they were upset in the first place, much less figure out why. He was very selfish in that way, he figured so long as he was happy life was good for everyone, perhaps that was what came from putting someone else’s happiness ahead of his own so often at the expense or rather the avoidance of conflict. If someone didn’t tell him that something he was doing was upsetting them he would just keep doing it. He was in life to have fun, not be somebody’s lapdog. There were some hard lessons that he’d learned from his first relationship. It had yet to be seen how much this learning in Jack’s absence held up in practice.

Racing against Nao his goal was to win and he was going to go at it as hard as he could. He saw Nao pick it up and he couldn’t help but smile and laugh. He was already going as fast as he could. Sprinting was his forte, he could keep it at this pace for a very short period of time, it was a good thing the course he’d taken to the pond was short. He pushed himself harder and he could feel sweat breaking out on his brow and the ache in his lungs and wings burned as he pushed himself harder. He was going to at least give Nao a run for his money. He wasn’t going to make this easy on the runner.

He cut toward the runner and he heard Nao call out. He didn’t stop his speed but Nao did call his attention. He smiled widely at the small Asian and a look of confusion crossed his face. Nao wasn’t headed for the pond anymore but where was he… Ray clued in a second or so before it happened but he was going too fast and without control and Nao was going too fast there was no way to stop the inevitable. Nao and Ray collided and the flyer spun out of the air his arms wrapping around Nao in attempt for stability but the extra weight and his inability to stabilize himself took them down. Ray plunged into the water and it hit him in a cold shock to the system. He kicked and drove himself to the surface. He couldn’t see anything but he kept a hand tight on Nao’s arm to make sure he knew where he was.

Breaking the surface finally he inhaled sharply and laughed in the night air. It was refreshing and he flipped his head to get his hair out of his head. He stumbled a little and got his feet under him and found himself able to touch the bottom and the water came up just above his elbows. “What does that mean? Who won?” He asked, he had no idea but if they were going to start in technicalities Ray had been knocked into the water first therefore he’d won. He was soaked and he wasn’t even a little bit upset about that fact. He splashed Nao. “What were you thinking!?” He laughed splashing Nao again.

[Deleted]

Naozumi had no idea what he was thinking when he decided to tackle Ray into the pond at such a high speed. Really, there were so many thing that could have gone wrong with that and Nao didn’t think of a single one of them before he did it. To make matters worse, Nao wasn’t even that strong of a swimmer! He must’ve been out of his mind to do something as reckless as jumping nearly headfirst into a pond, especially after he had just given Ray such a hard time for being reckless with his flying.

Well, the truth of the matter was that Naozumi was incredibly out of his mind. High on life, high on endorphins, living in the moment. And still buzzed from the drink he had at the party, you know exercising actually makes it worse, so it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to still see him doing a number of crazy things.

The cold water was a sudden shock to his system that had been overheated in their little competition. He flailed his arms in the water, trying to figure out which way was up, and was confused for a second to still feel Rays grip on his arm. He was thankful for it as well as it gave him a good idea of which direction to head to reach the surface. His head broke through the surface with a loud gasp. Like Ray, he could touch the bottom, but unlike Ray, Naozumi was barely able to do so, being as short as he was. He was standing on his toes and arching his head back to keep his nose and mouth above water while he flailed his free arm about to keep himself upright.

“I don’t know…..” He closed his eyes as Ray started splashing him. “Raaaaay!” he whined. That’s it, this being short business was ridiculous! Nao let himself fall underwater to let his feet rest flat against the ground, then pushed himself back up towards Ray, effectively into his arms. Nao clung to the older boy like a lifeline. His hair was heavy, soaked with water, and draped flat around his head, covering his eyes. Nao could barely see through his own mats of hair, but still he smiled up at Ray. “I think you might have won that one,” he admitted. No this was not just an excuse to get another kiss.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

It was a good thing Nao fell into the water with someone who used to be on the swim team, well he was still considering going back, he wasn’t sure if he liked track as much as he thought, besides the swim team had so many more boys in speedos and what could beat that? Maybe Jack had a point when he called Raylaigh a slut all the time. Ray wasn’t in the least upset, he was as comfortable in the water as he was in the sky. Really between all of the places he could be he was least comfortable on dry land. It was a shock to the system, and honestly probably drove whatever residual tipsiness was left in his body from him, but he was hot and drunk on Nao’s closeness.

It might not have been alcohol but it was hitting him just as hard. Ray couldn’t help but laugh as Nao struggled to keep his head above water, Raylaigh guessed he’d never realized that they had quite that much of a height difference. “Not a good swimmer?” Ray teased. He grinned wickedly, maybe he’d finally found something he could teach Nao. And swimming was totally something that Raylaigh could do. Well, not now. Now he was going to be useless, he couldn’t swim very well with his wings and well, now that his wings were soaked through they were going to have to be well dried before he could fly again. Lucky for Ray they were well kept and were more or less water repellent, but he wasn’t a waterfowl.

Ray cackled and didn’t stop splashing. Nao then vanished under the water and then he was up and toward him. Raylaigh had no choice but to catch him. Ray’s arms wrapped around Nao and held him close. Nao looked extremely alluring all wet like that. “I couldn’t tell,” Ray admitted, “But I think I was on the way to winning before you took me out.” He smiled at Nao, his brown eyes narrowed and excited. Huzzah! He’d won, well, not officially but he was going to count that, at least so long as Nao did. Ray was not going to argue with that. “I get a kiss now don’t I?” He asked in a low voice looking down at Nao and holding him tightly.

Not waiting for the answer Ray closed the distance between them and gave Nao another ‘lesson’ in kissing. He wasn’t holding anything back now, he was too hyped up on adrenaline and endorphins. He pressed his lips against Nao’s and encouraged Nao to join him as he attempted to deepen the kiss. Ray’s eyes slid closed and he held Naozumi tighter to his chest not wanting this moment to end. Where had Nao been when Ray was crushing on Jack? Raylaigh broke very briefly for a breath before he dove back into the kiss. If he'd thought's he'd been heated before he was on fire now and where Nao's body touched his he felt a rush of heat, then chills and then heat again.

[Deleted]

The coldness of the water, more so than the impact, was nearly enough to snap Naozumi into some sort of normal thinking. Not completely, because he was still feeling like a good and a bit of the rush from running and doing something…so completely silly! But he was slowly starting to have a little bit of rational thought flowing through his skull that was before so incredibly high on (alcohol), giddiness, this strange kind of urging heat, and floating feeling that was having him behave so out of character.

Thinking back on how he’d been acting now, Naozumi was feeling a lot more embarrassed for it than he did back then. Did they…really make out for a good several minutes in the middle of the hallway. Clinging to Ray now, out of necessity as well as simply wanting an excuse to be pushed up close to him, Nao could feel his face staring to flush all over again from belayed humiliation. And even more because for some reason, even though all that was mortifying to him, he was still vying to do it again, right there in the pond.

He looked up at Ray as his tiny little hands gripped tightly onto the older boy’s shirt, which was all Nao needed to keep himself afloat, and fought against an emerging smile when Ray announced that it was time for the kiss. He…suddenly felt a lot more nervous than he did the first time they’d done it. How was that even possible? Ray and Nao had kissed so many times now that it should be like nothing, as easy as….

Nao arched his chin up to meet Ray’s lips with his own, inviting the other boy in and letting him do what he willed without protest or restraint. In fact, Nao was responding with his own urging movements, closing his eyes and pushing his tongue deep into Ray’s as if in a contest to see who could outdo the other. He was given only a microsecond of time to take a quick breath when Ray disengaged before he reinitiated it with just as much fervor as before. Possibly more so. The young boy was breathless, desperate, his head was returning to clouds, fogging up his mind with want. Want…what did he want?

Nao pushed all thoughts aside and pushed forward again, wrapping his arms around Ray’s neck and hooking his knees like a koala around Ray’s torso. This was ridiculous, he thought briefly. How could something so seemingly small plunge him into so much madness? Every touch seemed to tickle and send shivers down his spine. It was confusing how much he liked it. How he silently wanted more. Was it okay to feel like this? Was it allowed? Nao wouldn’t say anything about it, but instead go back in for another mind-numbing kiss.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Unaware that he was being affected by alcohol he would never guess that Nao might have second thoughts. There were agreements that happened in drunken moments that were either forgotten or regretted but no one ever counted those agreements as fact because of those facts. Nao was the most adorable human being that Ray had ever seen. This fit well with what Raylaigh wanted, he wanted something noncommittal, something that he could do where he could make out with someone and not feel anything. No emotions meant he couldn’t feel bad if he disappointed them and therefore could stand up for himself and then they wouldn’t be able to hit him. Jack would finally stop looming over his shoulder.

The little Asian clinging to his chest was too much for Raylaigh to handle. Ray held onto Nao, taking the excuse of helping to hold him up to hold him tighter. He could feel Nao’s heat and his own face grew hot and he fed off of Nao’s close proximity. His heart hammered and he wondered if Nao could hear it. Nao’s eyes were dark in the night, but he could see the light across Nao’s face and he soaked it in while he could and teasing Nao got that reddish glow over his face and Ray smiled.

They connected and all thoughts of his ex vanished from his mind. A passing thought ran through Ray, perhaps Nao didn’t need any more lessons, but he wasn’t going to tell him that. He was going to try to get away with that for as long as possible. Nao’s response only spurred Raylaigh on and he started a game of their kiss pushing back and retreating, teasing Nao without saying a word. He sneaked a peak at Nao’s face before he let his eyes close again taking with him a snapshot for his dreams. He did not want to lose that image or this feeling right now. He didn’t want to break it but soon breathing became a very important thing so Ray allowed for just a breath before going back in, he didn’t want to stop.

He had all but forgotten about the small fact that he was standing in the pond sopping wet. Nao readjusted and Ray moved his hands wrapping his long arms tightly around Nao’s lower back, almost touching his own elbows. The feel of Nao draped around him, had Raylaigh going mad. His body was on fire and his heart was beating stronger than it had been when they were racing. The emotions rushing through him Ray was starting to feel a rush through his brain and through his heart. Ray was blissfully letting himself melt into Nao, it was strange, holding someone like this but Ray didn’t mind it in the least, he in fact loved being someone strong that Nao could rely on to hold him up. Ray’s arms pulled Nao closer and his hand moved slowly over Nao’s back trying to minimize the distance between them as best as he could. Somewhere his thoughts short circuited and he realized something that was both wonderful and terrifying.

Raylaigh was falling for Naozumi. He finally broke off the kiss panting as he tried to catch his breath, both from the running and from the rush he just experienced. It flying was an option right now Ray would be above the clouds, he would be above the moon, he would be above the stars. Holding Nao made him closer to Ray’s height and looking into those dark eyes the realization struck and Ray felt a giddy rush followed almost immediately by sinking dread. What happened to no emotions? Well, that had pretty much been blown away by that kiss. He smiled at Nao. “You’re learning fast,” Ray complimented in a low voice. A strange contrast to his normally light and airy tone. Heat was building in Ray and he was honestly glad for cool water, because there were some things that might be hard to hide. He bit his lip and made doe eyes at Nao. What should he say now?

[Deleted]

Nao hadn’t even been thinking of this when he decided to dive them both into the pond, though truthfully he hadn’t been thinking much of anything at the time, but this was seriously the perfect excuse to cling to Ray and snuggle with him. And thinking this, of course, Nao had to mentally kick himself again for using another ploy like this to get something out of Ray that he might not normally have gotten. There were doubts of whether anything Ray was doing, how he was reciprocating, was out of anything more than just friendship and a sincere desire to help his friend. Collected with the fear that Ray might reject him outright and cease their kissing “arrangement”, along with their friendship, should he discover Nao’s inclinations, and with the guilt that was building up over not telling him and having to resort to such machinations….Nao was so far out of his comfort zone that he didn’t know what else to do other than to simply continue to dive into it head first as if there was nothing wrong.

There were so many things wrong…even the fact that he was enjoying himself incredibly despite all of his concerns. Was it terrible that he wished that the night, that these moments he had alone with Ray would never end just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the thinking part of it? It was just so much easier when he didn’t have to consider and worry about so many things at once. Why couldn’t it just be simple?

Or was it really just that simple and Nao was just thinking about it too much? Nao didn’t even know anymore. Between the doubts and the breathtaking kiss that Ray had pulled him into once again, and the surge of heat that seemed to radiate from within so strongly to the point where Nao didn’t know which way was up anymore, Nao was more confused now than he ever had been in all his fifteen years. Not even the curious circumstances behind his manifestation had left him so uncertain. Or even so excited over that uncertainty. Because he had to admit that there was that everlasting tickle of anticipation blossoming in his stomach, which grew with every heated touch that happened between himself and Ray, and which drove him to push forward to drink up the kiss even more, as if he were a boy dying of thirst.

Why was it like this? Why was Nao grasping even tighter to the person in front of him with every second that passed? Why did he yearn to do things he never would have thought of on a normal day? Like digging his fingers through Ray’s wet hair. There must be something wrong with him, he felt like he was going crazy. And the only explanation he could think of was that kissing made you mad. It would fit the facts.

At some point, Nao had twisted his legs to wrap around Ray’s waist instead of just hooking onto it with his knees. He was no longer holding onto the back of Ray’s neck, but instead halfway off of the older boy’s head itself. When it finally seemed like they had no choice but to stop, if just to keep from suffocating, Nao hung there with his eyes closed, trying to catch his breath as if he’d just finished running a ten mile marathon. He swallowed and looked up again to Ray when he spoke. “I have a good teacher,” he said simply. Nao was thankful for the darkness, being there to hide Nao’s forever red cheeks. They may never go back to their natural color at this rate.

He arched his head up once more impulsively, and planted one more quick peck on Ray’s lips before letting himself relax into Ray’s arms, resting his head in the nook of Ray’s neck. Nao didn’t really think about what he said next, then again, he hadn’t been thinking much at all this night. “I’m tired,” he breathed into Ray’s shoulder. Unsurprising, as it had been a tiring night. Nao rested his eyes for just a moment.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

It would be amazing what might happen if the two were to communicate. Then they would be clear about what they wanted. Perhaps that was the starting problem, if asked, neither of the boys knew exactly what they wanted. The only thing that Raylaigh was sure of was that he didn’t want a relationship, but did he really want to just be friends? Or did he want to take it the next step. But then that might not be fair to Nao, who might not care either way or he might have strong feelings. Either way Ray was going to keep doing what he was doing and having fun, but given all the other boys he could have if Nao were the one to call he would go. Because Nao wasn’t just someone Ray was attracted to, he was a friend, and not even just a friend. He was Ray’s best friend. Ray didn’t want to lose that.

Maybe communicating was necessary, because right now Nao was not taking anything that he wasn’t being freely given, in fact Ray wished Nao wanted more, or rather he wished he was good at gauging people to see if Nao wanted more and to move forward one way or anything. Could it be done without emotion? Raylaigh was sure, but he’d never done so, it was an interesting experiment. Ray frowned to himself, no, this wasn’t an experiment, this was Nao and he cared about Nao and how Nao felt about it all. Right now Ray was just doing and he was completely okay with that. It required very little thought. Which was the perfect thing for Raylaigh.

Thinking and kissing was hard, Ray found. At that point it was best for the situation, though eventually when they were not so tispy they were going to have to talk about this. Though Ray wouldn’t mind stealing a kiss from Nao, every now and again, Nao might have different ideas. And Ray was going to be surprised that they’d done this out where people might have seen, this was like the first ‘no-no’ of dating Jack. No public displays of affection, absolutely none, don’t even acknowledge each other’s existence. Well that had been miserable and Ray hated it, and he silently hoped that Nao wasn’t going to have the same opinion. He smiled at Nao holding him tightly and giving Nao a full happy smile as he looked over his face and got slowly driven insane by Nao’s hands toying with his hair.

Nao’s assessment of kissing wouldn’t altogether be wrong. It made people do crazy things and it was making things like standing in ponds holding tightly onto a friend and kissing seem like completely okay things to do. And there was nothing wrong with it right. Ray chuckled lightly and didn’t reply but grinned stupidly at the compliment. He was like the Yoda of kissing, the passing thought brought a smile to his face as he imagined the short green creature. Ray’s hands moved lower on Nao’s back to help support him as he leaned back a bit. Their closeness was practically driving Ray’s imagination into overdrive and he was extremely glad that Nao wasn’t a mind reader.

The chaste kiss that followed left Ray startled and staring into space trying to process what happened as Nao snuggled into his arms. Oops. That whole no emotions thing… yeah… somehow that had gotten lost. Ray’s smile softened and he hugged Nao closer but his heart beat faster and he felt a sting of terror. Oh no. He looked down at the small Asian curled against his shoulder. He reached up and brushed a lock of hair out of Nao’s face. He was too precious. “I know, me too,” he said softly and looked toward the shore, well technically he was already holding Nao, maybe he could risk carrying him back to his room, or at least most of the way, Ray didn’t trust himself to be able to do stairs. If only he could fly and carry Nao as well, or if he could fly at all with his soaked wings.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Ray said affectionately, surprised by the warmth in his own tone. Maybe this whole no emotions things was harder than it sounded. Ray tightened his grip and started to wade out of the water. Okay so Nao wasn’t that heavy at all, but Ray also wasn’t that strong. The desire to keep Nao this close made him keep going and he nuzzled Nao’s hair just trying to tease the younger boy now and again. “Nao,” he started and the words fell on his tongue and failed to exit his mouth. Okay so the dorms were farther away than he realized and when he got out of the water and shook out his wings enough to fold them he was starting to feel a little weary, but he was determined. He was a swimmer, his arms did have a little bit of strength in them, maybe not enough to get someone a lot heavier lifted but Nao, he’d do it for Nao.

[Deleted]

Nao wanted to be friends. He didn’t want to lose or ruin this friendship that he’d gained with Ray. It was precious to him. But just the same, staying the way they were, being just friends was….well, it was fine, it was something Nao was comfortable with. Moving further than that was scary and unknown…but also exciting. Appealing. He didn’t not want it, that is to say, but he wasn’t sure if moving forward into something else, something closer, was something he wanted, or was ready for yet. Nao…just didn’t know. And while he didn’t know, it was probably best to just keep things as is until he did know.

And until he was….more comfortable with saying certain things out loud?

Until then, Nao was fine, or would have to be fine, with these silent…displays of affection. With not knowing. Or at least that what he would try to tell himself.

Nao didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t want to admit to anything. It was…a lot harder than people thought, to admit something about yourself that you’ve been apprehensive and disturbed over for such a long time. Maybe that was one reason why Nao set his head down and feigned his tiredness. Yes, he was tired, but it was also the perfect excuse to avoid having to talk about everything that had happened tonight. To avoid the awkward moments when sanity finally settled back into both of the tipsy boys. He wrapped his arms tighter around Ray’s neck, to help support himself in the older boy’s arms. Even while “resting”, Nao wasn’t going to make this harder on Ray by just becoming a lump of dead weight.

Still, Nao was only barely over 100lb at the most. He still got mistaken for a child sometimes.

“Mmmhmm,” Nao hummed, his eyes just barely open. He was comfortable right where they were. He didn’t want to leave. At least, he didn’t want this all to end and shift into the realm of reality. Reality was always so scary. Nao felt Ray start to move through the water. He felt him rub up against his head. He heard Ray’s voice in his ear. It made his breath catch and his heart thump. Once out of the water, Nao kept his hold on Ray as they headed back to the dorms. However, should he feel the older boy’s grip start to weaken, then Nao would allow himself to slip from Ray’s arms and simply walk himself, holding close to Ray’s side as they headed back to the dorm building.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

It was safe to say that Ray wasn’t going to bring it up. As long as they didn’t bring it up it didn’t matter right, of course. They were fine the way they were. Relationships were overrated. The only thing that mattered was that if Nao got himself a relationship he wouldn’t be able to kiss Ray anymore. What worried Ray was that the things he was feeling were scary and he did want to move forward but he couldn’t, he just couldn’t. He would much rather leave the relationship thing well alone from now until he died. There was nothing wrong with sleeping around, well Jack had always thought he was a slut, why not finally act like it. Ray was content just being here with Nao as they were. There really was no need to complicate things.

Nao was beyond adorable and Ray wished he had the ability to keep this moment in his memory forever. Ray chuckled at Naozumi’s not so successful attempt at communicating. As much as Raylaigh would have liked to have said that he carried the sleepy Asian back to his room but Ray was not that strong, not even in his imagination. His grip weakened before he would have liked it and Nao had made himself slip out of his arms, but to Ray’s pleasure didn’t increase the distance between them. This felt very nice but also very strange at the same time. Almost wrong. Now that Ray was starting to sober up a bit he was starting to process what had happened and he wasn’t completely certainly he was alright with what was going on. He was falling for Nao, he could feel it. He didn’t want to fall. Why did Nao had to be so cute?

He flapped his wings weakly, the waterlogged feathers spraying water around their ankles. They felt heavy and dragged on the ground and as he reached to open the dorm door he yelped. “Ow! Nao! You’re standing on my wing!” Luckily it was mostly just feathers and there was no risk if one broke but boy did it hurt. It was similar to someone pulling his hair. Not pleasant. Not to mention, Ray was pretty much stuck with the with that paralleled the trapped one flapping in desperation, spraying drops of water.

[Deleted]

Nao would easily fall asleep right there in Ray’s arms. But it was unfortunately not to be. Ray wasn’t exactly a heavyweight champ, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when his grip started to slip, and Naozumi responded by reaching down with his short legs to touch the grass, keeping close to the taller boy while they walked. It was awkward to walk in wet clothes like this. Naozumi wondered briefly if he’d lost anything from his pockets during their little dip in the pond. Like his phone. Probably water damage, at the very least.

Yeah, that was dumb, now that he had a moment to think about it. Too late now, he’d have to worry about it later. For now he just wanted to stay like this for as long as—

Nao jerked up when Ray cried about his wing. “Sorry!” he said, a little panicked. This was the first thing that’d been said in a while, so it was a strange way to break the silence. But at least it wasn’t over anything he didn’t want to touch on right this moment. Not yet. Nao looked down and promptly lifted his foot to step off the damp wing. “Sorry,” he said again, his face wincing in worry. “Did it really hurt that bad?” he asked, looking up to Ray. Nao had the idea that it might’ve hurt like when a cat got it’s tail stepped on. He hoped it didn’t cause any permanent injury to his friend. After all his own fussing about Ray being more careful to keep himself uninjured, wouldn't it be something if Nao was the one who made him break something? "It'll be okay, right? Your wing?"

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray’s body was so hot he almost didn’t notice the wet clothes. He wondered if his phone survived a dip in the water, but that was a passing thought that was far in the back of his mind. What was going on between him and the small Asian beside him was at the front of his brain and occupying all of his thoughts. He put an arm around Nao as they walked, though there wasn’t that much distance between them it was hard to say that Ray didn’t want to close it again. He was sure he was being utterly selfish but if there was one thing he’d learned from his relationship with Jack, it was to be selfish. Always putting someone ahead of himself had been a trait that Jack had manipulated and when Ray started thinking of himself it had started to be violent. Ray wasn’t going to let that happen again because he was not going to be in a relationship again.

Ducking his head, Ray hated to break the moment, but getting his wings stepped on was not a pleasant thing. He shook his head and smiled at Nao as he apologize. Thankfully Nao lifted his foot and Ray’s wing slipped out from underneath and flapped out as if to banish the pain. He blinked as Nao’s expression became darker. “No, no, it’s okay,” he said patting Nao’s shoulder reassuringly, “Don’t worry, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt that bad.” He gave a smile to prove to Nao that there was no harm done. The initial pain was always a shock, because it wasn’t something he was used to feeling. It was the same kind of pain that came from pulling someone’s hair. It hurt but after the offending action was done it usually went away pretty quick. He looked down and a few of the shafts were bent. Ray wasn’t very concerned, it was about time for him to get new feathers anyways and at least none of them were blood feathers. Now that would have been bad.

“Yeah, oh yeah,” Ray said, “It’ll be right as rain. Trust me you’re not the first. It’s totally my fault, I should pay more attention.” He looked down at his feet and tilted his wings up. Heavy with water they felt like they should be off the ground but his vision told him otherwise. It would just take a little more effort on his part. It wasn’t as if he didn’t step on his own wings anyways. He smiled and shrugged at Nao trying to get a smile out of him again.

[Deleted]

Nao, in all honesty, would have supported Ray’s desire to take care of himself. Though that was to take care of himself, not to be completely and utterly selfish. He wanted Ray to think of himself when it came to things like not getting injured and making sure he had eaten enough and things like that. Nao also wouldn’t want anyone to sacrifice their own happiness for his selfishness. Though Nao, being the largely unselfish person he was, was more likely to sacrifice his own time and wants to make sure someone else was taken care of. Like with what he did with his younger siblings. It was due to his commitment to them that he was too often not going out and enjoying himself with his friends. Coming to Hammel, he’d experienced a new kind of freedom to explore new friendships and relations with others as he so desired. Being selfish in that manner, Naozumi was still trying to learn how to do that and in his inexperience, he was still learning where those boundaries lied.

Like with the kissing business. He still wasn’t 100% sure that it was okay as something for ‘just friends’ to do. If he kept pushing those boundaries, when will it reach the point where it wasn’t okay anymore? It would probably be a lot easier if Nao just asked, but….he really was too scared to be ready for that yet.

“Are you sure?” he asked again. Nao really was such a worry wort. He couldn’t help it, he hated seeing the people he liked, whether they be friends or family or something of what Ray was slowly becoming, Nao didn’t like hearing that they were in pain. Especially not because of something he’d done. Like step on Ray’s wing, even though it was an accident. Nao breathed a sigh of relief in the face of Ray’s smile. He followed Ray’s eyes back down to his feet, inspecting the feathers that were bent. “Those will heal, won’t they? I don’t know how any of that is supposed to work.” Nao lifted his eyes once again up to meet Ray’s smile and returned it in kind, meek and shy, with a twinge of red creeping back in to color the Asian boy’s cheeks once again. “I’d like to learn more about your wings…and ability…” He flit his eyes away, somehow incredibly embarrassed over this kind of simple request, but quickly re-linked them up with Ray’s dark eyes. “If I understood it better,” he started, “maybe I won’t…have to worry so much.” He knew he shouldn’t have brought it up again, but honestly, he couldn’t pass up a chance to learn something new about Ray, especially something that would help ease his concerns.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

To Ray’s mind being selfish and taking care of himself went hand in hand. He didn’t know if that had anything to do with Jack or if it was something he’d picked up from something else but it was how it translated. Because he wasn’t willing to give in to other people, he was selfish. Granted, he was very much a doormat, so he wasn’t very good at being selfish. The way he saw it, though, was that he was a doormat that had opinions. He might not put up a good fight but he would have enough to stand up for himself, or so he thought, his will hadn’t really been tested. And without Jack really, there was no one for Ray to need to stand up to, again, so he thought. Raylaigh couldn’t see Nao taking advantage of him, he seemed too nice. Ray liked that, he’d much rather have been a partner to someone rather than their underling, which unfortunately was the other relationship he’d known.

The way Ray saw it, he flirted enough with people he didn’t consider having a relationship with, so there didn’t really need to be a defined relationship or not relationship. They were friends and being just friends meant a whole lot of things, probably more things in Raylaigh’s mind than in Nao’s. Ray was immediately distracted by his wings, he hated it when people stepped on his wings, but as he’d told Nao, this was entirely his fault, if he didn’t let his wings drag where people could step on them none of this would have happened. Nao was worried and Ray didn’t want him to be, he didn’t want to be lectured on how to keep himself safe and why he needed to be careful and what would happen if he got hurt and blah blah blah. So, Raylaigh nodded. “Yep.” He gave a charming smile to his little friend.

Ray laughed. “Oh yeah! It’s not the first time I’ve broken a feather.” Nao started speaking again and Ray, for once in his life, shut his mouth to listen. His smile warmed and Ray found himself not immediately dismissing Nao’s worry. It was strange, Jack had never wanted to know about his wings or his ability. Honestly, Ray wasn’t sure he’d be much help, sure he’d done a lot of research on wings and avian physiology at the direction of his trainer. Nao looked so cute with red on his cheeks, but no, Ray had to focus, Nao was still speaking. Ray couldn’t hold back the exasperated sigh but he swallowed the tail end with a smile. “Alright, I can tell you what I do know. I honestly have no idea how these little things, get me up in the air, I’ll just get that right on out there,” he said with a giggle, “But right now I’m cold and wet, for some reason,” he gave Nao a mock accusing glance before laughing, just in case there was still a tad bit of a sting in his words.

He didn’t want Nao to worry so he added, “Don’t worry, my wings are like any other bird wings.” He flushed with embarrassment, “Meaning I molt like any other bird, so my feathers get replaced every now and again. These are old feathers, so I’ll be getting new ones soon anyways.” He hoped that would suffice for now, he was indeed cold and wet and if they stood here any longer one or both of them were going to get sick. “C’mon, let’s get inside.”

[Deleted]

Nao would consider the two of them friends unless someone explicitly stated otherwise. He didn’t know how else to define it, despite being unsure of the exact scope of that relationship. He’d…deal with changing it when/if the need for such a thing finally came up.

Nao wasn’t sure how much he believed Ray’s claim that he was okay. He really didn’t know enough about Ray’s ability to be able to make that determination on his own and catch Ray in such a lie. However, catching him in the lie wasn’t the point, it was knowing the truth so he could do something about it if he could. If he was allowed. If Ray would stop being so stubborn about it. “Okay,” he breathed.

He was glad that Ray wasn’t finding Nao too invasive with his question. Even if there wasn’t much to tell, it was still something extra they would bond over, right? And perhaps they’d be able to figure some things out together? Nao liked to think of prospects that could lead to, and it brought yet another smile to his face. “You’re right. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. But maybe that’s the “meta” part of it?” If that made any sense. It seemed a lot people had powers and abilities that weren’t easily explained by simple biology. Nao’s face flushed again with Ray’s playful accusation, and he looked away. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have done that,” he said quickly. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” It was fun though. Ray’s reassurances helped only to ease his worries towards the feathers themselves. Not for Nao’s actions though. He still couldn’t believe he’d done some of the things he’d done tonight.

“Okay.” With a face still red enough to be compared with a cherry, Nao nodded and continued inside with his best friend.

((Maybe wrap now or in the next post?))

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

((I'm good with that))

If there was one thing Ray didn’t want out if this friendship, it was a keeper. He already had his parents and his trainer worrying themselves into fits about him spontaneously tripping and breaking his arm. Now, while that had at one time happened, Ray saw that as no need to panic every time he wanted to do something. Already he was skateboarding again with Maddie and Alex without his parents knowing it. It wasn’t the first time Raylaigh had gotten his wings stepped on, hell, he’d stepped on his own wings before. In Ray’s mind he wasn’t being stubborn, he was being realistic, unless those he cared about wanted to shove him into a bubble for the rest of his life he was going to get hurt. It was a fact he had come to accept, granted eventually he would have to start paying those medical bills and then it would become a little insane.

Ray smiled, taking Nao’s ‘okay’ as an acceptance. Was it terrible he felt like he was dodging a bullet? That did give Ray a thought though, he wanted to know more about Nao’s powers as well, maybe they could trade stories, yes that would be a good idea. He grinned to himself at the thought and opened his mouth to voice it when Nao started speaking and Ray snapped his lips shut. “Huh,” Ray uttered considering, “Meta,” he repeated wiggling his fingers as though he were whispering a mystical word.

Pulling Nao tighter against him, if that were at all possible, the flyer smiled completely content. He laughed, clearly not upset. They had both been a little loopy for whatever reason, perhaps high on each other’s kisses. “It was fun,” Ray said giving Nao a smile. They would have to do that again sometime with all of the kissing and the… Ray shook his head his face flushed with the thoughts running through his head. Ray laughed and bobbed his head excitedly. “Most of the fun things are done without thinking!” He declared, well, perhaps not the most fun, the spontaneous yes, and that was if anything spontaneous. Ray rarely did things after he thought about doing them, he really just did, it more or less worked out for him.

It did remain that he was wet and cold and he was sure Nao was probably in much the same state. Right now Ray was looking forward to getting into a warm shower and a warm bed. But not before… He found that they’d made it to the dorms and with a little bit of a forlorn expression he turned to Nao. “I suppose we have to say good night now?” He asked rhetorically and before Nao could say anything he swooped down and stole another kiss. “Goodnight, Nao.” He was grinning from ear to ear as he made the quick escape into his room, his heart refusing to still even after he was sure Nao was long gone to his own room.