Catching up (Ray)

[Deleted]

Backdated to early August

Nao had gotten in late the night before...which was more like early this morning. He'd texted Ray that he was heading back to Hammel and mentioned that it would be a long trip. That was yesterday...a very long yesterday, as it was now tomorrow since he left, but already the day after tomorrow in Japan....maybe. It was confusing enough even to trip up the naturally logical Naozumi.

Of course, no matter how late he came in last night, he still had classes this morning. So he went ahead and got three hours of sleep and went to classes. So yes, he was tired by the time lunchtime rolled around. A very much needed and appreciated break from classes that were putting him to sleep...which didn't normally happen. Not to Nao, he usually didn't have trouble staying away in classes even when he'd gotten little sleep. Nao decided it had something to do with the massive growing he'd been doing over the past several weeks.

The sound of the school bell snapped him out of his daze and Nao looked around the room to see that everyone was already well on their way out of the classroom. Nao quickly put his supplies away in his bookbag and headed in the same direction, instinctively turning right to go straight to the lunchroom...then he stopped.

Wait! This was the perfect time to go and meet up with Ray, wasn't it? Granted, he could wait until after classes had ended for the day, but quite frankly, Naozumi didn't want to wait that long. Not when he hadn't seen the older boy for over a month!

Nao turned on his heels and started in the opposite direction, back to the classrooms and towards the ones he knew were for the junior classes. He pulled out his cell phone and shot out a quick message to Ray.

To: Ray
I'm heading your way. What classroom are you in?

Did he even have lunch this hour? Nao hoped so. But what if he already left? Well...that's why Nao had super speed.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray knew Nao was coming a back and he was excited. But Raylaigh also knew that Nao was going to be tired. Extremely tired probably. From what Nao said it sounded like it was going to be a trip of epic proportions, which seeing as his best friend had been on the other side of the world for the entire summer was pretty epic. Really, it was only a month or so, but it felt like forever. Raylaigh was debating texting his friend of letting him alone for the day. Ray wanted very badly to see Nao, but if Nao decided he needed to snooze Ray was not going to take that away from him. He must have taken out his phone and put it away several times. As much as he wanted to bother Nao, he really didn’t want to bother Nao if he was exhausted.

Raylaigh doodled in the side of his history notes and ended up looking up at the teacher like a deer in the headlights when he was asked a question he hadn’t heard and then being scolded harshly in front of everyone. By the end of it his ears were red and he decided he was not going to like US History class. Not only did Ray find everything after the Industrial Revolution terribly boring but add in politics and he wanted to claw his eyes out. Sure, he knew it was important and there was that thing about repeating history and blah blah blah. But it was so boring, they didn’t even tell any of the cool stories.

So, Ray settled for tapping his pencil on the desk and doing his best to not be obvious in his staring out the window. It was a beautiful day and warm and perfect flying weather. He was daydreaming about the flights he’d get to do for his power training this afternoon and completely lost all interest in the lecture. Ray was more than happy to pack up his stuff and pack it away as the bell rang. The teacher yelled over the buzzing that they were to read the next chapter and complete the discussion questions for tomorrow. Ray groaned, he already had homework in math that was of course a trig review. Really, trig was made just to make his brain hurt. He also had to read for physics, he already knew that class was going to kick his ass.

The normally bright Ray was starting to get the annual panicked depression when he realized he was going to inevitably fail all of his classes. He never actually failed but he did a fairly good job of convincing himself of that after the first class. He looked at his phone as it rang and his heart leapt with joy and his wings flapped giving him a little extra lift.

To: Nao :)
Room 135. Can’t wait to see you! XD

The flyer went to the door and figured he’d see Nao before Nao saw him, as he was much taller than Nao was. He wasn’t actually in room 135, but that was his homeroom and therefore his locker was right across the hall. Ray slipped quickly through the crowd of people, tripping and cursing as he fell over feet and wings and people stepped on his wings. He finally made it to his locker. And by made it, he face planted right into it. He huffed rubbing his nose and opening the locker, he kept a lookout for Nao as he put his stuff in his locker. His belly rumbled and he closed his locker scanning the crowd for his friend.

[Deleted]

”Can’t wait to see you!”

Forgive him, but that sentence sent a flip through Nao’s stomach. While moments ago he was ready to fall asleep sitting up at his desk, now that there was the prospect of seeing his best friend, Nao was more than wide awake and ready to rush to the other side of the school to see Ray. Nao secured his bookbag over his shoulders.

Room 135, right?

Nao looked forward, routing out the path he would take to his friend. He took a breath…then started running! Not at full speed, as that would be too hard to control in such closed quarters, but he could definitely make better time than the normal person running through the halls. It was a childish thought, but Nao was now picturing himself seeing Ray from the other end of the hall and then tackling him with enthusiasm before the older boy even saw him. Ray was easy to spot in a crowd. He tended to tower over most other students. Or maybe it just seemed that way since Nao was so much shorter.

Usually….

Naozumi reached the hallway at about the same moment that Raylaigh took a very graceful face-plant right into his locker. Nao stopped at the end of the hall and his face brightened up into a broad smile. “Ray!” he called out to the older boy. And he stared his way through the crowds towards his friend, at a slower pace this time, however. He kept his eyes locked on Ray as he approached and just as he cleared the crowd…he’d been doing this a lot lately, so he knew it had to happen sooner or later, but as soon as he emerged from the crowd, ‘lo and behold, the growing boy tripped over his own feet. He fell forward to the floor and skid across it. Nao arched his hands up over his head until he was certain he wasn’t moving anymore then finally opened his eyes to see the shoes of the boy he’d been running towards. Instantly, his face burned a bright red over his embarrassing entrance.

Nao meekly turned his head upwards to Ray, his cheeks still flushed. “Hello…” he said quietly. Nao waved.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh would have been mortified if he hadn’t done something like this at least four time a day. The person to his left laughed a little and Ray assured him when he asked that he was fine. He was one of Ray’s year mates and Raylaigh knew, probably more than aware of Ray’s ability to fall over everything. Eventually he was going to get more coordinated, but then he would have to stop growing for that. Granted he hadn’t grown significantly since his last major growth spurt last summer, but he’d gained a little height, thankfully not another foot. He was towering over most anyone around him. Even a few of the older students were hard pressed to look over his head.

Ray regretted it a bit but when he heard his name he turned with a bright smile. It took him just a moment to locate Nao though. His eyes habitually went to where he expected his friend’s face to be but Nao’s head was now higher than it used to be. Nao would have to forgive Ray for gaping (now he knew how other people felt when he came back significantly closer to six feet than when left). If Nao had been adorable he was just that much more attractive now. Ray’s eyes drank up his friend and he blushed. He’d certainly grown up quickly this summer and into adulthood had taken Nao’s good looks and enhanced them, Ray quite thought he might faint for a moment. He finally recovered and waved to his friend. As he did so he realized Nao was moving quickly and then he saw Nao fall. Ray’s hands flew to his mouth to stifle a gasp as Nao skidded.

The flyer winced for Nao and then closed his eyes as Nao skidded toward him. The first thing on Ray’s mind was that he hoped Nao wasn’t hurt, the second thing on Ray’s mind was that Nao was going to take him out like a bowling ball. He stared at Nao for a moment and he stifled a laugh now at the color showing on Nao’s face. He looked more like the adorable Nao he remembered with that color on his face. It was a good color for the Asian boy. Ray started laughing when Nao spoke, taking that as a sign that Nao was okay. Ray crouched and offered his hand to his friend. “Nao! I hardly recognized you!” He smiled broadly. “Now you know how I feel,” he laughed unable to resist a subtle jab at Nao’s old habit of nagging Ray to be more careful. Growing several inches tended to wreck havoc on coordination. “You okay?” He grabbed Nao’s hand to help him up.

[Deleted]

Before, Nao had been doing this about maybe once a week. That time when he and Ray raced home and he somersaulted across the asphalt had been one of those times. The time he’d met that other guy - what was his name? (Greg) - had been yet another time. Where he also tumbled head over heel, though that time into a wall. Over the past several weeks, the frequency of Naozumi’s falls had increased several fold to end up at now multiple times per day. Nao’s martial arts experience helped lessen many of the blows, but the change in coordination made it so it was more difficult to do the epic-somersaulting that he’d once done. Hence, why Nao opted to skid rather than roll this time. Besides, the hall was crowded and he didn’t want to accidentally kick someone.

Though it was only after the fact that he realized that he’d made the right decision for that reason.

Naozumi wondered how long this spurt was going to last himself. Yes, he was pleased with the idea of getting taller and not always defaulting to “the cute one” anymore…but at the same time he was worried what certain other people would think of it…now that he wasn’t “the cute one” anymore. Or wouldn’t be. Shooting up from a little over 5’1” to almost 5’6” over the summer was a big change. Big and fast. Apparently, nothing about Nao liked to do things slow(aside from braining, he was still a space case). That might also be part of the reason why he was falling more often. Not just the mis-coordination, but because he was always spacing out and not paying attention to where he was stepping.

Nao peered up at his best friend and the boy he was suddenly remembering why he started crushing on him so hard. It felt like it’d been forever since he’d seen Ray’s face. And those thoughts only made his cheeks burn brighter. Nao kept his smile shallow, but a prick of a dimple still appeared under those same red cheeks. A smile that pressed forward into a small pout. “I guess so,” he said softly. Nao’s face relaxed when he gripped onto Ray’s hand and ascended to his feet. Now that they were standing face to face….wow, this was weird. He blinked as he tried to adjust to the new viewpoint he had against Ray. He’d always felt incredibly short compared to Ray(and most others), though he’d long since gotten used to arching his neck back as far as it could go in order to look someone in the eye. Now, Nao didn’t have to do that…at least not as much. He nodded, bringing his coal eyes up to match with Ray’s brown ones. “I’m okay.” He smiled his usual, subtle and soft smile. “It’s a lot higher to fall from though.” But….it was a lot closer to Ray’s lips, he noticed. He bet he only had to raise up on his toes the slightest bit to reach them now, rather than pulling the taller boy down and practically hanging from his neck….

Nao flushed again, imagining that scenario. “It’s good to see you,” he said, trying to pretend he wasn’t super embarrassed because of his silly thoughts. “How was your summer?” He supposed he should start out with that, right?

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

At least Nao had some skill at falling, Raylaigh still just flailed like an insane person. Which was probably why he got hurt more often than not. Poor Nao, skidding was something he seemed to do a lot around Ray, there was that time they’d raced and now. Well, so maybe not all the time, but more than a person should. The flyer felt for the little Asian, though he wasn’t sure he could quite call him little anymore, he definitely wasn’t small anymore. He’d grown from adorable to complete awkward adolescence and currently he and Ray were stuck in the same place in that regard. But the way Nao had changed Ray needed to decide if he needed up update his thinking of Nao from ‘cute’ to ‘hot’. He was definitely the latter, but he still had a whole lot of the former still as well.

Naozumi was going to be finding out just how much getting taller affected coordination, but instead of mocking him, Raylaigh only found himself empathetic. Sure the skid had been funny, but no more or less funny than all of the times that Ray did that. The flyer’s face bloomed into a smile seeing Nao’s smile. He was no less himself now than he’d been before summer. Granted Ray would have liked a little warning that his friend was going to shoot up like a bean sprout! Ray couldn’t help giggling at Nao’s pout. Well, Ray decided, he certainly had a whole lot of adorable in him still. The flyer’s smile widened and he shook his head sympathetically. He helped Nao to his feet and he was not prepared for what happened next.

He was not prepared for Nao to be nearly eye level with him. Hadn’t it been just at the end of the school year when it would have taken little effort on Ray’s part to rest his elbow on top of Nao’s head and now, well, now he was going to have to get used to looking up. Well, a little farther, Nao wasn’t quite that tall yet. Ray doubted that he would ever have to crane his neck for anyone. His eyes locked with Nao’s for a moment and Raylaigh realize that he was gaping at Nao. Full on slack-jaw gaping. He snapped is teeth shut and shook his head a little in an effort to dispel the shock. He put his hand on Nao’s head and swiped it across to his face and ended up hitting himself just under the nose. “Holy cow Nao!” He laughed and that seemed to break the paralysis of seeing a Nao that didn’t look like Nao but was definitely Nao. He sprang forward and captured the speedster in a tight hug.

Giving Nao a last squeeze before giving him just a tad bit of space, just a tad. “It’s good to see you too, how have you been? Did you just get in this morning? Why aren’t you sleeping?” He fired questions, somehow ending on the trivial but very important question of sleep. Raylaigh found that when it came to sleeping of doing things he was almost always down for sleeping. “It was good! I didn’t get a job, technically,” he said shrugging, “But some other people caught on to my messenger service for my mom and I started doing errands for more people, so I guess you could call it a job, I don’t know,” Ray shrugged chattering away. “How was your summer? I wish we coulda hung out!” He pouted at Nao, it seriously had hard not being able to hang out with Nao all this time.

[Deleted]

While one’s size and physical features may change over the course of time, typically, one’s personality did not. Nao was Nao, whether he was a pipsqueak or a bean-sprout. The boy was still soft-spoken, still quiet, and absent, and blunt, and slow, and literal, and everything and all that he was in-between. That had not changed and it was very unlikely to, at least not over the course of one little summer. If there had been any change in the boy over the past year, then that was all because of Ray. Nao smiled more openly than he used to, and he’d learned to speak in more than just a series of short sentences. He’d also become more comfortable in initiating conversation.

Then there was….

Nao still wasn’t certain where Ray stood in his terms of “like” for Nao. He still had not proof that their “kissing practice session” were anything more than just that, and as a favor from one friend to the other. But regardless, Nao had become just the tiniest bit more comfortable with being honest about his sexuality. No one had thrown stones at the two of them(at least not to his knowledge) for the boys and their first “session” in the middle of the girls dormitory hallway. Nao still didn’t know what had gotten into him that night. He’d mustered up the courage to open up to his friend Xun about the fact that he liked men over women, and that he was crushing hard on his own best friend. And that conversation had ended with the asian boys trying it out for themselves…the kissing…to gain some extra, different experience than what was their respective firsts. Even now, Nao was looking up at Ray and thinking how he woudn’t mind engaging with him right now in the middle of the school hallway…but that thought had fast breaks on it with the idea of how many people would actually see them…

Naozumi sighed. Guess he still had a long way to go.

The look that Ray was giving Nao had the boy feeling self-conscious, and he started to wonder if maybe there was something on his face, or stuck in between his teeth, or some other sort of atrocity that Nao had been unaware of. Nope, it was just….Nao stood perfectly still, but his eyes shot up to follow the path in which Ray’s hand too, from the top of Nao’s head to the center of Ray’s face. His exclamation had Nao twitching his lips again into a smile, but before it could blossom fully, Ray had enveloped the Asian boy within his arms. Nao strained his own arms to hopefully wrap them around his friend as well, as much as he could, but he was only able to get them to settle around Ray’s waist and lower back. He loved the close contact, though.

When he was finally released, Nao released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, letting it escape in small huffs of laughter. “I’m okay,” he said with a smile, then nodded at the second question. At the third, Nao suddenly blushed, embarrassed and somewhat ashamed. “I….” He lowered his head. “I fell asleep in class…” he said meekly, and completely full of guilt for doing something so uncharacteristic. Nao did perk up at the news of Ray and his “work”. “Oh? So you mom kept you busy after all. I’m glad!” That was good too, though. Even if it was for his mother, Ray could still list it as experience if he knew how to sell it right. “Me too,” Nao agreed with some regret. “But the family trip is something we do every year.” Nao thought back to a conversation he and his parents had. “But it’s really expensive, so I probably won’t be able to go back home until next summer…but I don’t know if I want to go next year, since it makes me take so much time off from school.” That was really regretful as well. He shook it off. “It okay. We have lots of time to do that now,” he assured Ray, smiling up at him. “Are you hungry? We should get lunch.” Because food was important.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh was aware that sometimes his look threw people off, he was still himself, as Nao was still himself. His appearance could put up an assumption, but as his mother said, ‘you can dress him up but you can’t take him anywhere.’ Well, he wasn’t the only one of her son’s to get that groan out of the woman. Ray was glad Nao was back, granted he was willing to let the not-so-little-anymore Asian have a day of rest. Ray would have thought that even Nao would have taken classes off today, their teachers would certainly have understood. Then Nao would be rested, as much as Ray found the boy’s work ethic inspiring, Nao needed to know when to slow down or he was going to burn himself out.

Seeing Nao made the feelings come back with a vengeance. He’d been able to ignore them in favor of just missing his best friend. Texting with him wasn’t quite enough, it wasn’t close enough, he wanted Nao close and now Nao was close. That was a scary thought, for some reason Jack had been on his mind a lot lately, probably because that jerk. He shook his head, it wasn’t fair that he still had feeling for Jack too. Couldn’t he just be alone and be happy about it? Or could he at the very least have flings that other people seemed to do so easily. Apparently not. He didn’t even know if Nao was gay or not, well generally with his mannerisms and what Yancey had said he was, but he wasn’t sure and one should never make assumptions. What kind of made him wonder was that Nao hadn’t asked him if he was gay. He made sure to look fashionable and was a basket full of emotion. Did Nao already know or had he not guessed?

Part of Raylaigh thought that it was one of four scenarios. He’d had a lot of time this summer without Nao to think about missing him and think about these possible scenarios. Scenario one, Nao was innocent, straight and had no idea that Ray was gay, and therefore had no problem kissing him. Scenario two, Nao was gay but thought that Ray was straight and therefore had no problem kissing him but also didn’t feel comfortable saying anything about it afterward. Scenario three, Nao was straight and knew Ray was gay and didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Or Scenario four, Nao was gay and knew that Ray was as well, but wasn’t looking to take things further or he didn’t want Ray to know, which kind of didn’t make sense and made scenario four an easy Scenario to opt out of. Either way it was all tossed out of his mind now that Nao was here and Ray could hold him.

Raylaigh knew he’d caught Nao and narrowed his eyes at the Asian, mirth hiding behind his eyes. Ray looked at Nao shocked. Nao, this was Naozumi, right? Sleeping in class. He had to be kidding. He didn’t look like he was kidding. “Awe, Nao,” he said sympathetically, “Welcome to the dark side.” He laughed softly and patted his friend’s shoulder, “Don’t be too hard on yourself, you should have been in bed. All the teachers know that I’m sure.” He winked at the speedster, poor Nao, he looked sleepy. Ray nodded and grinned, sticking his tongue out and holding it between his teeth. “That woman is a slave driver I tell you what,” he laughed, “Though probably still easier than working all through vacation. How were things in the restaurant?” Ray nodded. “No, no I get it, we used to do stuff like that, but now everyone’s scattered to the wind, I guess you should appreciate it while you can.” And by that, Ray meant they hadn’t really done anything like that since his dad and mom split.

“Awe, Nao I’m sorry,” he said giving Nao a sad look. It would suck for Nao not to see his family, as awesome as it would be to have him here. Ray would never ask Nao to give up seeing his family for something as silly as that. He might give him a hard time, but he had him for the rest of the year, he could do without him for a month or so, even if that was really hard to do. “What? Why not?” Raylaigh asked surprised, “I mean school should be the least of your worries, you’re good at your classes, I’m sure they would help you catch up.” Did Nao really just not want to go? Did he get along with his family? So many questions rang around in Raylaigh’s head but Nao asked the most important question of all and it stopped Raylaigh short. He mock scoffed, “Ch! Yeah! C’mon now,” he teased giving Nao a smile, “I’m famished, always famished.” Yes, Ray had learned a new word and he was rather excited about that. Mostly because it made his hunger seem that much more important.

[Deleted]

The correct answer was secret scenario number five. Nao was gay, he suspected that Ray might be as well(or at least bi), but had terrible gaydar and was too scared to ask to confirm for fear that he was completely wrong and would end up ruining their friendship after making things weird between them. He was still afraid of what Ray might think should he find out that Nao was gay. Would he think that Nao was taking advantage of his kindness just to get a few kisses that he would otherwise not give if he knew? It was just all so complicated. Nao was fine like this though, where they were currently in their friendship. He’d just go with it for now, and if something came up, then he’d deal with it then. He was honestly surprised at just how simple it was to relax and be more of himself around Ray. It was a relief, considering he held back so much normally.

Maybe…maybe, eventually, Naozumi would get comfortable enough to finally say what he wanted to the older boy. That he liked him and has had the biggest crush on him from the moment they met. That it’s only around him or when thinking of him that Nao’s face flushes with so much emotion. That one of the reasons why he wanted to stay at the school next summer was because he wanted to be closer to Ray and spend some time with him outside of classes. A real break, without the thought of homework or studying looming over their heads while they goofed around instead.

“It’s not…” Nao started with a pout. “It’s not that funny. I’ve never done that before.” Not even on his worst days. “It’s embarrassing. What if I was drooling?” Nao flit his eyes up to Ray, a small smile occupying his lips. He giggled. Because…well, it was a little bit funny. “I’m sure she appreciated everything you did, though.” Nao didn’t know the woman, so he was thinking of how maybe his own mother would react to someone like Ray helping out so much. “The restaurant was fine. It was a lot busier this year than last.” It was always busy, which was why his aunt asked them to help out every year, but it was especially so this year. Which probably accounted for why Nao didn’t keep in much contact with Ray, save for their occasional text conversations. Nao smiled sheepishly. “I got in trouble for being on my phone too much.” He jabbed a finger into Ray’s chest, his eyes narrow as he “scolded” his friend. “I blame you.” Was that too much? Was he allowed to do that? Guess he’d find out in a second…

Nao shrugged at Ray’s concern. “There’s not a lot I can do about it. It’s expensive to go all the way to Japan during the summer and back. I may have to just settle for Christmas and spend summers here while my family goes to Okinawa.” That was really the best solution as Nao could see it. He gave a naive smile. “Besides, I heard there was this lecture I missed while I was gone.” Nao didn’t really have all the details about it. “Called The Talk? Did you go to that?” he asked innocently.

He suspected that food would get the other growing boy’s attention. Nao backed up to let Ray walk past, then followed in-step beside him. “‘Famished?” Where did you learn that?” he asked, smiling up at the good-looking brunette.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

It would be scenario five, the one that Raylaigh hadn’t thought to think of. Ray really liked Nao and for him that was an unexplainably terrifying occurrence. He hadn’t really realized it until Nao had been gone for so long and how he missed him so much. It was really just easier to think that Nao was just having fun one way or another because emotionally Ray didn’t think he could handle another relationship, not with all of the accusations and heartache. Raylaigh’s one and only relationship with Jack had been all Ray had ever known and he was completely baffled as to why people wanted love so much. Love was painful. Physically and painfully, and love was taking that because you loved that person. Ray had no idea how wrong he was, but he was too afraid to learn he was wrong.

He’d never told anyone about Jack and no one knew that some of his clumsy falls were not so clumsy after all. He smiled nevertheless and told himself again that Jack was gone and he was happy about that. In fact, life was worlds better without Jack, without love. Why would he want to get bogged down in that again? Being single was fun and being with his friend was fun. Why make things complicated? Raylaigh couldn’t help smiling despite himself, he was beside himself with happiness and his wings fluttered excitedly so he was just barely keeping himself on the ground. It would not do to rocket upward and smash his head on the ceiling. Nao made him feel like he was flying even when his feet were solidly on the ground. It made him want to whoop and fly circles around the world. Was it even possible for him to feel so happy?

“It’s not that funny.” Well, that only served as getting a guffawing laugh out of the flyer. Nao’s pouting only made it funnier, because only Nao would be so upset about that. “Awe, Nao,” he said in mock pity when Nao fretted about drooling. He just wanted to ruffle Nao’s hair, and so he did. He giggled and pulled his hand away realizing what he was doing. The conversation moved on but the mirth in Raylaigh’s eyes showed no sign of disappearing. Nao was a hard worker, sometimes Ray wondered if he didn’t get annoying complaining about the little amount of work that he did do. “Oh really? Well that’s good right?” He grinned, glad that Nao’s family had had a prosperous summer. It also explained why their conversations had been so sporadic. Ray was still sorry about the time he called and it was three in the morning Nao’s time.

“Me?” Raylaigh sputtered before collapsing into giggles, “I didn’t do anything.” The flyer innocently batted his eyes at Nao, a sly smile growing on his lips. He decided to add a, “Sorry,” anyways for good measure, but he wasn’t sure how honestly Nao could take it when Ray barely got it out through a few giggles. It was nice to be with Nao, it was relaxing in a way that Ray couldn’t remember being with anyone, except his siblings. Ray narrowed his eyes at Nao trying to read that Asian. “Awe, I’m sorry Nao,” Ray said putting a sympathetic hand on Nao’s shoulder, but immediately the flyer caught onto the plus side. “You can come hang out with me and see D.C.” He smiled broadly, his eyes becoming small crescents. A look of confusion crossed his face as he thought for a moment. Ah yeah, that Talk. Who didn’t know about The Talk? Ray made a face. “Psh, c’mon now, Nao,” Ray giggled pronouncing Nao’s name like ‘now’. “It’s only required for seniors.” There was a great deal said in not so many words. Nao should know better. If it wasn’t required Ray wouldn’t be there, when it was he would be complaining the whole time.

“Famished,” Raylaigh repeated dramatically and casually draped his arm over Nao’s shoulder as they walked. “I think it was in a book we had to read for English,” he admitted with a laugh. He squeezed Nao one more time as they walked, very happy that his best friend was home. Retracting his arm he peppered the younger boy with more questions. “How was Japan? Do you have any pictures? How was the beach? When did you grow so tall?” The cheerful chattered Ray supplied came easily and he would be willing to talk all day if Nao let him. He wondered if he could convince Nao to skip class this afternoon and hang out with him. No, no Nao would give Ray such a tongue lashing for skipping class Ray doubted he’d be able to even think about skipping. Perhaps he could at least convince him to get some rest and take the rest of the day off.

[Deleted]

One day, Nao would say it. He’d be able to talk about it without being so scared. It was his goal for this year, he decided, to work on being more open about himself. There was nothing he could do about his natural spaciness, but he could at least talk more when he had something to say instead of keeping it to himself. And when he wanted something.

Like right now he wanted…but there were too many people around. And Nao was still too…

The hug would have to do. For now. And just generally being around Ray. Talking to him. Smiling with him. Laughing. And now, going to eat with him. Nao was slowly growing more and more selfish, and he hadn’t even been back a full day yet. Just the hour for lunch wasn’t enough for him, he wanted the rest of the day, maybe even the rest of the week to just relax and be with Ray, right there with him. But Nao couldn’t be selfish. They both still had classes for another few hours. Nao would skip club, however, to get more rest and hopefully come out of it better the next day.

The pouting…may have been slightly on purpose. Because he wanted to hear Ray laugh, maybe make fun of him a little. He wanted Ray to respond to it. When did he get so conniving? Nao better watch himself, lest he start adopting some bad habits. His pout turned into a smile at Ray’s laughter and he followed suit with a subdued giggle, his eyes squinted up in his mirth. Which only grew when Ray gave him the attention he was trying to milk, in the form of a vigorous ruffle of hair. “Heey!” he laughed, raising his arms to weakly bat away the attack. Then the subject turned to his work. Naozumi nodded. “It’s always good, because its extra money in addition to what she makes as her regular job.”

“Yes, you,” he accused, poking the flyer’s chest again, his “serious” face slowly growing into a smile along with Ray’s. When the sorry came, Nao’s face softened, suddenly feeling bad for being so harsh, even if it was only a joke. He didn’t really blame Ray. He was relieved to hear him giggling again. He’d much rather hear/see Ray being happy than sad. He nodded at the suggestion to come out to DC. “I’d like that,” he said, dipping his head to hide a blush. The hint had been dropped and Ray picked it up immediately…didn’t he? Or was Nao reading into it too much.

Who didn’t know about The Talk? Nao didn’t, apparently. “Only for seniors? But underclassman can go too, right?” But if it wasn’t required, then Nao probably didn’t have to worry about it. “What’s it about, anyway?” Depending on the subject, Nao might want to go anyway.

“You think?” he asked with another giggle escaping his lips. Nao wasn’t expecting the second hug, but when it came, he savored it, slightly nuzzling in against Ray as they walked. He felt…slightly cold when Ray pulled back. “It was nice. I have lots of pictures. The beach was warm this season. And…” That last question was hard to answer. “I…didn’t really notice it until the summer was almost over,” he said sheepishly. He flit his dark eyes up at Ray, his lips curled in a soft smile and his cheeks slightly pink again. “…I really missed you,” he admitted, feeling a flutter within his chest.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Nao’s goal was a good one, and one that Ray would support and encourage, were said crush on someone else. Nao had no idea the can of worms he could open with something like that. Ray was too busy focusing on telling himself that it was just friendship. Besides why ruin the good thing that they had. They were friend and they had fun together, what more could they want? It wasn’t that it wasn’t on Raylaigh’s mind it was more the fact that being friends was more fun than all of the awfulness a relationship would bring. Nao was certainly making it hard, turning sexy over the summer and all that.

Raylaigh found all thoughts of the past dispelled by his best friend. Strange, no one could quite capture his whole attention like Nao. Ray wanted to tackle Nao to the floor and make up for a summers worth of lost kisses. It was pure will that kept him from it. Jack had never even acknowledged his existence in public, so this was already better. They were being best friends out in the open, he still didn’t know what had come over him that night they had made out on the girl’s dormitory floor. Not that he didn’t enjoy it, he very much did, but doing stuff like that just out and about was… strangely nice. He wanted to steal Nao away for the day. He was more seriously considering kidnapping Nao for the duration of the day, if Nao was already falling asleep in class what was the use of going? Besides, it wasn’t like Ray paid attention in class anyways.

Nao was too adorable for his own good, and his growing up had definitely only enhanced his handsome features. Ray was going to have to revise his Nao doodles. Admittedly, ruffling his hair was partially an excuse for the flyer to touch Nao, Nao’d better not think himself the only one taking advantage of this situation. He still couldn’t believe how tall Nao had gotten. It was like one minute he was shoulder height and the next he was almost at eye level! Ray wasn’t going to lie, he was very glad he was still taller. Nao’s protests only encouraged Raylaigh more and he laughed wrapping his arms around his belly as if he were going to laugh so hard he would burst. Oh, how he missed Nao. “Good, I’m glad.” He beamed and then his laughter continued, okay so maybe it was his fault a little bit…

The smile on Nao’s face dispelled any fear about Nao being angry. He felt a weight lift off of his shoulders and tension fell out of his shoulders and he bounced on his feet. Raylaigh put his hands under his chin and batted his eyes, the picture of innocence. He giggled and snatched for Nao’s hand and missed, ending up waving his hand helplessly in the air. He was severely tempted to tease Nao and see how much he could make him laugh. He was so excited that he wasn’t paying attention and got his feet tangled in his wings and tripped flailing his arms, catching himself before he fully fell. He flushed and laughed it off, well between the two of them they might make one completely coordinated person. Nao had answered right when Ray’s balance failed him but a second later he was recovered and grinning like a loon. “Oh you’ll love it! There’s so much to do,” Raylaigh said in a sing song voice, “There are even museums for you.” He added teasing Nao’s intellectual nature. It was a very admirable trait and Raylaigh had to admit the Smithsonian’s were amazing, now if learning was like that all the time he would definitely be into that. Seriously, what was it about teachers that made them take everything and make it so boring?

Raylaigh grinned, not missing Nao’s blush. He’d always thought that was a good color for him. Ray nodded and turned to look at Nao as they walked. It was so weird to not be looking down, he supposed he’d have to get used to that. Since suggesting someone shrink was generally frowned upon. Ray’s face flamed and he looked at Nao flabbergasted. There was no way that Nao didn’t know, he must be messing with him. Looking at Nao’s inquisitive expression he blanked and shook his head. Nao was serious?! Nao couldn’t be serious. “Really?” He asked and held back the desire to laugh, “You can’t not know, it’s like… everyone knows!” Ray wondered in passing how red Nao’s face would get if he started talking about sex to him. Ray wondered how red his own face would get if he started talking about sex to Nao. It wasn’t as if Nao was making it easy for it to be off Ray’s mind. He was only a teenage boy there was only so much he could control.

He was lost in his imagination for a moment, smiling pleasantly and imagining them just snuggling. He snickered and stuck his tongue out, holding it between his teeth. “Hey it happens from time to time,” he joked with mock irritation. “I can’t believe it,” Ray replied looking over Nao’s head, “I guess I grew quick too, but wow.” He couldn’t get over it. Ray’s eyes softened and he smiled warmly. “I missed you too, Nao.” Ray’s stomach made a roaring noise into the following silence. Ray put a hand over his belly and smiled sheepishly.

[Deleted]

Nao didn’t know when it would happen, but he was sure it would. Someday. He’d find the guts to tell Ray what he wanted to say and from there….well…it was do or die, right? Either he’d completely ruin things between himself and his friend or it would go perfectly and something would happen…Nao wasn’t sure exactly what, but…he just hoped it was good. It was that first scenario that had him constantly holding back, though. The fear of rejection was just too strong for him to work past at the moment. So….he’d wait. And enjoy what they had now, while they had it.

Ray was as excitable as ever, and that excitement was infectious. Already Nao was feeling ten times more awake now than he was a mere ten minutes ago just before class ended. It was as if he couldn’t afford to let himself be tired and spacey now, otherwise he might miss a single minute, a single second of his time with Ray. “You are—“ Nao didn’t finish his statement, because he was too busy laughing at Ray’s ridiculous “innocent” act. Did he think he was an angel? Just because he had wings, didn’t make him an angel. He wasn’t that in any sense of the word. But Nao was okay with that. In fact, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Angels certainly didn’t trip over their own feet, after all. And seeing that happen before him…Nao realized that he’d even missed Ray’s clumsiness while he’d been gone all summer. He laughed, covering his mouth shyly with a curled hand. His interest piqued at the mention of the museums out in DC. “Really?” he asked, urging Ray to tell him more. “What kind of museums?” Nao hadn’t done much research into what the museums of that area were. He never thought he’d have a reason to.

Of course Nao was serious! When was he not? Though he still didn’t know what was so important about this lecture. But apparently it was something weird enough to make Ray’s face turn a deep red. Nao blinked with innocence and curiosity. His own face twinged a light pink, over the embarrassment of not knowing something that everyone else knew. “Well…I’m not ‘everyone’,” he muttered, turning his gaze downward. Why wouldn’t Ray just tell him? What was the big deal?

“I think I grew faster than normal. I don’t know if I’m done yet either.” Nao should be thankful that he wasn’t a midget anymore…but he didn’t want to be a giant either. And he didn’t want to be taller than Ray, strange as that may seem. It made him a bit anxious, honestly. “I think we need to get you to the lunchroom,” he said with a small laugh. “Come on.” Nao took Ray by the arm and pulled him in the proper direction. “You’re ‘famished’, right?”

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray waggled his eyebrows at Nao in his innocent act. Nao earned himself a toothy grin from Raylaigh. Ray joined his friend in laughter, of course he was an angel, didn’t Nao see his halo? He had missed his friend and really he guessed he hadn’t realized how much until Nao was here and Ray felt the need to tell him all that he’d missed. It served Ray right to trip when he was messing around, eventually he would calm down, or so his mother hoped, he had too much energy she said, but that was only because he ate all the time and when he wasn’t flying or doing something active chances were he was thinking about it. Or sleeping, sleeping was Ray’s other favorite physical activity.

Recovering quickly Ray straightened in time to wave his arms in a grand motion. “All kinds! There is literally a museum for everything! I mean there’s like a million and twelve Smithsonian’s and all of them are different. Nao you would love it. I’m talking miles and miles of them,” he spread his arms wide imagining the Mall in his mind, grandly surrounded by polished architecture, with the obelisk of Washington’s Monument peaking on end with the Capitol building standing on the other end. It was just the kind of thing he knew Nao would love and hell, Ray had lived in DC all his life and he still hadn’t managed to see all of them. It was almost an impossible feat, to get through one museum could take a couple days it seemed. So much information in one place. Even Raylaigh had to admit that that was amazing.

“No, you’re right,” Ray agreed without thinking. Nao was unique in his own amazing way, there was no other person who was as adorably unaware as Nao. Raylaigh smiled endearingly, no, Nao was the most clueless smart person Ray had ever met. Then realized how that probably sounded, would Nao think that he was ridiculing him? Hopefully not, Ray shook his head quickly and smiled at Nao, “Okay… I mean it…” He flushed crimson and peaked at Nao, the innocent look of interest only making Raylaigh’s face grow darker in color. Come now, Ray, he scolded himself, it’s not like you’ve never talked about sex before! But with Nao… He licked his lips, wondering for a moment if Nao would let Ray kiss him again. “It’s about sex.” He finally managed to get out, only by putting it very bluntly, then, because he couldn’t quit while he was ahead, Raylaigh added, “You know the whole ‘when two people love each other very much’ bit?” He winked at Nao, he wasn’t sure why he did it and after he did it he realized what that probably implied, well, it didn’t imply wrong per say…

Ray laughed easily. “Oh Nao, can’t do anything slowly can you?” He teased mercilessly. The flyer’s face colored now for a different reason and he grinned sheepishly at Nao. Ray giggled and let himself be led along. He put an arm dramatically to his forehead. “Need… noms… feeling faint…” He joked. He hurried alongside Nao, it probably looked like they were on a very important, very urgent mission. The smells hit him as soon as they passed into the cafeteria and had him licking his lips in anticipation. Now Ray was the one pulling Nao to the line. He grabbed a tray and a plate, very impressed with himself that he didn’t knock over the silverware stand when he knocked it with his elbow. “I hope they have good stuff today,” he said as he bounced in line trying not to appear too impatient.

[Deleted]

All kinds, he thought. Just the prospect of having so many different museums to explore had Nao’s skin tingling with goosebumps. Maybe Nao really was a nerd or sorts, he really liked learning. But book learning could only get you so far. At museums…they had displays, sometimes interactive exhibits, videos…it was more active learning than anything one could get in a book or in class. Even Ray, Nao thought, would be engaged enough in them to learn something.

“I want to go,” he said, his voice full of amazement. And the thought of going with Ray, and seeing that tall boy smiling from ear to ear as he played with whatever interactive exhibit they were at, and Nao smiling right there beside him, the both of them acting like a couple of kids. He wanted this. It was selfish, he knew, but he wanted it all the same.

Ray seemed to continue having trouble with speaking about this lecture he’d missed. And his hesitance only made Naozumi more interested in knowing what it was. But if Ray couldn’t get it out, then…well, there wasn’t much Nao could do about it. He supposed he would just have to ask someone else. But then, Ray finally seemed to find his voice and Nao….he stared at Ray for a full five seconds…and then his face flushed into the brightest red he’d had yet. “Oh,” he said shortly. That was….so that’s what it was about. And the sudden surge of exactly what the lecturer would be trying to explain…would there be slides and diagrams too? How in depth was it supposed to be? Nao tensed up slightly at the eye wink, his stomach suddenly doing backflips at the notion of….oh, my…. “O…okay…” he said with a small nod. “That sounds….. informative….” He wasn’t sure what else to say about it though. Nao was far from ready to start discussing that with….with…well, with anybody. At least, not right now.

Next year, he promised himself. He was definitely going to that lecture.

Nao shook his head. “I’m slow at everything else so I need to be fast at least when it comes to food.” He smiled up at Ray. Yes, he was making fun of himself a little. He pulled on Ray’s arm like a little(or overgrown) kid trying to get his companion to move along faster. Such a slowpoke! Especially now that Ray decided to put on a show. “If you don’t hurry, I’m going to leave you behind,” he pouted. He wouldn’t really, but maybe that would get Ray to stop dragging his feet. He wasn’t sure which it was, the threat or the smell of food, but pretty soon Ray was getting ahead of him and Nao was following behind his taller friend. Naozumi snickered as he grabbed a tray of his own. “Now you’re going too fast,” he teased, smiling. But as soon as they reached the food in the line, Nao barely any time to start piling stuffs onto his plate, reaching across his friend to grab some of the good stuff.