Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels

[ossie_oswald]

CHARACTERS: Sharky, Ossie, and Giles
DATE: June post-pride
LOCATION: The Cottage
SITUATION: A perhaps slightly over-due talk
WARNINGS: Feelings

As every fairy tale comes real

The cottage, when Sharky arrives, is as it always is. Night brings with it a cool breeze that rustles the hedgerows around the perimeter of the garden, the sky is impossibly full of illusionary stars and a moon just slightly too big, a painted dome above a stage. The air is full of the scent of wildflowers, as it always is. The cottage itself, sat on the little hill, with twining ivy on stone bricks and golden light streaming from the windows out into the blue night. The only thing that’s novel is the faint crackle of firewood, a stream of smoke drifting lazily up from behind the cottage, and is that… chlorine?

On the other side of the cottage, near the fire pit and the hot tub, Ossie and Giles wait for him. Ossie, pristine in his lack of visible nerves, who’s shed the illusion of Grace Kelly and his outer layers, in a soft wool vest and no tie. Giles is likely the only person alive who knows what it means for him to be in anything less than a full suit to receive a guest, even if he doesn’t intend on staying long. This is a conversation between Giles and Sharky primarily, after all, all he needs to do is give his blessing. As for Giles, even after the conversation with Ossie, he’s still uncertain about what he ought to do. He'd prefer more time to sit with and analyse his feelings, but neither can he ignore what the dance and kiss had meant to him.

Nothing left for the both of them to do but to wait.

Comments

[broshaw]

Even though he's been drinking on and off all night, there's a beat of silence where Sharky wishes he had a beer or something to distract him while Giles gets his words together. The only thing he does have is watching Giles, which is probably not helping his whole shy goth thing. But he can't help it! Giles is the kind of guy you have to pay attention to if you wanna know what he's about, and Sharky wants to know everything.

"Man, and that's before I start trying to distract you." He can't help but tease, even as his face turns pink for non-alcoholic reasons. "Um... Toooo be honest, I'm not any better at, like, romantic stuff. Pretty much any relationship I've had outside of hookups and stuff has been... pretty one-sided. I sorta figured that's what was happening here, 'cos, uh." Pratt's voice mentally cuts him off, reminding him that he was getting tongued down like a junior prom date, and he laughs. "Well, 'cos I'm like, a handful and Ossie makes a pretty full plate."

[ring_for_giles]

"He certainly can, yes, but I've always liked a challenge, and I do enjoy a handful" Giles's gaze drops rather deliberately to Sharky's lap for a moment before tracing slowly back up to meet his eyes with a subtle teasing expression.

"You are incredibly kind and patient, my dear Sharky, and so very full of life. It is a shame that people in your past could not see what they were missing out on, but I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to have you in my life."

[broshaw]

Sharky's grin widens into something rough and playful, pleased that Giles took the extremely obvious opening for a classy dick joke. He barely manages not to make one in return; sincerity with Pratt gets diffused by that kind of stuff all the time, but here with Giles, Sharky realizes he really doesn't mind it. No need to pretend to be anything other than the too-sensitive manchild he is.

"They were all dumb, anyway." Even Rook was too oblivious to get even the most basic puns, and that's one of Sharky's favorite forms of both comedy and affection. "And I wasn't, like, the best person back then. It took a whole-ass apocalypse for me to get my shit together." He doesn't even know what kind of person he would've become if the Collapse hadn't happened. Probably a burnout with a meth addiction, or in prison or something. But instead, the world had ended and he'd had to mom up for Hurk, and later for Hurk's kid. That kind of responsibility really must've done something to him.

"I guess now it's just a matter of one of us makin' the next move, huh?" His grin returns as he leans back in his chair, curling two fingers in Giles' direction. "Why don't you come over here and gimme a kiss to make things official?"

[ring_for_giles]

"That does seem to be the appropriate course of action at this juncture." There's a slight smile, teasing, despite the entirely flat and unaffected tone.

It's a moment longer before Giles rises though, taking the time to fully observe Sharky first, allowing his gaze to linger comfortably without any heat behind it. He leans over Sharky, hand under his chin to tilt his head up just so, and finally kisses him. Slow, sweet, and tender.

[broshaw]

Despite his play at being demanding, Sharky returns the kiss with a lazy, relaxed sigh, hands reaching up to tug Giles closer by his shirt collar.

He used to think that romance was supposed to be the kind of thing that set fire to roller rinks and blew up distilleries, like throwing a bottle of lighter fluid directly into a bonfire. But this is a better kind of warmth; the comfortable campfire that you can sit around for hours, easy to feed and slow to die out. The kind of thing that keeps people alive, instead of torching them alive.

[ring_for_giles]

When he has to pull away to breathe, Giles doesn't move much. Just enough to allow for air, his forehead resting against Sharky's. He could inhabit this moment comfortably for a lifetime, the quiet warmth of something new and building, of undiscovered territory waiting to be explored together.

But the smell of chlorine still hangs in the air, waiting patiently for them, so...

"Shall we... 'break in' the hot tub, so to speak?"

[broshaw]

He hums pleasantly when the kiss ends, eyes scrunched up from the smile still on his face. That was nice. If he isn't careful, he could get used to that kind of thing; thankfully, Sharky's never been careful a day in his life.

The question earns a single mischevious eye opening. "That's, like, the most romantic thing you could've said just now, for real." He's a simple man with simple pleasures. "You think Ossie wants to join us?? Or will he catch up later?"

They may be getting into a one-on-one relationship here, but that doesn't mean Sharky doesn't know that Ossie is a thirsty ho.

[ring_for_giles]

"He most certainly would like to, but it's entirely at your discretion whether he does or not. Oswald won't mind either way."

Giles himself is entirely incapable of believing almost any situation wouldn't be improved by Ossie's company, after all.

[broshaw]

Sharky bobs his head like he's thinking it over, as if he needs to do that. He spent a good chunk of time just trying to get Giles and Ossie together, okay! He suffered a minor magical malaise for his efforts! There's no way he isn't gonna reap some of the benefits of his crush (boyfriend? Ughhhh not gonna think about that now) having a hot husband after all that hard work!!

(It was literally two and a half conversations, dude, but go off.)

"It'd be hella rude to leave him out in the cold while we have all the fun." He has no idea how loud he actually needs to be, so he goes for 50% maximum holler volume when he calls out, "Ossie, I'm gonna start strippin' with or without you, man!"

[ossie_oswald]

The back door slams open before he's finished speaking and Ossie- who is in a robe and Nothing Else- leans in the manner of an old Hollywood starlet.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

He wasn't listening in, why would you even suggest that.

"All sorted then, my dears?"

[broshaw]

Probably could have just waved at the closest hot tub-facing window and gotten the same reaction, huh...

"Sorted as fuck, hot stuff." Ossie is treated to double finger guns before said fingers go back to Giles's shirt, undoing the first button. "Awkwardness over, time to fuckin' party." He pauses and looks up at Giles, checking his face for any hint of hesitation or nerves. "Right?"

[ring_for_giles]

Giles narrows his eyes a little at Ossie, and the only thing that stops him from questioning what, precisely, Ossie did with the clothing he'd changed out of, is that he has to save his own from Sharky. Not that he thinks any real harm would come from Sharky unbuttoning his shirt of course, he's just very particular. Even — or perhaps especially — in moments like this.

"Yes," he says, gently removing Sharky's hands from his buttons to finish the job himself, "definitely 'time to party', as you say"

[ossie_oswald]

As he glides behind Giles to get to the hot tub, he does a brief charade over his shoulder to communicate 'don't take it personally'- because he shouldn't, Sharky is a wonderful man and if even Ossie doesn't get to undress Giles, nobody should take it to heart.

At the edge of the hot tub, he allows the robe to drop a little off his shoulders- it's always a performance around anyone- and his skin shines with unnatural smoothness in the artificial moonlight. Like polished wood, in a colour that cannot be remembered because it simply isn't there to begin with.

Then he lets the rest of his robe drop, and unfortunately there is no sexy way to enter a hot tub, (he should know, because he has attempted to work one out), so he just sort of does it and then waits. They can have their little moment as they get undressed, he'll keep.

[broshaw]

"Loooove hearing you say the word party."

Sharky could never take offense to something that could be just as easily construed as a challenge. He wiggles his fingers to show them both that he's got no hard feelings, turning them onto his own shirt. Normally, at this point, he'd just pop the buttons clean off and toss the polyester wreckage into the fire, but now he feels like he's gotta prove he can totally take off a shirt without ruining it.

He gets to his feet, one-handedly unbuttoning his own shirt and briefly diverting his gaze to Ossie's sexy-ass shoulder. Oh, and his ass. Like, c'mon, man, obviously he's gonna check him out. He's a pro at undressing quickly, and also makes no attempt to get into the hot tub sexily -- not because there's no way to do it, but because every way is sexy. Naked dudes, asses out, legs spreading awkwardly, c'mon. It's just science!!!

[ring_for_giles]

Giles is distracted momentarily watching Ossie's performance, of course he is, how could he not be? But he soon enough turns his attention back to the removal of his clothing, everything neatly folded and set aside on one of the chairs with well practiced speed and precision. And if Sharky's end up similarly neatly folded on another chair that's neither here nor there.

Once he's half settled beside Sharky in the hot tub, Giles holds a hand out to Ossie. Perhaps there isn't a sexy way to get in but since he's going for the Hollywood starlet approach, daintily with assistance may well come close.

[ossie_oswald]

Ossie of course is already there when Giles holds his hand out- it just tickles him to see Giles mince about like that. The hand helping him get into the hot tub gets kissed, and... well, it's just perfect, isn't it?

The love of his life, his love's love, the cottage and the pleasure of warm water, a pleasant buzz, pride- it's as perfect as this ship can ever get. He only hopes that one day he'll get this away from here, too. A strong scent of roses catches on the artificial breeze, and Ossie settles in on one side of Giles, cheek to his chest.

[broshaw]

Sharky is more at home naked in a hot tub than anywhere else he's ever lived, and he sinks into the water across from Ossie and Giles like a sensually-dressed lifeform that breathes water through his skin. Literally, only two things would make it perfect -- a beer and his stereo -- but he isn't looking for perfection right now. Nobody needs that kind of drama.

Besides, if he wanted either of those things, one of them would have to move, and Sharky's got a perfect enough view without 'em.

"This is way better than slumming it on the pool deck. Which of you boys am I supposed to be thanking for this?"

[ring_for_giles]

Any lingering worry Giles might have about Ossie's comfort with everything is well and truly soothed by the rising smell of roses. He kisses the top of Ossie's head and the breeze grows just a little stronger to match, leaves dancing in the air around the hot tub.

He's still focused on Sharky, though, watching him, happy with how well this has turned out, and that the hot tub has been as well received as he was hoping.

"Technically if one is being entirely fair, Ms Friday is the one to thank as I received it as a sundries package. I might not have set it up, at least not so soon, but, well, I know how much you enjoy the one on the ship proper, and in such a public space I'm not really able join you. So it seemed... worthwhile."

...

He's starting to see why Ossie wasn't the least bit surprised.

[broshaw]

Giles explains, and the only thing that keeps Sharky from going pink in the face is the fact that he already is. He can practically hear Pratt's declaration of that's gay, bro from here, and he would be absolutely right.

"Remind me to send Friday a gift basket or somethin', 'cos damn, she was lookin' out." It's easier to talk about that then the romantic overture that the hot tub represents, but now that they've gotten the awkward feelings jam over with, he doesn't need to shy away from sentimentality so much. He reaches across with one leg first, patting the knee Ossie's next to before resting his foot against Giles's other thigh.

"It means a lot to me that you guys would, ummm, bother settin' this up, I guess?" Is he doing genuine emotion right? "Like, you coulda had a nice gazebo or some shit and you went with the one thing that's guaranteed to get me in here instead. Especially when it's A, next to a fire and B, stocked with hotties."

(Nobody said genuine emotion can't be shallow, right?)