[color=lightgray][right][sub][color=lightgray]TIMESTAMP: After [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5422119]Technicolor[/url]
FT: [color=a8d16a]Jericho[/color] & [color=28e0af]Gavriel[/color] Phillips-Shomer[/color][/sub][/right]
[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/aces-away][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220626/fe2d9304a6eaff80a4d45d6ff074a27f.png[/img][/url]  [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220626/20e4a27e1adc68a5da4e5e803a955a8e.png[/img]  [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/lovelycomplex][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220626/22d3f6d4b12b79b1c1bf810756ff3845.png[/img][/url]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/y3Ks9Nh.gif[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/4T7Ym58.gif[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/8adqDmJ.gif[/img]
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[indent][indent]Rye had not bothered the tired man while he’d sifted through the donations box, nor once he'd finished, but once JP had a free moment he returned to Rye himself and they conducted the mock interview with a sort of whimsical enthusiasm. There were still lines of tension in JP’s shoulders and brow, so when it was time for JP to care for another customer, Rye had packed up with his plan in mind. A quick message to Nina Belmonte had him showing up at Palermo after a trip up to My Darling Food Mart and working side by side with his best friend’s older sister to learn how to make JP’s favorite dish: Chicken Alfredo, something Nina could make in her sleep. He’d left the restaurant with a smile on his face and plenty of time to spare as he returned to the apartment with his meal and decorations.

He turned the oven on low and put the dish inside to keep it warm until JP got home, then he went on to set up the picnic blanket on the ground. Smoothing it out, he set out plates and utensils and the rose petals he’d gotten when he picked up the groceries, and he trailed electric tea lights out across the floor leading towards the blanket like a path of stars, willing to go full tilt into the surprise, even having borrowed a couple of wine glasses from Nina. He put pillows and blankets on the floor around the setup like a nest and settled back into it, waiting for his lover to appear and hoping this bit of spontaneity could be the start of adding color into JP’s life movie.

Within the next hour, there was the sound of unlocking, prompting Rye to jump up and grab the main dish from the oven before his boyfriend could open the door. Outside the apartment, Jericho had his earpieces in and a box being held in his arm and against his stomach, having gone to Kori Sweets on Carlisle Ave after his shift. He was listening to [url=https://youtu.be/dO1rMeYnOmM]Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce[/url]. He had spent the rest of his shift keeping busy. Tuesdays were usually slow so he organized, reorganized, cleaned and entertained the few customers he did have. 

When it was time to close shop, he first stopped at the drugstore to pick up meds for the old man. He proceeded to drive across the railroad to Kori Plaza to pick a couple of treats for his lover. Rye had a sweet tooth, which at times was concerning because of the amount he could eat, but it was an easy, quick gift if time was against him. Afterwards, he checked on his uncle Edd who was watching one of his shows, The Wire, and sending his best friends, Ed Quinn and Eddie Garnere, memes. Edd Campbell had shared the news of Sadie being in town, not knowing JP already knew, and that she was staying at Laura’s for the day. The old man grinned, knowing well enough his daughter would be pissed at him but he gave no fucks. He wanted his grandbaby home, where she belonged. 

After all was said and done, he drove to Pleasantview and sluggishly made his way to his apartment. The downside of being an insomniac was sometimes the day passes in a blur. Today, however, he remembered vividly his exchange with Rye at MSM and how it almost led to another argument. He had to get his shit together. He didn’t know what was wrong with him but lately, he was losing a handle of himself. It wasn’t exhaustion. He was always exhausted. So what was it? He and Rye were making big moves as a couple. Committing to one another, moving in with each other, so why was he so short with his adorable and lovable boyfriend? He wasn’t insecure of their relationship. He knew Rye needed him and that would never change. He took in the lyrics of the song he was listening to and sighed. He really needed to get over this feeling. There was no way he’d add to Rye’s plate. Rye had Danny and Niles, who were already a handful, and if he found out Mordechai was in town? That was another person his sweetheart, his Sprinkle, would want to carry. Due to JP’s sleeping disorder, he had no recollection that he had already told Rye about Decky, a month ago, and that the anxious man was avoiding the other. 

Opening the door, he shuffled in, closing it from behind and locking it with his free hand. He stopped in place, holding the box close, when he noticed the trail of tea lights and rose petals. Smiling, he pulled his earbuds out and shoved them in his pockets. Following the path that led to his heart, JP met Rye’s gaze and took in the whole set up, from the blanket-pillow picnic to the wine glasses, and even to the plates of alfredo. [color=a8d16a]“What’s all this?”[/color] JP asked, bewildered but in a good way.   

Rye looked up from where he had been doling out the last scoop of alfredo onto the plates and smiled. He stood up and walked around the food with the tray still in his oven mitt covered hands. Holding the hot dish away from their bodies when he got close to JP, Rye lifted himself onto his toes and gave JP a quick kiss before heading back to the oven to put the rest of the food back where it had been. Turning back around, he flailed his arms about the room and set up.

[color=28e0af]“You’ve been struggling too, lately, and I’ve seen it,”[/color] He responded honestly while holding Jericho’s eyes as they glistened with the lights from the fake candles. Safety first, no need for more fires in this town. [color=28e0af]“And I want you to know that I’ve seen it and we can keep playing pretend if you want but if you want to actually [i]talk[/i] about things, I’m here. I appreciate you for everything you are Jericho, but I also see how it’s weighing on you,”[/color] He stepped forward to grab the taller man’s free hand in a gentle grasp. [color=28e0af]“I know I take a lot of other people’s problems on, but so do you, and I’m not saying to dump it all on me and that I’ll take it in, I’m [i]saying[/i],”[/color] He released the hand to tilt his boyfriend’s head down to connect their foreheads. [color=28e0af]“When you need to talk, I’ll be here, and when you feel like you can’t, I’ll be here for that too. Okay?”[/color]

This was all unexpected so much so that JP’s eyes, barely lit but still noticeable, were growing glossy. Instinctively, he used the box in his hand to put distance between him and his boyfriend to cover up the fact that Rye just hit him in a place that forced the lingering sadness in his chest to come to the surface, overwhelming him.  [color=a8d16a]“Fuck, okay. Here, your favorite. I’m… going to change.”[/color] When Rye grabbed the box from him, JP disappeared into the bedroom to get out of his jeans and put on sweats. When he was in a white shirt and black joggers, he sat on his bed. With his eyes closed, he focused on his breathing, playing out a few avenues he could take with this dinner. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. He didn’t expect Rye to be the one to give him a safe space to talk and honestly? He didn’t know how to handle it. Still, he couldn’t let his man wait for too long, especially since waiting caused more anxiety. Deeply exhaling one last time, JP pushed himself off the bed and returned to the picnic. Taking a seat beside Rye, he chuckled,  [color=a8d16a]“Alfredo? Got this from Palermo?”[/color]    

[color=28e0af]“[i]Made[/i] it at Palermo,”[/color] Rye responded, allowing the proud tone to cover up his worry. He knew he came on strong, but it was intentional because JP couldn’t just shrug it off and pretend it was some trivial part of the conversation like he always does. With those strong comments out of the way, Rye could wait for JP to actually process his words and do with them what he may. He certainly hadn’t intended to cause the cornered animal look that had shot through the musical man’s eyes before he’d created distance between them, and he’d carefully sat back down with the box JP had shoved into his hands. He put it down in front of JP as the man settled, knowing that if he didn’t keep his favorite treat wrapped up and out of sight he would eat it before dinner and he was trying to be healthy in numerous ways. [color=28e0af]“Took a little lesson with Nina. She did save me from burning it though. Like three times. Thank you for the mousse by the way, I’m excited, but keep that away from me until I’ve had actual sustenance first please.”[/color]

Rolling his eyes, JP reached for the box and put it behind a pillow, even playfully going the extra mile to use one of the pillows to hide it from Rye’s eyes.  [color=a8d16a]“There. All gone.”[/color] Grabbing the bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Blush, the non-alcoholic version of Pink Moscato, Jericho poured them both a glass, handing the first one to Rye when he was done,  [color=a8d16a]“You had Nina teach you? Did I miss something? I’m proud of you, but what’s the occasion?”[/color] When JP put the bottle down, his phone was left in the bedroom so he could focus on his dinner with his love, he hesitantly asked,  [color=a8d16a]“Did October come out of nowhere and it’s our anniversary?”[/color] 

[color=28e0af]“No, no you’re fine,”[/color] Rye laughed, accepting the glass and taking a sip of the sweet and fizzy drink. This was weird. Now that he’d basically had JP’s insecurities burned into his mind by one Avery Kaine, he could see so much more clearly all the little signs of anxiety the man was typically so good at suppressing. Being on the other side of things gave him an interesting glance into a lighter version of what JP went through with him on a daily basis. He did not begrudge his love’s burden. He grinned brightly and threw one arm out while staying aware of the drink in his other hand. [color=28e0af]“You got an apartment dude! We didn’t celebrate that. I know it wasn’t under the best circumstances but this is still a really big thing and you need to acknowledge that and do something you like, so I made something you like to start it off!”[/color]

With how sugary sweet Rye was being, JP’s own delicate sweetness appeared on his dimpled cheeks. He was incredibly lucky to have such an adorable, affectionate and alluring boyfriend. He always knew that Rye was his person. The moment they met at a Halloween party. Rye found him in a crowd and went all in with flirting. Even before Rye found him, JP caught sight of him from the other side of the room. He was surrounded by his friends dressed as Marty Mcfly from Back to the Future. A quick DIY costume he scrambled to make at the last minute. He saw at a distance, a cute, bouncy boy dressed as Elton John talking to a couple of southies. And then just like that, the boy that smelled of confetti sugar and lavender came to him and introduced himself. From that point on, his world was no longer completely his. It mostly belonged to this boy with tender eyes, a bright disposition, and a big smile.  [color=a8d16a]“Cheers then,”[/color] JP responded and gave a toast to commemorate the special dinner,  [color=a8d16a]“To our next chapter. To all the moments we will shake each other up, to the days we don’t have peace, where we test each other, question each other, and change our very reality. To our future. I wouldn’t want to walk this life with anyone else but you, Rye.” [/color]

Rye knocked his glass lightly against Jericho’s as his tears reflected the glowing lights scattered across the blanket. His smile outshined it all. Jericho knew what to say to play at his heartstrings as well as the man played a guitar, like it was second nature. [color=28e0af]“To our future, I can’t wait to write it together.”[/color]

[color=a8d16a]“Good,”[/color] JP said matter-of-factly as he took a small sip of the sparkling cider. Placing it outside of their blanket area, not wanting it to be in the danger zone of getting kicked over, he started to eat and his face lit up.  [color=a8d16a]“This is really good, baby.”[/color] Rye’s face lit up in response to the praise. He spent the next minute or two in silence shoveling the pasta in his mouth. When he was done, he reached for his glass again and took a mouthful of drink. When he was satisfied with filling his stomach, and Rye caught up with him, he cleared the area, declaring it ‘rest stomach’ period before they got to the desserts. Laying down, resting his head on a pillow, he gestured for his lover to rest on him. When Rye did as he was instructed and they were in a comfortable cuddle position, he grabbed his hand and kissed his forehead.  [color=a8d16a]“So this is… different from our usual routine. Did something happen today? I know you said this is to celebrate our apartment but I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to it. Have I been that transparent?” [/color]

[color=28e0af]“I don’t think that’s it,”[/color] Rye looked adoringly up at his love, gripping his hand back as tightly as it was being held. [color=28e0af]“I just got a little more perspective is all. Perspective I’ve needed but more so wanted for a long time. Are- are you alright with talking on something heavy a bit? I don’t want to weigh things down if you’re not ready.”[/color]

Staying silent for a little bit, JP locked his eyes with Rye’s and saw how intensely the emotion was behind the veil. They say the eyes were the windows to the soul and he took pride in undressing Rye in all the ways you could for a person. Emotionally, spiritually, and of course, physically but that was neither here nor there. Tightening his hold on Rye, leaving no space between them, feeling his heartbeat through his throat, JP breathed,  [color=a8d16a]“What do you want to know? I’ll answer whatever you want but I can’t promise I’ll… I don’t know how I’ll react through this.”  [/color]

[color=28e0af]“It’s not about what I want, and you don’t have to control your reactions,”[/color] Rye replied, hugging back tightly. [color=28e0af]“You don’t always have to be in control around me. I want you to know that,”[/color] he looked at the tea lights as they impersonated a flame flickering and changing the way the shadows played together around their little nest. [color=28e0af]“I’m not…I’m not going to try and fix you if you show me where you feel broken, I just want to be on your journey as you heal. You’ve spent a long time being strong for me, and before that you were always being strong for Momma Robbie and your sisters. When was there time for you to feel safe enough to be weak?”[/color]

That… was a hard question. 

Jericho turned his stare to the ceiling, watching the moving reflection, shadows, and light from the candles Rye had bought. When was the first time he could openly express himself without fear of it backfiring?  [color=a8d16a]“A little before you moved to Edenridge, but not in a good way. I had this… unhealthy relationship with my father. Walter Phillips. That was his name. He and my mom connected through their love of music, he was a college professor at Boston U and she’s taught at Eden High for years. He taught mostly ethnomusicology. The study of music in different cultures.”[/color] Anxiously, JP traced his fingers on Rye’s arm as he focused in on one spot of the ceiling.  [color=a8d16a]“He wasn’t the best man but he was my father and at least for me, I wanted him to recognize me and be proud of me. He,”[/color] Clearing his throat, trying not to choke up from talking about this, he tried his best to formulate this piece of his past,  [color=a8d16a]“Used to just leave with me, like a bargain chip, and gaslight my mom. You’d get your baby boy when you give me what I want. At the time, I thought he just wanted time with me. His son. But really, he just wanted mom to give him something, like money, which he was awful at. Spent all our college savings. Gambled it and acted like someone committed theft on us.” [/color]

The tracing on Rye’s arm turned into tapping, like a drum. Tap, tap, tap, tap.  [color=a8d16a]“I told him everything because I thought that would make him love me more. I didn’t realize how fucked I was until he tried to…”[/color] JP’s voice was shaking.  [color=a8d16a]“He tried to hurt mom and I got in the middle so instead he threw me…”[/color] Closing his eyes, reliving these awful days, yet still missing his dad in a sad, sick kind of way, he whispered,  [color=a8d16a]“A month later, he died.”[/color] There was no room for growth or a change of heart, if his father was even capable of it. The child in him still wished his father before he unexpectedly died grew from his mistakes and became the man his mom believed he could be. The man she fell in love with in the first place. [color=a8d16a]“I’m sorry, Rye… was that a good answer?”[/color]  

[color=28e0af]“Hey, hey, I’m not trying to force anything out of you, and there’s no good [i]or[/i] bad answers, just [i]yours[/i]”[/color] Rye reassured, worried by the reaction. He had listened to the story with no small amount of horror and disgust racing through him, but he’s kept any reactions from surfacing on his features. He knew whatever JP’s choice of answer was was going to be dark, and he was perfectly able to control himself and keep from having dramatic reactions while his lover spoke. Apparently his lack of expression just made normally put together man even more anxious. He pulled back but didn’t leave JP’s arms, just made sure the man could see his face, his sincerity. He looked this man deep into his eyes and straight down to his beautiful and caring soul, and he kissed him breathless like he could be a balm for all the pain that he found there. To soothe it so JP could tend to it in a less irritated state and heal it himself. [color=28e0af]“You don’t owe me anything, you don’t [i]have[/i] to tell me anything you aren’t ready to. I’ll [i]always[/i] be getting to know you, and I can be patient despite what you’ve seen,”[/color] He smiled for a moment before continuing, [color=28e0af]“I’m gonna…I’m gonna give you something to listen to so you have the chance to sit there and find your center if you need. This isn’t me trying to overtake the conversation or compare situations, I just appreciate you and want to be open with you too,”[/color] He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and steeled himself for his own admission. When he was ready, when Jericho’s eyes were on him, he began.

[color=28e0af]“My parents’ divorce was because of me. In like the most literal sense because what I did just really brought into light the way he was but just-”[/color] He stopped and shook his head lightly before restarting.  [color=28e0af]”I came out to them. My parents. A little after eighth grade started. There had already been signs that I should’ve followed that showed my dad wouldn’t’ve been cool with it; one time he came home and I’d been playing stylist with my mom, he flipped out when he saw the makeup on me and started scrubbing it off my face with a damp rag. I actually had a bit of friction burn on my cheek by the time ma had gotten him off me,”[/color] Rye laugh was hollow as the feeling his father had left behind. [color=28e0af]”He started trying to sign me up for sports after that, and the car I used to love working on with him was suddenly a requirement instead of a hobby. He’d ask about girlfriends or crushes and get all cold and distant when I didn’t have anything to give him. Everything in me was screaming not to come out, but I couldn’t handle keeping it in. So I came out, and dad flipped his shit again and started screaming at me, and then he turned on ma because she got between us and he started yelling about how her coddling turned me into a [i]‘filthy fucking queer’[/i],”[/color] Glassy eyes stared at JP as Rye dropped his hands from where he had been signing quotations. He tilted his head and shrugged as if to say, [i]’what can ya do, y’know?’[/i]  [color=28e0af]”She cut him off by demanding divorce and while he was processing what she said she sent me to my room and told me to take my meds. I was basically dissociating to another planet by that point so I just did what she said and fell asleep to the sounds of them screaming at each other.”[/color]

He felt oddly still at this moment, aside from a head shake and tilt as well as a little shrug, he hadn’t really moved. No fingers tapping that would get tapped at with whatever tool or remote was in his dad’s hands at the time, no hands going [i]’in so many directions it makes me dizzy, Gavriel, should make you sit on them,’[/i] and no leg shaking so much it had to be stilled by an iron grasp grinding his knee until it creaked from the pressure. He’d noticed it when talking about the events in therapy. Even years after he’d gotten out from under his father’s influence he still couldn’t even fidget when the thoughts of him in those later years cloud his mind. [color=28e0af]“When I woke up he was gone. Ma was in the kitchen drinking wine and all his clothes were gone, most of his other things were boxed up but he never came back. He sent ma an address and some money and she got it all moved to his new place. I’ve never seen him again and he’s never tried to reach out to me, so I’ve got massive issues surrounding the need to please others over my own needs so they don’t leave me. I have no doubt you empathize with that.”[/color]

[color=a8d16a]“You know I would never leave you right?”[/color] Jericho shifted his body so he was facing Rye. He held onto the back of Rye’s head, holding onto the boy's curls. He leaned his face forward and once again their foreheads were united and touching. [color=a8d16a]“I know I’m not good at this talking about my issues thing but leaving you? I would never, Gavriel.”[/color] For the first time, Jericho’s defenses were completely down and he was raw, vulnerable, and open. [color=a8d16a]“I almost lost you once, I can’t lose you again, you understand? I fucking can’t.”[/color] The grief from a day both of them would rather leave in the past crept in his chest and shook him to his core. Being an outsider on the day of the shooting might have not been the same trauma as what those inside the school experienced but it was still trauma. It was scary enough to set JP back on his own personal growth journey and force a mirror in his face of how he couldn’t protect Rye. He wouldn’t always be there to save him. [color=a8d16a]“I torture myself with what could’ve happened. I’m so deathly afraid of you dying. If you died, I would be losing my best friend, my soul mate, my smile, my everything. You make sense to me. You mean so fucking much to me.”[/color]   

[color=28e0af]“And you, me,”[/color] Rye responded as tears finally broke free and made their way down his face. His forever love was so good with words that Rye treasured every golden drop from his lips, no matter how much pain comes with the beauty. [color=28e0af]“You were my last thought,”[/color] He expressed, keeping their foreheads pressed together as the fear from that day crept up his spine and tore at his shoulder like the constant reminder that his scar would always be. [color=28e0af]“I heard the sirens, little Danny was gone and Dekcy was passed out, me and Elisa had tended to who we could. I heard those ambulance sirens and I thought about how I wanted to get up and find you now that the real help had arrived. I remember getting up and Elisa yelling something and then it was just your face in the darkness and I felt so safe. And then I woke up in the hospital bed,”[/color] He laughed with the ghost of a feeling catching his breath halfway through. Swallowing roughly, he continued through the thick feeling in his throat. [color=28e0af]“You won’t lose me. I won’t steal you away and I won’t abandon you. But I’ll love you. I’ll go with you on your adventures as you learn how to paint your world with different brushstrokes, and I’ll develop some techniques alongside you,”[/color] Avery’s color metaphor may be getting away from him in the emotions of the moment, but JP was used to using context clues when it came to deciphering how Rye’s brain-to-mouth filter worked. [color=28e0af]“This won’t be Apollo and Hyacinthus. I want to be your technicolor.” [/color] 

Okay. Rye lost him with the metaphors but he got the general gist. He didn’t know what else to say except, [color=a8d16a]“I love you.”[/color] With the surging tide of warmth, Jericho drew the other man with his eyes, before laying his mouth on his. Rye’s sweet lips puckered and like medicine, JP let their kiss soothe his soul and combat all the dark that resided in him. They kissed passionately, fervently, and desperately, with shadows dancing around them. Lost in a bubble of time and space, JP made this moment more about him cherishing Rye than anything else, like him wanting to caress his lover’s thighs and fuck him. Rye’s light moans as their tongues swirled around one another only made his urge far more stronger. Still, as sexy as Rye was when he was being handled by him, JP wanted to keep this shared time PG-13. At least until they ate dessert. Pulling away, so they both could catch their breath, the musician brushed a curl behind Rye’s ear and inquired, [color=a8d16a]“Before you get your mousse, answer me this — since tonight is a night of questions. What was the first thing you noticed about me? What made you think, yeah, I like this guy and want to see where things go?” [/color]  

[color=28e0af]“It was your eyes,”[/color] Rye answered after a long moment of trying to gain his breath from JP’s sudden bout of passion. He didn’t even need the time to think about JP’s question. It was his favorite memory to dream because he got to relive one of the brightest moments of his life while  he slept. [color=28e0af]“Those big dark eyes under that silly Marty McFly hat staring me down from across the room. I couldn’t hear anyone else around me because suddenly all I was focused on was you and then you were right in front of me when I hadn’t even realized I’d walked over to you and-”[/color] His gaze softened as he reached out to hold his forever’s face. [color=28e0af]“And they were so beautiful, but so full of pain. They were what my ma had always called healer’s eyes, and I knew I’d found someone that would understand the parts of me that others couldn’t, because you had parts like that too. I saw you from the start, Jericho Phillips-Shomer, I love you, and I [i]can’t wait[/i] to see where you go.”[/color]

[color=a8d16a]“I’m taking you with me, you know that right? Where I go, you go. There’s no other option,”[/color] JP brushed his nose against Rye’s to remind him of his presence and that because he knew him, he was changed for good. Not in a bad way either. Jericho would have never thought in a million years that he’d talk about his father with someone, especially not a lover because he thought love was a rare commodity. In came the Shomers and his world shifted. He no longer wanted to play sad songs because for the first time he found something, no, he found someone to call: his. Sure, at the start they both slept around and he knew Rye would always love Mordechai to some degree, but he also knew he had a place reserved just for him in Rye’s heart. A place to call his own. His home. Grabbing Rye’s hand, he placed it on his chest and whispered, [color=a8d16a]“Yours.”[/color] This was the sappiest he’s been in some time with Rye and even if it was a little embarrassing, he hoped it made his Sprinkles feel incredibly loved and incredibly wanted. Just how Rye made him feel incredibly loved and incredibly wanted.   

[color=28e0af]“[i]Yours,[/i]”[/color] Rye parroted back while blushing, closing the hand over JP’s heart and grasping the shirt fabric beneath his fingertips as felt the man’s pulse quicken. He looked at JP so the man could see it, see that he wasn’t looking at his rock or his lighthouse anymore, but that he was looking at his world and his [i]adventure[/i] and his ever unraveling story filled with messily scrawled footnotes in every margin. His love above all who keeps his soul’s flame burning bright. [color=28e0af]“‘Til the ends of this earth and into the stars.”[/color]

In good ol’ JP fashion, he wrapped his arms around his lover, burying Rye into his chest and softly sang the last part of the song he was listening to before he entered the apartment. 

[center][i][color=a8d16a]“If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty 
Except for the memory of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them

I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go through time with.”[/color][/i]
[/center]

Once he was done singing, he held Rye in silence and let their silence speak for itself. He closed his eyes, absentmindedly running his hand through Rye’s hair. Who knows how much time passed but to ruin the moment, because they had been too sentimental this whole night, JP trailed his hand down Rye’s back and squeezed his butt, [color=a8d16a]“Are you going to eat your dessert or am I going to eat it for you?” [/color]

Yelping in surprise at the action and jumping a bit in the bigger man’s grasp, Rye laughed and pulled back to say, [color=28e0af]“We could compromise and eat them together, how’s that sound for [i]you?[/i]”[/color]

[color=a8d16a]“I want something else,”[/color] Jericho flirtatiously squeezed Rye’s butt again before heavily sighing dramatically, [color=a8d16a]“BUT I could wait.”[/color]  

[color=28e0af]“[i]Or[/i],”[/color] Rye squeaked with a blush high on his cheeks before clearing his throat and pulling the man by his shirt into a feverish kiss, keeping his tight grasp of the fabric as he pulled back to whisper in his ear, [color=28e0af]“We could have the best of both worlds and you can eat it [i]off[/i] of me.”[/color]

Well hot damn. 

JP was quick to push Rye back and climb on top of him. He started with the neck, licking and sucking it before letting his tongue glide up Rye’s neck toward his face and to his ear. Nibbling on Rye’s earlobe, JP used his left hand to get ready and take his boyfriend’s shirt off, at first clamping on his waist. The same hand found a place under his lover’s shirt and his touch built tension and heat between the two of them. 

He purred into his forever’s ear, [color=a8d16a]“You don’t have to tell me twice.”[/color] With ease, he stripped Rye from head to toe. His tongue swept Rye’s mouth again and from there, the two boys got lost in time, lost in each other. Raw and without restraint, they expressed their deepest emotion, unburdened by disconnect. They merged and tangled, they loved and never let go. JP groaned Rye’s name over and over, continuously expressing his love. Wanting him, loving him. They had their whole lives to explore. That didn’t mean they couldn’t start tonight, exploring every part of each other until they both saw stars. 

That’s what love was.

That’s what it meant to meet someone in the middle and finally come to a place of harmony.  

Separately, they were in black and white. Together though? They were in a symphony of colors. A beautiful song that painted the other’s world. Their souls were prismatic and the world, their world, needed them. 
[/indent][/indent][/color]