The Causeway, Sunday Evening

[myownface]

Sparkle bounced on his toes as he waited to meet Hernando on the Causeway for their date. He'd... kind of panicked. Being given a couple of days to come up with something good given the date that Hernando had arranged had left him flailing, and now he was second-guessing basically everything, ever. But it was too late to back out now, even if his choice for the evening was less about art and more about ambiance.

He desperately hoped that the place wouldn't be swamped with kids.

He also hadn't even gotten as far as making dinner reservations.

Tonight was going to be interesting, okay?

[OOC: For that guy!]

Comments

[hernando_fuentes]

Seabirds indeed.

"Sometimes zoos do things like this," Hernando agreed, "There is no reason an aquarium could not feed birds and turtles for people to see."

They were probably not going to let Sparkle feed the stinky birds. But who knew, zoos sometimes did that too for sea lions or other animals.

[myownface]

"They probably do with the dolphins," Sparkle mused. "And watching the sharks eat would be pretty kickass, too..."

Not that the island hadn't given him more than his fair share of shark encounters already.

[hernando_fuentes]

"We should look and see if they do those," Hernando nodded. He had seen sharks swimming while snorkeling but he did not wish to be around wild sharks when they were eating.

Or even hungry.

[myownface]

"Next time we see someone who works here, we can corner them and ask," Sparkle decided. "Even if we missed feeding time today, we can know for next time!"

[hernando_fuentes]

"I like those words," Hernando said warmly, "'Next time'."

[myownface]

"Next time," Sparkle said back, grinning shamelessly. "Next time, next time..."

He liked those words, too.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando leaned in to brush a kiss across his temple. "I am so glad you are happy."

Sparkle needed it. He'd been too stressed lately and Hernando hadn't quite been secret about his opinion of that.

[myownface]

"I needed this," Sparkle admitted, smiling and nuzzling in for a moment more. Another moment later and he perked up. "So, maybe next time we can crash the onsen or something? I've still never actually been to the onsen..."

[hernando_fuentes]

"Please, by all means call me when you need to be abducted and distracted and made happy," Hernando teased.

Not so much with the kidding.

"Did you want to go to the onsen instead of a spa in the city?" he asked, "Or both on different trips?"

[myownface]

"Different trips," Sparkle announced. "Definitely different trips. Maybe we do the mainland first. Getting distance from that place is great, you know? Kind of important to hammer in that we can."

[hernando_fuentes]

"I am in favor of this," Hernando admitted, "Not the least because the onsen is open to the public and is rarely empty. A spa may have a couples package."

[myownface]

"... Ooo."

See, that was a great way to get his attention, right there.

"Couples package. I like the sound of that."

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando might have spent some time looking up couples massage packages.

"I only looked at massage," Hernando admitted, "I did not look into full spas. There must be something like."

[myownface]

"Okay, but... massage."

Any masseuse would take one look at Sparkle and bust out a mallet or something.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando was aware of the muscle tension Sparkle'd been carrying lately, yes.

"You could use one," Hernando said with another brief kiss against Sparkle's temple, "done by a professional and not my poor attempts."

Gently teased, "You know how I love to see you turn to a puddle."

[myownface]

"Bet you love it better when you're the one turning me into one," Sparkle teased. And then relented a little. "But that does sound nice..."

[hernando_fuentes]

"It's true I do enjoy that," Hernando admitted without a trace of shame, "but watching allows me to appreciate it from outside as well."

A moment of reflection. "Would that be alright with you? Disrobing for a massage?"

Sparkle had seemed hesitant about having his shirt off.

[myownface]

Sparkle lifted one shoulder a little. Half-shrug.

Always the same half.

"I mean, it's their job to massage, not to ask questions, right?"

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando turned slightly to step in front of Sparkle for a moment. Studied his eyes for a second and then leaned in to kiss him briefly but fiercely.

"As long as it does not hurt you." For any meaning of the word.

[myownface]

Which left Sparkle standing there, bemused and pleasantly surprised.

"... I mean," he said, after a moment, "it's... a scar? Not really a 'you can get this on Earth' scar. Well. I have some of those, too."

They were just less blatant than the vibroblade scar. Which in a way was almost a relief. One big scar from a bad incident managed to so neatly take the attention away from a couple dozen more subtle, less showy abuses.

[hernando_fuentes]

"You did not get it on Earth?" Hernando asked. He was a little confused by the statement. He had no idea how Sparkle had received the scar. Only that it was not small and he seemed sort of shy of it.

Then he quickly shook his head. "No matter." After a moment he added, "If any are rude enough to ask, this would be a good time for a 'No shit there I was' reply, yes?"

Or a punch in the mouth. Also acceptable.

[myownface]

Sparkle considered for a moment, and then just shrugged and smiled crookedly.

"I mean, I can just tell them the truth and they'll think I'm fucking with them anyway."

But sometimes it was more fun to actually fuck with people. He hadn't done that in a while.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando briefly considered making a comment about the verb. Decided it would be too crude.

"I doubt they would ask more than if it is sensitive," Hernando commented instead. "They should not; they are professionals."

[myownface]

"Yeah," Sparkle agreed, nodding a little. "True that."

A pause, and then he added, "So, like, heads-up for when shirts start coming off, I have this scar?"

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando gave him a quizzical look. "Yes?"