checks over everything on his boat for the fifth time to make sure everything was safe and ready to go. He was going to enjoy the nice, warm
Saturday by going sailing.
didn't know he still went sailing.
went any time he got the chance; despite settling and adapting to the modern era his heart still lay in the water. He would love for Tino to
join him if he was interested in it.
was interested in it, but he's pretty sure Berwald would be more content enjoying it on his own. He just didn't know he still went out on
the water.
may send him a text message inviting him along anyway. It was relaxing to go alone, but it was always nice with company... or so he assumed;
he hadn't exactly gone out with anyone else recently.
would come if he was invited. He would always take the chance to avoid work or cleaning.
figures as much and sends him a quick message. It wasn't that he condoned skipping chores, but that he welcomed the time together...
would take it as him condoning skipping out on his chores. He blinked when he got the message and smiled a bit responding with a simple sure
.
was glad he had over packed the food, and eagerly awaited for Tino to get there. He rubbed a soft cloth over the wood railing to make sure_
it had a nice, glossy shine for him.
packed his own picknick lunch, that he fully intended to share with Berwald, and headed over.
didn't think the picnic lunch was necessary, but he would say nothing about it. He carefully folded the cloth and put it in its right place_
before Tino arrived and grabbed a paper before lounging back on the small deck and reading it; he was trying his hardest to look 'casual'
and relaxed.
found the right boat, though it did take him a few tries. He paused before he called out. "Berwald?"
peeked up over the paper and folded it in to his lap. He smiled as he stood up and gave him a small wave. "Tja." (Tja means both a very
informal 'hey!' and 'well...' or 'maybe...' with a more positive outlook. (as opposed to nja, which is a more negating one.) )
(okies) smiled up at him as he held onto the bag, he was a bit out of it when it came to boats though.
walked towards the platform that led to the boat and reached a hand out to help Tino on as the wind around the harbor made the boat rock_
a little bit. (I fail horribly at remembering names for anything on a boat, so this is as close to technical as I can get. >.> )
thanked him for the help as he took his hand, getting up he laughed a bit when he stumbled. "Thanks Berwald." (Ah yeah... I know nothing
about boats)
tightened his hold on his hand, secretly wishing that he could spend the entire ride that way... but not wanting to seem overly attached_
he let go once Tino was safely on the boat and began preparing to leave the dock. "Y' can put th' bag in there." He said, motioning_
towards a set of narrow stairs that led to a small cabin beneath the deck.
nodded as he thanked him again for helping him get on the boat. He moved to the stairs and quietly went down them, finding a safe spot for
his bag before he went back up to the deck.
had already safely gotten them out from the harbor when Tino emerged. His chest was beginning to feel lighter as the boat swayed in a_
familiar, soothing motion. He felt more alive on the water than he ever did on land. He glanced at Tino, unsure of what to say now. "Hej..."
smiled a bit as he looked around, it had been a while since he'd been out on the water. He fixed his hat a bit before he nodded, "hei"
"Tack... F'r comin'." He said with a small smile, feeling unusually cheerful now that Tino was there; with him; on a boat.
nodded as he smiled in return, "thank you for inviting me. I like spending time with you." He nodded again.
couldn't stop his smile from growing slightly at that. "Ja..." He tore his eyes away to focus on the water, and steering the boat.
looked away from him as well, deciding to let him focus. He went to the rail and looked out over the water.
wasn't really focusing on anything other than Tino, but he was usually good at pretending that he was paying attention to other things. (Or_
at least he was good at making it *appear* that way.) His eyes refused to stop drifting towards Tino as he mused over how lovely his hair_
looked as it moved in the wind. It looked so soft; He wondered if Tino used a conditioner frequently, and what it felt or smelt like.
didn't notice the glances, he was far to interested the water at the moment, he had to keep fixing his hat though as the wind insisted on
messing with it.
locked the wheel ((because I'm pretty sure it's not called cruise control on a boat)) and walked towards Tino, reaching over to adjust the_
hat. He was slightly worried that it would fly off in to the water.
blinked a bit at the feeling and looked up at him with a bit of a smile. "Ah thank you Berwald."
"Ah... B' careful." He warned, pulling his hands back and shoving them in to his windbreaker.
nodded a bit as he watched him again before he moved closer to him and wrapped his arms around him.
stared at him, unsure of what to do. Should he hug back? Push him away? He stiffly reciprocated the action, but swore to himself that he_
would not sniff at his hair, or even try to touch it for that matter.
looked up at him as he pulled back and smiled, "sorry... just wanted to thank you." He nodded with that before he shifted his attention back
to the water.
"Ah... Y're welcome." He nodded slowly, trying to turn his attention to the water. Maybe just a little sniff of his hair wouldn't hurt... He
just had to crane his neck a little bit to get a better angle; he could say he was trying to see something in the water if Tino asked...
tried not to notice the action as he leaned on the railing a bit, enjoying the smell of the breeze coming off the water.
chickened out before he could get a good smell and stood up straight. He felt like some weird creep and quickly moved back to resume_
steering the boat.
glanced over at him as he felt him move away, he sighed a bit with that. "Berwald... I have a question."
glanced back at him. "Hm?"
leaned back against the railing as he watched him. "Would you ever consider dating a friend?"
frowned, feeling his mood dropping almost instantaneously. "I don't date." He responded stiffly; he had resigned himself to the idea that_
he was meant to be alone forever, and that lasting relationships amongst the nations was idealistic and blindly hopeful at best. It was_
better to be painfully negative and 'realistic' than deal with getting hurt yet again.
frowned darkly at that response. He pulled his hat off and headed for the stairs to go bellow deck. "I see." Well then there was no point in
even asking him then.
gripped the wheel and frowned as he watched Tino going down. Part of him wanted to stop him, to implore for reasons why he would ask that...
but he stopped himself.
curled up on a small bench seat, frowning as he thought things over, he shouldn't have come... now he was stuck with Berwald on a boat.
wondered if he had said something wrong; he had thought that would be a good answer! When Tino didn't come back out he sighed and locked the
wheel before walking down after him. "Eh?"
looked up at him and frowned a bit as he put his hat next to him. "I was going to ask if you wanted to give dating a shot, but you made it
pretty clear that you're not interested." He nodded with that and forced a small smile getting up. "That's fine though, sorry about that. Do
you want some lunch?" He figured he might as well get it out there and be honest with the other before he changed the subject.
stared at him as though he had just said something in a strange tribal language that made no sense. He felt as though all of the air had
left his chest, and he vaguely wondered if he should say something, but he was more focused on trying to remember what it was that he had
said, and maybe reminding himself to breath.
watched him for a moment, suddenly worried that he'd serriously messed things up now. He hesitated as he ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry
just... um... forget I mentioned it okay?"
"Eh?" He doubted 'forgetting' was an option at this point. He wanted the complete opposite of forgetting; he wanted to remember every word,_
every breath, every hair that was out of place at that exact moment. He couldn't believe that he'd even heard it!
frowned again at that, "well you made it clear that you don't want to date or anything even close so... just forget I said anything. It was
stupid of me to even ask, I've just been thinking about it ever since... well since I left Russia and I've just never felt like I could say
something to you, that and I kind of wanted to see if you would say something first but you never did."
"Ah... S'rry... I... Eh... uh..." He fumbled for words to say under his breath and fidgeted nervously with his hands in his pockets. He_
wondered if it was possible to pass out from glee; his chest felt like it was going to explode, and his heart was pounding loudly in his
ears. He felt his stomach churning with nervous giddiness from the proclamation, though the churning quickly turned from giddiness to_
nausea, and before he could say anything else he rushed to the bathroom, unable to stop himself from throwing up in the small toilet. This_
was embarrassing...
frowned as he watched him run for the bathroom. He didn't quite know what to do with that kind of response. He followed him but lingered in
the door way, it was a bit to small for him to go in after him. "I-I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or anything, I should... um
I can... um... should go... maybe." He didn't know how he was going to do that.
stood up slowly and flushed the toilet before running water to wash out his mouth and rinse his face off with. His hands still felt shaky,_
and when he opened his mouth to say something it initially came out as little more than an unsteady croak. "I... uh... 'm not upset..." He_
said quietly, trying to force the words out despite his strong inclination towards self preservation.
frowned a bit as he watched him, "then... you don't want to try it right? I mean it was stupid of me to think you would." He nodded still
not sure what to think.
"I..." He started, the feeling of nausea creeping back up, but he tried to force it down. He hadn't felt this sick in years, why did it have
to pop up now?! "I... wouldn't mind..." That was almost like a confession, right??? It felt painfully difficult to say just that much.
paused for a moment and stared before he nodded slowly. "Ah... Well I don't want to um... you're sure?"
nodded, his expression looking more like a frightened and pain filled cringe than anything remotely positive. "I...'d like that..."
frowned a bit at the expression before he hesitantly moved closer to him and hugged him, burying his face in his shoulder. "I... I'm glad."
gulped and awkwardly returned the hug. He was still having a hard time realizing that this was actually *real*. It felt like an amazing_
dream that he would never want to wake up from. He tried to settle his stomach and closed his eyes, relishing in the moment as he dared to_
rest his head against the top of Tino's, smiling unconsciously as he felt his hair against his cheek.
was pretty content that he returned the hug. He pulled back just a bit to look up at him before he leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on
the lips. "I've wanted to do that for a while."
smiled lightly, trying his hardest not to grin too broadly and look like an over excited idiot. He kissed his forehead lightly and hugged_
him tighter, allowing himself to smell his hair finally. He probably would have kissed him more, but his mouth still tasted somewhat badly
thanks to throwing up...
smiled a bit at that as he held onto him, he was glad the other hadn't totally dismissed him. "I should let you get back to steering huh?"
wanted to say that it didn't matter as they were far enough in open water that they'd be safe, but he did feel uneasy spending too long_
away from the deck. He nodded. "Y' wanna eat up there?"
blinks at that and nods, "sure. It'd be nice to eat up there." He smiled with that and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm happy you didn't
dismiss me..."
furrowed his brows and gathered up some of the food he had brought. "Why?"
watched him before he moved to help. "Because I... really like you and didn't want you to turn me down."
frowned. "Why would I?" He assumed everyone had known how he felt; it wasn't exactly a secret...
had known, sort of, just hadn't quite expected him to ever act on it. "I don't know... I just never expected you to actually say yes."
shrugged as he walked back up to the top. He wouldn't have acted on it, but Tino made the first move, which made it easier.
frowned a bit at that before he followed him up. "I... Berwald I'm serious... you know that right?"
turned once he reached the top and gave him a small smile with a nod before turning back to set out the food.
blinked a bit at that response, he followed him out, wanting to help him but not sure the other would allow it. "Alright..."
probably wouldn't have allowed it. He sat down and began organizing everything for them to eat. The shock of what had happened still hadn't_
fully passed.
continued watching him quietly before he sat down next to him, not sure what to say now. Much less do.
looked up at him and tried to think of something to say. When he came up with nothing he pulled out a can of soda and held it out to him.
looked up at it for a moment before he took it with a quiet thanks, "you're... not upset or anything are you?"
shook his head and pulled out one for himself. He opened it and took a small sip, wondering why Tino would ask if he was upset; he had_
dreamt about this moment happening for almost his entire existence. It was like the joy of escaping from Denmark all over again, only_
now he wasn't beaten up or severely wounded in any way.
nodded a bit with that as he opened his own drink and took a sip from it. He didn't quite know what else to say or do right now. He didn't
know how Berwald would react to anything he did...
tried and failed very miserably at not staring at Tino. It wasn't that he *meant* to stare, but that he just couldn't believe his luck!
looked up at him as he realized he was being stared at, he didn't mind though. He smiled lightly with that before leaned closer and lightly
kissed him the lips. He was happy that he'd finally gotten that out, given it had taken a while for him to realize it and admit it to
himself.
felt his chest tighten anxiously as he stared straight at Tino rather than respond to the kiss. If not for the pounding of his heart in his_
ears he would have thought he died, or was dreaming.