THEY – FEARS AND DREAMS

The small, coastal city bathed in the full moon’s light, as the free sky lit up by countless stars. On the beach a few minutes away from the town itself, Aya and Tyson were currently taking a stroll as they watched gentle waves wash over and blast against rigid stones nearby. The two were holding hands and were walking barefoot, letting the last of sand’s warmth seep into their feet.

“I told you,” Aya said. “That it wouldn’t be that bad. I don’t think it was that bad.”

“… it’s too early to tell,” Tyson said. “Oh well. At the very least, everyone’s quite… fascinated by you. That was quite an impression.”

“Ugh, shut up.” Aya grunted. “Me and my stupid tongue.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your tongue.” Tyson said, smirking. “There are quite a few body parts of mine that can testify to that.”

“… you’re really having fun with this, aren’t you?” Aya glared at him for a moment before continuing. “Ever thought about how I feel about this? Now there’s only the two of your brothers left to meet. How do you think I’ll screw that up?”

“You’re not screwing anything up!” Tyson exclaimed softly as he came to a halt, grabbing Aya’s other hand. “You don’t think I knew what’d you be like?”

“So you knew and you still let me come?!! I’ll kill you!!”

“What I’m saying – okay, stop punching. Leave the bed-play for the bedroom.” Tyson said, faking a hurtful expression. “So, what I’m saying is that although you completely fucked things up with my mom, it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters!”

“Only because you have this morbid innate need to be liked by some people, yet you don’t give a shit about the rest. What’s up with that?!” Tyson asked.

“Do you really want to go into understanding my psyche? ‘Cause, let me tell you, you won’t be having any fun.”

“Hey, how screwed up can you actually be?” Tyson said, smiling. “I’m betting no more than I am.”

“How are you screwed up? You just have some family issues, women issues—okay, yeah, you win this round.” Aya said as the two sat down onto the sand and turned toward the sea. “Bleh, come as it may. I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“You’re actually pretty thin,” Tyson said. “You ought to put on some fat.”

“I’m not gonna put on fat just to satisfy another one of your fetishes.”

“Why not? You become healthier and I become hornier. It’s a win-win.”

“Fine,” Aya said. “If you’ll hit the gym and actually work out.”

“So, your figure is pretty much perfect, right?” Tyson said.

“As is yours.” Aya said, smiling.

“You’re now smiling all the time,” Tyson said, looking at her gently. “Yet, I’m no more immune to it than I was at the start.”

“That’s quite a nice sentence you have there,” Aya said. “How long did it take you to make it up?”

“I just made it up!”

“…”

“… fine. About two hours.” Tyson said, grunting. “But it was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

“Eh. You’ve had better.”

“I also have another one.”

“Do tell.” Aya said.

“Your whole body is military-grade ammunition designated to penetrate every part of me.”

“…”

“No military lingo?” Tyson mumbled as his cheeks reddened slightly.

“Never again.” Aya said, expressionless.

“… truth is, I have like a whole Word file of them.”

“I know.”

“… you read them?”

“Read about first six,” Aya said. “I was too embarrassed to read any further. Ah, the blush is back. I’ve missed the bad boy.”

“Don’t make my blush a separate entity!!” Tyson exclaimed as he looked away.

“But it pretty much is. It sticks out so hard, and we’re talking about night here.”

“Just say sticks out like a sore thumb!” Tyson said.

“Eh, I’d rather make up my own sayings.”

“You have some?”

“Of course,” Aya said. “What about: when a man loves a woman, he ought to treat her nicely.”

“… okay, first, I’m pretty sure that’s not yours,” Tyson said. “And, second, is there something you wanna tell me?”

“I want a garden of roses.”

“Aha.”

“And a griffin.” Aya said.

“Of course.”

“And a castle in front of a mountain where, on the mountain, my face is carved by Michelangelo.”

“Right, of course. I’m well-known for being able to bring people back from the dead.” Tyson said, playing along.

“Well, you do look like a corpse in the morning--”

“Oi!!”

“--so I figured you have some relationship with the dead.”

“Not cool!” Tyson exclaimed.

“Ah, come on. Everyone looks like a corpse in the morning.”

“Not the people in movies.”

“Yeah, because they really do record them waking up.” Aya said, rolling her eyes.

“You never know.”

“… everyone knows.”

“Whenever you say ‘everyone’,” Tyson said. “Do you mean like, everyone, or do you mean every one of you?”

“Are you implying I have multi-personality disorder?” Aya asked, arching her brow.

“Don’t you?” Tyson asked back. “Just a few nights ago, I had so much fun with a godly tigress, and now I’m dealing with boring pragmatist.”

“…”

“Boring pragmatist who’s blushing like the morning sun.” Tyson added, smirking.

“… your metaphors. Stop them. Now.”

“No.”

“Tsk.”

“Don’t you click your tongue at me, young lady!” Tyson said as he suddenly grabbed Aya and pushed her down, crouching over atop of her.

“… I’ve been a very, very bad girl,” Aya said, licking her lips lightly. “I deserve punishment.”

“…”

“Considering the amount of blood rushing into your cheeks,” Aya said, sneering. “I doubt you can even get a boner right now.”

“Shut up.”

“No.”

“Tsk.”

“Let’s not go down that rabbit hole,” Aya said as the two sat back up next to each other, with her leaning her head onto his shoulder. “Let’s go down another one.”

“Oh boy.”

“What would you do if you knew the world would end tomorrow?” Aya asked.

“… go into Church and pray for twenty-four hours straight, hoping it would be enough to exempt me from all my sins.” Tyson said.

“Okay, nice. What would you really do?” Aya asked, chuckling lightly.

“… I don’t know,” Tyson said, sighing lightly. “Nothing grand, probably. Maybe buy a pizza, tons of alcohol, and smash all songs from Cradle of Filth until it all ends. You?”

“Go for a swim.” Aya said.

“Eh?”

“Really.” she added, smiling. “I’m afraid of it.”

“No way.”

“Why’s that so surprising?”

“You don’t seem the fearful type.” Tyson said.

“We’ve all got our demons.”

“Yeah, but they’re usually like vodka or heroin or mass-murder.” he said. “Not swimming.”

“Are you making fun of my end-of-the-world plans?”

“Hell no babe. You go girl. Give them hell baby.”

“… oh for the love of…”

“We have water in front of us.” Tyson said.

“So?”

“It’s nighttime.”

“… I don’t like where this is going.” Aya said, backing away slightly.

“Skinny-dipping with the girl I love has always been one of my dreams.” Tyson said, smiling.

“… I’m not going to swim naked with you!!” Aya exclaimed.

“… fine. I’ll swim naked. You can swim in your clothes.”

“Hell no!! Didn’t you just hear me say that I’m afraid of water?”

“If you’re gonna wait for the end of the world just to have an excuse to swim,” Tyson said as he slowly got up and took his shirt off. “Then you may as well give up ever doing it.”

“Then I give up!”

“No you don’t.” Tyson grabbed both her arms and pulled her up onto her feet, hugging her tightly. “I’m right here. Nothing bad’s gonna happen.”

“A shark might eat me. A hurricane might blow me apart. Meteor could fall on my head and kill me. Lots of bad things could happen.” Aya said weakly. Tyson felt her body quiver as a gentle expression washed over his face.

“Do you know what I’m afraid of?” he asked.

“Me?”

“Exactly,” he said as the two chuckled for a moment. “Yet, I keep spending time with you every day in order to conquer my fears.”

“Yeah, but your fears can’t kill you!”

“Actually, she has expressed numerous times a desire to kill me.”

“She didn’t mean it.”

“I didn’t know that.” he said.

“… not tonight.” Aya said as she pushed him away gently. “The night before we go back to the city. We’ll go for a swim.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.”

“… don’t make me tie you up in ropes and drag you here. I’d rather not risk the chance of being mistaken for a kidnapper.” Tyson said.

“Eh, you look the part. You’re only missing bushy mustache and stinking breath.”

“… on the second thought, let’s go for a dip.” Tyson said as he suddenly grabbed her and hung her over his shoulder, racing toward the ocean.

“Noooo!!!!” Aya shouted as she burst into half-laughter and half-crying. Tyson quickly reached the ocean and entered knee-deep before putting her down. Gentle waves pushed against them from behind, but they remained firmly rooted.

“Is it scary?” he asked.

“… yes.” Aya said weakly as she looked around. “And kind of cold. Not as cold as your heart, though.”

“Ouch. But, oh well, kind of deserved that one.” Tyson said, chuckling. “You’re too stiff. Just relax.”

“That’s why I tell to your dick every morning. Does it listen? Hell no.”

“… I know you tend to mention my dick when you’re uncomfortable,” Tyson said, smiling awkwardly. “And never in a good light, but I’d appreciate if you found a different coping mechanism.”

“I could always bash your head a few times.”

“Making fun of my dick it is.”

“You surrender rather quickly.” Aya said as she slowly found herself calming down.

“… it’s worth it.”

“… yeah, you can’t tell because of the water and all,” Aya said. “But I just flooded downstairs.”

“…”

“Why are you blushing? Shouldn’t that make you happy?” Aya pushed, smirking.

“… I’m just disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” Aya repeated, arching her brows slightly.

“Yeah. Wasted such a good line. And for what? To help you calm down. I’m a terrible man, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” she said. “But, you’re amazing boyfriend.”

“Eh, I’ll take it.”

“As if you have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice.” Tyson said. “I could have actually pushed for the insane idea to have sex in the ocean.”

“… how do you even do it?” Aya mumbled. “Wouldn’t water just flood me, making it impossible for you to do anything?”

“… why are you asking me?!” Tyson exclaimed. “Are you making fun of the fact that I have no experience in it?!”

“… a little bit.”

“You’re evil.” Tyson mumbled.

“And I enjoy being evil,” Aya said, smiling as she inched closer to Tyson’s face. “Every minute of every day.” their lips touched faintly as they locked their gazes. As the waves washed over their legs and the light of the full moon poured onto them, the two remained in each other’s embrace, kissing as the night went on.