Chapter 44 Jericho #2
Raiden helps me with the dishes, drying them and putting them away as I wash them.
It’s quicker with the two of us and by the time we’re done, it’s still early enough in the morning that the slight dew is covering the grass in the backyard.
The morning light is cutting through the cloudy sky, promising slight rain and minimal damage. Nothing we can’t handle.
The stone path is a beacon to where I want to take him, the building I’ve been working on preparing.
Raiden is on my back, cocooned to me like a baby koala, wearing my clothes.
After our romp in the kitchen, his shorts had cum stains on them so he wanted to change out of his pajamas.
I didn’t know that him changing out of his clothes meant changing into mine, but as he walked downstairs wearing my sweatpants, the possessive beast inside of me quieted the slightest bit.
The sweatpants are too big, tied tightly around his waist and rolled up at the ankles.
He forwent underwear, because I can see the slight back and forth movement of his cock through the thin layer of cotton.
To complete the outfit, he’s wearing one of my old shirts from high school.
A football camp shirt with way too many rips that I cut the sleeves out of to resemble a muscle tank, it shows off the sides of his torso all the way down to the band of the sweatpants.
His lean muscles flexing with every step he took.
And now I’m having to act like I’m not freaking out about showing him what I’ve been working so hard on. I’m sure he can feel my pulse thundering from where he has his palms resting across my chest as I carry him across the stones to the building.
“This backyard is hugeeee. What else are you putting out here?” He asks, his breath tickling my ear.
“I’m not sure yet. What do you want to put out here? I’m planning on a fireplace and chairs, but anything else you want I’m up for.”
Raiden hums noncommittally.
He sounds like he doesn’t believe me. Doesn’t he know that I would do anything to make him happy? Haven’t I proven that time and time again? Maybe this will be the push he needs to realize that I’ll do anything I can to make his life easier, and to bring him as much happiness as he brings me.
I open the door to the building, glad I remembered to turn on the heat last night while he was busy inside with everyone. The cold isn’t unbearable, but it is uncomfortable. And I’m sure with the thin layers of clothes Raiden has on he would have been freezing.
A shocked gasp leaves his mouth, before he’s scrambling off my back. I can’t see his facial reaction from his position behind me, so I try to turn around. He doesn't let me see him though, he hides behind me as I try to maneuver myself around him.
“What are you doing?” I finally ask, frustrated at this cat and mouse game.
“Hiding, obviously.” The snark is a defense mechanism, because the sniffle behind his words betrays him.
“Let me see you, tiny dancer.” I grab his arm, stopping him from running away, his face is downturned but I can see a trail of liquid running down his cheek.
“No, you’ll think I’m stupid.” His voice is small, and I reach out to run my fingers across his cheek to wipe away his tears.
“No, I won’t.” I promise to him, trying to calm him down.
“Well, I think I’m stupid.”
I pull him into my arms, knowing that when he gets like this, he needs to be reassured.
I don’t know what that asshole Josh did to him, but I’ll spend the rest of my life helping Raiden work through his issues.
If he needs to be a brat and let his emotions run loose for a few minutes, he’s more than welcome to.
As long as he comes back to me, that’s all I can ask for.
“You’re not stupid, baby.” My words are soft, meaningful in the dawn of our first morning together. “This is a surprise I’ve been working on for you, one of the nurses at the hospital told me I needed a hobby. Something to keep me busy and to prevent me from drowning without you here to save me.”
I inhale a deep breath before I continue, baring the parts of myself that I tucked away while he was in the hospital.
“I bought this house for us. I wanted something that the two of us could grow in, something we could have that was just for us. Where we could laugh, play games, dance around the kitchen in our underwear. Do whatever we want, as long as we’re together. ”
“Jer–” Raiden looks up at me, his brown irises drowning in tears.
“I built this studio from the ground up. I wanted you to have somewhere to dance. That’s all you wanted baby, remember?
You said you just wanted to dance. And now you can do that.
Here.” I gesture to the studio that I put together.
There’s still plenty of empty space, but the wall across from us is covered with floor to ceiling mirrors, capturing every moment in them.
There's a bar for stretches on the wall caddy corner to it, and a stereo plug-in tucked away into the corner out of the way. For small decorations, I printed off and framed different professional pictures I found of Raiden online. Him at the Super Bowl. The concert he performed at in Tokyo. But there’s also pictures of him from his younger dancer days–him in his school uniform as he performs at halftime.
But the biggest picture, framed after I reached out to an artist who specializes in enlarging photos without destroying the quality, is me and Raiden at our senior prom together. The two of us, embraced as we sway on the dance floor, lost in our own world.
“Jericho…” Raiden wraps me in his arms and holds me tightly to him, his arms squeezing around me as he sways to the music that only he can hear in his head. “This is amazing. I– I don’t honestly know what to say.”
“Say you’ll live with me. Say you’ll be here, teaching your dance classes. Say we’ll grow old in this house together and sit on the back porch watching our dogs and our kids play together in the grass. Just say yes.”
“Yes! Yes, what the fuck, of course! I never want to be without you. I– I honestly didn’t know if I was going to have to go back to my parents’ house after today, but I’m glad to know you want to keep me around.
” His chuckle is wet and he wipes his face against my shoulder, wiping his tears away.
“I love you, Jericho. I wouldn’t have it any other way. ”
Our joy rings out loud and true in this building where I can picture our future.
And right on cue, a crack of thunder rolls outside, completing the moment.