Jaime Freeman / Dorothy Gale (unselfish) wrote in fableless, @ 2017-01-17 19:45:00 |
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Jaime was like a little kid from the start to the end of their trip to Hawaii. He was sunny tempered in the morning when they got up, even after the eventful night before, and energetic when they got to the airport. This wasn't the first time he'd ever flown, but it was the first time he traveled anywhere with someone he was dating. And never anywhere like Hawaii. He tried to keep his enthusiasm to tolerable levels for Mat's sake, listening to musicals (sans Rent and Wicked) on the way, but his grin when they finally landed was pure joy. He texted his people to let them know he got there safely while they were waiting for the baggage, glancing up whenever new ones came down. "I am going to Instagram the hell out of this trip, just warning you now. My iPhone storage is going to be non-existent when I'm done." Jaime smiled over at Mat. The witch shook his head, grinning despite the what he suspected would be ever present lump of fear in his throat; Jaime’s excitement was contagious. “Well, I’m certain that Esau will appreciate the photos,” he said, eyeing a bag that looked similar to his own, but it lacked the cheerful orange handkerchief wrapped around the handle. “Does your phone not auto-backup your photos, cariño? You can simply delete them after they sync.” "It can, but that's how many pictures I'm talking about. They'll just keep filling up until the day we land. I'm that person." Jaime looked at him and put his phone in his pocket, moving in front of Mat and sliding his hands around his waist. Nothing too inappropriate, but he was an affectionate person, when given the freedom, and so was Mat. In his mind this vacation was a good chance for them to let go a little of the Tale specifics and just be the two of them. Or he was hoping. "Are you going to be okay here, babe?" He knew Mat's fear of water, having been told and then witnessed it himself. Jaime lifted a hand to touch his cheek. "Because we can get back on a plane and go somewhere much more inland. We'll have fun anywhere we go." His tone was serious, his touch light. “I’ll be fine,” he assured Jaime, leaning briefly into the light touch. “Now, I think I see our luggage. Shall we grab it and head to the hotel?” "Yes," he murmured, resisting the urge to kiss him. There would be time for that later. A lot of time. -------- The hike was a challenging one, Jaime didn't really do easy routes, but he dialed the trail down since they didn't come to Hawaii to end up aching with ice packs. There was a healthy sheen of sweat on him as he hopped up to one of the landmarks, pulling out his water bottle instead of his phone for the moment. He picked a hike that was mostly wildlife rather than ocean shots, figuring that Mat was surrounded enough by water on this island, but there was much more to Hawaii than the waves. Or so he was assured when he went looking for cool non-water things to do. "Okay so, they said that bamboo over there, you can carve your names into it. It was put in this spot for that reason, it's not native, I guess." He glanced over at Mat with a grin and pulled out his swiss army knife, offering it over to him. "What do you say?" Mat’s huff of laughter was surprised. “You wish to carve our names into bamboo?” he asked, and at Jaime’s exuberant smile, he shook his head. “Why not? Let’s go carve our names, then.” "Yes I do. We flew all the way here, we're going to leave a permanent mark when we go." Jaime grabbed Mat's hand and tugged lightly, over to the bamboo. "Do you go with MHR? Too bad we don't have the space to do one of those ridiculous hearts around them." He slanted a glance to Mat. "I'm teasing. That might be a little cheesy even for me." The older man shook his head, amused. “MHR is fine, J.” He didn’t quite see the point in carving their initials into a stick of bamboo, but the smile on Jaime’s face was more than enough of a reason to go along with it. ------ Vacations, Matías had always believed, were about relaxation. It wasn’t as though he didn’t enjoy exploring whatever locale he traveled to, but he also enjoyed the simpler aspects of travel: hotel rooms. Specifically, hotel rooms that brought breakfast to him so that he could lounge about in bed with a cup of tea and a bowl of fresh fruit. Which was exactly what he was doing now. “So, what have you planned for us today, J?” he asked lazily, popping a piece of mango into his mouth. "What am I, the cruise director?" Jaime had stepped out of the shower a few minutes ago, a towel around his waist, more than happy to laze around for a little while. This was the kind of luxury he'd never really gone with before. It wasn't that his foster parents didn't have money, they did, but they also weren't the kind to blow a lot of money just for the hell of it. Usually the only vacations they went on were to extended family houses for holidays. Except Jaime was no longer invited to those. He got his coffee and carefully settled back down in bed next to Mat, so he wouldn't jostle his elbow and spill it on him. "Today is free. We'll make it Mat day. Whatever you want to do, even if it's nothing." “Not quite the cruise director, but you do seem to be a fantastic alternative to a tour guide,” Mat teased, rolling onto his side and propping his chin in his palm. “I do believe you took see as much as we can as a personal challenge.” Which wasn’t as terrible as it could be; Jesús had a tendency to plan vacations to the minute, which suited about half of their family, while the other half always groaned and complained. Jaime’s approach was at least a bit more relaxed. “I will gladly take a free day, however. Perhaps we can wander about town this afternoon and go to the luau in the evening?” Jaime laughed. "Surprise, I'm a planner. If we get to go on more vacations like this in the future, you might as well get used to it now. But I promise, I take requests." He sipped his coffee and his eyebrows raised at the suggestion, smiling. "I would love that. We need to get souvenirs for people so it's a good place to start." Jaime put his cup to the side so he could slide a little closer to Mat and rest his arm over Mat's side. "Are you going to hula dance for me at the luau? I feel like your hips would be right at home." Jaime looked down, a common thing he did, when he was about to say something that made him shy or nervous. "I've never really done this before with anyone." “I will most certainly not dance,” Mat laughed, shaking his head. He tilted his head to the side and asked quizzically: “What haven’t you done before, J?” "Oh okay, I'll dance instead," Jaime responded with a grin. He ran fingers along Mat's side, thinking over what he wanted to say before saying it. "Gone on a vacation with someone. Been this intimate with someone. It's not something that comes naturally to me." He loved relationships, but he was guarded too. He still was, even now, but less so than usual. Enough to admit that much. The witch smiled softly and lifted one hand to cup Jaime’s cheek. “For something that does not come natural, you are doing a remarkably good job of it.” It was still startling to him at times just how well Jaime managed it, how neatly he had turned around. Jaime laughed softly and turned his head to kiss Mat's palm. "If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right." He was stubborn and dove into things head first, determined to be the best he could be at whatever he put his mind to. Some things just mattered more to get right, like this. He kissed Mat next, and then reached over to steal a piece of fruit. It was always so fresh here. Usually he'd already be on his feet, figuring out a map and where they'd go to shop. But for now, he drank his coffee and stole more of Mat's fruit, and let relaxing be enough. ----- Most of the beach ended up in the water, that was basically what beaches were. Being in Hawaii with someone terrified of water meant having to come up with creative ways around it. Jaime managed to find a patch of beach on the hotel grounds that had flowers around it. It still led to the water, if going around a corner, but the water was nowhere in sight. So it was just the sand, two beach chairs, two cocktails, and them. It was a tranquil night so not even the sound of waves could be heard. "Maybe we should go to a desert next time. Vegas? I've only been once and it'd be an easy ride. But also not much of a good vacation, I guess. What's a fancier desert?" It was sweet of J to take his phobia into consideration, but the very nature of it made him far more aware of what lurked around the corner than he’d like to admit. Still, he managed some deep breaths, and the presence of alcohol certainly helped. “I do believe that anywhere landlocked would work, cariño,” he said dryly. “Though Vegas is somewhere I’ve not yet been. I’ve meant to go, but it’s simply never worked out.” "What? Seriously? It's one of the few places I've actually been to outside of California and Chicago, where I'm from." It wasn't a bad drive so it was something he and Chris had done a few times, and with other friends. "We'll make it happen some day. I'm not really a gambler, but they have pretty cool shows there." That was an understatement about gambling. Jaime knew what being poor was. The idea of wasting money made him anxious. Mat laughed. “I’m not much of a gambler, either, but I do appreciate a good show. We can discuss it later. For now, let’s focus on this vacation.” ------ “You know,” Mat said conversationally, fingers laced with Jaime’s as the plane took off, “I must say I’m quite glad I cannot fly on my own. Considering I dislike it so.” His grip tightened as a patch of turbulence shook the cabin. Jaime's hands were as calm and steady as Mat's were not, and he squeezed his boyfriend's hand for reassurance. "I can fly a little. Well, I can float. Or fall gracefully, as I've put it before." He pulled the open window next to them closed so they couldn't see outside, turning his head toward Mat. "So the first time I figured that out, I was here in Woodsbridge, I'd gotten more into my powers. I was stupidly messing around on a low level roof, but still one that would hurt as hell if I dropped off it. So naturally, I dropped off it by being an idiot." Jaime smiled and rolled his eyes. He had his hellion moments as a teenager, but he had more reasons than most to be troubled then. "My powers sort of kicked in on their own to cushion the air underneath. Not enough to keep me from falling flat on my back, and bruising my tailbone, but not breaking anything more." Jaime rarely used his powers on a day to day basis, or talked about them either, they just existed as tools. "Maybe I can land a plane while falling gracefully, who knows." Mat’s eyebrows raised up at the story. He’d had his own moments of testing his limits when he was younger - high school had been one experiment after another when it came to potions, after all - but J’s account sounded more reckless than anything. “Perhaps you ought to have started from a stoop,” he suggested dryly. Jaime snorted in response, in full agreement. Not his smartest moment. The idea that Jaime could land a plane was supposed to be comforting, he was sure, but it didn’t quite hit the mark; to believe J could do that meant recognizing that the plane could fall out of the air, and that was not something he wished to dwell on. “Maybe,” he repeated faintly, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand and focusing on the little plane following its dotted trajectory on the screen in front of him. Jaime was calm in moments when others panicked; it was what made him a good cop. Even if he was afraid about the plane, it wouldn't have shown. Instead he focused on Mat. "Hey, babe, look at me." He held Mat's hand and touched his face so he'd follow the request. He held his gaze steadily. "Soon it'll even out and then they'll offer us pretty bad food and try to sell us some less bad food. We'll watch a movie and we'll land and your cats will pretend they didn't care that you were gone." He ran his thumb over Mat's tight knuckles soothingly and just stared into his eyes. He could do that for a long time, given the chance. "We're going to be okay," he said, and maybe he was talking about the plane, or maybe he was talking about other things too, but his smile was sincere. "What movie do you want to watch?" Mat nodded. It was a few hours. That was all. And once they reached cruising altitude, he’d hardly notice a thing. “The Secret Life of Pets, perhaps? It’s always entertaining to see what people think animals are actually saying.” He squeezed Jaime’s hand back and offered him a faint smile. “And I think I’ll skip the food this time around, if it’s all the same.” "You'll have to tell me if they get anything right about what they say." Jaime thought Mat's power was fascinating. He always wondered what was on Helo's mind. He made a face at the reference to airplane food. "Babe, everyone on this plan should skip the food in general. Nasty." But he agreed. As calm as he was, his stomach wasn't exactly happy at the moment. The plane rose and eventually smoothed out, and it was time to get home. |