#mainly cos i accidentally dozed off while working on this

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Writing Prompts: Day 150

Adjective: Emotional

Noun: Paint

Definitions for those who need/want them:

Emotional: relating to a person's emotions; arousing or characterized by intense feeling; (of a person) having feelings that are easily excited and openly displayed

Paint: a colored substance which is spread over a surface and dries to leave a thin decorative or protective coating; an act of covering something with paint; (informal) cosmetic makeup; (computing) the function or capability of producing graphics, especially those that mimic the effect of real paint; (North American) a piebald horse; (basketball) the rectangular area marked near the basket at each end of the court, or the foul lane

[alwaysanotherooc]

At Last I See the Light

Hey there! So this is my first submission to #ChoicesCreates but I’m super excited! This is an Endless Summer SeanxMaleMC fic using my MC Ken De Vega using the Prompt: Disney Songs. It’s kind of long, and there are a few curse words sprinkled in throughout, but it’s mainly just a little plot insertion into the night before the Watchers attack. @mermaidwarriorqueen @hollyashton

“Hey, Ken, do you have my phone?” Diego’s voice was muffled from his awkward position underneath the lobby desk, curled just so so that he could finish doing...whatever he was doing.

After narrowly escaping the Watchers earlier, and the subsequent boarding up of the hotel, their group had found themselves stuck with absolutely nothing to do, and it was still only three o’clock.

Too nervous to go back to their usual activities, the entire group had stayed in the main lobby, keeping busy with mindless activities, or nervously over analyzing the possibilities of the following day. Or, in Diego’s case, ripping out the wires from underneath the front desk.

Craig was sitting directly across from Sean, the two of them trying and failing to beat Michelle and Quinn at poker while Grace and Aleister observed, while Raj and Lila dozed in nearby armchairs, Jake and Estela comparing scars and stories.

Poking his head down to Diego's level and grinning, Ken asked, “Why, do you need to call 911 to get you unstuck?”

“Ken, I know you think you’re the funny one in this friendship, but you’re not.”

Zahra, perched on the countertop and scrawling obscenities onto the surface while the scattered sunlight from the gaps in the barricade shone on her and her work, snorted. “You’re really not.”

Ken straightened up to stick his tongue out at her. She lobbed her marker at him in response.

“Hey, assholes,” Diego’s voice floated up through the marble and mahogany, “Can we stay on topic? Ken do you have my phone?”

“Yeah, you asked me to hold onto it.”

“Is it charged?”

Ken pulled the device in question out of his pocket and checked. “Mostly, yeah.”

They’d all kept their phones well charged, mainly out of habit but also out of the steadily falling hope that, by some miracle, some signal would eventually come back through.

Grace frowned at the cards in Quinn’s hands. “I’m not sure I understand the appeal of this game.”

Aleister rolled his haughty eyes. “There is no appeal.”

Diego popped up from the floor, dusting himself off and grinning. “Good, awesome.” He held up a cable. “You know the speaker system?”

Raj looked over from his spot in a huge armchair in the lobby. “You mean the speaker system Ken used to prank the shit out of me?”

“Sorry, Raj.” Ken leaned over the counter, a bright roguish grin on his face and easy laughter in his voice as he continued, “Just couldn’t help myself.”

The sunlight let in through the barricade fell across Ken’s face and Sean had to stop himself from audibly gasping.

This boy has no idea how beautiful he really is.

Sean had known from that moment on the plane when Ken had held on so tight to his hand that Sean was well and truly fucked. He’d always had a thing for guys with dimples and dark hair, and on top of that Ken had eyes the color of pine trees, the most honestly kind personality Sean’d ever seen in a real-life human being, and he laughed like he’d been born to do it.

Laughter, especially laughter like the kind Ken did, was often hard to come by in the Gayle household, and all the more precious for it.

The sunlight captured the precise hue of Ken’s eyes as he shifted, making the irises look alight from the inside, and Sean wanted to actually groan out loud because it was simply not fair that this boy was this beautiful.

Diego held out a hand to Ken. “Hand me my phone, please.”

Wordlessly, Ken complied, and Zahra leaned in closer. “What about the speaker system?”

Craig tossed down his hand, scowling. “I’m out, I fold and I have no chips left.” Craig turned his Lays bag upside down, glaring at it. “I hate poker.”

Delicately picking up a potato chip, Michelle gloated, “Only when you’re losing, Xiao.”

Quinn cocked her head at Ken, Zahra, and Diego. “What are you guys doing over there?”

Diego held up the end of his cable. “I wired an aux cord into the speaker system.”

Craig immediately ran up to the counter. “Aw, sweet, man, now we can finally listen to something other than that crappy elevator music.” He held out a large hand toward Diego. “Gimmie it, I’ve got a few requests-”

“Why dont,” Sean intervened, walking up to his friend, leaning against the counter and gently knocking Craig's’ arm down, “We let Diego do it? It was his idea.”

Zahra scoffed. “It probably won’t work.”

Ken bristled somewhat. “Actually Diego’s been doing this kind of stuff since we were kids. We had a really tricky GameBoy system growing and it required constant recalibration.” Ken smiled. “He’s really good at it, actually.”

Diego rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, you sound like my parents. Or Kella.”

“I take that as a compliment, hijo. C’mon, enough fooling around, plug it in!”

Diego plugged the cord into his phone, pausing for a moment, then grinning. “Oh, good, I did it right.”

Jake, who had ambled over from the chairs, raised an eyebrow. “How do you know you did it right? There’s no sound coming out.”

“Well,” Diego said as he began scrolling through his phone, “If I’d done it wrong, it would have electrocuted me.”

Ken pursed his lips. “I’m not the biggest fan of when you say things like that.”

A swell of music came over the speakers, and Diego positively glowed. “Aha! It works!”

As the others cheered in congratulations, Ken swept forward and hugged Diego. “I knew it would!”

Ken placed a loud, unnecessary kiss on Diego’s cheek.

“Ewwww, Ken-cooties!” Diego laughed, rubbing his cheek with his shoulder.

“Why don’t you love me, Diego?” Ken’s smile was still firmly on his face, the relaxed state of his posture alluding to his comfort with their banter.

Sean caught himself staring at the plush stretch of Ken’s mouth when Craig ‘accidentally’ elbowed him in the abdomen.

Clearing his throat and fighting the blush that threatened, Sean motioned back to the chairs. “Wanna come play poker with us for a while?”

Ken’s smile brightened, his voice soft as he agreed, “Yeah, sure.”

With an easy motion, Ken hopped over the counter and walked over to plop down near Raj.

Jake raised an eyebrow. “If everyone’s gonna play we’re gonna need another deck.”

“Isn’t that.” Diego scrunched up his face, considering his choice of words. “Kind of cheating?”

A slow grin curled over Jake’s face. “Aw. You’re kind of cute.”

Diego rolled his eyes and sat down. “Don’t patronize me.”

Estela, settling in next to him, broke open another deck and shuffled the two decks together with deft fingers and grinned. “I should warn you, I’m really good at this game.”

“Oh, good,” Michelle arranged herself beside the other girl. “Because the boys are awful and I need a challenge.”

“Well then, in that case, you can’t sit by me. You’ll cheat.”

Michelle smiled. “I like you.”

The rest of the group quickly pulled up other chairs and were quickly dealt cards.

A minute or two had passed before Grace asked, “Ken?”

“Mmm?”

“Who’s Kella?” 

There was a small hiccup of surprise from Ken, who clearly hadn’t been expecting that question.

Grace shuffled her cards around, not looking up at Ken.”You’ve mentioned her a couple times before.”

Ken glanced over at Diego, some nonverbal conversation passing between the two.

Shrugging, Ken replied, “One of my sisters. She lives in San Francisco, she and her girlfriend Leah run PostAuthority.”

A good number of mouths fell open in the room.

Zahra cursed. “Shit, your sister is Kella De Vega, the founder of San Francisco’s top news company?”

Diego looked pleased with the response. “His other sister is Kessa Powell.”

“The author of the ‘The Freshman’ series?! I love those books!” Craig glanced around at the silence following his exclamation. “What? I can like what I like.”

Leaning forward to pat Craig on the shoulder, Ken said, “Kessa’ll be glad to hear you liked the books. And technically, she was only the co-author of that series.”

“Oh my gosh, then you were the cutie baby brother that showed up at her doorstep her sophomore year!” Quinn was so absorbed by the conversation her cards were lying face up, and Estela and Michelle were both taking notice.

Sean smiled. “Quinn, your cards.”

“Oh, right.”

Ken put his head in his hands. “I regret saying anything.”

“Oh, come on man, your sisters are legit.” Diego sighed dreamily. “I met the three of them when I was seven, and Ken and I have been inseparable ever since.”

“Well, there was the time of the Flu Pandemic of ‘09.”

Ken and Diego both shuddered dramatically.

Ken put a hand to his chest. “Bad memories.”

Diego leaned close to Ken and moaned, “At night, I still hear the echoes of you blowing your nose for the four billionth time.”

Ken opened his mouth to retort when the song changed over the speaker system, and both he and Diego went ramrod straight.

Ken went pale. “Oh no.”

Diego looked awestruck. “No fucking way.”

Ken repeated, “Oh no.”

“Dude, you promised.” Diego laughed. “You lost the bet, pay up!”

The beginning notes of the song finally formed into what I recognized as ‘At last I see the light’ from Tangled.

Aleister raised a perfect ice blonde brow. “What are you going on about, he hasn’t made any bets yet.”

Diego ran over to the counter and paused the music. “No, no, not a bet here, a bet he made back home. It’s a long story, but the short of it is, any time a song from the Tangled soundtrack comes on, this guy,” Diego put both hands on Ken’s shoulders, “Has to perform for me.”

Lila smiled. “Well, that seems sweet.”

“You know all the words to the Tangled soundtrack?” Grace asked.

Cackling, Zahra said, “Oh, this I have got to witness.”

Ken pointed a finger at her. “I’ll have you know I sing pretty well!”

Sean grinned, leaning forward to catch Ken’s eyes. “Prove it, De Vega.”

A small smile curved across Ken’s face. “Is that a challenge, Sean?”

“Ooooh, I’ve got a new idea!” Raj fist pumped the air. “My dudes, my bros, let’s have our dear friends Ken and Sean perform a duet!”

Craig cheered loudly. “Oh hell yeah, Sean can do anything, he’s totally gonna rock this.”

“Well,” Aleister sighed, “I suppose that is not an unwelcome idea.”

Lila clapped her hands together. “Oh, that would be so cute!”

Sean saw Michelle stiffen out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look at her, while the others were all discussing the idea, Michelle was frowning at her cards.

She glanced up, her gaze locking with Sean’s for a moment. And then, something softened in her eyes.

“I, for one,” Michelle announced over the others, tossing her perfectly curled hair over her shoulder, “Think that it’s a marvelous idea.”

Jake leaned in close to Sean, eyes glimmering with mischief. “Don’t I seem to recall Steve Rogers having a history of singing and dancing?”

Sean squinted at the other man. “Do you honestly think I’m Captain America? I’m not a comic book superhero.”

The others looked between one another and all began to disagree at once.

“Well…”

“Look like one.”

“With those arms? Don’t patronize me.”

“You do seem to have the, um, preferred physique of a male comic book protagonist.”

“You even have the jawline, bro.”

Sean threw up his hands. “I’m not Captain America!”

“No,” Ken said before reaching over to hook his hand on Sean’s elbow, the touch causing a jolt of electricity to run through Sean’s body as Ken continued, “But you are gonna sing with me, right?”

Ken’s big green eyes stared into Sean’s.

Sean considered it a little sad that there was absolutely no hesitation before he said, “Yeah, of course I am.”

Ken beamed at that. “Awesome! It’s so much better when you don’t have to sing both parts.”

Diego shrugged his shoulders. “Ken’s just mad cause he knows I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

Lila had found her way over to the counter with the phone, her fingers tapping on it briefly. “I’ve got it all ready to go! Are you ready?”

The others cheered loudly, and Ken looked at Sean. “Wait, do you even know the words?”

“Yeah. My little sister was obsessed with Princess and the Frog, and made me take her to go see Tangled when it came out.” Sean smiled sheepishly. “It’s a really good movie, actually.”

Ken’s eyes were warm and soft. “It’s one of my favorites, actually. Do you wanna be Flynn and I’ll be Rapunzel?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Still over by the counter, Lila asked again, “Hey are we ready over there?”

“I’m ready!” Ken called back.

Sean shrugged, “Yeah, sure.”

Ken clapped his hands together. “Hit it, Lila!”

The song’s first chords played through the speakers as Lila bolted back to the chairs and plopped down with the others, every one of them watching us eagerly.

Then Ken started to sing. “All those days watching from the windows, all those years outside looking in. All that time never even knowing just how blind I've been.”

Sean’s mouth dropped open as the others began wolf whistling and applauding at Ken’s surprisingly outstanding talent.

Getting more into it, Ken began to sing into his empty fist like it was a microphone, dramatically acting out the words as he sang, “Now I'm here blinking in the starlight, now I'm here suddenly I see. Standing here it's all so clear, I'm where I'm meant to be.”

Ken took a deep breath. “And at last I see the light, and it's like the fog has lifted. And at last I see the light, and it's like the sky is new. And it's warm and real and bright, and the world has somehow shifted…”

His voice was strong and clear, lilting over the familiar melody like they had been made for each other. The others were all clearly just as enamored as Sean, but everything sort of fell away when Ken turned to Sean and stared deep into his eyes, singing, “All at once everything looks different, now that I see you.”

As the interlude played, Sean shook his head at Ken. “Now there’s no way in hell I’m gonna top that, that was amazing!”

Ken rolled his eyes, but a pleased tilt to his mouth belied his following words. “It’s nothing, really.”

“No, Ken, seriously, you’re really good.” Sean watched Ken duck his head down as he chuckled.

They were standing closer now.

Ken looked up and waggled his eyebrows. “Well, you better figure something out, hotshot, because it’s your turn.”

He didn’t let himself think about, Sean just opened his mouth and sang. “All those days, chasing down a daydream. All those years, living in a blur. All that time, never truly seeing things for the way they were.”

Sean took a step closer, his eyes still locked with Ken’s. “Now, he’s here, shining in the starlight. Now, he’s here, and suddenly I know. That if he’s here, it’s crystal clear, I’m where I’m meant to go.”

It wasn’t clear who reached for who, but between one moment and the next, Ken and Sean were holding hands and standing closer together and singing together, voices blending, “And at last I see the light. And it’s like the fog has lifted. And at last I see the light, and it’s like the sky is new.”

Grinning, Sean stepped back and twirled Ken in his arms,  causing the other boy to laugh while he sang, “And it’s warm and real and bright, and the world has somehow shifted.”

Ken’s back was to Sean’s front, their bodies pressing close, Ken’s head turned into Sean.

The smell of pine trees and leather from Ken filled Sean’s nose, and they sang on, “All at once, everything looks different. Now that I see you.”

Sean pulled Ken closer, touching their foreheads together. Their voices were softer but still clear as the song finished. “Now that I see you.”

For a moment, there was nothing in existence but the warmth of Ken’s body against Sean’s, the smell of his body wash and sweat, the summer sun playing over his skin and making his eyes look aglow.

“Yo, bro! That was so fucking sick dude!” Craig’s excited voice shattered the illusion.

Blushing, Ken laughed, “Yeah, that was pretty amazing.”

Reluctantly, Sean let go of Ken and stepped back, though his eyes never left Ken’s. “You too.”

Lila swooned, “That song is so romantic, and your rendition of it was phenomenal!”

Zahra, picking at her nails, shrugged. “Whatever. I’ve seen better.”

“That is highly unlikely, as I doubt you’ve seen anything of high-quality entertainment.” Aleister scoffed.

Zahra threw a throw pillow at him. “Shut up, Richie Rich.”

As the group devolved into a massive pillow fight, Ken murmured to Sean, “Well, I think that actually took the edge off for everyone.”

Nodding, Sean murmured back, “Something that they needed too.”

The Watchers were still coming, and they were still holding power and reasons that their group could probably scarcely imagine, and none of them knew what would happen after today.

But it was still three thirty in the afternoon, and they were all together, and they were all laughing, and for one golden moment, Diego and Ken had brought them all peace.