An Ocean of Light

by Kit Fortier

  “Scoot over, baby.” Eric did as his man asked. Ben sat where Eric’s feet were, and Eric moved into Ben’s arms. “Are you ready for a new start?”

  Eric took a shaky breath. “It’s some sort of fairy tale to me. Like this life doesn’t belong to me. I’m scared I’ll wake up in the morning, and I’ll still be hiding in a gutter somewhere. Or that I'd be back in Saint George on my ratty mattress in my shitty apartment.”

  Eric yelped from a pinch at his side. He shot Ben a surprised look. In return, Ben grinned at him.

  “You’re not dreaming, E.”

  Eric laughed, snuggling into Ben. “I know. But it’s hard when that’s been my life. Good things never happened to me.”

  Ben wrapped his arms around his man. It was something Eric had just become accustomed to, and something he wouldn’t give up if he could help it.

  “I’m tired, B. Can we take a nap?”

  Ben stroked Eric’s cheek. “Of course. I’ll text Fox to call us when they’re on their way back.” Eric tried to sit up to give Ben space—but the bigger man held him close with one arm and used his phone in the other. A ding told Eric Ben got a message back.

  “Okay. Sit up, Eric.”

  “You gonna carry me again, you nut?”

  “You read my mind,” Ben grinned.

  “Let’s go then.”

  *** Fox

  “The boys are down for a nap,” Fox grinned.

  “You make it sound like they’re five-year olds,” Jake said with a smirk clear in his voice.

  “I honestly wouldn’t know—I didn’t have cousins or anything to babysit. But it just sounded right.”

  “It’s not far off, I think. But I can’t not look at Ben and still see a boy who had a head too big for his scrawny body—like some life-sized bobble-head—who barely reached up to here,” Jake said as he made a chopping motion to the center of his chest.

  Fox rubbed his husband’s back as they stood in the checkout line.

  “I get it, papa bear. At least, I can imagine.”

  The two spent a couple of hours selling four ingots of pure gold at a pound apiece. Fox and Jake finished out their errands and came back to the hotel.

  “I’ll start putting the kebabs together,” Fox said. He carried the groceries in, along with a new cooler they picked up. Jake nodded, placing the firewood they bought by the door.

  “I’m going to take care of the rest of our haul,” Jake indicated the eight rocks in the living room. Fox laughed.

  “I suppose we’re set for a while?”

  “You bet your ass, Foxy.”

  Thirty minutes later, Fox had two dozen skewers wrapped in foil made and tucked away in the cooler. He put in a few bottles of beer and cans of soda. Fox walked out and put the box down in the living room where he saw Jake getting onto his feet. A weight set with a rack that hadn’t been there before now sat in front of him.

  “Kettle bells?” Fox asked.

  “Yep. Pretty innocuous, right?” Jake said. “Also, easier to carry around,” he added, lifting a pair of matte-black weights marked 60lbs easily.

  Fox smirked. “Showoff. I bet that’s not even sixty pounds.”

  Jake grinned, easily pulling off twenty bicep curls as if he was lifting sacks of toilet paper. Fox shook his head.

  “Such a meathead,” he said, planting a peck on Jake’s cheek.

  The door to the single room for Ben and Eric opened. Ben stepped through tugging on a tee shirt, slightly bleary eyed.

  “Hey there, big guy,” Fox said.

  “Hi, Papa Fox,” Ben smiled.

  “We’re doing sausage and veggie kebabs, and smores. Just waiting for it to get dark. Eric doing okay?”

  Ben nodded. “I guess the drive took a lot out of him.”

  Fox raised an eyebrow and smirked at Ben.

  “Aw, come on, Fox. We haven’t done anything since yesterday afternoon!”

  Fox’s smirk turned into a laugh. “I’m just messing with you, buddy.”

  A yawn from the door Ben came through drew everyone’s attention. Eric stood there in his shorts, scratching his chest. Fox didn’t miss the little smile that came to Ben’s face.

  “Should we get ready for dinner now? We can catch the sunset,” Ben said, his animated gesturing appeared to amuse Jake.

  “You know what? That sounds great,” Jake grinned. Ben shepherded Eric back into their room, closing the door behind them.

  “Dress a little warmer! It’s cooler out there at night!” Jake called. He heard Ben yell something back that sounded like, “got it!”

  “We’re good like this, right?” Fox said, indicating his board shorts and hoodie. Jake’s eyebrow quirked.

  “For the life of me, I don’t think I’ll ever understand wearing a hoodie and shorts. What’s the point? The hoodie won’t keep your legs warm,” Jake chuckled.

  “Blah blah blah,” Fox smirked. “I’ll pack your fake teeth and blend your food for you, old-timer.” Jake leered at Fox, a wicked grin on his face.

  “You want to see what kind of old-timer I can be?”

  “Baby, not now—but later, why don’t we meet up out there?” Fox pointed at the balcony.

  Jake’s eyes went wide. “That’s… You want…”

  “Sex under the stars? Fuck yeah. Even more of a thrill if we might get caught,” Fox said as he shifted around to Jake’s back, purring into Jake’s ear. Jake shifted on his feet.

  “Damn, baby. Can we skip dinner?”

  Fox pecked Jake on the cheek. “Not if you don’t want the kids to kill and eat the parents like in some National Geographic special.” He picked up the cooler and called out to the boys. “We’re going to head downstairs, guys—See you near the shore!”

  Jake crowded Fox and growled in his ear. “We’re taking turns tonight.” One of his earlobes made it into Jake’s mouth. Fox groaned at his shorts getting tighter in front. He grinned.

  “Jerk.”

  “You love it.”

  *** Ben

  The two walked out to the beach hand in hand. Ben let Eric take the lead, since one of his own strides was about two of his man’s. When they arrived, Eric whistled appreciatively at the layout his dads prepared.

  The fire was elevated in the center of a pit that was dug into the ground. Ben could only assume it was alchemy that made the setup. All one had to do was walk into the pit and sit on a bench made from compacted sand.

  “I think I saw this on the Internet somewhere,” Ben said. He held Eric’s hand as the shorter man stepped into the pit and took a seat.

  “Where do you think I got the inspiration?” Fox said. “I had Jake keep a lookout while I, uh, dug this out.”

  Ben stepped down into the pit without needing the stairs. The benches formed an angle across the back to recline against, and both benches faced the ocean. Dad and Fox occupied the other bench, pulling out lengths of tinfoil and drinks.

  The four ate and drank in pleasant company. All the skewers had been cooked in the fire and consumed. Ben inhaled deeply, taking the ocean air in. Memories of his father taking him to the beach as a kid came uninvited, but not unwelcome.

  “Dad,” Ben began.

  “What’s up, buddy?”

  “Which beach did you take me to when we lived in San Diego?”

  “Moonlight. It’s in Encinitas, just a little down the road.”

  “Is that where you guys are getting a house?”

  “We hope,” Fox said. “I liked the pictures I saw. It’s also pretty close to UCSD.”

  “Relatively,” the older Hughes said. “On a good day, it’s fifteen minutes, but I’d count on needing an hour to and from, just because it's San Diego. Also, you never know what parking will be like on campus. In fact, for the first week or so, go two hours early until you get the hang of things.”

  “Got it,” Ben said. He pulled Eric close to snuggle in. “I guess that means I need to buy a car?”

  His father grinned, and Fox chuckled.

  “Well,
I guess so," Jake said. "Unfortunately, Fox’s truck is a gas guzzler here. We can use it, but it’d be costly in the long run for you. So, I was thinking we could help you get one?”

  “What do you mean?” Ben asked.

  “I haven’t been there for you, Ben. It’s hardly a substitute, but I’m more than happy to buy a car for you if it helps you focus on your studies. You won’t have to worry about payments—just insurance and gas. Is that okay?” Ben’s father looked so unsure.

  “You don’t have to keep doing that to yourself, Dad. I know you didn’t have a choice.”

  The elder Hughes man looked like he had something to say, but instead, closed his mouth. He smiled. “Alright. The only condition I have is that it’s not a party car, okay? Sports cars don’t get great mileage on the freeway or in downtown traffic.”

  “Sure thing, Dad. We’ll pick it together.”

  The sun set before them, casting a play of warm to cool colors upon the ocean before it would eventually fade into night.

  “Hey, Ben—do me a favor,” Fox said.

  “Sure. What do you need?”

  “Remember how you pointed out the light to me after your graduation?”

  Ben knew what he was asking. It was his Dad’s light—all that was left of him when he did what he had to in order to rid his loved ones of the threat of a mage gone mad. “I do,” he said.

  “See if you can use that focus again. Take a look out over the water when you do.”

  Ben took a centering breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them, what he saw took his breath away.

  Before him was a literal sea of light—bright, golden, undulating on and under the waves.

  “What… What is this?”

  “It’s… It’s hard to explain,” his father began. “That first time you dreamed of alchemy—the painful dream, you saw yourself surrounded by water, even being drowned by it."

  “Yes…”

  “Fox and I think that you might have a natural tendency to use water in alchemy.”

  “Like what, bending it or something?”

  “I suppose,” his Dad said.

  “Probably,” Fox replied. “Like that air-bending guy.”

  Fox knew what Ben was getting at.

  “What does it mean?” Ben asked.

  “I believe you literally get your strength from water,” Fox said. “I’m not sure how it applies—alchemy is really new to me, too. But when you and I shared light to bring your father back, I was careful not to take too much from either of us. But I know I took enough to significantly dim the both of us.

  “When I took from you to help Eric, it was like I never pulled any light from you at all.”

  “I still don’t understand what it means,” Ben said, confused.

  “We’re trying to figure it out, too, buddy. But we’re telling you, in case you get any kind of insight from it. But it’s almost like you can recharge others, while you yourself maintain your own light,” Dad said.

  It was an intriguing thought, though uncertainty niggled at Ben.

  "What about you two? Wouldn't you be... Charged, I guess, by lightning?" Ben nodded towards Fox. "Or you by the Earth?"

  Dad's brow furrowed slightly. "I'd been thinking on that since Fox brought up how connected you might be to water," he said. "I wouldn't begin to know how these greater energies work, or if the Consciousness is at play here. It could be that because water is so malleable, it can find its way to you in any state--moisture in the air, a large body of water nearby, probably even manmade piping in buildings and beneath them.

  "We aren't always using alchemy. When we do, they're for more mundane tasks. But something like siphoning off light from one body to the next is sure to take a toll, which is why I believe you and Fox dimmed when you two... revived me."

  Ben’s thoughts frayed. He didn’t understand any of it. The sum of his experience with his own newfound alchemy was limited. Setting a sheet of paper on fire at his father’s instruction. Accidentally healing Eric in the Vegas garage. Making salt and silver powder lines permanent in and around the suite overlooking the Pacific. The times when he was tangentially involved seemed to be the greatest uses of his power--sharing his light with Eric, with Dad.

  He didn’t realize Eric had wrapped his arms around him and fell asleep against his chest.

  “He’s tired a lot, isn’t he?” Fox said.

  “Yeah, it looks like it,” Ben replied. “We’ve only been together for a few days, so I don’t know if that’s a normal thing. I think it’s because he’s… I think it’s because things have been so hard for him that he’s never had any real rest in a long time.”

  Dad nodded. Fox’s eyebrows touched as he looked at Eric.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary,” Fox said. “Except that he’s tethered to you. Have you experienced anything unusual since we helped him get rid of his lycanthropy?”

  Ben hedged.

  “It’s okay, son—tell us.”

  “He and I can talk to each other. Up here,” Ben said, tapping his temple.

  “Like…?”

  “I can hear his voice in my head, and he can hear mine.”

  Fox nodded. “That is interesting.”

  “Why?”

  “You and I shared light with your dad, but none of us got that kind of connection,” Fox said. “But when you helped Eric, you got linked to him. It’s not a bad thing,” he said, interrupting a panicked look in Ben. “It just means that this is yet another thing to figure out.”

  “Is this how you knew to rescue Eric from those idiots at the hotel?”

  Ben nodded.

  The men sat in the stillness of the night—the only motion coming from the fire dancing before them. Ben stroked Eric’s hair gently.

  “Well, I’ll just put these away for a later day,” Fox said, tucking the marshmallows and chocolate away. He quietly gathered up the refuse tinfoil and bare skewers and put them in a plastic bag.

  Ben picked Eric up, cradling him like he often did. His father and Fox stepped out of the pit, alchemically dousing the fire, and filling in the pit. It soon looked like they had never been there at all—only bits of charred wood indicated there was a fire. They crossed the beach back to the hotel, taking the elevator to their floor.

  Fox opened the door to the suite for Ben, as well as the door to their attached room. He silently wished the two a good night and closed the door behind him. Ben sat Eric down on the edge of the bed, gently pulling his sweatshirt off, followed by his shorts. With a wet washcloth, Ben cleaned off his man’s sandy feet as well as his own. When he was ready for bed, Ben moved Eric to the center of the bed, curled around him.

  Eric took Ben’s hands and curled himself around them.

  *** Jake

  So much about the recent turn of events with regards to alchemy pulled on Jake’s brain. He sat in the darkened living room, his hands folded, pressed against his mouth. Fox moved about the kitchenette. He put the remaining foodstuffs in the fridge and disposed of the garbage from the fire pit.

  His son had been switched on, that much was certain. Ben also bore some fascinating capabilities. That he could recharge his own light had implications that Jake scrambled to identify, to no success. Did it mean he could create other alchemists? Or that he could essentially extend his own life? That wouldn’t pass muster—since age had nothing to do with the amount of the spark a person carried.

  Jake had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Fox. He wore a bathrobe and brought him one, too.

  “Hey papa bear.”

  “What—Hey, baby.”

  “I don’t know about you, but I think we had a prior engagement to get to,” Fox grinned. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got balcony seats.”

  “What are you… Oohhh.” Jake smiled.

  “Stand up,” Fox gently commanded. Jake did so. Fox slipped his hands under his man’s shirt, squeezing his firm chest in his hands. Jake chuckled at Fox when the shirt frustrated his husband's effor
ts to feel and touch him. He pulled it off Jake altogether. Fox’s nimble fingers quickly undid Jake’s pants. With a little nudge, they fell to the floor around his sandy, bare feet.

  Fox slid the bathrobe on over his man and collected his clothes off the ground. Jake stood silently, pliant to Fox's physical demands.

  “I’ll be right back,” Fox whispered.

  “I’ll be right here,” Jake murmured playfully.

  Fox disappeared into their bedroom with the clothes and came back empty-handed. He took Jake by the hand and led him out to the balcony. He closed the door behind them, taking his man in his arms, the fronts of their robes open as they kissed.

  “There’s something hard in your pocket,” Jake grinned.

  “Yep. That’s the lube. Try the other pocket now,” Fox smiled.

  Jake knew he didn’t have to reach into any pockets. He slid his hand down Fox’s front and hefted his man’s warm, hard length in his hand. Fox whimpered into his ear as Jake massaged him, holding him close.

  “That’s right, baby. I got you,” Jake cooed. He shuddered when Fox’s mouth gripped his neck, teething, sucking, and worrying his taut skin. He groaned as Fox worked on leaving a mark, and the thought of that made Jake harder.

  “Fuck, Fox…”

  “Yes, please,” Fox asked. Jake heard a snap of a lid, a little squirt of something viscous, and a closing snap. The sound was followed by the cool, slick feel of lube on his dick, applied by Fox’s strong grip. His man lifted up the back of his robe and leaned on the rail, presenting his ass. Jake groaned, and lined himself up.

  “You want it, Foxy?”

  Fox nodded.

  “We can’t be loud, you know.”

  Another nod.

  “I’m gonna go hard, you okay with that?”

  “Just shut up and fuck me, big guy.”

  That’s all Jake needed. He drove in hard, and his man whisper-screamed through his teeth. He exhaled a long, groaned expletive. Jake pulled Fox up and slid the bathrobe off of him, exposing him completely to the night.

  “Oh shit,” Fox moaned softly. Jake didn’t miss how his husband’s legs shook, absorbing pain and giving in to pleasure.

  The act was under cover of night, with only less than half-a-moon casting light on the beach. Everything, including them, was a dark, pale blue. Jake began to thrust in and out, taking his man the way Fox liked—out to the tip, and in right up to the hilt. Fox had his head on a forearm, holding his other arm back to take Jake by the hand as he hammered home his love. Jake’s heart raced. The heat burned his neck, his face. When he bit Fox on the back of his neck, his release exploded into his husband.