Anything and Everything

Going out to Shell Beach to visit John made Daniel nervous, more so than he had been in a very long time. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with their... with whatever it was he had with John, but he allowed it, let John come visit him in the city and sometimes stay. Shell Beach made him nervous - it was John's turf, John's normal life, and Shell Beach meant Anna. Still, John asked him to come out and see his little world, and it was really only fair, considering how many times the man had made the trip to see him.

He arrived fairly early in the day, and John still looked half asleep when he opened the door, but brightened considerably when he saw Daniel. "You came."

He smiled, letting John take the small suitcase he had brought with him from him, stepping into his house. "I promised you that I would."

"Thank you." He glanced down at the suitcase, then up at the stairs, and Daniel followed his gaze, taking in the house - classic, comfortable, light and airy, and somehow entirely fitting the man. "I have a guest room made up," John said, and hesitated, "But... I was rather hoping you would stay with me."

Daniel flushed, and lowered his head. "Well... we should probably keep the appearance of propriety...."

"Of course." John sounded a little disappointed, but covered it well. He took him upstairs to the guest room, which was airy with a very comfortable looking bed and a view of the ocean, and set the suitcase down on the bed. "What do you think so far?"

"It is very bright," he said with a smile, looking out the window and admiring the way the sun catches the waves. "Bright and warm. Very much like you, John."

The dark haired man gave a soft laugh, stepping closer to slip an arm around his waist, and Daniel leaned into him. He was slowly getting used to John's affectionate nature, the way the other man always seemed to want to touch him. It wasn't unpleasant - quite the opposite - but he hadn't had anyone care to do it in such a long time....

"Will you come down to the beach with me?" John asked, nuzzling his hair. "I have something to show you, to solve the problem of sand, since you said you don't like it."

He laughed softly, smiling, not resisting as John's lips found his for a lingering, tender kiss. "Thank you, John. I will change....?"

"It's a bit of a walk to where we need to go, do you have any clothes that aren't part of a suit...?" When Daniel gave him a blank look he smiled and kissed his nose. "All right, there's a pair of khaki's and a short sleeved shirt in the closet that should fit you, if you like. I'll meet you downstairs?"

He gave a little nod, thinking it was beautiful to see John so excited. "Thank you."

He changed, and met the man in the entryway, who took him through the house and out the back, through a garden rich with lush vegetation. The fence broke for the head of a staircase that went down the cliff several flights to what looked to be a private beach, blocked off from the main by craggy outcroppings. There was a small pier with a dingy tied to it, but otherwise a smooth expense of white sand. John stopped at the bottom to take off his shoes and socks, and he did the same, thinking the sand felt delicious against his toes as he stepped down from the stairs, following John out into the middle of the stretch of beach. "This is beautiful. It's all yours?"

John smiled, and nodded. "My property, yes, and my creation. I wanted something private, away from the main beach. We can stay here if you like, or I can show you the thing I was talking about?"

"Show me," Daniel replied, thinking John seemed somehow very in his element here.

The man grinned, then headed toward a small boathouse that sat against the cliffs, emerging with a pair of oars. "You can leave your shoes and such inside, you won't want them at our destination."

He nodded and did as suggested, following John down the pier and letting him help him into the dingy. "May I help row?"

"Definitely not." John shook his head with a laugh, untying the dingy and climbing in. "The oars are mostly for show," he explained blithely, and as he pulled them through the water, Daniel felt the boat shoot forward much faster than it should have. "Usually I just walk to get there, but it takes a bit of climbing over the rocks and around the cliffs, so I thought this would be easier today. Oh - you might want to roll up your pants, we'll have a little bit of wading to do."

He did so, and within no time John had pulled the dingy up onto a flat rock that ramped out of the ocean as if it was designed to hold it - which, he reflected, it probably was. He helped him secure the boat, then followed him carefully over and through the rocks, through a small gap that he wouldn't have even thought of exploring on his own.

The small lagoon that met his eyes left him temporarily speechless, standing at the mouth of it and taking it in. It shallowed into a small cave in the cliffs, the perfect, private area for swimming and sunbathing, completely invisible to the rest of the ocean, and most likely anyone on the cliffs above. He realized that John was watching him with an expectant look, and gave him a warm smile. "This is beautiful, John. You truly are an artist."

John's smile widened, and he stepped back toward him, leaning in for a yearning kiss that entirely distracted him from thoughts of swimming or practically anything else other than John. "Come," John said softly as he pulled back, slipping a hand into his and leading him along the rock ledge that edged the deeper lagoon until the reached the mouth of the cave. He tuned a pile of fluffy towels, laying two out on the rocks, which were smooth and seemed comfortable.

He'd worn his swimming trunks under the khakis, but they didn't stay on long. John joined him in the lagoon, entirely nude, and his kisses and touch quickly coaxed Daniel out of his shorts as well. They made love on towels spread on the sun-baked rocks, slow and tender and intense, and even though they'd done it a number of times since that first night in his apartment, it was still as beautiful and overwhelming as it had been then.

Curled in John's arms afterwards, exchanging gentle kisses and caresses, he could almost forget about Anna entirely. He closed his eyes and curled closer, sighing at the gentle play of John's fingers in his hair. "It's like spun gold, in the sunlight," he heard his lover muse, and looked up at him with a smile, a soft laugh.

"An artist with words as well, John?" he asks lightly, only to see him flush darkly.

"God no, not really. Just some of the beautiful things I think about when I see you."

That made Daniel flush in turn, and he leaned in to kiss him yearningly, trying to express in words he couldn't say how much the sentiment meant to him.

It was evening before they finally headed back, tying up the boat on the dock and climbing the stairs back up the cliff. As they approached the house, however, he could see that the kitchen light was on, and watched his lover's frame stiffen in apprehension. "Oh god... Anna's here. I'm so sorry, Daniel - I told her I had company staying, I didn't think - "

"It's all right," he found himself saying quickly.

"No, no - I'll ask her to leave - "

He caught John's arm. "That would be rude. Besides, I would like to meet her."

John turned back to him, studying his face, looking more than a little uneasy. "Don't lie for my sake...."

He squeezed the man's hand gently, then released it. "No lies. Let's go inside."

When John opened the door, he was met by a flurry of skirt and dark hair, Anna's arms flung around his neck and her lips pressed to his warmly. Despite everything Daniel had told himself about what was right and needful, he felt a rush of jealousy and anger followed quickly by a strange twist of nausea, and he had to fight to keep it from showing.

"I know you said you had company coming," she was saying as she pulled back from the kiss, arms still around his shoulders, "So I thought I'd make dinner for you. I brought a fresh blueberry pie with me."

"Perfect," John replied, smiling with relative ease. "I have a pint of vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Anna, this is my guest, Daniel, a close friend. Daniel, my girlfriend Anna."

He fought to keep his hand steady as she shook it, fought to give her a polite smile, though he still felt somehow sick. After so long with the Strangers, why was it so difficult to pretend around one human girl? "Pleased to meet you finally, Anna. I have heard so much about you."

"I wish I could say the same," she replied with a little curious smile. "John doesn't talk much about himself. I keep trying to make him open up, which he should do if all of his city friends are as kind as you."

"John is quite the charmer," he found himself saying. "I am sure all of our friends would love to meet you."

"I'm going to open a bottle of wine," John said, calmly changing the subject.

One bottle turned into two, and he noted that John was drinking as much of it as he was, though Anna only had a little. The food was, he had to admit, delicious - a pasta with cream sauce and a fresh fish she'd brought from the market. He made a note to ask John at some point when they were alone how on earth he'd managed to stock his ocean with fish. Anna talked a lot, thankfully, and mostly about herself, and Daniel didn't do much to dissuade her, answering any questions she had about his history with John with half truths based on the memories he'd given John for his childhood. John spoke little, other than to play host, and kept Daniel's glass thankfully topped up as dinner progressed. By the time John cut the pie, his limbs were warm and a little fuzzy, blessedly relaxed from the wine.

Anna took a bowl from him, handing it to Daniel. "Lets have dessert outside," she suggested. "It's a nice night, and a beautiful sunset."

John shook his head, seeming more than a little distracted. "You two go ahead. I'm going to clean up a bit, I'll join you in a minute."

He fought down a sudden surge of panic at the thought of being left alone with Anna, but followed her outside wordlessly, down the path to a little iron table that sat by the back fence overlooking the ocean, sitting down. He took the seat across the table from her, trying a bite of the pie. "This is very good. Thank you for dinner, Anna."

She gave a little nod, watching him with an uncertainty she hadn't displayed inside. "I know it's inappropriate of me to ask, but... is John having an affair?"

He barely managed not to choke on his pie, and took a bite of the ice cream to help the sudden lump of sawdust go down his throat. "Why would you say that?"

She gave a little shrug, and sighed. "I don't know... he seems distracted a lot lately. He comes into the city with me sometimes when I go to work, but I don't really know what he does there other than go see people that he knows. Not that I've ever met any of them other than you. I'm not even sure they have names." She looked more upset now, and took a bite of the pie, chewing fiercely.

"Perhaps he is afraid that if he shows off such a beautiful girlfriend, someone will try to steal you away," he found himself saying, not knowing how else to respond.

She gave a little helpless laugh. "You think so? I don't know what to think any more, Daniel. I tried to..." she stopped, and flushed. "Don't think I'm a loose girl, I really love John. So I tried to... to get him to come to bed with me last night, but he just... didn't seem to get it." She looked up at him helplessly. "There isn't someone else in his life? Someone in the city?"

It took every inch of discipline he had to smile at her naturally, reassuringly, like he would a client. "I think that I know John well enough that I would know if there were another woman in his life, my dear. You have nothing to fear."

"Thank you," she replied, but didn't look that convinced. Without warning, she moved chairs to sit beside him. "Do you really think I'm beautiful, Daniel?" She asked, green eyes wide in the light of the setting sun.

"I can think of no one better for John," he replied, trying to be reassuring.

"What about for you?" she asked softly, and before he could reply, she'd leaned in and pressed her soft lips to his.

After the moment of shock in which his mind processed what was happening, he jerked back, feeling his cheeks burn, fighting down a wave of anger and revulsion. "I think it would be best if we went back inside," he said simply, and stood.

Her hands flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh god - I thought you wanted - I'm so sorry -"

"No woman could make me betray a friend," he told her, fairly trembling in anger and trying not to speak more harshly, turning for the house.

She came after him and caught his arm. "Please don't tell John..."

"You said you loved him," he shot back accusingly.

"I do! But..."

"But what? You either love him or you do not. If you love him, you will not entertain any further thoughts of him with other women or you with other men. You will trust him and be true to him, and if I find out anything to the contrary, he will be told exactly what just happened."

"Of course, I'm so sorry..."

He turned from her without a reply, waking up the steps of the back porch just in time to meet John at the door. "Please excuse me, John. It has been a very tiring day, I believe I will turn in early. I'll leave you two alone for some quality time."

"Are you all right?" John asked softly, immediately worried.

He forced a warm smile. "I am fine. Simply tired. We can talk tomorrow." And with that, he pushed past him and retreated to the guest room. He was tired in all truth, and it didn't take long before he'd fallen asleep wrapped in the covers of John's comfortable guest room bed.

~~~~

When Daniel awoke, the room was dark, dimly lit by the moon through the window - how long had they had a moon? - and the hallway light. John was on his knees at the side of the bed, watching him worriedly, fingers stroking slowly through his hair. "Hey," he said softly, upon seeing that Daniel was awake. "I'm sorry about all that...."

He managed a sleepy smile, stretching. "And I am likewise sorry to have left you. I thought it would seem too suspicious not to let the couple spend time together?"

He looked pained, and gave a little shake of his head. "She upset you, didn't she? What did she say to you?"

Daniel shook his head slowly, and reached out to draw him into a kiss - one of the first he'd moved to instigate himself, and John gave a soft, shivering moan against his mouth, pressing closer to him. "Let's not talk about that now," he murmured softly, stroking his fingers through John's dark curls. "Let's just enjoy the night."

John smiled, a little relieved, and nodded. "Do you want to sleep more? I'd thought we could sit in the back yard and look at the stars...."

He gave a little nod, and dressed again while John made tea, meeting him on the back porch. They sat for a time, sipping the warm drink in relative silence, though Daniel found himself watching his companion more than the skies.

"Do you ever think about where we come from?" John asked softly, toying with the empty teacup.

"All the time," Daniel replied softly, a little wistful. "I read a lot about it, you know. It was one of the few things they permitted me to do, to keep - my library. It sounds beautiful... high mountains and wide open spaces... hundreds of colourful cultures.... I think you would have loved it. We both would, if we could remember."

"And men could love there. Like we do."

He gave a soft sigh, and nodded. "Yes. Openly and without restraint."

"It would be a beautiful thing," John said softly, and sighed. "Do you think there's a way to go back?"

Daniel shook his head slowly, finishing his tea. "I am afraid such a thing would prove impossible. They kept no records of where they found us... just that it was called earth. None of the books I have are near advanced enough to map our way back to earth through an entire universe of possibilities, it seems."

John sat silently for a moment, apparently pondering this, then stood, taking Daniel's teacup from him. "I'll be back in a minute." When he returned, he had a couple of pillows under his arm and a blanket over his shoulder, which he spread on the grass, stretching out on it and leaning back on the cushion. "Come join me."

He chuckled softly and stood, letting John pull him down to rest his head on John's shoulder. "I am afraid we do not have any constellations to look for here."

"Tell me about them," John said softly, stretching his arms behind his head, one hand tangling idly in Daniel's hair.

He smiled at the pleasure of the simple touch, looking up at the stars with a smile. "Well, they were all based on early mythology. Greek and Roman - though I am not certain you would be familiar with those names or earth geography. Greece and Rome were among the earliest civilized cultures in earth history, tens of centuries back. They paved the way for amazing developments in earth civilization. The stars were their legends... stories of princesses in distress, brave heroes, proud queens. That sort of thing."

"Tell me one of them?" John's voice was soft, wistful.

He thought about it for a time, eyes watching the stars. He hadn't really stopped to look at them before, knowing them only as a symbol of the eternal night, his eternal servitude. "Well... I suppose since it is around the right time of year, I should tell you about Orihime...."

"Orihime?"

"Mmm. She was one of the brightest stars in the summer sky, apparently. Daughter of the King of heaven, she spent her days weaving cloth and making beautiful garments for him. But she was very lonely, so he arranged for her to meet a cow herder named Kengyuu - which was another very bright star nearby. The two naturally fell madly in love, and were in fact so much in love that Orihime stopped making clothes, and Kengyuu's cows wandered all over and wrecked havoc on the heavens. The King of Heaven did not take too kindly to wandering cows and not having new clothes, so he forced the two to separate."

"That's horrible," John replied, and Daniel gave a soft laugh.

"That is true, but I never said the legends were all nice. However, the two lovers were allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when a flock of birds would create a bridge to cross the river of heaven that separated them. As long as it did not rain, that is. Then they would have to wait another full year."

"That's... really kind of tragic." John sounded a little disgruntled, and Daniel let his hand rest on his thigh, stroking gently.

"Love isn't always a happy ending," he said softly, and John sighed, turning to press his lips to his hair. His lover was quiet for a long moment, then turned his face back to the sky.

"Well, clearly we'll have to make our own legends."

He smiled, glancing over to him. "Will we now."

"Well of course. This is our world, isn't it? We can - what did you say? Pave the way for future civilizations?"

He smiled, liking the sparkle in the dark haired man's eye. "Tell me about our constellations, then."

John pointed heavenward. "This legend is about a boy. Do you see him?"

"I see stars, John."

John for some reason thought this was the funniest thing he'd heard in a long time and had to sit up, clutching at his sides. "Damn you!"

Daniel chuckled, giving a little shrug and leaning back on one of the cushions and beckoning him back. "Come show him to me."

John manoeuvred his head beside the doctor's pointing skyward again. "The bright star there is his head... his body... arms outstretched in front of him because he's lost." He moved his fingers to indicate, creating a silvery thread that hung in the air, outlining the shape. "He's been taken from his home by evil, dark creatures who hid the sun and made him forget who he really was."

He smiled, leaning into him a little more. "Yes, I see him. Are the creatures in the sky as well?"

"Of course...." John was silent for a long moment, then pointed, leaving behind more silvery thread that created three lines between six stars, almost parallel, but different lengths. "Those are the creatures. Not only did they take the boy from his home, but they were trying to kill him because he'd found out that he... had been god-touched and was able to copy the creature's powers, and he'd discovered their secrets."

Daniel gave into the urge to chuckle. "A very apt legend, I think."

"Well, the good news is that it ends happily," John continued, and outlined a few more stars. "You see, when the creatures appeared before the boy, ready to kill him, he was saved by this doctor. He was god-touched too, to be incredibly intelligent...."

"I think this story is getting a little far-fetched," Daniel tried to interrupt, but was silenced by a playful pinch to his thigh.

"Hush, it's a legend, and it's not far-fetched at all. Anyway, this very intelligent, talented doctor showed him how to fully use his god powers, and he destroyed the evil creatures and brought the sun back to the world."

"A much happier ending, it seems, than Orihime and Kengyuu."

"Of course. The boy and the doctor built a new world together and lived happily ever after." Daniel turned to look at him quietly, and he did the same, reaching a hand up to cup the doctor's cheek. "Do you like it?"

"You make it sound so simple, John," he said softly, and John smiled, leaning in to press his lips to his tenderly.

"It can be simple."

"I don't see how, John...."

"Shh...." Another kiss, longer, warmer. "I'll take care of things."

"John - "

"Trust me. I'll take care of everything."

He kept his eyes closed, trying not to think about all the reasons why things couldn't be easy - Anna, gender, his past actions, any number of things. "Let's go upstairs," he whispered, because going upstairs meant not thinking about anything at all.

~~~~~~~~~