Smuff, anyone??

Peter bit into the ice cream he scooped up. He liked the type of cold, spicy burn that followed it. "Would I be a good otter?"

"Huh?" Colin looked up from his laptop, where he was currently submitting edited photos.

"An otter... do you think I'm one? A good one." Over the past few days, the question had been ringing over and over in Peter's mind. He finally had the courage to bring it up.

However, it seemed like he wasn't making any sense when Colin's eyebrows turned down in confusion. "I don't know what you mean but I'm gonna go with no."

"Ugh, you know that thing with with gay guys naming each other after animals. Like bear, bunny, horse--that stuff. Am I an otter?"

The brown-haired guy had to cover his mouth with his palm in order not to burst out in laughter. He bit down on his tongue, heaving in a deep breath to suppress the loud 'Ha' that wanted to bubble up his throat.

"Where in blazes did you..." he started, words trailing off. Colin paused, rubbing his hand over the stubble that dotted his chin. "Wait. Tell you what, give me a kiss right here-" Colin placed a finger on his cheek. "-and I'll tell you whether you're an otter."

Peter shook his head, scooping a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. With unmelted slush still inside, he said, "Otters don't kiss."

A smug smile. "Who said?"

"I did."

The back of the laptop went down as Colin lay back, full attention turned to the Asian. "But you're not even sure you're an otter."

Peter pouted. "True... not yet at least."

"Well, otters like water. Do you like to swim?"

Another ice cream scoop. This time it was colder, and Peter had to blow on the chunk he had popped in his mouth, in spite of the doubt he held about its effectiveness. Clutching his head, he mumbled. "Not sure. I've never really swam."

Colin brought up a suggestion. "Pool tonight then?" The last time he had been to the apartment pool had been with Peter and his niece. It would be nice to relax in a pool after hours.

Peter's phone rang, making him set down the tub of ice cream in his hand and alert Colin to hold on.

"Hey, Peter." From the way his sister's voice came out light-hearted, in a sing-song manner, Peter knew Ivy was up to something.

"Let's not stretch this with unnecessary niceness. What's up?"

He could swear he heard Ivy breathe out a sigh of relief before she said, "I want to know if you're going to be free this afternoon... and maybe this evening."

"Uh yes. Where is this conversation headed though? Because it's getting to a level of suspicious-ness." Unknowingly, he narrowed his eyes, making them draw to slits. Colin saw the contorted look and snorted.

On the other end of the phone, Ivy sighed heavily, before admitting that she had dialled Peter's number with more than just an overly preppy greeting on her mind. "Can I bring Lily over? If it's not going to be too much trouble."

"Yes! Yes, you can." Peter yelled with a laugh, not caring about how loud he was. "See how easy it is calling in advance? Did you die, Ivy? Did your-"

The line went dead before he could get his sentence through. Even with that, he threw his head back, laughing heartily. He didn't know why, he didn't care either.

"Well, someone's happy." Colin observed, giving him a knowing smile.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Peter smiled back. "Ivy didn't decide to just pop up again. Oh, and I got the call back from one of the agencies. Phenomodel Management."

"Awesome. We should celebrate!"

"Already started with this tub-" The rest of Peter's words were lost as he stared at the spot where his ice cream sat a while ago. The only evidence that it had been there was a wet ring. "Where's the-"

Colin stuck a spoon in his mouth, wiggling his eyebrows. "Otters don't eat ice cream." His tongue glided over the glistening metal, wiping traces of mint chocolate chip. "But they like to swim. Do you?"

°

"The water's cold," Lily whispered. She had been wading in the water, using the swim ropes Colin and Peter had set up as a guide. It had been a lot of work but every bead of sweat that broke had been worth seeing the child enjoy herself.

"I know. You can just sit on the edge with me now." Peter reached for his niece's outstretched arms and plucked her out of the water, making sure his footing was firm. He wrapped a towel around her and helped dry her off.

Tonight was colder than usual, making the air seem thinner and less pronounced. Colin, however, didn't seem to be bothered at all considering how he was still in the water that had prickled Peter's skin like tiny ice shards. He's probably an otter.

A wet patch transferred to Peter's arm as Lily laid her head on him, letting out a yawn. Peter wasn't surprised that she was sleepy. It was late, with no sign that Ivy would be coming to get her soon.

A date. That was what his sister had gone for. That was what had her squealing in her spaghetti strap dress when she brought her daughter to the Colin and Peter super-rocking-fun-time Babysitting Service.

A date with some guy named Lei Harris who she had supposedly bumped into on occasion, during Lily's check-ups at the hospital. Apparently, the two had hit it off despite most of their conversations taking place in hospital parking lots and waiting rooms. Now, a month after they had first met, they had a date together.

Peter was happy for his sister, from what he had heard, Lei was a great guy. And he had passed the Lily test long before he knew he would ever have to take it-- it was mandatory that Lily liked whoever her mother went out with.

"Get on my back, Lily. Let's go get some sleep." He bent over, letting Lily's hands hook over his shoulders before he stood up. Peter could hear several bones snapping when he stretched out, it didn't sound good.

With much difficulty, he climbed upstairs and set up a makeshift for his niece with cushions, a ton of blankets and one of Colin's couches. She looked comfortable enough when Peter left the room, heading back to the poolside.

He sat at the edge, feet dabbling in the murky water. Colin seemed to have been waiting for him to get back, judging from the way he stared with a dazed at him look and a lopsided smile adorning his face, as if excited at his presence alone.

"Get in with me, Pikachu," he coaxed. "It's not skinny dipping in a lake but it's a close second."

Peter repeated the words the little girl had uttered. "The water's cold."

"You'll get warm. Trust me, I'll make sure."

And with the smile Colin gave, Peter melted into the pool, faster than the mint chocolate chip.

He was surrounded by the ice cold water which lapped at his shoulders the way a pendulum swung back and forth. Colin took his hands which hung onto the edge of the pool, letting them fall around his neck.

"Better?"

The moon was out tonight, crescent shape reflecting on the pool's surface, in Colin's eyes. Colin was right about Peter getting warm, he began to feel heat spreading from his hands that were linked behind the grinning man's head, up to his shoulders and cheeks, out from his cheeks in the puff of breath he let out as he said, "Yes."

"Told you so."

They remained in that position for a while, no one talking, no one interrupting the comfortable silence that settled and evened out like the ripples in the water, both admiring each other. Peter liked the way Colin looked when his hair was tousled and wet. If he wanted, he could be a model too, easily. He wouldn't even have to try.

Peter's eyes eventually flit downwards, studying the line which the dripping water followed. Over eyelids. Over cheek. Over corner of lips.

He waded closer to Colin, holding onto the older guy's arms for balance. Ever so slightly, he leaned forward, the pink tip of his tongue peeking from between his lips. He kept eye contact with his roommate until their faces were close enough that each breath they took resonated in the other's ears. Then his eyes fluttered shut.

He tasted a slight saltiness from the chlorinated water, then he tasted skin. His tongue slowly slid down in that same rhythm, that same heat the trickling drops followed. Eyelids. Cheek. Corner of lips.

A groan left Colin's lips when Peter's tongue licked them, as if the caress made him feel the same spark his roommate felt. His arms gripped Peter's slender waist beneath the water, rubbing circles, warmth, into his skin.

The dark-haired boy buried his face in Colin's neck, breathing him in before letting his lips take over there too. Lick, kiss, suck. Repeat. It was torture of the best kind.

Peter's head was up again when he earned a second moan and a curse. He regarded Colin, with the same dark eyes with which he couldn't tell where iris ended and pupil began. Then with another lick, there was kiss.

It was like opening up his soul and laying all untold secrets, everything, bare. Like tasting and feeling and seeing every color of the rainbow behind closed eyelids. Blood ran through him, cold as the water his body was immersed in, yet burning hot whenever fingers brushed his skin in the most sensual way.

They were drowning. They were floating. With a single kiss they were everything and nothing and everywhere and nowhere. Like Scott Fitzgerald said: A kiss is not just a kiss.

This was so much more. Maybe it was the whole scene-- a dark night with two lovers in a pool. Was that what they were now? Could they be called lovers? It sounded so formal, classified. Maybe it was the person-- Colin, who exhumed so much appeal with a single glance. Maybe it was the nature of things-- a forbidden romance of sorts. Or maybe, it was just plain ecstasy they were lost in. Maybe it was lust. Maybe.

"Colin," he said through clenched teeth. "More."

And again they both dipped, taking in as much air as their lungs could hold. Diving under, sharing what they had kept. Through another kiss, they breathed. A kiss is not just a kiss. This was so much more.

After many of such underwater caresses and strokes and kisses, they both decided it was best to head back up before things escalated. The pool wasn't their private property. They couldn't just do anything in it.

Back at the apartment, Peter toweled his hair off, making sure every strand felt the woollen fabric. Once done, he walked over to the couch where his niece lay.

"You asleep yet, flower?"

"Not yet," came the reply. Her head moved in the direction Peter walked to, resting on the pillow only after she heard Peter's footsteps approaching her again. "Can you sing me my song?"

"The one about the flower?"

She nodded, her small hands pulling up her blanket to her chin.

"In Chinese or in English?" Peter questioned.

"I've never heard the Chinese one."

"Well, I have. But you're not hearing it anytime soon because I can't sing that one. English will have to do," Peter called out as he sauntered off to his room, returning with his guitar in hand. He still didn't have a new pick but he could manage playing with his fingers. The song was a slow and mellow one, a lullaby even.

"Why'd you ask if you can't even sing it?" Colin questioned, dropping his towel in the nearly-full laundry basket. He and Peter would have to attack that development tomorrow.

"To know her preferences, duh."

Peter sat down at the foot of the couch, back resting against it. Rubbing at Lily's hand, he planted a kiss on the back before settling down with the guitar in his lap.

His fingers strummed the guitar, carefully picking each string as he began to sing. "O little lily flower in shadow of great wall. O little lily flower far far away."

Those weren't the original lyrics-- aside the fact that the original was in a language where the only word Peter knew was 'Hello'. In actual fact, the song centred on a lotus flower, but he made some adjustments to suit his audience.

"O little lily flower shining like the moon. O little lily flower gone gone too soon."

He sang those four lines twice more, his voice and strums getting softer and softer with each word. With a finale of an extended pluck, Peter ended his lullaby.

Lily had fallen asleep, her small chest rising and falling rapidly. She was small, delicate, a flower. Watching her in silence, Peter decided he would do anything to help her bloom. He set out a blanket on the floor, resolving to sleep there for the night.

"I figured it out," Colin whispered.

"What?"

"You're not an otter," Colin said, shaking his head. "You're still Pikachu."

The dark-haired guy rolled his eyes as he sat, picking his phone up from the centre table. "And you're still not helpful."

"But I'm right, aren't I?"

"Maybe."

A smile. A cheeky grin.

~~

Oh my fudge-sicles we're almost at 10k reads!!! Thank you so much for all your support!! We got to #67 in Lgbt out of 236k stories. Can you believe that!!!!???

Also, that scene hehe... ;)

Special mentions: There were so many people who added this book to their reading lists and I don't think I can mention them all but thanks to dez_walt, Twizzlerbell and HJHarrisons

But overall, a huge thank you to anyone reading this!!!

Reminder/ Self-Promo ('cause I'm shameless like that lol)
I have a variety of books on my profile so if you want a quick read/one shot, check out Rubenzel- a modern twist to Rapunzel's fairy tale where she's a HE.
For something sweet, short and bound to make you tear up, check out Lies and Other Necessities.
For a teen fiction novel, check out Made in San French-cisco.
And Shades of Ecstasy for a read with a badass bisexual latina MC with superpowers!