Sorry for the "slower-than-snail" updates, guys, but life is really hard at the moment (when is it not anyway?😒) and my computers were in coma for a long time.😢

So, how have you all been? I'm such a bad panda that I can't even manage to reply to your comments but know that I read them all. And it would be so great if you guys keep commenting because that's the only way I get to know how you are liking or disliking the story.❤

I miss interacting with you all. I miss writing.😢

Anyway, hope you enjoy the read!

******************

Chapter-11

“I’m a sound technician, not a.....a-“ Richard flailed his arms, “whatever the fuck that thing is called.” Then he eyed the man in front of him suspiciously, “How did you manage to rent that anyway?”

Johnny, with his back towards Richard and eye on the computer screen, replied around the candy stick he’d been munching on, “Ren’ed the ‘ole ting.”

“What?”

Sighing, Johnny stopped his typing, took the stick out of his mouth, licked his lips for the sugary residue and turned to Richard, “I rented the whole thing.”

“No, I mean, I...heard you the first time but....” he blinked with furrowed brows, “the entire thing? The-“ then his face morphed to display a horrific expression, “How rich exactly are you? Who are you? Some kind of mafia or something?”

The slow smile was lazy and enigmatic on Johnny’s lips, “Or something.”

When Richard realized that he would not get any more explanation than this, his arms crossed in front of his chest, chin tilted up, “I still won’t do it.”

Johnny took a bite of his candy stick, the sound of his teeth breaking the hard piece loud in the quiet room. “Do it and a ticket to Linkin Park’s next month’s concert is yours.”

The jaw drop was predictable. Johnny grinned.

“But- it’s a sold out show! Been for months! I’ve checked just a few days ago. And it cost a fucking fortune! What the fuck?”

Johnny ignored the question and extended his fisted hand, “So, do we have a deal?”

Despite being visibly doubtful and way more suspicious than he had any reason to be, Richard extended his hand and they fist bumped. “Why do I feel like I just sealed my fate and made a deal with the Devil?”

Johnny’s answering  lopsided smirk was positively shark-like, “Because you did.”

XOXOXOX

“Johnny! What part of ‘I don’t want to go’ you don’t under- hey, stop dragging me- stop!”

Timmy swatted at Johnny’s hand that was clamped down on his left wrist but failed to dislodge it yet again.

“I’m serious!”

“Oh, hello, Serious, I’m Johnny,” Johnny giggled when that earned him a hard shove.

“Why are you doing this?! I don’t want to go to your party, damnit!”

Without stopping or slowing down, Johnny turned his face to look at his disgruntled companion, “What makes you think that I’m taking you to the party?”

The struggling stopped immediately, “You are not? What do you mean? Then where are we going? Wait!”

“You’ll see,” Johnny began to chuckle then realizing, quickly corrected himself, “in a manner of speaking.”

Timmy’s visible confusion and discomfort became more prominent when Johnny helped him to climb the few steps to the concrete platform. On one hand, he wanted to drag this suspense as long as he could because watching Timmy sans his usual calmness was worth it; on the other, he could hardly wait how Timmy would react to his plan. He knew Richard was ready somewhere at distance and was waiting for his signal.

He manoeuvred Timmy to the place he wanted him to be and crouched down. Timmy yelped at the sudden tug and patted the surface around his knee where it had hit the cement.

“What’s this? Where are-“

Johnny took both of his hand and put them around the rounded metal that was in between them, slightly raised from the ground.

Timmy made another surprised exclamation behind his throat when the warm skin of his palm was pressed down above the cold metal.

“Johnny, what-“

“Shh, it’s all right.”

“- is..is that a nozzle?!”

Johnny grinned at the incredulous expression on Timmy’s face, his wide eyes wider, jaw working to find the words. Timmy was adorable.

And his hands were soft.

Johnny held up his right arm, high enough to be seen from far, and signalled a go.

Richard would know what to do now.

XOXOXOX

The gurgling sound of water, rushing through a narrow pipe, was sudden enough to warrant Timmy’s full body flinch; his eyes comically big and darting everywhere, lips moving in constant, “What is it? What is it?”

And then it hit them. The blast of water.

It pushed at Timmy’s palms, who pushed at Johnny’s in turn and Johnny let him.

“What the hell was that?” Timmy’s shriek was utterly uncharacteristic. So was the flailing he did dropping on his bum.

Johnny’s smile only grew wider. “That’s how fireworks feel like when they hit the sky.”

When the confusion cleared away from Timmy and a flabbergasted look settled upon his feature, Johnny realized that he loved that expression also.

“What?”

“This is as close to the real feeling I can manage to recreate.”

“What?” Timmy repeated again dumbly and Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Come on, feel it again yourself,” he gripped Timmy’s wrist and took him to another part of the platform where the nozzles were bigger but Timmy stopped, his fingers wrapping around Johnny’s wrist. His glasses are foggy and dotted with droplets, veiling his eyes.

“Where are we? Where is this place?”

Oh. Johnny had not yet explained it, had he? “It’s a fountain park, in eastern part of the city. And we are standing on one of the raised platforms where fountain nozzles are lined up and down.”

Timmy’s glasses were turning foggier and Johnny resisted the urge to snatch them away. He itched to see those eyes.

“A fountain park?”

“Yep,” Johnny confirmed.

“You have brought me to a fountain park.” It wasn’t a question. “You have dodged your office party and brought me to a fountain park.” There was a long pause; Johnny waited not so patiently. “Why?”

“Because I promised you that we would see the fireworks together.”

The pause this time was shorter but more intense. And then Timmy’s face broke into the hugest smile Johnny had ever seen on his face.

“You are crazy, Johnny!”

Yes, for you but what he spoke aloud was, “Let’s see some more then.” And they were crouching around the biggest shower nozzle so that both of them could place their hands over it partially.

“When a firework takes off from the surface it gives out a sort of whooshing sound, sometimes. Not like the gurgling sound of the water he heard before but it’s the closest comparison,” Johnny explained. The surprise being over, he wanted Timmy to know the details fully. “Then, once reaching its intended height above the crackers erupt and explode, much like the way water comes out of the many tiny holes of the nozzle, and scatters everywhere. Like the water did.”

He waited anxiously to see if it made sense to Timmy. He might not have let on but was quite worried about this plan to succeed. He knew it was a risk and had the chance of get bollixed up. He felt these two to be comparable bur the same might not be true to Timmy. Because no matter how well he explained, nothing could change the fact that Johnny had the advantage of seeing both things.

For Timmy most of such things were some meaningless words that he had had to familiarize with in order to fit in to the world.

Timmy’s glasses were clearing of the mist and it revealed two glazed eyes. “I....think I can guess what is it like. Vague but better than having nothing.”

Johnny’s thumb brushed over Timmy’s knuckles, eyes never straying away from the face in front. “Do you like to have more? Should I signal Richard?”

The name snapped Timmy out of whatever thought he was in, “Richard? As in your.....sound tech?”

“Yeah, I’ve coaxed him to help me tonight. He is the one in charge of controlling the fountains manually.”

Timmy blinked, eyes somewhere near Johnny’s chin, “You are the craziest and most annoying person I have ever met!”

“And you love it!” Johnny wiggled in delight when Timmy ducked his head instead of negating the statement.

Johnny sent a ‘go ahead’ to Rich.

This time Timmy was prepared and laughed aloud when the sharp flow of numerous water darts tickled their palms. He raised his fingers along with the water, as if to reach the sky with them, and then clamped down on the nozzle again to repeat his action. All the while the big smile was in place.

Johnny fell back on his heels and just took in the sight; heart aching with an unfamiliar feeling of extreme affection. At this moment, he would have given Timmy his eyes if he could but that was not an option as Timmy had informed him early in their friendship that his body could not take donated eyes.

But his thought was interrupted as he was hauled from the ground in a sudden pull and a laughing Timmy yelled, “Let’s explore!”

And they were off, darting through the maze of showering fountains, drenched through, laughing, spilling, pushing and shoving at each other......living.

Timmy was like a loose canon, rolling everywhere, jumping on the puddles, swivelling on his feet, splashing, slinking away when Johnny tried to hold him. It was so drastically different than the usual image of him Johnny was accustomed to see that he experienced a whiplash. But wished at the same time that Timmy could, he would live like this always; could let himself be free without having a care what those judgemental eyes around him would see.

Timmy knew how to have fun; he just never had the chance to. Nobody had ever cared enough to give him a life he could enjoy.

Johnny wished to change that.

“This is....” Timmy’s hands were spread at his sides, head tipped back, eyes close, lips permanently stretched into a grin, “This is amazing! I love it, Johnny!”

Water cascaded down his lithe frame, lapping him with bliss. His cream coloured button down shirt was see-through, highlighting the smooth planes of his abdomen and pectorals, the darkness of his nipples were prominent and hard. Loose drops hung from his stringy hair, lips glistening in the shadowy light. The long stretch of his throat reddened with a flush, wet with liquid emotion.

A picture of pure temptation. Shivers ran through Johnny’s entire body.

After a long while, Timmy’s arms came down, head set back in front, eyes- without the glasses which he had taken off some time ago- stared in front and for a brief second Johnny felt as if they held focus. The grin diminished into a small smile as though any extravagance might ruin this magic bubble around them. “Thank you.”

It was a murmur, should have been lost in the sloshing sound of the rain; should not have penetrated the ringing noise in Johnny’s ears but it did. It always did.

Johnny jerked once, took three long strides, reached Timmy, framed his face with both of his hands, swooped down and captured Timmy’s lips.

The water burned.

Like fireworks.

Like the desire that Johnny had kept hidden within himself for all these months.

Like love.

It burned and burned and burned.

Johnny kissed and kissed and kissed.

The touch lighting up thousands of fireworks inside his head, behind his eyelids. Timmy’s lips burned him with cold fire and Johnny lapped it up with his tongue, desperate to enter and burn some more.

He deepened the press of his lips.

And suddenly they were not kissing anymore. Suddenly Timmy’s hand was on Johnny’s chest and was pushing him and Johnny was staggering back and Timmy’s hands were balled in fists, eyes clenched tight, lips into a displeased straight line and he was shaking, as if, in cold.

As if, in anger.

As if, Johnny was the only one who was burning.

“How could you do this to me?” This time also Timmy’s almost inaudible voice failed to get lost in the rain.

Johnny turned to ashes.

[][][][]

A

/N: Okay, so, I have absolutely no idea if the fountains in such parks can be operated manually. I took liberty to create my own version.

Any thoughts?😶