Northwest on Earth (closed)

Misha pressed her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. He looked so embarrassed about forgetting his wallet... except that it was an exceptionally common thing for guests to do. Thoughts of money and other similar stressors usually just float away from people as soon as they reach the islands. Lots of people put their wallet or purse down in their room and seemed to forget that they were occasionally required, even while in a place like this.

Still grinning in amusement, she motioned for him to follow her. "You'd be surprised at how many people forget things like that. It happens all the time." She lowered her gaze to look down at the ground, biting her lip. "It happens often enough that I usually ask about things like that before we leave, but I was too busy flirting back, so..." That was only partly true - she'd also distracted herself by beating herself up over rejecting him when she was beginning to think that maybe he was worth the risk after all, but she didn't want to tell him that. Not when she wasn't 100% sure... yet.

They came to a stop in front of a small storefront with a bunch of surfboards leaning against the wall. She smiled at Charlie, shrugging. "Well, given how much money I spend here, we might be able to convince Temaru to take an IOU, if we promise to come back tomorrow and if I vouch for you." She stuck her tongue out at him, her smile widening into a grin. "If you promise not to run off on me before then, alright?" she teased, walking inside.
 
She wasn't annoyed, which was sort of a relief, though she was clearly having a hard time not laughing at him. That wasn't quite the result he had been looking for when they set out for town. It was a surprise as well. He scowled, for a moment anyway, and then he grinned and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

“It's all fun and games for you,” he said, having a hard time fighting off his own laughter. “But all my carefully laid plans to dazzle you by not being like every other dumb tourist are going up in smoke.” He took a deep breath, more to control his laughter than anything else, and then gave her the most exaggerated puppy-dog eyes ever, complete with trembling lower lip. “It was a good plan, cut down in its infancy before it had the chance to spread its wings and fly.... I guess I'll just have to fall back on being a world-famous movie star.” The last thing he said with a grin and a wink. The fact that it was true, he knew, wouldn't make it even a little bit more believable.

“And what's with saying you 'were' too busy flirting, anyway?” he said, grinning again as they strolled towards the shop. “I want to hear that you 'are' busy flirting with me, and you 'will be' busy flirting with me. I want you so busy flirting with me that next time we get here I've forgotten my pants.”

As if to reassure him that she was not done flirting with him yet, she stuck her tongue out at him.

“I swear, I won't run out on you until I get my pants back,” He spoke in as serious a tone as he could manage. “I mean, until I pay Temaru back. These are gorgeous, by the way.” He waved towards the boards. He couldn't tell if they were particularly well made or not, but the designs on them were beautiful.
 
Misha was grinning widely at Charlie's comment about how she should continue flirting with him. It was a relief to know that her inability to actually act on their flirtations hadn't ruined whatever it was they had.

"These boards are among the best available in the world. Temaru doesn't sell cheap stuff." She sighed, looking at the boards with something akin to lust in her eyes. Then she led him into the shop.

There was no shopkeeper in sight when they walked in, so Misha walked up to the counter and called out, "Temaru!"

A smiling man appeared from out of a back room a moment later. He was wearing an unbuttoned shirt and board shorts, revealing a physique that one might expect on someone who spent his free time surfing. He had a winning smile and, though not as classically good-looking as Charlie, he was cute in his own way. He grinned when he saw Misha. "Why hello, babe!"

Misha didn't react at all to his pet name. He spoke that way to her all the time. She motioned to Charlie. "Temaru, this is Charlie. He's staying at the B&B for the month and wants to get set up with surf gear." She paused, shooting him her best puppy-dog eyes. "But he forgot his wallet, so could you maybe do me a really big favour and set him up tonight if we promise to come back to pay tomorrow? Please?"

Temaru leaned on the counter, looking from Misha to Charlie and back again. "Hmmm. Well, as long as you promise to come back tomorrow, I guess I can do that. On one condition." He grinned wickedly. "A kiss."

Misha broke down laughing in response. "I didn't think I was your type!" she managed to say between fits of giggles.

Temaru winked at Charlie. "Oh, not you, babe. Him." He nodded at Charlie, then started to laugh. "Kidding, kidding. Unless you swing my way, but given the way you were ogling Misha on the way over, I somehow doubt that," he said with a wink.
 
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That wasn't good at all, Charlie thought. He'd been cheerfully staring lustfully at Misha while she stared lustfully at the boards, and aside from the fact that he was torn between wanting to have her no matter what and wanting to be a decent guy, things were great. The little darkness that had come seemed to have lifted. They knew where they stood, and from the looks of it, she was as unhappy about it as he was. The second Temaru walked into the room, though, Charlie wanted to break things.

The man was a beast. Charlie was good looking, and he'd buffed up a bit for Northwest, but this guy looked like he was made of iron. He could see that Misha appreciated the fact as well, and when Temaru called her babe, Charlie was about ready to start breaking the boards he'd been admiring a moment earlier.

"Now, there's no need...," he started to say when the talk turned to kissing. He wasn't a violent man by any measure, but he was ready to put himself between Misha and this other man's lips like a secret service agent taking a bullet. Before he could finish, or even really have his thought, though, things switched around.

"Oh, you're gay!" he said, so thrilled that he wasn't going to have to watch Misha kiss him that he practically danced. A second later, he realized that Temaru and Misha were both staring at him, and he blushed. "That ... that's cool."

He took a lap around the store, realized his fists were clenched, and shook it off. He glanced at Misha and shook his head. Was he really jealous to the point of violence over a girl he'd met a few hours earlier? The answer was obviously yes, but the realization was terrifying.

"A kiss?" he said. "Yeah, you're not really my type."

They were toying with him. He could see that easily enough, and he couldn't blame them for it. On the other hand, he thought, there was no reason not to fight back. He was an actor, after all, and he wasn't particularly afraid that gay was contagious. He'd kissed guys on stage before without any side effects, except making a few women in the audience want to try to turn him straight, which he had graciously allowed them to do. He shot a glance at Misha.

"But ... fair's fair," he said. He took a deep breath. He reached out and touched Temaru's cheek, tenderly, slid his hands behind the other man's head and looked into his eyes. He took another deep breath, flaring his nostrils with feigned passion. He leaned closer, parting his lips. His lips touched Temaru's.

And he turned to Misha, smiling. That's me faking it, his eyes said. Think about what it'd be like if I meant it when you're trying to sleep tonight.
 
"Oh, you're gay!"

The relief in Charlie's voice was palpable, and it wasn't particularly difficult for Misha to recognize why he would be relieved. Had he really been that jealous of Temaru's teasing? She felt a pleasant warmth gathering in her chest at the thought. It was a sensation that she didn't want to particularly explore at the moment, since she certainly wasn't supposed to be feeling anything so strongly for someone she'd only met earlier today...

A smile spread across her face when he started blushing. Sexy, funny, and now utterly adorable when embarrassed? She was never going to manage to last the month without throwing herself at him until something changed drastically.

Her mouth popped open in amused surprise when Charlie actually agreed to the kiss. She thought that he was teasing, that he'd stop at the last minute, but his lips actually met Temaru's (and she could see the surprise on the Temaru's face as well when he actually went through with it). A little pang of jealousy stabbed through her at the sight, which seemed ridiculous, given that he was evidently just getting them back for teasing him. All she could think about was how much she wanted to feel those soft-looking lips on her mouth instead.

Temaru was grinning from ear to ear after the kiss, and laughed when he looked at Misha. It was only then that she realized that she was pouting like a child who'd left out of some game all her friends were playing. The expression shifted immediately into an embarrassed grin as a blush flared up over her cheeks, and she ducked behind a display so she could try to regain control of her facial expressions. When she peeked back out at them, they both looked smug as hell.

Temaru sighed, still evidently amused, and came around to the front of the counter. "Well, you kept up your end of the bargain so I guess I'll have to keep mine." He looked at Charlie and motioned toward a wall full of surf boards. "Let's get you set up." He walked over to the wall and pulled three boards down. "These are the best beginning boards I carry. They're about as stable as you can get. Beyond that, the differences are mostly cosmetic." He took a step back. "I'll grab some of the other stuff you'll need, and give you a chance to look them over." With that, he disappeared into the back room again, leaving Misha and Charlie looking at the three boards.
 
A pleasant side effect of kissing Temaru was that Charlie's libido seemed to have dropped out of overdrive for the first time since he'd met Misha. He was finally able to breathe and could spend more than a tiny fraction of his attention on something other than lust. He looked at the boards, trying not to be too happy about the look on Misha's face. He knew exactly how she was feeling, because he had been feeling the same way when he thought she was going to kiss Temaru.

"Don't worry," he murmured softly. "You're the one I really care about. That ... it was just physical." He winks at her. "Besides, you were totally fucking with me. All is fair in l love and war." He stopped there, frowned for a moment, and turned back to look at the boards. Maybe she wouldn't notice. Or wouldn't say anything, at least. He didn't usually stutter, and it wasn't exactly like he had said he loved her. It was just an expression, after all.

"So this one's awesome," he said. It was, with an abstract design in black that was suggestive of a breaking wave against a blue background, that could have been the sky or the clear waters of the bay. The others were a little more typical, airbrushed tropical sunsets. They were beautifully done, but they reminded him of something that would be on the side of a van.

"What about that one?" he said, pointing to a board that Misha had been nearly drooling over when they came in.
 
Misha blushed at Charlie's comment about "love and war" but didn't say anything. A sense of giddiness ran through her at the word "love," followed by the acute awareness that she shouldn't have gotten so excited over it. For one, it was just a turn of phrase - she was pretty sure he hadn't meant it literally. And why did she want him to mean it, anyway? She'd only met him this afternoon!

"Maybe I wouldn't fuck with you if you weren't so much fun to fuck with," she teased, winking back at him.

Charlie pointed to one of the boards and she nodded. "Yeah, I really like the design on that one too." Then she looked back at the other one he pointed to, the one she'd been eyeing since they'd walked in. She smirked. "I always drool over that one when I come here. It's a $5000 board. I don't know why Temaru even has it, it's not like anyone here can afford that thing." She sighed longingly, running her hand over the edge. "Sometimes I wish I got paid more than a pittance. Most of my pay comes in the form of room and board, basically the privilege of living in this paradise for free. Still, it means I'm stuck drooling over my dream board for the rest of my life." She shrugged. "But hey, this job is basically my dream job, so I guess I shouldn't complain."

Temaru returned a moment later with the rest of the required gear. "Pick the one you like?"
 
"You're not so hard to fuck with, yourself," Charlie said, grinning. He tried not to think about what her blush might have meant. There was a lot he was trying hard not to think about. "But I guarantee, we'd have more fun fucking each other than fucking with each other." He stuck out his tongue at her, then mimed holding out a clipboard. "Sign on the dotted line. If not completely satisfied, you can return me for a full refund."

He looked at her board and gave a low whistle. "Five grand? Shit." he said, studying the thing. It was a good-looking board, to be sure, but to his untrained eye, it didn't look any different from the other boards. Misha talked about her situation, and he nodded. It was a bit of a predicament, and one he could sympathize with. Five thousand still seemed like a lot, though Carter assured him he'd soon be blowing that kind of money on lunch.

"You get to live your dreams," he said. "That's worth a lot." He frowned for a moment. "I spent almost ten years scraping by just hoping for a chance to do what I love to do. Now it's actually happening...." He shrugged. "I don't even care about the money. I'd ... do what I do for free."

When Temaru came out, Charlie tapped the board he'd been looking at and then looked up at Misha's board. "So, what makes that board so special?" he asked Temaru. "I know I'm completely ignorant, but I am curious what makes one board so much better than another."
 
Temaru chuckled at the question. "It's a nickle-alloy board. Light and strong with exactly the right amount of give. A board like this would last you a lifetime, and it'll ride like nothing you've ever seen before. The kind of control you can get on a metal board is pretty exceptional, but most metal boards are either too heavy or too hard." He grinned knowingly at Misha, who was practically drooling over it. "The reason it's so expensive is that they actually developed an entirely new alloy for this board. It's the only model like it in the world. They got their alloying tech from NASA."

Misha laughed. "Of course I'd fall for the board that's made out of the same stuff as a space ship." She couldn't quite take her eyes off of it. The board looked like it was coated in chrome, though that was just the alloy polished to a natural shine. The entire board was engraved shallowly with an incredibly intricate design, most of which was abstract, though one could pick out a shape that seemed to suggest a bird in flight here or there. Sighing heavily, she turned back to Charlie. "Maybe someday I'll stop buying myself DVDs every time I get the chance and I'll be able to save up for something like this..." She shrugged and motioned toward the board with the black abstract wave that he'd pointed out before. "So, which one do you want?" She smiled cheekily. "We should decide and get out of here before I decide I don't ever want to leave."
 
Charlie listens as Temaru explains why that board is so special, and lets out a whistle. What he had thought was just a sci-fi paint-job was actually more like science fiction, except not fiction. He shot a glance at Temaru, wondering if he was being fucked with again, but the man seemed to be for real, and there was no mistaking Misha's longing when she looked at it. If the board had been a guy, Charlie would have been jealous.

"That's amazing, but I'm just a beginner," he says, taking a step closer to look at the spaceboard. "If I started surfing on something like that, everything else would be a disappointment. I'll get this guy." He pats the board with the wave on it.

"So, Misha's going to give me a lesson tomorrow morning, and I'll be back first thing after that to square up with you," he said, taking a step towards Temaru. With his back to Misha, he leaned closer to the other man. His voice was barely even a whisper, and his eyes cut to the spaceboard. "I'll pick up that one tomorrow, too."

He shook Temaru's hand and winked, his voice back to it's normal volume. "Thanks so much for doing this for me. I don't meet a lot of people who would hook up a stranger like this, even with Misha vouching for him. You're a hero."
 
Temaru blinked in surprise when Charlie whispered about getting the nickle board tomorrow as well, but otherwise kept a straight face. He nodded, his brow furrowing slightly as the gears in his mind evidently started trying to figure out exactly what it was Charlie had planned.

Misha, meanwhile, was paying no attention to them, instead giving her dream board one last look before smiling at Charlie as he picked out the nicer of the three beginner boards.

"Well, I trust Misha and she's a good judge of people. Besides, I know where you live," Temaru said, smiling at the both of them. He dumped the extra stuff - board wax, an ankle strap, and several other important little tools needed to surf - into a bag and handed it to Charlie. "I'll see you tomorrow then!"

Misha waved her goodbye and they left the store with the board and the gear, and made their way back to the boat. "I'll get the groceries tomorrow," Misha explained, her grin a little teasing. "Since we have to come back anyways..."

She started the engine and they sped out of the dock area out onto the wide water. The sun was beginning to set as they escaped the little bay and Misha cut the engine, letting them drift to more or less a stop out on the water. She stood up out of the driver's seat and joined Charlie near the bow. "You said you wanted to catch the sunset on the way back," she said in explanation, her voice quiet. She didn't need to be any louder - the only sound out here was the gentle lapping of the water against the hull. She settled into the seat next to him and leaned forward, resting her forearms on the side of the boat, watching as the sun seemed to set the sea aflame before them.
 
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"I'll get the groceries tomorrow," Misha said as they came out, frisky as ever. "Since we have to come back anyways..."

"Good deal," Charlie said, boarrd tucked under his arm, the rest of his new stuff in a bag. "Temaru and I can get some alone time then."

He kept his eyes straight ahead and his face straight as he walked back down the dock, but when he stole a glance at her, he couldn't help a little snicker, and once that first crack appeared, there was no stopping it. He laughed and had to stop to catch his breath before he could hop into the boat.

He didn't have much to say after that. The sky was turning a brilliant orange and he concentrated on it, not thinking much about anything except how lucky he was to have the chance to see it. When she cut the engine, he turned and smiled.

"Thanks," he said. "I know you probably see this every day, but it's pretty special to me." Not that the sun didn't set in LA, but it was different here. Or maybe he just felt like it was, as the boat rolled gently on the swells. Misha slid into the seat beside him, and leaned on the rail to watch as the sun disappeared. He couldn't help being aware of her, aware of wanting her, but it was ok. He watched the sky burn with color, and darkness settled quickly, the stars lighting up one by one until they filled the sky. It was perfect, beautiful, peaceful.

And then he yawned, like he was trying to swallow the ocean or inhale the stars. He had been awake for close to twenty-four hours, and he was feeling every minute of it.

"OK," he said. "You can take me to bed now."
 
After the sun finished setting, Misha had leaned back into the seat so she could look up at the sky and watch the stars come out. Tahiti wasn't filled with light pollution the way most cities were, so the Milky Way started to come out within minutes of the sun going down.

She looked over at Charlie as he yawned. "Okay," he said, "you can take me to bed now."

Misha couldn't help but chuckle in response. She wanted to. God, she wanted to. But that very utilitarian part of her mind insisted that a month of pleasure with Charlie was not worth losing this place over. The romantic side of her argued that it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but that thought alone made her blush furiously. She wasn't supposed to be thinking in terms of love about someone she'd only just met!

She guided to boat slowly back to the B&B, loathe to power the engine up too high and break the peace and quiet. She pulled the boat up to the dock and tied it off while Charlie got all of the surf gear out of the boat.

"The best surfing's at dawn," she informed him as they walked into the house. "Did you want me to wake you up? Or do you have your own alarm?" She leaned against the doorway into the kitchen as she asked and looked him over once more. She was struck by the slightly insane urge to jump him then and there, and had to wonder, once again, how on earth she was going to survive a month with him.
 
Charlie walked slowly up the dock, fighting to keep his eyes open, carrying the gear. She had laughed when he said take him to bed, but it wasn't a harsh laugh. Maybe even a little regret. He was fairly sure she could crawl into bed naked with him and he wouldn't be able to stay awake to do anything about it, but he figured he'd keep that to himself.

He propped the board up next to hers and put the rest of the gear away where she showed him, and then he turned and gave her a sleepy smile.

"I'll set an alarm," he said. "I can't promise I'd be a gentleman if I woke up with you right there." Though the thought of it was enough to wake at least a part of him up. He chuckled at his cock's irrepressible optimism and gave her a wave.

"Thanks for everything, Misha. You're the best part of this place, and you know that's saying a lot. Sweet dreams...." He started up to his room, but stopped halfway up the stairs.

"Hey," he called. "If you're not sleepy, watch Dogs of War." It was the one movie she had on her shelf that he'd been in. He played a soldier who delivered a warning before he was blown apart by gunfire. A total of six words, but he got to die. He wondered if she'd even recognize him. In the film he was clean shaved and his hair was buzzed, not to mention he was covered in fake blood. It was just a bit part, but there was no point being all secretive that he was an actor. She didn't have to know about Northwest.
 
Misha had planned on just cleaning up the kitchen and then turning in early tonight, but Charlie's last words as he went up the stairs had peaked her curiosity. Watch Dogs of War? What an odd request.

She tossed all the dishes into the dishwasher and set it to run, then pulled the DVD off the shelf, turning it over in her hands and wondering why he had suggested this movie specifically. She'd seen it before, of course. It was a good movie, but she had a feeling that wasn't why he had suggested it. Sitting down on the couch, she popped it into the player and curled up in the corner to watch the film.

She didn't need to pay too much attention to the plot, since she knew what was going to happen, so she paid particular attention to any details that might have caused him to recommend it so abruptly. That was when she saw it. Oddly enough, it was his hoarse shouting that gave him away. He had a very particular tenor to his voice that she recognized immediately. She wouldn't have noticed who it was, otherwise, not with his hair buzzed short like that, and the blood spattered across his face. She scrambled to grab the remote and rewound it for a moment so she could watch it again.

A grin spread slowly across her face. There was no question that the soldier was Charlie. She jumped, shocked, when the gunfire came in and ripped into him. Her heart actually skipped a beat at the sight, despite the fact that she knew very well it was fake, and she admonished herself for the ridiculousness of her reaction. Then she grinned again. Charlie had mentioned having to wait tables and that it had taken him forever to get a chance to do what he loved for a living. And here he was, in a movie. It was a bit part, sure, but it was better than the vast majority of actors in LA ever managed. She was happy for him!

She shut off the movie after watching Charlie's death scene one more time, and headed off to bed, still grinning from ear to ear.
 
The up side of going to bed a short time after sunset was that Charlie woke up before his alarm went off. It was dark, but the moon was out, and the white curtains drifted in the gentle breeze. He climbed out of bed and walked out on the balcony to look at the bay in the moonlight. It really was paradise. Who could blame Misha for wanting to live here? No matter how attracted to him she might be, she'd be risking this if anything happened. And no matter how attracted to her he might be, he'd be risking her happiness if he seduced her.

“Tonight,” he whispered to himself, “I'm hitting the town.” Misha might be off limits, but he was going to lose his mind if he didn't find someone to fool around with, soon. He'd seen a bar in the town. He didn't think it would be hard to find some pretty local girl who wanted to fool around with him. The thought saddened him, strangely, and he frowned as he watched the moon sink into the ocean. He shook himself. It was this place, he thought. It was so damned romantic it was making him think he was in love.

A hint of light was appearing in the east, and he pulled on the wet suit. He felt stiff and ridiculous as he came downstairs, and thought of the dudes along the coast who waited with their towels around their waist til they saw something out there that made them put on their suits and paddle out. If he knew what they were looking for, maybe he'd do the same. He went downstairs and heard noises coming from the hall behind the kitchen. He was tempted to venture down and see a little more of Misha, but hadn't he just now given himself a stern talking to about her?

“I'm up,” he called. “I'll see you down by the dock.”

He grabbed a towel and his board and headed down.
 
Charlie's hands were warm on Misha's bare skin as they traced the curve of her waist before settling firmly over her ass. He pulled her close to him and she slipped her arms around his neck. One of his hands traced a path over her hip and thigh, down between her legs to her slick, wet slit, making her purr...

And then came the loud, blaring beep of her alarm.

Misha jerked into a sitting position, startled by the sound. She slapped at the alarm clock in the darkness until she found the snooze button and the room went silent. It was still dark outside, but she needed to be up this early if she wanted to get everything ready on time to catch the best waves.

She turned on the light and peered out the door of her bedroom into the hall, feeling oddly paranoid that Charlie would be there and would somehow know that she had been dreaming about him. When she found the hall empty, as expected, she shut her bedroom door again and sat down on the bed. What was wrong with her? She had hoped maybe a good night's sleep might release some of the pent up tension she felt, but her dreams had only made it worse. She groaned, heading into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. She needed to get ready, to do her job, and to forget about what she'd just dreamed. She would never be able to face Charlie otherwise.

She went out into the kitchen and put some bread into the toaster, then headed back into her room to get ready when she heard Charlie calling out to her. She pulled on her wetsuit and grabbed a towel, and by the time she came back into the kitchen, the toast had popped. She spread some peanut butter onto it and then took both pieces out to the dock where Charlie was waiting.

"You don't want to overeat before surfing, but you shouldn't go out on an empty stomach either," she informed him, holding out one of the pieces of toast with a smile. She tried not to stare. The wetsuit did nothing to hide the musculature of his body, and an image from her dream of her fingers splayed against his bare chest flashed before her eyes, making her look away with a heavy blush colouring her cheeks.

She sat down next to him on the dock while they eat their light breakfast. "So... I watched Dogs of War, like you said," she informed him, trying to maintain a casual tone. "I think I might have recognized someone in it..." She bit her lip, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "I guess you weren't kidding when you said you're a world-famous movie star yesterday," she teased. As far as she knew, that was the biggest part he'd ever had. She had no idea that he really was about to be catapulted to incredible fame.
 
Watching her coming down from the house, Charlie smiled. In the dark before dawn, she was just a shadow, but a supremely feminine shadow, and his mind was able to fill in what the shape only suggested. When she was closer, the wet suit did little to hide her shape, and Charlie looked away quickly. It wasn't nearly as revealing as her bikini, actually, it was the least revealing thing he'd seen her in, but it hugged her body almost as tightly as he wanted to, and the simple black let his imagination run wild.

"Thanks," he mumbled, around a mouthful of sticky crumbs. Toast and peanut butter was good. It wasn't anything like what he wanted, but he'd already decided he was leaving that alone. He was definitely going to have to do something about that tonight. As they sat on the edge of the dock, eating, she teased him about the movie.

"Well, you know," he said, shrugging it off as best he could. "I actually shot that scene a couple years ago, but the editing and post-production takes a while. And then it doesn't come out on DVD right away. And who knows how long it takes after that to end up on your shelf." He finished his toast and looked at her. Still just a silhouette, but he could see the outline of her nose, her lips and he chin.

"You have a really beautiful face," he said. He chuckled to himself. So much for keeping his attraction to himself. At least he'd made it for minutes, but talking about movies with her made him distinctly uncomfortable. More uncomfortable than thinking about not getting her in bed. He wanted to tell her what had happened to him in the last few months. That soon he'd be so famous that they'd know his name even here. Hell, maybe Temaru would be bragging that he had kissed Charles Ward. The thing was, he didn't want to tell her, because he wanted her to like him or not because of him, not because he was on the cusp of celebrity. He wanted to tell her because not telling her felt like lying, and because he wanted to share in his excitement and triumph, and even his dread with her. Like a girlfriend or something.

"Not going to happen," he reminded himself. He cleared his throat, and pushed off the dock, dropping into the warm, dark sea. "Let's do this," he said.
 
Charlie tried to talk about the movie as if it wasn't a big deal, but Misha just shook her head. "I'm happy for you," she told him honestly. "It's not everyone who can make a living doing something that they love. Small parts or not, it's a big deal and a blessing if it means you can make a decent living at it. "

She smiled at his compliment. It made her almost giddy. Strange that such a simple compliment could mean so much when it came from a particular person... She gave her head a sharp shake, trying to clear thoughts of that nature out of her head.

The sky was starting to turn pink, and she followed Charlie into the water, pulling herself up onto her board so she could lead him out into the wider bay. "First thing's first, put on the ankle strap, or you'll lose your new board to the sea." She sat sideways on the board and showed him how to attach it. "So, to begin with, you need to know how to select your wave. Most important is to make sure you pick one far enough out that it's not going to break over your head..."

She spent maybe five minutes floating on her board, explaining the basics of surfing. Once she was finished, she smiled at him. "So, wanna give it a try?"
 
He was glad for the lesson. They'd paddled out to the end of the bay, where the swells rose steep, curling into a long, low break just a few yards past where they bobbed in the water. It hadn't seemed quite so long yesterday, in the boat, but he was feeling it already, and they hadn't even really started to surf. No wonder Temaru had the body he did. He looked at Misha, reevaluating her figure. There was strength there, no doubt, but not a lot of bulk. Exquisitely feminine, in the predawn light, with the sky starting to turn pink around the eastern horizon.

"I think I got it," he said, stretching his arms and shoulders. He knew he'd feel it tomorrow, but he wasn't in such bad shape. It was just early, and he wasn't used to it. He watched the waves rolling in. He saw one that looked right, and started paddling. It wasn't enough, the wave was going to go past. He paddled harder, instinctively kicking his feet. And the board rocked, and rolled him off, just as the wave started to curl over.

He was pretty sure his face was the same color as the sky, a brilliant rose red, as he swam back to where Misha waited. "Wrong wave," he said. "She looked good, but no sense of humor."

The next one, he paddled hard from the beginning, gritting his teeth and putting everything he had into it. He was about to give up when it happened. The wave lifted the end of the board up and he was gliding down the face of the wave. Spray caught him in the face and he closed his eyes. He planted his hands on the board and pushed up, screaming. It was brilliant. He brought one foot forward, and the board lurched under him. The wave spun him around and he felt his legs come up out of the water. The board shot past him, tethered to his ankle, and he righted himself, just in time for the next wave to smack him in the face.

He climbed on the board and paddled back out to where Misha was.

"I know," he said, panting a little. "I make it look easy."
 
Misha watched him with a wide smile on her face. She remembered what it was like to be new at this. It took her almost a week of surfing every morning before she managed to get up properly even once, and two weeks before she was doing it consistently. Once that happened, though, everything seemed to come easier. Or at least, learning became a lot more fun.

"You're actually not doing bad," she told him when he paddled back to her. "Getting halfway up on your second try is far more than most people manage. It's a feat of talent if you can manage that much even once on your first day."

She smiled and winked, then started paddling out herself. "My turn!"

It didn't take her long to spot the wave she wanted, so she paddled hard out to it catching it a little later than she had wanted, but early enough that she managed to reach the swell. She pushed herself easily to her feet and held herself in a low, well-balanced stance, guiding the board from side to side as she rode. Her eyes found Charlie for a split second and she felt suddenly the undeniable urge to show off. She started to ride across the wave, picking up speed, and then veered suddenly toward the top. She glided gracefully up into the air, grasping the side of the board to keep it from fly out from under her. She was about to come back down when she felt her weight shifting as the nose of the board jerked backwards. She yelped, trying to pull it up again, but there was nothing she could do: the nose of the board cut into the back of the wave instead of the front, and the water dragged the whole board down, upside down, dumping Misha into the water.

She came up a few seconds later, coughing, and drifted back to Charlie with a laugh. "See how graceful I am?" she asked, her voice thick with sarcasm and amusement.
 
He played off her reassurances that he had done well, his pride not allowing that she might be right. He was going to get on his feet today. He was damned sure of that, but he was also grateful for the rest, as she paddled off to take her wave.

She looked so good. So strong paddling, and when the board caught the wave, she stood up like it was nothing. She cut back and forth, her legs flexing, body leaning into the moves, so graceful he could hardly watch. The sun was cracking over the horizon now, and she was bathed in golden light. She shot out then, and cut back, and for a moment, she was airborn, and he held his breath.

Then, she was tumbling head over heels as the wave rolled over her. He started paddling, instinct telling him to help her, but he wasn't even at the break when she popped up, grinning as though it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. He backpaddled, non-chalantly. What, me worry?

"That was amazing," he said, when she got back out to him. "I mean, you know, until you ate it." He knew that in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't really that amazing. These were small waves. This was a bunny slope, the shallow end of the surfing pool for sure, but he wasn't watching her thinking about the grand scheme of things. He was watching her doing something effortlessly that he couldn't even come close to.

He paddled hard, again and again, and he caught a few more waves. Once, he actually got his foot on the board before he dumped. When he was catching his breath and trying to sooth his pride, he watched her and ached with the beauty of what she was doing. He also ached at the sight of that body moving so gracefully, so powerfully.

He also ached when he paddled. He didn't actually realize, as he went after the fifteenth wave, that he was whimpering with every stroke. The sun was well up by then, and the offshore breeze was turning the glassy waves a bit rough.
 
Misha was lying on her back on her board, her feet dangling in the water. She was very happy at this particular moment - she'd managed to land the same jump she'd tried and failed at the first time, twice since then. And Charlie was doing exceptionally well for someone who'd never been surfing before, no matter how he might not believe it.

But the sun was getting higher, the waves were getting rougher, and Charlie looked utterly exhausted. He'd paddled probably close to twice the distance she had today - that's just how it happens when you fall more than you stand - and she was getting tired too. She could only imagine how tired he had to be. Part of her wanted to lie there a little longer, since she was enjoying the sight of his muscles moving under the suit far too much to be safe, but she sat up.

"I'm going in to make us some breakfast." As she spoke, she tugged the elastic out of her hair, causing her soaked locks to fall all around her face. She pushed it back and grimaced at the gritty feeling of sand in her hair. "Scratch that. I'm going in to shower, then I'm going to make us some breakfast. You staying out here for a bit or do you want to come in?" She didn't really want to leave him out here alone, not while she couldn't keep an eye on him while she was in the shower. Surfing alone could be pretty dangerous and she balked at the notion of anything bad happening to him.
 
“Go on ahead,” he said, relieved that she was calling it a day. “I'm coming in too, I'm just going to take it slow.” He gave her a smile, best he could do. A deep ache had settled into his chest and shoulders, and he had a pretty good feeling that it was going to be a struggle making it back to the dock. The last thing he wanted was for her to see how badly he was hurting. He watched her stroking away across the bay and shook his head.

“Take it slow,” he told himself. He did. He had only covered maybe a hundred yards by the time he saw her disappear into the house, and he gave himself a few minutes to just float and rest now that he didn't have to worry about her watching him. It was harder to start again, and when he finally reached the dock, it was all he could do to pull the board up and drag himself up the ladder.

Walking felt pretty good, though, and as long as he didn't try to lift his arms he was fine. He made his way up to the house and up to his room. He stripped off the wetsuit and hung it over the railing to dry, then hopped in the shower. He stood under the hot water for a long, long time, letting it beat down on his shoulders, loosening things enough so that by moving slowly and very, very carefully, he was able to pull a t shirt and a pair of loose shorts on.

He came downstairs to find Misha making breakfast, and he smiled. He started to go into the kitchen, to offer to help, but then he remembered this was her job, so he slipped past her and poured himself a cup of coffee. Or he started to. His hand shook when he tried to lift the pot. He set it down, took a deep breath, and tried again. This time he managed to pour the coffee, but he couldn't help cursing under his breath as he set the pot back on the maker.

“Thank you so much for taking me out today,” he said. “I can't even tell you how great that was. Even though I didn't really get on my feet. It's still really cool.”
 
Misha stripped and got into the shower as soon as she got inside, reveling in the feeling of being clean after being coated in the grit of the sand and salty water. When she got out, she dressed in a pair of light cotton shorts and a tank-top, then got ready to make some food.

Misha smiled when Charlie walked into the kitchen as she was finishing the eggs and bacon. She was feeling ravenous after exerting so much energy surfing, and she was sure he had to be feeling much the same. He looked stiff as he walked into the kitchen, and she caught his hands trembling out of the corner of her eye when he tried to get himself some coffee.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it!" She poured herself a cup and went about serving their food. "Interested in going out again this afternoon?" she asked innocently. She couldn't help but giggle at the look of panic on Charlie's face at the question. "Kidding, kidding. I wore myself out this morning anyway." She slid the plates in front of two of the chairs pulled up to the island and sat down in front of one, humming with the pleasure of eating good food while hungry. "So, what's the plan for this afternoon?"
 
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