Orion: Children of the Stars

The Rain

James laid in the bathtub when it was full, putting his head back against the edge. He let the water soak the ends of his hair. He closed his eyes and took in deep breaths. He opened them again, lost in thought. He liked water, the feeling of it enveloping his skin.

He liked the feeling of the rain better.

Soft drops hitting and sliding off of his bare skin...

The sounds it made against leaves and the hot concrete streets...

The coolness it brought to the drawn-out heat of the day's air at night.

He also liked the sound of thunder, however, lightning frightened him occasionally because it often came unexpectedly. He let it soak his thoughts like the water soaked his skin.

Lightning, he thought.

...

Clifford.

Clifford... Like lightning- there one moment to keep me company, gone the next.

The thought made him a little uneasy although it inspired.

What if he wouldn't call? He didn't wanna think about it.

But the thought nagged him, wouldn't let go. He let himself sink into the water up to his mouth, nervously looking out at his knees, his hand folded in his lap under the water.

He closed his eyes again.

...

Am I in love? Is this what it feels like to feel love?

He looked to the window out at the clouds outside looming over the trees in the back.

He watched them closely, the dim light in the room reflecting off the thin pane of glass.

Suddenly, a flash.

James quickly pushed himself up out of he water.

Another flash.

Lightning.

He quickly reached over and pulled the plug out of the drain and put it on the edge of the tub, getting out and drying himself, putting his pants on and running to the back door, throwing it open and running outside as the rain began falling.

He let it embrace him, drops crawling off of his skin and falling to the ground around his feet.

He almost moaned out happily at the feeling, it had been quiet a while since it rained. California still sucks as a dry place.

He dropped to his knees into the soft wet grass at the sound of thunder.

"YES!", he yelled out to the sky with a laugh.

He loved the feeling of the rain drops, the were so big they felt like...

Fingers...

I wonder if Cliff's fingers would feel like this...

That sounded creepier than I thought. What the fuck, me.

He sighed, then stood back up. He got under the awning of the deck, shaking himself dry, then walking in. He closed the door behind himself, then went to his room and changed, then got into bed.

"Why can't I stop thinking about him...", he said quietly to himself.

Cliff's face was clear in his mind, that smile, those eyes, the hair... His voice.

He wondered what it sounded like as a whisper.

James rolled onto his side and looked at the clock.

"Jeez- only ten?"

He closed his eyes and rolled back onto his back, looking up at the poter of the constellations on his ceiling. His eyes rested upon one in particular. Orion.

Orion...

The hunter.

He slowly closed his eyes and let himself drift away, finding himself alone in the middle of a field of stars and galaxies...

He dreamed peacefully that night, finding that someone else had joined him in his world of constellations.

Cliff.