nestled among ecruteak's golden trees, noah's home sits quietly. the taxi leaves behind them and stirs up leaves across the lawn. the house is renovated— but the heart of it beats with an ancient rhythm. the arched roof and traditional wooden finishings characteristic of an ecruteak home are not lost.

noah breathes in deeply, his hand lazily cradling the handle of his luggage.

"it's time for the home tour!" noah stretches with a yawn, and unwilling to miss the opportunity to perform cliche, his stretched arm hooks kyle close. he plants a kiss on the other's cheek before moving up the driveway.

noctowl stone lamps line the path to the front door. unlit, they stare ahead as if gazing into the future.

"shoes off when you get in. also, we have baby photos all over the walls. it's okay if you knock them down." noah says.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

noah snorts. the flirting that leaves kyle's lips comes smoothly. no awkward footing. the courting has already been done, and so, they play, bound by rules they've secretly and unwittingly made for themselves.

punching the other in the arm, noah says, "actually i don't but," he squats before the door, lifting the raggedy brown welcome mat with a hoothoot in its center. around the circular bird, the words, 'home sweet home' are inscribed in lighter beiges, "aha! nothing's changed."

his gamble pays off. pulling the key from underneath the mat, noah opens the door and leads kyle in.

the home's initial hallway is narrow. a rack of shoes rests against the right wall and a variety of slippers await them below the elevated flooring.

noah has to carefully lift his luggage across the sea of shoes to set it inside. "welcome to where it all began. where the legend of the one and only machampion was born. well, kinda. not really, but play along, man." he takes kyle's luggage for him without asking.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

"alright, but i was like, born again in johto. what's your point, man?" noah spills clumsily from his mouth.

he tucks his feet into his slippers, yawning again as the comforts of home settle into his bones. the camera is caught. in the middle of the hallway, noah poses, raising a peace sign— but it's clearly too late.

"tourist attraction is right," noah says, nostrils flaring. "when the people of ecruteak realize i'm back, they'll swarm all over me." he flexes an arm and poses like a trophy.

he leans on his suitcase barely. the wheels cause it to tip.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

noah swallows his words as he's lifted, his body staggering about like a scarecrow in the wind without its bindings. quickly, he tightens his gut to steady himself.

"we paid plane tickets to get here. we're not gonna be homebodies the whole time—" noah runs his hands through kyle's hair with a smooth sweep— but at its end, he rustles it with a messy flail. "—but i am tired after all of that traveling."

the old woody scent of his home relaxes the limbs. his breathing slows and as he continues to play with his lover's brown hair, noah's voice comes out as a murmur.

"are you gonna let me down or what."

kyle lopez / vacation mission

noah hangs on with his legs, their domestic departure into the depths of his home still sudden enough despite their sluggishness. on the walls, old photos and homemade art watch them from their wooden frames.

noah is quick to point and direct kyle. occasionally, he shouts in warning, for he'd be on the receiving end of a sharp corner of a desk or counter.

"yeah," noah says as he grabs on to kyle's head like a steering wheel. he nudges the other's brown mop toward the left— or kyle's right. "there's couches in the living room with pillows, but they're more for decoration. mom sews designs on them. bedrooms are upstairs, but i don't trust you bringing me up the stairs like this."

nearby, they would see that the wooden staircase is steep. tall windows glance down at the steps in small intervals.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

"if we fall, we fall. and then maybe die because everything in here is old and with sharp edges, man."

each step courts death. and although the fantasized melodrama is more banter than truth, the home's ecruteak architecture is confined, steep and compact. he's caught against kyle. as they rest like this, noah rolls his head back against the wall.

"you're crazy, man." noah pushes away from the wall, gut tight to provide him with the strength for his hands are still on kyle's head.

his legs slip off as he lands on his feet. wordlessly, noah leans in. his forehead finds the other's as their lips join for a kiss. he stays like this for a long while. in their warm union, his arms wrap around kyle to secure him too.

"we're continuing this."

kyle lopez / vacation mission

noah laughs as their mad dash brings them to the second floor. each step is a silly hurdle, and like a bucking bronco, noah holds on for dear life. but the amusement ends. energy spent from travel lands on the second floor like an airplane crashing as a splash of confetti.

"dude, that's a reset." noah says of the speedrun. he scrambles to his feet to make up for lost time. "guess i gotta carry you."

in all senses of the word.

noah hooks his arms under kyle and with a grunt, he hoists him up shakily. he takes a few steps before exclaiming, "okay. bro, you're too heavy." the door at the end of the hall is their destination- and it seems so far. "i can't do this."

kyle lopez / vacation mission