Remaining still, Angelo lets her arrange herself into a position where she’d feel comfortable with her injuries, gentle fingers lingering on her back as he savours the warmth of contact. It’s not long before they’re settled and Skyler’s breath, shaking from a relaxed sigh, tickles against the skin of his neck. Ocean eyes slide shut as the sensation melts through him. “I’m sure there’s a great conspiracy theory about that somewhere.” There’s a chuckle laced with his musing, enjoying the steady decline of their tension, distracting one another until it starts to become real and increasingly peaceful. This was the kind of position where it would be easy to slip into sleep, he realises.

Whispers brush against his neck and Angelo’s eyes peek open again, Skyler’s voice as soothing as it was captivating, calling for his attention with but a soft murmur. There’s a moment of hesitation as he listens, fingertips still dancing on her back as he weighs and contemplates. “I didn’t take you for the poetic type…” He says with gentle playfulness, although he remains unsure how he should feel about his anger being mentioned, on it being likened to something as wild and dangerous as an ocean storm.

There’s a brief echo in his head, recalling a familiar voice shouting at him as it’s punctuated by the furious screams of an infant, his adolescent voice trembling with rage as criticisms and reprimands cut deeper than the scrapes on a foolish child’s knuckles. Grow up. Your sister needs you to be a responsible big brother. I really need you to be mature. Angelo blinks the voice away until only Skyler remains.

“Oh…” There’s a breath of amusement as she mentions that she didn’t know that he had it in him. Angelo doesn’t think to correct her that it had always been there, caged underneath the surface. He also doesn’t think to mention that maybe he didn’t mind that she had seen that side of him. That maybe it had been a little freeing in hindsight… Especially when she’s suddenly looking at him with a bright spark in her eyes, peering underneath surprisingly thick eyelashes with a wish to see it again. Angelo feels something in his chest twist with an ache, Skyler’s wicked honesty soothing something raw that he had long covered over. He resists the sudden urge to crush her closer to himself in a tight embrace.

“Well, if I keep hanging out around you, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.” There’s a lazy kind of grin on his lips as he peers down at her, a hand inching up her back to play with a still damp curl of gold, their back and forth only seeming to encourage him into relaxing into their warm intimacy regardless of the earlier memory.

“You’re a terrible influence, you know. You should be discouraging me from doing stupid things.” He smiled, as if to say that he really didn’t mind. That he welcomed it.

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Flirtatious words dance out of her mouth and Angelo’s eyes narrow, darkening around the edges as a grin curls the corner of his lips. Rising to her challenge like he always does. “Are you sure about that? I don’t remember ever saying I liked you.” He hums with mock indifference, meeting her gaze with a betraying grin as she props herself on her hand to look at him, leaving Angelo with a nice view of her face as she leaned close. “Sounds like you’ve got plans for me. Should I be scared?” There's a sarcastic, taunting edge as his fingers become buried in golden curls, slowly combing through to the ends until they fall back into place.

Then Skyler sinks back down to rest her head against his chest. Angelo’s glad that she does, it means that when she asks him the next question, she can’t see his expression; pinched with a frown and the light draining out of his eyes. He can feel his mouth turn dry while the patterns that he had been drawing on her back slow to an eventual stop. Something inside of him, small and guarded, tells him to brush her off but tonight, he finds that he can’t… Not completely.

“I was in there working. I, uh… got asked to help with taking the bets and I could have done with the extra money, so I went along with it…” There’s a lump in his throat as he slowly speaks, like the words are new on his tongue, unnatural and a struggle to formulate. No, he thinks, that’s not quite right. Before he realises it, he’s correcting himself, backstepping on quiet tones that are barely a whisper. “I needed the money.” It punctuates, hushed but intentional, as if letting Skyler know with that one ‘needed’ that this went beyond just trying to get a few extra coins for a decent meal.

Blue eyes avert towards the ceiling with a faraway glaze, turning away in case she looks up and delves a little too deeply into his troubled soul. He doesn’t think he’s ready to share the whole story, yet.

“And I was in the alleyway because I was an idiot and got myself fired. But hey, guess you've got to experience it at least once,” he adds with dry amusement, in an attempt to distract himself from the way that a rock had settled uncomfortably in his stomach. Angelo didn’t want to elaborate too much, didn’t want to dwell more on how his pockets were empty, just as he was sure that Skyler might not be all too keen to relive some of the memories from earlier tonight… So, he left it at that. Open enough for her to accurately assume and vague enough to keep the finer details to himself.

He was beginning to feel like a new distraction was in order. “Hey, I wouldn’t mind some fresh air,” he tilts his head forward a little until his lips were brushing against golden curls, her shampoo tickling his nose enough for Angelo to reconsider his words for the briefest of moments; tempted to fight against the weight that had settled over him so he could keep her in his arms a little longer. “Come with me, sunshine?”

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There’s a touch against his cheek, drawing him into her orbit whether he’s hesitant to be pulled in or not, the sailor demanding his attention with calloused fingers against his skin and resolve reflected in her eyes. Angelo can’t bring himself to say anything. There’s a promise in Skyler’s voice, as unwavering as a rock in an ocean storm, but he doesn’t know if he can take hold of it even if the act would keep him from drowning. How could he? He’s too used to keeping himself afloat.

“Damn... And I could have really used your help in settling my debt with the ghost mob, too.” He falls into their usual dynamic readily, allowing his troubles to be buried deep once more.

Yeah, he decides as Skyler asks for a little longer to bury herself in his neck, shouldn’t have said anything. Angelo gives her a minute and then another, feeling greedy as he holds her to him for as long as he can stretch it. Even though it was his request in the first place, he lets out a disappointed sigh as she slips out of his arms with an (accidental?) brush of her lips against his throat. There was only himself to blame, he guessed; wiggling on his shoes and pulling his arms into jacket sleeves as they venture out into the night.

Automatically his hands slip into his pockets as the evening air, refreshingly chill from the clear skies, settles over him and washes the earlier remnants of tension away. Blue eyes drift moonward, taking in the glittering of stars thrown against a dark canvas as he follows his friend around the side of the ship.

“Up there? I mean, I guess you’re not going to get fresher air than that.” Angelo raises an amused eyebrow as Skyler starts to ascend up the rope ladder, peering at the crow’s nest that sits high into the night, close enough maybe to touch the stars. He can’t resist the temptation of the climb nor the dare that drifts between them. “Right behind you.”

He clambers up after her, not quite as effortless in his ascent as she was but Angelo tells himself that’s just because he’s busy keeping an eye on her, what with her injuries. In reality, his focus was a little more distracted on her ass than on her safety.

Angelo reaches the crow’s nest not long after, pulling himself into the cramped space alongside Skyler, momentarily taken in by the view of the dock as it stretches before them. His gaze reflects the night sky, starlight ensnared within the darkening blue as the edge of space blends in with the beginnings of the ocean, inky and vast. Angelo peers over to Skyler, just a little breathless, with a soft smile that tells her that there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

“It’s amazing… You know, I take offence that you didn’t bring me up here sooner.”

There’s limited space but he makes it work, sinking down so that he’s leaned back against the mast, bottom half of his legs dangling through the railings so his feet floated on air. It wasn’t too cold but he found himself feeling greedy for her warmth anyway. Angelo’s fingertips reach to curl around Skyler’s wrist, giving her a light, encouraging pull for her to join him; to return to some kind of embrace. “Sit with me. Before I get lonely and cold.” He demands softly, grinning in the faded light.

Fresh air turned out to be an excuse to enjoy a sailor’s company in the presence of the infinite universe with a blunt to share between them; Angelo exhaling the first plume of smoke into the night before holding it out for her to take.

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He almost feels sorry pulling her attention away, as captivated and longing as her silver eyes had become, from the view of the waves illuminated by moonglow. Almost.

There’s no room for guilt when it becomes his turn to be spellbound, watching as Skyler nudges to make space between his legs and if that mischievous sparkle in her eyes is anything to go on, Angelo knows right away that her decision is intentional. Regardless of her wicked schemes, he shifts to make room for her, knees raised to box her in between his legs and keep her cosy in an embrace as she leans back against his chest.

She drapes the blanket over them then and his free hand slips underneath, gently winding around her waist to rest his palm flat against her stomach. It’s perhaps a little too cosy… But Angelo feels no desire to adjust.

“Client discretion,” he responds simply when Skyler asks where he’d gotten the weed from, mouth curling slyly as he rests his chin on her shoulder, peering at her out of the corner of a blue eye as she brings it to her lips anyway. “If I told you, I’d have to silence you – though knowing you, you'll make it a challenge.” Playfulness curls off his tongue easily, telling half-truths and leaving a little mystery up in the air. He had been asked to be discreet after all; one drag wasn’t going to loosen his lips into spilling all his secrets into Skyler’s ear.

Tilting his head back against the mast, Angelo’s gaze is drawn into the canopy of stars stretching above their heads, sinking into the infinite of unexplored skies as his senses pleasantly drift with the combination of intoxicating things around him. As much as he finds he loves it up here, he wishes that he could go just a little bit higher, those sparse wisps of cloud and incandescent bodies taunting and beckoning to explore – to let them dance upon his fingertips rather than just be destined to reflect in wistful blue.

Skyler tethers him to the crow’s nest, not letting him drift away as her voice returns his attention. He can’t see the smile dancing across her features but he knows its there. It’s too easy to picture it, these days.

“Maybe…” Angelo doesn’t elaborate on which he was referring to as his free hand lifts to envelop hers that still holds the blunt, gently coaxing it from her fingers and bringing it to his own lips for a turn. There’s a pause as he inhales, silently holding his breath for a few lingering seconds before the smoke and pungent earthy tones are released into the night – pointedly directed in the opposite direction. He drops his arm to rest against his knee.

There are no troublesome thoughts in Angelo’s head anymore. Emptied until only the moment remains, with all of its stars aglow on a backdrop of ink that only makes them that much more illuminating and Skyler’s warmth flush against him, burning in his hold without leaving a visible mark. And he’s pulled into her without restraint; something pleasant and addicting curling within as he subtly tilts his head towards her.

“Why?” His voice is breathed softly against the shell of the sailor’s ear, blue eyes half-lidded as a whispered challenge drips off a slow smile.

“You going to fix that, too?”

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There’s a tickle of her skin against his when their noses brush, intimately close as they’re pulled into one another’s gravity – blocking his view of the moon. Angelo realises he doesn’t miss it nor the rest of the universe. It all may very well not exist when Skyler’s eyes, beckoning and welcoming him with its luminous allure, is gazing within him so deep he swears that maybe she’s caught sight of a piece of his soul. Perhaps he lets her steal a glimpse willingly.

With a slight tremble on an exhale, Angelo leans a little closer as Skyler’s fingers graze up the back of his neck to become entangled in his hair, whatever lazy or mischievous smirk he had been wearing fading into something relaxed – her touch exposing a glimmer of longing beyond the surface of blue. His own hand moves from resting on her stomach to her hip, pressing lightly into her skin as he holds her, wanting her closer.

When he answers, his response silently falls off his lips and onto hers. Everything he’d want to say exchanged without needing to utter a single word.

You already know that I do.

Eyes closed, softly inhaling through his nose, Angelo sinks into Skyler’s kiss; submerged as she overtakes his senses and pulls him into deep, warm waters. Seeking more, his fingertips slip underneath the fabric of her shirt to graze a trail, soft and burning as they end up pressing into the curve of the small of her back. Maybe it’s the high of her or from the smoke, maybe even both, but time selflessly delays and slows for the moment to settle blissfully over every nerve.

Even so, it still ends too soon.

When they break apart, unable to pull away from her contact completely, he rests his forehead against hers so that he can drink Skyler and her beautiful, moonlit expression in a little longer. His eyes open half-mast and like earlier in the evening they take on a darker shade around the corners, only this time with a different kind of storm brewing – a hungry kind of passion.

“I don’t think I’m completely un-lonely yet,” he whispers as his lips pull into a small, teasingly drunk grin; voice a little rough at the edges from where she had stolen his breath. His other hand itches to touch her and so carefully, making sure to hold the blunt in his fingers away from her, Angelo brushes a thumb along her cheek. Closing the distance between them one more time.

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“I think I can manage a few more,” he hums, their smiles curled as they leaned close, like some enticing secret was being shared between them. Angelo peeks behind the blur of his lashes as he closes the short distance to press a purposefully light kiss to the corner of Skyler’s mouth, lingering close as the playful energy swirls in the air, tip of his nose brushing against her cheek. He can’t resist the electric sensation as their skin grazes against each other. “Just for you, Sunshine.”

A few was a drastic understatement. Now that he’d felt her lips on his, both attentive and yearning as the previous kiss had spiralled with their long-withheld longing, he didn’t think that he could stop at just the once.

Skyler could demand a few more kisses, then a few more after that if she so wanted and he knew that he’d happily – greedily – comply.

His breath brushes against her lips as he leans in, ready to capture them in his own again, to explore and make more of those tantalizing growls bubble from her throat. Only for Skyler’s voice to cut through the haze, his advance pausing, as she shifts to free herself of what looked to be an uncomfortable position. Angelo had, admittedly, briefly forgotten about the state of her injuries. He backs off enough to let her get comfortable, content to quietly admire the moonlight shining on the skin of her neck and watching as her lips twist with teasing, intentional wickedness. He instantly wants to kiss the mischief right off her mouth.

“Better?”

“Better.”

“Good.”

Darkened blue gazes up at her as Skyler sits on his lap, elevated just enough for Angelo to be left in her shadow, leaning back against the mast as he tilts his chin up towards her. He wouldn’t want to look anywhere else, anyway; his eyes drinking her in like she’s the moon suddenly within reach. It’s something Angelo didn’t think he’d ever grow tired of, seeing her like this, as wild and unrestrained as ocean winds as she beckons him to chase her. Like if he just reached out, they could go anywhere, do anything… That he’d be a little freer, too.

Fingers previously on her lower back lift to entangle in Skyler’s hair, giving her a guiding pull down towards his lips where a hushed chuckle rumbles from his throat against them, appreciating the curl of her tongue against an Alto Marian word. Her hands brushing his cheeks make him want to shiver. “Shut up, Guaio…” He purrs out, impatient and matching her teasing, on a sly smile as their mouths come together a little more desperately this time.

Resting his occupied hand on a thigh, thumb pressing lightly into the muscle, Angelo deepens their kiss. Eyes flutter shut again as he submerges himself, letting the tide of want guide him, revealing in the warmth that spreads from his lips and down into the pit of his stomach. Every touch, each graze, leaves him both satisfied and hungry all at once; eager to take the time to learn more about what made Skyler tick as much as he was desperate to just drown in the euphoria that they created.

There’s a shivering exhale as he breaks away from her kiss, one that’s smothered as his lips connect against her throat instead, brushing against moonlight that dapples upon her skin. Angelo’s mouth curls and his eyes sparkle even though she wouldn’t be able to appreciate it, heat fierce in his belly encouraging him to bare teeth upon the crook of her neck. It’s a long overdue revenge.

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