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The Neapolitan sunrise was usually a very calming and lovely experience. Pastel pinks and oranges lit up the sky, reflecting in the coastal waters and creating a spectacular show of color. The sun’s rays began to reach out, beginning to warm the grass, illuminating the world….
….and shining directly through the blinds into Mario Zucchero’s eyes.
Grunting, the green haired man shifted his body to avoid the bright light that was beating down into his eyes. He hated the feeling of looking directly into the sun like that, and wished he had closed the blinds before he fell asleep.
He rolled over, finally able to see something that wasn’t blinding golden light. His vision was splotched with the fading remnants of the accidental assault on his eyes, but he could make out the shape of the person beside him.
Sale wasn’t awake yet, thankfully. It was Saturday and Zucchero sure as hell didn’t want to get up any earlier than he had to, at least this way he wouldn’t be pushed out of bed to make that first pot of coffee. Well… not yet anyway.
The sunlight now fell across the other’s sleeping form, golden light cascading across his features and taking Zucchero by surprise for a moment. For a brief moment that seemed to last forever, he couldn’t seem to gather his thoughts properly. It was as though every single thought he’d ever had... simply disappeared. Poof. Gone.
Finally, one thought managed to stumble through the brain fog: “Wow.”
That mane of fiery orange hair fell in messy pieces around Sale’s face, almost neon in the light of the morning. Zucchero brushed it very gently away, though a couple pieces fell back to where they were. The locks were very soft, almost fluffy to the touch. Sale would never let him just touch them like this if he were awake. Thank god for him sleeping like a rock.
His thumb brushed against Sale’s cheek and he froze, hoping that the sudden contact wouldn’t jolt him awake. The last thing he needed was for Sale to grab his wrist and snap it like a twig for touching his hair without permission. When all seemed safe, he sighed.
The cheek in question was almost baby-soft, and very warm. Dark freckles were visible against the caramel of his skin, a noticeably deeper shade than his own. The freckles were something Zucchero tended to tease him about, but by god did he love them. If it weren’t such a risk to wake him up right now, he would trace a finger across his cheek again and draw little patterns in them. It was very tempting. Something about them was just so… charming.
They tended to get darker in the sun. The first time he’d noticed this was on a mission to Venice, when they had to stake out a restaurant with outdoor seating. Zucchero honestly couldn’t even remember what the mission was about, but it was the first time he remembered seeing those freckles get so dark. It was the first time he’d seen Sale pull his locks back, too.
It was the first time he’d noticed just how beautiful he really was. Sitting there at a lovely seaside restaurant, eyes glittering like rubies under the Venetian sun, laughing at his own joke about the boss… Zucchero knew in that moment that he was the one. It was him, and maybe it always had been.
Currently, those ruby eyes were closed in slumber. Were those freckles on his eyelids…? He’d never noticed them before. He always seemed to notice something new about him when he had an opportunity like this. And those lashes… god. Any woman in Italy would be put to shame by those lovely feathered lashes. They were natural, too! It was a wonder Sale wasn’t a model, really. He’d excel at it with a face and body like that. If he were a model… he’d be looking good, alright. Maybe he’d bring it up to him later.
He just couldn’t get over it. No matter how many times he stared at him, taking in every detail of his face, his body, he was just so incredibly beautiful. How the hell did the rest of the world reject Sale the way they did? How, when laying before him bathed in light, he looked like some ethereal being far overdue to return to the heavens? Like a wild haired god of fire who had blessed him with his presence, as a freckled Hephaestus.
Blessed… that sure did feel like the right word for it. How the hell did he get so lucky? Sometimes he felt like Sale deserved so much better, deserved a man who was smarter and had his life together, deserved a man who looked better too.
But Sale chose him. Sale had felt the same way for him, and Zucchero could feel in that first kiss that they shared that it wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t a joke. Awkward as it had been, it was as though he could feel Sale’s sincerity and love, could feel his very heart through those soft lips. It was a very fond memory, one that always made him feel tender inside. Imagine, someone like Mario Zucchero in love like this… he laughed a bit to himself. After all those years of being called a coward or useless or weird… he was the one sharing his life with this incredible man.
He heard rustling next to him as the other figure in the bed shifted around, and then those lovely eyes blinked open slowly.
“Babe…? You’re awake early…. why were you laughing, read something funny…?” The groggy voice of his lover groaned.
“Nah, nah. Just thinking about how lucky I am to have someone like you tolerating a dumbass like me.”
Sale paused then scooted over closer to him and put an arm around him, not even bothering to sit up. “We’ve been over this before… you might be a dumbass, but you're my dumbass. You make me happy and that’s all I need.”
Zucchero pulled him closer by his hips, resting his forehead against Sale’s. “I know. ...sometimes it’s hard to believe. But… here you are. The best thing that could have happened to a thug like me.”
A hand gently stroked Zucchero’s cheek as Sale gave him a soft smile. “To thugs like us, you mean. Don’t forget, society cast my ass aside a long time ago too.”
There was silence for a little while, but they both went in for a kiss at the same time. Words weren’t necessary. This was all the communication they needed to share in this moment. They knew they had each other. They knew that, despite their histories and their lots in life, that the other was all they’d ever need… and both felt lucky to have them.
The kiss went on for what felt like eternity. It felt just as good as the first time, every single time they kissed. That was the thing about Sale, he always put everything he had into everything he did. It was admirable, and just another page in the stack of reasons why Zucchero loved this man.
Finally, Sale pulled away and smiled, his fingers entwined with his lover’s.
“Don’t think that all this flattery is going to exempt you from making me a pot of coffee.”
There it was.
“You know, one of these days you’ll make the coffee yourself.”
“Fat chance, loverboy.” Sale laughed. “If you go start it now, I’ll come down and make pancakes. We’ll have a nice breakfast, you and me. All domestic-like.”
Zucchero nodded, giving Sale one more soft peck on the lips before getting up to start that damn coffee.
This was definitely a life he could get used to.