nine

                                    

                                          
it takes countless nights of trial and error for the two to understand and learn the restrictions of what they can tell each other about themselves. most nights included suddenly waking back up in raleigh after trying to hop into a conversation with sapnap. it took a few months to get most of the restrictions figured out. 
                          
it was annoying to say the very least.
                          
through the half-successful and half-failed attempts at conversation, karl learns that sapnap and him aren't so different after all. they are quite similar in some aspects. their hobbies and interests as a couple of examples. they're compatible, like two peas in a pod. the doubt that karl had held onto had slowly began to disappear into thin air. 
                          
he was glad that it was. 
                          
– ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ –

                          
"have you ever skipped rocks?" 
                          
sapnap blinked, confused at what the male had just asked him. he opened his mouth to ask what it meant, but was silenced when karl went on to speak once more.
                          
"that confused look tells me everything," karl commented as he stood up from his sitting position on the ground. he looked down at the male on the ground, looking up at him with the biggest eyes he could muster up. the god-forbidden puppy eyes.
                          
"i'm not mad at you. i wanna show you how to skip rocks sap," karl sighed, holding his hand out for the male to take if he wanted.
                          
a grin slapped itself onto sapnap's lips as he grabbed karl's slightly smaller hand into his own, interlocking their fingers almost instantly. karl couldn't tell what was worse. the names sapnap calls karl, which he wasn't exactly used to yet, or when sapnap was painfully evident about flirting with the older. 
                          
karl has experienced the embarrassment he's gotten from sapnap before. the teasing male seemed to enjoy seeing his ears grow red with embarrassment before the color traveled down to his cheeks. karl believes that's why sapnap uses the terms more frequently now, just to see him grow embarrassed around him. it was more of torment now than a joke, but karl didn't want to tell the male to call him something else. karl didn't want the names to lose their spark. 
                          
"i'm not upset sweetheart, i just wanted to see a reaction from you," sapnap chuckled as he stood up from his seat and looked at karl, the grin still apparent on his face. karl tried to act like he wasn't bothered by the name.
                          
that composure didn't last long as karl's body betrayed him.
                          
there it was. the embarrassed heat that was practically radiating off karl as his ears grew red. the color began to travel down to his cheeks to where they got dusted with cherry blossom blush.
                          
"come on," karl murmured, stuttering at the beginning of his statement before walking with the male down to the lake's edge. all sapnap could do was laugh and walk next to the boy as he swung their interlocked hands between them.
                          
"and no i haven't ever skipped rocks," sapnap answered the question from earlier as the two stopped near the rocky entry to the shore as karl's eyes gazed down to the rocks below him. he bent down as he surveyed a couple of rocks that caught his eye. he picked them up and ran a thumb on either side as if he were deeming that they were worthy enough to be thrown or skipped across the lake's surface.
                          
"i could tell from the way you looked at me earlier." karl stood back up, placing three smooth rocks in sapnap's free hand before looking at the male. karl let go of sapnap's hand and began walking down to the water's edge, standing back far enough so the water didn't lap over his shoes and ankles. 
                          
karl put a rock in the crevice of his thumb, pointer, and middle finger, gripping onto the stone firmly. he brought his arm back about halfway, flicking his wrist back and forth a couple times before flinging his arm back forward at full force letting the rock fly out of his hand. it landed on the water's surface and bounced back up as if the water rejected the rock completely. it went on for a couple more bounces until the rock disappeared in the lake. 
                          
"woah, that's so cool!" sapnap commented, running up to be next to karl's side, almost tripping in the process, "teach me how to do it! please!" 
                          
"alright, well start off with putting the rock in the hand you feel comfortable using," karl started off as he went off on a tangent to teach and show sapnap how to skip the smooth rocks across the lake.
                          
"it will help to throw it down at an angle to try and catch the ripples," karl informed, watching the boy practice the motion with his arm being completely stretched out in front of him at the end, "it'll take a lot of practice. especially if you're just starting out."
                          
"let me try now," sapnap commented as karl backed away from the boy just in case everything went wrong in his throw. 
                          
karl couldn't understand how sapnap seemed so bright and cheerful all the time. the charming part seemed to be a plus and karl couldn't complain about it. he's all big and goofy smiles with his infectious laughter. sapnap was indeed the type of person you just want to be around all the time. karl could never get sick of being in sapnap's presence. sapnap just has a gravity that pulls karl in close and he never wanted to be let go. 
                          
sapnap took a few deep, over-exaggerated breaths before going through the motions that he had been doing moments before. he let the rock fly from his hand and watched it go out into the lake with a disappointing plop as it disappeared beneath the surface. no skips. not even an impressive splash. 
                          
"aw come on! what did i do wrong!" sapnap yelled, throwing his arms up in the air before they fell back down to his sides after a few seconds. he took another rock in his hand as he went through the motion once more.
                          
another disappointing plop accompanied with a string of whispered curses. 
                          
karl could tell from the back of sapnap's body that he was getting frustrated. karl cautiously approached, clearing his throat. he caught the other male's attention as sapnap's head whipped around to look at him. karl got closer until he was standing a foot away from him. karl ushered him to come a bit closer with one wave of his hand. sapnap scampered over, closing the space between them quickly. 
                          
"let me help you," karl simply said as he grabbed the hand that sapnap used to throw the previous two rocks. karl began to give a couple of tips, demonstrating them with the hand he was holding. karl didn't notice but sapnap wasn't even paying attention as he was too focused on karl's features to be paying attention to anything that was leaving karl's lips. 
                          
karl felt his breath hitch in his throat as he saw sapnap's face close to his, intent on studying his eyes. the heat seemed to have set on as karl tried to finish what he was explaining without trying to fail miserably. he hurried through the last part of the tip he was giving before he pulled away, letting sapnap's hand drop back down. 
                          
"now try it again," karl said quickly, catching a glance of the sad look on sapnap's face before it morphed into a more focused expression. karl backed back up to his safe spot as he watched sapnap throw the rock once more. the throw looked a lot better as it had a small skip, but it didn't have enough momentum to propel itself back up for another skip.
                          
a huge sigh escaped sapnap's lips as karl tried to hold back his laughter. it started with snickering until it turned into a huge fit of laughter. karl held his stomach when it began to hurt, trying to control it.
                          
"stop laughing!" sapnap demanded, but he began to chuckle himself. 
                          
"sorry, sorry," karl apologizes once he was able to speak once again, "you didn't do that bad for your first time."
                          
"i still suck at it," sapnap complained, pointing out an obvious fact. 
                          
"listen, we'll practice together every day until you finally get good at it," karl promised. 
                          
and they did.