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Prince finds his icy cold hand warming up the longer Goggles holds onto it. The blue squid’s grip seems to radiate heat as he skips along the park pathway, dragging Prince with him, his smile glinting in the low moonlight. Tucking his other hand into his pocket, Prince follows behind, just about managing to not trip over his feet.
“It’s this way, right?” asks Goggles. He’s swapped his usual shoes and jacket for a more winter-appropriate pair of boots and a black and blue windbreaker, accompanied by a big red woolly scarf around his neck, flailing behind him in the wind. His signature headgear is still fastened round the top of his head, breaking up his silhouette under the stars.
“Yes, just down this path…!” Prince squeezes his boyfriend’s hand as they round a corner, and the edge of the park’s pond comes into view. He’s wrapped up in a spotless cream parka with soft, beige faux-fur around the hood, and a longer pair of dark red cord trousers, but he still finds himself shivering, not used to being out late in such cold weather. That, or it’s just the rush he feels when he’s with Goggles. Either way, it spurs him on to move a little more, and his stride picks up, overtaking his boyfriend as they approach their destination.
The path dips as they clear a small hill, and the pair halt to get a full view of the water. The weather hasn’t been cold enough to snow yet, so it’s not frozen over, but it seems to be overlaid with… something. Goggles can just make out a series of small dots bobbing over the water, spiralling in until they reach the (deactivated for winter) fountain in the middle.
Still holding Prince’s hand, and thus, dragging him with him, Goggles starts to edge his way down the hill. “What’s that on the water?” he muses, enthusiastically leaning forward, and then to the side, and then stretching up again as he tries to get a better view.
“Ah, Gogs, you’ll pull me over-!” Prince stumbles as his boyfriend dashes forwards, but Goggles manages to catch him, and they fall face to face, noses touching. The ticklish sensation of Goggles’s scarf on his chin causes Prince to chuckle, and they both start giggling as they lean into each other for balance.
“What IS that on the water though?” asks Goggles, once their laughter has calmed down. Prince adjusts himself and brushes down his coat, before taking Goggle’s hand again, and slowly leading them down the hill.
“You’ll see. It’s just about to start, so we should see it soon…”
“See what?” They duck past the shelter of some of the trees and make their way to the pondside, joining the handful of friend groups and couples waiting by the water. Now that they’re closer, it’s easy to see that the dots from earlier appear to be white spheres, floating in the water, connected by lightweight thin wires. “Look, Prince, there’s little white balls in the pond!”
Prince chuckles again, wise to their purpose. He briefly checks the time on his phone, and then shoves it back into his pocket. “It’s just turned 4:30pm, so it won’t be long now until…”
He’s cut off by a loud gasp from Goggles as all the spheres light up at once. They glow a pure white, and then a pale pink, and then they fade to a baby blue, before a mix-match pattern of various colours swirls around the uneven blob of pond. Prince watches as Goggles’s smile grows even wider, and he begins to laugh once more.
“It’s like magic!” he exclaims. He takes a couple more steps forward, Prince shuffling up next to him, and leaning his head on Goggles’s shoulder as the blue squid scans over the whole system, watching the way the hues shift and change. He rocks a little on his heels, swinging his spare arm out.
Prince finds the other’s little movements enduring, as he always does. He knew his distractible boyfriend would adore the light show the moment he saw a poster about it in passing. Adjusting his grip, and instead wrapping himself around Goggles’s arm, Prince whispers into the other’s ear, not wanting to ruin the otherworldly feeling of the moment. “It’s a light display… Do you like it?”
The excitement causes the blue squid’s words to fail him, and he responds with more giggling, and enthusiastic nods of his head. The lights switch their pattern again, alternating between royal purples and cool yellows this time, and Goggles gasps again and claps, Prince still loosely curled around the upper half of his arm.
Time seems to pause as they watch the display: Goggles is transfixed by the ever-changing colours, and between the display and his boyfriend’s reactions, Prince finds himself transfixed as well. The lights gradually shift through the whole rainbow, picking colour combinations seemingly at random, and dancing through each shade. Each new phase has Goggles in awe. Still staring at the pond, he taps Prince on the shoulder. “How do they change like that?” he questions, tilting his head towards his boyfriend.
“There’s a drone flying overhead…” explains Prince, trying to recall the information from the poster he saw. “It picks up on temperature, or wind, or, clouds, or something, and using that, and its position, it converts those into colours, and sends it to the lights, using radio waves.” For the first time since the display started, Goggles stops staring at it to listen as Prince explains instead.
Meeting his boyfriend’s eyes again, Prince smiles. “That means each display is random, so we’re the only people to see it like this…” He gazes out at the water as the lights dip between lime and cyan. “Well, us and the other people here.”
“That’s amazing!” responds Goggles. He joins Prince in resuming watching the light show. “So each one is special… like you!”
The compliment is easy, but Prince finds himself blushing at it anyway, giggling a little, this time to hide the flutter in his chest. He feels a shiver run up his spine, presumably caused by Goggles’s words. “You can be so cheesy sometimes, Gogs…” he mutters into the night.
Goggles either didn’t hear him, or he’s too focused on the lights again. Not that Prince can blame him, as the lake swings through shades of pink and orange. He shivers again as the cold catches up with him now that they’re peacefully watching the display, instead of racing over a footpath and half-tumbling down a hill. Banking on the lights to keep Goggles distracted, he hopes his boyfriend isn’t irritated by his shivering, but when his teeth start to chatter, it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Are you cold?” asks Goggles, his awestruckness seemingly on pause as concern for his boyfriend replaces it. Prince closes his eyes and gives a nervous smile, waving one of his hands.
“Ah, no, I’m just…” He shivers again, and mentally smacks himself for letting his body betray him. “...Not used to being out this late.”
“You’re shivering!” Goggles insists. “You must be cold. Here-” he shakes his arm from Prince’s grip and uncurls the scarf from around his neck, draping it around the other’s, folding it to make a messy knot and throwing the ends over his boyfriend’s shoulder. “-You seem like you need it more than I do.”
Prince feels like a wrapped up present, his chin tucked into the threads, the item soft and warm, with a comforting smell of food and sunlight. He tugs at the scarf and pulls it up, even closer to where the frost catches his nose, and Goggles, now with his hand free, decides to throw his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders instead.
“Won’t you be cold without it?” worries Prince. The last thing he wants is for his boyfriend to catch a cold because he sacrificed his scarf out of kindness. But Goggles shakes his head, and just pulls Prince in closer as the lights flicker.
“Don’t worry about me! I was feeling pretty warm already,” he declares with a chuckle. His eyes have snapped back to the display, now alternating between red and lilac.
“Warm already, huh…” comments Prince. Past Goggles’s shoulder, he spies the park’s cafe, knowing it’s still open for another half hour or so. He rests his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder as he looks over, which catches Goggles’s attention, causing him to follow suit, and look in the same general direction, searching for whatever had piqued Prince’s interest.
Just as Goggles notices the cafe, Prince slides his arms around him and hugs him from the side. “So… you wouldn’t be interested in hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate?!” That familiar shine sparks again in Goggles’s eyes, and he turns to his boyfriend, their noses almost pressed together.
Chuckling at the other’s enthusiasm, Prince slips from Goggles’s embrace and takes his hand again, leading them around the side of the pond, past the display, and to the light of the cafe in the distance. “Come on, they shut soon!”
“Okay!” The pair smile at each other as they dash over, hardly looking where they’re going. Goggles almost trips, but he catches himself, and they laugh about it as they approach the door. With a push on the glass, they’re inside.
It’s only a small building, full length windows on the longer sides with a grey slate roof, but the lights and heaters make it feel toasty warm, a lingering smell of coffee and vanilla adding to the cosy feeling. Prince heads up to the counter, orders two hot chocolates, and hands the correct change over, and the pair sit on a pair of diner stools next to one of the walls of glass while they wait for their drinks. Leaning his hands on the thin table running along the wall, Goggles catches sight of the pond again, watching as a blur of colours sweep by.
Without looking over, he finds Prince’s hand again and loosely interlocks his fingers with the other’s, smiling with a warm glow on his cheeks. “The lights are still so pretty,” he whispers, “even all the way over here…”
Prince watches the way his boyfriend tangles their fingers together, and how the other gently rubs circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. His eyes follow the wrinkles of the windbreaker up to the sharp little points of Goggles’s ears, and the shine on his ocean blue topknot. Very slightly, it idly bobs up and down, the halogen lights of the cafe making the white highlights shimmer.
Distracted, it takes two calls of his name for the barista to catch Prince’s attention, causing him to flush up and apologise profusely as he turns and retrieves the drinks. Goggles whines when Prince lets go of his hand, but his disappointment vanishes as soon as he spots the pink marshmallows and generous helping of cream. Prince gives one of the identical cups over with a smile, and Goggles is quick to take the other’s hand again. He slurps from his cup, pulling away from the drink with a layer of cream caught on his upper lip.
Prince hides his giggles at the site with a sip of his own hot chocolate. “Goggles, your top lip…”
“Hm?” The blue squid is awfully confused, until he looks down his nose, cross eyed, and spots the issue. “OH! I got it!” He licks as much of the cream up as he can, and wipes his face on his shoulder, only making Prince giggle further.
Turning back to Prince with a smile, he nudges the door open with his foot and then knocks it out further with his hip. “Let’s get back to the lights!”
Hot drinks in hand, they take a much more careful approach back to the pond, strolling along with a firm grip on each other, and following the path exactly. Balancing the heat level, Goggles takes sips as frequently as he can until he has the liquid level low enough for him to comfortably lick at the cream around the top and sides. Although Prince drinks his more conventionally, seeing the other happily catch marshmallows with his tongue inspires him to attempt the same trick, and after a few tries he manages to trap one in his teeth, Goggles cheering as he swallows it down.
They’re back under the trees by the lights before they know it. Swirls of white and red zip over the water’s surface, Prince idly sipping as he enjoys the display, and Goggles slurping on what’s left of his as his pupils follow the way the colours move. The heat of the drink warms them from the inside out, their hot breath making clouds of condensation as they breathe into the night.
It’s not long before Goggles tips his head back and drains the last of his cup, wiping around his mouth with the back of his hand. When he looks back out at the display, the lights have changed again, slowly twinkling between dark blue and gold.
“Look,” he says with a nudge of his shoulder, leaning his head towards the other. Prince brings his drink down to his chest to give his boyfriend room to move. He’d already noticed the new hues, smiling at them gently. His eyes follow Goggles as the blue squid turns his head to face him, pulling at the hand he’s holding, bringing them even closer.
“Our colours…” he mutters, the points of their noses touching again. Prince’s mouth forms a tiny ‘o’ at how close they are, warmth flooding to his cheeks as he stares into the other’s eyes. That’s until he watches them swish shut, and Goggles swiftly closes the gap between them, ever so gently brushing his lips against Prince’s.
The kiss is as light as a snowflake, until Prince lets his own eyes flutter shut, and pushes his own lips back against Goggles’s. Their noses are still squished together, so Prince tilts his head ever so slightly aside as he kisses back again, the sweet taste of chocolate and cream still lingering on their lips, shared between them. They break apart after only a few seconds with a smile, Goggles squeezing the other’s hand again.
“I love you,” he says, idly swinging the empty cup at his side. Prince brings his own drink back up to his chin, just to hide behind. He knows he can kiss Goggles over and over as many times as he likes, but each one is still special. He doesn’t wish to finish his drink yet, not wanting to write over the memory of Goggles on his lips.
“I love you too,” he replies, the glow from the pond reflecting in both of their faces. They rest their heads together, the warmth from the display and the drinks and each other flooding between both their bodies, ever growing.