[Baconwizard]

"Ooh, awesome," Zane said in between bites of egg. He grinned, his fork out in front of him, eggs trembling dangerously on the prongs. "Snow would be so much better than all this rain." Chuckling, Zane scooped the eggs up in his mouth, chewing slowly. "Even if it just flurries, it'll be fun to watch. Back in Maryland, we'd make a snowman every time it snowed. My cousins and I, I mean. I bet you had enough snow to make an igloo in Wisconsin, didn't you?"

[zapdragon555]

"W-well, when you're that used to snow, you tend to just trudge through it and grumble to yourself, instead of enjoy it," Cody laughed sheepishly, depositing his empty plate on the coffee table and leaning back with a small noise, stretching and resting his head lightly on Zane's shoulder. "B-but there was definitely enough, yeah. Enough to build some pretty big snow forts," he chuckled. "It'll be nice to see snow again... Just, in moderation." He glanced at Zane, eyes flickering a tiny bit at the way Zane was holding his head, and he raised his own head a bit. "Is your neck hurting?" he asked, then flushed, realizing being that observant might be creepy.

[Baconwizard]

Zane blinked as Cody's head landed on his shoulder, and a warm smile spread across his face automatically. It just felt so natural, like this. Like it was meant to be this way. He sighed, then leaned back against Cody, picking at the remaining scraps on his plate. "I enjoy having a lot of snow in the wintertime. It's just natural for the seasons, and I like that." Zane paused at Cody's observation, and he shrugged sheepishly. "Must've slept on it wrong, I guess."

[zapdragon555]

[Just marking for my reference, Cody is now level 28 and has 135 posts]

Cody blinked, then smiled sheepishly, nodding and glancing away. He studied a rip in his jeans for a moment, then flicked his eyes back to Zane's face, before shifting a tiny bit closer and reaching a hand up to lightly touch the back of Zane's neck. He paused, hesitated, a pink gathering on his cheeks as he cleared his throat to explain himself. "Mm--I... um, I-I'm... sort of good at this kind of thing, a-at least, I am on myself, so... I-I could try to help a little," he mumbled, a sheepish laugh suddenly shaking softly out of him. "Unless it's weird--I mean..."

[Baconwizard]

Zane's eyes widened as he turned his head to look at Cody, his mouth not knowing whether to curl into a smile or drop open with confusion. His own cheeks colored, then he nodded, expression settling on a soft smile. "If you want to," he said, leaning into Cody's touch a little. He chuckled, looking very pleased. "It's been forever since anyone gave me a massage."

[zapdragon555]

Cody's fingers twitched on Zane's neck in embarrassment, and he smiled a little wider, flushing and nodding his head. "A-alright..." he murmured, shifting so he was sitting on his knees, and he brought his other hand up to lightly touch Zane's neck on the other side, feeling around gently before finally digging his fingers in, working the knot of tension out of the base of Zane's neck. "T-tell me if it hurts or anything, and I'll quit," he added, a small smile splitting his face as he relaxed again, the warmth of Zane's skin almost hot to his fingertips. The position was a bit awkward, he supposed, having to twist around like this. He glanced at Zane's plate, then at his face, smiling as his fingers made circles on Zane's nape. "I-if you want to turn around when you're done eating, I could probably do this a little better..."

[Baconwizard]

Zane let out a slow breath, closing his eyes and leaning back into Cody's touch. "It feels nice," he murmured, a soft smile growing on his face. He straightened slightly at Cody's next words, his plate suddenly feeling heavier in his lap. "Ah, sorry about that." Putting it on the table, Zane twisted in his seat to where Cody could access his neck better. "This better?" Zane sighed, liking the massage and loving the gentle touches on his skin. He couldn't enjoy it as long as he wanted to, for his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Oh, gimme a second. Just wanna see who this is."

[zapdragon555]

Cody smiled and murmured in affirmation, gently curling his fingers around Zane's throat and pressing his thumbs into Zane's neck and base of his head, working out little knots of tension. Cody thought they were possibly brought on by college studying. Cody hummed softly in sympathy, smiling, then blinked as Zane's phone buzzed. "Ah, a-alright..." he murmured, taking his hands away for a moment, before lightly resting them on Zane's back, his cheeks growing warm. After a long period of stillness, he lightly began to massage Zane's back as well, his eyes softening as he worked between his shoulderblades, as Zane took care of the phone call.

[Baconwizard]

As Cody's gentle hands touched his back, Zane instinctively made a small noise in the back of this throat. He couldn't help it; it felt good, in that weird painful way that released tension gave. Swallowing, Zane glanced over his shoulder at Cody, a smile hovering at the corner of his mouth, and he opened his beat-up flip phone to take the call. "Oh, hey!" Zane's demeanor shifted slightly. It was a friend of his from school. "How'd the show go? Did you blow their socks off?" Zane chuckled, then leaned back against Cody's hands. As much as he liked talking with Chad, he was enjoying his moment with Cody. "Cool, cool. You can just give it back tomorrow. ... Hey, no problem; you're the one who got the busted string replaced. It's the least I could do. ... Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you." Zane slid his phone closed, and let it drop to the sofa cushions. "Sorry about that," he said, turning back to Cody.

[zapdragon555]

Cody's eyes had widened in surprise at the little sound that spilled out of Zane, making his heart squeeze in his chest. After a moment he relaxed again, letting out a soft breath as he listened to Zane chatter on the phone, and the muffled sound of someone on the other line. Cody blinked, trying to pick up on the conversation, his fingers slowing as he concentrated on it. Busted string... an instrument...? Cody blinked again as Zane addressed him, and he shook his head and smiled. "N-no problem," he laughed sheepishly, his fingers lightly trailing over the vertebrae of Zane's spine in thought. Admittedly, he was burning with curiosity. Did Zane play some kind of instrument? "Um... friend of yours?" he asked, smiling at Zane as he began to pick up the massage again, moving a little bit lower on Zane's back.

[Baconwizard]

"Yeah, that was Chad," Zane replied, straightening back up now that Cody was returning to work. Admittedly, it was a little lower than he expected, but Zane didn't really mind. He sighed, closing his eyes as he relaxed. "He's a part of that hiking group. His guitar was stolen a few weeks ago so I lent him mine. He plays ocassionally at the coffee shop near campus." Zane blinked over at Cody. "Would it be easier if I lay down?"

[zapdragon555]

Cody raised his eyebrows, then knitted them together. "Oh, that sucks for him... h-his guitar getting stolen I mean." Cody blinked at Zane's offer, then smiled, shrugging. "O-oh, it might..." he chuckled, carefully getting off the couch and kneeling on the floor beside it, cheeks growing a little warm with this sudden, oddly intimate-feeling act, even if it was only a simple massage. But touching Zane like this... Cody cleared his throat, dispelling whatever thoughts tickled the back of his mind, and returned his hands to Zane's back once the other was ready. "S-so you play guitar?" he asked, a curious note in his voice. "Th-that's really cool..."

[Baconwizard]

Zane stretched out onto the couch with a sigh, resting his head on the pillow. He turned his face to look at Cody, his brown eyes melting like chocolate. "Well, that's what you get when you leave your expensive guitar in the middle of campus." His eyes closed as Cody began to massage his back. "Yeah, I play a bit... Nothing super technical, though. I'm trying to start making my own stuff."

[zapdragon555]

Cody made a noise of sympathy towards this Chad person, hoping he would be able to somehow get his old guitar back. He grinned at Zane's words, meeting his brown eyes with bright blues. "Th-that's so cool! I'd love to hear you play sometime..." he murmured, then blushed slightly, realizing he was raising his voice a little. "Mm... in a little while, we should start making the food for the picnic. Though... this is nice," he added with a sheepish chuckle, sighing and smoothing Zane's shirt over his back where it had rumpled around the path Cody's fingers. After a moment he crossed his arms and leaned them on Zane's back, resting his head on his arms and turning to look at the orange locks curling around Zane's ear. "You're pretty tense... that college stuff is no good for you," he added with a joking grin.

[Baconwizard]

Zane grinned at that, turning his face to press into the pillow. "That'd be fun. I'm not super great at it yet, but maybe one day I'll give you a concert or something." Zane chuckled. He made a move to get up, then paused as Cody leaned against him. Well, he certainly didn't argue against it. He just wished he could see Cody a bit better. "College is fun, but I could do without tests and term papers. It certainly helps having someone who'll take care of my tense back, haha."