song recs °∴,*⋅✲ in a good way, sappho
Kiyoko's POV
"I've always wondered how you got such an expensive-looking motorbike," asked Kiyoko, watching as (Y/N) took something out from under the seat. A leather jacket. Typical. Fucking hot bad boy Sirius Black clone bitch. No right being so fine.
(Y/N) never went anywhere without her jacket. Even as teachers chastised her for wearing it to school, she'd never taken it off. Passing her the helmet, she said furtively, "Some people go to Disneyland, some to Amsterdam. I got a cool motorbike," But before Kiyoko could begin to process those words she spoke again, "C'mon," (Y/N) urged, gesturing toward the seat behind her.
Kiyoko winced, looking at the shiny, black, machine death trap, "I- I've never been on one before,"
(Y/N) grinned, holding out her hand, "There's nothing to worry about, Ki. You can hold onto me real tight,"
She raised a brow at her, a teasing smile gracing her lips, "Ki?"
The girl on the motorbike, hand still extended, shrugged, "What? Don't like it?"
"No, I do," Kiyoko defended, "I like it a lot. Just didn't expect it,"
"Well, given that you are about to hop onto a motorbike with me kinda shows you trust me," (Y/N) said cockily, "I feel that level of trust deserves a nickname, does it not?"
And Ki's teasing smile widened, instead turning into one mixed with pure happiness and disbelief. She shook her head with a light scoff, finally placing her own hand in the comfort of (Y/N)'s. "Alright then. What should I call you?"
"Honey, sweetie-pie, babe, love of my life-"
"(Y/N)'s fine for now, then,"
And as (Y/N) kicked off the ground, the motorcycle leaving the empty school parking lot with a screech, she yelled back, "Alright! But give me a name once you learn more about me, yeah?"
And as they began to pick up speed, Kiyoko couldn't suppress the jubilant laugh that flourished from her mouth, "Looking forward to it!"
---
She had never felt more unfettered. Not since she stopped running.
In a way, the motorbike was surprisingly similar. The way the world blurred around her, her hair blew around wildly as the wind played around with it, a wide smile as the heavy breeze brushed past her skin. At one point, the euphoric feeling had gotten her to let go of her grip around (Y/N)'s waist, putting them out beside her to feel as if she were flying. She felt as if she was, though (Y/N) would laugh at her for such a cheesy remark.
She did, though, truly.
"Is it weird that I'm jealous of the wind?" (Y/N) had at one point yelled back with a glance, wide and smiley as if Kiyoko were some sort of tower of bright beams that radiated exaltation.
"And why is that?" She said loudly, voice breaking through the wind.
"It gets to kiss you whenever it pleases!" And, wow, Kiyoko really did love pretentious poetic (Y/N), her romantic words tugging at her heart as if each letter had some sort of magic string attached to it.
And in her giddy state, Kiyoko leaned down and kissed (Y/N)'s cheek. A dangerous thing to do, given that they were on a moving vehicle that would be thrown over the edge of the road if she lost control.
But, luckily, she didn't, staring at the road with wide eyes as her grip on the throttle tightened, "W- well."
And Kiyoko laughed and shook her head, letting her chin rest on (Y/N)'s shoulder as they went to the mystery destination the (E/C) eyed girl had in store, tucked away in her pocket to take out and show Kiyoko like a child in show-and-tell.
---
(Y/N)'s POV
"I've never been to this part of the bay before," Kiyoko said, hopping off the motorcycle with the grace that took (Y/N) a good few months to master.
"It's quiet, and school's right across from us. The fireworks are far, but we can still see them. Without the noise, too," She said, tucking her hands into the pocket of her leather jacket, cracked and blemished, but she couldn't let go of the thing. It had been a gift from one of her favourite people, after all.
Kiyoko, who had taken off her shoes and begun the descent down the stairs toward the sandy beach, the light that spilt out of the full moon making it seem as if it were tiny grains of sterling, took notice of the sweet aroma that swam around them, eyes trailing to the plants that grew from either side of stairs. "Oh," She said, "Lavender,"
"Yeah," (Y/N) nodded, "One of the main reasons I like the place so much. The sea breeze doesn't make it too strong, either."
"They're my favourites," The ravenette said softly.
And surprised, (Y/N) faltered as she clipped Kiyoko's helmet to the handle, "M- Mine too,"
Kiyoko looked back at her, eyes twinkling as if a drop of the sky fell into them, "Well, c'mon, then. The fireworks'll be starting soon."
"Yeah..."
Together they sat on the bottom step, feet burrowed into the soft sand as their hands were centimetres apart, so close they could feel the warmth from the other. The comfort from the heat contrasting made them want to reach out, just touch.
But they didn't.
It's not like they held hands for a large part of the festival, anyway. Totally.
"Did you do them yourself?" Kiyoko asked, the two of them waiting peacefully for the fireworks to start, the tickling of the breeze and faint crashing of the waves filling in any silence. (Y/N) looked at her quizzically, before realizing she was pointing at her piercings.
"Oh," she said, "Yeah, I did,"
"When?" She asked, looking at them with awe. In a way, it warmed (Y/N)'s heart, seeing someone she admired so wide-eyed at something she'd done. Even if the intentions behind why she'd pierced them weren't the best.
"Well, I started when I first realized I liked women, and on the very same day my family were talking about how they were legalizing marriage for the 'sick, confused people'." She said, wincing a little.
"Oh,"
And out of fear that she might've made things awkward, (Y/N) quickly sat up, "It's completely fine, really! I did the newest two a few months ago because I was bored,"
And Kiyoko looked at her tenderly, large, stormy grey eyes looking like a peaceful cloudy day, the pitter-patter of the rain on the window soothing the heart. She smiled, "No, I'm glad you told me." Then she looked at her own hands, frowning for a moment before looking up, "And what changed? I mean, you've clearly embraced it all," Her frown smoothened toward the end.
(Y/N) paused for a second, "My neighbour. She was this middle-aged woman who was a lesbian, all cool with her motorcycle and leather jacket- This leather jacket. I thought, if someone that cool is a lesbian, then it can't be bad, right? She made amazing brownies, though one time she gave me the wrong batch..."
Kiyoko let out a cheery laugh at that, shaking her head as she covered her mouth. That was a thing she did a lot. Cover her mouth when she laughed. "Jesus Christ," She said in between her laughs.
(Y/N) let out a soft chuckle too, "Yeah... My parents really hated her,"
"And what happened?" She pressed.
Proudly, (Y/N) reached for two books that she tucked into the obi of her Kimono. She only took out one, a book called If Not, Winter, a translation of Sappho's poetry by Anne Carson. Smiling, though still the lethargic grin that she had trademarked, apparently, (Y/N) said, "She got to work alongside Anne Carson, working to help retrieve as many of Sappho's scripts from around the world. Off to Greece, then to the ancient archives in London, then New York,"
Kiyoko took the book that (Y/N) offered, eyes large. She looked impressed, mouth slightly agape as she flipped through. "You've annotated all of them," She blinked, slowly, and delicately, flipping through the pages of poems that were covered in notes and underlines and circled, sticky notes and tabs buried in between the pages. "Wow,"
"Yeah..."
"Even the one-liners. And the incomplete ones,"
"Sappho was a genius, what can I say?"
She turned to her, eyes wandering to the other book that she kept under the dark ash material of her obi, "And that one?"
"My poems,"
"Oh?" Teased Kiyoko, a single brow of hers arching as a teasing grin curled her lips, "And when will I be seeing these great poems of yours?"
Unable to push away the lingering sadness that began to form in her heart, (Y/N) resorted to looking away dramatically, "Someday."
"Someday?"
She opened her eyes, still lidded, and grinned lazily at Kiyoko, "Someday, my dear Ki." She then leaned back a little, as if sunbathing except with the argentated rays of the moon, "It's my dream to have my poetry book published,"
"Well, maybe if I could actually read it, I'd be able to tell you if that dream was possible or not," Kiyoko said, any sort of pushiness unpresent from her words. She was only playing around, clearly.
"Patience is virtue, did you not listen to our teacher's rant on Cato the Elder?" (Y/N) said.
The pretty girl, who (Y/N) felt blessed to be talking to, rolled her eyes.
"I promise I'll let you read my poems one day, yeah? I promise," She said with certainty, trying to show how devoid her words were of lies.
Eyeing her for a second, she nodded, "I'll hold onto that,"
And their eyes locked for a good second or two, (E/C) clashing against grey. There wasn't too much in between them, just pure connection.
The distant bang and shower of colourful shine from the distance broke them away from each other's gaze, instead now looking over to the other side of the bay, blazing trails of colour exploding in a flurry of light painting the dark sky, as if it were a canvas, in bright hues.
(Y/N) glanced at Kiyoko, her eyes glazing over with the reflection on the spectacle in the distance, mouth every-so-slightly agape. She got to truly appreciate the beauty of this goddess up close, right next to her. And she really, truly, was absolutely gorgeous. More a masterpiece than the display above them could ever be.
And so, moving her hand slightly, she rested it on top of Kiyoko's.
And out of the corner of her eye, Kiyoko's lips widened.
---
Kiyoko's POV
Kiyoko had never returned home so late. It was, what, three in the morning?
From the festival to the beach to the fireworks to when they stopped for pancakes at this 24-hour pancake world (Y/N) knew existed, somehow, they had gone well into the morning.
The sky no longer had that midnight black that stretched endlessly, enveloping the world in its darkness, rather it was now a faint violet, the ends of the horizon tainted with a blue-ish hue. That was how late, or to be more specific, early, it was.
Kiyoko stood on the sidewalk while (Y/N), just a few centimetres below her, stood on the road, hand tucked into that leather jacket of hers.
"Thank you," Kiyoko had said, the joy from the night not quite escaping her smiling lips just yet, "For this evening,"
"Of course. Anytime," She grinned back, her apathetic, smoky grin that made Kiyoko want to get on the floor and bow in worship.
"S- so I'll see you at the festival tomorrow, yeah? On stage?" She asked, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve.
(Y/N) pursed her lips for a second, shooting a quick glance at the floor before looking up, eyes sparkling, "I think we should practice a bit more," She said simply.
Kiyoko frowned, eyebrows scrunched up, "But we've basically practised everything-"
Her words were halted by, well, another pair of lips. And like that, her brows softened and her smile quickly returned, all as (Y/N) kissed her softly, sending absolute bliss coursing through her body.
It was nice, tender and sweet, but longing. As if (Y/N) had waited a million years just to feel the comfort of her lips. It wasn't necessarily deep, but it still had passion. And wow, Kiyoko's heart was racing like crazy.
She pulled back, and Kiyoko was sure her own face was flushed daylily pink. No one had ever kissed her like that. Not as if she were this precious, irreplaceable thing. She kissed her as if she were holding the Queen's Jewels, scared to drop them. Never with so much care. It made her dizzy.
(Y/N) visibly ran her tongue over her teeth, a smirk that was cocky, but sweet, making its way to her lips. "Night, 'Ki," She nodded, turning away to her motorcycle.
She really just rocked Kiyoko's entire earth and shook her galaxy, then walked away with the swagger of a popstar.
Wow.
i soak up the moonlight,
absorbing its dewy glow into my skin,
hoping it will heal me like smoothening cracks and blights
it is poison.