Yurio glanced quick from side to side, checking the dark deck of the ship to ensure no one else had seen him. He slunk, stealthy and quiet, down to the main crew quarters. Anyone not on night duty was asleep. Yurio made sure not to stir them.
The ship swayed gentle in the waves. Yurio used the walls for support, weaving through the corridors to where Otabek was waiting for him.
“Thought you weren’t coming.”
Yurio scowled, throwing back his hair. “Shut up. Let’s do it already.”
“Fine. Get on the bed.”
Yurio flopped down on Otabek’s cot, heart pounding against his ribcage.
Otabek pulled down an oil lamp, turning down the flame till it cast their shadows across the walls. The gunner undid the top few buttons of his shirt, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. “You really wanna learn how to do this?”
“Would I be here if I didn’t?”
With a short laugh, Otabek shrugged his shoulders and approached Yurio, standing over him. “It’s your choice then. Which do you wanna try first?”
Yurio had not expected to be asked. He had thought Otabek would take the lead and simply show him. All of the sudden, he was not so sure. He knew what he wanted. But it was probably good to save the best for last. “The-… that dog style one?”
Otabek smirked. “Is that what you really want?”
No. It wasn’t. There was no fighting it. Yurio’s anticipation was threatening to break through. “No, okay! You know what I want, so just do it!”
“Shhh, you’ll wake someone up,” Otabek reminded and sat down beside the cot next to Yurio, tapping the blond’s hip to make him shift. He then pulled the lamp in front of them and positioned his hands before it, so that the shadows hit the wall. He curled his ring and middle fingers into his palm, knuckles of his small and forefinger forming ears. His other hand dropped to his elbow, fingers shaping a flickering tail.
The shadow of a cat was cast upon the wall.
“Holy shit!” Yurio shouted, dropping to the floor so he could get a better look at the position Otabek held his arms in. “Do another!”
Otabek hushed Yurio, but changed his hands, twisting the back of one hand into the palm of the other. The cat was replaced by a kitten. As Otabek wiggled his fingers, its mouth opened into a silent mewl.
“Wait, wait, didn’t you say you could do one with whiskers?”
“Yeah. Grab those twigs over there.”
Yurio’s eyes searched and then seized onto them, hurriedly shoving them into Otabek’s hands. The gunner curled his fingers around them, so that the ends stuck out from either side of his fist. The prior cat shadow gained whiskers.
Yurio lost it, kicking his feet in joy. “That’s so fucking cool! Show me, show me!” He had never looked happier when Otabek guided his hands, teaching him how to cast the shadow puppets in the dead of night.
The Archery Range 