New Horizons ./. milo

[milo martin]

Milo listened intently as Katherine spoke, a smile playing on his lips. He soaked in every word she spoke, like tomato sauce with a piece of bread. He loved listening to her speak. To him, every word out of her mouth was golden.

"Memories... some sweet, some not so sweet... BUT, now, for trade, you must answer those same questions, love," she said coyly once she was done rambling. Milo blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“Cheater,” he said, playfully narrowing her eyes at her. “You can’t do that.” He kissed her collarbone.

“Red,” Milo replied after a short pause. “My favorite color is red. I got the chicken pox when I was four, and I ended up giving it to my brothers. My mom was pretty pissed.” He shifted his position so that he could rest his chin on Kat’s shoulder and wrap his arms around her waist, sort of like a spooning position, but not completely. “My first girlfriend’s name – Amy. I don’t follow sports, but I’m a Yanks fan, I guess. I’m from New York, you know? Gotta root for the Yanks,” he paused to bury his nose into her hair for a few seconds, breathing deeply, loving her scent. “I didn’t play any sports in high school either, not by choice at least. And I skipped phys ed for the most part. And my first slow dance song was ‘Don’t Speak’ by No Doubt. I was asked by a girl from one of my classes whose name I can’t remember at all.”

[katherine rivera]

Telling him that it was his turn to talk, Milo blinked, looking a bit lost at first. Katherine had to laugh at this - the look on his face was as priceless as the MasterCard commercials. YouTube worthy? Perhaps.

He called her a cheater, narrowing his eyes at her, telling her that it was not allowed. He ended the playful burn with a kiss to the collarbone. Then, he began to speak, answering all of the questions that he had asked her. She smirked. If it wasn't allowed, why did he proceed to answer, then? She sighed and shook her head playfully, listening to him talk. As he did, he made little gestures, such as moving up to rest his chin on her shoulder and burying his face in her hair, as if he were taking in her scent.

When he was finished speaking, Katherine smiled a bit and reached up to take her beanie off of her head. She then looked to Milo and, with speed resembling that of a ninja, put the beanie onto his head. She laughed. "Interesting, to say the least..." Katherine had many mad images running through her head - Milo, covered in chickenpox... Milo, at a Yankee's game, bitching out a Red Sox fan... Milo, dancing to No Doubt. It was funny how clearly the images ran in her mind.

"Hmmm... some questions for you... what's your favorite movie? what's your favorite country? when did you receive your first kiss? what was the first car you drove? when did you lose your virginity? and... to equal six questions, for now... what was your favorite thing to do on the playground?"

Katherine smiled, again. "Heheh - sorry mine are so lame, in comparison to yours...." She pouted a bit, sticking out her tounge playfully.

[milo martin]

Milo laughed. “You’re turning my game against me,” he said, grinning as Katherine plunked the beanie on his head. “I should have laid some ground rules.” He nuzzled her cheek. “They’re not lame, by the way. They’re honest questions. If we’re going to get married, we might as well find out some things about one another, you know?”

He thought for a few seconds, reviewing her questions in his head before speaking.

“My favorite movie, right now, is Summer of Sam or My Big Fat Greek Wedding or The Lion King or The Lost Boys. But if you ask me tomorrow, I’ll probably tell you something different,” he admitted. “I’ve never been out of this country, so I have nothing to compare it to. I got my first kiss at eight – her name was Jaclyn. We would play kiss-chase on the playground. I got in trouble for it. I don’t think that counts. I don’t drive. I have a driver’s license, but I don’t drive. Living in New York, you don’t have to drive. But the car I learned to drive in was a green Honda Civic with a broken speedometer. It belonged to my uncle Owen.” He adjusted the beanie on his head. “I lost my virginity at fifteen and my favorite thing on the playground is the swings. It’s like flying.”

[katherine rivera]

Katherine smirked as Milo playfully grumbled about his game being turned against him. His smile, from beneath his eyes and the newly-added beanie, was so infectious. It was too cute to be true - where was the Kodak when you had the moment, right? Katherine listened intently, still taking in the sheer cuteness that beamed from beneath her beanie.

When he had answered all of the questions, she watched him as he adjusted the beanie on his head. "Wow - you rock my beanie better than I do... no lie, your... your cuteness is rivaling Chill's!" Katherine laughed at her own words. She then figured that she should answer her own questions, as Milo had answered his for her. "My favorite movie rivals between 'Sugar', 'Team America:World Police', and 'Memoirs of a Geisha'... I have never been out of the USA, but I plan on leaving it, someday - my dream is to go to Japan." Katherine paused, taking time to think and reflect on her dreams of Japan, which she had almost forgotten. "My first kiss was had when I was, I believe, ten. It was at school, and the kid was fourteen - I don't even remember why it went down, but I remember that it was gross as all hell. I drove a '57 Mustang - I still have it, too, back at home." When it came to the virginity question, Katherine paused, biting her lip a bit. "If you don't know when I lost my virginity, then - I think you and I need to talk, and... as for playground follies, I ditto your swing fetish. They are the first thing I run to."

Finishing up the answers to the questions, she looked into Milo's eyes and smiled. She brought her hands up to his face to cup both of his cheeks. "We need a picture of you in this beanie, dammit - you will be wearing this in the near and distant future!" She laughed, pinching his cheeks as a granny would do. "Gah - I must cheat again, I'm sorry, but - does your grandma pinch your cheeks?"

[milo martin]

“Japan? Really?” Milo cocked his head a bit. “Okay. Let’s go then. Let’s go to Japan. After we get married. We’ll make it our honeymoon, okay?” He twirled her hair between his fingers. “I think that’d be cool. We’ll just peace out to Japan for two weeks or a month or whatever.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “And just so you know, I was so…happy that I was your first. It means a lot to me, that you trust me, and love me…” He kissed her palm again.

He snorted as she cooed over him in her beanie. It was cute, but he couldn’t imagine wearing one of these every single day. He smirked when she pinched his cheeks and playfully swatted at her.

“My grandmother was not the cheek-pinching kind. She practiced tough love,” Milo explained. “She was a hardened Irish Catholic. She was more interested in saving the souls of her wild, hippie grandsons than pinching our cheeks. Hey…random question…but I think it’s gotta be addressed before we get married: how many kids do you want?”

[katherine rivera]

Katherine widened her eyes in mocking, yet playful fashion as she watched Milo cock his head to the side. She shook her head yes in reply, as he minorly questioned her interest in Japan.“Okay. Let’s go then. Let’s go to Japan. After we get married. We’ll make it our honeymoon, okay?” As Milo twirled Katherine's hair in his fingers, Katherine's jaw slightly dropped.“I think that’d be cool. We’ll just peace out to Japan for two weeks or a month or whatever.” Katherine gasped a bit, her jaw then working its way back up so she could manage to form a smile. "You really mean it? Oh my God - that would be wonderful." Her eyes lit up a bit with the new fact now burned within her head that, of all people, she would be sharing Japan with Milo.

Before, she figured she'd be on her own. But now - she knew different. Milo then brought her hand up to his lips, laying them gently upon her palm. “And just so you know, I was so…happy that I was your first. It means a lot to me, that you trust me, and love me…” As he kissed her palm again, Katherine looked at him and closed her eyes. "I am glad, too."

As she pinched his cheeks, he swatted at her playfully. Katherine couldn't help but break out in a giggle session - it was priceless. As he spoke of his grandmother, Katherine smiled. She sounded like a interesting grandmother.

"Hey…random question…but I think it’s gotta be addressed before we get married: how many kids do you want?” Katherine paused in silence from her giggling for a moment, thinking the question over. "Hmmm... one or two would be the perfect number for me... what about you?"

[milo martin]

“Yeah, really,” Milo said excitedly. “I mean, I’ve never been anywhere except Canada and that doesn’t make for a very exciting honeymoon. Why not Japan? That sounds really cool. I’m down. I like sushi…and anime and…what-what else is in Japan?” He bit his lower lip with a guilty grin. “I don’t know a whole lot about it. Except the thing about sushi and anime.”

He gave a sheepish shrug. “But if it’s something you want, then fuck – let’s go!” He kissed her lips and smiled. “Why not, right? After the tour, who knows what’s going to happen. We’ll have a lot of time on our hands and we’ll go to New York, we’ll settle down and get married and…go to Japan.”

Milo moved his position once more so that he was hovering on top of her and came in for another kiss. “I love you,” he murmured against her lips. “And I want you to be happy. We’re going to do everything we plan, okay? I promise. Get married, live in New York, go to Japan – and have two of the most good-looking, well-dressed, musically inclined kids that the East Village ever saw. Just promise me we won't send them to Catholic school.”

[katherine rivera]

“I mean, I’ve never been anywhere except Canada and that doesn’t make for a very exciting honeymoon. Why not Japan? That sounds really cool. I’m down. I like sushi…and anime and…what-what else is in Japan?” Katherine was simply beaming about the fact that Milo was willing to go to Japan for their honeymoon. To be able to share that dream with someone else, especially her own 2.0 version of a knight in shining armor, was simply marvelous. As he went on about liking sushi and anime, this really got Katherine’s attentions – her inner cat pricked its ears at the sounds of those words. These two things were part of the inner circle of items that made Katherine’s clock tick. She then watched him as he bit his lower lip, beginning to dawn a guilty grin. This made Katherine laugh, a smirk illuminating her face. It was obvious that those two subjects were the only things he could relate to in Japan. But, of course, that was fine. In due time, she could drive him batty in talking about learning more about The Land of the Rising Sun. “Oh, well – that’s fine – it wasn’t as if I was expecting you to start ranting in Japanese or something, babes – besides, sushi and anime make up for it all – both keep my internal clock ticking.”

“But if it’s something you want, then fuck – let’s go!” --- “Why not, right? After the tour, who knows what’s going to happen. We’ll have a lot of time on our hands and we’ll go to New York, we’ll settle down and get married and…go to Japan.” Milo kissed her lips once more and smiled. Katherine giggled and still dawned the illuminating smile from before. “That’s sound wonderful… just… simply wonderful… but, I don’t want to force it upon you to go if it doesn’t interest you, y’know?”

Suddenly, and quite unnoticeably, Milo had moved positions again, Katherine completely oblivious to the move, with visions of Kitade and Gackt dancing in her head. Of course, she was broken out of her ‘la-la landish’ stage when Milo kissed her again, now hovering above her. “I love you,” The three, lovely words sent chills down her spine as he murmured them, his lips still against hers. His lips were warm and ripe against hers; she shivered again. “And I want you to be happy. We’re going to do everything we plan, okay? I promise. Get married, live in New York, go to Japan – and have two of the most good-looking, well-dressed, musically inclined kids that the East Village ever saw. Just promise me we won't send them to Catholic school.” Katherine snorted softly and shook her head, bringing her hand to rest atop his beanie-adorned head. “Milo – if you promise me this, I’ll be sure to promise you that.” She smiled, then bringing her face up to his level quickly, suprising him with a quick kiss. She smirked against his lips, then breaking the kiss. “I am sorry… but, I would die to see you in a Catholic school uniform… the thought just baffles me…”

[milo martin]

Milo had to giggle at her request. “Well, I’m sorry to say that I am no longer in possession of a Catholic school uniform, thank you very much – would you believe I burned it? Yup, after I left Immaculate Soul, instead of returning the uniform like you’re supposed to, my brother Charlie and I went on my grandma’s roof and set it on fire in a trashcan. Gran was not happy about that, because she lost her sixty-dollar deposit. But I’m about ninety percent sure that there are some pictures on my laptop of me looking like Mark Wahlberg in The Basketball Diaries, except not as handsome.”

He kissed her once more and moved so that he was lying beside her again, and laced his fingers through hers. He still marveled at the way they fit so well together – were there any two people more perfect for each other than he and his little doll? Milo never thought he would ever find someone he loved as much as he loved Kat – after all, his mother’s track record was spectacularly unimpressive: he and his brothers didn’t know who their father (or fathers) was (were), and probably never would know. Milo’s own love life was pretty shitty up until this point, and his track record, if written down, would probably reach across the entire city of New York. It was not something he was proud of, and planned on never sharing exactly how many people he had been with in the past (not to mention the fact that he was a little shady on the actual number itself). She was all that mattered now, she was all he needed, and he was going to be with her until the day he died, simply based on the fact that he didn’t think he could live without her.

“For the record, Japan does interest me,” Milo said honestly. “Who doesn’t want to experience a foreign country? I might not know a whole lot about it, but I’ve seen plenty of pictures. Their gardens are amazing, and the architecture is impressive.” He had seen Memoirs of a Geisha.

“But just so you know, even if Japan didn’t interest me, I would go anyway, because it would make you happy, and seeing you happy makes me happy,” he reasoned. He turned sideways to look at her. “I don’t want you to ever be unhappy. If for some reason you don’t like New York and want to go back to Vegas, I’ll move out there with you.”