#I think they���d probably also dye their gray streaks blue or something together at one piint

[ghostyprince]

How about #9: “I may or may have not gone a little crazy with the tie-dye.” ;D

thanks for the request!! i hope you like this, it was fun to write ❤ 

It started with that one shirt they did for a video. People’s First Time Doing Tie-dye. Of course, both of them would get invited, it was most definitely the weird silly thing that would bring out all the banter people love to watch so much. And it did. 

They had an absolute blast, somehow ending up covered in dye in patches, up to their elbows, even with the gloves and plastic covers that were provided to protect their clothes. There was also a big blue streak across Ryan’s left cheek, probably thanks to Shane, that was still there the next day, though considerably faded, thankfully.

Yeah, Shane thought that one video was definitely to blame for starting it. The it in question was Ryan showing up in the tie-dye shirt he made for the video one day. The splash of colors on him was an unexpected, though a not unwelcome surprise. Ryan got a lot of compliments, Shane noticed. He also noticed Ryan’s proud smile when he told the people who were interested in getting one for themselves, that he, in fact, made it himself.

It was a nice shirt indeed, Shane mused. Certainly better than the one he made, his colors ended up mixing in a bad way, god knows how, and making ugly greenish gray blotches, so he didn’t even bother taking it home. He was getting distracted again, by that damn piece of clothing for the umptieth time that day. Or more like by how good it looked on Ryan.

And if Shane thought (or hoped, because he was barely getting any work done with Ryan walking around like that) this one shirt would be the end of it, he was so very wrong. Ryan started wearing tie-dye clothing more often from then on. Shirts, tank tops, shorts, even that white baseball cap Ryan used to wear all the time got dressed in pretty pastels.

It got to the point of Ryan wearing something tie-dye every single day and Shane’s not gonna lie, it was driving him a little crazy. He would’ve never thought someone could look so attractive in things that were admittedly often a little too much and very out there. Ryan pulled it off beautifully, though. Well, Shane might have been a little biased, ultimately it wasn’t the rainbows of his shirts that brought out his attraction towards Ryan.

It’s been there for a long time, always on the back burner. It was even easy to ignore sometimes. Shane’s a man of logic, and he wouldn’t want to ask Ryan out and ruin things between them now, would he? They had a lot to lose, so much at stake, like their friendship, Unsolved… He couldn’t risk it. It was the best course of action, just ignore it and it will fade with time, he thought.

That is, until the goddamn tie-dye video.

Shane could only take about a week and a half of seeing Ryan in those clothes, he’s human after all, and curiosity was fucking killing him at that point. Not to mention the fact he just had to address the “issue” in some way before he’d break and push Ryan against a wall and rips one of those stupid shirts off of him, kissing him senseless. Well, that’s perhaps a bit of an overreaction, but Shane was truly at the end of his rope.

“Alright, I haven’t said anything so far, but what’s with the tie-dye lately?” Shane broke the silence of them working at their shared desks one morning. Ryan looked up from his research, seemingly caught off-guard. And fuck, is that the start of a blush he saw? Ryan took a moment to answer, shrugging the question off and suddenly very interested in his empty coffee cup.

“I may or may not have gone a little crazy on the tie-dye.” He admitted, sheepishly, almost shyly and Shane took absolute delight in those few seconds.

“A little?” he snorted, the usual teasing tilt to his voice wasn’t missing either and Ryan was already rolling his eyes. “I haven’t seen you in anything else for a week now!”

“Shut up, dude, it’s- it’s nice, okay? The process of it, it’s relaxing.” He crossed his arms in front of the swirly blue patterns of that day’s tank top, defensively. Shane almost got distracted by the flex of his arms, but he quickly focused his attention back on Ryan’s face as his expression melted into a soft smile.

He knows when he needs to drop the teasing when something is clearly important to Ryan, it must be a nice hobby for him, a distraction from all the stress that comes with the research, and the editing.

“It’s cool, Ry. I was just wondering, you know. How many shirts have you done? And other stuff, going by your outfits this week.” Shane added, relieved when Ryan relaxed back into his chair, his usual smile was back on his face in no time.

“As I said, I have gone a little crazy with it. I made like… Twenty T-shirts? Approximately. And some pillowcases and other stuff too. Let’s just say I don’t own any white clothing anymore.” He laughed and continued, “I might as well wear the ones that turned out good, I guess.” He shrugged again, one hand going up to rub at the back of his neck.

“That is- that is so much. You really enjoy doing it, huh? I mean I thought you were really good at it, to be honest.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Ryan said softly, and there was something in his eyes, his smile that would’ve made Shane’s knees weak if he wasn’t sitting already. “It’s fun to do but now I don’t know what to do with most of them. I ought to stop wearing tie-dye every single day, but it’s starting to take over my closet.”

“Did you think about giving it to co-workers? They like them an awful lot. Or even better, selling them! You could do Unsolved themed shirts, the fans would be over the moon about them.”

“You’re- you’re actually right. I mean I gave some pillowcases and such to my family, they like them. I don’t know. Do you think the viewers would like it too?”

“They’d adore it, Ryan, trust me.”

“They like your stupid hot dog show, they would buy my hippy shirts too, you’re right.” There was a shit-eating grin that slowly spread on Ryan’s face and just like that, they were back to the usual teasing.

“I’m trying to be a supportive friend, and this is what I get. Frankly, I’m hurt and offended you’d speak in such a way of my beloved show.”

“God, you’re- you’re such an idiot.” It was said with such fondness, Shane’s chest ached with it.

“I’m not calling you out, you look really good in them actually. All the colors, they- they suit you a lot.” He quietly broke the silence that settled on them once again.

“You think so?” Ryan couldn’t help his bright grin, and fuck, just like that, Shane was gone. His heart was beating faster than he would ever admit, he’s amazed he could even put together a sentence, two even.

“Would you like to teach me? How to do it properly.”

“Sure, dude. You can come to my place after work.”

It was Shane’s turn to smile, that small, soft one he gives Ryan with sometimes when he’s not looking. And before he could make his brain to mouth filter function properly, he blurted “It’s a date then.”

His eyes widened, in a way that probably looked pretty comical and he opened his mouth, ready to explain himself somehow, but Ryan cut him off before he even made a sound.

“It’s a date, big guy.” He practically beamed at Shane again, in that special way that’s just for him, no one else.

There was absolutely no excuse for the way his heart missed a beat, but for once, Shane wasn’t looking for one.