#anyways tien has been too busy Killing People to have any more than very minor surface level crushes

[fishkinger]

Yamtien ficlet

Based off of this post.

Tien shifts awkwardly in the copilot seat, trying to muster up as much offhanded casualness as he can, and turns across the dash, his eyes wincing as the sun comes in scattered off the ocean. “How long have you two been together? You and- and Bulma, I mean. She... seems cool.” Cool? He cringes internally. This is a sort of self-punishment he's inflicting on himself for liking a boy that is both straight and taken - it won’t lead to any sort of conversation he wants to have, but he needs to hear it from Yamcha himself. Maybe it’ll get it through his thick head that it isn’t going to happen, maybe he’ll be able to let this whole thing go.

Sitting in the pilots seat, his curly hair just brushing the top of the blue collared shirt he wears on their off days from training, Yamcha blinks, seems mildly surprised at the abrupt change in topic from Chiaotzu's cooking skill. The trip from Kame House to the mainland for supplies is long, even in the new, faster ship Bulma ordered during the King Piccolo debacle. Tien and Yamcha are on duty this month, and they’ve made small talk through the hum of the engines for the last hour.

As soon as Tien mentions Bulma, Yamcha’s mouth quirks, and he says, “Oh yeah, she’s pretty cool. She’s really smart too, smarter than the lot of us put together, I think.” He’s more than happy to prattle on about all the things Bulma is cool for, and how they annoy one another, and how nice her folks are, as Tien sits stoically in the other seat trying to appear attentive, nodding along in agreement while internally growing increasingly miserable at the fact that he brought up the subject– especially when Yamcha turns to him and, slightly over-loud in the way that he is, asks "What about you, Tien? Have a girlfriend back at home? Arms like that must make you mighty popular with the ladies!" He laughs, sincere and friendly, and reaches across the dash of the ship to give Tien a light shoving punch on shoulder while keeping his eyes fixed on the ocean in front of them and his other hand on the controls.

Tien tries not to cringe away from the touch, but still unconsciously reaches his other hand up to rub where Yamcha hit as he gives an awkward chuckle, and his three eyes crinkle up slightly into a forced smile as he shoots him a glance. Did Bulma buy him that shirt? It looked expensive. "Well, not exactly. When we were with Master Shen we were.... Working, most of the time. And if I met any other- girls my age it usually wasn't under great circumstances."

This tears Yamcha's gaze away from the sky ahead, and his dark eyes flicker over to land on Tien, who would be squirming with discomfort by now if Shen hadn't disciplined him to be capable of sitting, expression schooled, through much less pleasant than this. He feels too large for his seat. Yamcha frowns, "Hey man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring your past, I should'a thought more before I asked. How about when you and I get to the city, I treat you to that wheel cake cart by the beach and I can wingman for you, help you talk to some cute girls."

Tien reaches up to rub the back of his head, feeling the beginnings of a prickle from where Chiaotzu helped him shave it the day before, willing himself not to open the hatch and fly back to Kame House just to escape this conversation as he deflects, "I don't think it counts as treating me if it's Master Roshi's grocery money you're using. And not today. We have to get back to training if we want to be able to keep up with Goku in three years, there's no time for distractions." He pauses and adds, a little less harshly, "Thanks, though."

Yamcha cracks into a smile, and his face seems to light up with the blinding sun reflected in glimmers off the water. Tien stares.

"No problem buddy. We'll find you someone someday, just you watch."