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frozenjokes · 10 months ago

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🫵👊👏CONVEX KISS👊👊👊🫵

google docs on my phone (revised version) and ipad (unrevised. raw.) did not sync correctly and I refuse to reupload this so for a better read go to ao3. not much changed, but I tweaked a lot of word choice and improved the pacing/clarity/all the things.

CuteGuy’s debut was today, and it had gone great. It hadn’t been staged, Grian had made sure of that, but it was frighteningly close to the story Scar had weaved for them before when he had introduced the idea; HotGuy alone, outmatched, when suddenly, CuteGuy swooped in, turning the tides for both of them.

Hero debuts weren’t normally anything special, not in this town. Introductions that caught peoples’ attention were few and far between, often drowned out by other news, but CuteGuy wasn’t new on this block. Indeed, he drew a lot more attention by 1) Fighting with heroes instead of against them, 2) Defending HotGuy and fighting alongside him, and 3) Being a massive dick.

And people loved it.

Clips of CuteGuy were circulating everywhere; cussing out reporters, battering peoples’ faces with his wings if they got too close, telling kids they should really consider better idols than HotGuy, and plenty of other completely out of pocket interactions, though, nothing drew the public eye quite like the dynamic between CuteGuy and HotGuy together. HotGuy, well known for his confidence and charisma, was reduced to complete mush next to CuteGuy, desperately playing damage control and apologizing for every word that dropped from CuteGuy’s mouth. It was abundantly clear that CuteGuy was basking in the control as well, the shit eating smirk never leaving his lips as HotGuy was forced to trail behind him, sputtering through every word.

And Grian loved it too. He loved it. If it wasn’t clear from the videos alone; his head held high, wings poised confidently, the expressiveness of the performance, it was definitely clear when Grian came home, all but collapsed onto the couch, and talked enthusiastically until he just couldn’t stay awake any longer.

And words couldn’t describe how that made Cub feel. That Grian was happy. That he was smiling, even in his sleep, even after a tough couple weeks, even partnered with HotGuy, a man he did not particularly like. Grian was happy. He was going to be okay.

And yet, it was 2:00 AM, and he was still awake. Still scrolling through his phone, through clips, through every tweet and message that so much as mentioned CuteGuy’s name. He was so stressed. Cub had already started to break out; a little on his face and a little on his back, but he had no doubt it was only going to get worse, that he would never be able to stop worrying and thinking about every possible thing that might go wrong. So much. So much could go irreconcilably wrong.

Cub didn't want to put that on Grian, not right now when he was so elated (and also very asleep). But he wasn’t tired, and he wasn’t sleeping anytime soon, especially not like this, so wound up. He needed someone to tell him, confidently tell him this was going to be okay. To make him believe for tonight at least, he had nothing to fear. Luckily, he knew a guy, and also luckily, that guy worked nights often.

‘Are you working?’ Cub sent the message, a little more hopeful then probably warranted.

Scar responded instantly, with a striking amount of typos for a message so short, ‘m Up. Workinh. W’ and then after a short pause, ‘Wht up?’

‘Eventful night or?’

‘Ya.’ There was another pause, the typing bubble open for an awfully long time before a picture came through; a selfie of HotGuy, his visor cracked, nose bloody, and grin bright, posing for the camera. Someone was behind him, also posing, but Cub couldn’t see any of their face. Christ.

‘We can talk later’

‘Nonononow fine’

There was a long pause between this message and the incoming next, but the typing bubble stayed, so Cub waited, unable to help his own amusement.

‘dick and balls’

‘I eat dick and balls’

‘OMNOMNOMNOMNOMN’

Cub laughed, but didn’t get to respond before another message came through, completely indecipherable in what was presumably a great panic.

‘TIOL PGOME A’

Cub had to assume he didn’t get to finish the message. Given the length of time that had passed with no new texts, Cub got the feeling it might be a minute before any clarification was given. Not needed, really, but the mental image of Scar panicking after his phone was briefly stolen was enough to keep Cub smiling.

‘I didn’t realize you were so forward. You’re not getting impatient with me, are you?’

‘NK’

‘p’

‘I’m just not sure I’m ready for that yet.’

‘PENIS!!!!!!!’

‘You make a compelling argument.’

No more messages came through from Scar’s end, so Cub had to assume he put his phone down and focused on whatever it was that was going down on his end. That was perfectly fine. Still, Cub found himself content to watch the endless loop of the bubble at the bottom left, infinitely ‘typing’ for better or for worse. Probably for better. Cub didn’t know how much time passed before another message came through, but the animation made him jump.

‘So sorry. Checking my phone during a fight was a bad idea. Kicked her ass tho.’

Cub lingered on the screen, allowing himself a moment to enjoy this, enjoy a world in which something like this could happen. Something completely crazy. Mostly wonderful. ‘Are you sure about that? You looked a little worse for wear.’

‘You don’t know what I look like.’

‘You sent a picture’

‘Oh’ Then a brief pause, presumably as Scar went to check the picture, ‘We may have both gotten our asses kicked. She’s worse off tho’

‘She looked fine in the picture.’

‘She was less fine after getting the wind knocked out of her and then getting shot. Tidied that battle up real quick. People don’t love fighting with arrows in their feet. Kills the vibe a bit. But I didn’t feel like dragging anything out’

‘Wanted to talk to you’

Cub took another moment to himself, to pause, to feel warm. ‘Could we meet? Somewhere close to me, preferably. Can’t sleep. Need a distraction.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘Anxious’

‘I’ll let you know when I get there then. We can walk’

‘That sounds nice.’

Scar didn’t respond, probably already on his way, and Cub lingered in a moment of gratitude before getting back up and throwing on something a little warmer. He didn’t know how long Scar would be, but he wanted a little air regardless, so he left the apartment to stand outside while he waited. Dressing warm had been a good decision; the night air had quite the bite, but Cub didn’t much feel it under his clothes. It was nice. He felt a bit more like he could breathe.

It was only fifteen minutes before Scar pulled up in an Uber, chatting with the driver even after he was entirely out of the car, and Cub was pretty sure the Uber would have to drive away to get Scar to stop talking. But Scar did turn around eventually, entirely shell shocked to see Cub waiting there- it was kind of incredible how expressive he was for nearly 3:00 in the morning.

“Cub! Hello! You didn’t have to wait outside, I would have shot you a text!” Flecks of dried blood dotted Scar’s face and uniform, along with a nasty looking cut at his side, but he didn’t look bothered by the injuries.

“I wanted to wait. It’s stuffy up there.”

“It’s cold out here!”

“I’m not cold.”

“I am!” Scar announced, almost like he was proud, then waved one last time to the Uber driver before they left, “I wasn’t when I was working, but it must have gotten colder, or at least it feels like it after being in a warm car. I might freeze before I make it home.”

“Might bleed out before then.”

“Huh?” Endearingly, Scar checked his nose first, as if that’s what Cub would have been worried about. His hands were also pretty gross, probably from wiping away the blood from his nose before. “Oh!” He followed Cub’s gaze to the cut on his side, “You know, a cut like this is pretty rare! Not much gets through this suit. But it’s fine, I’m hardly bleeding. Trust me, I know my limits.”

“Well I won’t be giving you my coat if that’s what you were after. You’re gross right now.”

“Ah! Foiled again!” Scar snapped his fingers, and Cub rolled his eyes through his own smile.

“You weren’t getting it anyway, I like being warm. That walk you promised me might help you out though.”

“I-Well of course!” Scar waited for a moment for Cub to join his side, then began his aimless wander in what Cub was pretty sure was a completely random direction, “What’s on your mind then? You doing okay?”

“Ah, I’m a bit better now. I wanted to talk about Grian, but now I think I just want a distraction. The rest will pass.”

“Okay! I can do that! Grian had a big day, didn’t he,” Scar laughed, sounding a little out of breath. “He gave me a run for my money, I’ll tell you that. My people were not happy with him, but they were a little less mad at me when they saw the public reaction, so everything is fine on that end for now. Is he good? Glad to be home after all that?”

“Oh, he’s thrilled. Had a great time the whole way through and fell asleep in the middle of telling me all about it. At 7:00. I have no doubt he’ll sleep through the night anyway. Speaking of sleeping, do you just not get tired?”

“I’m exhausted. Took a nap though and was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go out anyway. And… have been relentlessly made fun of from 11:00 to 2:00. Everyone’s getting a kick out of CuteGuy it seems, but I’m happy to see it.”

“This does not surprise me. There’s quite a bit circulating about you two, I’ve seen more than one clip of you chasing after him.”

“What- Hey! I thought you didn’t watch that stuff!”

“I don’t. Usually. Tonight I do, though. Today I do. Maybe from now I until forever I do, so long as Grian’s involved.”

“Oh no, today was awful for me. I didn’t do a single cool thing- and everyone ALWAYS posts the flubs. I haven’t looked- tell me now I’m not allowed to look. Tell me I can’t look.”

“You should not look.”

“Augh!” Scar yelled, much louder than was warranted at 3:00 AM, but he didn’t seem to care, throwing up his arms in distress, “I need to be filmed doing something cool immediately or I’ll never recover.”

“Hey, it’s not so bad. People loved you. They were laughing at you, but they loved you all the same.”

“I don’t want to be loved when I’m down!”

“It’s a little funny.”

“Do not say those words to me! I won’t take it! I can’t take it! I’m fragile, Cub, very fragile!”

Cub rolled his eyes with a snort, “You’re fine.”

“You know, you wouldn’t guess it, Cub, but I’m a pretty sensitive guy. Doesn’t take much to get me down, it really doesn’t, so you’d better be gentle with me, or I’ll be thinking about it all night.”

“I absolutely would guess it, actually,” Cub said, laughing at the affronted expression that colored Scar’s face, “Maybe I want to see you when you’re down. Parade you around all day like Grian did, whiny like you are.”

“I- Excuse you!” Scar stammered, entirely flustered in all the good ways, “You do not- You do not get to be so mean to me!”

“I like it when you struggle. It’s human.”

“I’d much prefer you’d like me at my best!”

“Believe it or not, I,” Cub paused, letting the sound linger, “like you all of the time.”

Scar turned a delightful pink, as he always did when paid any sort of compliment, which was very sweet, and a little bit unbelievable, if Cub was being honest. Scar had absolutely no reason to be this smitten with him, and that wasn’t a self-jab, it was just true. Scar barely knew him, even now; Cub hadn’t even see him much in the past couple weeks, busy as he was with Grian, working, and whatever else it was that he got up to in his free time. This might’ve been the first time they’d seen each other one on one all week, though, Cub wasn’t counting. He wondered absently if Scar was.

When Scar finally managed to stop stuttering, he spoke, again, far too loud for 3:00 in the morning, “I just don’t think that’s true.”

Cub snorted, a little incredulous, “You don’t?

“I don’t!” Scar said, more confidently, “I do all sorts of things you don’t like, I know it.”

“Yeah, because I tell you when you’re doing something stupid or dumb or annoying.”

“Exactly!” Scar said, brightening, like this proved his point.

“You can be stupid, dumb, and annoying sometimes and also be liked in all your forms, Scar. Good or bad or getting your ass kicked, my love isn’t that conditional. I can not like something you’re doing, and still like you.”

“No, I don’t think so. See, you’re getting annoyed at me right now!”

Cub knit his eyebrows, indeed, getting annoyed, “Scar, that’s not how love works. Think about Grian, right? He does things that piss me off, that worry me, that make me want to pull out my hair, all the time, and I still like all of him. You like him too, thorns and all, I know you do. You don’t just stop when you’re being challenged.”

Scar considered him thoughtfully, looking at his hands still stained by dry blood. His own expression was strained, like this was an incredibly difficult thing for him to understand, which, on second thought, was a little concerning.

“Okay,” he said, though Cub got the impression he still didn’t quite understand.

Cub hummed, thinking. “Let’s take your hands, yeah? They don’t look great right now, do they. Do you like having bloody hands?”

“Uh,” Scar looked up, then back at his hands, “No. Not really. Gets itchy after a while.”

“Itchy. That’s good. I wouldn’t like itchy hands either. But you still like your hands, don’t you? They’re not unappealing as parts of your body just because they itch from time to time.”

“Guess not.”

“But if they itched all the time, or they were always covered in dried blood that flaked off everywhere and got in your food and your bed, that would probably be a little gross. You’d probably like them a lot less if they were always causing you problems. But they’re not always covered in blood. They don’t always itch. So it’s not that big of a deal, right? You can get frustrated with people and still like all of them. You’ve been frustrated with me before, I know it. That doesn’t change how you feel about me. People aren’t so volatile.”

Scar nodded, a little more firmly. “Okay,” he said, sounding a little more like he meant it. Cub was satisfied.

“I’m curious,” he started, hoping to move on to something lighter, “What’s your civilian life like? I feel like you have such a large presence as HotGuy, it’s hard for me to imagine what you do when you’re not being a superhero.”

“Oh!” Scar almost startled, but laughed, easing his own tension, “Well, it’s not very exciting, I’ll tell you that much. I am HotGuy most of the time, I mean.. work is work, and that’s a big chunk of my life. And beyond just working, there’s talking to strangers and hanging out in break rooms and all the other fun stuff I can’t do as a civilian. But I do like to go out, drink, meet people. I love to dance when I’m drunk. To get lost in the loud music and just move.”

“Wow, I can’t relate to that at all.”

Scar barked a laugh, and Cub smiled, chuckling a bit himself. “Well what do you like to do then mister? Besides work. Well, I guess you probably don’t like to work.”

“Not particularly. I flip flop wildly from hobby to hobby, and I’m between them right now, though I’ve started falling down a rabbit hole about fireworks, and honestly, it’s kind of grabbing me. We’ll see where that takes me in the future. In recent years though, there’s been a whole bunch of things. I like making games; card games, board games, stuff like that, I enjoy puzzling that kind of thing out. Space. I love space. I actually got possessed last year, that was kind of crazy. I like things that have some sort of creative-“

“Wait. Wait a minute. Possessed? What do you mean possessed. Explain.”

“Oh, I got sculk sickness. Grian got it too, but not as bad as me.”

“Oh- oh no! That’s terrible! That’s- sculk sickness is not the same as getting possessed, Cub.”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you, but we got along.”

“What- What does that mean.”

“Well, Grian got it like people normally do. He was very ill, itchy, had the stuff growing all over his wings, poor thing, he really hates stuff between his feathers. But that’s how it spreads, right? Itching, getting the spores everywhere. That’s how I got it. We were kinda both in the hospital- away from the city, that’s where they quarantine people. Could you imagine how bad a big outbreak here would be? Anyway, we were both hospitalized, and everything was fine, but the staff weren’t really used to people who just.. walked out.”

“You left the hospital? Cub!”

“Well I just felt like I should. Sculk patients are mostly bedridden anyway, and early on, it was only growing near my hairline, at my back, shoulders; not places that were super obvious. No one noticed when I left the first time. Or the second time. Everyone knew my face after the third time, but that didn’t stop me from leaving a fourth time. Or a fifth.”

“Why. What- what could you have possibly been doing.”

“Spreading the skulk, bay-be.”

“What?”

“Again. Possessed. I wasn’t hostile or anything- mostly just a nuisance, I mean, there was a whole crew dedicated to cleaning up after me for a long time. They had to put a little tracker in me and everything because I just wouldn’t stop leaving and wandering around the countryside. It was pretty crazy. I’m still being monitored, which is pretty funny, but probably for the best.”

“And you got out five times? How did the staff keep letting you leave?”

“Oh, way more than five time. At least eighteen times I got out at least. They didn’t let me do anything, but they just couldn’t contain me. They put me in a jail cell one time and I just turned the bars to sculk. The poor guy at the reception desk, he didn’t even have a mask or anything, he was just terrified. He didn’t get sick though, again, I wasn’t out to hurt anyone. Probably the only reason I got out so much was because they kinda needed a special team to deal with me. Can’t just touch someone with sculk sickness, it’s too contagious.”

“A whole team of people had to take you back to the hospital eighteen times?”

“Oh, not quite like that. Two people at most, though it was usually only one woman. I liked her. She had spunk.”

“How did they get you back?”

“They just asked. I was pretty compliant. I leave, spread the sculk, and on the way back, I spread more sculk. I was perfectly happy with that. I even went along with most of the treatment procedures, though, I didn’t want to sculk to die. Obviously. We were buddies.” Cub paused, smiling when Scar gaped at him, “I don’t expect you to understand. No one really does, and that’s okay with me. Again, there’s a reason I’m being monitored. Well, that’s one of the reasons.” Cub lifted his hair so Scar could see the hairline, still dotted with dark blue-green sculk, shimmering gently in the low light. “Never got rid of it. You’re not in any danger though, don’t worry. It wouldn’t produce spores unless I wanted it to.”

Scar stared, in such shock, Cub couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah. They don’t think I could do that. Despite telling them, I can’t actually produce the spores on command, so they think I’m safe. I mean, they wouldn’t have let me out of the hospital if there was a chance I was still contagious. The sculk by my hair is dormant, it doesn’t produce spores or spread, but I just know if I really actually wanted to, I could bring it back.” Cub smirked, “You believe me.”

“I do! It’s scary!”

“Well you’ve got nothing to worry about. I have to visit my doctors once a month for some tests, as well as some experimental work, which they pay me for by the way, it’s great, and I get the okay every time. My doctors are quite exasperated with me though. In a good way. Like I’m a complete enigma and also crazy but they love that. Like if the cool bug they found on the street could talk, and also they could study it, and also it likes being studied. They do think I have brain damage though. They have yet to prove this. Grian also thinks I have brain damage.”

“I can not believe you were just going to leave this at ‘you got possessed.’ This is crazy.”

“I thought you’d ask.”

“Oh!” Scar looked a little conflicted on how to feel, which was cute, but he got over it quickly, “So how did you get better?”

“Grian told me I was going to die.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, not too glamorous. Honestly, everyone and their mother was shocked that even worked, but he just sat me down and told me it was not looking good. Having sculk growing inside of you is not healthy, and it was very much starting to do that. But again, we’re buddies, so I let them treat me properly.”

“We as in.. you and Grian..?”

“The sculk.”

“Right.”“I think once I wanted it to stop, it would have. I don’t think it would have killed me. Maybe that’s delusional. I don’t really care that much. It doesn’t matter to me how any of this makes you feel, by the way. If you’re put off, it’s your problem.”

“I’m not! It’s a great story actually- I feel like that might just be the craziest thing I’ve ever learned about anyone- good! Frightening actually. Does Grian get scared?”

“He was for a couple months. Very worried. Made me take the meds for the sculk while he was watching for at least two months before he relaxed a little. At this point he’s just accepted this as part of me. Doesn’t like it though. Sculk doesn’t like him either.”

“It- The sculk talks to you??”

“No, I’m fucking with you. The sculk doesn’t have feelings. It just wants to spread.”

“Oh. Okay.” And then, almost immediately after, “Can I feel it?”

Cub choked a laugh, mostly from surprise, “Okay?”

“You can say no, I was just curious. I mean, if it’s not safe to touch I don’t want to touch it.”

“It’s- That’s fine, you just surprised me. It’s safe, it’s safe. Here,” Cub pushed his hair back once more for Scar to see, who wasted no time before pressing his fingers, a little hard, mind you, against his hairline.

“It’s soft!”

“A little bit, yeah. Could you be a little gentler?”

“Sorry!” Scar withdrew his hand, sheepish, “Skin’s not sensitive enough to feel right without a bit more pressure.” Scar didn’t linger very long, curiosity still gleaming in his eyes, “So that’s been there for a year? Longer? And you’ve been taking medicine for it this entire time?”

“Well I don’t anymore. Believe it or not, it’s not very good for you to be taking glorified weed killers for months on end, so I’m not anymore. Weaning me off was stressful for pretty much everyone but me, but I’m still fine, so.”

“Oh, weird! I’ve never heard about something like this before!”

“I’m not the only case, but it’s rare enough that they still didn’t have any idea what to do with me. The oddest part for me is I remember everything, I wasn’t like, out of it at all. I knew exactly what I was doing the whole time. Spreading sculk. Just felt right.”

“Can I kiss you?”

Cub coughed, and then kept coughing, and Scar raised his hands in alarm, “I- sorry! I meant to have this be more romantic, but then I forgot how to touch people, and it was too awkward then, but I didn’t want to wait, y’know?”

“You keep surprising me, Scar,” Cub laughed, a soft wheeze, and Scar smiled, something so unfairly sweet.

“Is this really a surprise?”

“No, not really.”

“So?”

“C’mere then,” Cub couldn’t help but look away, suddenly overwhelmed, though while Scar did close the distance, he didn’t lean in anymore. When Cub glanced back, he was looking, and even through his cracked visor, Cub could see his lidded eyes, gently thoughtful.

“You don’t look very much like you did want this,” Scar mumbled, not unhappily.

“You. Make me feel shy.” Cub replied through gritted teeth, thoroughly embarrassed, but Scar only chuckled, a quiet, joyful thing.

“You make me feel like I’m on fire.”

“That can’t be pleasant.” Cub paused, glancing back, “This feels awkward. Put your arms somewhere, across my shoulders maybe. Scar did as he was told, mercifully quiet.

“It’s not always. I just had to know you.”

“I still don’t get that. Me of all people, I don’t understand.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

Cub snorted, “No.”

“I didn’t think so. But I’ve weaseled my way this far, haven’t I?”

“You make no sense to me.”

“Still want to kiss me?”

“I do.”

“You sure? I mean it, I can’t quite tell when you won’t look at me.”

“It’s just really intense to look at you right now. Maybe I could if you closed your eyes.”

Scar did so, no questions asked. And that made things a little easier, Scar smiling, his arms draped loosely around Cub’s neck. It was nice. A sudden wave of confidence spurred him on, pulling just a bit to get Scar on his level and promptly bouncing right off his visor.

Scar jolted and Cub did as well, frightened by the sudden stop. “Your-“ Cub stuttered, “I didn’t realize it was so bulky-“

“I didn’t either!” Scar laughed, and the joy was infectious, “I’ve never tried to kiss someone with this on actually, but that’s fine, we just have to switch our approach.”

“You’ve never kissed anyone?”

“HotGuy hasn’t. Civilian Scar gets around.”

“Does he now?” But Cub didn’t give Scar the chance to answer, “Doesn't matter. You’d better kiss me before we talk all night.”

“Little did you know, this was all a ploy to get in your coat.”

“Shush.”

“Okay!” Scar leaned in, admittedly, far more gracefully than Cub did, and while it was still a bit odd to feel the visor against his eyes, Cub was playing far more attention to Scar’s lips on his; gentle, soft. There was a kindness there that Cub couldn’t quite place, but he wanted to be kind too, to show he was listening, and moved deeper, hoping Scar would feel it. Scar pressed forward in return, his arms moving to hold instead of merely touch, almost desperate. Cub had never been held like this before, like he mattered, like he was the only anchor Scar had left to keep his feet on solid ground. Goodness, Cub felt anything but grounded.

Scar had a way of pushing his insecurities to the wayside. Cub had been nervous, very nervous to kiss him; it had been quite a while, and Cub would never have considered himself good at this type of thing regardless, but Scar was the perfect lead, outgoing, but also patient, and Cub felt almost impossibly cared for under his embrace.

Just as Cub’s mind began to wander to Scar’s mouth, and what it might be like to explore, Scar broke their kiss with a smile, his grin only growing as he breathed, ragged and goofy. Cub found himself chasing Scar’s lips, though settled to let their foreheads rest against each other, only a little uncomfortable on the crease of Scar’s mask.

“Was that alright?” Cub heard himself say, words only Scar would ever be able to hear.

Scar took a deep breath, he sigh long and content, “That was everything.”

“How do you feel about tongue?” Cub didn’t intend to ask so bluntly, but Scar laughed, a breathy thing, and Cub loved how he could feel every bounce of his chest, every movement of his shoulders.

“I’m afraid that might get me a bit too worked up, friend.”

Cub smirked, unable to help himself, “Is it so easy?”

“With you, I’m afraid the answer will be yes. And that sounds cheesy as hell, but I promise there’s an actual reason, it’s just a little odd and I’m not sure we’re ready enough to unpack that one.”

“An actual reason? What a treat that would be, if you’re telling the truth, anyway. If your ‘actual’ reason is just ‘The first time I saw you, I knew,’ that’s not an actual reason.”

“It’s not that, I promise.”

“Well what, then, you’ve gotten me curious now. Can’t be any odder than the sculk, I can handle it.”

“That is not the same thing at all. There is no way I can say this without it sounding so extremely sad and unsexy.”

“All of these things you’re saying make me want to know so much more. And I think you’re going to tell me, you’d just rather stall.”

“I- Okay. Listen, so there’s a lot of people here, right? Not human people. And not human people tend to be pretty sharp, have you noticed? Grian’s got it all, you must have noticed. Sharp nails, sharp teeth, even his wings can get sharp when he’s hitting you in the face with them, which is an experience I’ve had multiple times in the past couple weeks.”

“So you saw that I was human and that’s why you’ve been so smitten.”

“I- a little bit!”

“That makes so much more sense, why didn’t you just tell me before when I asked?”

“It’s a little deeper than that! It’s like- you don’t have any edges. You can’t hurt me- I’m never afraid when you touch me- I mean- if you touched me- and that’s very attractive.”

“..Alright.”

“See, I told you it would make things weird, it feels weird, but it’s not, not really!”

“I don’t think that’s weird, Scar, I’m just wondering how many people have hurt you when you’ve been intimate with them.”

“It’s not that. It’s mostly not that. The only people that hurt you when you don’t okay it first are assholes. I just like to feel safe, and you look so safe all of the time, and I’m hurting an awful lot as it stands already, so things like flat teeth and dull, chewed up nails really do it for me.”

Cub couldn’t help but smile at that last bit- dull teeth, what a thing to love, but his eyes wandered back to the injury on Scar’s side, the one he had probably been touching on accident.. gross. But no wonder he was hurting.

“Is that cut bothering you? Come home with me, Scar, let me fix you up. Maybe I can’t do as good of a job as your doctors, but I can try to give you a bit of relief. A washcloth, at least, to wipe your hands and face.”

“Ah- no no, that’s not what I meant. I have.. I just mean that I’m pretty messed up, I’m kind of just always like this. In pain. Internally. Most everything else doesn’t really bother me. Do I love having a big ol’ slash through my side? No. But I just.. don’t like the threat of pain, you know? And that’s always a threat, every moment of every day. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do than just relax, you know? Not worry about a single thing.”

“Noted. My offer still stands, though-“

“Noted!?”

Cub rolled his eyes, continuing as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “You told me you were exhausted when we met up, so why don’t you come and stay the night instead of trekking all the way back home. You’d have to be quiet, but I think we can manage. We’ve got a nice couch as well if you’d rather sleep alone. It’s treated me well for plenty of naps.”

“You- are you offering your bed?”

“I’m offering. But I’m a big guy, so you wouldn’t have much space if you prefer it.”

“If I could never sleep alone for the rest of my life, I would make that happen. And without my legs, I’m not very big, so I think we’ve got our solution, don’t we? I should warn you though, I am a serial cuddler.”

“Hm. That might not work. We’ll find out if I punch you in the face or not in my sleep. I’ve been known to be violent.”

“There’s a 95% chance that wouldn’t even wake me up.”

“Guess we’re a match made in heaven then, huh?”

Scar lit up, the change in expression unfairly hopeful, “Really? You think so? You think so?”

“I was joking, but I don’t know if I can say no to that.” Cub stared at Scar for a little bit longer, the other doing his best to look extra pathetic. This fixed him. “Moment of weakness. I can say no. No.”

“You know, I am quite happy with Almost Not No.”

“I’m happy for you. So is that a yes?”

“I would love to.”

***

“Cuuuub,” Grian called, knocking on his bedroom door. It was closed, which typically meant he was still in there, but he wasn’t answering, which was very unfortunate, because Grian had an urgent question, “Cub! Cub! I can’t find the toaster waffles and I know you wouldn’t have eaten them because I claimed them, so I’m going to need either a confession, or help.”

Grian huffed when he got no answer, pausing in his knocking, “It’s 1:00, I know you’re not asleep. And if you’re listening to music this loud, you’re going to lose your hearing by the time you’re forty. You forgot to send me your work schedule for this week also, I need that too.” He waited once more, but still there was no answer. Well. “I’m coming in, Cub!”

And then, muffled behind the door as Grian grabbed the handle, hardly even audible, “please don’t.”

…

That wasn’t Cub.

Grian threw open the door, shrieked, then slammed it closed, marching to and from the kitchenette, then back in, where HotGuy was cowering entirely under the blankets.

“Are you naked?”

“No! No! Cub just had to go to work, he just let me sleep, that’s all- We were up late, doing nothing, by the way, not that that’s any of your business.”

“Where’s your mask? Are you wearing it? Did you sleep with it on?”

“I- Yes, I did, and it was not super comfortable I won’t lie, probably-“ Grian didn’t give Scar the chance to finish, tearing the blankets off and assaulting him with his squirt bottle, resulting in many satisfying screeches. “Why- Why do you have that?!”

“For rats! Get out!”

“Like-“ Scar covered his face with his hands, “Rat rats or human rats- Do you guys get rats?”

“Both!”

“Okay, okay!” Scar finally started moving, but not very quickly, which probably had something to do with the lack of legs, “Give me- one second, will you stop it?” Scar reached a hand to swat at the squirt bottle, but Grian stepped back out of reach. He did give Scar a brief reprieve while getting situated with his legs, but the second that was over Grian began again.

“Did you bring anything? Don’t forget it.”

“This is so- unkind. You are not nice, you are not nice at all, you are mean. Why are you so mean to me? Cub likes me, he told me he likes me, so why can’t you just trust he has fine taste! I’ll buy you you’re fucking waffles it you just stop- I’ll buy enough waffles to fill your stupid freezer-“

“Okay. Bribe accepted.” Grian stopped with the water, pleased, “Go on then. I’ll text you the brand, and you can drop your peace offering right at the building’s front door. Valid for today only.”

“You’re joking.”

Grian raised the bottle, and Scar got right back to it, still hurrying, which Grian appreciated. “Peace offerings will be expected from now on, otherwise, I’d better not catch you.”

“This is unfair. Cub invited me over, not the other way around. I’m so telling on you, he’s going to be so mad! You’re going to be in so much trouble.”

“I doubt that. I think he’ll laugh.”

“He WILL NOT laugh!”

“Call him then.”

“He’s at work!”

“He’ll answer.”

“Fine!” Scar snapped, snatching his phone off the side table and swiping to Cub’s contact, grumbling the entire way. He brought the phone to his ear, glaring, and Grian smirked, spinning the bottle in his fingers.

“Cub!” Scar announced as the line connected, loud and scandalized, “Grian has just barged into your room, and since he’s seen me, he’s been spraying me with a squirt bottle even while I’m trying to leave!”

Silence. Then, over the line, he heard Cub snort. Grian’s grin only widened.

“Cub!” Scar wailed, pathetically desperate, “He’s coerced me into buying him waffles!”

“Oh, that’s good,” Cub said, and Grian cackled, doubling over, “I ate the last ones this morning and I did not want to get more. I’ll pay you back.”

“You’re not paying him back,” Grian cut in, and Scar was stuck looking helplessly from Cub to Grian, utterly, pathetically betrayed.

“Oh, and tell Grian if he got my sheets wet he’s got to change them. Thanks, Scar, I gotta run now. Have a nice day.” Cub hung up promptly, and Scar was left to gape at his phone. Grian sidled over, giving him a rough couple pats on the back.

“It’s alright, bud. It’s tough being number two.” Grian swiveled around, satisfied, “Now get on out of here.” He left Cub’s room, knocking the door enough to leave it halfway closed.

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