Chapter Text
As Finn's heavy eyes started to pull open he heard a soft, subtle snore. It was quiet. His eyelids drew apart, he was still with Boxten. He nearly screamed when he realized what happened, all he could do was sit there and wait, at least until Boxten was awake.
Finn closed his eyes, he wished he could go back to sleep but he couldn't. He layed there, thinking. Thinking about him and Boxten. What even were they? I mean obviously friends, there's no reason they wouldn't be. Finn's view on their friendship started to shift. What if Vee was right? Finn opened his eyes to take a quick glance at his arm with Boxtens blue bandana wrapped around it. It ached, he needed to wash the bandana and return it but he couldn't really do that at the moment.
Boxten produced a quiet yawn, his eyes opened just to be met with Finn's worriedly looking up at him. Boxten, of course, couldn't make out anything but an ocean blue blob.
"Good morning."
Boxten whispered, trying not to overthrow the comforting silence that filled the room. Finn's hands hit the floor as he looked for Boxtens glasses, once he found them he adjusted them on Boxtens head so he could see clearly. The bowl's expression changed to be a more light-hearted one.
"Good morning, looks like we woke up p-earl-y!"
Finn smiled revealing his missing tooth. Boxten gave a small chuckle and continued his gaze at Finn.
Boxten once again broke the comforting silence,
"Why don't we go fix your fish buddy? I meant to last night but.."
Finn nodded his head, he grabbed the dented fish toy and they got up from the floor. Finn turned the silver doorknob and he led Boxten outside the room. It was pretty early for when toons usually wake up, the only person awake currently was probably Tisha doing some morning cleaning, or Glisten getting ready to be "absolutely perfect" for the day. It was quiet nonetheless.
Boxten guided Finn to his room. Their rooms weren't far apart and Finn had been there countless times, but he still followed Boxten as if he wasn't sure where it was. He mostly did this so he didn't have to make conversation since it would be pretty awkward to walk beside each other without talking, or so he thought.
Though, what's so bad about talking all of a sudden? He talks all the time so why is it so different now? He wanted to be as close to him as he could, he felt the impending urge to talk to Boxten so badly, yet he just couldn't! There was no reason too, he just.. couldn't.
As their journey to his room concluded, Boxten slipped a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Finn followed his steps as they walked in. Boxten flipped a light switch revealing a tidy kept room.
Boxten turned his gaze to Finn,
"Can I see him?"
He pointed to the fish.
Finn looked down at his hands which were drenched in sweat at this point. He couldn't figure out why he was so nervous he just knew he was..? Maybe he wasn't nervous, just anxious. Maybe that was the same thing, maybe it didn't matter.
"Oh yeah." Finn .
Boxten held the fish and walked over to his desk, he began pulling out a set of tools and worked on the wind-up toy. Finn layed his head on the desk as he studied how Boxten was fixing his beloved fish. He always liked seeing Boxten work on things, he was really good at his craft.
Finn's gaze shifted from Boxtens work to him. He was mesmerized by how concentrated Boxten was. It was cute, that's okay to say though, because it's true. If you think about it, everyone is cute. At least that's how Finn justified it.
He continued to stare at him, he noticed everytime a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, every time he squint his eyes while trying to focus, every time Boxten would move the toy closer to his eyes to make sure he was working it right. Finn was more focused on Boxten than Boxtens focus on the fish at this point. Wow, he was really pretty.
The purple box sighed and wiped the sweat off his forehead, letting his eyes drift to Finn's.
"I think I did it." The toon handed it to Finn, leading him to inspect the wind-up toy further. He dropped it into his head and laughed.
"He's pearl-fect! You did amazing, thank you Boxten."
Boxten smiled in his pride, it was nice to hear something good about his work since he didn't usually get compliments on it.
A few moments went by, just them sitting in silence. Weird, confusing silence. It made Finn nervous once again but maybe a good kind of nervous..? It was the only way he was ever somewhat uncomfortable around Boxten. That was a rare occurrence though.
Boxtens eyes went from staring at Finn's face to his shoulders, then his arm.. His arm! Right!
"Oh uhm, Finn, did you ever clean up your arm? Let me look."
Boxten reached out and grabbed his arm, scooting his chair closer. Finn moved to the edge of his seat, getting as close to Boxten as he could while he inspected his wound. Boxten peeled the bandana off, revealing the scraped arm, the only difference being ichor wasn't rapidly leaking out of it this time.
Finn's face slightly glowed pink, not red but noticeable. He was a bit embarrassed that he hadn't taken care of himself and Boxten had to do it for him, though he was thankful that it was Boxten.
"Oh sorry, Sunray, did I stain your bandana? I'm so sorry I forgot to switch it out for a bandage, I should've taken care of it earlier."
Sunray? What was Finn even talking about? What a stupid nickname and an even worse time to use it.
"Oh no no, don't worry about it. I should be able to get it out so don't worry! Let's wash it out okay? We need to disinfect it."
Boxten assured it was alright. He sparked up from his seat and grabbed Finn's hand, pulling it slightly so he would get up too. Neither party let go when they exited the room, heading for the bathroom. As they strolled down the hall Finn avoided eye contact with Boxten no matter what. He was embarrassed, deeply embarrassed.
When they arrived to the washroom Boxten led Finn inside and they went to the sink. He let go of Finn's hand and looked for the first aid kit.
Toons didn't need to use washrooms, they just use them as storage areas for healing items since there wasn't really anything better to do with them. Well, Toodles uses them as hiding spots for hide n' seek. The only reason they existed in Gardenview in the first place were for humans visiting the area.
Boxten grabbed disinfectant and bandages. The sink ran water over Finn's wound, after a while they dried it off and applied disinfectant.
"Sorry again about the bandana.. I guess you could say I feel a little gill-ty!"
Finn giggled. Boxten chirped along with him.
"Haha, don't worry! As I said earlier, it'll be alright."
Boxten reassured for probably the millionth time. He wrapped the cleansed wound in a tight bandage. Finn moved his arm around to make sure it was secure, and it was!
"Thanks. Do you have the bandana? I can wash it for you."
Finn offered only for Boxten to shake his head.
"Don't worry about it."
And there they were, talking. Finn didn't feel so anxious or nervous or whatever he thought he was feeling earlier. He was just joking with his friend. His best friend. Soon after, they exited the washroom and eventually parted ways for the day. Finn took this as an opportunity to reflect on his feelings for Boxten.