Chapter Text
“I think it was a sweet gesture, even if it was… ill-conceived.” Bruno closes the freezer door before continuing to put away the other snacks in his arms. “And you need to credit his enthusiasm. That’s important. Very important.”
“It was stupid . Next time he pulls shit like this I’ll shoot him. Breaking and entering. Self defense. It’ll hold up in court.”
“Yes, I’m not going to deny that.”
“Shoulda thrown him out.”
“No.”
“Kept the food, ditched the dumbass.”
“NO.”
“But, no . It’s a sweet gesture. So he gets to stay.”
“I’m right here, ya know. You could at least pretend - ”
“Shut the fuck up. Nobody fucking asked your stupid fucking opinion.”
“Fair enough. Did I ever mention how much I admire your makeup skills? Like, seriously, now that I see you without it -”
“I’ll kill you. I’ll make it look like an accident. I know how the system works and I know how to abuse it. I could frame you for murders from before you were born if I wanted.”
The cabinet door shut with more force than necessary, causing both of the men sitting at the kitchen table to jump.
“That’s enough of that. I think everyone here is very tired, so we should all get back to sleep, yes? Good. Let's go!” Bruno grabbed Abbaccio’s arm and started dragging him back out of the kitchen. “Goodnight, Mista.”
“Night.”
“ Die .”
“G’Night to you, too.”
Once the footsteps around the corner fade, and the door closes, Mista’s left sitting at the table, alone. At some point he started absentmindedly drumming his fingers along the mug of milk Bruno gave him. Fucking. Milk . The logic behind it makes sense, of course. Can’t give him coffee, right? Caffeine or something. But, again. Fucking. Milk . In a mug.
“Hey, think fast!” A bundle of clothes hits him in the face as he turns his head.
“Damn, that was some slow-ass thinking there.”
Mista looked down at the now-scattered clothes in his lap,in his hands, draping over his shoulder. Everything is brightly colored, patterned with pictures of various space-things, like stars, rocket ships, the moon, some rocks. It clicks after a second what Mista’s looking at.
“These are pajamas.”
“Christmas gift. I was s’posed to grow into ‘em. But I ain’t yet.”
“They’re huge .”
“Yeah.” There’s a moment where Mista’s trying to figure out whether or not he’s meant to keep talking about the pajamas. Maybe the conversation's over, or maybe he can just push through and keep talking and act like nothing happened, and this is just a normal sleepover they’re having.
“I made my bed.”
“Good for you.”
“Dickhead. Come on. I’m tired.”
“Yeah, me too.” Mista stands up from the table before realizing something very important. “The milk.”
“Huh?”
“The milk. I can’t drink it. It’s so wrong. What do I do with it?”
“Lemme see,” Narancia comes over to inspect the mug. “Just put it in the fridge, I guess. You can have it in the morning.”
“Got it. Cool. I’ll do that.”
“Yup.”
“You go on up without me, then.”
“Alright.” Narancia doesn’t move.
“I said, I’ll follow you up to your room in just a second. You go on ahead.”
“Nah, I’ll wait. It’ll just take a second.”
God, please, just go upstairs. Please. Please, for once, take a hint. Please. He’s not moving. God dammit.
“I was just gonna pour it down the sink as soon as you turned around. It’s so wrong, dude. I can’t.”
“Put it in your cereal or something. Don’t waste good milk.”
“Pretty sure it’s been poisoned, honestly.”
“Yeah, Papa was pretty mad at you for waking him up.” And probably for threatening his not-son with an impromptu makeout sesh.
“But, he wouldn’t like, actually poison me, right?” Narancia waits to think for a second, maybe a second longer than it should really take to figure out if his not-dad was gonna poison someone.
“Ya know what, actually? Just pour it out.”
Shit, that bad, huh?
“Ya don’t have to sleep all the way on the other side, ya know?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mista absolutely knew what he’s talking about. In an attempt to avoid making things awkward, he’d strategically positioned himself to be literally hanging off the bed, with one leg propping him up so he won’t fall. Is it comfortable? No . Does it really provide that much of a buffer between them, considering how Narancia’s bed was probably intended for toddlers? Of course not. Can he actually maintain holding up his entire body weight with one leg until morning? Probably yes, he’s buff as shit!
“You’re gonna fall off and break your ass in like, an hour, and that’s gonna wake me up, and it’s gonna wake everyone else up again, which you definitely don’t want. So just get over here, yeah?”
Those are all extremely valid points. He’d only narrowly escaped a beatdown from the world’s angriest goth already tonight, and he’s not gonna have that kind of luck again. Actually, refusing would only make him more suspicious right now. And if Nara was the one to offer it, it’s not like he’s the one being weird about it. Except that he is the one being weird about it, because he’s thinking about gay shit when Nara’s just being nice.
“Yeah, okay, sure.” Mista schooched about half a centimeter further onto the bed. Please let that be enough. No such luck. Narancia wrapped his arms around him and dragged him fully onto the bed before he had time to complain.
“You, uhh,” Mista stumbled for words, still shocked at the core strength on this twink. “You planning on lettin’ me go anytime soon?”
“Nope. You plannin’ on lettin’ me sleep?”
“Fair enough, I guess. I’m still in panic mode, though. I almost died tonight, ya know.”
“It would’ve been for a good cause. For snacks. For me.”
It’s good to be back on solid ground, cracking jokes and stuff. Even though they were only on bad terms for a few hours, it felt so much worse for so much longer.
“I’d die for you anytime, my bro.”
… Okay, that was definitely pushing it. But Nara was laughing, thank God, and still wasn't shoving him off the bed. He was actually snuggling closer, which was… really sweet. Shit, wait. NO. Not sweet. Friendly! Friendly broship between bros.
“I’d die for you, too, bro.”
Dontgetabonerdontgetabonerdontgetaboner. Think of something to say to keep the conversation going. Now now now NOW!
“I mean, you kinda already did.”
“Only a little bit. I got better.”
“You took a break from life.”
“I took a really good-ass nap.”
“You visited the farm upstate where the old dogs go.”
“Death didn’t want me.”
“Return package to sender. It’s dumber than we expected.”
“Did you try turning it off and back on again?”
They would be laughing right now, both of them, hysterically, but it’s so late it’s technically early, and it’s not worth the risk of parental rage and separation. This is how things are meant to be. How they always were until recently. No fighting, no overanalyzing everything. Just making jokes and being stupid together.
“Well, I know I turned it off today!”
It sucks that it’s over though. It was kinda, really, super fun. Even if the end was a bit iffy. Whatever. Mista’s still got his best friend at the end of this, and that’s the most important thing for him. So even if he didn’t get that smooch, he’s happy in the end, right?
“Yeah, but not really.” Narancia’s voice snaps him back out of his not-gay thoughts.
“Whuh?” Elegant response, Mista. Ten out of ten. Poetic genius .
“Nuthin. Hey, unrelated note, wanna rematch?”
“ Whuh? ” There’s no way he means what Mista’s thinking. The bet’s over, and you don’t play the same gig twice. You find a new bet, and do that instead. Narancia already won, he’s not gonna push his luck and risk losing his precious snacks for nothing.
“Good! Glad you agree. Rematch time!” Narancia starts squirming, or scrambling, or something, so get closer to Mista, despite the best efforts of the sheets tangling up his legs.
“ WH - ”
Before Mista can even finish the thought, he feels the impact. Narancia’s face is very warm and soft, and he tastes like peppermint. Oh, shit. Did Mista brush his teeth? He wanted to be a gentleman and he’d be damned if this wasn’t nice for Narancia, too. Because honestly? This was really nice.
Sighing, Mista subconsciously put his arm across Narancia’s frame and pulled him in closer. Nara hummed in what sounded like appreciation, parting for a second only to dive back in.
Narancia seemed eager, although unskilled. It was pretty sweet though, Mista had to admit. Narancia was pressing his mouth against his pretty hard without much technique, and every once in a while he would kinda… Bite Mista? Like, yeah it hurt, but it was really cute. Smiling into it, Mista pulled back and could practically feel the heat from Narancia’s blush hitting his face. Not that he was any better.
Mista breathed out, trying to process what just happened.
“I lose!”
“Huh?”
“I lose. I lost the rematch, duh.”
Mista blinked.
“We still doin’ that?”
“No, dumbfuck. I lost. It’s done! You win, so whatchu want?”
“Uhhhhhh,” Mista really needed a second to process all the new information he’d just gathered. First of all, he’s either totally in the clear from whatever parental rage he’d provoked earlier, or about to be murdered, and he doesn’t really care which at this point, because second of all, Narancia liked him. Like, liked him liked him. And third of all, he can ask for whatever he wants considering how much cash he blew on snacks, so he’s gotta make sure his choice is logical and - aw, fuck it.
“More kisses?”
He was met with a grin so bright he could see it through the darkness.
"Okay."