Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Inigo awoke to the startling sound of booming thunder. It didn't help that the next thing his poor ears had to register was Owain's passionate yell of, "RADIANT DAWN!" A third bang tore through the room the instant Owain landed on his feet after having jumped down from his bed. "ROLLING THUNDER!"

Inigo turned from him, facing the wall, pillow pressed over his ringing ears. "I didn't sign up for this."

"It is but a choice only you can make," Owain said and cleared his throat, "waking up to these fretful but alive sounds of the early morning glory."

"Two, no three of them were just you making noise."

"I meant: Will you grow accustomed to these habits of mine or--"

Inigo sobbed. "What makes you think I will ever sleep in your presence again?"

"Don't break my heart, grumpy cat."

"Don't break my heart, my achy-breaky heart..." Inigo sang into his pillow, which muffled the sound, but when he realised what he had done he blushed nonetheless.

"Sometimes I find your taste in music to be highly questionable."

"As if yours is any better."

"Touché." Owain chuckled. "I couldn't have possibly known you are not a morning person so here goes nothing: What do you want for breakfast?"

"You're not carrying it up here just so I can stay longer in bed."

"That was the plan." Pride dripped from his voice and Inigo decided to fight his inner demon and roll around to face Owain. His hair stuck in every direction but for some reason, this registered as "cute" in Inigo's brain. He ran a hand through his own hair, hoping that sleeping on it hadn't caused it to go wavy in places.

"Uh." He tried to look anywhere but at Owain, but his ruffled bed hair acted like a black hole, sucking in all of Inigo's attention. "How about hot chocolate and, I dunno, an apple?"

"And a slice of bread with something. You don't eat enough."

"I've eaten plenty yesterday already!"

Owain crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and as long as you have me around, I'm gonna make sure you eat enough."

"You're acting like we're married or something."

Owain only shrugged in response. "Catch a few more Zs and I'll make sure you'll experience a wonderful morning." He smiled toothily and jumped out of the room before Inigo got the chance to spike his pillow at him.

True to his words, Owain returned with a tray in his hands about, Inigo estimated, 15 minutes later. "Sit up." Groggily, Inigo did. He wanted to scowl at Owain for waking him up so remorselessly earlier, but he was just too nice at the moment so Inigo settled on a smile instead. "Careful, your chocolate's hot."

"I thought you couldn't cook." He was grinning now, taking in the mugs, plates, knives and of course the sights and smells of the food.

"Doesn't mean I don't know how to make breakfast." He placed the tray on Inigo with great care, then sat on his desk chair and scooted over to Inigo. The look on his face was full of fondness (of what, Inigo couldn't tell) and a little pride.

"Well, thank you a lot." Inigo smiled at his friend. "No one has ever brought me breakfast to bed."

"There's gotta be a first time for everything, right?"

"Right."

Inigo had just finished cutting his apple when Owain asked in a small voice, "I'm not freaking you out, am I?"

"Why do you ask?" He shoved one apple slice into his mouth. The slightly sour taste was just right.

"When I told you I like dudes your reaction kinda hurt." He didn't cast his eyes down, his light smile didn't waver. "I hang on to the hope that it just came unexpected and the situation overwhelmed you."

"Okay, I... I'm sorry, I really am. I wasn't aware it, uh, affected you this much." Owain nodded solemnly. "But I haven't run away, have I?" Inigo smiled. "And I'll remind you of the two not unimportant facts that after your revelation I still cuddled with you and I slept in the same room with you. Which are all pointing towards 'Inigo's cool with it'." His smile turned into a grin.

Owain grinned even broader. "Lemme smooch you."

Inigo raised his eyebrows, narrowed his eyes slightly and put on a kissing face. He realised too late that they were virtually still talking about homosexual feelings and that Owain wasn't exactly being playful right then. He realised at the exact moment Owain pressed a short peck against his lips.

Immediately, Inigo jerked backwards (and fortunately didn't spill anything from the tray anywhere; it was still sitting on his lap as if nothing had happened). "Whoa," was all he managed. He didn't trust his voice to say anything more anyway, fearing he'd just stutter uncontrollably.

Owain looked at him with the most concerned expression ever plastered on his face, eyebrows raised so high that they almost touched his hairline. "I didn't mean to freak you out! I thought it would be okay. You looked like you were making a kissy face... and," a blush crept up his neck, and Owain averted his eyes and touched the back of his head, "well, your hair is cute today and you looked like you wanted it anyway and I thought what could go wrong, you basically just said it's okay to be gay--"

"Stop. Cut. No more." Inigo waved his hands in front of his body. Owain reluctantly rested his eyes on Inigo's once again. They were full of regret and unspoken apologies. He opened his mouth but Inigo spoke before he gave Owain the chance to ramble even more. He didn't care how much he was blushing himself right at the moment, he just needed to clear his mind and get this out of his system. "It wasn't meant as an invitation to just kiss me! I thought you were kidding."

"I kinda was, but the temptation was one even a usually strong-willed young man like the gre--"

"You're hiding behind your persona thing. Owain, look at me."

"And it wasn't even a real kiss, it was just li--"

"Can't you shut up for at least ten seconds and listen?" Owain remained silent and looked at Inigo like a kicked puppy. "Thank you." He let out a ragged sigh. "Remember when I told you I was confused? Twice?" Owain nodded. "I-I meant it as i-in," he took a shaky breath, twirling around his earring, face hot with blush, "se-se-sexually confused."

Blinking, Owain dared to ask, "So you're telling me you're not as straight as you thought."

"Right." The word came out as a whisper, so Inigo cleared his throat. His face grew hotter by the second. "A-And, you know, you're like this b-big teddy bear, like, you're a little eccentric at times but I actually think you're kind of cute, and I like cuddling with you, and perhaps I even might have possibly liked the k-kiss just now. Maybe." It came out sounding more like a question and Inigo was close to hiding his face in his hands or his pillow.

Owain reached out for his arm and held his wrist in a steady grip as Inigo was about to do just that. He met Owain's gaze with uncertainty, saw the broad, idiotic grin plastered all over his face and wasn't able to resist the urge to smile a little in return. "That's the best news I could have woken up to. Because the guy I happen to have a crush on," he leaned in so close his hot breath against Inigo's ear sent shivers down the younger boy's body, "is you."

Inigo's eyes widened even though he wanted to squeeze them shut and pretend he was asleep and this wasn't happening. His heart went so fast he feared it might give out any beat now. "What now...?" he whispered, dragging out the question as if this would delay the dreaded answer by any significance.

"Breakfast?" Owain suggested and reached for an apple slice on the tray still sprawled over Inigo.

Inigo blinked. He had not expected this. "I-I thought you were gonna go all mushy on me!" he said, watching Owain eat nonchalantly. "I'm in no shape to eat breakfast now..."

"To deny food..." He shook his head in a dramatic fashion, then he got up and sat down next to Inigo. "In favour of what?" He pried the tray from Inigo in anticipation and set it down on his chair.

"You're ta-taking it from me!" Inigo protested in vain. Owain was already back at his side, grinning, blushing, biting his lower lip, and didn't he look way too cute when he did that?

He met Owain's gaze. He was closer than Inigo had expected, so close even that he could hardly make out his features without them going blurry. A flash of white indicated his grin. "Now I'm gonna smooch you for real. Any objections?"

A weak, "I don't know how," was all Inigo, blushing mess extraordinaire, managed to croak.

"Let me teach you," Owain whispered. Inigo tilted his head a little more towards his friend (or whatever they were now). "Don't look so uncertain. You're gonna like it. And if not, then," Owain shrugged, "I'm fine with just cuddling you to death."

"Very reassuring."

Owain chuckled and leaned in. The kiss lasted longer than the short peck from before, and during a few more of these careful gestures, Owain dug his fingers into Inigo's hair. Somehow, their kissing became more messy and uncoordinated the longer they kept at it, a clash of lips and teeth and tongues.

When they broke apart, Inigo slumped into his covers. What had they been thinking? Probably nothing at all, and now everything was weird. But it had felt so good and so right, and he would do it, he would kiss Owain, again, without a second's hesitation if someone asked him to.

With an expression that must have looked even more uncertain than the one from before, Inigo shifted his gaze to Owain. He grinned like he just won a jackpot and shoving another apple slice down his throat. Simultaneously. Gross. When he noticed Inigo staring, now expression more disgusted than uncertain, he said, "You don't look like you liked it."

"I'm just wondering in retrospect how I could've liked kissing such a swine."

"So you did," Owain said, his grin turning smug. "Wanna be my boyfriend?"

Inigo's brain chose that exact moment to replay a horrible sound of train brakes screeching against the metalwork of the rails. A lightheadedness set in then, like he was close to fainting. He giggled and said, "This is all so weird. Like, if someone told me two days ago I'd score myself a boyfriend of all things, I would have probably laughed at them." He knew he was blushing madly and averted his gaze. It freaked him out already that his stutter hadn't crept back into his speech, all the tension drained away from him. "But here I am. Here we are."

"This is a 'yes', right?" Thunder cackled again, far-off sounding.

"Yeah." Inigo grinned. His cheeks were bright red but he didn't care. Owain looked just as bad, flushed from his neck to the tips of his ears. No, it didn't make him look bad but rather unfair amounts of cute. Inigo leaned to him and rested his head against his chest. His heart was racing and its pace almost in synch with Inigo's. "My hot chocolate's probably gone cold."

Owain shrugged against him. "Well, you got a hot stud instead."

"Wow. You don't sound conceited at all." Owain chuckled. "Also, 'stud'? Uh, I'm... A-Aren't we moving on a little too fast?" Owain's chuckle turned into laughter.

"I told you several times already that I won't try anything." Owain tackled Inigo with his shoulder, making the younger teen fall back on his back. Then, Owain climbed on top of him and smiled, no, smirked down at Inigo's widened eyes and parted lips. He leaned down to kiss him.

Inigo turned his head away after not even a minute, muttering, "Your actions contradict your words."

"My bad. I can't resist. You're too cute, Inigo."

"I-I'm not cute!"

"Shut your pretty little mouth," Owain laughed.

"My mouth is not little!" He turned his head back in protest and stared right into Owain's eyes. Which sparkled with a retort Inigo would regret hearing. Bracing himself for it, he asked, "What?"

"We'll hopefully see about that someday."

Inigo scowled, not understanding. "And by the way, don't start blaming me for not having yourself in check!"

"Oh my gods," Owain radiated excitement, "our first fight!"

"Stupid!" Inigo shoved at Owain even though he assumed this move would be in vain. He had not predicted, however, Owain's limbs turning to jelly and having the older teen crash down onto him. "Ouch."

Owain was a mess armed with a girly giggle and a cute charm that worked wonders on Inigo. He couldn't even pretend to stay mad at him. His heart was running a marathon, his blood rushing all up to his head, making him feel like he was falling. And perhaps he was. He slung his arms around Owain's frame, a still giggling heap of... those muscles felt good, even through the fabric of his pyjamas.

It was nice, just closing his eyes and taking in this sudden bliss through his fingers and his nose (Owain smelled good, and Inigo made a mental note to "borrow" his shampoo).

"It's funny," Inigo said, suspecting he was starting to repeat himself. "I've never been so... happy doesn't quite cover it."

"What about 'ecstatic'?" Owain grinned. "'Elated'? 'Thrilled'? 'Fortunate'? 'Overjoyed'? 'Merry'? 'Upbeat'? 'Please--'"

Inigo rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. He shut them against the pain before glaring at Owain. "Are you done pretending to be a walking synonym dictionary?"

"'Thesaurus'." Owain's grin widened.

Inigo pushed at Owain. He reacted by rolling over to his side and meeting the floor with a thump. Inigo looked down from the bed. Owain was still grinning but rubbing at the back of his head now as well, so Inigo asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yes. Only uncool." He grimaced a little as if he were in pain, then sat up. "It's not easy to impress your boyfriend."

"At least you're leaving an impression." Inigo grinned cheekily, and Owain shoved playfully at him. "Also, you love saying, 'boyfriend', don't you?"

Owain shrugged. "It's like a title. Being entitled..." he raised an eyebrow, "sounds positive. Don't you think?"

"Uh, does this mean I get boyfriend privileges now?" The word tasted weird on his tongue. No, not weird, just a little alien, and he was certain he'd grow to like it in no time. His heart beat a little too fast to be considered healthy, but this was something he'd get in check eventually. He hoped.

"Yep! For example, kissing, excessive cuddling, and," his face shone with excitement, "doing sappy couple stuff!"

"Meaning...?"

"Watching Titanic and slow dancing, by the way, you gotta teach me that one," Inigo nodded, "and having candlelight dinners and holding hands in public and giving each other rose bouquets and ice skating and--"

"Okay," Inigo interrupted, desperate, "I get it. You're a hopeless romantic."

"This," Owain's excited grin grew mischievous, "hits the spot."

"Riiight." Inigo cleared his throat. "By the way, is the thunderstorm over?"

Owain pushed himself up and looked out of the window. "It's clearing up already."

"Great...! Can I take a shower, then?"

"Sure. I'm just... gonna make more breakfast. We kind of lost track of the time there." Owain kept gazing out the window, blushing from the memory.

The display made Inigo smile. He got up from the bed and rummaged through his bag for a clean change of clothes, then turned to face Owain. "I'd do it again."

Owain turned towards him, grinned, and approached him with open arms. Scooping Inigo up (yes, up, he had to notice when ended up standing on his tiptoes) in a crushing bear hug, he whispered, "Now?"

"Y-Yes."

Owain lessened the force of his hug so that Inigo could regain his steady footing. Which he needed, because the tender kiss was making him all jittery, turning his knees to jelly while something in his stomach fluttered worse than his hammering heart. It was nothing like the uncoordinated clash of lips and tongues from before but instead a true gesture of caring and affection. And yet it was everything Inigo wanted at the moment.

They parted when Owain took a step back, his hands lingering on Inigo's shoulders. His whole face was coloured a rosy pink, which somehow complemented his freckles. He put on the brightest, cutest grin Inigo had ever seen, and it make his chest ache. He hoped he would never forget this moment.

"I have a question that's certainly going to ruin the mood," Inigo proposed, putting on a smile he hoped looked charming.

Owain raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Spill it."

"I managed to forget my razor and you know how it is."

"You still look fine." Owain cupped his face with one hand and Inigo leaned into the gentle touch. "And your face sure doesn't feel... beardy." He grinned. "Still gotta grow into full manhood, I see."

"Shut up!" Inigo withdrew and turned around, blushing and stomping off towards the bathroom. He'd have to check for stubble himself. Owain was an unreliable source and seemed to live by the proverb that teasing was a sign of affection or something.

Inigo inspected himself in the big bathroom mirror. Unlike Owain, he knew where to look for unwanted stubble. Unlike Owain, he also knew that his facial hair grew at a snail's pace. But having woken up to too much beard for his taste once had scarred Inigo for life, and he made sure to check every morning.

He froze when someone wrapped their strong arms around his waist, one of them holding a razor, the other one shaving foam. Owain rested his head on Inigo's left shoulder, smiling at him through the mirror's reflection. "I don't want your day to be ruined."

Inigo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Aren't you a thoughtful and considerate boyfriend?"

"Aren't I?" Owain grinned in self-satisfaction.

"This was sarcasm."

"Your attack modifier isn't high enough to wound my ego."

Inigo leaned his head towards Owain, not caring that the blond would end up with his hair in his face. "Keep telling yourself this and you won't even notice until it's too late that I've successfully found my way past all your defences right into your heart."

"Oh, but you already have." Owain tilted his head and press a peck to his cheek. He placed the items he still held in his hands to either side of the sink in front of Inigo.

"So I can wound your ego."

"You won," Owain admitted in a little voice. "This time. But I will prepare myself for your next blow!" With that, he dashed out of the room.

Shaking his head, Inigo sighed and locked the door. He wasn't ready for Owain walking in on him, and him having managed to creep up on him without him noticing was making Inigo jumpy. He didn't want this to happen again, especially not when he was stark naked.

The one sentence Owain uttered during breakfast that hadn't anything to do with Inigo's, in the blond's opinion, perfect hair (no, Inigo wouldn't take up on the offer to advertise for shampoo and other hair products in Owain's uncle's company) was: "We still have a lot of potatoes left."

"So what?" Owain grinned, mischief spreading over his face. "I'm not sure I'm still interested."

"Oh, no, just wanna get artsy!"

"Artsy? With potatoes?"

"Don't look so incredulous! Have you ever experienced the pure bliss of soaking rubber stamps in ink and then ruining your parents' bedsheets with your tools of the devil?" Owain covered half his face with his right hand.

Inigo emptied his hot chocolate mug. "I'm not going into your parents' bedroom."

"Ha! That's not what I'm getting at." Owain's eyes sparkled before his eyebrows drew in. "Yet misleading you has not been my intention."

"Speak like a normal person, please."

"Yes, darling." He grinned again, cheekily.

"No."

"Um, 'no, darling'?"

"No 'darling'! We're, like..." Inigo blushed. "We've been together for, like, an hour or so, so please," he raised his voice to make his point clear, "no affectionate nicknames at this stage." He sighed when Owain looked more hurt than he would have after having been run over by a truck. "In, I don't know, a couple of months, like, whenever I get used to the idea of dating you dork, then you may call me whatever you like. But. Not yet. Please."

Owain smiled throughout this explanation. "Duly noted." His smile turned into a grin. "Anyway, aside from cooking, I'm actually a kinda crafty person, so I was thinking about making potato stamps and putting prints everywhere."

"You can make stamps out of potatoes?"

Owain inhaled in a way that sounded so overdramatic it was ridiculous. Inigo snorted and hid his mouth behind his hand. "You were not aware? Inigo, your ignorance frightens me."

"It's not contagio-- I'm not stupid!?"

"I didn't say that." Owain's grin became sheepish. "You can be smart and not have a lot of knowledge, but pick things up with ease. That's what makes you smart. Not how much you know, but how well you learn."

"Well, according to my school grades--" Inigo averted his eyes.

"Which are not representative of one's smartness, I might add."

"Thanks." Inigo smiled wryly although Owain's words did cheer him up. "By the way, are you good at school?"

Owain put their breakfast tray away, then fetched some potatoes from the basket and laid them on the kitchen counter. "Yeah."

Inigo pouted. "Unfair."

"Hey, don't let it get to you. It's just stupid standardised tests that don't really measure anything. And it could be that you're just not used to high school yet." He handed Inigo one of the two knives he was holding. "Trust me, it doesn't get harder each year, despite what your teachers tell you. They've probably only been at school and college their whole lives anyway." Owain leaned down to smile at Inigo, who was misusing the kitchen counter as a pillow. "You gotta conquer your weaknesses. Turn them into your strengths."

"Funny."

"What is?"

"My mum tells me the exact same thing. I, uh, I'm actually kinda shy, and I try to be this outgoing kid, but I can't even bring myself to tell my friends I like dancing."

"You told me. And not just now." Owain's expression grew more affectionate. "See? You're already making progress."

"It... It just felt like the right thing to do. I knew I could trust you with it."

"I hope you can trust me with more than this." Owain laughed and scooped a little closer, his nose almost touching Inigo's. "Relationships are all about trust. Even more so long-distance ones."

"Shit." Inigo's eyes widened at the dawning realisation.

It was hard to tell due to their proximity that Owain looked confused. "What is it?"

"Long-distance relationship." Not seeing Owain at least once a week in person. Not being able to hold him and kiss him. They couldn't just move into each other's vicinity, or meet halfway; they were still high schoolers. "I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this."

Owain shrugged and put on a smile again. "We won't know until we try. And I'll fight for this to work out if I have to." His smile turned into a playful grin. "You're my precious..."

"That last part was creepy." Inigo heaved himself up to sit upright. "But you're right. And thank you." He leaned forward the last couple of centimetres to close the gap between their lips, Owain meeting him halfway with a happy hum.

Neither of them would give the other the satisfaction of pulling back first. Somehow, Owain's hands and Inigo's hair were tangled again, Inigo holding Owain close by his shirt's collar, and the kiss had turned deeper and more sensual the longer they stayed at it.

Inigo lost himself in the kiss and his thoughts drifted to places he was uncomfortable with. Not R-18 uncomfortable, no, but does-not-fit-the-situation uncomfortable. When he giggled, Owain asked against his mouth, "What're thinking about?"

"This is awkward and I hereby apologise in advance." Inigo sat back to properly look at Owain. "In my head I described, like, every room I walked into as 'spacious'." In response, Owain tilted his head to the side and drew up his eyebrows. Inigo giggled. "Your expressions are the best. I can't read them all, but... someday..."

"Lettuce."

"What?"

"Lettuce. It means, 'Never give up'." Owain grinned.

Inigo's eyes widened. "No. No no no no no."

"What's wrong?"

"My earworm is making a comeback." Rick Astley's deep voice became louder and harder to ignore by the microsecond. Inigo explained in the hopes to shut him out. "We didn't know each other back then. My friend is this internet addict, and she shows me, like, everything. And I'm," Gerome's words rang in his head again, "too gullible." Inigo made a face.

Owain's eyes widened and his grin grew greater. "She rick-rolled you?"

"Seven times in a row." Inigo squeezed his eyes shut at the memory.

"No."

"Yes."

Owain started laughing. So hard that he had to hold his stomach and wipe the tears from his eyes. So hard that at some point he couldn't hold himself up anymore, and Inigo had to walk around the kitchen counter and help him to his feet again. So hard that he had to excuse himself to the bathroom in a wheezing voice.

When he came back after a few more minutes, Inigo having waited in front of the door, he stumbled right into the younger teen's arms. Inigo struggled with holding him up (yes, Owain was still heavy), but before his legs gave in, Owain managed to straighten himself and stand on his own.

"My mouth hurts from laughing so much."

"This reminds me of yesterday." Inigo followed Owain back into the kitchen.

"Funny, huh? And we're even doing stuff with potatoes again!" Owain grinned, grimaced, and covered his mouth, rubbing at it with the palm of his hand.

"Oh, you're right."

"Aren't I always?" The blond chuckled and took one of the knives, cutting a potato in half. "Wait a sec, I'm getting a pen so we can sketch the shape before cutting around it. And I just realised we won't need more than one potato for two stamps, so you can make yourself useful by putting the others back." A sheepish grin covered his face as he dashed out of the room.

Inigo shook his head but did as he was told. Owain came back with two felt tip pens in tow, regarding them uneasily. "What, you afraid of pens?" Inigo smiled.

"No, but afraid we might break them."

"You can always get new ones."

"That's true." Owain grinned, spirits lifted again. He handed one of the pens to Inigo and took one half of the cut potato. "You know how it works, right?"

"You explained it, like, a minute ago, doofus."

"I hereby regret to inform you that I, the great Owain, Scion of Legend, am not a 'doofus', as you have unfittingly titled my humble personage." Owain sketched on his potato while he talked. "Instead, I act as a source of information and knowledge."

"I was gonna say that you're still adorkable, you know."

"'Adorkable'?" Owain hummed, arms crossed, and nodded. "What an appropriate yet seldom heard descript--"

"21st century."

Owain laughed. "Roger." He took the barstool next to Inigo and uncapped his pen.

"By the way, what are we gonna print on?" Inigo asked, already drawing lines onto his half of the potato.

Owain started working on his stamp, too. "Test it on a sheet of paper and then plaster my shelf in these prints. Well, as long as you're not making dick prints."

"I'm not that tasteless, thank you very much."

Owain grinned. "Credit where it's due." He cut away about a centimetre worth of potato around the shape he'd sketched on it before.

"Right. So, anyway, that shelf you were you talking about... Is it the one with the stars?" Inigo was cutting away now, too.

"Yep! Some of them are foam rubber and paper cut-outs, but the rest are printed on."

"Didn't this take, like, forever?"

Owain chuckled. "Time flies when you're occupied with something you like a lot." He turned to face Inigo, potato finished. "Or someone."

Inigo grinned at him. "Trying to score a kiss, are ya?"

"I can't resist your impeccable charms," was all Owain managed before Inigo shut his horrible persona speech up with a short kiss.

"I'm finished, by the way." Inigo wasn't sure if he should show his creation to Owain, though. He had wanted to make something simple but strong. His head had been occupied by Rick Astley and hearts when he started so he went with the latter. But now he realised what a sap he was and he didn't want Owain to laugh at him.

"Me, too," Owain announced and got up. He didn't show his piece to Inigo, either, so the younger teen swallowed his self-consciousness and followed Owain upstairs into his room. "I don't know which colour you need, but, well, standard ink is this atrocious blue screen tone and I don't need that in my room."

"What's a blue screen?"

"You must be blessed if you've never encountered one... Happens when your trusty Windows computer does just that and goes outta the window. Well, sometimes it happens when it freezes." He flashed Inigo a lop-sided grin. "It looks horrible, trust me."

"Okay." Owain rummaged through the drawers of his desk with the quill and dug out a whole set with ink pads in various colours. Inigo inched closer and peeked over Owain's shoulder.

"Which colour do you need?" he asked, setting the whole pad set on his desk.

Inigo turned to inspect the shelf adorned with the stars. Most of them were yellow, but some of them were silver or a deep and rich blue. Some looked like they even sparkled (but he knew they didn't, there was just glitter on them). The shelf itself was a rich mahogany or something; Inigo wasn't acquainted with different wood sorts. It was a reddish brown, at any rate.

The teen thought about which colours would go well with those already given, and of course which colour a heart would look acceptable in. "Well," he said, dreading having to voice his thoughts, "you probably don't have pink."

"Oh, you'll be surprised." Owain opened one of the ink pads and true to his words, an aggressive neon pink came close to permanently blinding Inigo. "It's not that... intense on paper. But I'd still get some ink off first by just putting a print on a sheet, then on the shelf. I don't need violent, glow-in-the-dark pink in my room." He turned and grinned at Inigo. "But now I'm curious what you made that's pink."

"Welllllll," Inigo said, drawing out the word, "you'll see during the print test anyway, right?" He grinned one of his practised smiles and hoped that would do.

It did.

But only for a couple of more seconds, until Owain had procured a sheet of paper from the same drawer (it had been stacked under the ink pads and Inigo hadn't given the drawer any attention). Sighing, Inigo pushed his potato half into the ink pad before pressing it against the paper sheet. He didn't want to lift it even though he knew he had to or Owain did have a reason to laugh at him.

He didn't.

Instead, he said, "Oh my gods."

"What's wrong?" Inigo asked in a little voice.

"Nothing!" Owain turned and gave Inigo a tight hug. "We're soulmates or something." He turned around again and copied Inigo's prior movements to make a print. His potato stamp left a heart, just like Inigo's had (albeit shaped more evenly). "Look! We're the same!" He bounced up and down. "Sorry, that's my idle animation."

"What."

"Nothing!" His grin widened. "I'm excited because we match! We both chose to make heart-shaped potato prints, and I think that's pret-ty neat."

"Phrased like this, yeah, you're right." Inigo grinned. "It's cool."

Owain scooped Inigo up in another hug. He pulled him to his tiptoes and Inigo considered all his life choices up to this moment. He wasn't used to being the smaller party, and he sure as hell wasn't used to not having his feet completely placed on the ground and on top of that being at the mercy of whoever it was who pulled him up.

Owain hadn't done anything to sound Inigo's alarm, though, so the younger teen returned the hug and nuzzled closer. Owain pecked him on the cheek before whispering, "We should totally cuddle all night long."

"Uh, how? Or rather, where?"

"Next door. The couch doubles as a sleeping couch. King-sized. Not quite as comfortable as an actual bed, but..."

"You make a good pillow."

Owain laughed and let go of Inigo. "I haven't yet evaluated your pillow qualities--"

"You're so heavy!" Inigo complained, and covered his mouth as soon as the words had left it.

"Objection! I can make myself light when I wish to."

"'Objection'? Uh." Inigo's eyebrows drew in in confusion. "Anyway, the few times I, uhm, experienced your weight, I was afraid I would get crushed."

"Objection! That was only because I did not realise your lack of muscle."

"Yeah, well," Inigo crossed his arms and, pouting, turned to gaze out the French windows, "not everyone wants to look like a freaking bear."

"You like it on others, though." Owain stepped into Inigo's field of vision and grinned at him. "At least on me. I caught you staring yesterday."

Inigo averted his eyes. His face started to burn and he wanted to cover it with his hands in a desperate attempt to hide it from Owain's snickering mug. "I... I don't know what you're talking about..."

"This." Owain grabbed Inigo's free hand and laid it on his tummy. "If you want to, you can put your hand under my t-shi--"

"Hell no!" Inigo pulled his hand back and took a few careful steps away from Owain. "Like, I'm... Sorry, I'm not ready for this."

Owain shrugged, but his face betrayed his disappointment. "Whenever you decide you want to move things one little step further," he shrugged again, "just go for it, tiger."

Inigo opened his mouth to give some sort of retort, but thought better of it and instead settled on, "Let's make your shelf prettier."

Owain nodded in agreement, closed the pink ink pad and carried it and the already printed-on sheet of paper to the shelf in question. When he passed Inigo, he leaned in as if he was about to give him a peck on the lips, but only said, "Be a little nicer to your elders."

Inigo made an angry sound as to not swear and followed Owain.

There was plenty of space between the stars left on it. In (what at least felt like) no time the boys had covered a good portion of the before-free space with hearts and somehow they were covering each other in prints now, laughing and arms and faces already glowing pink with ink.

"Wait a sec," Owain said, and Inigo froze mid-print. "This stuff won't get out of our clothes. It's either shirtless, which I'm cool with by the way, or we gotta stop."

Inigo hummed. This was a hard decision to make, moreso since he refused to have his mind occupied with Owain's stupid abs earlier. But he didn't want to ruin the mood by acting like a stuck-up prude, and printing pink hearts all over Owain turned out to be a lot of fun (not to mention that the colour complemented his flushed cheeks and oddly enough, his hair, incredibly well). The boy put on a grin and said, "Show me what you've got."

Owain chuckled. "Wanna see me pull off a strip tease?"

This caused Inigo to laugh. "Nope. Just wanna paint your nipples neon pink."

Owain shrugged, set his tools on his shelf and pulled off his t-shirt. Inigo's mouth went dry as he watched Owain discard of the white piece of clothing. He looked better up close, and better in daylight, and overall just unfairly good. More than good. Best.

Swallowing, Inigo cast his eyes down to the ink pad he held, pressed his potato against it and, with a shaking hand, against Owain's pecs. "Th-They're not gonna glow in the dark, right?"

"You'll be surprised."

"Please tell me you're just kidding."

Owain laughed. "Just kidding. I should grab a shower this evening, though." He shrugged and smeared Inigo's next attempt to plaster him with bright pink hearts. "I just had the idea."

"I'm expecting bad news."

"Nah." Owain ruffled Inigo's hair, his hand lingering and starting to massage. Inigo smiled to himself. "I made breakfast while you were showering so it's only logical you should prepare dinner while I'm off showering."

Inigo sighed. "What do you have in mind? Mashed potatoes with boiled potatoes and, I don't know, I could fry some more potatoes to round up the dish?"

"I'm feeling it."

"I was kidding." Inigo shook his head in disbelief.

"...Not feeling it." Owain's head dropped. "By the way, nice work."

He was smeared in pink ink (mainly because Inigo's hand shook rather badly whenever he steered it towards his boyfriend's chest), making him look like he suffered a severe sunburn. "It looks nasty if you ask me."

"Yeah, like some of my skin came off." Owain grinned, Inigo hid his face in his hands. Why did his own skin hurt now? He cursed his active imagination on occasions such as these. "It doesn't hurt. I just feel... unclean."

"Please get this off."

"Make me." Owain's grin widened.

Inigo was close to slapping his hand against his own face, and he was glad he couldn't because it was already there. Instead, he removed it, stomped off towards the bathroom and called, "You coming or not?"

"I'd tease you some more," Owain answered, voice growing loader as he neared Inigo, "but having your hands all over my chest is already satisfaction enough." He leaned against the bathroom's door frame, raising his head and reminding Inigo of that one horrible porn movie his "friends" sent him during middle school. Except Owain looked ridiculous with pink ink hearts plastered all over his torso, and of course he looked light years better. Inigo gulped.

"That's not gonna turn you on, is it?"

Owain approached him, taking a pink-coloured towel on the way, and shrugged. "How should I know?" He sat on the rim of the bathtub and looked Inigo straight in the eyes. "But if it's any consolation to you: I won't try anything if it should. Yeah, awkward, but wow, we're teenagers. It happens. Deal with it." He put on a cheeky grin. "And it's not my fault you're so hot."

"H-H-Hot..." Inigo gulped. He had counted on weird compliments making his list of things to worry about even longer, but this caused something in his brain to go haywire. "Uhm," he struggled, tongue tied and mouth oh so dry all of a sudden, "uh, you're... hotter?"

"Thanks. But. Are you asking me for my own opinion or are you not sure how to react?"

"The latter." Inigo pried the towel from Owain's hands and soaked it in water. "Sorry. I'm... not used to being, well, not straight."

"It's okay." Owain grinned. "I'm happy you got over your heterosexuality."

"Don't talk like it's a bad thing."

"No, but gay erasure is. And homophobia is. And not listening to your heart and reacting to your feelings because the person you happen to have a crush on is your own sex is." His grin turned into a smile, radiating with happiness and turning his cheeks underneath the ink a more natural, rosy colour. "I'm glad you decided to give it a shot."

"You know," Inigo said when he was sure Owain had finished his little speech, "you're really good at cheering me up."

"That's what I'm there for."

"No, you're not. You don't have to do anything for me and yet you do and make me feel special and all giddy and like I'm... okay, I guess I am falling for the first time in my life. For real. Not... I don't know. It's different from all the girls before you. I never even had the balls to ask any of them for their numbers. I'm actually this big loser and I don't know what you're seeing in me but I'm seriously happy that you do... uh... see something positive, I guess?"

"You're not giving yourself enough credit, Inigo." Owain leaned in and kissed him and did it feel good, and it was slow and tender and over all too soon. But there were things to be done, and Inigo could get all the smooching he wanted later in the day.

So he got to soap Owain's chest and rub at it with the towel until the skin looked little different from before but Owain assured him it was merely irritated skin and not remains of the ink. He even made Inigo smell to convince him he was right.

When they were finished Inigo felt conflicted, though, because he couldn't decide whether to be glad this exposure to Owain's body was over or if he liked touching him. More than he wanted to admit to himself.

"We should totally snapchat Gerome something," Inigo said after dinner (consisting of miraculously no potatoes at all, because there were enough vegetables in the fridge to make a colourful and just as delicious vegan pan even Owain loved, considering the lack of his favourite vegetable). They had ended up in Owain's room and were doing... not really anything. Inigo laid sprawled out over the bottom bunk and studied the wall opposite him, the photos plastered against the wall. Some showed Owain, some his cousin, and most of them people Inigo didn't know. A pang of jealousy twisted in his gut but he told himself not to worry. They were just Owain's friends. He wasn't polyamorous, right?

"What do you mean?" Owain looked down from his bed, upside down like a bat. "And who's Gerome?"

"Gerome is the redhead who came to pick me up when I first talked to you. One of my friends. And," Inigo sighed, "he always finds a way to make me look stupid. He said I'd never get a girlfriend."

"Well," Owain raised an eyebrow, which made him look all the more ridiculous, "so far, he's not wrong."

"No, but instead I now have a cool boyfriend! And when we send Gerome a snapchat of us, I don't know, cheek pecking, he will fume."

"Oh." Owain grinned smugly. "I like your way of thinking. I love setting things and people on fire."

"Are you my Homeroom teacher?"

"Not yet."

"Don't scare me. And anyway, I don't want to burn him."

"Well, is he a witch?"

Inigo's mind displayed a picture of Noire, and he gulped. "No."

"Stupid me, witches are female. So, is he a sor--"

"No! He does not indulge in magic and sorcery of any kind whatsoever. He's just an irritating smart-ass."

"Okay," Owain grinned, "we're gonna get back at him for his unacceptable behaviour towards you in a second," he raised one of his hands, causing him to dangle dangerously, and making him look like a fool because his finger pointed at the floor, "but I have one question first."

"And I have an order and that's get your fucking hand back to somewhere where you can steady yourself and not give me a heart attack from almost falling to your death!"

"Yes, babe."

Inigo was close to voicing his dismay at the inappropriate nickname, but seeing as Owain obliged and put his hand back up somewhere, he decided to let it slide. "Now that that's outta the way... what's your question?"

"How do you know your teacher likes setting things on fire?"

"We've been reading this horrible novel in Lit. Uh, my Homeroom teacher is also my Lit teacher. Anyway, the characters in that novel talked about how to best burn down the school. And then, I don't know, my teacher started, like, fanboying about the different properties of wood and which one to use best in a situation such as this. Like, when you want to start a campfire." Owain snickered and a smile spread over Inigo's face. "And he just wouldn't stop talking. Somehow, like five minutes into his tirade, it was all about arson and petrol and gasoline and I don't even know what else. And, you know, we were all sitting there, dumbfounded, because our teacher conveniently gave us a guide on how to best set buildings on fire."

"And you're telling me my teachers are weird."

"There's a potato fetishist and let's not forget about that white-haired creep who presented your slam."

"Hey!" Owain disappeared before throwing a pillow at Inigo's face with perfect aim. "He has his good points. He makes funny puns, he can talk to animals, I swear, he befriends all kinds of grizzlies and wolves--"

"This sounds dangerous."

"He's... not a good moral compass. But you have to see past people's flaws! Believe in their good intentions!"

Inigo sighed. "That's probably the only reason I'm friends with Gerome."

Owain grinned, hanging upside down again. "And we've come full circle!"

"Heh." Inigo chuckled. "You're right." He sat up to pull his phone out of his pants pocket. "Come down, we've got stupid selfies to make!"

Inigo should have seen it coming when Owain jumped down his bed again, but he hadn't, and inhaled sharply at the impact. Which was a good thing because his heart gave when Owain yelled, "SHADOW DRAGON!"

"You're not a dragon!" Inigo hid his face in the pillow Owain had planted there earlier, partly to drown out the noise originating from his idiot of a boyfriend, partly to hide the blush his second-hand embarrassment was painting over his face.

"It is but one of the nefarious beasts of the night--"

"Please limit your vocabulary to speak like a person living in the here and now."

"Would you annihilate our still blossoming relationship over my inappropriate yet correct choice of terms?"

"...Eventually, yes." Anything to make him shut up, Inigo thought, eyes squeezed shut.

"Aw, then I won't get to say that you may get to use your device to freeze our past guises in time."

"No, you won't. ...But you kind of already have." Owain giggled with glee. "You're stupid!"

"I'm a guy. Gotta goof around." He grinned broadly at Inigo when he finally dared look. Owain didn't miss another beat and jumped next to Inigo, pulling him into an almost choking hug.

When he let go, Inigo wheezed, "You make me lose faith in humanity."

"That's pushing it, drama queen." Inigo stuck out his tongue, too late realising this was the perfect excuse for Owain to initiate a lengthy make out session. Inigo whimpered when they broke apart half an hour later, Owain sprawled over him and not all that heavy. "Now that we're all warmed up, we can make your friend feel foolish." "I've been waiting for this." He patted the mattress to locate his phone.

They took a few photos, settling on one they shot on accident when Inigo slipped with his finger because Owain kissed him on the cheek without forewarning. But because of not having been planned, it looked the most natural out of them all and even Inigo who thought of himself as not very photogenic had to admit that he liked the picture. A lot.

"What should I caption this?" Inigo glanced over to Owain from his position of being pressed up between the wall and the blond.

"'T. F. W. No. G. F."

"What does this mean?" Inigo asked, already typing.

"'That feel when no girlfriend.'" Owain snickered. "It's a meme or something."

"Oh." Inigo laughed out loud. "Gerome's gonna rip my head off."

"...Is he?" Owain sounded unsure.

"Nah, he's just gonna kick my ass. But he deserves this." And before Owain could raise an objection, Inigo sent the picture.

"You think he's gonna reply?"

"Yep." As soon as he'd said it, his phone screen flashed with a reply from Gerome. "See?" The picture showed Gerome in mock-surprise, hand hiding his open mouth. The screen read, "conglaturation". A ping signalled an in-coming message Inigo opened with a frown. It was from Gerome, as expected, and linked to an article about how to keep your long-distance relationship going.

"Wow," Owain commented, "he is a smart ass."

"No shit, Sherlock."

He nudged Inigo, causing him to look at him. Owain grinned like a fox. "But so am I."

"...Frankly, I'm not so sure this is a good idea."

"Aw, c'mon. I want to make my boyfriend proud of me! Gimme a chance." Owain made a pouty face, making him look like a five-year-old.

"One." Owain's eyebrows drew down in a scowl. "That's your terms."

"Touché." He glanced up at the underside of his own bunk before he turned his head back toward Inigo. "So, is Gerome dating anyone?"

"He says he has a girlfriend. I've never seen her, though. I don't know anything about her."

Owain nodded. "Go on. Make him spill it. Text something along the lines of, 'At least I can prove I'm taken.'"

Inigo hummed in agreement and typed what Owain had suggested. The blond shifted into a more upright sitting position. When Inigo hit send and turned to look at him, Owain grinned with rosy cheeks and pulled Inigo into his lap. "What's this all about?"

"Proving my pillow qualities."

"I was already aware of them..." Inigo leant back and settled against his boyfriend's chest.

Owain hugged Inigo from behind and laid his head on his shoulder. "Then make good use of 'em as long as you're here."

"Don't remind me," Inigo said.

His phone pinged, signalling a new snapchat message. The photo showed a framed photo of Gerome with an equally redheaded girl, wearing her long hair in a pair of not girly-looking pigtails. Her expression showed that she didn't smile often, but she didn't have to smile to register as beautiful to Inigo. She was simply on the sexy side of the scale instead of the cute one. The snapchat banner read, "here u go, ini go".

Owain snorted. Before he got the chance to say anything, Inigo scolded, "Don't."

"Okay." Owain tightened his hug to draw Inigo even closer. "That doesn't prove a lot, though. Let's take another lovey-dovey couple pic and tease him he's alone at the moment."

Somehow, the very first photo Inigo took turned out to be actually good. It showed their intimate hug and the way they leaned against each other, and that was already saying a lot (at least for guys). Inigo captioned it, "u all alone rn huh?".

Gerome responded immediately, his smile blinding. "nope!" Owain and Inigo exchanged a quick glance, then the next message came in. It showed Gerome's desk and a lot of paperwork sprawled on top of it. "date w/ presentation due tuesday"

Inigo's eyes widened. "Shit. I forgot all about that."

Owain loosened his grip before putting more pressure into the hug again. "When's your presentation due?"

"Thursday. ...I think."

"Okay, don't panic. You still have plenty of time left, and if you go it on with a plan, you'll be finished in no time."

"But I don't have a plan!" Inigo slumped and Owain pulled him up again.

"You're forgetting that you have me instead."

"And that's gonna help how?"

"I'm two years your senior, I've been there, done that. And over the years you pick up organisational skills and so on. It's gonna be no biggie." Owain moved to kiss Inigo's neck and wow, he hadn't expected to be this sensitive there, and when a small moan escaped his lips Owain just kissed him more, and now his hands were pulling at his hoodie's zipper and...

This was distracting.

But moving on way too fast.

But it felt good and right.

But now was not the time. It was too soon.

Inigo willed his hands to grasp Owain's wrists and held him there. He gulped, not wanting to disappoint or even anger his boyfriend. "No."

"Sorry," Owain breathed against his neck, kissing it once more. He raised his hands and let Inigo get up to face him. Owain's cheeks were just as pink as Inigo suspected his own to be. "You're hard to resist."

"Learn to control your urges."

"Promised."

"Good." Inigo grinned and Owain beamed back, Gerome and school projects forgotten. "Now let's make out some more."

Going home sucked. But it had never sucked as hard as it did today.

The sky had cleared up from the previous rain shower and the streets were reflecting the sunshine in angles that made Inigo narrow his eyes so he wouldn't go blind. But even if he would, Owain would be there (at least until Inigo had to board the train he hoped wouldn't come), holding his hand the whole time.

Some people were giving them dirty looks (and whenever anyone dared, Owain would stare them down and Inigo would squeeze his hand and everything would be all right again), but most didn't pay them any attention. It filled Inigo with confidence, and Gerome's... well, he hadn't really reacted, but that didn't meant it was negative either. He wouldn't make fun of him for this, would he? Inigo hummed as he thought about this, Owain's thumb stroking his hand affectionately. No, Gerome wasn't that horrible a friend.

So there would be no harm in telling his mother, right? She'd probably sigh but still be happy for him. She liked watching all these weird rom-com chick-flicks all the time anyway, and didn't, like, half of them focus on gay couples? Yeah, his mum would be cool with it. Buy him ten boxes worth of condoms or something to celebrate.

They weren't that far in the book yet...

Well. Whatever.

Somehow, Inigo found himself standing on the boarding platform already. Owain was still holding his hand, looking anywhere but at Inigo (the train schedule seemed to be more interesting).

"Something the matter?" Inigo asked.

Owain's voice was faint, the effect even more amplified by a train coming to a halt at another platform. "I don't want you to leave." He turned his head to look at Inigo with a pair of puppy eyes.

"I'll be back."

Owain flashed him a weak grin. "You sound like the Terminator."

"You watch too many movies."

"I'll make you watch all of them. Your education in pop culture is lacking."

"All my friends and my own cluelessness at their obscure references are reminder enough." Inigo smiled. "You can give me some recommendations and I can start... right after finishing my presentation."

"You should also ask your rick-roller friend. Sounds like she knows her way around the world wide web."

"Oh, you'd so get along. Like, you two could talk hours on end with me sitting right next to you and I'd understand nothing."

Inigo grinned and Owain mirrored his expression. "We're gonna make you part of the club. And as a way to repay me, at least, you teach me some sweet moves so we can have ourselves all-night dance parties at the underground palace a.k.a. ou-- my basement."

"Deal." A gust of wind blew through the station, and Inigo shivered a little. The hoodie he was wearing (Owain's favourite, but the blond swore it looked better on Inigo) was doing an otherwise excellent job of keeping him warm, and Owain pulling him into a hug was always a much-appreciated gesture.

"Seal it with a kiss?" Owain asked in whisper, almost lost in the whistle of the wind.

Inigo didn't answer. Instead, he pulled Owain towards him by his collar and initiated a kiss that turned passionate rather quickly. Another gust of wind blew by them, Owain's grip around Inigo's waist tightening at the same time the dreaded arrival of the train thundered down the platform.

Inigo pressed closer to Owain in a doomed attempt to make their embrace more intimate than possible. The hug was turning painful, not only emotionally, but physically. It felt like Owain was close to squishing Inigo's spine, and the boy didn't care. No, he'd rather suffer some injury that would send him to the hospital just so he would be able to spend a few more days with Owain.

But that was wishful thinking. And probably even on the "careful what you wish for" side of the scale.

The train's brakes screeched, and they parted, Inigo's lips feeling swollen from the intense kissing. Owain regarded him with an expression of open hurt, albeit there was an underlying smile Inigo didn't miss. He smiled in return, tears close, trying not to let it show.

"I don't think we're getting outta this deal easily," Owain tried to make light of the situation.

Inigo stifled a giggle. "Yeah. So." He looked over to the train coming to a halt next to them. "This is it."

"It's not the end, though," Owain said, handing Inigo his bag. "It's merely the beginning. Don't forget that." Inigo nodded, not trusting his voice. The doors of the train slid open. "Text me when you're home, all right?"

"Yes," was the whispered reply. Inigo pressed a quick peck to Owain's lips, grabbed his bag and turned to enter the train.

He hadn't expected to become the victim of his wildest nightmare's theme song again, Owain's voice an almost perfect rendition of Rick Astley's.

"We've known each other for so long.
Your heart's been aching but
You're too shy to say it.
Inside, we both know what's been going on.
We know the game and we're gonna play it.

"And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see.
"Never gonna give you up,
Never gonna let y--"

Yes, going home sucked, but Inigo was gladder than ever that he could leave his dorky boyfriend, even if only until he was home again and turned on his computer.

And perhaps, Inigo tried to comfort himself, this had been Owain's plan all along, making the departure as easy on him as possible.