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“I might have to battle my sister over this, and it would be all worth it!” Krel took another slice, stuffing it into his mouth. “It’s just so unequivocally good!!” He hummed contently, already grabbing another one. “How do you call it again? Pep-pep-roni pizza?”
Seamus snickered, because darn it, if the Latino genius in front of him wasn’t absolutely adorable with tomato sauce all over his face. He couldn’t bring himself to tell him, maybe it was seeing such a usually stoic and apparently uninterested person getting himself so into something that wasn’t code numbered. Like that wasn’t enough, it was a big victory for pizza lovers like him against the evil burrito fans.
Not in his house. Here, they are all pepperoni knights.
Seamus lied down on his side of the couch, grabbing the last piece from his carton. The everlasting ending credits were still rolling on the screen, they had since the pizza guy had arrived.
“It’s super tasty, isn’t it? I know the best pizzeria of Arcadia! After the advent of the Mexican tracks it’s getting less clients, but I’m still loyal. My Saturday night for you. No matter what I do, it always involves pizza.” Going to the disco with the guys, getting a movie right after dinner, being forced to do scavenging with Steven and Eli – man things had changed since they used to stick that little nerd into the locker. After that, always the circle of life and mozzarella cheese.
Krel hummed, a drop of tomato caressing his cheek. And that went to weirdly alluring to cute as soon as the Latino finally noticed the inappropriate condition of his face, pouting and stuffing his nose into a towel when he noticed Seamus giggling quietly.
“That is not the right behavior of a landlord.” He smirked, taking another towel. “It was kind of you to invite me to your weekly recurrence.” He tossed it to the other, right on his face.
Seamus laughed more, rubbing his fingers on the cloth.
“You’re welcome, I wanted to watch that movie anyway. It’s better in company.” Animation wasn’t his cup of tea, but an astronaut getting on a fully populated alien planet? that was his jam.
Krel huffed, crossing his arms.
“A pretty unreliable one, if you ask me.”
“What? Come on, like you know better! I’m sure astronauts out there are doing their best to try and find life on other planets. Give it a few decades, we’ll get a better movie.” Seamus winked at him. “Trust a cadet from the space camp. Besides, there are other movies about aliens. Sometimes I get the others to watch them with me, I’m an expert.” He gave him a superior lo-
Brown. Deep. Bright.
“… I know Steve wasn’t available, since he’s out with my sister. And Eli got hurt at his foot during their last adventure in the forest.” One would think would learn after Battle of Bands. “I guess the girls are doing girly things, but your other friends…” Krel shrugged slightly, between his fingers the crust of the last piece of pizza.
The music at the television changed. Seamus came back to his blank mind and managed to lower the volume, swallowing. He should know at this point, not to cross eyes with him. He had no control over it, and his brain just loved to mess with him whenever it got the occasion, especially with thoughts that definitely couldn’t be included into a nice evening between friends.
He spied to other, hoping he wasn’t thinking so hard he could be heard. Krel was looking down, tapping distractly with his foot. In a pretty defensive position.
Seamus couldn’t help but smile, mouth half-opened.
Was that insecurity? From him?
“Tarron, I invited you because I wanted you to come. You’re not some rebound, don’t even think about it! Besides…” He looked down at the table, near the cartons of pizza, where a book of math exercises was left untouched. “I can assure you, no one I know could bare the thought of being a room with math, alien movies and pepperoni pizza at the same time.” Those traitors Mexican lovers.
Krel gaped, blinking rapidly. Slowly he smiled, tossing the crust into the carton.
“I see. In that case I am delightful to be that person.” Seamus found very hard not to grab his hand, now that would had been extremely not evening between friends related. “So you weren’t kidding, your father really did leave you exercises for practicing.”
Seamus shrugged, sitting back beside him.
“Space camp is safe, but let’s just say ‘winning’ with such a narrow margin really got on his nerves. It’s not a big deal though, it won’t take long for me.”
“It would take even less for me.” Krel smirked at him.
Seamus grinned back. After the Math Duel it became routine, and it was extremely stimulating.
“I smell some good challenge over here, I’m sure we can arrange something. But first, do you want some ice cream? I think we have some chocolate and raspberry left in the freezer.”
“… what is an ice cream?”
Seamus gasped loudly and literally launched himself into the kitchen. Five minutes later he was back on the couch, two big cups on the table with one scoop of each flavor, chocolate dressing and whipped cream on the top. In a flash of creativity, he decided to add some crumbled nuts. The first time needed to be absolutely perfect.
Krel gave him a weird-out look, before taking a spoon and have a taste. He widened his eyes, his eyes getting lucid.
“… I believe I just found humanity’s reason to live.” That guy understood him so much. “Though I think this amount of calories is a bit excessive, especially at this hour. You do this every Saturday?”
“Well we don’t always have ice cream, but the neighbor likes to bake, so…”
“Isn’t that a little unhealthy?”
Seamus shrugged, digging in his cup.
“I wouldn’t mind dying of this. Besides, I do a lot of jogging, I train with Steven at least twice a week, and I don’t have that much of a messy diet. I would say I’m keeping myself pretty fit.” He sneaked a glance at his guest, proudly smiling, showing his most charming sid-
“That’s undeniable.” Barely a whisper.
It gave him goosebumps.
“What did you say?”
“Uhm! So, equations? I love those!” The Latino quickly opened the book on the table, turning pages over and over again without even looking, laughing nervously out loud.
Seamus swallowed, sitting back again.
That.
That was the reason he really invited him.
Being a third wheel for Steve and his new-found gorgeous girlfriend was one tough burden – maybe a second third wheel, since he always got called only when Eli wasn’t available –, and Seamus was mentally prepared to at least try to pretend he was enjoying himself between the two love birds. He did not expect to share the infamous title with said hot date’s brother, especially not with the one that completely destroyed him at math, and did the only selfless thing someone ever did to him at the same time. What to do in this kind of situation, if not interacting hoping to forget whatever mess their “bros” had put them in?
… forgetting? Talking to Krel felt like the entire world disappeared. Yes, they shared a pretty darn good brain. Yes, they were both really into music – DJ Kleb had been amazing, the only good thing happened during that crazy day. Yes, Krel was the only one he could talk about space camp and not have his pitiful glare directed on him, like being a space geek was a curse.
It felt nice. Too much, maybe. That probably drove him crazy enough to invite Krel over for dinner and math. Because it was a thing now. Pizza and math.
… man he was pathetic.
Seamus got closer to him, clearing his voice. If he really had something close to a chance, it was focusing on that. Nothing wrong and unpredictable could happen into the exact science that math was. He was in a safe territory.
“Any interesting ones?”
“Negative, they don’t have more than three unknowns! What’s the fun in that?”
Seamus half smiled at that. That was a first.
“You have fun at math? The evil mathematic?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t even try to excel otherwise.” Krel looked at him. “Do you?”
Seamus held his breath, hearing his dad’s angry shouts back at primary school, at his first and only b on a math test – at least before the Tarrons advent. Going to bed without dinner. Having his phone confiscated. Grounded for a week. And yet it all felt like nothing, compared to the look of furious disappointment in his old man’s eyes, red with anger. Making mistakes in a mark this accurate, that was inexcusable.
With that reminder always in the back of his head, it was hard to concentrate sometimes.
Seamus looked up, hearing an annoying echo in his mind.
“I like to be the best. And having the entire world being explained with numbers and symbols makes me feel good, you know? Like there’s nothing to be worried about. I don’t think I love it, but I guess I enjoy it.” He sighed, feeling light. It wasn’t normal, talking like that about his specialty, something that was supposed to get him a job someday. But who cared? He never did, that’s why he never said it out loud. There was no one he could talk about it. Not Steve, not Logan, not the girls, no one.
But him .
Krel nodded, getting his notebook and writing down an equation. He smiled a little, tracing the numbers mechanically. There was a certain elegance into it.
“I love math because it’s universal. Everyone uses it and cannot deny it, it’s like the ultimate law of the universe. When I feel left out or… even alone sometimes, I focus on my work and how everything completes everything in a massive equation where we are all part of it.” He stopped, giggling. “Apart from the technical part, this kind of inspiring speech is more my sister’s thing.”
That sound, darn it. Seamus had it bad. So bad. Inviting him over had been such a horrible idea. And he still, still couldn’t regret it. Being alone at home doing dad’s exercises wasn’t fun. With him, it was the best he could had ever hoped for.
He grinned at him, trying to ignore the press in his stomach.
“Pepperoni and ice cream combined gave you some kind of elocutios power?”
“That stuff is better that calculus. I’d say, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Seamus laughed. His cheeks were on fire, his mind was just full of him. The house was empty, and on the background in a low volume the music of the credits was still rolling. It was Saturday night, and his phone was flashing of probably all the messages Steve left of whatever adventure he went to this time.
He sighed contently, smiling at the other.
“You know, I usually do this on my own. It’s nice to have someone around. Someone like you.” No. Wait. Was that too explicit? Maybe too much? No way to tell, his dating skills weren’t exactly impeccabl-
Wow . If Seamus wanted nothing but capture this moment and held it forever inside of him. Was it because of his tan skin? The blush got stronger only right under his eyes, and those deep brown irises shined so much that for a moment he thought a shade of light blue covered them. Like the sky mirrored into his eyes. Beautiful.
Krel cleared his voice, his lips parted, his movements not that convinced anymore. He concentrated on the book, but his shoulders were moving timidly.
“Well, y-you did point out a valid concern, I also often find myself on my own during this kind of activities. I guess I never found… I don’t know, someone with my superior intellect?” Seamus almost elbowed him, but stopped when they locked eyes again. “What I’m trying to say is, I also think it is nice to be here… with you.”
Oh man.
Oh man .
Was that a hint? Could he really go for it?
Krel looked simply astonishing, out of himself and shy, tapping nervously his pencil on the table. His hold wasn’t correct, almost like he barely used writing tools at all in his life. Was Seamus really that over the heels to find even that little detail incredibly cute?
They stayed silent for a while, while Seamus wrote down the equation as well. It was a pretty simple one, wasn’t the Latino that lost in thoughts he would had done it in a second. Was he uncomfortable? Making Krel feel bad was not an option, not after all the jealousy and discrimination of the very beginning.
Not matter what happened, things were different between them. Starting from this. Seamus looked at the exercise. He smiled.
“How about Math Duel take two?”
Krel animated all of the sudden, giving him a surprised look. Then he smiled with superiority, and darn it, the blush was still there.
“You’re on, Johnson.”
To be fair, he did his best. Already knowing not to stand a chance. Somehow as soon as he got to read it once, like it was just some dumb poetry, the Latino immediately got to work. His eyes were fixed and kept shifting all over the paper, while the solution kept getting bigger and bigger, the numbers less many and more specific. His focus and enthusiasm were something Seamus could only dream of. And it was fine. Somehow, it felt nice that someone genuinely fascinated by math was better than him. It felt right.
Krel finished and hit the table, smirking in victory.
Seamus shrugged, going for the solutions sheets at the end of the book. No doubt it was correct, he wondered if the Latino was an A+ math student in Cantaloupia as well. If he won contests, seeing just how good he was. At least one award was needed for someone this fas-
Oh. Oh. An idea. A really cheesy, out of character idea.
His heartbeats got faster. He looked at the answer.
“… correct.”
Krel huffed with satisfaction.
“That was obvious.”
Seamus swallowed, feeling his hands getting sweaty. That wasn’t his usual style, that sounded like the silly and pretty embarrassing stuff… Steve would do. But he did score with the beautiful Aja, didn’t he? Not like Seamus did much to improve the situation between them anyway. He could try. Just try. He could think of a backup plain during the ride.
… hopefully.
He invited him just for that, right? He saw many hints from him, right?
“I think you deserve a prize.” There was no turning back. Holding himself together was incredibly hard, his voice was cracking horribly. Outside math nothing was easy. His usual world was simple to read, because he spent all his life studying it. But now, it was unpredictable, impossible to foresee, almost everything involving-
The Latino frowned, circling the right answer with the pencil.
“For such an easy exercise? I’m sure we could find a better challenge to determine an actual…” He looked incredible from this close, his widened eyes, his thin lips. “H-huh?! I… you’re… what…?” His caramel skin, the warmness radiating from his skin. “S… Seamus…”
His name. This near. This low.
Seamus closed his eyes and kissed him. Just one peek. His lips were tender and tasted like ice cream. Just a little longer. It felt warm and light. Is this really happening? Then, he felt Krel’s hand timidly reached his. It is. It is! He sighed on his lips, feeling more, wanting more, while his arm went on his own around the Latino’s back. Slim, light. Krel’s head inclined a little, and he hummed as the kiss deepened, while his hand climbed his back and grabbed his shirt.
A sweet sigh came out of his mouth as soon as Seamus pulled away, staying close enough to make their noses brush together. His lips got immediately cold. Right in from of him was Krel’s beautifully reddened face, his eyes half-lidden and unfocused. He was so close he could hear his breath, his hands shaking.
He leaned once again, his heart screaming for it, his mind unable to hold it back. His heartbeats were loud, echoing in his blank mind. It felt like flying, it was like flying. Krel’s other hand went to his neck, sighing softly, giving him shivers.
This time it was the Latino that backed down, holding Seamus’ arms and leaning his forehead over his shoulder. He was panting softly near his ear, it made his chest warm.
Was him his first?
“… Krel?” His voice was so low he barely recognized himself. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. His hands went down, around his torso, hugging him close. His constitution was so different from his. It was perfect in his own way.
“I never… I mean… it took me by surprise. How kissing can, huff, take your breath away. But…” He hid his nose into his neck, making him shiver. “I really liked it. I really… like you. You know I do, right?” He laughed weakly, snuggling closer, like he couldn’t help but search for that connection, again and again.
Seamus felt his mind reconnecting, enough to put his hands on Krel’s shivering back. But his thoughts were still randomly wondering over that warm mist inside his head. Feeling beautifully numb over the situation.
“Was I supposed to?” The Latino gulped in his arms. “How?”
“I thought I was feeling it so much you were going to notice. I was… am… burning inside. I can barely process it, and it makes me really uneasy.” He sniffed a little, his cheek on Seamus’ shoulder was warm. “In a good way. If that even makes sense. It probably doesn’t, the world outside math and machines is so confusing.”
Seamus swallowed, his hands started to caress his back on their own. He felt shivers under his fingers, it woke him up from his torpor. It was actually happening.
“It is, does, uhm. It’s okay.”
“If you say so.”
“I mean it, come on.” He pushed his shoulders a little, looking at him. “Look at me.” He wasn’t, and it was torturing him. Everything was out. He wasn’t going to spend another minute without having everything about him.
Krel tightened his lips together.
“Only if you stop doing that thing with the eyes, you… you keep staring at me, continuously! That distracts me, okay? As soon as I notice you, I can’t help but thinking about you…” He crossed eyes by mistake, and couldn’t look away. “And… my mind is so full of you already, I… I’m afraid it might explode.” He grabbed the other’s shirt, his fingers trembling.
Seamus melt inside. He couldn’t resist, he leaned and kissed him on the cheek. It was like the red on his face was making his tan skin more vivid. His eyes were magical.
“I don’t think I can stop, I just… really like you too, you know.”
“… was I supposed to?” Krel giggled nervously.
Seamus smiled, feeling all he had in his chest coming out.
And Krel noticed, somehow. His smiled disappeared, but his brown eyes got more intense. And then he put his arms around his neck, kissing him slowly, sighing softly between their lips. Seamus closed his eyes, letting himself go, feeling good and calm for once in his life. His hand caressed the Latino’s cheek, then slowly went down to his hip. The music disappeared from his ears, there were only Krel’s sweet hums and the heartbeats up on his throat.
Seamus lost himself into him, warmer and deeper, to the point he almost felt like fainting. So he pushed Krel a little, letting him fall with his back on the couch. Their bodies were entangled, warming each other.
When they parted, Seamus felt like he woke up from the most amazing dream. He opened his eyes again, looking down. Krel left in wait, biting his lip. His face was beautifully colored, his eyes were almost too much to look at.
Seamus smiled and hugged him, putting his chin on his shoulder, sniffing his hair.
“You’re out of this world, Krel.” Weirdly the Latino gulped even more than before. Did he say something wrong? Again with the cheesy stuff, he needed to stop frequenting Steve and Aja for a while. Then felt him embracing back.
“… you have no idea.”
Seamus just laughed it off and hold him closer. Feeling ecstatic, overwhelmed, warm.
Maybe too much to notice just how tight was the grasp over his shoulders, and how troubled those brown eyes had become.