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Benny's pocket felt heavy. Within it laid chapstick. Bubble gum flavored. The tube a bright pink.
It wasn't his.
Benny didn't wear chapstick. He would have to take his helmet off to put it on. He dubbed it inconvienent and pointless.
No, this chapstick was Emmet's.
They had been hanging out earlier that day, and it had fallen out of Emmet's pocket. Neither of them noticed at the time. Emmet was caught up in being late for work. He had visited Benny on his lunch like he did most days when Benny wasn't off on a space adventure. So Benny found himself at home during Emmet's lunch very frequently. Always insisting that his ship was nearly out of gas, or something else was malfunctioning so he had to come home. Benny knew how to minimize those issues, if they had actually been happening. He had taken to lying about his frequent home visits. It had given him more time to blueprint changes to his ships or to think about new ideas for ships he could create. Emmet dropping by was a huge plus.
Just a plus. He was staying to work on his spaceships! That was all he swears.
He knows that it wasn't totally true. Emmet was his favourite part of staying home after all. Which was why he was so hung over his chapstick.
Benny had frequently imagined what Emmet's lips would taste like. Watching Emmet's lips shine while he put on the chapstick. He never asked what flavor before, so Benny never knew.
At least until now.
He pops his helmet off and sets it on the seat next to him in his ship. He pulls the chapstick from his pocket, popping the cap off. He hesitates. Maybe this was weird. Maybe he shouldn't have thought so frequently and obsessively about what Emmet's lips tasted.. and felt. He figured using the chapstick himself was the best alternative to kissing Emmet. A less fun alternative, but this one was safer. Less rejection would be involved, and that's what Benny would have liked to avoid.
Benny applies the chapstick as fast as possible, as if he was afraid Emmet would appear at any point to be disgusted by his actions. He puts the cap on and shoves it back in his pocket. Feeling guilty.
He puts his helmet back on and slips out of his ship. He licks his lips every so often. Reveling in the sweet taste of the bubble gum flavor. He tries not to think about the lips the chapstick really belonged on.
He turns the tube of chapstick over in his pocket as he walks downtown. He promised Metal Beard he would help him with some blasters to make his ship faster. Benny wasn't too interested in the ship as a whole, but Metal Beard was an amazing Master Builder and indirectly helped Benny improve his own ship designs. He always snatched up the opportunity to learn from Metal Beard, so often that they were good friends now. People thought it odd that someone down to earth like Metal Beard could get along so well with Benny who had his head in the clouds constantly.
As it turned out, Metal Beard admired those types and was gravitated toward them in a way. Benny was no exception.
He eventually made it to the pier where Metal Beard was already working on his ship. "Hello!" Benny greets him, floating a few inches off of the ground in excitement. For a moment he forgets about the chapstick in his pocket.
Metal Beard turned away from the table he was bent over working on something Benny could not quite see. "Aye, Benny! Good to see ye. I have blueprints, see here." He moves to the side and Benny floats over to see.
Benny inspected them with a critical eye, Metal Beard did extremely well with his designs. They were always intricate and impressive and Benny rarely found flaws, but he did his best to try and help Metal Beard improve.
Benny nods in approval. "They're great! How fast were you thinking? These are good but there are some suggestions I could make to help your ship faster!"
"Aye! As fast as possible!" He responds, tapping his his copper dagger on the table. He was clearly excited to get the blasters done so he could head back out to sea. It was where he belonged after all.
"Great! May I?" He holds his hand out, asking for permission to change the blueprints. Rather than responding Metal Beard simply hands him the white colored pencil he had been using to scribble the design. Benny quickly made new notes and adjustments, bouncing excitedly. Unfortunately he had forgotten to zip up the pocket that containes the bubble gum flavored chapstick. It tumbles from his pocket and lands on the dock.
Benny feels his heart stop for a second and speeds to pick it up. It felt incriminating to have the chapstick on him. It was evidence against him. He's always claimed that he didn't have a crush on anyone when asked, which was rare. He thanked the stars for that, he was a bad liar.
Metal Beard beats him to it. He takes the tube of chapstick off the dock and inspects it with his one good eye. "Bubble gum chapstick? This be Emmet's... Why do ye have it?" He raises a brow and looks up at Benny.
Benny snatches it out of his prosthetic hand in a panic. "What do you mean? It's mine!" Benny blurts, far too quickly to be believable. He grins, his face hot, and shoves the chapstick into his pocket. He tries to go back to making adjustments to the blasters, bur Metal Beard wasn't having it.
"I don't appreciate liars, spaceman." Metal Beard growls, and in any other circumstance that would have been enough for Benny to spill.
Not this time. "It is mine!" He pouts, doing his best to make it seem like he was telling the truth.
Metal Beard raises an eyebrow. Benny was becoming uncomfortable under his one-eyed glare but he holds true...
For a few more seconds.
"Okay! It's Emmet's. I'm just...borrowing it?" Benny didn't mean to ask, but he was just looking for a way out. Metal Beard's gaze doesn't waver. "Okay, fine! Emmet and I were hanging out. Just chilling you know? Nothing crazy! What else would we be doing? He just dropped his chapstick in my ship and I didn't notice right away. No. I was busy doing other things like thinking about how pretty he is! But then I noticed it so I put it in my pocket so I could give it back to him. But then I got to wondering what his lips taste like because they're so soft just like the rest of him and so I tested it out and it's a really good flavor and I can't--"
Benny was cut off by Metal Beard putting a heavy hand on his shoulder. Benny feels his feet touch the ground again.
"Slow down, spaceman! Ye be havin' a massive crush on Emmet, eh?" He smiles like he knows something Benny didn't.
Bennt shifts under Metal Beard's hand, which he promptly pulls away. His face feels hot again. "No! Maybe? ...Yes. I don't have a chance with him, anyway! Can we just go back to the blasters? Please?"
There was no point. Benny had made his adjustments to the blueprints, no doubt Metal Beard could handle it on his own from here.
Metal Beard ignores the request. "Ye have a better chance than ye think. Talk to him! He's got somethin' to say to ye too." Metal Beard grabs the blueprint from the table. "Now I be havin' things to do. Leave me be." Metal Beard says, "And so do you!" He turns away and hobbles off in the direction of his ship, leaving Benny a confused on the pier.
What did Metal Beard mean he had something to say too? Probably to ask about the chapstick. If Benny had seen it. If he could have it back.
He puts his hand back into his pocket and finds the tube again. He walks off the pier slow, lost in his thoughts. He isn't sure where he is heading but his feet seem to have something in mind.
His tongue peeks from his lips and sneaks a taste of the chapstick. The flavor was fading away. He resists the urge to pop his helmet off and reapply a waxy coating. He wished that he had never put the chapstick on in the first place. Should he tell Emmet that he used it? Would he be mad? Some people freak out over used chapstick. He should have thought using it through more!
He wails internally. He didn't want Emmet to hate him, but he also didn't like having secrets eat him from the inside out. He always spilled them sooner or later. The longer he waited to say the worse the fallout was. If he didn't tell Emmet now would things be worse?
Benny finds himself in front of Emmet's house. Far too quickly, in his opinion. He can't find it in himself to knock on the door. He just stares at it instead. He knew he should go in. He knew he should talk to Emmet. But he found that he was scared. He didn't want to risk going in and ruining everything they had.
He had a nagging feeling this wasn't about the chapstick anymore.
He takes a deep breath and reaches toward the door, but before he can it opens. Benny panics, and squeezes his eyes shut. The figure coming out of the door doesn't realize soon enough that someone is on the porch and they run into Benny. The pair falls off the porch and into the bed of flowers surrounding it.
The person on top of Benny squeaks in alarm. Benny's eyes open to see Emmet was on top of him. He scrambles to get off of Benny with his face reddened with embarassment. "Sorry!"
"No, it's okay! I just- I was-" This was a disaster. Benny wasn't sure what to say now. This wasn't how he planned for things to go. They were supposed to be on the porch. Benny pulls the chapstick out of his pocket and gives it to Emmet. If Emmet asked questions, he would explain. If he didn't he would keep quiet.
He decided in that instant, sitting in a patch of flowers destroyed by their fall, that his plan could still be salvaged. He pulls the chapstick from his pocket robotically. "You dropped your chapstick." He says, his eyes wide and lips pressed tight together.
Emmet, who was trying to stand, stops and looks over to Benny holding out the tube of chapstick. He takes it and smiles. "Oh! Thanks, I had been looking for this." He pops the cap off and puts some on. "Where did you find it?"
One question was all it took for Benny to spill his guts. The question required the most simple of answers, but he couldn't hold it back anymore. "I found it on the ground, so I picked it up. I saw what flavor it was. I always wondered how your lips tasted. They always look so soft and perfect. I put it on. I'm really sorry! I just wanted to understand. Knowing wasn't enough. It was right there. Since I can't ever really find out. Taste you for real. That's so weird! This whole thing is weird. I could have just answered your question. But instead here I am! Sitting in your flower bed. Telling you how much I love you." He stares at Emmet's bright red face for a moment, his heart aching. Then he scrambles to his feet. "I should go. I'm sorry. I just had to say."
He backs away a couple of steps, but before he can turn away Emmet runs to Benny. He grabs his shirt and pulls him down. Emmet smashes his face into Benny's pressing their lips together.
And it was wonderful.
Passionate and impatient. Benny was reeling. The chapstick had nothing on the real thing.
When Emmet pulls away Benny blinks in confusion. He wasn't sure that really just happened. He reaches up to touch his lips, now swollen just a bit but it was enough to convince him of the reality. He looks at Emmet whose face is darkened with blush, he has a small smile gracing his features but he looks away from Benny, trying to hide it.
"You said you wanted to know!" Emmet says, his eyes looking everywhere but at Benny.
Benny smiles, wide and excited. "Can I know some more?"
Emmet finally looks up at him with a small smile, his face still dark. He nods and Benny leans down by himself this time and presses his lips softly to Emmet's. This time it wasn't as reckless, it was softer, more gentle. Benny couldn't get enough.
Emmet pulls away and Benny feels lost for a moment. "Do you want to come inside? Watch a movie or something?"
Benny, after recovering from the sudden loss, nods eagerly. With a smile and a wink he says, "Anything for another taste!"