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Panda should have seen this coming. Grizz and Ice Bear were out of the house at some convention Panda didn’t want to go to, so he invited Charlie over so the two could hang out without his brothers gawking at them like some sort of circus attraction. They had started watching a movie, got bored of it and started watching TV, got distracted by a song on some show, and now they were just sitting around listening to music on Panda’s phone.
The song they were listening to fizzled out, and was soon replaced by one with cheery feminine vocals.
“Ooh, Charlie, this is Twice,” Panda bubbled, his eyes widening in excitement.
“Twice? What happened to the first one?”
“No, Charlie,” Panda giggled. “They’re just called that. Its because they want to touch the fans’ hearts through the ears first, and again through the eyes, so… Twice!”
“Oh! Neat!” He didn’t want to talk over a song Panda clearly was enjoying, so Charlie was silent through the rest of the song,
Panda was having a hard time restraining himself, though, as he wiggled and quietly sang a long with most of the lyrics. Everything Panda did was cute to Charlie, but this was cute.
The song ended soon enough, but the next song on the playlist was a complete one-eighty from the previous one. Instead of the high-tension beats from the Twice song, the gentle twinkling of a ukelele was the first thing the duo heard.
“Ohh, I love this song,” Panda dropped back into the couch cushions dramatically, covering his eyes with his paws. “I’ve always wanted to slowdance to it with someone.”
“I’ve always wanted to try slowdancing,” Charlie mused aloud. “Hey-- You have the song, you have me, let’s try it out!”
Panda removed his paws from his eyes. Oh god, Charlie was right. He looked at Charlie but looked away from him just as quickly, feeling his heart swell ever so slightly. A deep blush overcame Panda, and he fretted over whether or not it’d show through his white fur.
Panda didn’t get a chance to respond before Charlie whisked him up by his paw, earning a quick yelp from Panda. Before he knew it, both of his paws were in Charlie’s hands. It was amazing, Panda thought, how perfectly his paws fit in Charlie’s hands, but that was neither here nor there.
Panda took a moment to consider the nuances of slowdancing, and was quick to notice the one thing keeping them from accomplishing it with any grace-- the height difference. They could just carry on holding hands (which had not only nearly saved Panda’s life but was also threatening it’s very existence) but Panda simply wanted to be as close to Charlie as possible, and holding hands wasn’t nearly enough.
“Um, Charlie,” Panda started. “Do you think you could…? I-I’m too short.”
Charlie understood perfectly, and lifted Panda into his arms with ease. Panda’s heart screamed as Charlie securely wrapped his arms around Panda’s waist, giving him a quick peck on the cheek as he did so. “No problem, pumpkin.”
The song chorused on. Panda found his paws on Charlie’s shoulders as the two fell into a comfortable rhythm, their foreheads pressed together as they gently swayed to the beat of the music. Panda hadn’t expected Charlie to be so excellent at this.
Charlie may have just been a natural-born romantic. Nothing he said or did seemed to be forced or even really planned, but it always managed to destroy Panda.
Panda had had his eyes closed for a while, so totally lost in the dance, so totally lost in Charlie’s arms, so totally lost in Charlie, that his eyes had fluttered softly shut after some time. He opened them, however, and just because they were truly that in sync, Charlie opened his as well, their foreheads separating. Panda almost sputtered when he and Charlie made eye contact, as Charlie’s eyes were full of more love than he’d ever seen them before. He had this soft, half-smile on his face as he admired Panda. Panda closed the distance between the two as he pressed their foreheads together again, laughing softly as he did so. They continued their gentle movements, feeling more and more head-over-heels by the moment.
When the song ended, neither of them knew what to do. Panda wanted to stay with Charlie forever, and he knew Charlie felt enough for Panda to make up for that. Thankfully, the next song on the playlist wasn’t a total mood killer, but it wasn’t slowdance material by any means.
Panda felt cold, too cold, when Charlie set him back down to let him stop the music. He wasted no time in pausing the current song, wanting to be back in those arms as soon as possible.
Panda flipped his phone over on the coffee table and went over to grab Charlie’s hand and pull him back over to the couch where their evening started. As soon as he did this, however, his phone vibrated with an incoming call.
Panda didn’t recognize the number, but picked up anyways. “Hello?”
”Pan Pan? It’s Grizz. The convention is gonna run a little late, so little bro and I are just gonna book a hotel for the night.”
“Alright, sounds good,” Panda’s voice was edging on irritation from the interruption.
“Love you, bro!” Grizz chimed from the other side of the phone.
“Love you too, goodnight,” Panda hung up the phone, placing it back on the coffee table. “They won’t be back until morning.”
“Does that mean I can stay longer?” Charlie’s face slowly lit up, a wide smile developing on his face.
“Yeah, man!” Honestly, Panda would have let Charlie stay over as long as he wanted, but it was a bit more fun when you didn’t have brothers climbing down your throat the entire time your boyfriend was over. “I’m feeling pretty tired, though.”
“Do I get to sleep in bed with you again?”
“How come you ask me that every time? I always say yes.”
“Because it still seems too good to be true.”
Natural-born romantic, right there. Panda stammered for a moment before Charlie put an arm around Panda’s neck, pulling him close to his side.
Panda decided to shift the subject a little. “I-If you’re gonna sleep in my bed, you need to take a shower!”
“What!? No!”
“Yes!”