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"So, how long have you two been dating?"
Galo's question caught Meis completely off-guard.
The two of them had been lounging around the living room in complete and comfortable silence for about an hour now, Thymos sitting on an obnoxiously bright colored bean bag across from him.
They were patiently waiting together for Lio and Gueira to return from their weekly grocery shopping. Galo hadn't been allowed to join them this time, because according to Lio, snacks weren't a real meal. Meis just didn't feel like moving too much that particular day, so he chose to stay home as well and keep their newly acquired friend some company.
In comparison to Galo or Gueira, the long-haired former Burnish wasn't very talk-active and the lack of conversation hadn't exactly bothered him until now, before the blue-haired man tried to start one with that particular question.
Meis simply stared at him for a good minute, what was visible of his eyebrows pulled together slightly.
The cheerful expression on the firefighter's face was not unusual, even his oblivious attitude was nothing out of the ordinary.
But that question, just where did it come from so suddenly?
"Uh, what?", was all Meis could come up with on the spot.
He wasn't even sure if he heard him correctly, since he wasn't currently dating anyone to his knowledge and how would Galo of all people even know if he were to entertain a relationship? Gueira and Lio got along with the firefighting idiot a lot better than him, they chatted way more frequently.
He didn't mind the guy at all, hell - Galo had even let all three of them crash at his place until they built up something for themselves, after all the shit they had been put through by Kray Foreskin, Foresight, whatever. Galo didn't ask unnecessary questions and helped them out so much and Meis was forever thankful to him. It was just that they didn't have that much in common.
"Gueira and you, how long has that been going on for? And how did it start? Did he ask you out or was it the other way around?"
Meis could feel his jaw dropping and he sputtered for a second, before sitting more upright from his slouched position on the couch across from Thymos.
"Stop it right there, who told you we were dating?"
Galo blinked at him with his huge, admittedly somewhat cute, puppy dog eyes and even had the nerve to tilt his head in confusion at him. Meis should be the one being fucking confused here.
"Oh, I just assumed, since you're like", he gesticulated something that looked strikingly similar to two dead shrimp. Or less imaginative just two fingers hooking into each other. Then he groaned quietly, not being able to find the right words he was looking for.
"I don't know, you seem really close and stuff. So - who asked out who?"
Meis leaned back at that, inhaling audibly, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in slight annoyance.
"We're not even dating."
A pause.
"You're... not?"
Galo seemed to deflate at that, still looking at Meis as if he was hoping for a different answer.
"No, and never have been. Gueira and I have just known each other for a real long time, so that's probably how you got the impression that we're anything more than, well, friends", Meis answered matter-of-factly, even going as far as to cross his arms over his chest in defense.
Galo rested a hand under his chin, scratching idly. Then he slowly shook his head, as his eyes looked up to the ceiling in a ridiculous display of concentration.
"Nooo, it's more like, the way you two act around each other. Or more like, how Gueira always touches you in some way when he's close to you, how he always looks at you, oh and - the stuff he tells me about you when we're out together."
Meis' eyes went wide at that last bit and he leaned forward, almost tipping over to face-plant the floor and honestly, maybe that's what he needed right then.
"What does he say about me?" The words left his mouth without a single thought paid to them and he instantly regretted them.
"He just knows all these little things about you, like how you like your coffee in the morning, or the brand of shampoo you use."
Before Meis could go on about how non-significant that was when you literally lived together with someone as platonic friends and just paid a little attention to their habits, they were interrupted by the sound of the key turning in the front door lock, before it opened.
The black-haired man sighed, while Galo jumped up and crossed the distance to the door in less than three steps, grabbing the bags Lio had been holding and carrying them to their shared kitchen, while their boss followed him. Lio looked a bit exhausted and technically he wasn't even their boss anymore, but Meis still liked to endearingly think about him as such.
"Yooo, you missed me, cowboy?"
A pair of leather jacket clad arms flung around his shoulders from the back of the couch and Meis paid more attention to it than ever before, instantly turning rigid. He was suddenly hyper-aware of everything Gueira did or said and he absolutely hated it. Fuck you, Thymos.
"Not necessarily", he answered, trying to feign disinterest. Also fuck that weird tingling in his stomach and the fluttery feeling in his chest when Gueira hugged him closer for just a second, before letting go of him and flopping down next to Meis on the couch, grocery bags discared on the coffee table.
"Love you, too", the red-head had the audacity to grin at him and Meis hated how he started to overanalyze everything.
Were they actually dating and he had just been too dense to notice all this time? Did... did he maybe, possibly even want to be dating Gueira? He never thought of the possibility before, as more important matters had been constantly on their minds when they still had to fight to survive. There hadn't been much time for romance.
"Do you now?" The teasing tone in his voice did not go unnoticed, as his friend (boyfriend?) looked at him with widened eyes and his mouth slightly agape. And was that a blush spreading across his cheeks? Did he always have those cute little freckles or did they appear when the Promare left?
Gueira quickly regained his composure and smirked at him, leaning back and resting both of his arms on the backrest of Galo's couch, one coming dangerously close to sliding onto Meis' shoulders.
"Naturally, missing you every second we're as much as in different rooms, so that shit hits me right in the kokoro when you act so tough and cold about it, babe."
Okay, Thymos really needed to stop influencing Gueira's vocabulary with his weeb lingo. Aside from that, Meis swallowed hard and took a deep breath, steadying himself and mentally preparing to take this a step further. Had Gueira always been calling him shitty pet names or was that just his kind of humor? Meis wasn't sure about anything anymore. But he was determined to get behind all of this. What he really didn't want and need was overthinking this for days or weeks to come.
"Maybe you should show me how much it means to you and put your lips to better use, instead of talking so much crap", the ravenette sighed dramatically, his voice nearly dropping an octave, while he fixated the other man with his eyes.
Gueira opened and quickly shut his mouth again, looking like a fish out of the water, like he certainly did not expect this kind of reaction from the other man, a blush even more fierce painting his face and ears red.
Meis' view dropped to Gueira's collarbone and suddenly it hit him like a firetruck. They fucking had matching tattoos. Out of all the things hinting at a romance between them that Thymos could have noticed, was this not one of them?
"Okay, alright", he looked up again, surprised to see the red-head tentatively moving in closer to him, still visibly nervous. Meis held his breath and just stared. There was still the possibility of this being some weird kind of joke between Galo and Gueira, he tried to reason with himself. Until both of Gueira's hands firmly grabbed him by the shoulders, effectively pinning him to the couch as he leaned over him.
"You look like you're about to shit yourself, are you sure you wanna do this?" Meis couldn't stop the vaguely amused sounding question from leaving his mouth and never had he wanted to slap himself more.
"Actually I've been wanting to do this for a long time now", Gueira admitted, looking off to the side for a split second, before taking a deep breath and looking at Meis with nothing short of raw determination.
"I always thought you weren't the kinda guy for physical affection and stuff, so I tried real hard to hold back y'know", he murmured and Meis could already feel his breath warming his lips. So close. The long-haired man found himself at a loss for words and he exhaled slowly, shakily. Meis could tell how much this excited him and what it entailed, he wasn't stupid after all.
His hand sneaked up into the short hairs on the back of Gueira's neck and he pulled him down, until their lips finally met, slotting perfectly together. Meis' eyes fell shut and after a brief moment of surprise, so did Gueira's.
The kiss wasn't particularly chaste or careful, both of them slowly moving their mouths against one another almost instantly, as if they had never known or done anything else. If Meis had had to describe what it felt like, it was like something that had been missing in his life all along finally being handed over to him. In a sweet little package with a bow on top, even.
They quickly ran out of breath, though and when they let go with a soft noise, they heard a loud whoop! from the kitchen door frame. Both their heads whipped around in surprise and for the first time since he could remember, Meis felt his face heat up significantly.
Galo grinned from ear to ear, Lio looking amused at his side, and the blue-haired idiot had the audacity to say: "I totally knew you were like, boyfriends!"