Work Text:
Only a couple of days after the Moppy thing had finally been taken care of, and he was still on edge, pacing around his living room fervently, thinking about just what he figured out that night.
"I've known it about myself for a long time," his other self told him. "I was hoping you'd feel the same, but I didn't think it would make you so upset."
"I don't like people like that," he thought in response. "Never. It's just not my thing."
"Then how do you feel?"
"He's not an exception. Just, at this point… Oh, I don't know."
"He's a lot like you, you know." Good Cop sighed. "I'm sure he feels just like you do about this whole thing. But the first thing you should do is admit it to yourself, out loud. You have to come to terms with it somehow."
Bad Cop cringed and took a deep breath. "You're right, there really isn't any denying it. I… I like Benny…"
"Really?" a voice asked from behind him. Bad Cop jumped and turned around. "That's surprise," Emmet told him, sincere and wide-eyed. "I mean, I know you two have been hanging out a lot, but I never thought… Wow, okay."
"Emmet?" Bad Cop's face contorted in shock. "How did you get in my house?"
"Oh, right, I was about to tell you," Emmet smiled sheepishly and then pointed to the doorknob. "Your doorknob is broken. If you turn it enough, it unlocks on its own."
"You're kidding…" Bad Cop went to the door and tested it. Sure enough, it unlocked. He groaned and shook his head. "At least that explains how Benny keeps breaking in. Wait, Emmet, what are you even doing here?"
"I'm going to have a 'Throw the Brick at Him' marathon with Batman and Lucy later," Emmet shrugged. "I let you borrow my DVD set a while back, remember? Benny's the one that delivered it. Speaking of Benny, how are you going to tell him?" He clasped his hands together and grinned, bouncing on his heels. "Oh, oh, I bet you're going to take him out for a drive around the city and then do something romantic like-."
"No," Bad Cop interrupted. "I'm not going to tell him." Good Cop smiled and leaned closer. "Romantic like what? I never really got the chance to admit to anyone I like them before."
"Well, you can buy him flowers," Emmet offered. "Lucy really likes purple flowers, so I bet Benny would like blue ones."
"No." Bad Cop sighed. "Look, as much as Good Cop wants to take notes, you need to stop trying to help."
"What?" Emmet frowned and crossed his arms. "Why? You can't say I don't know what I'm talking about. I do have a girlfriend after all."
He shook his head. "I know you mean well. But you don’t know anything about what I’m going through here."
Emmet shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I dunno... When I met Lucy, all I could think about was how pretty she was and how much I wanted to hold her hand…"
Bad Cop sighed and stared at Emmet for a moment before answering. "Okay, one, I don't think he's pretty. Two, I don't want to hold his hand." Good Cop smiled and shrugged. "Well, I do, but..." Bad Cop shook his head. "But I don't. All that mushy-gushy romance stuff is weird. I don’t know how any of you can stand it."
Emmet blinked dumbly and then glanced around, stumbling over his words. "Oh, pff, I, uh… O-Okay, that makes it harder then. So you… like Benny, like, like-like him, but you don’t want to… actually do anything with him."
"I wouldn't mind," Good Cop answered. "But I don’t want to do anything gross like that," Bad Cop finished.
"Uh… Ooookay…" Emmet hummed as he thought about what to do. "I think I’m going to need help here…"
"I didn't even ask for your help in the first place!" Bad Cop argued. "Who are you asking?!"
Not long after that, Bad Cop was seated on the couch, his head in his hands to try and avoid looking at Emmet and Lucy as they discussed the situation. "I did not ask for this, Good," he mumbled. "Sorry," Good Cop whispered.
"Okay, so, Good Cop," Lucy said. She continued once he looked up. "You do want a relationship with Benny."
"Yes, that's right," he nodded.
"And Bad Cop, you don’t, but you still really like him."
"I guess," he shrugged.
"Well…" Lucy shrugged as well. "If you don’t want to do anything romantic with him, what have you been doing so far?"
"Oh, various things," Good Cop replied. "Watching TV together, going into space, even cooking together occasionally… Mostly just spending time together."
"Then why don’t you tell him how you feel…" Lucy started. She smiled at him reassuringly. "And if he feels the same, then you can go out on friend-dates instead of romantic-dates!"
Emmet blinked. "Wait… Friend-dates?"
"Sure!" Lucy answered. "Like when I meet up with Wonder Woman sometimes and we go watch movies or go shopping or even just go on walks and talk. But, you know, as friends." She paused and glanced at Bad Cop again. "Uh, except, I guess you would be boyfriends with Benny instead, but you can still have your dates as if you both are friends."
Bad Cop frowned. "That’s… Not much different from what we already do." Good Cop nodded. "That could work!"
"No, it wouldn't," Bad Cop thought. "You know it wouldn't."
"But you know we have to agree with them to get them out of the house."
"Right, good point."
Emmet shook his head. "Wait, wait, wait, why don’t I know about these friend-dates? I want to go on friend-dates. Hey, Cops, do you think-?"
"You are not going on a friend-date with me," Bad Cop interrupted.
"Not you!" Emmet insisted. "I was going to ask if you’d be okay with me asking Benny to…" He trailed off at the dark look Bad Cop sent him. "Okay, glare received, I’ll go ask Uni-Kitty or something…"
Benny floated in at that moment, and he paused to blink at Emmet and Lucy. "Oh, hi! What are you guys doing here?"
"Benny!" Lucy greeted. "Great to see you. Emmet and I were just leaving."
"Wait, but I didn't get my… Ow!" Emmet rubbed his arm where Lucy elbowed him. "Oh! Right, yeah, we have that… Thing to go do. See you around!"
The two of them quickly walked past Benny, leaving him to stare after them in confusion. He shrugged and shook his head. "Well, that was weird…"
Bad Cop continued to sit on the couch, thinking things over with Good Cop. "So, that's the plan, then?" he asked.
"If you aren't ready, then I can't do anything either. If you can't tell him how you feel, then we'll wait."
He sighed and stood up. "Benny, I…"
"Yeah?" he asked, smiling up at him.
"I…"
"What is it?" Benny prompted.
Bad Cop shook his head. "I can't do it." Good Cop smiled at Benny. "I wanted to know, are you feeling better today?"
"Oh, yeah, totally," Benny answered, shrugging. "Hey, did you want to go to the pier and look at the sea turtles?"
"What?" Bad Cop frowned. "Sea turtles?"
"Yeah," Benny nodded. "When Metalbeard was over the other day, he told me he saw sea turtles when he pulled his ship up to the pier. I want to go see them."
He stared and slowly nodded. "Okay…"
Not long after, Bad Cop parked his car, and he and Benny then went up to the pier railing and looked over the side into the water below. Benny and Good Cop pointed out all the turtles they saw, giggling together as they watched them swim around.
"You know," Benny mused, leaning onto the railing. "We know more about the surface of the moon than we know about the ocean. Isn't that cool? How something so far away, we have more information about than something so close to home? Of course, we also know how the moon affects the tides, so we know that about the oceans, right?"
Good Cop nodded. "And you're one of the ones to get information about the moon, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Benny sighed. "Astronaut. Star sailor. That's me."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, merely enjoying each other's company. At one point, Bad Cop sighed and took Benny by the hand.
Benny blinked and looked up at him. "Yeah?"
"Nothing," Bad Cop answered. "Benny, you don't think hand holding is romantic, do you?"
He wrinkled his nose. "No, that's weird. Why would it be? It can be totally platonic, like it is right now."
"And would it still be platonic if I told you that I like you?"
"I would hope so," Benny answered. He smiled at Bad Cop and waggled his eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"
Bad Cop stared at him and quickly let go of his hand and faced the ocean again. "Never mind."
"Sorry," Benny said, facing the ocean as well. "But, you know, I like you too."
"Really?" Good Cop asked.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Like… Almost as much as spaceships. I really like you. Is- Is that weird? That's weird isn't it?"
"I don't think so," Good Cop replied, taking Benny by the hand again. "I really like you too."
"And the other guy?" Benny prompted.
Bad Cop looked down. "I think you're alright…"
"Like the stars, right?" Benny laughed. "I see that smile." He pulled him into a hug and settled his head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, well…" Bad Cop cleared his throat. "You better not try to kiss me or anything."
"Dude, no, gross." Benny pulled away and frowned at him. "Kissing is gross. Like, maybe I'd kiss you on the cheek or something, but not even that often."
"Not on the mouth?" Good Cop asked.
"Ewww…"
"Well, are we dating, at least?" Good Cop continued.
"I dunno, man," he shrugged. "I mean, I do want to be in a relationship with you, but…"
"But I don't think we should consider it… You know, dating." Bad Cop finished.
Benny nodded. "Exactly."
Good Cop frowned. "But what are we calling it then?" Bad Cop shook his head. "Not dating. I mean, I…" He sighed and held onto Benny's hand again. "I… think I like you a lot. Maybe. I know the other guy actually does." Good Cop nodded. "Yep!" Bad Cop cringed. "But it's not like…"
"How Emmet and Lucy are?" Benny offered. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, I really care about both of you, and I want to be with you but dating and romance and junk is weird. Can we be in a relationship without actually dating?"
"I suppose we could try," Good Cop agreed. "We'll take it slow and see what you both are comfortable with, okay?"
Benny nodded and grinned wildly. "This calls for ice cream!" he giggled.
Bad Cop sighed. "Okay, fine, but it better be real ice cream and not the space ice cream you tried to give us last time." Good Cop patted Benny's shoulder. "Of course, you can have space ice cream if you want."
Benny nodded and led Bad Cop down the pier. "C’mon, I know just the place! It’s nearby too! We’ll get there in like five minutes!"
"The last time you said that it took half an hour…" Bad Cop mumbled. As they went, Bad Cop lowered his head and smiled. "Thanks…" He told his other self. "I know you were hoping for more…"
Good Cop sighed, but Bad Cop could tell he was smiling. "I told you before, he's a lot like you. I was hoping for more, but this was much more than I expected. From both of you."
Bad Cop glanced up at Benny. After a moment, he thought "I'm glad we have him in our life."
"Me too."
"Just this once..." He cringed and braced himself. "Get as much ice cream as you want. ONLY this once."
"YES."