Work Text:
Children are born into a world of black, gray, and white. Growing up they are told over and over again that the colors will come after they had met their one true love. To children, colors became as erotic and adult as sex. Girls and boys would huddle together in clusters to whisper and giggle and wonder about the days when they get to see color for the first time.
The first color Michael saw was green.
He was terrified.
Nothing is more jarring to a six year old as when they tap on the shoulder of the boy with the funny voice. Michael had just wanted to ask him to play and all of a sudden, they were staring at each other with wide eyes.
This boy’s eyes were green.
As most children do at the tender age of six, all of the horror melted away as the boy with the green eyes smiled wide. Without so much as a word exchanged, they chased each other around the playground until they were breathless.
They sat in the grass, covered in dirt and sweat and pulled at the thick stalks of summer grass, holding it up to each other’s faces. They were green, just like the boy’s eyes, Michael commented.
The boy laughed and picked up a handful of dirt, he joked that this was the color of Michael’s eyes. When tears began to well in those said dirt-brown eyes, the boy quickly retracted those words.
The boy with the green eyes had lied. Michael’s eyes were more gold, like the dandelion flower which sat a few inches from his hand, slightly trampled by their feet. He plucked the flower and held it out to Michael. He took the flower and studied the yellow fuzz, pensively plucking at the tiny petals.
This was all done under the half-watchful eye of their mothers from their respective spots across the playground. Michael’s mother was nose-deep in a book, occasionally glancing up at her son to make sure he had not wandered off. The boy with the green eyes’ mother stood talking to a man, his father, glad to have a break from their overactive son. Vacation was difficult; playgrounds made it a tad easier on them.
At the end of the day, the boys waved to each other as their mothers took their hands and led them to their respective cars.
“Did you have fun at the park today Michael?” His mother asked, smiling down at her son.
The mop of curly-head bobbed up and down. “I made a new friend!”
“I saw that, what was his name?”
This question stumped Michael. He had never asked. So the boy just shrugged. “I dunno, he spoke funny though. I hope we get to play again.”
His mother ruffled Michael’s hair. “I’m sure you too will meet again soon.” She assured.
Michael never thought once to tell his mother about the color. That was only for him and the boy with the green eyes.
It wasn’t surprising when Michael grew up different. It wasn’t long after the boy with the green eyes that he learned the true nature of color. Adults were supposed to see color. Kids were not. This made him feel like he was breaking the rules, if he parents found out he could see color they would be mad, and he would get in trouble.
That started a lifetime of secret keeping.
Michael reached the age of twelve without telling a single soul. He had almost completely forgotten the boy with the green eyes and the black and white world he had been born in. There had only ever been color and that was bad.
This was the time the kids started to whisper about color like some kind of forbidden fruit. This made Michael wish with all of his heart that he could ignore the color around him.
He couldn’t. He loved the color orange, and the color red. Yellow was his absolute favorite, but he held a special spot for green. Green was the color of the world around him. It was in the leaves and in the grass. Green was the color he always saw in his dreams.
With the quarters he saved the summer before eighth grade, he walked to the art store with his friend.
There was a kid’s section that they wandered through for a while. These packs of crayons and pencils made Michael’s eyes hurt as the colors wildly varied in shade and hue. These were made specifically to give children a wide palette of greys and a good chuckle for adults as they saw their child’s garishly colored drawings.
When his friend was debating between a set of colored pencils or paints, Michael slipped away to the ‘adult’ section of the art store. He browsed through the many boxes of colored pencils, scrutinizing the colors in each pack until he found one labeled ‘Colors of Nature’. It had a variety of blues, browns, and reds, but most importantly more shades of green and yellow than Michael had ever seen.
He knew immediately this was the set he wanted. Seven dollars and a wary glance from the cashier later, Michael clutched his colored pencils closely to his chest. His friend offhandedly commented how all the pencils looked the same but to each his own.
Michael drew in all of his spare time. He would quietly smuggle his sketchbook and colored pencils outside to the backyard and drew the tree, the hill, and the garden over and over.
It was his safe space until it was invaded.
Michael nearly sprinted home after his last class, more than excited for the last day of school. It was an almost unbearably warm, late May day but that didn’t seem to bother the boy one bit. The roses in the garden had only just begun to bloom and he wanted to draw them. With the last few days being overcast with rain, he hadn’t had the chance.
He walked through the front door to find his parents sitting in the living room. His sketchbook and colored pencils were on the coffee table.
The next hour was a blur of tears and static noise as Michael tried to tune out his parents with his head bowed and his hands clutched in his lap. They hurled question after question at him, demanding to know when he had started seeing color and why he hadn’t told them.
What scared Michael the most was he didn’t have answers. The moment he had found color was lost in a haze of childhood summer memories. The only thing he could remember was the boy with green eyes.
He didn’t say that. What use would that be? Too many people had green eyes. They would never find him.
“Seeing any bloody color yet Dan?” Gavin mumbled under his breath with a chuckle. He leaned against the table next to his friend Dan who as sipping at a warm coke. All of these parties were the same. Color Balls, what a stupid name.
From the time he was ten, his parents would dress him up in this awful monkey suit and send him to mingle with all of the good boys and girls in his neighborhood. They would be absolutely miserable if Dan wasn’t there.
“You know I’m not,” Dan snorted, glaring in the direction of the dance floor. Chaperones were trying to herd the gaggles of teens in an attempt to get them to touch. At any other event, there was an attempt to keep them from grinding but to find a true love, there had to be that first touch, that first spark.
“They should just stand us in two lines and shake hands. Would be right faster.” Gavin commented, ignoring the rules and hoisting himself to sit precariously on the edge of the table.
“How many people want to meet their soulmate like that?” It was Dan’s turn to chuckle at the suggestion. “It wouldn’t be ‘romantic’. No more minging stories to be told around the dinner table. Just, I shook your mum’s hand and now we’re married.”
The boys laughed, throwing their heads back. A few people stared, rolled their eyes, and turned away. They knew these boys well, they were at almost every event but refused to mingle with anyone but each other.
Dan glanced up at Gavin, quirking an eyebrow. “So, who dressed themselves today?” He asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Gavin scanned the dance floor and caught sight of a boy with a salmon shirt with a horrid neon green tie. He nodded his head in that boy’s direction. “He’s not even close. No one took a second look at his outfit.”
“They look almost the same.” Dan shrugged. “I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
“Trust me, those are two colors that should never go together.”
“How about me?” Dan asked, motioning toward his outfit.
“Did you dress yourself today?”
“Yeah, I did!” He said, sounding proud.
Gavin’s gaze started at his friend’s shoes and travelled slowly over his body. Over and over again, Gavin wished that Dan had been the one to give him color. Honestly, when he told Dan, he half-expected his friend to admit the same.
He had seen color for as long as he could remember and had known Dan even longer than that. However, Dan was still dreadfully colorblind and the boy with the red curls haunted Gavin’s every thought.
“Well, I think your mum just stocks your closet with blacks, blues, and whites. She’s a smart lady. It’s difficult for you not to match.”
Dan smiled, but it slipped slightly as he turned to watch the dance floor. “Do you think you will find him? You know, your soulmate? How will you know without the spark?”
Gavin stared down at his hands even when he could feel Dan’s eyes shift onto him. This was a fear he faced every day. In his mind, he could see that boy with the red curls but he was small, childish. They had only been six when they met. Just as Gavin had grown up, that little boy would have done so as well.
They could pass each other on the streets and chances were Gavin wouldn’t notice. Not to mention that even that was impossible. They had met on his family’s vacation to America. This boy lived across the ocean.
“You know, you need to tell more people if you ever want to find him.” Dan’s voice interrupted Gavin’s train of thought. “Also I hate keeping secrets, it’s so hard.” The wise words turned into a whine as his friend slumped against the table.
Gavin smiled and nodded. Dan was the only person he had ever told. Maybe that should change.
After his parents found out, it wasn’t long until everyone knew. Michael Jones could see color but didn’t have a soulmate. He was mocked, he was teased, his friends wanted nothing to do with him, and slowly Michael turned away from the outside world.
He began to channel his rage into video games. Despite the advantage of color, he was still terrible, but somehow that was better therapy than winning any match. He screamed and threw controllers instead of punching the faces of the kids that teased him at school.
Then he started filming his meltdowns. He posted them to the internet and slowly he stopped being ‘the weird kid who saw color’. The novelty had worn off as his classmates started finding their soulmates around junior year. Suddenly half his class could see color and he was left alone.
Instead, Michael became the ‘Rage Quit’ guy. He made friends through these videos, and slowly gained attention and fans as his videos spread. It wasn’t too long before he had a job offer land in his lap. A company called RoosterTeeth based out of Austin, Texas wanted him to practically play video games for a living.
How could he turn that down?
Michael hardly blinked his eyes before he was on the first flight out of New Jersey and on his way to Texas. It would be a clean, fresh start for him.
“Geoff, all of the colors are too bright.” Gavin whimpered, flopping onto the Achievement Hunter couch, using a pillow to cover his head.
Geoff glanced up from his computer and rolled his eyes. Jack had left earlier that morning to pick up the new hire from the airport, leaving Geoff alone to babysit his favorite British housemate. “You’ve been saying that since we left the house.”
Gavin made an indignant squawking noise, wrapping the pillow tighter around his head. “That’s because it’s true! I woke up this morning with the most minging headache and it won’t go away. Too bright.”
“Well, you’ll need to perk up because the newbie is coming today.” Geoff sighed, turning back to his work.
Gavin made a sound of acknowledgement and rolled over. He wasn’t complaining to be a nuisance. When he removed the pillow from around his head, the Brit was immediately assaulted by waves of color. He had been able to see color nearly his entire life, just not this brightly.
Every color seemed to glow and jump at him every time Gavin opened his eyes. It had started a few hours ago, which caused him to blank out on almost everything Geoff had been saying in the car. The past few days, he had almost talked nonstop about the new hire and honestly, Gavin was tired of hearing it.
Apparently he had landed in Austin or something. The faster he got to the office, the faster Geoff would stop talking about him, and all the better for Gavin.
Maybe Geoff would let him go home for the day.
“You can see color, Geoff. Does this ever happen to you?”
Geoff didn’t turn from his screen, but Gavin cracked open an eye to see his boss’s brow furrow. “A few times. Usually when I’ve been away from Griffon for a long time. Everything gets brighter when I am around her but it never hurts.”
“Oh.” Gavin sighed, closing his eyes again and flopping over so his back was turned to the room.
He must have fallen asleep as Geoff’s quiet typing had disappeared in the din of voices. As Gavin opened his eyes, he felt like he had the worst hangover ever. The world was excruciating, every light too bright, and his eyes felt like they were going to melt out of his head.
Everyone was talking at once and the noise only made his head worse. Gavin decided he needed some water.
Michael shielded his eyes as he followed Jack out of the airport. He had just spent four hours on a plane, of course he was going to be a bit sensitive to light but this was something else.
“It’s really bright in Austin,” He said, trying to pass off his discomfort with humor.
Jack nodded, leading the new employee to his car. “I’ve lived here my entire life so I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Oh, you’re still colorblind?” Michael asked and automatically realized that it was a soft spot with his new coworker. The bearded man briskly nodded, obviously not in the mood to elaborate.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean—“ Michael swallowed against the lump in his throat. “So am I, if that makes you feel any better.”
On the plane to Austin, Michael decided to pretend he was colorblind again. It was easier than explaining his situation. Also, he wanted to fix that sad expression on Jack’s face. God, he was terrible at first impressions.
Jack chuckled and waved off the conversation. They spent the car ride chatting about the other people Michael would meet in Achievement Hunter. The world remained way too bright for Michael’s comfort.
When they reached the office, Michael was nearly shaking in a mixture of excitement and the pain of a nasty headache. It was ruining the moment.
“Hey, we’re here!” Jack called as they walked through the front door. There was a desk with a nice-looking girl behind a computer, a closed door, and an open one. Hardly a second passed before a man that Michael recognized as Geoff emerged from the open room.
‘Those were some seriously blue eyes,’ was Michael’s first thought. He always focused on people’s eye color. It was a bad habit.
They shook hands. “Nice to finally meet you in the flesh, Michael!” His new boss smiled and glanced back toward the office. “Gavin’s sleeping in there. Let me wake the prick up so he’ll come introduce himself.”
However, that wasn’t needed. Michael watched as a lanky kid with a nose three times too big stumbled out of the room. He barely glanced at the group of people before he started to lumber off down a hallway.
Geoff wasn’t going to allow that. He grabbed Gavin by the shoulders and dragged him over to Michael. “I know you have a headache but please be professional and introduce yourself to your new coworker.” Geoff tried to say quietly, but was unsuccessful.
“I know the pain. I’ve had a massive headache since I’ve gotten off the plane.” Michael tried to insist. He had already made a bad first impression on Jack, he didn’t need this one to go badly as well.
“Well, you have an excuse. Gavin is just being a baby.”
“All of the colors are too bright,” Gavin mumbled, trying to wave off his friend. He had a funny accent, British Michael figured.
Then it hit him. Michael froze, no it couldn’t be.
“Michael Jones, this giant baby is Gavin Free. How about you shake hands and I’ll let you go do whatever?” Geoff offered to the stumbling man. Gavin slowly nodded, barely looking at Michael, and holding out his hand.
Slowly, Michael shook off his paralysis and took the other man’s hand. The world changed in that moment. The bright, beautiful color settled and the pain melted away.
Gavin’s head snapped up. Michael was immediately met with a set of beautiful green eyes.
Michael wanted to be happy, wanted to shout and leap for joy, instead a sense of panic fluttered in his chest and he ripped his hand away from Gavin’s grip like it was burning. He quickly turned on his heels, giving a speechless Gavin his back, and addressed Geoff. “How about you show me my new desk?”
Gavin watched in stunned silence as Michael walked away, his eyes never leaving that head of red curls. It was him. It had to be him. There was no other explanation. When they touched, the headache had evaporated but left the bright colors behind.
Yet, Michael had stolen his hand away as if Gavin had been burning him. Michael didn’t say a goddamn thing, but turned to Geoff and was whisked away before Gavin could collect the words.
“You okay Gavin?” Jack chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Geoff said you had a headache this morning. Feeling any better?”
“Yeah, loads.” Gavin muttered, following Jack like a lost puppy as they entered the office. Geoff was pointing at various things around the office and explaining them to Michael.
“And the desk with everything green is Gavin.” Geoff made a broad gesture to his side of the office, only to receive a blank expression from Michael.
“He’s still colorblind,”
Gavin’s blood ran cold as Jack said those words.
“Oh! Well,” Geoff pushed past Jack to stand next to Gavin’s desk. “Well, this one is Gavin’s and your desk is right next to it. We set up a few monitors and—“
Gavin didn’t bother to listen to the rest. He had been wrong. Michael wasn’t him. He needed some fresh air.
He plopped down on a small island of grass in the parking lot and rubbed his eyes. There was nothing more Gavin wanted than to cry, but it wasn’t the time or place. He was so stupid. He had gotten his hopes up without a shred of evidence and that had been a bad plan.
Gavin didn’t know how long he sat there before someone found him. That someone was Michael. “Hey, Gavin right?” His voice caused Gavin to pick up his head. His eyes immediately focused on that head of red curls. “The other guys were looking for you. They want to film a video.”
For a moment, he considered standing but it was too much effort. Gavin shrugged and stretched out on the grass, closing his eyes. ”Tell ‘em I will be there in a minute.”
There were a few seconds of silence and then a shuffle of shoes. Michael hadn’t left and when Gavin opened his eyes, he caught Michael staring. Slowly, Michael lowered himself down onto the grass beside Gavin and stared up toward the sky.
“The sky is so much more blue in Texas than in Jersey.”
Gavin shot up into a sitting position, staring wide-eyed at Michael. “What did you just say?”
“I said the sky is bluer in Texas than it is in Jersey.”
“I thought you were colorblind. Jack said you were.”
“I lie about that a lot. It’s a long story I don’t like telling.”
“Oh.” Gavin immediately felt bad for asking. He clasped his hands together and tried to stealthily sneak another glance at Michael. This time, their eyes met. “Did your soulmate break your heart?”
Michael chuckled. “I guess, in a way. I never even asked for his name. Then again, you don’t really consider your soulmate when you’re six.”
“That—That’s bloody young for a soulmate.” Gavin’s chuckle broke into a serious of nervous giggles. He was practically tripping over his own tongue at this point.
Michael smiled and there was a single dimple. “I know right. I didn’t tell anyone for the longest time because I thought I was breaking the rules. Then my parents found my stash of colored pencils.”
“I told my parents but not until long after I started seeing color. I saw it from when I was a bloody child as well.” Gavin said, scooting just slightly closer to Michael. “My favorite color had always been yellow.”
Michael slowly blinked and plucked a blade a grass. He held it up near Gavin’s face. “Green has always been one of my favorites. Like your eyes. Mine are just the color of dirt.”
It was Gavin’s turn to freeze as the gears cranked in his head. In a panic, Gavin stumbled to his feet and paced around the small patch of grass, his eyes focused intently on the ground.
Michael only watched in a mixture of amusement and slight confusion. Then he realized what Gavin was looking for. Michael glanced to his right and saw the delicate head of a dandelion. He plucked it and held it out toward the pacing man. “Is this it?”
Gavin’s eyes went wide as he flopped down beside Michael, their sides brushing. He took the flower delicately from Michael’s fingers and held it up toward the other man’s face. For a moment, they stayed like that. Anyone watching from the window would have thought they had gone insane.
Then when Michael wasn’t expecting it, the dandelion had gone sailing through the air and Gavin’s hands grabbed the sides of his face and crashed their lips together. It was a long overdue kiss.
Michael knew in this moment that he was supposed to close his eyes. Instead, as he melted into the kiss, he watched as the colors swirled around them. They were more alive than ever.