Work Text:
Langa knew now; he knew why skating was a chore the past days, why he felt nothing but a sour and bitter taste when he skated with Joe who was an amazing opponent. He knew why his school days were boring and why he couldn't take a single note in class while looking at the empty spot next to him, the window wide open, the curtains flowing above Reki's empty desk.
Skating was fun with Reki. But it was more than skating, if Langa was more than honest. Knowing Reki was avoiding him made his heart ache, if it wasn't just dull. If Reki wasn't there, then Langa was empty.
He knew…! He knew it all, now. He knew when he heard his name at the S, and they finally got to talk it out: Reki wasn't mad at him, after all. They got to talk it out and Langa smiled fondly at the thought; for once, Langa was inspired, much to Reki's dismay." That's really enough ," he had said with a flushed face hidden behind his hands in a clumsy way that was so Reki dimples digged in his cheeks around his lips.
"Langa, you're daydreaming again," the red-haired man called next to him, on the rooftop as they shared food, the one Reki's mom prepared for them, the portions and the bento box bigger to accommodate Langa's share. He picked the carrot in between his chopsticks, used to them by now, completely ignoring how he meant it as an embarrassing thing —to daydream (or rather, to recall memories) about them— to eat.
Thinking about how empty his life was when Reki avoided skating and him didn't seem to dull his mood at all, but Langa ought to cherish every single second and moment they would share now. He hummed around his food, chomping quickly only to pick more food, choosing not to reply to Reki.
A hand gripped his jaw, halting his process as he glanced on the side, on Reki's side. Said man had touches of red on his cheeks, the eyebrows furrowed under his bangs. "Are you still thinking about that night?" he asked with a growl, trying to bury his embarrassment without much success.
Langa still chewed what he had left in his mouth, even though the fingers dragging on his skin were more than too distracting. "You were very cute," he simply elaborated, knowing it would make Reki boil to keep going and explain properly, but also that simplicity would definitely make him blush harder.
Langa brightened even more when he saw he was right on his money, his green eyes sparkling at the sight of Reki quickly flushing hard, their pair of chopsticks completely forgotten between them. "You still can blush so hard even though I asked to stay by your side," he openly teased with a grin, the one that made Reki weak in the knees, the one that made him hide his face behind his hands only to peek at him between his fingers.
Which he exactly made.
"Stop it, Langa!" Reki shouted, his face covered as he slid away further on his side before being caught by Langa's hands, not allowing him to stray away.
A whine and Reki was already shredding his hands away with persistent hums from Langa and several calls of his name. Maybe he did get convinced when Langa overstepped the line by nosing his hair, the face buried in red locks, his hands slowly lacing around his wrists to pry them off gently.
Was there anything Langa didn't do gently to Reki? Reki would say no in a beat.
When he was bare for Langa to see the red on his face, how he was averting his eyes, how he was now chewing his bottom lip instead of grinning widely, Langa's heart skipped, the chest warm and full of a want he was unaware of. Instead of chasing it, he dropped their laced hands on their lap, Reki trapped between his thighs and the wall, as if he wasn't against how Langa was completely overstepping more boundaries.
As long as Reki didn't reject him, Langa wouldn't back off now, not anymore, not when he felt how colorless his days were without him.
So when Langa brushed the back of Reki's hands with his thumbs, rubbing his tanned skin with wonder, he wanted more.
He loved how their hands would connect, and how Reki's rougher yet shorter hands would fit in his. He loved how Reki would smile at him, big and warm and unmistakably in love —no matter how Reki would surely deny for days, weeks, months— when they would do their dap, and suddenly, it all crashed on him how he practically asked Reki to spend the rest of his days with him, but maybe Reki didn't notice just like Langa just noticed now.
To infinitely skate together.
Thump-thump . Thump-thump.
Their fingers laced together— or rather, Reki laced their fingers together and Langa's heart stopped beating for a second, his breath robbed, his chest unmoving, his eyes wide and his cheeks hot, before skyrocketing in a blink, loud in his ears, loud enough that Reki could probably hear it, see how affected Langa was on his face as strong fingers tightened around his.
"Reki… I…" he was at lost of words, his throat clutch, gapping like a fish as he tried to pick up his sentence again only to notice the words were still lacking. Perhaps Reki knew— cross that, he just knew.
When he turned his palms up to hold Langa's hands in his, his thumbs drawing lazy circles back, Langa knew that Reki was aware of how much power he had on the Canadian boy. He scrambled with the hands under his own as he finally settled with squeezing their fingers together. "I won't stop," he softly whispered, afraid to break the atmosphere that Reki settled, afraid he might run away again only for Reki to break all his fears into pieces when he pushed his left hand away, pawning with the remaining one between them.
Clap.
Bump.
And then.
"The infinity, remember?" Reki smiled, all teeth, the cheeks all red, the lips stretching so far his eyes smiled too, their hands forming two circles glued together.. And suddenly, Langa felt it was alright to love Reki with all his might and to fall like he would fall in snowboard in the snow, exactly because Reki was here to catch him.
Langa's abandoned left hand joined back and, instead of pushing away the 8 they were making, he laced it around Reki's part of the 8 to mold it like Reki did. Reki watched their hands with stars struck in his eyes and his jaw dropped when skilled, snow white fingers stretched his to form half a heart as Langa completed it with his right hand.
"Forever, then."
Reki blushed. And then, he combusted, came back with a spurt, a jumble of words and tightened his hold around Langa's wrist, amber eyes meeting his green ones. " I love you ," he whispered.
A cry, Langa's, the hearty but happy one, and then, " Je t'aime moi aussi ."