Work Text:
“I think I understand why I was left behind in this world.”
As those words are spoken, all is silent between them.
Ren carefully says, “Tell me.”
“...”
As he always does (damn him), Ren keeps his focused gaze on Niko.
“…I was a lost child. Unwanted, in that orphanage. I like to think all of us were, too. I feel like the only reason I continued to live day-to-day in that place was… to wonder if a reason to live would ever come.”
Niko lets their head drop while he fidgets with their hands, and Ren listens intently.
“All of us unwanted kids… ‘wonder if we all felt like that. Felt like we were waiting for someone to tell us we were needed in this life. If we even deserved the words, ‘I love you’.”
Then, Niko looks over to Ren. The pitch-black shadows backlit against the illuminated fireworks around them hoped to deceive the watery shimmer that Ren saw in their eyes.
“So… Thank you, Ren. Thank you for loving me.”
Boom. Crackle. The muffled, bright explosions from beyond the glass of the ferris carriage, quietly echoing the beating within the twosome’s hearts.
Niko then looks away, apologetic. “That being said, I… can’t respond to your feelings right now. I… need more time. I’m sorry—”
“—No, d—!”
With a swift motion, Ren grabs Niko’s hands tightly.
“Don—” Ren stumbles, then continues. “...Please, don’t apologise.”
The vice on Niko’s hands grew so much tighter.
“You are so much more important than an answer.”
Ren acts as if it was the only jumbled thing that could have come out of his mouth, but in that moment, those words couldn’t have meant more.
Ren smiles. “I am truly happy for you, Niko.”
Niko thinks that it only took them 15 years of his life to learn how to smile. “Thank you, Ren.”
A boom, and a crackle. Each boom resounding with a heartbeat that passed, growing louder, and growing more still— as their shoulders lean against each other’s, back of their heads resting against the glass, as they gaze out together into the bursts of colour streaked across the skyline, with every muted boom and crackle counting down the seconds to the new year.
They do eventually get to the new year, when they hear the hushed cheers of the cities beneath their feet.
Niko feels Ren shift closer into their shoulder, as his fingers brush up against theirs, undaring. “Happy New Year, Niko,” he said, beneath a whisper.
Niko dares to lace their fingers into his, and stays silent. He doesn’t need to say it back.
“So, Ren, what happened? You two finally suck face in the carriage, or somethin’?”
“He wishes,” Niko snidely retorts.
And then, Ren brings down a terse and unforgiving slap onto Ran’s shoulder.