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o. i’m here now
“Elder Cunningham!”
Nabulungi rushes into Arnold and Kevin’s shared room, without so much as a warning. She finds Kevin sitting on the bed in what looks like his pajamas that he apparently still hasn’t changed from - a quick look at the clock reveals that it’s twelve in the morning - with Arnold sleeping next to him. Kevin shushes her. “He’s taking a nap,” he whispers.
“Sorry,” she says softly. “Can you wake him?”
“Well,” Kevin says, straightening his posture, “I hope it’s important.” He sets his book (the Song of Achilles, recommended to him by elder McKinley) aside and bounces his leg, on which Arnold’s arm is resting. “Wake up, pal,” he says. After a few minutes, Arnold does in fact wake up. Nabulungi sits down on what little space there is left on the bed. Arnold’s eyes are just barely opened.
“What’re you doing here, Naba?” he mumbles. Nabulungi is surprised to understand what he’s saying, because all that comes out of his mouth is a sort of jumble of sounds that’s half-muted by Kevin’s thigh that he still hasn’t removed his face from. Kevin seems to have little difficulty with it. Nabulungi supposes he must often deal with an Arnold who has just woken up.
“Elder Price, I think you should leave,” she says. Kevin moves to get up, but Arnold makes a little noise and moves to hug his waist. Kevin shrugs defeatedly. “Uh,” Nabulungi says.
“Naba, it’s fine,” Arnold says, his hand finding Kevin’s and holding on tightly. He still sounds half-asleep. “Whatever you have to say, Kevin can hear it, right best friend?” Nabulungi thinks he’s going to regret this when he’s fully awake, but Kevin shrugs again, and Nabulungi sighs.
“Okay,” she says. “Baba says you are in love with me.” Once he gets over the initial shock, Arnold quickly shakes his head. Nabulungi patiently listens to him ramble about a crush that is very much in the past, and finally looks at the two, and nods slowly. “Okay, I see. Well, that is good, because I’m a lesbian.”
“I thought you were African,” Arnold says. Nabulungi rolls her eyes playfully. “I’m African too. So,” she continues after seemingly considering something, “what is going on between you two?”
“What do you mean, Naba?” Arnold asks, genuinely confused. He nuzzles into Kevin’s chest. Nabulungi shakes her head, smiling. “I have to go home now, or Baba will be worried. I’ll text you later.”
“Bye?” Arnold says, just as confused as before. He huffs while detaching himself from Kevin to look at his friend. “What was that all about?”
Kevin takes a deep breath and prays for Heavenly Father to help him through this. “Arnold,” he says.
“Yeah?” And Arnold looks up at him with those big innocent eyes. Kevin takes him in his arms and Arnold happily cuddles up against him. Good , Kevin thinks, because this way he won’t have to look Arnold in the eyes when telling him the news.
“Nabulungi thinks that we’re in love.” He can’t see it, of course, but he can imagine Arnold’s puzzled frown. “Why?”
“I don’t know. We have been pretty touchy lately.”
“But so have I and Naba.”
“Yeah, but…” He trails off.
“But what?”
“It’s different. Apparently. I mean, you’re literally hugging me. In bed. To be honest, I can see why that would imply certain things to people who don’t know better.”
“Hm.” He just squeezes Kevin tighter. “Well, who cares what they think? We know that we’re not in love, and that’s all that matters, right? I just really like hugging you, y’know, and if that makes some people think that we’re in love, that’s their fault,” he declares. Kevin is quickly filled with a newfound adoration for the lovely person in his arms - he’s been friends with him for a while now, of course, but never before has he thought of Arnold as adorable. Or has he? He doesn’t know, really.
“I don’t know. I’m just not comfortable with people thinking something about me that’s not true.”
“Well, then why don’t we tell Nabulungi that we’re not? In love, I mean.”
And so they do, and Nabulungi doesn’t believe them. Arnold is reluctant when Kevin first gets the idea to pretend they actually are a couple - Nabulungi will be all “I knew it!” for a few days about it, and the other elders will have to get used to the idea, but Kevin says that once it’s not so new anymore, everyone (including Nabulungi) will shut up about it.
“I thought you didn’t want people thinking something that’s not true,” Arnold says.
“That was back when Nabulungi only just started thinking it,” Kevin says with a sigh. He falls back onto the bed and turns the light off. Arnold huffs playfully and turns it back on. “We’re not asleep yet, dummy.”
Kevin rolls his eyes. “You and I both know that she’s not going to stop talking about it to us anytime soon, so I’m willing to do anything that might increase the chances of Naba finally shutting up.”
Arnold’s face falls, and for a moment Kevin can’t tell if it’s real or not. “That’s not nice,” Arnold says.
Kevin smiles. “You get what I mean,” he says, and he’s right, because the light returns to Arnold’s eyes and he grins. “Yeah,” he says. “Good night, best friend.” He turns the light off.
“G’night, pal. See you tomorrow.” And Arnold smiles, because sometimes he still can’t grasp the fact that Kevin is really here, stayed with him. Especially when he’s tired, worry tends to flood over him, as it’s doing now.
“You’re really here, right?” Arnold eventually decides on asking. “Like, you’re not-you’re not gonna leave me again?”
“I’m not,” Kevin says. “I’m sorry I did. But I’m here now, okay?”
“Right.” He feels Kevin’s hand covering his own, and his smile returns.
“Good night.”
i. let me help
Arnold jerks awake. He exhales sharply, and dives into Kevin’s side. Kevin doesn’t think he’s fully lucid yet. But he’s just happy he’s awake, really, because it’s ten in the morning, and he should’ve been awake hours ago.
He thinks about saying something to Arnold. Phrases shoot through his mind. But he doesn’t use any of them. Kevin doesn’t know when, but at some point Arnold starts crying. Kevin stays quiet while Arnold clings to him. Kevin hugs him back, tighter than he’s hugged him before. He feels like Arnold could use the extra comfort.
Eventually, he isn’t crying anymore. He’s still curled up against Kevin, though, and it seems like he won’t leave anytime soon. Kevin is fine with that. As long as his friend is happy, he reasons.
“Are you okay, bud?” he asks after a while, because Arnold isn’t talking, which very much implies that he’s not okay. Arnold pulls away, lying on his back.
“Arnold, something’s obviously bothering you,” he tries again. “Let me help?” It’s more of a question than anything else. And it works, apparently, because Arnold reaches for his hand.
“I had a nightmare,” he says quietly.
“Yeah, I thought so.”
“Right.” Arnold’s grip on Kevin’s hand loosens, but only a bit. “It was really scary,” he says.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
A nod. “It was about when-when you left, I think. And my dad was there, too.” That’s all he really needs to say for Kevin to realise how awful it must’ve been. He’s seen just a little of Arnold’s dad, but it’s enough to know that he isn’t as happy with his son as he should be.
“Look, I’m sorry for leaving you.” It’s genuine, but Kevin doesn’t think it’ll make any difference. Still, he wants to say it.
“I know. I don’t know why I’m still upset about it, I mean, you literally saw a guy get shot in the face, it was understandable, I-” He’s squeezing Kevin’s hand really tightly now, and he finally notices. “Sorry,” he mumbles, and he lets go.
“Hey,” Kevin says, not receiving a reaction. “Hey, look at me, okay? Can you do that?” Arnold sniffs, but eventually faces Kevin. He expected to be met with anger, or worse, but Kevin’s expression is nothing but caring.
“You’ve got nothing to apologise for,” he says. “You’re- a wonderful person, and I’m sorry I didn’t see that earlier.” Somehow, Kevin’s voice and words calm Arnold, and he reluctantly hugs him again. They stay like that for a while. Kevin hears people entering the kitchen and briefly wonders who they are, but is distracted by Arnold suddenly saying “oh!” Suddenly, his eyes are shining, and he practically jumps off the bed and goes looking for something, Kevin doesn’t know what.
“This,” he says, sitting back down on the bed, “is my greatest treasure.” He carefully gives the box to Kevin. Kevin looks at it. It’s Star Wars lego.
“Great, right?” Arnold says excitedly. Kevin tilts his head, studying the box. “Can I..?” he asks. Arnold nods and Kevin opens the box. Inside it is lego, of course. It looks sort of worn out, and the bricks are messily put into the plastic bags. Kevin tries to imagine how long it took Arnold to take whatever the bricks once formed apart. He doesn’t even want to think about it after a while.
“I want to build something with you!” Kevin wants to say that it’s half past ten in the morning and they need to eat something, but Arnold looks so happy, and this obviously means a lot to him, so of course he agrees. It’s at that moment he realises that yeah, he really would do anything for his best friend, wouldn’t he? So he picks up a few bricks and awkwardly puts one on top of the other. Arnold laughs and takes them out of his hand.
“That’s not how you do it, silly. Here, let me help,” he says. He starts building, and occasionally asks Kevin to do something. Kevin does it without complaints. Arnold is smiling and talking to him all the way through, and Kevin feels like there hasn’t been a moment he didn’t grin throughout the entire process. Eventually, they’ve created a Death Star, and Kevin is hungry.
“Arnold, I really think we should have some breakfast,” he says. Arnold sighs. “Okay. But don’t tell elder McKinley that I brought lego. I think it’s against some weird rule, or something.” Kevin smiles at the way he rolls his eyes. “I won’t tell.”
Nabulungi is waiting for them in the kitchen. She’s talking to elder Church and waves happily at Arnold when he and Kevin come in. Arnold smiles brightly and gives her a hug before moving to sit down next to Kevin.
There’s nothing unusual about the morning for a while, and then Kevin asks why Nabulungi is even here - after all, it’s morning, and usually she’s home at this time - and she responds with a shrug and a “I had a good feeling about being here today.” Which reminds Kevin that they still have to reveal that they’re “dating”. He nudges Arnold, and he says “oh!”, and he takes his hand, and the news is out.
“I knew it!” Nabulungi says happily. Elder Church smiles smugly. “So did I.” Arnold squeezes Kevin’s hand, and Kevin can’t tell if it’s from seeing Nabulungi’s happiness or from surprise. When Kevin squeezes back, it’s definitely from surprise. But, he thinks, if it seemed that “obvious” to Nabulungi she couldn’t have been the only one who saw something that wasn’t there at all.
“Cool, right?” Arnold grins. Kevin’s somewhat surprised by his apparent devotion to this lie. He’ll have to ask him about that sometime. But for now, they’re having breakfast, and Nabulungi is telling them about the general willingly joining Arnold’s religion, and it’s exactly the sort of peaceful morning Kevin’s grown to love. Arnold’s hand doesn’t leave his.
ii. i missed you
Part of Kevin wonders what it was like for Joseph Smith, being a prophet. After all, it takes up most of Arnold’s time. A bigger part of him wonders if Joseph Smith ever existed, if God even exists. He isn’t the only one who’s starting to question God’s existence. Arnold is the first to follow him, because although he’s been forced to be a leader by the situation after Kevin left, he quickly reverted back to his status as a follower after Kevin decided to stay with him. “I like this better,” he tells Kevin one day.
“You do?”
“Yeah.” Arnold nods contently. He’s lying on the floor of the living room, and Kevin is sitting cross-legged on the couch. It’s eleven o’clock in the evening, and Kevin has suggested going to bed, but Arnold just shook his head and grabbed a pillow from the couch.
“Why’s that?” Kevin asks. He uncrosses his legs. “You seemed happy enough to be leading all these people when I first came back.”
“Yeah,” Arnold says again. He shrugs. “It was nice, kinda. I mean, people didn’t think I was annoying, and I got to make things up without being punished, but I don’t know. I missed you, y’know.”
“I missed you too,” Kevin says softly, and he can’t stop himself from thinking about everything that happened, and about how much he hurt Arnold. He wishes he’d never left.
Arnold sits up. “You okay, best friend?” he says, stopping Kevin’s train of thought. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m just...I’m sorry for leaving the way I did.”
“That’s okay!” Arnold’s smile is gentle, and he grabs hold of Kevin’s hands to squeeze them tightly. “You’re back now, and we’re together, and that’s all that matters, right buddy?”
Kevin smiles at him. “Yeah.” And then Arnold sits on the couch, and he starts talking about Star Wars. Kevin doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but he happily lets his best friend - or boyfriend, he supposes - ramble.
Eventually though, elder McKinley comes in. Kevin thinks Arnold has been talking for at least twenty minutes, and his words have kind of turned into a sleepy murmur that even Kevin barely understands. But, he thinks, that might also be because he has no idea what Arnold is talking about.
Arnold is now pressed against Kevin’s side, hugging his waist and gripping some of the fabric of his shirt, and Kevin has put his arm around him. Usually he’d feel awkward with elder McKinley seeing them like this, and he does for a moment, but then he remembers that this is what they’re supposed to be doing. This is normal. So he relaxes, and elder McKinley crosses his arms. “Elders, you’re supposed to be in bed,” he says.
“No, we’re not,” Arnold, who stopped talking about Star Wars when his fellow elder entered, says tiredly. He moves to sit in a more comfortable position and detaches himself from Kevin. It disappoints Kevin, for some reason, but before he gets the chance to reach out Arnold grabs his hand.
“I mean,” he continues, words slightly less slurred as he leaves his half-asleep state, “are you really even the district leader anymore? With me being the new prophet, and all.”
As caring as elder McKinley is, if looks could kill Arnold would probably be dead. Kevin pulls him a little closer.
“Prophet or not, you’re tired, and you need sleep.”
“No, I don’t.” Arnold yawns. Elder McKinley glares at him. Then, he glares at Kevin, who now has a decision to make. “He’s probably right,” he eventually says.
Arnold huffs. “Fine,” he says. “But only because you’re my best friend.”
“Aren’t you two boyfriends?” elder McKinley asks.
“Yes!” Kevin says quickly. “Yes, we are. But old habits die hard and all, you know, and we can still be friends even though we’re dating.” He allows a nervous chuckle to slip.
“Right. Anyway, you two really should be getting to bed.”
“Why aren’t you in bed?” Arnold cleverly asks. But he raises his hand in defense when elder McKinley looks very pointedly at him. “Good night, elders,” he says.
“Yeah, g’night,” Arnold mumbles. McKinley salutes and leaves the room. “Anyway,” Arnold says, and then he’s rambling about Star Wars again. Kevin smiles.
“But anyway, that’s why I like the original trilogy better than the prequels,” Arnold finishes his rant. Kevin still doesn’t know why he prefers the originals. When Arnold talks about Star Wars, it ends up being a mess of words that don’t really make any sense, partly because Kevin doesn’t recognize half of them, partly because Arnold jumps from one topic to the next. So he does the only logical thing, and decides to switch topics to something he does know some things about.
And then the roles are reversed; Kevin talking about the goods and bads of what he calls “classic Trek” while Arnold has his head on his lap and listens to his best friend with his eyes closed. He understands half of what Kevin says, having only seen parts of the original series and nothing else, but he enjoys listening to his voice. This must be what listening to Arnold is like for Kevin, he thinks. Maybe that means he’s not as annoying as he’s always told he is, because Kevin is far from annoying.
He falls asleep to Kevin’s strangely comforting voice, and later, Kevin falls asleep to the strangely comforting sound of Arnold breathing next to him.
iii. you’re cute
Arnold wakes up before Kevin, per usual. What’s not usual is the position he wakes up in. He’s cuddled up next to Kevin, seemingly being used as a sort of stuffed animal. He can’t complain, really. Kevin is warm, and he’s holding Arnold, and memories from the past evening are returning to him and Kevin was willingly hugging him so surely that must mean that he doesn’t mind being in this position, right?
He remembers elder McKinley telling them to go to bed the night before. He realises that he must’ve fallen asleep in the living room, because Kevin apparently being a Star Trek guy is the last thing he recalls.
Lying in bed next to Kevin is nice, Arnold concludes. He vaguely remembers a thought he had last night. It doesn’t matter, because now, in his half-asleep state, all he needs to know is that Kevin is here, hugging him. And yes, Kevin has hugged him before, but not that much, and the feeling is… really nice. Arnold makes a decision at that moment; he needs to hug Kevin more often.
By the time Kevin wakes up, he’s more the embraced one than the embracer. He can feel Arnold pressing his face into his hair, and he gives a content sigh, squeezing Arnold’s waist lightly.
“Good morning, buddy!” Arnold says, breaking the silence quite harshly. Kevin is shaken awake by his loud voice and he rapidly realises what position he’s in. He stiffens, and Arnold apparently notices immediately, because he loosens his grip. Kevin slowly rolls over, but only to get in a more comfortable position. “Morning,” he says.
His hair’s messy, Arnold thinks. It makes him smile. He loves seeing Kevin like this, because he doesn’t have to do his weird perfect elder with perfect hair performance with Arnold, and he knows it. So he ruffles his hair, and Kevin says, “hey!” He’s almost pouting.
Arnold laughs, and ruffles his hair some more. “You’re cute,” he says, the words leaving his mouth before he knows it. He finds he doesn’t really regret it, even though that small sentence held more affection than was probably needed, but he pushes the thought down and Kevin doesn’t seem to notice.
“Well, if I’m ‘cute’, then treat me and my hair with the respect we deserve.” He settles back against Arnold’s side. Arnold playfully hits him with a pillow. Kevin raises an eyebrow. “Are you turning this into a pillow fight?” Arnold wasn’t planning on doing that, but he nods enthusiastically.
Kevin sighs but he’s smiling, and he sits up. “What does the winner get?”
“Eternal glory,” Arnold says solemnly. Kevin just shakes his head and chuckles. Arnold takes this as an acceptance of the upcoming pillow fight.
It’s not a fight, of course, not really. Not even a friendly competition. It’s just the two laughing and smiling and throwing pillows at each other, and Kevin’s hair becoming even more of a mess than it already was. Needless to say, Arnold is absolutely loving it.
“Oh, come on, now you’re just being cute!” Kevin says eventually, with a twinkle in his eyes that Arnold very rarely has the pleasure of seeing. Something about the fact that he is the cause of that twinkle gives him the urge to tackle his best friend in a hug, and of course he doesn’t have a choice but to satisfy that urge.
The “fight” doesn’t continue after that. Arnold falls back asleep (like he does quite often, really), and Kevin reads the Song of Achilles. His mind is elsewhere, though, mostly thinking about Arnold and about how quickly and easily he fell asleep. He isn’t complaining, because Arnold is pressed up against him and it makes him feel a strange kind of warm inside.
Elder McKinley enters at eleven thirty. It takes Kevin a few seconds, but he manages to shake Arnold awake. “What?” he asks. Kevin just ruffles his hair in the way that Arnold did his before.
“Hi, elder McKinley,” he says, gesturing for him to come inside.
“Elder, how often do I have to tell you to call me Connor?” he asks, presumably a way of greeting Kevin.
“You don’t call me Kevin either,” he points out, and Connor doesn’t really know how to argue with that.
“G’morning,” Arnold’s sleepy voice says. “Wait, you’re here to check on the Book of Arnold, aren’t you?” Connor nods. Arnold perks up, always happy to talk about the latest addition to his religion.
“So I was thinking, we should have a chapter about how God makes mistakes too, or something. I mean, gods aren’t infallible, right?”
“The point is kind of-”
“Right! Like the Q from Star Trek!” Arnold continues happily, but he feels kind of bad for talking over Connor. But it’s okay, because Connor doesn’t seem particularly mad, and Kevin’s smiling at Arnold’s mention of Star Trek.
“And-oh! And sometimes humans are right and God is wrong, so you really don’t have to listen to God all the time. You can just start quoting Shakespearean literature to him.” Connor looks at him weirdly.
“He’s saying that because captain Picard quoted Shakespearean lines at Q,” Kevin clarifies. Arnold nods enthusiastically. “I got it right, didn’t I?” Kevin smiles and nods once. “Yeah.” Arnold hugs him tightly.
“No offense, but I don’t think that’s enough for an entire chapter,” Connor says. “Elder Price, weren’t you going to write your ideas down?” With “Kevin’s ideas” he, of course, means all Star Trek lore he can remember, but he prefers to think of their new religion as something more than fanfiction. He knows that it isn’t actually anything more than that, but he can’t help but cling to his need to have an actual religion - he tries to ignore his growing doubt that God exists.
Kevin says yes, and places his notebook on Arnold’s knees that he’s pulled up against himself, and is now busy writing about the similarities between God and the prophets.
“God’s also kinda like the Force,” Arnold tells Connor from his comfortable spot in Kevin’s passive embrace. “I mean, that’s kind of just there all the time, everywhere, and so is God, y’know?” Connor refrains from making a comment about this, because even though he may be beginning to doubt what he’s learned all his life, he’s not ready to say it out loud.
“Hey, Connor?” Arnold eventually says.
“Yeah?”
“Are you up for a sleepover?”
iv. go to sleep
Arnold’s excited for the sleepover. Like, really excited. Like, oh my god I might actually become good friends with Connor excited. So, naturally, he will not shut up about it. A month ago, when they first got paired together, Kevin would’ve found this annoying, but now it just reminds him of why he stayed with his friend.
They’ve planned to get snacks (popcorn, and, if their fellow elder allows it, maybe even poptarts) and watch a film (Star Wars: A New Hope), and eventually go to Arnold and Kevin’s shared room and do whatever they feel like. Nine in the evening, Friday. Today’s Wednesday, and Arnold is hyped.
“I mean, this is so cool, because I’ve never really talked to him that much but I will now! Do you think he’ll like me? Oh! Do you think he’ll like Star Wars?”
They’re supposed to be working on the Book of Arnold. Something about the Nephites learning to speak like Yoda, or whatever. Kevin almost regrets coming up with this, because at the mention of Yoda, Arnold was immediately reminded of the planned sleepover, and this writing session has turned into an excited ranting session. But Kevin doesn’t have the heart to tell Arnold to start actually doing their job, so he keeps talking, and Kevin has pulled out his notebook and is currently writing down some more Star Trek Lore. He’s probably already noted most of what he’s writing now. It doesn’t matter.
“I’m sure he will, Arnold.” Arnold grins at him gleefully. He then yawns.
Kevin looks at the clock. When did it become midnight? They’ve been here on the living room couch ever since dinner, and Kevin hasn’t noticed the passing of time at all. But now that he’s thinking about it, elders have been heading off to their rooms, and when he looks at the window he sees that it’s dark outside. Huh.
“I think it’s time for us to go to bed,” he says.
Arnold pouts. “But we’re working.” Kevin stares at him in amazement.
“Even if we are, it’s late. We can continue later.”
“Promise?” Arnold holds out his pinky finger.
Kevin gives him a soft smile and reaches out. “Promise.”
“Okay.”
They go to their room, and Arnold instantly cuddles up against him, ready to go to sleep. Kevin lets out a soft chuckle. Good thing Arnold removed his binder after dinner, he thinks, because if he hadn’t, Kevin would now have to tell Arnold that he couldn’t go to sleep yet, and he’s looking so peaceful. He should probably tell him that anyway, because he’s still wearing normal everyday clothes, but it’s fine, just this once.
“I’m excited. For Friday,” Arnold murmurs from where his head is tucked in the crook of Kevin’s neck.
“Arnold.” He briefly touches his hair.
“Yeah?”
“Go to sleep.”
Finally, Friday arrives, and Arnold couldn’t be more excited. Even Kevin is more excited than he thought he’d be, though that’s probably just because of Arnold’s enthusiasm radiating from him at all times. They’ve managed to add another chapter to the Book of Arnold though, which is a pleasant surprise to Kevin.
They’re in the living room at exactly eight fifty. Connor’s not there yet, of course, but Arnold wanted to be early anyway. He’s setting up Star Wars while Kevin makes popcorn. Poptarts even allows them to take some of xyr beloved poptarts.
Connor’s late, and Arnold worries. But eventually he shows up, at three past nine. “Sorry I’m late,” he says. “That’s all good!” Arnold says, and he means it.
They watch the film, and Arnold doesn’t notice that he’s leaning against Kevin until he feels Kevin’s arms wrapping itself around his shoulder.
Elders come and go, and even Nabulungi joins them for a little while. But then she’s gone, too, and the film ends.
“What did you think?” Arnold asks Connor with a hopeful voice.
“It was good!” he says. “There’s more of them, right?”
Arnold nods happily. “Yeah! D’you want to see those?”
“I’d like to.” He nods back.
“Not now,” Kevin says quickly before Arnold fully leaves his embrace, because Kevin knows very well that this means that he’s going to attempt to show all Star Wars films to them this very evening. But, “it’s past eleven,” he says, and Arnold looks at the clock in pretend-defeat. “Okay,” he says.
They stay up for longer than probably good for them. Arnold isn’t tired though. Probably from the sheer exhilaration that comes with finally getting to know his district leader. Kevin, however, is tired, even though he won’t admit it.
“Kevin,” he says when silence falls.
“What?” He’s tried to maintain a certain distance from Arnold, feeling Connor’s burning eyes on them, but eventually gave in and he is now practically in Arnold’s lap. This is Arnold’s first clue that he’s exhausted, because normally, Kevin would never show affection like this when someone else is around. (With an exception for Naba. Maybe.)
“Go to sleep, buddy. You’re tired.”
“I am most certainly not tired.” He attempts to prove his point by sitting up, but he’s leaning against Arnold in a matter of seconds, and doesn’t bother to change positions, because Arnold’s body is warm against his and it feels nice.
“Elder Price, I think it’s pretty obvious that you are.”
Kevin huffs. “Not you too.”
“I am the district leader, and it’s my responsibility to make sure all the elders here are in good health. You’re one of the elders, Kevin.”
Kevin’s startled by the use of his first name, but he just sits up once again.
“I mean, technically, I am the prophet, so I’d outrank you,” Arnold says quietly. “But you should totally go to sleep, Kevin,” he quickly adds when he notices the sigh that Connor failed to suppress. He turns off the light, and Kevin really doesn’t feel like reaching out to turn it back on. Arnold barely hesitates before pressing a kiss to his forehead, and Kevin can’t stop himself from relaxing in Kevin’s embrace.
“Fine,” he says. Arnold pulls him closer, and he falls asleep before Kevin does.
i. i love you
“Elder Cunningham, wake up!”
Arnold wonders how early it is for him to not have woken up yet. Then he remembers that Kevin’s next to him, and he smiles, before realising that Nabulungi’s somewhat loud voice might wake his friend as well. Without thinking, he pulls him closer, and presses a kiss to his forehead, remembering how it calmed him earlier. Kevin’s breath hitches. Oh. So he was awake already.
But it’s okay, because Kevin lets Arnold hold him without complaints of any kind (not even in the passive way of moving away ever so slightly or stiffening just a little Arnold has learned to recognise), and he lets out a soft sigh. Nabulungi’s sigh is sharp but playful - or so Arnold realises after about ten seconds.
“What’s up, Naba?” he asks tiredly. He squeezes Kevin tightly (and feels him hug back) and presses his face into his hair, hoping they’ll fall back asleep and he’ll wake up when Kevin does.
But alas, he thinks dramatically, Kevin gently shakes him awake. “Fine,” Arnold mutters, now half-sitting. “What do you have to do with me having to wake up early?” he asks Kevin.
He shrugs. “I dunno, but if you don’t wake up and Nabulungi leaves, I’ll have woken up for nothing too.” Arnold closes his eyes and lies back down on the bed, half-falling on his “boyfriend”. It doesn’t take them long to find a comfortable arrangement. Nabulungi chuckles.
“Anyway,” she says, “do you want to go for a walk?” Kevin groans, but Arnold is interested, and eventually he manages to convince Kevin to come along with them. “We can hold hands,” he says enthusiastically. Kevin smiles tiredly but affectionately. “Fine.” And then they leave.
“How late is it?” Kevin’s somewhat grumpy voice breaks the silence Arnold was beginning to like. But it’s Kevin’s voice, so he can’t really complain.
“I don’t know, buddy,” he says. “Didn’t really think to check.”
“I did,” Nabulungi says. “We left at seven in the morning.” Kevin groans and hides his face in the back of Arnold’s hand. “We should be asleep.” Arnold doesn’t mean to laugh, but he does, because Kevin sounds kind of muffled because his face is nestled in the back of Arnold’s hand and it fills him with a sort of glee he can’t remember feeling in a long time.
“You can take a nap when we get back,” Arnold says with a laugh in his voice. Kevin grunts. “Fine.” Kevin steps closer to Arnold, holding his arm and slightly leaning against him.
“Why did you wake me up anyway?” Arnold asks, trying not to freak out because Kevin is leaning his head on his shoulder. It’s normal that they touch a lot, of course, but Kevin really has been initiating it more often lately. Arnold wonders why.
“Oh! Right!” She seems to have forgotten about it entirely. Arnold smiles. “I wanted to talk to you about elder McKinley.”
“Why?”
She can’t suppress a small laugh. Arnold’s eyes twinkle at her excitement.
“We want to matchmake him and elder Church!”
Kevin shakes his head lightly, but Arnold dismisses it in his surprise. “Really?” he asks. Kevin sighs and lifts his head from Arnold’s shoulder. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Nabulungi.”
“Why not? I think they would be good together.”
“Yeah, but-” He gave up. “Sorry, I’m tired. I’ll try to explain later. Just...don’t. Yet. Okay?”
“Okay.” She’s quiet. “So, what is the next thing in the Book of Arnold?”
Arnold perks up. “Oh! Yeah, I actually have a new idea!” He’s beaming, and Kevin squeezes his hand. He wonders when they stopped walking.
“What if,” Arnold begins, unconsciously squeezing Kevin’s hand somewhat more tightly than is comfortable, “Jesus is gay?”
“Jesus. Gay,” Kevin says.
“Yeah! I mean, I’m supposed to be spreading, like, good things, right? And people will believe that being gay isn’t bad if Jesus is gay. Or- or maybe Joseph Smith is gay! Maybe he and Brigham Young are married!”
Kevin doesn’t have the heart to dismiss his idea. “Sure,” he says instead. Arnold happily ruffles his hair. “I love you,” he says without thinking. Kevin doesn’t process it for a short while, but only a short one. He hesitates for a moment, but eventually says it back. Arnold’s smile is careful and...scared? He’ll have to mention this later.
“That sounds like a great idea!” Nabulungi pops in. Arnold smiles and they continue their stroll through the little village.
-
“Kevin,” Arnold says. He’s sitting up, but just barely, and Kevin’s weight is sort of pulling him down. “Kevin, buddy, wake up.” When he does, all he does is pull Arnold closer to him. Arnold chuckles. “Kevin, let me sit.”
Kevin sighs, and Arnold briefly wonders why he even let him take a nap in the first place; he’s impossible to get out of bed. But then he remembers that he tried, but he failed, because Kevin was looking at him like the only thing that would possibly make him happy was to go back to sleep. Arnold knew that that wasn’t the case, of course, but he still wasn’t able to resist that look - or the kiss on his temple that Kevin gave him before going back to sleep.
He remembers that he needs to keep talking, because if he doesn’t do anything, Kevin will just cuddle closer to him and go back to sleep. Of course he wouldn’t have any complaints about the cuddling, but it’s one thirty, and they really need to have lunch.
“So,” he says. “Naba’s a matchmaker. D’you think she tried to matchmake us?” The words leave his mouth before he really thinks about them, and he panics briefly, but there’s nothing to do about it now anyway. Maybe Kevin hasn’t even heard him. He sort of hopes so.
But the answer comes. “I don’t know,” Kevin says. “And honestly, I don’t care.”
“Really? I mean, I’d say that if she did, it worked out pretty well.” He realises what he just said and loosens his grip on Kevin, expecting him to pull away and think he’s weird and end what’s obviously a friendship. But he doesn’t do any of those things. He finds Arnold’s hand and carefully rests his head on his shoulder. “You think so?”
As much as Arnold wants to say yes, Kevin’s not even fully awake. So he says, “I think we should just have lunch and talk this through when you’re really awake.” Kevin nods.
“Okay,” he says.
Arnold makes pancakes - holding the milk, as always, and making Kevin one in the shape of the Starfleet logo, as always - and they eat in silence. The other elders have already left, having eaten about an hour ago. Poptarts invited Arnold and Kevin for lunch, and Arnold had whispered a thank you and declined politely, gesturing to the sleeping Kevin glued to his side.
So now they’re sitting at the kitchen table, alone. Kevin rubs his eyes. “I’m tired,” he says.
“You just woke up from a three hour nap,” Arnold says.
“Yeah. Probably slept too much.”
Another silence falls. Kevin rubs his eyes again and he, again, rests his head on Arnold’s shoulder. Arnold is startled, but happily welcomes the contact. “I love you,” Kevin says, and that’s the second time he’s said it today. “Really?” Arnold asks.
“Yeah.”
“I love you too.”
“I know.”
They return to their room, both filled with anticipation. Arnold wants to hold Kevin’s hand, so he does. Kevin smiles softly. They sit down on the bed, shoulders touching. Kevin seems to be thinking, and then he speaks.
“Can I kiss you?” he asks. He sees Arnold getting all wide-eyed and flushed, and he’s right in taking that as a good sign, because Arnold nods, and they’re both at a loss for words. Luckily, they don’t need words when Arnold leans in first. It’s soft and sweet and most of all short. Neither of them mind, really. It’s just a confirmation of the feelings that they’ve only recently realised they have. But, as they both think about it, those feelings have been building up and growing stronger for a long time.
“So,” Arnold says, a little louder than he would’ve liked - or maybe it just seems louder than it is because of the somewhat heavy silence prior to his “so”. But it doesn’t matter, because Kevin opens his eyes (when did he close those?) and they sit on the bed, just looking at each other.
“Are we, like, a thing now?”
A soft smile. “I guess so.”
o. and here’s my hand
They don’t tell anyone the news. They don’t have to, of course, because everyone already knows they’re dating. The only thing that they don’t know is that they started dating exactly one week ago. Eventually though, Nabulungi notices that they’ve actually been kissing. No actual, mouth touching kissing (not in public, that is) but forehead kisses, and hand kisses, and pretty much all sorts of kisses. “Why is that?” she asks them one day.
“The kissing?” Arnold asks.
“Yes.”
“We actually didn’t start dating until like, a week ago.”
“Really?” She sounds somewhat surprised, but not as surprised as Kevin thinks she should be.
The sun is shining through the window in the Hatimbi living room, and Nabulungi’s face is beautifully lit up. Kevin could have had a crush on her too, if only he weren’t the gay disaster that he is. Arnold pulls him closer. “Yeah,” he says.
Nabulungi smiles. Later that day, as they leave the house, they hear Nabulungi excitedly tell Mafala, “Baba, my plan worked!”
Kevin blinks briefly. “She actually matchmade us.”
Arnold smiles brightly and squeezes his hand. “I’m glad she did.”
And the feeling of that same hand wrapped around his is the last thing Kevin feels before falling asleep that night, and every night really. It’s a good feeling.