Work Text:
It was just a regular Friday night at S. Some of the attendees had gathered around the practice park while unresolved beefs took place on the other side of the abandoned mine. It was considered a calmer night, especially for a Friday, leaving barely anyone at the illegal skate track.
“Did you guys see that?!” Reki bursted full of excitement as he hopped up from his spot on the ground, nearly spilling his whole water bottle over Miya, who glared at him.
“That guy’s christ air backflip?” Joe pointed out the skater who had just landed on the half-pipe.
“Yeah, that was fucking cool!” Reki grinned down at Langa, “I wanna try it!”
“Woah,” Shadow furrowed his eyebrows, “Are you sure about that, especially here? You could get seriously hurt.”
“I believe in you, Reki!” Langa called after the redhead who was already running off to the half-pipe.
“And he’s gone.” Shadow huffed, crossing his arms, “It’s his funeral.”
“He’ll be fine. He always gets right back up after he falls.” Joe dismissed Shadow’s exaggeration quickly.
They all knew how relentless Reki was, and how stubborn. Even if there was a sliver of a chance Reki could land a new trick, he’d be off to try it, even if it was heavily discouraged by the adults. It didn’t help that Langa was practically his biggest encourager, always giving him encouragement for absolutely anything, no matter how dangerous.
Miya couldn’t shake the dread that was twisting and knotting at his stomach, so he glanced up from his game to watch Reki.
Something felt off.
Reki was never one that got enough air while skating, and it used to be something that bothered him before he and Langa made up. He’d practically bared his heart out to everyone after his second beef with ADAM, apologizing and sharing his insecurities while Joe and Cherry treated his wounds. He’d been forgiven without a second thought.
Miya’s eyes widened at the sight of Reki gaining more air, maybe enough air to match Langa. He saw Reki’s blinding smile and he quickly glanced over to everyone else, seeing Joe, Cherry, and Shadow wrapped up in their own conversation while Langa dug around Reki’s bag for snacks he never failed to bring.
He should’ve seen it coming before. The board smacked against the edge of the half-pipe as Reki came down, only to send him flying off of it, a loud, painful thud echoing throughout the area when body greeted concrete.
Miya had to look away with a grimace. At least now he knew where the dread had come from.
Joe turned his head at that moment, the small group momentarily laughing endearingly at Reki’s attempt. He was ready to turn back to his conversation, but hesitated when Reki didn’t shoot back up with an ‘I’m okay!’
Langa was always the first person next to Reki after a bail, no matter how hard or how soft it was, and this time would be no different. He’d be up and running to Reki any moment now, right after he found his snack anyways.
Still surprised when no familiar groans of pain rang throughout the starry sky, and definitely concerned by the deafening silence, Joe finally called out to him.
“Reki? Kid, you okay?”
Dread washed over Langa after Joe called out, finally shifting his vision from the bag and to Reki, who was spread out on the half-pipe. When Reki still didn’t pick his head up to the call of his concerned friend, not even lifting so much as a finger, Langa was finally up and running.
Reki heard the footsteps pattering at the speed of light toward him, each one making his head pound while the ground shook drastically beneath him. He heard voices, maybe his name being called, and he definitely felt the soft hands carding through his hair and over his forehead, over his cheek, down to his arm.
“Reki, can you hear me?”
The pounding against his skull only worsened when he felt the soft hands hauling him upward a little too fast for his liking, leaving him to blink blearily. He tried hard to refocus his vision enough to understand what was going on.
He saw the blue hair first.
Ah, it’s Langa. Of course it is, why wouldn’t it be?
“Reki?”
There’s too many voices around him and he wanted to lift his hands to his ears, anything to block out the sound, but even the thought of lifting his limbs sent his head into a never ending painful void.
“Hey, stay with me, Reki!” Langa begged, and, oh shit, when did Reki even close his eyes?
He was leaning too far back before he knew it, almost falling backward, but he felt Langa snake a hand around his back, holding him up right once again.
There was so many sounds and they only grew more loud and muddled as seconds passed. He squeezed his eyes shut in response, barely being able to pry them back open when he heard another frantic call of his name.
When he opened his eyes, the scenery had changed.
He merely blinked for only a second and he mentally swore up and down before that blink, Langa was not wearing a white suit. He was not wearing that pretty, definitely princely like, suit before he closed his eyes.
Langa looked so elegant in it and Reki squinted at the sight. Prince Langa definitely made so much sense. He was pretty enough to be one. So, Reki was quick to dismiss any confused thoughts because, yes, Langa Hasegawa was his prince.
He blinked again and he was back at S, the suit Reki had seen Langa in gone in mere milliseconds.
“Stay with me, okay, Reki?”
He thought he answered, but he clearly didn’t because when he blinked again, Langa was still peering at him with that panicked expression.
The only difference was the suit was back.
That suit was definitely Langa’s. After all, his hair was still the same, his face was still the same, and his pretty eyes were still the same, and they still looked at Reki the same. Langa looked very breathtaking.
Reki’s head was pounding against his skull, the pain growing more and more. It hurt like hell, but he was too busy eyeing Langa in the suit that made him look like a god to even realize how detrimental his situation was.
“He might have a concussion.”
Was that Cherry? He didn’t know, or care really, he just watched Prince Langa look up behind him, probably at someone who was standing there?
Reki blinked straggly.
Prince Langa was gone again.
Despite the ringing in his ears and his vision blurring every few seconds, Reki felt a twinge of annoyance. He wanted Prince Langa to return to his vision. Now.
He mumbled incoherently to Langa until blink number six finally worked it’s magic on Reki’s blind eye, showing him what he wanted to see.
Prince Langa is back in front of his eyes, worried gaze searching his face for something. He didn’t know what, he didn’t really care what for, he just really liked seeing Prince Langa.
“Langa, I’m calling an ambulance, can you keep him awake?” Reki registered that Cherry was speaking, but paid no mind. “Just ask him questions, make sure he knows who he is.”
He saw Langa nod frantically, before holding eye contact with Reki. “Okay, okay... You can hear me right? What’s your name?”
Reki’s head limply tilted, only managing a slurred, “Langa...” before his vision blurred once again. His head hurt.
“Reki!”
Langa called his name in a white shirt-suit-shirt-prince-him-prince until soft hands were cradling his cheeks in hands, blue eyes anxiously asking, “C’mon, tell me who you are, you can do it. Don’t leave me here.”
Reki blinked multiple times, finally gaining a tiny bit of stable vision back, but Langa’s outfit still switched every time he did so. It made his head spin, but he tried to keep his eyes pried open because Langa is worried about something and he didn’t want him to be worried anymore.
“Reki... m’ name’s Reki Kyan...” His words slurred together deliriously, but at least his answer seemed to relieve some concern from Langa’s pretty face.
“There you are.” Langa had smiled softly through the concern, “Are you okay?” Reki heard as his vision swam, blurring Prince Langa back onto the scene.
“No…” He croaked, the pounding in his head increasing in volume in his ears.
“Where does it hurt? Can you tell me?”
And with that question, Reki realized if he were able to just see straight, Prince Langa would stay with him longer.
“Head’s pounding… My eyes… they keep closing… on their own.”
He saw Prince Langa frown when he felt himself begin to sway back, and he definitely felt Prince Langa’s hands holding onto him tightly, a hand caressing his cheek again.
“You hit your head pretty hard, Reki.” He wanted to smile at the concern a prince was giving him because who wouldn’t want to be cared for by a prince? He didn’t know if he actually smiled like he wanted to.
Reki also couldn’t help but wish the sway had been a dance between them, not nearly falling against the concrete. He watched as Langa’s pretty eyebrows rose up in confusion and his heart lurched.
Did he smile wrong? The silence hurt as he wondered, but then Langa was laughing.
“You really do shine no matter what, Reki.”
He felt his body ignite with fire, starting with his ears and spreading down to his neck, and he smiled again, or at least he thought he did. He could see Miya now standing behind Langa, causing him to try and blink the blur away, but he just whined in frustration.
“Nooo! My Prince Langa is gone again!”
Miya smirked, covering his mouth as he snorted. “Your Prince Langa? Slime, you have got it so bad.”
“I’m a prince?” Langa’s eyes widened and his big blue eyes gazed into Reki’s amber ones and Reki could feel his whole face, still being caressed by Langa’s hand, turn a bright shade of red.
He didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Reki could feel the throbbing pain stab it’s way back into his head. He’d completely forgotten about it after seeing Prince Langa for the first time. He blinked again, hoping to bring the prince back, but he was left to wallow in disappointment when the scene stayed the same.
“When I blinked… you were… um… you were turning into a prince.” He sighed, giving up after blinking once more. Reki was just destined to never see Prince Langa again.
In the corner of his eye, Reki just knew his friends were laughing at him and the thought made his face burn hotter from embarrassment. And then he saw that Langa’s cheeks reflected a similar glow that he felt, illuminated by the dim lighting of S in a way that made him look like a god.
Reki was so speechless.
“Kid definitely has a concussion.” He heard Joe snort, obviously trying to avoid laughter.
The embarrassment had Reki trying to look down, hide his face wherever he was able to because, wow, this is actually embarrassing and he still didn’t fully know what was happening around him. He was only stopped by the immediate intense pain that followed with his movement.
“Ow, ow… Ow…” Reki mumbled as he hissed in pain, vision swimming. He really shouldn’t move if this is how it felt.
“Shit- you’re okay, Reki. It’s okay, don’t try to move.” Langa’s voice was back in his ears, his hands gently and delicately lifting his head back up. “I just need you to keep your eyes open.”
“Head hurts…” Reki’s vision was blurring for a different reason now, the pain that came forth like a vicious wave was way too much for him to handle right now. He needed to close his eyes.
“I know, it sucks, but I’m right here.” Langa’s eyebrows furrowed with concern again and that’s what Reki had been trying to avoid.
Why was Langa so upset? Was it with him? Was it because he said he was his Prince? Did he do something? What—
“I’m your prince, remember? I’ll make it go away, just hang on, okay?”
Oh, yeah, Langa was his prince, even in S.
“Please… Make it stop.” His words kept slurring, hands trying to grab a hold of Langa’s shirt to keep him steady, keep the pain at bay, anything.
“You gotta keep your eyes open, Reki!”
Fuck, was he closing his eyes? He didn’t even realize, but now that Langa begged him, he could see his eyelids closing even though he tried to protest.
“Reki!”
The redhead swayed forward and Langa quickly caught him, situating Reki bridal style across his lap, his head propped up on his own shoulder.
“Guys, he passed out!”
“Shit. Alright, c’mon, let’s go wait by the road for the ambulance.” Joe beckoned them quickly, “Miya, kid, please grab their boards.”
Miya had nodded, quickly fleeing the scene to grab Reki’s backpack and the two’s boards, and by the time he’d gotten back, Langa had stood up, holding Reki tightly in his arms, so he followed behind a frantically walking Langa.
“Is it okay for him to be asleep? Shouldn’t we wake him up?” Shadow asked, glancing over at the sleeping redhead in Langa’s arms.
“He should be fine as long as we get him to the hospital.” Cherry quickly guided them out of the gate, patting Miya’s back lightly, sensing the thirteen year olds anxiety.
“You’ll be okay, Reki. Your prince has you, okay?” Langa whispered as he glanced down at the boy in his arms, just happy to be able to see the heavy rise and fall of his chest as they walked.
—
Reki blinked his eyes open, the blindingly bright lights forcing them closed again. He groaned while his skull held a dull pound.
Where was he even?
“Reki?”
He had to pry his eyes open for that voice. It belonged to someone he loved. As he blinked, the white light slowly faded and blue hair quickly came into view as he turned his head to the side, finding the direction of the voice.
“Hey, there you are.” Langa smiled softly, giving Reki's hand a gentle squeeze.
“Hey…” Reki’s voice croaked and he glanced around, finding Miya and Joe on his other side, the pre-teen immediately setting his switch down, which was a rarity in itself.
“You’re finally awake, Slime.”
“Good to see you, too.” Reki snorted, rubbing his eyes with his available hand. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” Joe frowned, “You tried to do a new trick at S last night and you bailed pretty hard. You got a concussion, kid.”
“And scared us.” Shadow added as he made his way into the room, handing a snack to Langa.
“Oh.” It all came rushing back to him now, wincing in pain at the throb the memories gave. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He chuckled pitifully.
“It’s fine, kid, as long as you’re okay.” Joe smiled, gently rubbing Reki’s shoulder for a short moment.
“Wait, so, you don’t remember anything?” Miya smirked.
“Um… Nope, I don’t remember anything after I fell.”
“So, you don’t remember calling Langa your prince?” Miya cackled loudly when Reki froze up, a blush seeping it’s way into his cheeks.
“I- shut up! What do you know?”
“More than you apparently!”
If it weren’t for the vehement throb in Reki’s skull, he would’ve been up immediately, hands reaching for Miya, but he refrained from strangling the pre-teen.
Langa grinned, dragging his thumb over Reki’s knuckles. “I told you your prince would make the pain go away.”
“Langa…” Reki whined from embarrassment, secretly basking himself in the attention.
Cherry huffed as he walked into the room, “You better plan on being more careful, I had to pay thirty grand to make this concussion of yours go away.”
“For thirty grand, I’ll go away.” Reki added quickly, ignoring the pointed looks he received from it.
—
When Langa was finally left alone with Reki, it was quiet. Reki had opted for closing his eyes to help dull more of the pain and Langa sat loyally by his side, holding his hand the whole time.
“Reki?” Langa tentatively asked, massaging the redhead's palm.
“Mmhm?”
“Did you.. really see me as a prince? Your prince?”
“.. Yeah. I did.” Reki still didn’t open his eyes even though his anxiety ate at him from the inside. “And I.. kind of wish it had been a little bit real.”
Langa’s heart swelled, “Reki, open your eyes for a second. Please?” and he watched Reki’s eyes hesitantly flutter open, head turning to gaze at him.
“Yeah?”
“I’ll be your prince for real. Anytime you need me.” He smiled as Reki’s face broke out into a dark blush.
“You can’t just say stuff like that!” Reki whined, sighing, “But.. I would like that.”
“Me too.”