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Langa didn’t quite know what gave him away to Reki.
Maybe it was the way he hyperfixated on skateboarding, how he had gone from not caring at all to caring too much.
He remembered how he’d begged for a job at the skate shop for no reason other than to make money. He didn’t care about skating, or making boards, or even about selling them. It was just a paycheck from a stupid afterschool job.
He didn’t care about ‘S’, either. He’d been unaffected when Reki first took him, save for some confusion. He didn’t understand why getting the sticker looked like a drug deal, and he didn’t understand why you needed some super special pin to gain access. It was an illegal skating track, not a Yakuza hideout.
Langa certainly didn’t give a fuck about the beef with Shadow, either. He remembered the way he skated just because he had to, not because he cared. Some stupid rule about having to skate because he stepped on a board.
And then he felt it.
Langa felt the wind in his hair and the freedom of flying on the board. He could feel the rough ground beneath him, and he could hear the wheels rolling. It was so unlike snowboarding, but simultaneously the exact same. It had the same raw energy, the same endless speed. He couldn’t twist and turn as easily, but he still felt so alive, so powerful. There was nothing else, just him and the board, and for a moment he was back in Canada, whizzing through snowy forests.
As he moved down the track, the skateboard took on a life of its own, just like his snowboard used to. They were two separate entities combining into one unstoppable force.
He fell at the finish, but he beat Shadow nonetheless. And when he looked up at Reki, something in him had shifted. Langa had gone from a blank, expressionless face to wide, shining eyes and a look of complete awe.
Maybe that made Reki realize.
Or maybe he knew because Langa was always asking him to clarify his emotions, not quite sure how to interpret some of Reki’s feelings.
When Langa first told Reki he loved him, it’d been the middle of the night. 4:57AM to be exact, if he remembered correctly. They’d been heading home from ‘S’. Reiki had walked him like always, even though he lived in the opposite direction.
He loved Reki so much, and he wanted, no, needed him to know. He loved Reki’s passion for skating, how he made it look so beautifully effortless. How he was obsessed with every aspect, from actually skating to building the boards to the beauty that came with painting a board. He loved how patient Reki was with him, how he took his time teaching Langa to skate and how he never got upset with him for getting overwhelmed or having meltdowns. He loved his pretty smile and his fluffy red hair and the way the air felt cleaner when Reki was around.
Langa loved Reki, and he had wanted to tell him for so long, but he didn’t know when it was appropriate to do so. At ‘S’? Over text? When they snuck out of class to go skating.
But that night, standing outside Langa’s house, something felt right. Something about the cool air and dark streets, the rustling of wind in trees, and the isolation of them being the only ones awake on the whole stress. Something about it prompted Langa to confess, and told him it was finally time.
He’d whispered “I love you” so quietly that, when there was a moment of silence, he thought that maybe Reki hadn’t heard him. But when he looked up, ready to repeat himself, Reiki was staring at him, silent tears streaming down his face.
Langa remembered how he’d panicked, positive he’d ruined things. Maybe Reki didn’t feel the same, maybe he didn’t like Langa like that.
But then, Reki hugged him and whispered back, “I love you too,” and Langa’s world exploded into colour.
The world seemed brighter, happier. It was dark out, but everything seemed bright and beautiful. Every sound and colour and feeling was beautiful for a moment as his heart soared, and Langa knew what it truly meant to be happy.
“But… why did you cry?” he asked softly. Reki loved him back, why was he upset? “Are you sad?”
Reki just laughed and smiled at him. “No, I’m crying because I’m happy,” he said. Then, with a shaky voice, Reki explained that he was feeling a lot of emotion and that he was crying to let out the emotion. He equated it to Langa’s happy stimming, something he hadn’t even realized he’d started doing.
Then again, the routines might have done it.
Every time they had ‘S’, Reki and Langa followed the same exact schedule.
They met outside Langa’s at 11:48PM, and got to ‘S’ at midnight. Cherry, Joe, Shadow, and Miya waited for them at the entrance, knowing they’d be there right on time, and the group entered together.
Then, without fail, Reiki and Langa left ‘S’ at 4:23AM, before Reki walked Langa home. They walked to give themselves more time, because it took about 34 minutes to walk, and only 12 to skate.
Then, they’d talk outside for exactly 10 minutes before Langa went inside. Reki waited for him to appear in the upstairs window, which took about 3 minutes, and then Langa watched him skate away into the night at 5AM.
The routine had been Langa’s idea, and Reki had helped make sure they stuck to it. The one time they didn’t, because they’d got stuck talking to another skater, Langa had checked the time only to have a meltdown when he realized they were 7 minutes late.
After that, Reki made sure no one stopped them from leaving on time. He understood how important it was to Langa. Maybe he understood because that was when he knew.
Langa had been treated like an outsider plenty of times, he knew how some people reacted. They stayed away from him, or treated him like a baby. Honestly, he didn’t know which was worse. He wouldn’t be able to bear it if Reki did that to him.
But Reki never treated him differently. Reki just treated him like he was Langa, not someone with autism.
Still, Langa never explicitly told Reki he was autistic, not until they were months into their relationship. He didn’t want to be shunned, he didn’t want Reki to think he was weird, or different. He loved the other too much.