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"You've been quiet lately," Bad lets out a hum of amusement, staring at him with his head leaning on his hands, one of them lazily holding a spoon. "What's going on in that brain of yours, hmm?"
Do you know what it's like to fall in love?
"Nothing, I'm fine," Skeppy says. It's almost surprising to him how easily the lie slips off his tongue. He wants to regret it, but the way that Bad is looking at him with a soft smile on his face in some sort of relief makes him...
"I'm glad," Bad tilts his head, his grin widening. "You know I'm always here for you, right?"
I've had a girlfriend or two.
Skeppy lets out a laugh, shaking his head once. "No question about it, nerd. You and me, until the end of the line. Just you and me."
Nice one, not answering the question.
"Is that a... reference?" Bad's face scrunches up, like whenever Skeppy pranks him and he has to pretend he's angry, or when Bad's not sure what to say when Skeppy pesters him for a little too long, or when Skeppy's recklessness makes Bad's stress levels go through the roof. "You're an idiot, you know that?"
"Maybe, but it takes one to know one."
Is that not an answer?
"You and I forever?" Bad whispers later in the darkness. The two are alone in a cave, the dim lights illuminating only the bare minimum. And yet it takes only a simple glance behind him to see Bad's solemn face that says nothing yet so much, all at once. "You're really not going to leave?"
The light barely reaches Bad's eyes, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's just worried, afraid of being left behind.
"No. Never," Skeppy says, trying to comfort Bad. It surprises him, how genuine it feels, how easy it is to say that... like there's not a doubt in his mind that the two would ever be separated. "A world without you isn't a world worth living in."
I... I don't get it.
"Aren't you scared sometimes? Of the world out there?" Bad looks over the cliff, at the rising sun, the way the stars start to fade into nothingness yet again. "What are we even doing here?"
Skeppy gives him a sideways glance. "Does it matter?"
"Don't you think there's a limit?" Bad laughs, but it's not like the laughs he makes when Skeppy tickles him or the laughs he makes when he finally pranks Skeppy back. "What if there's nothing out there? What are we doing here, when we don't even know what's beyond that horizon, what's beyond tomorrow?"
"What's beyond tomorrow is what we make of it," Skeppy says, with an amount of certainty he didn't even know he had. It just flows out of his mouth when he continues with, "And it doesn't matter, not when I'm next to you."
You know what love is?
Skeppy does a flying leap right into Bad's arms, wrapping his arms around him tightly as they both fall to the ground. Bad starts to complain, but it fades into nothing when Skeppy just nuzzles his face in Bad's shoulder.
"Goodness," Bad sighs. "You're too much sometimes, you know."
I think you're better off explaining it to me.
Skeppy squeezes him tighter. He missed this. He missed the way Bad automatically brings up one of his hands to run his fingers through Skeppy's hair. He missed the way Bad feels in his arms. He missed... Bad.
"Can you blame me?"
Bad just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but Skeppy doesn't miss the soft whisper in his hair.
"No."
Love is... the way you feel comfortable around someone and the way that you want to wrap them up in your arms and never let go.
"You don't have to be here, you know that," Bad narrows his eyes, squinting at the large dragon above them. Now that they're at the summit of the mountain, they've caught its attention and now it's slowly starting its descent.
Spear in hand, he holds it out not in offense, but outwards to keep Skeppy from rushing forth into the soon-to-be-battlefield.
"This is my score to settle, Skeppy." Bad says lowly.
"If you're fighting, I'll fight by your side." Skeppy pulls out his own swords. "There's no way I'm leaving you to fight on your own. I'm not going to stand by and let you take on your burdens alone."
Bad turns to face him in surprise, his jaw slacked. His eyes are widened with surprise as he takes in what Skeppy says. As the fierce winds circle them from the large flapping of the dragon's wings, the two of them just continue to lock eyes as if nothing else in the world could matter as long as the two were together, side by side.
"Are you sure?"
Skeppy shoots him his signature grin, lax with assured confidence. "Don't even have to think twice about it. I'm all yours."
Love is... the way you miss them when they're gone, because there's nothing more that you want other than the other person right by your side.
"Please don't ever leave me again," his voice cracks on the last syllable as he grasps tightly onto whatever piece of Skeppy's shirt he can grab onto. He looks so delightfully desperate this way, putting all of his emotions right in front of him at the mercy of Skeppy's own whims. "Please," Bad echoes again, and Skeppy swears he can see tears welling up within those eyes that haunt his every dream.
"Never," he lets out, his voice raspy though he's not the one who's visibly out of breath, even though he's not the one who's spent time begging on his knees, even though he's not the one crying his entire heart out. "Never again."
Love is... the way you want to blur the lines between them and yourself, because in your eyes, the two of you can become one. It's the idea of your other half, because you are just more of yourself with them.
"Zak," Skeppy breathes out.
"What?" Bad freezes, and Skeppy can feel him stiffen up besides him. "What'd you say?"
Skeppy shivers. "Zak. Call me-- call me that. Zak Ahmed . That's my true name."
Bad looks at him speechless, though he's not the one who knows that telling your true name to someone means that the person is someone very, very special. Skeppy's had friends compare it to a love confession, but he brushes that thought aside. He grew up being told that he should only ever tell the most important person in your life your true name, and honestly?
BadBoyHalo fits that bill entirely, and then some.
"Zak… Zak Ahmed?" His tongue tests out the new, unfamiliar words for the first time, but Skeppy can't even bother to pay attention to that detail because all he can hear is just how beautiful his own name sounds on Bad's lips, and how oh-so-badly he wants to hear him say it again, one more time.
A shiver runs down his spine, and Bad just pulls him into a tighter embrace. The lines between the two blur; how can Skeppy tell the difference when he's struck by this euphoria of three simple syllables? It feels like things have changed between them, at least from Skeppy's side, and he's not sure what that means, but he doesn't ever want this to change. He doesn't ever want Bad to let him go; he doesn't ever want Bad to stop being his friend; he doesn't ever want Bad to stop saying his name like that.
Love is... the way you realize that just their simple presence makes you happy, because they're a bright light in your life that you never want to take your eyes away from.
"Oh my goodness. Stop it, you muffinhead," Bad says, but he's still laughing the entire time. "That's not funny, Skeppy; come on, seriously?"
It doesn't matter what he did. It doesn't matter what he's done, or what he will do. Every time, Bad pretends to get angry, but it's so easy for him to break that role that the two play.
Skeppy does something infuriating. Bad gets mad. Skeppy laughs. Bad gets angrier. Skeppy refuses to stop. Bad gets frustrated and threatens something. Skeppy can see through his bluff. Bad doesn't care.
The two of them go through his game all the time like they're dancing around this unspoken thing between the two of them. Skeppy does what he does; Bad plays the part that he's supposed to play.
But Bad can't ever stay mad.
And he laughs.
And his laugh is oh-so-wonderfully pleasant to the ears. Every time he sees Bad start to snicker, it makes sparks fly in his heart that he doesn't know how to define or explain. Every time Bad struggles to hold it in, Skeppy can't stop the grin on his face from widening. Every time Bad just lets go and lets himself laugh wholeheartedly, Skeppy's brain cells refuse to start working because it's one of the most wonderful things he gets to experience.
Skeppy loves that about Bad.
Skeppy loves--
Love is… the way you would do anything for them, because you want to protect them, because you'd do anything so that they'd be happy, so that they'd give you that blinding smile that makes you weak.
"Why would you do that?" Bad leans over him, and the sight of it is honestly hilarious to Skeppy. He'd laugh but it kind of hurts to laugh right now, with the wound in his stomach. The sight of Bad's hair leaning into his face, with that expression of frustration... Bad somehow manages to make his face of frustration so damn cute. It's almost unbelievable.
"It's not that bad," Skeppy says as he puts his hand on his wound to put pressure on it, but then winces and pulls his hand back. It's covered with a moderate amount of blood. "It definitely could have been worse."
'That doesn't matter!" Bad raises his voice. "What the muffin were you thinking, jumping out in front of me?"
"It'll heal fast," Skeppy tries to interject, but Bad just lets out a small cry of frustration.
"Are you kidding? I had it handled! That's not the point! The point is that you put yourself in harm. What the muffin would you do if you got seriously injured? What would I do?" Bad's voice starts to get strained but he continues, "If you were gone, what would I do without you?"
"I don't know, get less frustrated?"
Bad just lets out a small scream.
"I don't want to continue without you. I want you--" Bad coughs. "I want you in my life, Skeppy! Don't go in recklessly without thinking; I can't bear the thought of losing you..."
Skeppy looks at him without saying anything. He knows that he should think before doing, but when Bad's in danger, he can't help but act on instinct. The truth is, he knows how Bad feels, because that's how he feels about Bad. But still, he can't regret it; if he had to, he'd do it all over again.
"I'm sorry," Skeppy lets out a sigh. "You just have to be careful too, okay? I--" I can't lose you too. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Bad just sniffs and nods curtly. "I will. It's a promise. We'll both be careful."
Love is… a million things.
"Will you-- um." Skeppy starts off, but realizes that he has no idea what to say. I've been in love with you for what feels like forever, and I could love you for that long too? I kind of want to kiss your lips, but I'd like to ask you for permission for me to do so, preferably for the rest of our lives? I want to spend the rest of my life with you, just like this, forever and ever?
"Will I what?" Bad tilts his head, with a small frown on his face. It's so unbearably cute, but Skeppy holds back from leaning in and grabbing his face with his hands and just---
"I just-- you know--" Skeppy lets out a groan. "I don't know what I'm doing, Bad."
"Well, let's start from the beginning," Bad says simply, as understanding as ever. He smiles at him with a gentle smile, to comfort him. It only makes his heart jump. "What's going on?"
"Are you gay?"
I've never fallen, not like this before.
Skeppy nearly falls flat on his face. What kind of a question was that?? Am I stupid?? Skeppy's starting to think that he is, if that's how he's starting off his confession.
"I-- huh?"
"Are you gay?" He asks again, because there's no going back now. "You know, like, the opposite of straight?"
Bad just gives him a dumbfounded look, frozen with shock.
"Weird question, I know," Skeppy laughs, just trying to laugh it off at this point. "But I just wanted to know. Don't need to answer if the question makes you uncomfortable."
"Well, I'm not gay," Bad says slowly.
Skeppy's heart falls.
"Well--" Bad starts again, then shakes his head. He just lets out a laugh again. "God, we're both awkward idiots, aren't we? I'm not gay, but I'm also... not straight? I'm not sure what I am. I don't think I really want to know. Or need to know. I'm just..." He furrows his eyebrows. "I'm just me."
"Oh," Skeppy says intelligently.
"Any reason you're asking?" Bad gives him a worried look. "Do you... not like gay people? Or something?"
"No!" Skeppy exclaims, horrified at the thought, then backs down with embarrassment. "No, no, of course not. I'm not-- no, I mean..." His brain struggles to come up with a coherent thought. "I'm gay. Well, not gay, but bisexual. You know what I mean. So, no, I-- it'd be weird for me to not like gay people, because well, I'm--- you know. Not straight."
"Oh, I see!" Bad gives him a smile, and his knees go weak. Skeppy's just glad that he's sitting down next to Bad. "That's cool."
"I'm also gay for you!" Skeppy blurts out.
Wow. That's intelligent.
"I..." Bad blinks. "Really?"
"Well, yeah," Skeppy says. He looks away, thinking, then says, "You make me happy when skies are grey."
Bad just looks at him, interest piqued.
"I hope it's not weird. It's okay if you say no. I mean, not that I asked you anything. That's--- well, I wanted to ask you to be my boyfriend, but I kind of forgot to say that. I kind of just threw out any sense of a romantic confession, but I never was good at that stuff anyway, you know?" Skeppy just lets out a nervous laugh. "But yeah, it's alright if you don't feel the same way. It's absolutely okay. I just... wanted you to know. That you make me really, really happy."
"Skeppy, just breathe."
He takes in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.
"You're way overthinking it, muffinhead," Bad laughs. "Because I'm gay for you, too."
It's okay. We can fall together.