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This whole thing started because of the WANTEDs. Or maybe it was the AXIADs. Maybe both.
Either way, Lauren is determined to put the blame on them and DEFINITELY not his own curiousity and for purposely egosurfing after a long stream.
Doing a 5 hour stream would be tiring by anybody's standards, especially when in the day Lauren had his job on the police force; but this stream was with his fellow genmate Axia, and when he was with him, 5 hours felts like minutes, and streams didn't feel like streams. Because hanging out with Axia was relaxing and fun.
Based on the tweets Lauren reads before heading to bed, the fans seemed to think the same way.
"Thronez are so teetee! Hehe <3"
Lauren nodded. That was a common comment to hear from them. Lauren wasn't completely used to these internet lingo from outside of Eden quite yet, but Lauren has learned to associate teetee with something good. It means they thought he and Axia got along well right? That makes him happy.
"Lauren and Axia would be a great couple tbh :p"
Lauren pauses a bit. A couple? A couple of best friends Lauren supposes. Yeah they were! They clicked instantly spending time together, and Lauren would love to do everything with his buddy Axia!
"Fr fr... it's like they're both playing a game of gay chicken or smthn. Hurry up and make a move alrdy!"
This makes Lauren stop completely.
"Gay...chicken? What."
The new vocabulary is unfamiliar on his tongue.
Is it a new game? Is it like minecraft? Minecraft had chickens right?
Lauren tries to search on the Eden internet only to come up nothing. So was this a foreign term?
Something from Japan? Or even somewhere even further?
The term sparks Lauren's curiousity, and he knows just the person to ask.
"Hey professsor, you've been out of Eden yeah?"
Oliver looks up from his desk in surprise. All of them had become close over the course of streaming with each other, but it was still a rare occurance for them to meet outside of stream schedules during work hours.
After all, with Oliver working as a teacher, Leos as a scientist (with questionable experiments he might add), Lain a bodyguard, Lauren a policeman and Axia a pilot, it was hard to get everyone's breaks to match.
Added to that, Lauren usually spent his lunch with Axia somewhere.
"Lauren, what a surprise. Weren't you going to visit that new cafe downtown with Axia?" Oliver asked, signing off the last of his student's essays with a red pen.
"Er...yeah I was gonna head on over there after this, but I had a question to ask you. It's about this word..."
A word huh? Oliver metaphorically puffs his chest with pride. If it's a vocabulary question, then Lauren came to the right place.
Oliver waves at Lauren to go on while he takes a sip from his mug.
"What's gay chicken and how do I win it?"
Oliver spits out his coffee. Any harder and the piping hot beverage would have gone through his nose.
"Where the HELL did you learn THAT?"
Lauren's eyes widen as he panics, looking around for a napkin to hand over to the coughing professor.
"The listeners said me and Axia were playing it! And now they want me to 'make a move!' How can I do that if I don't even know what that means?" Lauren explains while Oliver dabs the napkin over his ruined cravat. It's fine, Oliver had several spares.
It seems like this took more attention than his state of dress anyways.
"Lauren. Uh... well... in which 2 men would... well first of all they... ah..." Oliver for once seems to stammer through the explanation and that only further confuses Lauren.
"They...?"
"-It's when 2 guys do lovey dovey things and the first person to react, blush, laugh or anything like that loses right?" A second voice enters the conversation, and both men turn to see a familiar red head head walk into Oliver's classroom.
"Lain," Oliver nods in greeting. It seems like by coincidence everyone was free and decided to come give him a visit.
"Patanee! Wait... for real?" Lauren blinks at her, and Lain nods enthusiastically, walking towards the table and passing a paper bag of baked treats to the professor.
"Thank you Lain," Oliver says, grateful for both the food as well as her assist in answering the question that had broken his composure. Lain's explanation was generally correct, but worded more...innocently than the game Oliver was more familiar with during his time as a young student.
"...although I wonder where you had learned this information," Oliver raised an eyebrow and Lain blushes.
"I-it's uh... in a book I was reading!" Lain squeaks out, avoiding eye contact.
Oliver could make no further comment however, as Lauren had already latched on to what was said.
"Getting Axia to blush? That's easy! I can win this with my eyes closed!" Lauren laughs, and Lain's eyes widen.
"W-wait you're planning to play gay chicken with AXIA!?"
"Why, what's wrong with that?" Lauren questions, tilting his head in confusion.
"I mean... aren't you 2 already...?" Lain begins but can't quite bring herself to continue when Lauren just stares at her blankly.
"She just means to ask what would be the purpose of doing such a game... and with Axia of all people," Oliver smoothly interjects.
Lauren thinks for a bit.
"Hm... cuz it sounds interesting! And I like seeing Axia blush. It's cute. Oh, speaking of which! I'm already late. The cafe might get crowded at this time... see you later Patanee! Oliver! And thanks for the info let's play something later tonight!" Lauren waves and runs out the classroom like a whirlwind, coat billowing behind him.
"Gay chicken. With Axia. Is he not aware that they're already practically dating? Isn't that like... against the rules of gay chicken?" Lain huffs in amusement, hopping to sit on the teacher's table, swinging her legs languidly.
"Just let them have their fun with their own version I suppose. And who knows, maybe after this ordeal, something in their relationship will change," Oliver smiles before dialing a number on his phone.
What with everyone meeting up today, it seemed only fair for the teacher to update their resident recluse.
"Hmp..." Vincent's voice on the line is distracted and odd sounds are going off in the background, but Oliver is unpreturbed.
"Are you free Vincent? Would you like to join me and Lain for some lunch? There has been some interesting developments with our two lovebirds."
"Lovebirds? More like chickens," Lain snickers at her own joke.
There's the sound of something popping on Vincent's end and he curses slightly before the scientist sighs sadly.
"...Well I'm free now. Why not?"
Lain cheers and Oliver begins picking up his things for their impromptu lunch.
"Don't think I didn't forget about you knowing about this game young lady," Oliver says in warning. (Oliver was only jesting but of course Lain didn't know that)
Lain pales.
"Oh my look at all these stuff I'll bring it to your car for you!" Lain scurries off with a yelp and he chuckles.
First Lauren and Axia, and now Lain. Young people were just so energetic.
The little jingle of the bell signals Lauren's entrance into the cafe, and he quickly looks around the room for his target. Axia is sitting in the corner with his back to the wall where there was the least people, and he smiles brightly at Lauren when their eyes meet.
Seeing Axia look so delighted to see him always makes Lauren's heart feel a bit giddy, but no he can't! He has a gay chicken game to win! Although Axia doesn't even know about it yet, Lauren refuses to concede!
Lauren gives a cool collected nod as he strides towards Axia waving him over.
"Yo."
"Lauren! I ordered for us already so you can sit down," Axia grins proudly.
"Oh? What did you get me?" Lauren raises an eyebrow. This was, like Oliver said, a new cafe, but Axia only waves away Lauren's concern.
"Trust me! You'll like it. I saw it on the menu and just knew you would order it anyways. And it's your fault for not answering me when I called."
Lauren checks his phone only to find 3 missed calls from Axia. The timestamps pointing to his time in Oliver's classroom.
"Ah... guess it's my fault then haha sorry about that. But it was cuz I was trying to learn this new game from Oliver!"
(Somewhere in a different restaurant, Oliver shivers.
"What's wrong?" Lain asks between bites of her food.
"I feel like my name is being used in something I did not do."
"Meh. Prob'ly just some kids using you as an excuse to go on dates like always," Leos shrugs, lighting a cigarette. Oliver is unsure but lets it go.
"Hm... maybe...")
"A game you learned from Oliver huh? Must be some fancy foreign word game," Axia replies, but he leans closer and Lauren knows that means he is intrigued.
"Well...not exactly. It's like... hm maybe it's better if I just show you," Lauren decides, and as soon as he says that, he takes Axia's hand and laces them together. He looks straight into Axia's eyes and gives his best smirk.
"Axia. You're cute today."
Axia's eyes widen and he turns fire engine red.
"W-WHA... I... L-LAUREN!" Axia's voice is raising as he wrenches his hand from Lauren's grip. If Axia wasn't sitting down, he probably would have fallen over.
Lauren bursts out laughing with his hand to his stomache.
He wasn't wrong at all and was not disappointed with Axia's reaction. It was definitely adorable.
"I win!"
Axia narrows his eyes and Lauren could practically see the gears turning in his head. When those pupils widen, Lauren knows he's caught on.
"So that's what this is."
The food comes in perfect timing so Axia could not add any other interjection. A part of Lauren is actually glad for the disturbance because now that he's thought it through... if Axia had gotten angry at him for that stunt he just pulled, Lauren would feel really bad.
Lauren focuses so much on just wanting to try it out and maybe seeing Axia's reaction that he didn't stop to think if the reaction would be favorable...
When the waitress leaves, Lauren has an apology on the tip of his tongue to have Axia forget about it all, but instead it's Axia who speaks first.
"Tell me more about this game. How do I win?"
Lauren is taken aback.
"You...wanna play?"
The determined look on Axia's face throws Lauren off, but he relays what Oliver and Lain told him in the classroom anyways.
After the whole explanation is over and done with, Lauren starts to feel embarassed and with Axia's unreadable stare boring into him, he tries to laugh it off and shove his face full of the dessert conveniently placed in front of him.
"...Ah well, and that's that! Hahaha!" Lauren says in exagerated cheer, shoving another forkful of cake into his mouth.
Axia hums in acknowledgement and then tilts his head as if in thought for awhile, before nodding resolutely.
"Alright. I'll play your game. And I'll win it."
The hand holding a fork full of cake is frozen in place as Lauren gapes at the raven.
Lauren cannot say anything in reply or even process the words completely when Axia leans over the table and brushes a finger to the corner of Lauren's lip.
"You've got whipped cream all over you," Axia murmurs with a CLEARLY INTENTIONAL soft voice, going an octave lower than usual and when Axia brings it to his mouth LICK IT Lauren almost chokes.
Lauren fortunately doesn't choke, but he starts coughing up a storm only remedied when he takes a few gulps of his drink, although that doesn't hide the tips of his ears turning a bright shade of red, even overshadowing his red hair.
Axia has the balls to laugh at him.
"The cream is as sweet as my win," Axia smirks and Lauren just sputters like an idiot.
That's when Lauren finally identifies the spark in Axia's eyes from before. Those were competitive eyes. And just like that, Lauren can feel the same rush he gets when he starts a new game in APEX and his heart beats with adrenaline coursing through his veins like the gamer he is.
It's the rush to win.
"Alright I'll give you that. Savor it cuz I'll get back at you. Just wait," Lauren says, wild grin spreading across his face.
"Looking forward to it then," Axia smiles back just as unhinged.
If anyone were to glance at their table, they might have thought some shady deal was going on over there, not some sort of flirting game against two competetive gamers.
And just like that, Thronez's game begins.
The rest of their lunch was relatively uneventful, but the entire time they do throw suspicious glances at each other, trying to predict each other's moves and when they might throw in a surprise tactic.
Neither of them do though as both were on guard not to react to anything at all.
When the waitress comes by with the bill, both reach for the check and meet at the middle. Their hands overlap but neither pull away, sitting there with their hands still on each other as they have a stare down in pure silence.
The waitress looks back and forth between them in confusion at what she's witnessing.
They raise their eyebrows at each other as if daring the other to pull away.
"I thought I would be paying for lunch today hm?"
Axia says in false pleasantry and Lauren shrugs.
"Maybe I just wanted to hold your hand. Your hand is quite soft you know. As expected of my Axia," Lauren lays it on thick and Axia's eye twitches.
"That's so cute of you. But you're stopping me from paying the bill," Axia grits his teeth. Lauren seems to be enjoying this.
"Well if you don't like it you can... pull away," Lauren says, raising an eyebrow.
Pulling away first means a loss for Axia and Axia refuses to lose like this.
"...Do you want me to come back later for the bill sirs?" The waitress that they had forgotten was still standing there in between them looks annoyed with their antics and Axia is the one who is pressured to back off because he has to pay dammnit!
Axia scrambles for a plan in his head until he comes up with something. Then he's got it.
"Why would I EVER want to pull away from you hm? I love when you take my hand like this I DEFINITELY WILL NEVER want to let go. But we also have to pay so why not take my other hand?" Axia smiles, offering his other hand for Lauren to take.
Lauren clicks his tongue quietly with his plan getting foiled, but does comply. Like this, Axia was able to pay for their meal, albeit a little awkwardly as he does the entire thing with just one hand.
"Thank you for your patronage," The waitress bows lightly and the two leave the cafe like that, hands still locked together.
When they're out, the waitress relaxes and sighs.
"I've never met a couple THAT in love before..."
The hand holding thing ends with Axia's win but only because if Lauren didn't let go he would be late for his shift. He HAD managed to stand there with Axia at the station just long enough that Axia didn't have time to buy the supplies he was supposed to get for his plane repairs, to his annoyance.
They didn't have any more time to meet that day but the upcoming days after that was just a collection of them trying to one up the other...
Axia yawns as his long shift is finally over. He contemplates stopping by an Eden-Eleven to get some meat buns for the walk home, but he suddenly feels someone pull him to the side, pinning him to a nearby wall.
Axia has to control himself not to scream when he sees a familiar lock of red hair in his peripherals, and suddenly Lauren is almost towering over him, smirking. (Which is odd since Axia was taller than him)
"A kabedon? Really? How original," Axia tries to say with an unimpressed tone, but he can already feel the warmth gathering on his cheeks.
When Lauren's grin widens he knows his hopes of pretending he didn't get affected was null.
"Guess it's my win," Lauren whispers to Axia's ear and it also doesn't go unnoticed when Axia tries to press his back against the wall some more.
"Ugh fine I give. Now let go," Axia whines and Lauren laughs but backs off.
"You know it isn't as fun to play a game without a prize. We should have a reward system!" Lauren suggests with a clap of his hands.
Axia raises an eyebrow.
"And what do you suppose we have as a prize?"
Lauren puts a hand to his chin in a thinking pose, and then brightens up when he thinks of something.
"I know! Winner asks one thing of the loser!"
"Hm... kinda basic. But it will do. So what do you want me to do for you?" Axia puts a hand to his hip.
Lauren looks a little alarmed when Axia says that, but he quickly moves on before Axia asks why he had looked like that.
"Well... I want you to play Ark with me later."
Axia blinks.
"Eh? That's it? We were gonna do that anyways..."
"Until I get tired."
Then Axia realizes what this actually entailed.
"...Ohmygod we're going to be playing until tomorrow night aren't we."
Throughout the next few weeks they had developed a sort of system for this game which was basically just flirting and buying food and drinks for each other or an excuse to hang out.
"Wait Lauren let me fix your coat for you!" Axia calls in false innocence before pressing close to Lauren, on purposely brushing against his rib.
"GAHA-" Lauren lets out and Axia laughs.
"Another win for me!"
"T-that's... I'm ticklish!"
"I want mcdonalds for our collab later!"
"...double cheeseburger and an ebi fillet?"
"You know me so well."
"I just can't understand how to get this stream to stop freezing and crashing on me! I've tried everything!" Axia complains, clicking randomly with his mouse.
Lauren comes from behind Axia, both of his arms surrounding either side of his body as Lauren works around him to get to the keyboard and mouse.
"You wanna click this tab right here..." Lauren says lowly and Axia covers his face.
"...and then you wanna go over Eden-Eleven to get us some chocopie," Lauren grins in glee.
Axia sighs in defeat.
"Well move back I can't get my wallet with you hugging me like this."
"I swear it's been so cold lately..." Lauren complains while they walk side by side to visit Leos' lab.
"Right? My hands are about to freeze off..." Axia says, and Lauren already knows what's coming.
"Yeah that's why I'd like to hold your-"
Axia doesn't even finish the sentence, Lauren is already grabbing Axia's hand and even places both their hands in his coat pocket.
"We'll stop by a coffeeshop and get something to warm us up. I bet the crazy scientist forgot to turn up the thermostat over there."
Axia bites his lip.
Who...who even won or lost in this one?
Well they're both quite red, so maybe this one was a tie Axia thinks, coming a little closer so their interlocking hands aren't as stretched out.
"We need to talk about this... thing you two are doing," Oliver sighs, closing the book he was reading with a resounding shut.
All of Eden-gumi were sitting in the lounge waiting for their turn as they were invited to an official Nijisanji program as special guests and Oliver just couldn't take it anymore.
"Uh...what?" Lauren asks innocently, but he isn't meeting his eyes.
"You know what I mean," Oliver waves his hand towards Axia who... was practically on top of Lauren, using him as some makeshift bed with Lauren's coat over him, napping blissfully.
"This is... it's that game you told us about sensei what else could it be?" Lauren's voice has raised a bit higher but he quickly tones it down when Axia starts moving around.
"Are you sure this is still a game to you Lauren? It's starting to look pretty real to me..." Lain says gently and Lauren tenses.
"I... it's..."
"What game will cause your...cuddling to almost knock down my beaker cabinet?" Leos adds and Lauren blushes.
"We weren't cuddling!"
Any other sputtering is silenced by Oliver putting a hand on his shoulder and oh no he's looking at Lauren with those "oh young baby chick allow me to feed you the grain of knowledge" look he gives all his students.
"Lauren. This is no longer that game. If I'm honest with you it hasn't really been that game from the start has it?"
Lauren remains silent.
"Ask yourself...what exactly do you want to win at the end of this? Is it only snacks and drinks or..."
Lauren glances down at Axia's resting face.
"Eden-gumi, you're up!!!"
The 4 in conversation look up.
"Just think about it. Whatever happens, I know it will be fine," Oliver pats him on the back and walks out the door in even strides.
"Do your best Lauren!" Lain winks, going out the door to follow Oliver and the manager who had called them.
"You're both troublemakers together. But I don't mind cleaning up a few beakers after you two every now and again," Leos shrugs and leaves them alone.
"...those three. What the hell was that... some kind of blessing?" Lauren snorts to himself.
"L-Lauren...?" Axia yawns and slowly blinks his eyes open.
"Good morning," Lauren smiles, and ruffles his hair slightly.
"E-eh..ah..." Axia mumbles still only rousing from sleep and flustered by the casual affection.
"D-did I just lose the game already...?" Axia frowns when he realizes he had gotten flustered all by himself.
"Hm...no you didn't. Actually Axia I... I want to stop playing now."
That makes Axia a little more awake all of the sudden.
"Huh? Why!?" Axia frowns.
"Because I don't want to play this game with you anymore. I want-"
"-Lauren Iroas and Axia Krone everyone is waiting for you in studio C. Please hurry along," the manager returns, and both boys jump.
"...We'll talk about this later," Lauren whispers before quickly following the manager.
Axia stands there for awhile before he shakes his head as if to clear it, trailing behind him.
Lauren, and the rest of Eden-gumi are worried about Axia throughout the entire segment.
Somehow in the time between Axia had woken up and the time it took to get to the studio, Axia had looked distracted and had low energy.
When the mcs directed the attention to him, he would smile and answer properly, but afterwards would shrink back and lose himself in his thoughts once more.
The rest of Eden-gumi all throw stares at Lauren, the only person who was with Axia at the time and the only culprit who could behind the drastic change of mood.
Lauren nods at them to show he got the pointed stares and knew he had to do something, even if he didn't know what exactly caused the change in thr first place.
It doesn't help that throughout the segment it seems like Axia was avoiding him. When there was a small game that required a partner, Axia chose to go with Leos instead of him, leaving Lauren to be with one of the mcs instead. When Lauren tried to initiate eye contact, Axia would look away.
Even when Lauren had directly addressed Axia, Axia had just brushed him off with a "haha yeah... how about you Oliver?"
The worst was when Lauren tried to put a hand of Axia's shoulder and Axia had flinched away.
Even the mcs look confused.
Lauren gulps when the stares from his genmates got even more intense. Looks like Lauren's gonna end up saying goodbye to that blessing he got from the waiting room huh.
Thankfully, the show wasn't one of the longer ones, and as soon as the director gave the okay, Lauren bolts out of his seat and before Axia could react, takes his hand and drags him out of the room. They desperately needed to talk.
They desperately needed to talk but even Lauren took a sec to appreciate the view of this building's rooftop. Lauren has read a lot of manga with a scene on a rooftop and he didn't think he'd get to be one of them.
"Lauren what the hell," Axia complains, but Lauren wants to get straight to business. He doesn't like seeing Axia frowning at him. Or frowning at all actually.
"Why were you avoiding me?" Lauren asks, and Axia looks down.
"You...didn't you say you wanted to stop this? That you don't want to..." Axia trails off not being able to put it into full words.
"When you started this damn game I didn't think it... but then when we just kept going I..." Axia was fumbling through his words and Lauren was starting to piece everything together.
Instead of dread that Axia had come to hate him all of the sudden, he was starting to be filled with hope.
Could it be?
Axia crouches to the floor and covers his face in shame.
"...It's my fault. I...I started to get used to all the...touches and the flirting...I guess I even began to like it..." Axia whispers.
Before Axia could even think about crying Lauren runs over to Axia and crouches in front him as well.
"Did you think when I said I wanted to stop the game that I wanted to stop all that? That I didn't like you anymore?"
Lauren stares at Axia's face with his wavering eyes and Lauren couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at jerk!?" Axia huffs and light pushes him. With Lauren crouching like he loses balance and falls to the ground but it doesn't upswt him at all. Lauren is just glad that at least Axia isn't fumbling his words anymore and doesn't look teary eyed now.
"No I'm not laughing at you haha... it's just now that I think about it, what I said at the lounge... was pretty stupid. And you, you're cute," Lauren continued to chuckle to Axia confusion.
"Axia. When I said I wanted to stop the game, it was because I didn't want this to just be a game anymore," Lauren explains, trying to be casual, but he was beginning to turn red to the tips of his ears to the back of his nape.
Axia is gaping at him.
"...maybe it's always been that from the start. When I said I wanted to play this game with you, I couldn't imagine playing it with anybody else. And skinship with you just felt...natural I guess. Seeing you all flustered and the food afterwards is a bonus too I guess," Lauren jokes, but with Axia still not responding, he clears his throught uncomfortbly and begins to fidget.
"...And yeah."
"...Does this mean what I think it means Lauren?"
Axia finally responds, and Lauren rubs the back of his neck.
"...Depends what you think it means. What do you think?"
"If it is what I think then maybe I'm also the same."
"...which is?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The pair burst out laughing.
"Ohmygod is this a shoujo manga!?" Lauren wipes the tears from his eyes.
The irony of spending weeks saying and doing lovey dovey things to each other but now are struggling to say the 3 words is not lost oon them.
"Let's say it together then, on the count of three," Axia suggests.
"If we say different things this is gonna be embarassing," Lauren snorts.
"Then don't get it wrong then," Axia snarks back.
Lauren smirks but raises his arms in mock surrender.
"1..." Axia starts.
"2..." Lauren follows.
"...3..."
In one breath, they both say their answers at the same time.
It was a tie.
"I'm not really sure how my classroom has become the hub for our meetings," Oliver raises an amused eyebrow at the 3 young adults in front of his desk.
"Sensei! It's a hang out! Not a meeting! Meetings are never this fun! And anyways this place is the closest to all our workplaces, even the professor's, so it's totally a no brainer," Lain giggles as she flips through the pages of Oliver's textbook. Oliver hopes the bookmark he out in there stays strong.
"Ah well sadly, I'm a college professor so while waiting for Leos there isn't much in terms of entertainment around here..." Oliver sighs and Lain hums.
"It's nothing to worry about! Look at those two lovebirds in the back. They can keep themselves entertained with rock paper scissors of all things," Lain rolls her eyes playfully and Oliver chuckles.
"They certainly can," Oliver comments as he looks on at Axia cheering as he wins another game. Lauren smacks his hand against the table demanding anther rematch, and Oliver winces for the poor table.
"I'm just glad that they've moved on from gay chicken. That one certainly gave me quite the headache... I think right now is just-"
"Yo professor!" Oliver and Lain turn to Lauren who called him. The couple have stopped their game and now had their heads huddled over the phone screen looking like they were trying to decipher an ancient code.
"The listeners have been spreading this new game under our tag. It's called...the... 'I love you game?' How does that work-"
Oliver wordlessly stands up and walks towards the door.
"P-professor! Where are you going!?" Axia calls after him.
"Nope. Not doing this. Not again. I'm heading to Leos','" Oliver announces and keeps walking.
Somewhere behind him he can still hear Lauren and Axia bickering about who would win this hypothetical game once they learned to play it.
Some things just don't change.
END