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The funny thing about repressing a part of yourself is that, eventually, that part ends up showing up one way or another. It’s a bit like pressing down too hard on a spring- at some point you can’t hold onto it any longer and you have no choice but to let go and let it fly loose.
Even if your “spring” happens to be a potentially deadly half alien.
Vinz knew that Lino had been tamping down his newfound alien side ever since the incident that had happened back when they’d been locked up together in that cell. Even after everything had finally blown over he still pushed it back any time it tried to rear up. Keeping that side of himself pushed back obviously took a toll on him and Vinz caught sight of gritted teeth and heard soft pained sounds on occasion. It happened a lot more as time went on and Vinz worried for his friend.
He hadn’t heard a peep from Lino when he’d left the apartment for work that morning and he’d figured the other had just been sleeping in again. So he was surprised when he got back to find Lino still nowhere in sight. Surprised and concerned. There was no note anywhere telling him that Lino had left the building and the roaches at his feet acted like they hadn’t been fed. He had to step carefully lest he crush the little bugs.
“Lino?” he called out into the apartment. “I’m home. You in here?”
Silence was the only thing that greeted his question and that only served to make him more worried.
“Weird... Not like him to leave without a note...”
Nothing seemed out of place as Vinz looked around. The door had still been shut and locked, not a single thing in the room had been touched, and the window was still latched. Vinz frowned. It was like his friend had just vanished.
Then.
“Viiinnz...”
Vinz’s eyes widened and he froze in place. That drawn out call of his name was all too familiar even if he hadn’t heard it in a long while. He felt a chill crawl down his spine as he turned his head toward the open door to the bathroom where, in the darkness, a pair of beady solid white eyes pointed straight at him.
Well there was Lino at least.
For a good while the two were locked in a stare down. Neither moved besides a slight swaying side to side from Lino. Then, mustering up every bit of courage he had, Vinz broke the moment by slowly standing straight and pulling off his hat. Surprisingly the only reaction from the other was the tilting of his head to track the hat being tossed onto the couch.
“Uh.” Vinz caught the hybrid’s attention again when he decided to speak. “You good, Lino?”
In an instant those beady eyes took on a crown shape and seemed to narrow at him. Vinz sucked in a sharp breath at the sight. The last time he’d seen that shape he’d almost been strangled and Lino had almost been lost to his alien side. Which, judging by the way the being began to move toward him, may have become a possibility again. Yet Vinz found himself holding his ground. Either from a sudden burst of courage or the fact that he couldn’t move his feet if he wanted to- he wasn’t sure.
The alien stopped within arms reach and Vinz watched it carefully as it bared its (Lino’s?) teeth only to speak to him in a much calmer voice than he remembered it having. “I am not Lino. Lino is not here.”
“Oh. Uh...” What could he even say to that? “Where’d he go?”
The hybrid’s head slowly tilted a few inches then it reached a hand up to touch the back of its head. “Sleeping.”
Vinz blinked. Then, seeing as he hadn’t been hurt yet, he chanced loosening up from his tensed posture. Not-Lino’s head straightened again and it took a step closer to Vinz which made him tense up again. So much for relaxing.
“You’re getting real close...” Vinz mumbled as he took a shuffling step backward.
The half alien almost huffed at him with the breath of air it released. “I want to be close.” it declared before taking another step toward him.
Vinz found himself surprised at the comment. He didn’t step back again, letting not-Lino move into his personal space until the half alien wrapped him tight in its arms. Then it just stayed like that.
“Uh.” Vinz turned his head slightly to see the other’s crown shaped eyes still wide open, though he had no idea where it was actually looking. “What’re you doing?”
The alien turned its own head to look straight at him and Vinz swore there was confusion on its face now. “Am I not doing this right?”
“Doing... what right?”
“A hug?”
“Huh? Oh, you’re. You’re hugging me?” Vinz’s brain stuttered as it tried to keep up. “Okay. Um. Why though?”
The other’s grip around him tightened slightly before suddenly releasing completely. Not-Lino stepped back, arms lengthening and curling at its sides, and it seemed to grow more confused. “You do this to show affection, do you not?”
Vinz found himself less worried about the hybrid hurting him by the second. He was kind of just confused by the being’s actions at this point. “Where’d you learn that?”
“From Lino’s memories.” The alien seemed strangely proud of that.
“Okay... And why do you wanna show me affection?”
“Because you are my friend.”
The skull-headed man blinked slowly. Technically true. The alien was in his best friend’s body. Even if it sort of seemed like a separate entity from Lino himself. Which was weird. Did Lino have some weird version of Venom going on inside of him? Vinz shook off the thought.
“I guess so?” Vinz finally said.
Not-Lino nodded firmly. “You are Lino’s friend. I am part of Lino. So you are my friend.”
That got a small chuckle out of Vinz. “Sounds logical, I guess.”
But the alien wasn’t done it seemed. “You are precious to us both. My first friend. And Lino’s closest. We both love you, Vinz.”
And that made Vinz’s eyes go wide. The flame on his head took on a pink hue and he sputtered in surprise. “Hold up!” He raised his arms and began to wave them in front of himself. “When you say love do you mean, like, love love? Or, like, some other shit?”
The hybrid’s head tilted and it took on a confused expression again. “I do not know what you mean.”
“I mean. Fuckin’.” Vinz didn’t know how to word it so that it made sense to a half alien that apparently didn’t know much despite being able to dig into Lino’s memories. “Is that, like, ‘I love you, bro’ kinda love or ‘I’m in love with you’ love?”
Again the alien only responded with a confused look. “Love means different things?”
“Augh! Of course it does!”
Vinz clutched at the sides of his head now and began to pace back and forth, flame still burning pink even as the blush on his cheeks faded. Not-Lino watched him curiously for a minute until Vinz stopped with another frustrated sound.
“Does it matter?” the hybrid then asked. “We love you. In what way I do not know, but it is love for you and this I do know. You are important to us, Vinz, and we love you.”
“Stop saying that. Jeez...” Vinz mumbled as he felt his face heat up again.
Arms wrapped around him again, the alien’s longer reach easily getting to him from several feet away, and pulled him toward not-Lino until he was caged against the hybrid’s chest. Vinz wanted to break free. He was embarrassed and confused and, again, being hugged by a potentially deadly half alien that Lino wasn’t even in control of. Yet the weirdly long arms wrapped around him were warm and leaning against Lino, even if it wasn’t really Lino, wasn’t all that bad. Feeling the hybrid’s steady heartbeat against his own chest was somewhat calming.
“Yeah, okay. I guess this is happening.”
The corner of Vinz’s eye crinkled in a way that showed that he was half smiling and, surprisingly, he found the crown-eyed alien mirroring the look. Vinz wrapped his arms around the other and squeezed slightly.
“We love you, Vinz.” the hybrid nearly purred as it sunk into the affectionate display happily.
“... love you too, guys.”