Chapter Text
Dakota awoke to the familiar sound of William’s whispering. He shoved his head farther into his pillow, eyes clenched shut. He didn’t want them to know he was awake; they would immediately put an end to whatever they has been talking about, keeping him in the dark again.
“I noticed a tripwire down there,” William said. “I’m sure I could bypass the censors easily, though.”
Vyncent hummed for a second, before muttering, “Yeah, let’s do it then. Quickly. Before Wavelength or Ashe wake up-”
“Ashe won’t care I bet. Looks like he’s already awake anyway,” William said. Vyncent was silent.
Dakota felt the ground lightly thump as Vyncent dropped down. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t feel William climb off the couch at all. The two had been sleeping up there together, while Dakota was sprawled out on an inflatable mattress on the floor. His weight had sunken the mattress overnight; his chest pressed against the floor.
Vyncent’s footsteps seemed to lead out of earsight. Dakota couldn’t figure out the direction. He knew why the two always excluded him from investigations– he knew very well. He couldn’t stay quiet to save his own life. He had the attention-span of a goldfish. Still, it made him feel excluded. He’s lived with these issues his entire life, he should be used to it by now.
He rolled onto his back, his shoulders thumping onto the floor. He sleepily stared at the ceiling.
He should be used to it. But he isn’t. Every time he’s left out, he feels a sinking feeling in his gut.
Dakota just wanted someone to want to be around him. He wanted someone to be around.
It’s not like he’s forgotten in any regard. It’s pretty impossible for him to be ignored, considering his attention-grabbing persona.
Just- he thought to himself. Just stop being a baby, okay? Quit it. Stop. Shit like this is exactly why Vyncent hates me.
He shook his head at the ceiling. “Drama-queen,” he muttered. “Drama… king, I mean.” He reassured himself.
His eyes naturally floated to Ashe’s door at the top of the stairs. Their bedroom door led out onto a balcony overlooking the den where Dakota laid.
The door was cracked slightly open. A faint lavender light shone out, illuminating the space around the doorframe.
Without thinking, Dakota had already stumbled halfway up the stairs. By the time he reached Ashe’s door, he realized how loud he had been. Whatever, he thought, pushing it open. Ashe had been laying on his chest at the end of his bed, with his Evil Demon Book laying flat-open in front of him. Their eyes fell on Dakota immediately, as if they had expected his arrival.
Dakota leaned his back against the door, shutting it slowly.
“William and Vyncent woke me up. I think- I know they went to investigate something in the house. Maybe your dad’s villain-basement?” Dakota stuttered anxiously. “Sorry. I can leave. I just-”
“Kota, no,” Ashe interrupted. “Please stay.” He pulled himself to one side of the bed to make room for Dakota to sit. They motioned for him with a soft smile.
Instantly, the anxious feeling in Dakota’s gut subsided. He felt a familiar warmth replace it. He climbed onto Ashe’s bed, right where they had motioned. Ashe leaned his shoulder against Dakota’s, closing the grimoire with one hand.
“How are you feeling?” Ashe asked. He lazily began to play with the rips in Dakota’s jeans. “And you could have asked me for sweatpants or something. You didn’t have to sleep in your jeans.”
“I don’t mind,” Dakota said. “And- well– William and Vyncent just make me feel bad sometimes, I guess. They don’t mean too, so I really shouldn’t care. But whatever. I feel better now. I do.”
“What did they do?” Ashe asked, rolling the threads between their thumb and forefinger. They pressed themself further into Dakota, putting their head against his shoulder.
“They just make me feel like– I don’t know. Like they don’t really want to do things with me. And I get it’s because they like each other. I’m not feeling shitty about that. I get it. I feel more shitty about when they’re doing… hero stuff and they don’t include me. We’re supposed to be a team. It makes me feel like I’m annoying or something,” he said. “But I do feel better now. Really.”
Ashe’s fingers brushed against Dakota’s knee. His skin shuddered under their touch. He really can’t blame William and Vyncent for wanting to be alone together so much. He’d be such a hypocrite.
“I’m glad,” Ashe whispered. “That you feel better, I mean.”
Ashe shrugged his head into the crook of Dakota’s neck idily. Their fingers slowly dropped from the holes in his jeans, and rested on top of Dakota’s right hand.
“Sleepy?” Dakota asked, hesitantly brushing his fingers against Ashe’s hand. Ashe accepted the touch, pulling Dakota’s hand into his own.
“Nooooo way,” Ashe said into Dakota’s shoulder. “I could stay up forever.”
“Sorry for waking you…” Dakota whispered. “And for keeping you up.”
“I was already up,” Ashe said. “And I like having you around, Kota.”
Dakota’s left hand began tapping against the bed rapidly. An anxious product of Ashe saying exactly what Dakota wanted to hear. And, well– his ADHD.
Ashe must've recognized this, because he pulled his head away from Dakota, smiling. “What?” he asked, giggling a little.
“You’re doing this on purpose,” Dakota said.
“Doing what?” Ashe chuckled again.
“You’re doing exactly what I want to hear! And see,” he said, looking down at Ashe’s sleepy smile. Then, to his hand, wrapped around Dakota’s. “And feel,” he added.
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” Ashe protested.
There was a pause. Using his thumb, Dakota rubbed the back of Ashe’s hand. Ashe slumped back into Dakota’s shoulder. The quiet gave Dakota an opportunity to think.
Outside the window, crickets chirped, interrupting the comfortable silence.
“That thing that Mal said– about you keeping secrets,” Dakota finally whispered.
“You’re not trying to hurt me, right? Because this is… such a good way to hurt me.” His voice sounded strained.
Ashe exhaled a shaky breath, and pulled away. He let go of Dakota. The absence flooded Dakota’s fingertips. His palm felt cold.
Ashe made eye contact. Their purple irises bore into Dakota. “I… promise you… I don’t want to hurt you. I’m just trying to keep everyone safe. I just… need you to trust me, Kota. Do you trust me?”
“I really want to,” Dakota said, clenching his fists. He didn’t want to be hurt again. He was so sick of being betrayed. How he felt about Ashe was so much different, too. Nothing like how he felt about Doug.
“Then trust me,” Ashe begged, taking Dakota’s clenched fist into his once more. They tried to relax Dakota’s hand to hold it again.
Dakota complied. He eased himself into Ashe’s touch again, and he began to feel better. He stopped thinking about whatever Mal said. He didn’t want to think about that right now. All he wanted to think about was how Ashe was making him feel. It’s all he could think about.
The speechlessness returned. The world seemed to fade out as Ashe’s head fell back into place into the crook of Dakota’s neck. All that remained was Ashe’s fingers intertwined with Dakota's. Their long gray hair, spilling over Dakota’s shoulder down to his chest. Their knees, pushing against Dakota’s. All illuminated in faint lavender.
Before bed yesterday, Ashe and Dakota had sat down with crossed legs and painted each other's nails. Dakota had already picked away at the red and black polish until the edges of his nails were bare. Ashe's nails had a messier paint-job from Dakota, but they held up better. Still chipped, though. Dakota stared at the grasp Ashe had on him, and found himself getting lost in the memory. Ashe holding Dakota's shaky hands steady, carefully painting on the colors they had picked out for him.
Dakota thought Ashe was asleep by the time they broke the silence.
“I’ve never… felt this way about someone before. Especially… about a boy,” they whispered. “I’m sorry if that sounded cheesy, I-”
“No, no, no- don’t apologize.” Dakota insisted. “And, like, me too.”
“Haven’t you had girlfriends before?” Ashe asked.
“I have. I didn’t really like them, though. In junior year I was kind of a jerk…”
“But you’re bisexual, right?” Ashe urged. “You’re… into boys? You’re into kinda -boys?”
With his free hand, Dakota began playing with Ashe’s hair.
“Yeah, Ashe, I’m bi. I like boys. And kinda- boys,” he said. “Non-binary boys.”
“Go-good.” Ashe stuttered. Dakota brushed the hair out of their face to reveal their deep blush. He touched their warm cheek, smiling. Ashe anxiously brought their free hand to hide their face, but Dakota pushed it out of the way.
“What are we? Can you just, like, tell me, Ashe? Because I’m really shit at reading people. And reading myself. I can’t really tell what’s going on right now. I know it’s kinda… really gay, but that’s kinda it,” Dakota admitted, tucking Ashe’s hair behind their ear.
Ashe poked their tongue into the side of their cheek, contemplating.
“Y’know in movies, right before the couple kisses, they kinda pause for a sec right before touching, centimeters apart? Like they’re trying to figure out where to place their lips. Like, they’re trying to figure it out in general. Figure out how it’s supposed to go?”
Dakota hummed a slow “mmmhmm.” before nodding.
“Okay, good. Because I think we’re there.”
“Well,” Dakota said, “when do we kiss, then?”
“When we figure it out. At the perfect time.”
Now felt pretty perfect to Dakota. Looking at Ashe, his chest swelled. His whole body tensed up in anticipation. He put a shaky finger below Ashe’s chin, carefully pulling them up to face him. Their blush returned. Their grip on him tightened.
Dakota leaned his face in slowly, stopping right before his lips touched Ashe’s. Centimeters apart, he studied Ashe’s face. He watched his eyes drift to the clock.
Ashe gasped, making Dakota jump. They pulled away from each other. Ashe’s grip on Dakota loosened again.
“It’s almost 6 A.M., Kota. My dad will be up any minute-” they stuttered. “He’ll kill me- kill you- kill us!” they whispered. Dakota’s vision darted back and forth, from Ashe to the door. He sighed, weakly admitting to himself that there was no time. The perfect moment had to wait.
Ashe slipped his book back under his pillow, and Dakota climbed off the bed. Ashe crawled to the edge of the mattress and grabbed Dakota's wrist.
“Thank you,” he said earnestly. “For trusting me, Kota. Thank you.”
Dakota pulled Ashe’s forearm to his chest, and placed a swift kiss on his cheek. Dakota’s whole body felt warm, his mind felt light and floaty. He wanted so badly to stay. Before Ashe could add anything else, Dakota dashed out the door.
He braced himself against the balcony, peering down. Vynce was asleep on the couch, with Will curled up in his arms. Will’s eyes were open, looking up at Dakota.
Dakota pursed his lips. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and opened his messages with William. is mark up????
William dug down into the couch cushions and fished out his cell. He shook his head up at Dakota. Dakota breathed a sigh of relief and stumbled down the stairs, still feeling lightheaded.
He dropped himself down onto the deflated air mattress, feeling his shoulders slam against the hard floor. Ashe’s bed was so much more comfortable. He’s never been one to care about how cozy he was, but he couldn’t deny how soft Ashe’s mattress had been, and how warm Ashe was. Down here sucks compared to that. Everything sucks compared to that.
Dakota covered his face with his pillow.
“Have fun?” William asked.
“Yeah. What about you?” Dakota muttered. “You and Vyncent have fun down there?”
William hummed. “We found some weiirddd shit. I’ll tell you later.”
Dakota grunted, and rolled over to shove his cheek back into his pillow. He yanked a blanket over himself.
“So,” William whispered, “you guys kissed or what? There’s gotta be something going on, man, you’re so…” he trailed off, “blushy.”
Dakota groaned. “Mark ruined it,” he said into the pillow.
“How? He’s not even awake yet.” William asked.
“He will be soon.”
Right on time, A door creaked open from behind the couch. William pulled away from Vyncent and shut his eyes. Dakota pulled his blanket entirely over his head.
Dakota fucking hated Mark before, but he despised him even more now. Thinking about it made him grind his teeth, so he returned to thinking about Ashe. Their hands, hair, face, lips. Lavender. The bitterness washed away, and Dakota pretended to drift back to sleep, waiting for Ashe to come downstairs.