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"Reki. how did you manage to get hurt... skating along the sidewalk?”
Langa questioned, his eyes scanning over Reki’s wounded leg with increased focus. It was quite a large cut, far larger than what he would have expected - especially from an injury gained from, what Langa presumed, simply falling off a skateboard.
Though, Reki was unpredictable.
Maybe his skater injuries were too.
Reki’s whole body jolted at Langa’s question, as though a spark of electricity had struck his entire system, a wide grin stretching across his face.
“Oh, man, you wanna know how? Ok, ok, ok, so basically I was skatin', y’knooow, doin’ my thing, BUT THEN! But then there was like this, uhm, this crack. This crack in the concrete and I didn’t see it until it was too late. So my skateboard went over the crack but then the wheel got stuck and i was like ‘woah that’s not good’ and then the skateboard went BOOM and I tripped and I couldn’t break my fall in time so I fell all like BAM... aaand my leg just got cut. Funny story, huh? It’s not that bad, anyway. I’ve been through worse!”
He went through his story so animatedly and so happily, and it was hard to believe he was even hurt at all. The way he was talking about it, Langa might have thought he was actually recounting the best day of his life.
It was quite endearing, really.
The way Reki spoke about situations like these. He always spoke with such pure, childlike enthusiasm and joy, even if nobody else could share in his delight. This was just another example, it seemed.
Langa smiled, shifting his gaze from Reki’s leg to his face.
“That... that sounds like it hurt. We should probably clean it up. It might get infected if we leave it.”
The smile on Reki’s face morphed into a pout, a highly exaggerated groan escaping the red-head’s throat.
”Ugh, do we have to? I can just leave it! I can show everybody my badass skater scar! And everyone will be like ‘Woah, have you heard of Reki Kyan? That dude’s so cool! He can handle any skating injury he gets! I wish I could be like Badass Reki Kyan!”
Langa raised an eyebrow, “What, badass Reki Kyan who got his badass scar from tripping over a crack in the concrete? Yeah, very cool.”
Reki pouted once more, but this time it was partnered with a laugh. “Jeez, dude. You don’t have to come for me like that... so rude. But, yeah, ok. Treat my badass injury, o’ doctorly one.”
“Doctorly... isn’t a word.”
“Must you attack me like this today? Just pretend it is, Langa ‘Doctorly’ Hasegawa!”
Langa let out a small laugh, tucking a stray strand of his blue hair behind his ear. “You’re such a pain sometimes, you know.”
“You don’t mean that,” Reki snapped back, the grin on his face never once faltering since it appeared, “you adore me.”
“Yeah, okay. Stay here while I get the bandages... o’ patiently one.”
“Patiently isn’t a word, either.”
“Yes, it is. I didn’t use it correctly, but it’s a word.”
As Langa left the living room, he could hear Reki’s groan of defeat at his parting words. Once again, a smile graced his lips.
Only this time, it may have been accompanied with a faint blush.
Langa wasn’t exactly sure why he was so flustered. After all, nothing was even happening. There was no reason for that blush to be there, was there? Maybe it was simply... Reki’s presence. Reki’s mere presence was enough to make Langa feel this way. Simply talking like they always did had this affect on him.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that! Now was the time to rummage through his mother’s drawers and cupboards for a bandage to wrap up Badass Reki Kyan’s Badass Scar.
Only... it didn’t seem like they had any left. Langa might have opened up every single drawer and cupboard in that kitchen, left no stone unturned, and he couldn’t find anything. Not even an itty bitty band aid, or some sort of disinfectant. Usually, there were countless packets of bandages and band aids all stocked up, courtesy of his mom insisting that she keep buying them because she was worried he’d get hurt while skating.
Turns out, motherly instincts were correct! Not a single thing was left. Man, did Langa really get hurt that much? He didn’t particularly pay attention to any mishaps he may have gotten himself into while skating. To be honest, he didn’t pay much attention to anything else except skating at all while he was on the board. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing in the world.
He was responsible for the horrendous lack of first aid supplies in the house, after all. That was all on him.
Langa had since given up on his search for bandages, and was now frantically searching for some sort of alternative, no matter how bad it might turn out to be. Tissues were... an okay bet, but they were flimsy and tore easily, especially when exposed to water. Perhaps a cloth would do. Yes, a cloth would do.
Langa pulled an old cloth off the kitchen counter, running it under the tap before wringing the excess water out. It wasn’t exactly the best means of first aid, not by a long shot, but it was better than nothing.
Maybe he wasn’t very doctorly at all.
Despite his absolutely tragic means of aiding Reki’s injury, Langa made his way back into the living room, holding the wet cloth out so that Reki could bask in all its... wetness? Definitely-not-a-bandage-ness? Judging by the look on the red-head’s face, he didn’t seem to be basking in anything but confusion.
“I got a wet cloth. We were out of bandages. This will have to do, o’ patiently one,” Langa made sure to clarify his questionable first aid decisions before Reki made a comment on it, “This is not an accurate representation of how doctorly I can be, by the way.”
This earned a laugh from Reki, who simply stuck out his leg in Langa’s direction. “Alright, then. Um, cloth me up, then!”
Langa smiled, yet again. That was the thing about Reki. He always made him smile, no matter how stupid or silly he was being. Langa knelt down beside him in a response to his command of ‘cloth him up’, and gently pressed the cloth to the wound.
Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a wince from Reki, preceded by a sound that sounded something like a squealing pig. Langa quickly pulled the cloth away, an eyebrow raised.
“Langaaa-!” Reki yelped, grabbing his leg in an overdramatised representation of his pain, “That stings! Get that nasty wet cloth away from me!”
“It’s gonna sting, Reki, it’s an open wound. Calm down, just let me clean it.”
“Yeah, but... isn’t there a better way to deal with it?”
“No. It’s either this cloth, or... or you get an infection. And me letting you get an infection wouldn’t be very doctorly of me. Now, be quiet so I can clean it. Please.”
Silence. A long, deep silence filled the space after Langa’s words had been spoken. Ah. Did Reki listen to him? Did he actually obey his ‘be quiet’ request? ...Wonderful. Langa’s focus shifted back onto Reki’s leg, and after a few moments, he lifted the cloth yet again, ready to press it down against the wound.
“...you could kiss it better, maybe.”
Huh.
Langa’s gaze instantly ripped off of Reki’s leg, and it shot up to his face. His face, completely overtaken with pure glee, his same old stupid grin somehow stretching even wider on his freckled face. It was almost as if he hadn’t acknowledged just how strange his request was, just how hard it had hit Langa directly in the chest, despite its complete light-heartedness.
“Kiss it better?” Those were the only words Langa could squeeze out of his tight throat, and he tried so desperately to make his words sound as casual as they had been up until this point. He was certain he was failing.
“Yeah, kiss it better! Y’know, like how your mom did when you were a kid? Kissed the booboos better. It always worked!”
Still Reki’s voice was completely ignorant, vacant of any understanding that Langa so wanted him to know. A kiss. Langa had always seen a kiss as something platonic, something familial - the likes of which he’d get from his mother - but looking at Reki, he found it difficult to view anything about him as anything but romantic. The whole idea of it was so silly, too - a kiss on an injury! How childlike, how innocent was that? It didn’t mean anything. No, not at all... but Langa just couldn’t shake the feeling.
Even still, he kept his cool façade. He was good at that.
“I’m not gonna kiss your booboo better, Reki. You can ask your actual mom to do that.”
This earned yet another pout from Reki. He liked pouting, it seemed.
Then silence again.
This time, the childish delight had fallen off Reki’s face, instead being replaced by a sort of... thoughtful expression, something deep and serious. Langa tilted his head, trying to see if he could... if he could somehow burrow his way into Reki’s mind, and figure out exactly what he was thinking, what was running through his mind at that moment.
Reki's eyes met Langa's. They didn't have their usual edge, Langa thought. They seemed softer. Gentler. The staring tightened some strange knot in Langa's stomach, anxiety spiking all of his senses, yet still... he didn't want to look away at all.
Once more, it was Reki who broke the silence.
"Alright. Then... how about an actual kiss? For good luck, of course... wouldn't want to get myself hurt again, would I?"
Reki's voice had lost its usual energy, no longer brimming with pure enthusiasm, and it was replaced by something hesitant, something soft... something so unlike his usual mannerisms that for a second, Langa wondered if it was even Reki speaking at all.
But it was. It took a while for it to sink in fully, but it was, undoubtedly, Reki Kyan's request.
Pale skin flushed pink as Langa gulped down the lump in his throat, exhaling out a shaky breath. He couldn't even hear his own thoughts with how hard his heart was thumping in his chest. Langa thought it might burst itself out of it. Then they'd really need a doctor, huh? He tucked yet another stray strand of hair behind his ears.
"Okay," was all he could manage to get out. He didn't even attempt to hide just how painfully desperate his words were, strangled and hesitant, but so, so wanting, "for good luck, yeah?"
Reki was so close. Langa could see the way the sunlight shone down on his face, highlighting every single freckle. He wondered how many freckles dotted his face. Maybe he'd be able to count them.
He saw the way his hands shook, the index finger drumming against the floor. Nervousness, maybe? Awkwardness? ...Maybe anticipation. Langa hoped it was the last one.
He saw a stray strand of hair fall into Reki's face, deep red, and all he wanted to do was brush it away, so that his view of Langa wasn't obscured at all.
Langa wasn't thinking straight at all. No, the only thought running through his mind was Reki Kyan, and he was more than happy for it to be that way.
Their foreheads bumped, then soft lips met chapped ones, simply and sweetly. Reki's tasted ever so slightly of strawberries, along with some other flavours that Langa couldn't quite place.
He wondered what it tasted like to Reki. He wondered if Reki's mind was just as blissfully fuzzy as his own, senses melting into one another in time with the kiss, if his heart was pounding just as loud as his own one was.
Reki’s hand made its way to Langa’s, fingers interlocking, and just like that, every single ‘wonder’ running through his head had been answered, and he couldn’t have been more pleased with the response.
They finally broke apart after a few seconds, both of their breaths shaky and uneven.
“You said ‘doctorly’. Twice.” Reki’s words came out in almost a quiet, breathy giggle, “Earlier, you said it wasn’t a word.”
“What about it? I changed my mind.” Langa’s gaze still held onto Reki’s. One thing he could never change his mind about was the fact that he didn’t want to look away at all.
If he could, he’d stare at him forever.
Suddenly, Reki winced, and Langa was made painfully aware of the fact that they hadn’t done anything to aid his wound at all.
“Oh. I forgot about your leg,” Langa picked up the wet cloth once more, almost shoving it in Reki’s face, “you want me to cloth you up again?”
“...no. Not at all. I think I’ll just ask my mom to kiss the booboo better. Y’know... since you wouldn’t do it for me.”
Reki teased, playfully punching Langa’s shoulder as he did so, and Langa felt his face grow even warmer than it had been previously.
“Okay, yeah, but I think I deserve some credit? You know, for the, um. For the actual... kiss.”
Reki hummed, a sly grin adorning his face. “I dunno about that... how ‘bout you do it again? Y’know, just so I can make up my mind!”
“You sure it isn’t just for good luck?” Langa returned, but followed through with his final request, leaning forward to plant another kiss on Reki’s lips.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Reki’s hand made its way to Langa’s face, twirling a strand of blue hair between its fingers, “and I’ve made up my mind. Maybe you are a good doctor after all.”
“I know I am. You think it’s a potential career path?”
The sound of laughter, pure, joyful laugher, filled the room, and once again, two hands interlocked.
And as the two boys sat there, a comfortable silence settled, and there was one thing that Langa knew for sure.
He could stay like this forever.