Work Text:
“Okay, you got this,” Aether encouraged, rubbing his palms together as he hyped himself up by giving himself a pep talk. The thought was a little sad yes but he didn’t have anyone else to support him at the moment. Aether continued to stare at his cellphone laying on his coffee table as if it was silently mocking him. If Aether couldn’t do this then how was he ever going to do it in front of his friends and family?
The thing was, Aether knew his friends would be supportive. His friends constantly preached about equality and he knew for a fact his closest friend Venti was bisexual, it was just the idea of putting himself out there that scared him. The one thing he wasn’t sure about was his family, growing up he had been repeatedly encouraged to get a girlfriend and lean towards sports and such. Aether teased the idea at first, he tried his best to catch feelings for any girl in his grade, but he couldn’t bring his heart to do it. He did end up asking a girl out in the tenth grade but quickly ended things with her after a week when realizing he felt nothing when they kissed. It ended in her entire friend group hating him but that was shit he was willing to deal with.
It was a scary thought at first, he had assumed he just hadn’t found the right one yet but he knew deep down that that wasn’t it. He soon abandoned the thought of love and dived headfirst into swimming, the sport his now-deceased father had insisted on him trying.
But the constant half-naked men and shared showers helped Aether realize a lot of things about himself, for one he was very very attracted to the male body, and two wow did he need to quit swimming for his own dick’s sake. But since it was now just his sister and mother he didn’t want them to go on living without knowing something as dire as this.
The fact that he was a raging homosexual.
After a couple of incognito searches and late nights scrolling through Reddit pages, he labeled himself as gay. He soon brought up the topic to his parents by mentioning how a kid on the swim team recently came out, (which was partially true, one of his teammates gave him a blowjob during a late practice) and that was all it took for his dad to make him quit swim and let him join dance freshmen year of university.
That was also all it took for him to realize not everyone in the world was as supportive as random users on the internet. When he met Venti at Celestial University’s dance auditions the younger immediately introduced him to his boyfriend, this cute boy one-year younger than them named Bennett, and welcomed him into their friend circle. Once Venti found out they were only a day apart in age it was all the information he needed to declare the blonde his new best friend.
So it was just him learning to accept himself first before letting it out. And he had the idea to come out to a random pizzeria to practice what he was going to say.
There were only two ways this could go down.
One: the worker couldn't care less and just go along with it then take his order.
Or option two: the worker would be excited for him and give him his pizza for free.
And of course, there was the option where he happens to call upon an angry homophobe and get yelled at but Aether wasn’t going to dwell on that! He was going to be positive! He is going to grab his phone as soon as he stops shaking.
When did he start shaking?
He couldn’t help but let his hand tremble as he typed in the number for a pizzeria a little out of town since he didn’t want to ever walk in and have a worker recognize him as the gay guy who called on the phone.
As if that would ever happen but it was good to be precautious!
He let the call ring out as he cleared his throat.
“Hello, Wanmin’s Pizzeria here, how can I help you?”
Ok, it was a guy on the other line, that was no problem he could still do this.
“Uh yeah, I would like to make an order?”
“I assumed so, what would you like to order?”
“Uhm so you see I kind of wanted to tell you something beforehand,” Aether shoots out, his hand gripping onto the edge of his sweatshirt like his life depended on it.
“A special request? Go for it.”
“Well, it's not really a request but like I’m...Gay?”
There was a pause on the other side of the line before he heard a response.
“...You’re gay?”
“Yeah,” Aether confirms, now digging his fingernails into his palm.
“Cool, so am I. So now what type of pizza do you want?”
“...Wait so you’re not mad?”
“Why the hell would I be mad?” he heard the other male ask, rather amusedly, and Aether had to admit the sound was addicting.
Now, this was not what he was expecting to happen, but Aether wasn’t complaining. It was better than him coming out to a homophobe.
“I don’t know, you’re the first person I’ve come out to so I didn’t know what to expect-”
“Fuck really, I’m the first? An honor I guess,” he heard some shuffling from the other side of the phone, “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flattered.”
“Yeah, I wanted to practice coming out to someone,” Aether laughed, feeling some tension slowly ease away from his body.
“So now that you came out to me you should go out and get yourself a boyfriend,” and Aether swears he could see the smirk on the faceless worker’s face.
“I could never, the guy I kind of like is way out of my league,” Aether sighs, leaning against his couch as he fiddles with his hoodie strings.
“What’s his name?”
That got Aether to stop twirling his strings aimlessly...it’s not like this worker could know everyone at his college, it would be no harm, right?
“Ahh you probably don’t know him, his name is Xiao and he’s in the dance class a level above me. We’ve spoken once because of a mutual friend but other than that he probably doesn’t know of my existence-” Aether rambled, his insecurities getting to the best of him and leading him to rant to a stranger at one in the fucking morning.
“Oh my god sorry for ranting-,”
“It’s alright, but just for work purposes can I get a name for your order?”
“Aether,” he answered absentmindedly, not realizing he never made an order and chose to inspect how deep his nails cut into his palms.
“...Aether?”
“Yeah that’s me,” he grimaced, wondering if he had scared the other boy off with his rant.
“Ha, Aether it is me…Xiao. This is an odd coincidence-,”
Aether nearly dropped his phone, barely catching it as he almost let the device slip out of his now sweaty hands.
“Xiao?”
“That’s my name, nice to know you have feelings for me,”
“This is embarrassing oh my god,” Aether groaned, clasping his palm over his mouth, how was he ever supposed to face the other on campus? He simply needed to move out of the country, there was no other option at this point.
“Do you wanna come down and pick up your order?” Xiao chuckled, “We can talk over a slice?”
Aether would rather the ground swallow him while then face his fears, but he needed to do this. Just in case there was a slim chance this went somewhere, he wanted to be able to come out to his family and friends with a boyfriend on his arm.
“Alright, wait I didn’t even place an order-,” Aether started, “A medium cheese?”
“Mhm, got it. See you in a bit doll,” Xiao mused from the other end of the line, which was cut as Aether stuttered out a farewell and ended the call, chucking his phone across the room. He then rushed to see if it cracked and sighed in relief, he wouldn’t be able to handle his phone breaking due to his gay panic.
He slapped himself on the face, getting off the couch and pulling on a hoodie, before looking down at his fit and sighing. There was no way he could go looking like a slob, but he didn’t want to keep the other waiting. After five minutes of contemplating he opted to switch his sweats for jeans and slid out the door, fanning himself as he fumbled with his car keys and backed out his driveway.
The car ride was terrifying, Aether kept glancing at the clock and almost drove into a stop sign, but he let out a sigh of relief once he neared the familiar pizzeria sign.
It took him another five minutes to convince himself to even walk into the building, practicing his smile in the rearview mirror and stepping out of his car, and making his way inside.
The bell on the door rang, indicating his presence, as the scent of freshly baked bread wafted through his nose, causing his stomach to churn in greed.
The restaurant had an old-time feel to it, with the checkered floor and flashing neon signs, it felt very cozy. He immediately felt at home despite it being his first time there.
“Be right there,” a deep voice drawled out as Aether made his way to the counter, anxiously tapping on the granite as he looked around.
The sound of footsteps came near as a figure came behind the counter, a sly grin on his face as he realized who was standing before him.
“Nice to meet you, Aether,” Xiao smiled leaning forward on the counter, “How are you doing?”
“F-fine,” Aether gulped, averting his eyes, Xiao was much more intimidating this close-up. Even in the tacky pizzeria uniform, Xiao looked as attractive as ever.
“Your voice sounds even more alluring in person,” Xiao mused, turning around to open up the heater behind him, pulling out a box and setting it on the counter, ringing him up on the register, “That’ll be 6.50,” Xiao readout, reaching over to take the card out of Aether’s hands, their palms lingering for a moment longer than necessary.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” Aether chuckled, taking his card back and pulling the pizza box towards him, “When do you get off work?”
“I got off half an hour ago,” Xiao replied, pulling off his cap and running a hand through his hair, “Was waiting for you.”
“I’m so sorry!” Aether gasped, “Let me tip you-,” he fervently apologized, about to pull out a couple of bills when Xiao pulled the tip jar away from him, shaking his head.
“You can tip me another way, let’s go out,” Xiao grinned, tauntingly, putting the jar down as Aether widened his eyes. He had to compose himself, he usually wasn’t this shy around people he had just met.
“Right now?” Aether asked, taking a cautious look outside, “Don’t you have early dance practice?”
“I don’t mind, losing sleep isn’t new to me,” Xiao assured, already unbuttoning his top, “I’ll be right back, take a seat.”
And with that Xiao ducked into the back, presumably getting ready to come out with him.
As the other had requested, Aether picked up the scalding box, hissing at the heat radiating off of it, and maneuvered to the nearest table so he didn’t have to carry it for too long. He slid into the booth and peeled the box open, taking a peek at the crisp pizza. He wanted to give it try, but getting caught with crumbs on his lips was a risk he wasn’t willing to take in front of the guy he’s been crushing on for months.
“You can eat it instead of eye-fucking it ya know.”
Aether jumped, his hand flinching away from the lid as Xiao slid into the seat across from him. Aether was right, he had changed out of his uniform and was now wearing fitted sweats and a t-shirt, and overtop that was the letterman jacket the varsity dance team wore, with his name neatly embroidered on the front. His mind jumped to thoughts of wondering if Xiao would let him wear it.
“I wasn’t eye-fucking it, just taking a peek,” Aether defended, tutting his lips and pushing the box towards Xiao, “You can have some if you want.”
“Working at a pizza place made me grow sick of the dish,” Xiao grimaced, sliding the box away, “If I eat a slice will you?”
“Breaking your pizza diet for me? I can’t refuse then,” Aether grinned as Xiao propped the lid open. His hands went for the biggest slice, tugging on a slice as the cheese stretched out. He expertly caught it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as Xiao watched him fondly.
Unlike him, Xiao still managed to look put together as he munched on a slice. It was the smallest one in the box, but it was the thought that counted.
“You have something–here,” Xiao mumbled, reaching over to swipe his thumb by the side of Aether’s lips, absentmindedly licking it off and going back to his pizza. Aether could feel the tingle the finger left behind as he continued to eat his slice, albeit a lot slower this time so he wouldn’t embarrass himself again.
“For the record, I tried to get Venti to introduce me to you multiple times but he’s a little shit so he kept trying to make a trade with me,” Xiao started out of nowhere, finishing off his crust.
“Really?” Aether remarked, mentally storing away the information so he could kick Venti in the shins from keeping him away from this beauty of a man, not like Venti could of anyways, Aether hadn’t told him he was gay, “I didn’t know that.”
“You brought him roses after a performance so I thought you guys were dating, but he told me he was with that benny kid,” Xiao continued, “I’m not the type to approach people.”
“Neither am I,” Aether laughed, “Good thing this is our situation then, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Xiao mused.
“Do you wanna go for a walk?” Aether asked, not wanting to let the air go into an awkward silence. He pointed outside, “Or a drive?”
“My dumbass walked to work today,” Xiao grumbled, making way to get out of his seat, “But sure.”
Aether reached over to pick up the box just as Xiao did, their fingers touched for a quick moment before Aether pulled back.
“I can carry it, no worries,” he insisted, the cardboard wasn’t as hot anymore.
“If you say so,” Xiao hummed, walking a bit ahead of him to open the door, causing a hue to light up Aether’s cheeks as he made his way past.
“What if I give you a ride home, that way you won’t have to walk and we can spend more time together,” Aether offered, awkwardly fishing out his keys as he steadied the pizza box in one hand, the car blinking as he unlocked it.
“I don’t wanna bother–,” Xiao started before Aether interrupted him.
“You won’t,” Aether encouraged, opening the back door to store the pizza on the back seat, before leading Xiao to the shotgun and opening the door dramatically for him. The other male merely rolled his eyes, but it wasn’t laced with any annoyance, as he slid into the seat and Aether hurried around and got into the driver’s seat.
He pulled out of the parking lot as Xiao typed in his address into the GPS, the wind whistling through the windows filling the silence as Aether drove.
Now that they were both in a car, there was no way to dodge any questions. Aether was willing to jump off into the road if anything embarrassing came up.
“Do you hold feelings for me?” Xiao questioned as Aether switched his playlist to a more laidback aura, choking back his surprised cough at the blunt remark.
“Yeah, I do,” Aether nodded after a good minute, focusing his eyes on the road as he gripped the steering wheel a little too tight, there was a hint of insecurity laced between Xiao’s tone, so he would repeat it as much as he needed to. He had already reached his vulnerability quota for the month, but a little more couldn’t hurt.
“Alright, for the record I do too,” Xiao repeated as Aether turned, the red traffic light covering up the burning flush on his cheeks.
The rest of the ride was back to them playfully bickering after the tension as cleared out. Aether had always pegged Xiao to be the reserved type, but with the right prodding, he would quip back at him with the same enthusiasm. Little did he know Xiao was only like that with a few people, so few he could count them on one hand.
“Do you have a roommate?” Aether asked as he pulled into the driveway before the condominium where Xiao lived, eyeing the motorcycle parked in the driveway.
“No, the bike is mine. I do have a little sister that visits though.”
“You can ride that? That’s attractive,” Aether blurted, turning the ignition off as he mentally groaned, his mouth had a mind of its own.
“Thanks,” Xiao remarked, the edges of his lip tilting up in a smile, “I’ll take you for a spin next time.”
“Next time?” Aether repeated, “You want a next time? Really?”
“Yeah,” Xiao affirmed as the lock on the passenger door clicked, “One second.”
Xiao unplugged Aether’s phone from the speaker that sat in the front and maneuvered to the contacts list, swiftly typing in a number and placing the device back on its stand.
“I’ll be off then?” Xiao huffed, his movements slow as Aether fought the urge to turn the child lock on.
“Have a good night,” Aether smiled as Xiao stepped out of the car, softly shutting the door and making his way towards the front door before pausing and turning around on his heel, coming up to Aether’s driver’s window.
Aether rolled down the glass, brows furrowed worriedly, “Did you forget something?”
“Yeah,” Xiao mumbled, leaning his head through the glass, their noses practically touching one another as he brought his arm in and tugged Aether closer, locking their lips together in a toe-curling kiss.
It was an awkward position so they both had to pull away when their arms had begun to cramp, but Aether’s lips were swollen red and Xiao’s pale cheeks finally matched with the hue resting on his cheeks.
“See you tomorrow,” Xiao bid, hurriedly turning away and making his way towards his front door, fumbling with his keys until he pried it open, sending Aether one last wave before slamming it shut.
So Xiao was capable of being shy.
He sat there for a minute, processing the moment before grabbing his phone and typing up a quick text, hitting send before he could rethink it, and reversing out the driveway.
:(Aether (me
just kissed a guy and i liked it
i’m gay
and the guy was xiao
venti the lil shit:
FUCKING CALLED IT I KNEW U WERE FRUITY
but fr so proud of u i love u ur valid mwah we will discuss this in person
BUT XIAO??? HELLO CALL ME HOW DID U KISS SOMEONE SO EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED
venti the lil shit is typing…
Aether kept his phone on do not disturb until he got home, and when he did there was a message sitting right atop of Venti’s in his inbox.
Xiao:
Thanks for the ride.
And for the night.
And for the date.
Have a safe trip home and good luck on ur coming out.
It took him a good fifteen minutes to get the goofy grin off his face before he was able to reply to Venti coherently.
In some odd circumstance, he was able to grab a pizza Xiao’s once unattainable heart.
Aether swears he could hear Xiao groan from miles away at his cheesy pun– well there he goes again, being a weirdough.