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Since the incident of a few nights ago, Lucius and Pete have been… different.
It took Izzy a moment to fully process what they had changed, but they were… nicer…
They said the stupidest things to him, so offhandedly and as if they didn't spend the last three weeks at one another's throats.
Not Pete is saying how strong he is and how nice he looks, with Lucius saying his hair looks good or complimenting his eyes.
There was something at play; they did something wrong and are trying to get around it with flattery.
Frankly, at this point, Izzy would rather they just tell him what they've done and be on with it instead of trying to soften his guard so he wouldn't find out about it.
The most infuriating part was Izzy couldn't figure out what they'd done!
He searched his room top to bottom, paying extra close attention to the spots they had mopped after their time together and nothing.
The rations were in order, the rigging was untampered with, and nothing seemed to be wrong with anything, yet they kept doing it.
It was a week into this torture of waiting when he finally broke.
They had been below deck searching for whatever was making that horrible squeaking sound when Lucius started talking.
"Has anyone ever told you how nice an ass you have?" he asked with a grin, causing Izzy to look up from where he had been bent over.
"Quite frequently…" he grumbled before going back to it.
"Ooh, I love it when you get all growly." Pete chimed in, causing Izzy to snap his head over to the pair again.
"Alright, cut the shit; what the fuck did you do?" he hissed out, scowling more at the confused looks on their faces.
"Did we do something?" Lucius asked, baffled, looking to Pete for answers, both looking equally as confused.
"Well, I would assume so, seeing as you've been…." Izzy's nose scrunched up in a sour expression.
"Flattering," he said as if the word was poisonous, only causing the two more confusion.
"And… you don't like it?" Pete asked carefully, brow furrowed.
"I don't like not knowing what you two are playing at with this." Izzy hissed, abandoning his search for the rat and turning to look at them.
They just stared at one another, having the audacity to still look confused.
"I don't think we're playing at anything…." Lucius said, looking over to Izzy.
"Yeah, I mean… we're just pointing out the obvious." Pete shrugged as if it wasn't the most infuriating thing in the world, even more so when Izzy felt his face beginning to color.
"And why point it out?" Izzy gritted through his teeth.
How dare they just stand there all bashfully confused about this.
"Because… it's a compliment? You compliment people you like, and you want to be nice to the people you decide to fuck." Lucius points out, and instantly, all the anger and color drains from Izzy's face as he stares between the two, whose confusion turns to worry.
"What has no one ever thought to be nice?" Pete asked.
Izzy rolled his eyes, looking away, ready to be done with this conversation and jump off the ship.
"Does it make you uncomfortable?" Lucius asks.
"Yes, stop it." Izzy hisses, seeing his out and storming away to his quarters, where he very deliberately closed the door to say, "stay out."
Sitting on his bed with a deep sigh, Izzy can finally think.
"Has no one ever thought to be nice?"
It echoed in his head like a death bell.
As if any answer was the be all end all.
Thomas was nice.
Thomas was perfect.
Just… differently…
The two of them were so bloody loud with their affection that it quickly became deafening.
Thomas's was quieter, private.
It was the sort of thing that when he said it, you would expect to never hear it again, like the closest kept secret never to be revealed.
They shouted it to the rooftops.
Every chance they got complimented each other, praising him.
This strange pit coiled in his stomach every time they did.
Like he wanted them to keep doing it but also dreaded every moment they did.
Maybe it was the sheer openness of how much they shared it, regardless of location. They would just announce that they liked his ass, the way they would so blatantly talk about him in front of the crew that he didn't like.
He didn't want to compare whatever the fuck all this was to Thomas.
They weren't Thomas by any means, but… Thomas knew what he enjoyed; he knew what Izzy was comfortable with and vice versa.
He didn't expect the two of them to be Thomas 2.0, but… it gave a deep ache in his chest at comparing the almost ten years together to what was a mear couple of days to whatever was going on with those two imbeciles that, for some reason, he hasn't killed yet.
What was he and Thomas even like in the beginning?
He could recall them dancing around one another for a good long while, being close in a way that the rest of the crew wasn't.
Never so loudly affectionate, just… they went together.
They understood what the other wanted without having to say it.
He could recall Thomas complimenting his hair once in front of another crew member, and… he could vaguely remember that same twist of anxiety he felt whenever the two of them did it.
He didn't… he wasn't okay with that sort of interaction directed at him.
He knew that the two of them liked it and thrived off it, but…
He didn't think he could stand something like that.
It was suffocating.
The worst part was he liked hearing it.
To a certain degree, he enjoyed the compliments, but… they did it so much, so openly, it almost hurt.
He didn't want it to stop; just… slow down…
He also didn't want them to lose interest in whatever was transpiring.
He hated admitting it, but some level of him enjoyed having to tolerate those two, even if they were complete and utter morons.
He could deal with it…
He could suck it up…
If they enjoyed that, then… he could suffer through it.
If it meant keeping whatever this was going for a little longer… he could figure out how to enjoy it