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“I really like you.”
“I really like you too.”
A great way to underestimate how much they both felt for each other, especially after they just had sex for the first time.
The mouse was cuddled against the cat, taking in his scent and listening to his heartbeat. He felt the cat shift to hold him better, sighing a bit and smiling to himself. The mouse was in love with him, for reasons he couldn’t put his finger on currently. Would he admit it out loud? Probably not, at least not now, but he wasn’t afraid to show affection in private.
Romance wasn’t usually something he was strong in. In fact, he wondered how he ever became confident enough to pursue it, let alone with someone like Champa. They would hang out all the time and had a strong bond, that was clear to just about anyone, but he never understood why or how it progressed to this. At times, he felt weird feeling this way about him. They were just friends not too long ago…but it wasn’t entirely a bad thing that they weren’t. He was just wondering what they were. They’ve been at this for two years, and yet they never stopped and wondered what to call this frequent gathering, especially since they’ve just made love for the first time. At least, that’s how it seemed from his perspective.
But that was really something to consider. Sure, hugs, kisses, and cuddles, one could write that off as petty affection, but sexual intercourse? Can that still be written off as such?
He looked up at the cat, who had begun to fall asleep. Who could blame him? It is a tiring act and he did most of the work. The mouse never thought he’d be the one who’d be submitting to anyone, but then again, it’s not like he hated it. Hell, he liked being dominated, but it’s not like he’d ever admit that to anyone, either.
“You alright up there?” He asked softly, looking up to meet Champa’s sleepy gaze. Champa took a few seconds to register that he was spoken to, but once he did he slowly lowered his gaze to meet Quitela's.
“Mhm…” He muttered. He’s clearly half-asleep.
Quitela smiled, not surprised of course. “Get some sleep, Champa.”
“Mm-kay…” Within seconds, the cat was seemingly out like a light. Quitela couldn’t help but chuckle as he snuggled into his chest and stared off into space...
“I love you.”
Quitela froze, his eyes widening to the size of plates. Did he hear that right? Where did that come from? Wasn’t he asleep? What the fuck? He sat up and looked at the cat, who had one eye half-open and a sleepy smirk on his face. What could he be smirking about?
Could it be the fact that he said it so casually and caught the mouse off guard? Or, could it be that it made the mouse fluster and stare at him in disbelief? Either way, Champa was amused, but Quitela wasn’t.
“You ass,” Quitela muttered, throwing a small pillow at his face. Champa chuckled lightly and sat up. “What? I do.”
Quitela turned away and crossed his arms in a huff, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“Is that so wrong?” The cat asked slyly, sitting up fully and placing a hand on his shoulder.
“N-No, but…dammit!” Poor little mouse couldn’t even formulate a sentence without stuttering, which in turn made him blush more. “You-we-we just had sex!”
“So?” The cat shrugged, not seeing the issue there. The mouse turned around, wholly flushed and failing at hiding his embarrassment. This made Champa wanna laugh even more.
“You never even told me what you see us as!” He gave him the same little “angry” look that one would expect from a cute character trying to look angry or fearful. If there was a word for that expression, it would be Quitela, followed by a photo of how he’s currently looking.
“Well…” Champa took Quitela’s hand, holding it between his own hands. “What do you think you are to me?” He asked so sincerely, giving him a calm and loving look that made any anger in the mouse fade almost immediately and become replaced with those annoying butterflies in his stomach. His heart damn near skipped a beat too.
“I-I don’t know how to answer that…” He looked down, sighing. “You know this is all new to me…and…” He trailed off a bit, looking away. He felt Champa’s hands on his face, moving Quitela’s head closer to his own. Champa had a blush of his own, and he had no intention of hiding it.
“Well…I’m not exactly experienced myself, but…remember when Heles and Liquiir were explaining to us what his relationship meant and what he and Korn called themselves?”
“What, like…'partners' or 'male friends' or something?” He tried to recall but was struggling to. “I’m not gonna lie, I zoned out the entire time.”
Champa laughed, which made Quitela chuckle a bit. “What? They were so lovey-dovey, it was annoying! I wasn’t gonna watch that shit!” The latter said, attempting to justify himself.
“Yeah, I know you wouldn’t have listened in. Hell, I barely did. But Vados explained it to me again sometime later, because she was so sure I’d need to know…and part of me is glad she did…” He said, maintaining his smile the entire time. Besides how funny it was that Quitela wasn’t listening, he was happy to see his face before his. That blush not going down was so cute to him. “It’s because I get to use those names for you.”
“So what are these names, Mr. Expert?” Quitela asked, moving onto Champa’s lap.
Champa lowered his hands and held his waist. “Well, ‘partner’ is one of them. Another was ‘boyfriend’ and I believe another one was ‘lover’. So which one do you prefer?”
Quitela shrugged. “I dunno…but I do like the sound of all three…”
“Well…consider yourself all three of mine,” Champa responded, kissing him softly. Quitela held his shoulders and returned the kiss.
“My partner…my boyfriend…and my lover…” He kissed him after each name, which made the mouse get flustered all over again.
“Alright alright, sappypants, chill…” Quitela said embarrassed, though he secretly wanted him to do it again. He rested his forehead on his, keeping his gaze held low, and moved his arms to rest on his shoulders.
“I love you…” Champa said once more, smiling softly as he looked at him. “It’s okay if you aren’t ready to say it now, but I’m just letting you know…”
“Okay…”
They held that position for a bit before Quitela moved and rested his head on his shoulder. That drowsiness was starting to be a bitch to him. Champa, on the other hand, had been fighting it for a while, only being jolted awake at the mouse’s hilarious response to his love confession earlier.
He had remembered. He didn’t know why at the time, but it interested him so much, he had to. Vados didn’t have to explain anything to him. He remembered Heles explaining love all over again - as if they couldn’t possibly know from her talking about it all of the time - and how one should never use the word loosely. Love is something one has to feel deep down for the person, regardless of their flaws. Love for another has to be worth fighting for and not just something light. She always said it would come naturally, and might already be present for some, and it grows stronger over time. She went on and on…but she said enough for him to understand and realize that he did love Quitela and always had. Maybe the love he felt for him early on was on a friendship level, but what he felt now was much more than that. He wasn’t going to fight it and there was no use in challenging it; he knew what he wanted, and maybe that’s why he was so intent on listening…not that he would ever admit that.
At the very least, Quitela did say earlier that he really liked him. That was something, and Champa knew on a basic level that it usually indicated much stronger feelings than that of friendship. He knew about having best friends or close friends, but did they usually kiss, cuddle, and sleep with each other? Was that a thing best/close friends did? Who knows…all he knew was that the only being he wanted to do those things with - and then some - was the mouse in his arms, and he didn’t want it any other way.
Champa looked down and could tell that his lover was fast asleep. He kissed his head and laid down, positioning themselves where they were beforehand. He wrapped Quitela in a protective embrace and drifted off to sleep himself.