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After the HAS incident, Gus thought he would have hated Mattholomule. He was pushy and cocky and had such a strange voice that it nearly made Gus nauseous sometimes.
And yet, the more time they spent together in the Looking Glass Graveyard doing construction work and talking to each other one-on-one, the more Gus started to realize exactly what that nausea was stemming from.
“Yeah, they miss you, but whatever. I get it. You’ve got a real human to hang out with,” Mattholumule said, laid out atop the cold, dewed grass in the center of the graveyard. “I got a cool new human gelatin mold for my energy drink jelly. It’s lobster shaped.”
“Ew,” Gus said. “Lobsters are creepy.”
“Coming from the guy who wants to re-establish contact with the giraffes,” Matt chuckled.
Gus let out a soft laugh and let his eyes slip closed. Matt was such a charming weirdo, but not in the same way that Luz and Willow were. He always thought he knew the kind of person he wanted to be friends with, but his friendship with Matt was different. There was more ribbing involved. More tension. It felt like a game to see who could push the line the furthest without going too far some days. The blood would rush to his face when he bordered on saying something just a bit too sincere and he would back off. He never felt that kind of pressure around Luz or Willow. It was like they were stuck in a permanent game of chicken. Like the goal was to get as close to saying ‘I love you’ and meaning it as they possibly could while sidestepping at the very last opportunity and-
Oh.
Oh.
In hindsight, it explained a lot.
Gus’ eyes shot open and he bolted upright on the grass.
Mattholomule opened an eye lazily and glanced up at him. “Bug?” He asked, hardly fazed by the sudden movement.
The pounding in Gus’ chest only confirmed his suspicions and his pupils constricted when they met Matt’s. A hand came to his chest and wrapped around the fabric of his shirt, scrunching it beneath his fingers. “Yeah,” he said, easing himself back down onto the soft grass growing in the damp, loamy earth. “Something like that.”
He stared up at the heavy tree cover above them. The sunlight was filtering through the leaves and highlighting the gentle serenity between the two of them. Gus almost felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.
“Can’t have you out of commission over a bug,” Matt murmured, the arm furthest from Gus tucked behind his head.
A soft smile came to Gus’ lips. “Yeah. Same goes for you.” He inched his hand only barely closer to Matt’s fingers. He was playing chicken once again. “So, that energy drink lobster...”
Matt snorted in that way that made Gus rethink everything he ever knew about his own preference in partners. “What, do you really want one?” He asked. “Fine by me. It’ll knock your stupid authentic human socks off.”