Work Text:
Chris Knight was well known for being eccentric. After his junior year revelation, he had gone above and beyond in his call to weirdness. Weird was the opposite of a problem for him- it was a necessity. Bunny slippers, balloon chairs, bouncy headbands. He loved it. He needed it. If he felt like being melodramatic, which of course he did, he’d even say he craved it. It was survival. His options were to have a mental break down or to liberally dispose of the parts of his brain dedicated toward propriety and inhibition.
Now, he didn’t quite agree, but his open-secret bisexuality was another one of those eccentricities that people put up with only because he was smart. Seventh smartest in a country and you could get away with a lot, even if one of those things was wanting to bang dudes as much as you wanted to bang chicks. The nation itself was already on its way to tolerance and even acceptance, but still not many people liked to talk about it. Personally, Chris thought his sexuality was pretty much the least interesting thing about him, but what could you do.
Chris’s coming out was another one of those things that he did to keep a hold of his sanity. His mom’s pressed shirts and dad’s helicoptering had to be done away with. Even if he did keep the underwear with his name on it. He was a college student- and every college student knew that you didn’t have to do laundry as long as you had clean underwear- which meant holding on to even your mom’s dorky embroidered underwear. It was the best school in the state- they were all too dorky for it to matter much anymore anyway. He couldn’t just pretend to be some sexless dork anymore who cared more about the science than the human connection. He couldn’t just hole himself up in the lab, ignore his urges- for both gentlemen and ladies, mind you- and deny himself. Nah. No no no.
So he came out, smiled a lot, and his parents ended up caring a lot more about his work ethic than his sexuality. In a fit of desperation, his crying mother gripped his arm and pleaded with him to just go to class. “I don’t care that you’re getting A’s. I don’t care if you’re kissing guys in your dorm, but please Chris, please just go to class. You have so many resources, please just use them.” Chris just smiled.
And one thing about his bisexuality was that it meant he was in love with Ick. God, he loved him. Ick was just as weird, enjoyed weird just as much, and smart, so fucking smart. They had so much fun together, even out of the sheets. That was important to Chris- not many people could keep up with him. Intellectually was whatever when you had a personality like Chris’- either you weren’t as smart and Chris would talk around you using big words or you were just as smart and were put off by his train of thought. It was so much more important that they could bounce ideas off each other, that Ick was never weirded out or put off or too critical or too judgmental when it came to Chris. Together, it was always about what fun thing they could try next and not about limits or responsibilities. God, but did Chris love him. Chris wanted to make Ick wacky inventions and give him exciting new experiences. Chris love love loved him. Ice skating in school and reprogramming lasers and popcorn houses. Chris could sigh and put his head in his face and stare lovingly for hours. How no one commented on Chris’ constant heart eyes around him was a mystery.
Chris wanted to touch Ick all the time. To grab his shoulders, to wrap his arms around his waist, to rub his hands up and down his back. Both sexually and companionably. To just be with him. He always wanted to do dirty dirty things to that adorable body, but that was to go without saying. Like blowjobs and licking all over and making out for hours on end and all kinds of inventive kinky sex that required a manual and experimenting with lubes and condoms and positions and all the fun Chris knew that they could have. So Chris would say it after all, but he couldn’t contain himself.
He still hit on and slept with other people and shit but who cares. He didn’t know how Ick felt about him and Chris was pretty sure he was pretty obvious about how he felt, so all there was to do was what he had decided was his new path course- have fun and try not worry about it. And he was pretty good at it.
But, again, Chris really had a hard time containing himself. The last time he was good at self-control was almost a year ago, and literally there was a house full of popcorn in front of them, and even Mitch could go after what he wanted, so Chris kissed Ick.
In front of tons of kids celebrating and eating laser popcorn, Chris smiled at Ick, Ick smiled back, and Chris grabbed Ick by the shoulders and kissed him square on the mouth. And Ick kissed him back.
Pulling back, hands still on Ick’s shoulders, Chris smiled large and wide. Ick smiled back, eyebrow raised in question.
They stood there, smiling for a moment. Ick leaned in and Chris met his mouth, and Chris wrapped his arms around Ick’s back and Ick, god, Chris loved him so so so much, stuck his hands in Chris’ back pockets, squeezing his ass. Chris moaned, and they were interrupted by Mitch yelping. Pulling back, but just slightly, Chris smiled at Ick and then turned to Mitch.
“Yes, Mitch, my friend, my protégé, mi amigo?” he asked, rubbing the side of his face up against Ick’s. Ick laughed, and Mitch stuttered, and Chris purred, leading Ick to reach over to scratch behind Chris’ ears.
Ick grinned widely. “You’re like a cat. A really cuddly, sly, little cat,” he said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.
Chris looked back at him and they made eye contact. The gears started turning in his head and he could see them turning and Ick’s.
“Wait, do you think we could-?” he asked, chemical compounds and the human genome cycling through his head.
“Cat ears,” Ick said with a wide manic grin on his face. They grinned at each other and Chris didn’t know who reached first, but their hands were in each other’s as they raced back to a lab, giggling all the way.
Chris might have heard Mitch protesting in the distance, but he was too busy conspiring with Ick, making plans, and happy already to be moving on to his next big project. But with Ick. His boyfriend? He glanced at Ick and Ick looked just as happy and excited and energized as Chris and something soft and warm settled in Chris’s chest. Yeah. Boyfriend.