Work Text:
i think, therefore i am.
“a 50’s themed cafe…?” navion muttered.
he was forced to roll around in skates, which he was pretty sure was inaccurate to the time but who’s paying attention to the details? he stopped by cherian’s table, placing the drink onto the table.
“looking pretty snazzy today.” cherian said in a teasing tone, which promoted navion to huff in response.
“yeah, yeah. just drink your coffee.” navion mumbled, gently rocking back and forth on his heels as if not to fall. he wasn’t very confident in these things, despite being the type to roller skate when he was a little boy.
“if you fall, i might laugh!” cherian said with a small chuckle, with made navion roll his eyes. but his heart was beating, and his cheeks were flushed. this was his chance— just ask him! just go for it, navion!
“so… i was wondering if i could take you to the state fair this saturday.”
he said it!
cherian glanced up from his drink, placing it down on the table. despite the implications of his question, cherian was sometimes as dense as a rock.
“hm? oh, sure! we can hang out, i’m free!” when is he not.
navion deflated for a second. great… cherian was as clueless as ever. he couldn’t understand love when it was right in front of his face. but he was too scared to correct him, so he just nodded.
“okay… yeah.”
“anyway, so…” cherian continued talking, but navion wasn’t paying attention. his heart sank to his stomach, and he pursued his lips like he ate something sour.
eventually, navion excused himself and continued serving for the next few hours. afterwards, he stared at the wall in the break room. he had a tendency to space out, like he was in a completely different world.
someone patted his shoulder lightly.
he wasn’t sure who.
on saturday, navion looked into the mirror. he wore his regular outfit, since he didn’t have much else to wear. besides, it was relatively hot that day— and he chose to meet up in the afternoon. with a nod, he left his apartment.
cherian raised a hand, a smile on his face. “hey!” he said, wearing a jacket despite being a billion degrees outside. how was he not sweating? it was sort of ridiculous..
navion smiled, walking over. “hey! so, what do you wanna do first?” he asked. cherian shrugged, seeming relatively indifferent. “i’m good with anything, really.”
navion was about to say something, until cherian pointed to a roller coaster. it said something along the lines of “DRAGON RIDE; THE THRILL OF YOUR LIFE.”
navion cringed.
here we go.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
said screams were coming from cherian and navion, though it was unsure what kind of screams they were. cherian was laughing, while navion was trying to cover his eyes.
going down the big rides were utterly horrendous, but cherian only wanted to go on those! god forbid they visit the farmer’s market, and navion lost count on how many times he threw up.
afterwards, navion suddenly placed a hand on cherian’s shoulder. usually, a gesture like this would fluster him— but he was sure he puked out his breakfast by that time.
“cher… let’s do something else.”
cherian looked back, grinning. “okay, okay.” he said, before making some grand gesture. “lead the way!” he said, with a shit eating smile on his face. he clearly was amused by this, besides the whole throwing up thing. he looked away for that part, and patted navion’s back.
“how about we play some games?” navion offered, which made cherian nod in response. they went up to a duck game, where one had to grow the fish rod and catch a duck. simple, right?
wrong.
cherian kept missing, and every time he caught a duck he ended up dropping it all over again. the redhead sighed, and navion was so tempted to ruffle his hair in reassurance.
he didn’t.
his heart swelled.
“here, let me try.” he said, taking the rod from cherian’s hand. they’re fingers briefly brushed together, which prompted cherian to look at navion.
for a moment, everything was okay. cherian was smiling, navion was having a (sort of) good time.
“aye, you gonna throw the bait or what?”
whoops.
in an instant, navion tossed the rod into the water. in the next moment, he caught the rubber duck. in fact.. he caught three. how was it possible, no one knew.
the guy behind the counter seemed tired. “choose your prizes.”
navion glanced at the red head. “choose what you like.”
cherian smiled. “thanks, buddy.”
ouch.
with three stuffed animals in a bag, navion decided to pull cherian away from all of the “thrilling” rides. he was sure that he would puke his whole stomach if he kept this up.
they played many games, with cherian losing many… actually, all of them. navion on the other hand, won every single one.
they ended up walking around with many prizes in their hands, and that’s when cherian looked over at navion.
“i don’t think my arms can bare another stuffed animal or a cheap plastic thing.” he said with a laugh.
navion nodded. “yeah, how about…” he then gestured his head to the ferris wheel. it was the kind where there was whole carts, so people can but their things down.
“yeah!”
in the ferris wheel, navion had a split second to decide where he was going to sit. either next to cherian, or across from him. to most people, this wouldn’t seem like a very important choice.
to him,
it meant everything.
in the last moment, navion sat next to cherian. the red head glanced over, like he was going to say something. his cheeks were lightly flushed, and whatever he was going to say was right at the top of tongue.
“nice weather now, right?”
navion nodded. “yeah..”
the ride suddenly began to move, though extremely slowly. this particular ferris wheel took twenty minutes, which was longer than most. they spent most of it in silence, neither of them talking.
it wasn’t a bad silence, though.
most people think that silence is awkward— that they have to fill the void with something. but sometimes, that isn’t necessary. just enjoying the other person’s presence is what really matters.
and navion sure did enjoy cherian’s presence. he glanced over occasionally, watching as the moonlight hit his skin. his blue eyes were shimmering, like gems newly found deep in the dirt.
his hair was a bright red that navion never understood how it was that color. some called it tomato colored, and even navion took to calling cherian “tomato head” sometimes.
but now?
it was like the sunset.
how cheesy… when did he get so corny? how he wished he can say things like that to him.
“so…”
“so?”
“how are you liking… being here?”
“pretty good! though, the part where you threw up kinda sucks.” cherian said with a laugh.
navion rolled his eyes in response. “thanks for reminding me.” he said, as cherian shrugged.
“so…”
“so?”
“how much of that stuff are you going to give to your sister?”
“probably all of it. she has way more stuffed animals than me.”
“cool, cool…” when did navion become like this all of the sudden? usually, he was able to keep up a front.
“so…”
“so?”
“…i have something to tell you.”
cherian turned slightly, now suddenly intrigued due to the tone of navion’s voice. “what’s up?” he asked, clearly a little nervous.
navion stayed quiet, looking at nothing in particular. this was the wrong place to say it, the wrong time to start spacing out— the wrong everything.
if he said no, then there was nowhere to go. then they’d be sitting in awkward silence, and probably never see each other again, and cherian will stop visiting, and then—
“navion?”
right. he was still here.
navion turned slightly, taking a breath.
“i like you. in… a romantic way, not a friend way.”
he had to clarify that due to cherian’s cluelessness.
cherian blinked, clearly surprised by this sudden confession. “oh..” he mumbled. his cheeks were red; he wasn’t easily flustered, but this was certainly one of the times where he was.
navion quickly backtracked. “i…i mean— if you don’t like me back, that’s fine. i just don’t want anything to change between us, y’know?”
cherian nodded, staying quiet.
“please say something.”
“sorry, i’m just… gathering my thoughts.”
“oh.”
the silence poured in like a harsh wave, and navion’s skin ran cold. the suspense was practically going to kill him— his stomach began to wind up, and his legs started shaking. he was on the verge of a panic attack, and he didn’t want to say anything.
as the ride began to come to an end, in fact, they only had five minutes left— navion wondered if cherian would say anything at all.
when navion turned, he suddenly felt a pair of lips against his.
he was so shocked, a hand flew back and steadied itself. the whole cart shook for just a moment, and yet navion didn’t care.
after a few seconds of processing, he closed his eyes and gently placed a hand against cherian’s cheek. he was soft. his lips were soft.
slightly chapped,
tasted like cherries.
the moment seemed to last forever,
and ever…
and ever…
til the sunset pulled away.
“so…” cherian mumbled.
“so?”
“i think that says my feelings about you.”
navion nodded, his heart feeling as though it would burst.
cherian’s face was a bright red, rivaling that of his hair and red attire. “now what?”
now what?
“am i supposed to ask you to be my boyfriend?” navion asked.
cherian let out a laugh. “hah… you’re not very good at this whole confession thing.”
“i didn’t know there was a right way!”
they both laughed.
sunset.
His Sunset…
goes away eventually. this moment isn’t going to last forever, dear one.
better hold onto it while it lasts.
:)
BONUS:
“i swear to…”
cherian threw the ball, but it completly zipped into the other direction. navion laughed, which made cherian glare at him.
“i’m not letting you do this until i get it right!” cherian said, determination suddenly filling his eyes.
“you go ahead!”
cherian tried again, and again, and again. still, he never was able to hit the plastic bottles.
“step aside, let the professional handle this.” navion lightly joked, as cherian laughed and navion took the ball into his hand.
he threw it, and it landed straight into the bottles, causing all of them to fall down and crash.
cherian stood, dumbfounded. “how are you so good at all these games? it gotta be some sort of cheat thing you’re doing.” he huffed.
navion shook his head. “no, i’ve always been good at these little games.”
“way to rub it in my face!”
“i’m not rubbing it in your face!”
they both laughed.
the woman behind the counter stood there, bored. “so… are you going to get something? or sit around and flirt?”
they both turned, eyes wide.
“we are not flirting.” cherian said, as navion nodded.
the woman rolled her eyes, picking up a random duck. it had goofy googly eyes, along with yellow fur. “yeah, yeah. you couples always gotta chat when other people are waiting.”
the woman shoved the stuffed animal into cherian’s arms, waving her hand. “next!” she shouted.
the two glanced at each other, before leaving. as they walked, cherian glanced at navion. “well, she was kinda mean huh?”
“guess they’re tired from doing this for two weeks in a row. i’d be pretty frustrated too.”
“they don’t have to be mean, though! it doesn’t cost much to be nice.”
navion smiled. “yeah.. you’re right.”
they walked further into the park, navion taking glances at cherian’s hand. he sighed, shuffling the stuff in his arms.
was he forever destined to pine over those he can never have…?
“wanna get something to eat?” cherian suddenly asked.
navion shook his head. “i brought sandwiches for us.”
cherian laughed. “you’re just like a mom!”
…
end