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“Mattyyyyy,” Gus whined, leaning dramatically into his boyfriend, and forcing him to put down his game controller. “I’m kinda hungry.”
Matt grinned. “A little midnight snack? I can eat.”
Matt hopped up from his bed, taking the controllers Gus held out to him and putting them on his desk next to his crystal ball and their paused human racing game. He’d long since stolen Steve’s converter for human video games for his own crystal ball. He kept waiting for the day Steve would notice and send him a crow to ask for it back, but so far it hadn’t happened.
Matt gestured for Gus to follow him downstairs to his kitchen. The boys padded quietly across the floor as they passed Matt’s parents’ room. Their sock-covered feet muffled the sounds.
Gus liked sleepovers at Matt’s place. The vibes were more chill, the rules way more relaxed than at his house. Especially since they’d started dating, his dad had only gotten more rigid about what Matt could and couldn’t do at their house, and when Matt could or couldn’t stay. Gus wished his dad would trust him because it’s not like he’d do anything crazy. He wasn’t stupid. He and Matt weren’t ready for anything like that either.
Gus hopped up on the kitchen table while Matt rifled through the fridge. The table was probably as old as Matt, or maybe even Steve. It was a worn, polished wood, with scuffed up legs and mismatched chairs, and paint stains on top. Gus liked seeing the paint stains because he knew they belonged to Matt, and maybe his mother as well. He didn’t get to interact with Mr. and Mrs. Tholomule very much, but they were nice and they approved of him, though Gus knew enough to know Matt wouldn’t want or need their approval on anyone he dated.
It was dark in the kitchen. Matt had turned some dim lights on, and the light over the stove, but darkness still cast hard shadows across the planes of Matt’s face. Gus studied him in the refrigerator light. Maybe it was something about the late hour or the artificial light, but he looked so pretty. Matt was pulling ingredients out of the fridge and Gus recognized this moment for what it was: Matt relaxed, happy, and in his element. And Gus was lucky enough to witness it. He’d consider it a boyfriend perk.
“Whatcha making?” Gus asked, swinging his legs.
“Those human sandwiches Luz told us about. Grilled cheese. She showed me a video on her phone for how to make them.” Matt held up bread and cheese, a smarmy grin on his face.
“Oh, I love grilled cheese! Camila made them all the time for us when I was there. They are the perfect late night snack.”
Matt got to work boo-tering and heating a pan on the stove, and he laid four slices of bread in the pan once it was warm enough. Gus jumped up and padded over to Matt. He snaked his arms around Matt’s waist, tucking his chin on Matt’s shoulder as he watched him lay cheese on top of the toasting bread. Gus hummed, closing his eyes and breathing in. A curious mix of eau de Mattholomule and melting cheese filled his nostrils. Both smelled equally good.
He buried his nose deeper into Matt’s neck, wanting to capture his scent. His hair still smelled fresh from the shower he’d taken just before Gus arrived, hours ago now, but not long enough that the smell of his shampoo had dissipated. His skin smelled good too. He’d put on some of that cologne Gus liked. He smiled against the back of Matt’s neck as he’d remembered forcing him to switch to nicer colognes from that Titan-awful Icks body spray.
“You done sniffing me, Porter?” His words lacked any bite. Plus it was hard to take him seriously when he had a free hand over both of Gus’s pressed to his stomach, and he was making Gus food. Kind of a perfect boyfriend, if Gus thought about it. But only because Matt fed him.
“Nope,” Gus replied. “You just smell too good, sorry babe.”
With this, Gus pressed a soft kiss to the nape of Matt’s neck, and trailed his lips down to the dip of his shoulder. Matt spluttered, at a loss for words. Matt’s t-shirt was soft beneath Gus’s hands, and he couldn’t help but think how much softer Matt’s lips might be instead.
“You’re gonna make our sandwiches burn, you loser,” Matt mumbled halfheartedly as Gus gently hooked his fingers under Matt’s chin and turned his face towards his. Matt was uncharacteristically breathless and silent, caught frozen like one of those deer in the human realm that sometimes ran out in front of Camila’s car at night. Gus tipped Matt’s chin and leaned in, softly brushing his lips over Matt’s.
“Babe. The sandwiches…” Matt trailed off, gripping a spatula in his hand as Gus took his face into his hands and kissed him again, more firmly this time. Matt ducked back, glaring at his stupid boyfriend with love in his eyes.
“Sorry,” Gus giggled, a little sheepish.
“I mean I don’t hate the kissing, I just think you shouldn’t distract a man trying to make a grilled cheese!” There was a grin on his face that let Gus know he was messing with him.
Matt turned, inviting Gus in closer. Gus tucked into his side, wrapping his arms around Matt’s neck to lay soft kisses at the corner of his lips and across his cheek, before tucking his head against Matt’s shoulder. Matt wrapped his right arm around Gus’s waist, so he could continue flipping the sandwiches on the griddle with his dominant hand.
Gus was the more snuggly of the two of them, more affectionate. He was glad Matt didn’t mind or think he was clingy. For his part, Matt showed how he cared in other ways. Whether it was talking to Gus animatedly about some new Blademage fic he’d been reading, playing video games, mercilessly picking on him, or cooking for him. Just the fact that he let Gus in and reciprocated at all was an impressive feat.
They’d only been dating a few months. Officially, that is. Willow thought they’d been dating since Grom three years ago. Luz thought they’d been dating since she sent him to the Looking Glass Ruins with Matt and the Glandus bullies instead of going to the library with her. Hunter hoped the rumors about the two of them weren’t true at all. Gus didn’t get why Hunter had so much beef with Matt, but neither of them would talk to him about it, no matter how much he pried. He’d even tried asking Willow, and she didn’t really get it either.
The real truth was that feelings had been there for a long time. Gus didn’t know how long really. It was like they’d taken root and grown into a full blown tree before he ever even had a chance to realize. He knew Matt had liked him even longer, because he’d told him this when they finally did confess. Gus had been embarrassed and Matt told him he didn’t mind.
Their feelings had come to a screeching, screaming, impossible to ignore impasse in the past few months and, although they were still young—both seventeen—they decided to try it and make it work. Matt had pointed out that not much would even change anyways. Especially since they already spent almost all of their free time together. Gus had still been unsure at first, but now that the feelings were out in the air, Matt became so intoxicating to him. He felt dizzy and insane, like his body was full of static, anytime he was around Matt. He finally kissed him and that was that. He was done for, a goner for this stupidly impossible boy who had once fought him for the H.A.S. presidency. Whose room was covered in posters for Blademage and obscure bands. Who’d sacrificed his weekends to help out a kooky old man out in the forest with him. Who had bravely done his best to protect his school, even when he felt like he’d lost everything when he stopped hearing from Gus and Steve.
Matt was a complete and utter buffoon, but he was Gus’s buffoon, and that’s all that mattered.
Matt plated the grilled cheese sandwiches, bringing Gus back down to solid ground with the sound of clinking plates and a knife sliding through toasted, crunchy bread. They sat on top of the kitchen table, plates and glasses of cold smilk between them.
The quiet of the late hour cocooned them in gentle peace. Gus snuck glances at Matt and the blissful look on his face as he enjoyed his human sandwich. He took bites of his own sandwich, bits of toasted bread crumbling off, tumbling down his shirt, and pooling in his lap. He dusted off his pajama pants between bites, never one for liking mess.
Gus got up and took their empty plates and glasses to the sink to wash them, since Matt had made their snack. He washed the pan and spatula while Matt put away the bread, boo-ter, and cheese.
Gus watched him over his shoulder, once again enraptured by the sight of Matt in the refrigerator light.
He shut off the tap and swirled around. “Dance with me, Matty.”
There was a pleading look in his eye and a grin on his face as he stretched a hand out to Matt. Matt raised an eyebrow, staring at him with a confused look.
“What?”
“Will you dance with me?”
“Titan, you’re such a romantic, Porter.” Matt chuckled but he took Gus’s outstretched hand anyways.
With a giggle, Gus pulled his boyfriend in to him, their chests bumping together clumsily. Matt dropped his forehead to Gus’s shoulder, laughing and maybe a little embarrassed to be doing something so cheesy. Maybe love made you crazy after all.
Gus took Matt’s hand and swayed with him around the kitchen, the fridge propped open to shine on them like a spotlight. Matt’s hand snaked around Gus’s waist, to pull him closer. They tipped their foreheads together. Gus closed his eyes, swaying in time with Matt without any music necessary.
“You’re so cheesy, babe,” Matt chuckled into Gus’s ear.
Gus just smiled, pulling his hand from Matt’s to wrap both arms around his neck. He pulled the slightly taller witch in for a searing kiss.
“Thanks for dinner and a show.”
Matt’s arms looped around Gus’s waist, tugging him in close to deepen the kiss. He kicked the fridge closed and backed Gus up until his back hit the door of the fridge. With a soft yelp of surprise Gus drew back and Matt pulled him in again, a hand around the base of his neck as he softly pressed his lips over Gus’s. They kissed for several more long moments before breaking off with a gasp for air, because like idiots, they often forgot how to breathe during the heat of the moment.
Tipping his forehead down to Gus’s, Matt smiled, looking at Gus’s eyes through the gap between his glasses.
“Ready to get back to our game?” Matt asked, a smirk twisting up the corner of his mouth. “I was totally kicking your ass earlier.”
“Yeah I bet you’d think that, jerk.” Gus playfully shoved his boyfriend away, giggling. They took off up the stairs, trying to keep their voices down as they continued to insult and shove each other the whole way back to Matt’s room.