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A lot of things have noticeably started to shift out of normality after Exer’s, as well as David and the rest of his troupe’s, descent in popularity at their school. They didn’t mind, of course, some moments just felt odd, is all. Maybe it was just Exer’s mind still loosely clinging to the loop of him making grand entrances every morning and savouring the sweet feeling of everyone’s eyes on him and the blond by his side, before proudly striding down the school halls knowing that girls were fanning themselves and flustering over his presence. Sometimes he’d hear the same light giggles as he walked by with his hands shoved in his jean pockets, but after everything that has happened, they were probably giggling at how much of a weirdo he had become.
But Exer didn’t care. Deep down he knew that he’s always preferred this. He would rather have everyone in school pay him no attention at all especially while dealing with his whole magic dilemma. Yes, having everyone all over him would definitely stress him out a lot more.
Something that also piled a whole tonne of pressure on his already crumbled social position was having to keep his and David’s relationship a secret. Society was cruel, and neither him nor David had any intentions of being under the prying eyes of the gossip addicted. Besides Ron. But Ron was okay, they trusted Ron, especially David, since he’d been a great support in the whole ‘I have a massive crush on my best friend who’s also a guy’ thing.
Even though trying to navigate the ups and downs with his magic abilities, they have recently begun to be ever so slightly tamable, and he discovered that it all led back to David. Whether it be his actual presence, his touch, or smaller things like just being able to see him and talk to him. It was like Exer’s entire inner soul and mind would settle into calm, becoming just a fuzzy bundle of adoration for his life long best friend turned boyfriend.
He was happy of course, so incredibly happy to be able to spend every day with the blond. He always made the often unbearably long and torturous school days slightly brighter. Not that his smile wouldn’t already light up every room he’d enter. It did. And it made Exer’s stomach do flips. He wanted to stay by David’s side until the end of time.
What he didn’t expect though, was to end up spending an hour of said time in the school infirmary sitting cross legged on one of the beds while a particularly beaten up guy with blond hair and blue eyes sat across from him, his legs crossed the same as Exer’s
“Sooo… You’re saying someone tripped you off balance and made you slam your face into the janitor’s closet door,” Exer raised an eyebrow, observing the damage while David drummed his fingers against his knee.
“Yep. You know how harsh that door is, it was like slamming my face into a box of razor blades.” David waved his hands for emphasis, prompting Exer to subconsciously grab one of them and hold it gently in his own, examining the scrapes on the usual soft skin of his knuckles. He pretended not to notice David’s cheeks flush profusely out of the corner of his eye.
The brunet frowned, eyebrows pointedly aimed towards his hand. “And how’d this even happen?”
He glanced up to catch the other’s gaze, who stared back at him silently, obviously internally debating something in his mind. A few moments passed before David finally moved, leaning back into the headboard of the bed they were both sitting on while blowing a raspberry. He squeezed his eyes shut in a slight wince.
“Okay, I may have gotten into a little disagreement with Ricky and Marty.” He admitted with a sigh, slumping his shoulders.
“A disagreement?” Exer mused, leaning towards him subtly while softly brushing his thumb across the back of David’s injured hand.
David looked at him for a second before averting his gaze once more.
“Fine, it got a little out of hand. But those meatheads need a taste of their own medicine and you know it.” The corner of his lips hooked upwards into a small smirk.
Exer shook his head, “You’re insane.”
The tease made David playfully push him away by his shoulder, sticking a tongue out at him, “Hey didn’t you threaten to beat them up all the time? What happened to that Exer?”
The blond continued to jab and poke at him light heartedly before Exer finally caught his face in his hands, bringing their faces together at a safe distance where he could clearly see the marks that stained his pretty face. His left cheek was slightly bruised, his jaw had a small scrape and his bottom lip was busted, a cut protruding through the skin. Yeah he was pretty sure a door doesn’t bust a lip this bad. A punch does. Exer took a deep breath, levelling his anger at the realisation.
“Yeah, but it's different now that you actually got hurt.” He frowned, tilting David’s head to the left to observe the gash on his jaw. The blond exhaled softly with a roll of his eyes.
“Sap.”
“Day.” Exer dropped his hands from his face, an unamused look painted his features. “Why did you even pick a fight with those morons?”
David thought for a moment, pursing his lips, “Oh, you know, they were just picking on some freshmans and I heroically saved the day.” He brushed his hair back.
“It looks like they used you as a punching bag instead.” Exer murmured, moving to hold his injured hand once more, gently stroking his skin. Exer frowned again, thinking to himself. It was really strange, he knew Ricky and Marty were annoying pricks but he thought they were too much of a wimp to actually get physical. Maybe they were less intimidated now that the former “king of the school” had gone mostly under the radar. He wondered if things could have turned out differently if Exer had been with David during recess. Then maybe Ricky and Marty wouldn’t have been pestering random people, and David wouldn’t have gotten hurt trying to help them out. He knew his boyfriend was trying to do the right thing, even though it got a lot more heated than it needed to. Next time he sees those two douchebags roaming the halls, it was on sight.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard David hiss, pulling his hand slightly out of Exer’s grasp. “Ouch. Careful man, it stings.”
Exer had been mindlessly continuing to comfort him by stroking his hand, but he probably should have been paying more attention as he had accidentally grazed the raw scrapes decorating his knuckles.
“Sorry,” Exer whispered, bringing his hand closer to his face. David squirmed.
“Y’want me to kiss it better?” he grinned at him.
Exer watched as the blond scrunched his nose, his face going a bright shade of pink. “Jesus, you’re an idiot.”
They both burst into a frenzy of giggles, David wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. He quickly retracted his hand with another pained noise as he accidentally rubbed against the sores. Exer sighed with a small smile, grasping his hand in his and bringing it to his lips, gently placing a kiss to his injured knuckles. The blond’s eyes widened with a squeak of surprise, blushing furiously.
“Oh– You actually– Ah.” David stuttered, his brain having a difficult time processing. Weird, why did his hand start to feel tingly?
“Chill, no one’s around,” Exer grinned while peppering more kisses along the back of his hand and slowly proceeding to his wrist, “And I missed you.”
David barked out a laugh, “You’re such a baby. I was able to handle a full week without seeing you when you were sick and you can’t even make it through a few classes.”
Exer shot him a half hearted glare, crossing his arms, “I’m allowed to miss my boyfriend.”
The blond laughed again, staring at the boy sitting across from him fondly, like he was all that ever mattered in his life. Which technically, yeah, he was. The infirmary was quiet, save for the faint buzzing of one of the ceiling lights in the far corner of the room that flickered slightly every 10 seconds. The nurse was nowhere to be found, which was strange enough, but at least half an hour earlier, Brenda had come in to make sure he was doing fine and assured him that she would go and get some gauze and ointment for the bruise for him. David thanked her gratefully, and she instructed Exer to keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t do anything else reckless and stupid (which he took great offence to mind you), but she had been gone for thirty minutes now, which was worrying.
He continued to stare at Exer with half-lidded eyes, almost like he was hypnotised. The dark haired boy noticed his ocean-eyed stare, which admittedly always made the back of his neck feel hot.
“Pfft. What?” He chuckled. “What’s that look for?”
David blinked, caught off guard that he had been caught staring. His lips tugged into a small smile, cheeks dusted a pink-ish hue. “No, wait, keep making that face. You’re cute when you pout.”
Exer’s face went red immediately and he looked away.
“Shut up.”
David giggled at his embarrassment before scratching at his wounded knuckles. For some reason they had started to become slightly itchy. His eyes widened and he froze up, realising that the skin he was scratching was smooth and didn’t have any sign of injury. He quickly brought his hand in front of his face, palm facing in front of him and spreading his fingers out in front of him like he was trying to give the air a high five. David stared at his knuckles, tilting his hand multiple times to look at it from different angles just to make sure he wasn’t going nuts.
His knuckles were completely healed, as if nothing had ever touched his skin in the first place. There wasn’t a single sign of any scarring. There was nothing. David let out a gasp, rubbing the skin on his knuckles as if somehow it would rub off like paint to reveal the previously damaged state. “What the…” He whispered, still not believing his eyes.
“David? What’s wrong?”
The blond glanced up at his boyfriend, a terrified look in his eyes and mouth agape in confusion. Exer immediately tensed, turning so that he was completely facing him and grabbing the sides of his upper arms in alarm, “Are you oka–”
“Exer, can your magic.. Heal?” David cut him off, staring into his eyes. Exer frowned, shoulders relaxing to some degree as his eyebrows knitted together in concern.
“Uh.. I don’t think so?” He paused for a second to think, “I mean– I’ve never tried. I guess..?”
Something clicked in his head. “Wait, why?” The brunet asked.
David tilted his head, gesturing towards his hand which he held out for Exer to take a look at. As soon as he saw that his knuckles were completely bare, he could’ve sworn his eyes bulged right out of his sockets right then and there. Exer’s heart began to race at a rapid speed, fueling his adrenaline.
“What the fuck.” Was all that managed to come out of his mouth.
“It has to be your magic. I can’t think of any other explanation.” David ran a hand through his own hair as if panicked.
Exer hunched over in thought, began to chew on his nails. The anxiety was eating him alive at just how powerful he could be. Is there anything his magic couldn’t do? What if one day it gets too much and he hurts someone fatally?
He groaned in annoyance, dragging a hand down his face. “God, I’m such a freak.”
David immediately punched him lightly in the shoulder, getting his attention. Exer’s eyes met with David’s who were currently downturned into a serious frown.
“Don’t say that, man, come on.” He said with a hint of determination, “If anything, Ricky and Marty are the real freaks.”
This drew out a soft chuckle from Exer, who sniffled sadly. At least David never failed to cheer him up in his blues. The blond opened his arms, offering a hug which Exer did not hesitate to accept. Like he always says, David gives the best hugs.
Exer inched closer to his outstretched arms, climbing into his lap facing him, a knee placed on either side of David’s hips. He slumped down, wrapping his arms around him and craning his neck to rest on his shoulder while David hooked his arms around his middle. Exer exhaled slowly, savouring the warmth of the embrace while David squeezed him like it was the last hug he was ever going to give.
Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but his face was beginning to ache again.
Wait.
David gently pushed Exer so that he could look him in the eye, their faces were close enough for them to feel the other’s breath brush against their cheeks. “Besides that... Do you think you could maybe…?”
He pointed to his own face hopefully, eyes sparkling just a little. It was enough to convince Exer though, as he rolled his eyes with a mock sigh filled with mock irritation, gently moving to cup David’s face with his hands once more. He smiled widely, letting a short but excited giggle escape his throat as he let his eyes fall shut, leaning into the feeling of his warm hands on his skin.
“Weirdo.” Exer muttered before leaning closer, pecking his bruised cheek softly. David exhaled brashly in a weak attempt at a laugh, but it was okay, Exer knew he found it funny and that’s all the reassurance he needed.
After pulling away he kept his eyes on his cheek, brushing his thumb across the bruising gently, half expecting it to completely vanish after each swipe.
Eventually it did. It disappeared without a trace, making Exer let out a shaky sigh. This.. was weird as hell. “Wow.”
“Did it work?”
The brunet blinked in surprise, suddenly realising that he’d been silent and unmoving for a little while. “Yeah. It did.” he breathed out.
David grinned again. Exer never stopped thinking his smile was cute.
“Rad.” He replied.
Exer smiled fondly, gently tilting his head to the side so he could reach the area on his jaw that had been scraped, pressing a kiss onto the damaged skin without a bother. David flinched at the contact at first, but quickly eased into the feeling. Exer kissed him again, and again, and again, practically tracing his jawline with kisses. He pulled away to observe his handiwork, and sure enough, this time the wound had healed immediately. The brunet hummed, David taking it as a sign to open his eyes and stare at him lovingly.
He was silent for a moment before leaning in, his gaze flickering from his eyes to his lips multiple times.
“Ah… I think you missed one..” David smiled cheekily, batting his eyelashes.
Exer’s eyebrows raised as he quickly glanced down at his lips then back to his eyes, similar to what David had been doing beforehand. His cheeks flushed red instantly. David opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a pair of lips on his. The blond made a surprised noise, adjusting his head so that their noses didn’t clash uncomfortably, the force of the kiss pushing him back into the infirmary bed they were seated on, Exer straddled on top of him.
After a short while, they needed air, and the two separated, much to their disappointment. Unknowingly, Exer’s magic formed sparkles around them, surrounded by a slight light green mist. His magic has been doing that whenever they would kiss lately, and he’s learned to just accept it and get used to it, rather than try to snuff it out. It was embarrassing, sure, but he honestly couldn’t care less.
Already missing the absent yet lingering feeling, Exer quickly pecked his lips once again for good measure. Just in case the magic somehow didn’t work.
He knew it would, he just wanted to kiss him again.
David tugged on the collar of his shirt, bringing him closer so he could kiss him on the cheek.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
Exer glanced down, seeing that his busted lip had healed, leaving behind not a single mark or scar to tell you that the cut had existed in the first place. The brunet mirrored his grin, his eyes full of adoration for the gorgeous blond haired man laying… well underneath him right now. It was then that they both became aware of their position, both of their faces simultaneously growing pink. Thank God they were alone, otherwise the situation would have been super awkward–
“I’m so sorry for making you wait, David. I had to– Um.” Brenda burst into the room, carrying handfuls of bandages and a pile of gauze. Even medical professionals would say that she had definitely gone a bit overboard for her brother. Her eyes widened when she surveyed the scene in front of her.
Exer leapt off of David, creating at least a 5 foot space between them. Both boys were blushing furiously. “He–ey, Brenda!” David gritted out, his voice breaking.
“What took so long?” Exer asked, hopefully trying to change the subject, or most definitely distract her from what she’d just walked in on. Brenda rolled her eyes with a smile. She was happy for them, truly, but they had to learn how to better keep a secret, because one day someone was going to walk in on them and it could very well not be Brenda who does.
She supposed they were lucky for now, she’d give David a firm talking to later.
“Let’s just say people are needy.” Brenda sighed, dropping her pile of medical treatments on the bench near them.
David tilted his head like a puppy, an eyebrow raised as if to say ‘What is that supposed to mean?’
But whatever, some teachers probably asked her to do them a couple favours or something. It wasn’t something worth dwelling upon. Brenda hurriedly sorted and shuffled through her pile of equipment. “Okay, so I have some ointment, some gauze.. Some other stuff,” she began to list off the things she had gathered, counting them on her fingers.
“Uh, about that–”
Brenda gasped loudly, making the two boys jump. David’s sister gaped at him, rushing over and holding his face in her hands. She tilted his head every which way, making sure she was seeing his face from every angle possible.
“David– The– How–” She stuttered out, struggling to form a coherent sentence, “Your face! It’s– It’s okay!”
David blushed slightly, avoiding her gaze, “Well, Exer– I mean– Uh– My body heals itself really fast! Don’t worry, I’m fine now.” He gave her a reassuring grin.
Brenda looked puzzled out of her mind.
“Are you sure? And you don’t have a fever or anything?”
“Brenda, I’m all healed up. Trust me.” He gently took her hands and pulled them away from his face, squeezing them, an act that convinced Brenda that he was telling her the truth. She sighed, a small frown still plastered on her face.
“Well, if you say so..” She rubbed her arm. At least her brother was safe and sound, that was all that mattered to her.
Exer and David glanced to each other then to Brenda, her brother leaping out of the bed good as new. “If you don’t mind, me and Exer have places to be! Thanks for your help sis, love you, bye!”
The blond quickly grabbed Exer’s hand and pulled him towards the exit, a bit too quickly since he had yelled out in protest. Before Brenda had time to stop them, the two had disappeared out of the door and left her in the dust, more confused than she had ever been in her almost 18 years of life. The light in the corner buzzed and flickered, saving her from the otherwise eerie silence.
She had an odd feeling about whatever had healed David so fast. Brenda was top of all of her science classes, she knew that wounds healing that fast was humanly impossible. She knew her brother was lying to her.
And she had an invasively strong gut feeling that Exer was involved.
Brenda really wanted to get to the bottom of this, but she supposed she could save that for another day, for now, she had to work on returning the large pile of gauze she'd collected.
She smacked her forehead with a groan, realising that this task was probably going to take longer than bringing all this stuff here took in the first place.
“Oh, brother.”