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A soft summer rain drizzles down onto them, the scent that has soaked into their skin and clothes being washed away. They want it to stay.
They wanted to stay. Wanted to protest the time on the clock as they resignedly shoved on their beat up Docs an hour ago.
They felt good. For the first time in a while, the buzzing of warmth from the day triumphed over the ever present dull thrum of pain they were used to.
Finally reaching their shanty town building, banging on the door since it's god knows how early in the morning. Several locks and chains could be heard coming undone and before they knew it, Ashton was looking down at Milo.
"There ya are, Ash! Gods dammit, I was so fucking worried! It's four in the morning, get your ass in here!"
They were rightfully pissed at Ashton. After all, their phone had died hours ago but they were too relaxed to have noticed.
The Krook House was cold, not as warm as the humid outside air. They became aware of this the second they started shivering.
"Fuck, why is it freezing in here?"
Milo chucked one of their thick, not grease-stained towels at the genasi's face. A soft 'fwump' was heard as it hit its mark, the human huffing.
"It's a normal temperature here, you're just soaked to the bone. How long were you outside? Since it started pouring an hour ago?"
"I…" Ashton paused and tried to remember the walk back, clearing their throat.
"It was—"
"Y'know what? Nevermind! Tell me how it went instead. Cuz you had the dopiest grin whenever I opened the door a few minutes ago."
They offered Ashton a mug of warm something, the genasi gratefully taking it and sipping on what turned out to be really stale coffee.
"Well, he's… Milo, he's great. Like, the most sane person I think I've ever been on several dates with."
Milo sat down on a stool nearby, sipping their own cup of coffee.
"Start from the beginning of the date, Ash! You two almost kissed last time, yeah? At that movie?"
Ashton exhaled a soft laugh, rubbing the back of their neck at the thought of that movie date. Their almost first kiss ruined by bad angles and a rogue child, resulting in their noses smashing together and spilt popcorn.
"Yeah. Alright let me start whenever I got to his place. And, get this, I actually showed up early. He was so surprised."
The loud 'buzz' of Orym's doorbell startled the poor halfling out of his skin when it went off earlier than expected.
"Gods, they're early— One sec!"
He nervously smoothed out the t-shirt he had thrown on as he hurried over to the door, taking several curt in and out breaths.
"You got this, Orym. They're just the second most amazing person you've ever been smitten over, no big deal. It's just a casual apartment hangout! Ok ok ok! Here goes."
Gods, he couldn't have opened the door faster.
"Ash, hey! You're ear…ly.."
Oh. Oh wow. The halfling's mind went blank the second he laid eyes on the fidgeting mess of a genasi out in the hallway.
The sleeveless Misfits t-shirt fitted over fishnet sleeves and muscular jade arms, one glinting with cracks of gold. The skin tight, ripped at the knees, plaid jeans, littered with sewn on patches of scrap fabric. The beat up Doc Martens with red marker scribbled on each shoe.
And their face.
Orym couldn't help but take it in a shameless way, Ashton's softly flushed face. The way their jade cheeks seem to darken from deep within as mismatched eyes look away due to nerves.
Neither said anything for a minute until Ashton cleared their throat, a hand going to rub the back of their neck.
"Can I… come in?"
"Huh? Oh! Oh gods, yes! Please, come in."
He stepped to the side and let Ash enter, softly closing the door behind them. As he watched them haphazardly kick off their boots vaguely near the shoe area, Orym began to fidget with the bottom hem of his shirt.
"You… you look really good, Ash. The fishnets, I'm—" He took a deep breath before he choked on his words, "I'm really into this outfit."
"You look good too. I never thought I would get to see you not in a dress shirt."
"Haha, yeah, at least I seemed to hold a good reputation with you after those first three dates."
The halfling nervously motioned to the living room area, where a couch and a coffee table with snacks and popcorn sat.
"I thought since our perfect movie date was exploded by someone's stray kid, we could have a do over? Just the two of us?"
Ash softly chuckled and strolled over to the couch, crashing onto it and getting comfy. "Sounds good. You coming?"
Orym smiled in excitement and soon settled into the couch next to Ashton, starting some cheesy romance movie.
About an hour in and with multiple oks from Ashton, Orym found himself in the genasi's lap. His nerves were on end as he leaned back into the muscular frame pressed against him. Every chuckle the other let out permeated through his tiny halfling frame.
"Hey Orym?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you really like me or are you just fucking around?"
He looked up, realizing Ashton was looking down at him expectantly. Oh, they were serious. Orym flushed softly and smiled up at the other.
"Yeah.. I'm pretty serious about you, I think.. I haven't felt this since my last serious relationship and you know about that. You're so great and I thought I'd let myself try to love again for once."
He gently reached up and touched the right side of Ashton's face, gently cupping it.
"I love you, Ash."
"That was your first 'I love you' from someone who isn't toxic! Congrats!"
Ashton blushed hard and downed their coffee. "It's not that big of a deal, Milo…"
"You've got to be shitting me, Ashton! Jiana was horrible for you! Zero was horrible for you! Take this fucking win! And hey," Milo leaned forward and gently patted Ashton's knee, "I approve of him a lot and so does Anni, so at least you don't have to worry about us threatening his safety."
This drew a chuckle out of Ashton, who stretched and rolled their stuff shoulders.
"Let me finish the story. You stopped me at the good part." A soft smile graced the usually broody genasi's face.
"Wow… this is.."
Orym watched in anticipation for Ashton's response to his declaration of love, carefully shifting his weight so he wouldn't hurt them.
"Orym… You've been nothing but good to me. My last two relationships weren't exactly the fucking best. So the fact that you treat my like a real fucking person and not some pawn or disgusting punk…"
The halfling watched on as Ash's cheeks bloomed in a dark jade color, one strong hand mirroring his own in cupping one of Orym's tiny cheeks. He leaned into it, the colder and rougher texture so gentle and caring.
"I think I might love you too, Orym. But.. I want you to understand that I might be really hesitant going forward. Just… be patient with me and talk me through some things, ok?"
"Of course, Ash. I'll wait forever if it means I can show you everything you make me feel."
"Speaking of," As Ashton spoke, their strong arms shifted and scooped Orym up, who helped in surprise at their new closeness.
"Can I kiss you, Or?"
With no hesitation, the halfling took his chance and sealed the gap.
"You initiated!? Ashton Greymoore, I'm so proud of you! Specially after all the shit those fuckers did to you."
Ashton chuckled and stood up, yawning.
"We stayed like that for hours, y'know? Just kissing. The movie ended and we were still kissing."
"Alright! I don't want to know those details! Go to sleep, lughead. Or you'll feel miserable tomorrow."
As they left the common area to their room, Ashton left Milo with an affectionate middle finger.
Damn, they need to schedule another date with Orym as soon as possible.