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Stinger was definitely not one for physical contact. That was something the rest of the team picked up on very fast. Even a simple gesture of just tapping him on the shoulder made him tense up and quickly whack them away.
Everyone had gotten accustomed to the fact that their orange kyuranger liked to keep to himself. Nobody ever intentionally tried to push his boundaries. They let him be, hoping he'd slowly warm up to them all.
That was most of them, at least. Lucky definitely had other ideas. No one was sure if he just couldn't read the room or what, but he kept getting far too close to Stinger than the latter liked. And Stinger had no idea why.
Why did Lucky always try to get in his space? He seemed like there was a reason, but he'd be damned to figure out what that reason was. Lucky hadn't ever given any indication of what he was looking for out of these interactions.
It was another day. A quiet morning. Stinger had seated himself in an empty room and was skimming through a book he had picked up. He had a little while of peace, before he heard someone enter the room. He glanced up to see who it was.
He wasn't surprised to see it was Lucky again. It was starting to feel like he was following him around. How annoying. Stinger didn't want to have someone chasing after him like a lost puppy.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" Stinger finally had enough of this game.
"Can I touch your tail?"
Stinger stared at Lucky, dumbfounded. That was why he kept doing this? He was that intrigued by his tail?
"No. You're not touching it." Stinger shut it down. He hated when people grabbed his tail.
"Please?" Lucky pleaded. "Just for a little?"
"Why in the world do you want to do that?" Stinger questioned.
"Because your tail is so cool! I wanna just see it up close. Please, Stinger? I'll be really gentle."
"Touch it and I'll sting you." Stinger warned.
Lucky pouted. What was he? A child? This was so stupid and childish. Stinger was very irked by this. Couldn't Lucky get the hint already?
"Why don't you like physical contact anyway?"
Now he was changing the subject. Stinger sighed. He really just wanted Lucky to go away.
"It's just how I am. It's a cultural thing. No one in my system is very fond of physical touch unless..." Stinger trailed off, but then realized he better finish it. "Unless you're intimate with the other."
"Oh. That's interesting." Lucky invited himself to sit next to Stinger. Stinger curled his tail up and moved it to the side Lucky wasn't on. He didn't exactly trust him to not subtly try to touch it now.
"Nothing you say will make me let you touch my tail."
"Please? If you let me I'll stop asking." Lucky wasn't deterred.
"How about you take my no for an answer and leave?"
Lucky pouted again. He sighed and finally left the room. Now Stinger felt bad. God damn it. He had hurt Lucky's feelings more than he had intended to. Why did he even care? Lucky did that to himself. Stinger wanted to scream over this internal conflict he was now having.
...
Lucky did stop pestering him, but just because he didn't say anything didn't mean he had stopped. Lucky still got far too close. Still insisted on sitting next to him whenever he could. Always wanted to be in the room with him.
Stinger could see his eyes wandering to his tail. Could see the wonder in his eyes as he watched it. Why did Lucky seem so fascinated by his tail? Nobody else on the ship gave it that much thought.
Stinger was alone. He had found a desolate area on the ship to curl up and try to sew something in peace. He wanted to make something and finally had an idea.
He was humming a random song as he sewed. He could do this in his room, but he found he worked better when he wasn't in there. Too much temptation to do other things.
"What are you making?" A voice startled him.
Stinger glared at the intruder. It was Lucky again. Of course it was.
"A random project." Stinger replied. "Why are you here? I thought you were sick?"
"I wanted to take a walk. My legs were getting stiff." Lucky replied. "I couldn't sleep because of it."
"Then walk. Leave me alone."
"So mean."
"I prefer being alone."
"But, Stinger... being alone isn't healthy. You need friends."
"I do not."
Lucky seated himself beside Stinger. Stinger sighed. This guy just didn't know when to quit.
"I'm lonely." Lucky said. "Can't you let me have some company?"
"You can go harass literally anyone else on the ship."
"But anyone else would've already drug me back to bed."
"I'll call someone to do that if you don't stop talking."
"So if I be quiet I can stay?" Lucky asked, a smile on his face. He had caught him.
Stinger bit back an aggressive reply. "If you stay there, then fine."
"Okay." Lucky agreed.
Stinger went back to sewing. He was a bit distracted by Lucky. At least he was staying quiet. He seemed quite content to watch Stinger work.
Eventually, Stinger did get his focus back. He zoned out of everything and went back to sewing fully. He had almost completely forgotten that Lucky was even still there until a sudden weight on his shoulder brought him out of his focus.
Stinger glanced over. Lucky had definitely not intended to lay on his shoulder. Seems he had fallen asleep and fallen over onto him. Stinger sighed. How troublesome. Now he had Lucky on him.
Though... it wasn't that bad. Stinger sighed again and set down his work. He adjusted Lucky to be more comfortably positioned and draped a blanket over him. He didn't want to wake him up when he needed the rest.
Stinger went back to sewing after that. He just prayed no one else would find them like this.
...
"Stinger."
Stinger woke to someone poking him in the cheek. He grumbled and opened his eyes.
"Lucky...?"
Lucky was in his face, a smile on his face. "Hey."
"What're you doing...?"
"You fell asleep too. Thought I'd wake you up. It's almost lights out." Lucky replied.
He had fallen asleep? Right... he had finished his project and hadn't wanted to disturb Lucky. He had closed his eyes and... well.
Stinger now realized that Lucky was on him. Was basically sitting in his lap. This was a bit much.
"Are you going to get off of me then?" Stinger questioned.
"Do I have to?" Lucky teased.
"E-eh?" Stinger was caught off guard by the comment.
Lucky seemed pleased at the reaction. Stinger was so confused.
"You... said before that to your kind... physical touch is a sign of love, right?" Lucky said.
"Yes?" Stinger didn't know where this was going.
"Well... is this how you show you like someone?"
Stinger's breath caught in his throat. What was going on? Lucky... what? He... no. This... this wasn't happening. He was dreaming. He had to be.
"Not that... much." Stinger barely got his words out of his mouth. "It's normally... like just subtle touches. Grazing shoulders... holding hands... that stuff. Not sitting on their lap before you even confess!"
Lucky gave him a lopsided grin. "My bad. So uh... I like you? Is this fine now?"
"Are you feeling okay? Is this illness worse than we thought?" Stinger questioned. He was trying to rationalize anything but Lucky actually liking him.
"I'm fine. I... thought getting you realize my feelings would be easier..."
"Is this why you wanted to... see my tail?"
"A little bit. I do just want to play with it. It seems so cool."
"You have lost your mind."
"I have not." Lucky replied.
Stinger's heart was racing. He didn't know what to do. Lucky liked him. What was he supposed to do now? He was not prepared for anything of this nature. He was so lost.
He knew that every system did things differently for romantic interactions. But yet this still caught him completely off guard. He knew one day someone might approach him and attempt to start something romantic but he thought he'd have time to prepare himself. This was too soon.
"Can you... please get off of me?" Stinger requested, his voice cracking.
Lucky obeyed the request and slid onto the couch again. Stinger took a deep breath. He sat up straight, before slumping back down, placing his elbows on his legs and burying his head into his hands.
"I sprung this on you too fast, didn't I?" Lucky sounded concerned.
"I'm just blind. All the signs were there. I just didn't notice." Stinger replied.
Now that he thought about it, he realized very fast that Lucky's actions toward him were because he liked him. He just always missed seeing the way Lucky gazed at him fondly. Missed the fact he was around him so much because he wanted to grow closer to him.
"So... um..." Lucky didn't finish.
"I... like you too. I think."
"You think?"
"I don't know... there's too many feelings going on now. I can't figure out what's what."
"Oh... um, sorry. I guess I should've just been more direct with my feelings."
"It's in the past now... let's just... go to bed. We can... think about this more tomorrow. I need time."
"So... I can't spend the night with you?" Lucky pouted.
"You are sick. You're already too close as is." Stinger retorted.
"Oooh... that was cold."
Stinger rolled his eyes. He stood up and gathered his things. Lucky followed his movements.
As Stinger walked toward his room, Lucky trailed behind him. He wasn't going to leave, was he? Fine...
"If I let you stay, you better keep your mouth shut. No one can know." Stinger warned.
"Understood!" Lucky nodded. He looked excited.
The two went to Stinger's room. Stinger put away all his stuff and got ready for bed. Lucky laid down on the bed and watched Stinger.
"Can you not watch me undress?" Stinger gave Lucky a hard glare.
Lucky pouted. "I've seen you without a shirt on already."
"Close your eyes or I'm kicking you out!"
"Fine, fine." Lucky closed his eyes. "Is this another of your customs?"
"It's kind of." Stinger replied as he changed, keeping a very close eye on Lucky. "The tradition of waiting till you're married to see your partner in that state kind of started really dying out."
"So are you just self-conscious of me seeing you naked then?"
"...yes."
"Fair enough."
Stinger almost laughed. He quickly caught himself.
"I'm done. You can open them."
Lucky opened his eyes. Stinger turned off the light and sat down on the bed. Lucky faced him.
"I'm guessing you want distance since I'm sick." Lucky commented.
"What were you planning to do?" Stinger questioned.
"Cuddle?" Lucky offered an innocent smile.
"Cuddle..." Stinger repeated. "Is this closeness how your system does things?"
"Mostly. Yeah. We like being close to everyone that we care about. Friends, family, anyone." Lucky replied.
"Our systems are completely different. And yet... you fell for me."
"How couldn't I? You're really cool. Everyting about you is just... amazing. It's hard to explain." Lucky laughed nervously.
"How do... you cuddle?" Stinger asked quietly.
"You don't know?"
"It's been years since I've done something like that."
"Lay down."
Stinger laid down on the bed. Lucky shifted up beside him. He pulled Stinger into a hug. Stinger hesitantly hugged him back.
"This is how you do it." Lucky said.
"Feels... nice."
"Say... can I touch your tail now?"
Stinger sighed. He was still going on about that?
"Be gentle... don't touch the tip. Obviously." Stinger was too tired to care at this point. He didn't know that he would like Lucky doing that but only one way to find out.
Lucky cautiously placed a hand on his tail. He traced a finger up and down it.
"It's not how I expected it to feel." Lucky said quietly. "What does it feel like for you?"
"Weird. Like when a bug lands on you."
"Don't like it, huh?"
"How do you like it? It's so rough. Why would you want to try and pet my tail?" Stinger shot back.
Lucky chuckled. "Because I was curious."
Lucky pulled his hand away and went back to simply hugging him. Stinger had his face pressed against Lucky's chest. This was still very strange. He hadn't been close to anyone in this way for a long time.
"Goodnight." Lucky hummed.
"Night..."
Stinger started to actually focus on sleeping. And then he had a thought. He tried to ignore the thought, but it persisted.
He carefully unwound his tail and wrapped it around Lucky's waist. Lucky flinched at the sudden contact.
"What're you doing?" He asked.
"I... just wanted to."
"Alright then. If it makes you happy."
"Sure..."
"Love you."
Stinger's eyes shot open. Did Lucky actually say that? He was supposed to just let it go until tomorrow.
"I... love you too..." Stinger mumbled back. He didn't entirely know why. He could've just stayed quiet.
"Sweet dreams." Lucky kissed him on the head.
"I swear to god if you get me sick!" Stinger grumbled. "Goodnight."
Lucky laughed. "Goodnight."