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It started as a joke. Normal was pretty sure it was a joke.
“Oh, Norm, you’re not looking too good.” Lincoln had pulled him aside after a fight to check his injuries, his brow furrowing in concern. It was earlier on in their adventure, just the four of them scrabbling to keep themselves and Hermie safe as they tried to get to the bottom of what the fuck was going on. “Do you have any healing left?”
“I used the rest of it up on Taylor,” Normal admitted, wincing as Lincoln pressed his fingers against a scraped-up part of his arm. “It’s fine though, I’m not nearly as bad off as him or you were. I can just heal up the old-fashioned way, it’ll be fine.”
“Dude, shut up. I got it,” Lincoln cut in before Normal could say anything else. Normal frowned and Lincoln adjusted his grip on Normal’s arm. “C’mon. I’ll kiss it better.”
When they were very little, that was always Normal’s dad’s favorite thing to do. If Normal or Hero took a tumble, their dad would swoop in and offer to kiss it better. Looking back now, Normal had to assume that he really did use magic whenever he did it, considering how much better he would feel afterward. Or maybe it was just because it was his dad. It wasn’t an unusual habit for a parent to pick up, far from it, but it was something Normal had taken to with his usual overeagerness. Whenever Lincoln or Taylor tripped during a playdate, Normal would pounce them in a moment and offer to kiss it better.
Taylor always ran off to an adult instead, but most of the time, Lincoln would let him. It was only a vague memory now, one that Normal couldn’t conjure up without prompting. It was stupid to assume that Lincoln remembered it well enough to reference. Looking at the sly expression Lincoln wore right now, Normal let himself have that stupid hope.
“Okay, fine,” Normal conceded, and without a moment’s hesitation, Lincoln lifted Normal’s arm so he could kiss the damaged skin there. There was a pulse of energy from his hands - despite himself, Normal thought for a moment that it might come from his lips - and Normal grinned as the familiar warmth of Lay on Hands knit his wounds closed. “Thank you, Lincoln.”
“Yeah, of course.”
The kiss itself didn’t fluster him. It was just a silly joke based on a shared childhood experience that Normal could barely remember. The smile that Lincoln gave him as he raised his head, impossibly soft and gentle, did make Normal’s heart stutter in his chest. Normal’s mouth went dry and when Lincoln pulled away, he could only muster a small wave goodbye.
Normal knew he tended to make dumb decisions, so he wasn’t surprised when the words slipped past his lips.
“Let me kiss it better.”
It had been a while, but Lincoln’s eyes lit up in recognition and he laughed even as Scary made a face. They were piled into the catbus, huddled together in the back while Taylor and his dad barked orders at the rest of their dads in the front. Or something like that. Normal was less focused on everything going on and more distracted by the way that Lincoln’s face scrunched up when he laughed.
“Dude, what?”
“Go for it, Normal,” Lincoln replied, not minding Scary’s words at all, and Normal beamed. Lincoln sat sidewise on the bus bench, folding his legs up so that his knees stuck in the air, and Normal crammed himself into the remaining space. Lincoln’s knees were battered and oozing blood, and Normal eyed up both knees before pressing his lips to dry spots. One knee, a brief pause to let Lesser Restoration kick in, and then the other knee, all while he felt Scary watching with a disgruntled expression.
“Again. Dude. What?” Scary asked as Normal pulled back. “This entire friend group is so weird.”
“It’s just something Normal used to do when we were really little,” Lincoln answered, lifting his hand to Normal’s face. Normal froze, feeling his face heat up in surprise as Lincoln touched it, and Lincoln wiped away some blood that had smeared on his cheek. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“So you did remember,” Normal said, watching as his scrapped-up knees pulled back together into unmarred skin. Looking at Lincoln’s face suddenly felt a little more than impossible for reasons that Normal couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge.
“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t offer to kiss it better the first time for no reason.” Lincoln laughed, pulling his hand away from Normal’s face to wipe the blood off on his shorts. Normal took a quick breath, shaken from his reverie as Lincoln dropped his feet back to the floor, and when he looked away, Scary was already looking back at him. She wore a knowing and dumbfounded expression. Normal felt something in his stomach wither up.
“I know, I know! I just, like, I dunno. Never mind.”
“What happened to Hermie?” Scary asked, staring into Normal’s soul, and he floundered for a response.
“What?” Lincoln replied, oblivious, and he sat up to look around. “Hermie’s sitting up front with Taylor.”
“Not what I-“
“I’ll go see how he’s doing!” Normal interrupted, hopping to his feet and shooting a pointed look at Scary. She gave him an innocent grin in response, covertly flipping him off behind the back of her seat so that Lincoln couldn’t see, and he stuck his tongue out in response.
“Go have fun with your not boyfriend, Norm,” she said.
“I will!”
“Awesome.”
“Bye, Normal,” Lincoln said. “Still have no clue what you two are talking about.”
“Don’t sweat it, Linc.” Scary waved Normal off, turning back to Lincoln with a snicker. “Tell me more embarrassing shit that Normal did as a kid.”
Normal did his best to immediately tune out of that conversation. Despite his best efforts, the sound of Lincoln’s startled laugh hovered in his ears, and he could feel his face going hot again as he trudged away from his friends.
The kisses came more frequently after that, as if Normal returning the favor opened up the gates to a flood that Lincoln had been holding back. Any time they got into a fight or had to scramble through tough terrain or even, once, for a simple paper cut, Lincoln would make a point of kissing it better for Normal. Normal did his best to return the favor, but at the end of the day, he was their main healer and he used up most of his healing pool making sure Scary and Taylor were standing.
Even when Normal didn’t have any points left to give, Lincoln still asked for a kiss sometimes. Always in a soft voice, quiet between the two of them, more private than the casual healing kisses he gave to Normal in front of their friends, dads, and probably God as well, apparently. Normal tried not to think about it too hard. He agreed to it every single time.
It was just Lincoln being silly, after all. It was their inside joke. That was it.
Still, it was nice to use the memories to comfort himself as he curled up and tried to pretend he wasn’t crying. He had enough memories now of Lincoln pressing kisses to his skin to play them on a loop in his head, trying to chase away the sobs wracking his chest.
It wasn’t not working. It made his face feel even warmer than it already was from the tears wetting his cheeks, but it was a more pleasant warmth than the sticky heat of furious tears. He wasn’t even sure what he was crying about anymore, too distracted by Lincoln’s voice in his head.
I’ll kiss it better. Want me to kiss it better? C’mere, Norm. Alright, kiss time.
“Are you alright?”
It took Normal a moment to realize that that line had come from in front of him and not the stream of memories. He peeked up from his knees and made eye contact with Lincoln as his friend lowered himself into a crouch.
“Just overwhelmed,” Normal replied, his voice raw and rough in his throat, and Lincoln’s face softened. “Everything is like, a lot all of the time, huh?”
“Yeah.” Lincoln shuffled into place next to him, close enough for Normal to feel his warmth but not quite touching him. The small space between them felt like it was buzzing and Normal pulled himself into a tighter ball.
“Everyone’s so loud and everything around us is loud and I can’t even think. My clothes don’t feel nice on my body today, but we don’t have anything I can change into and my dad’ll get pissed if I’m naked because that’s, like, an insane thing to do,” Normal continued and Lincoln hummed. “I can’t lay in bed until I feel better because we don’t have a bed, but I can’t be like this all day because I’m already having a meltdown as is.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Lincoln asked.
Kiss it better.
“There’s not much to fix this besides crying until I’m too exhausted to be upset,” Normal mumbled instead of voicing the errant thought.
“I don’t wanna fix it. I just wanna help,” Lincoln tried again. “Anything you can think of.”
Kiss it better, kiss it better, kiss it better.
“Even if it’s kind of dumb?”
“Anything,” he promised. Normal took a slow breath.
“Kiss it better?”
Lincoln took in a sharp surprised breath and Normal closed his eyes, bracing himself for a no. “Uh. Where would be okay? I don’t wanna overwhelm you more.”
Normal’s mouth was suddenly dry again. He kept his eyes closed but turned towards his friend, holding up both hands. Lincoln took them without question and Normal felt it as he kissed the knuckles of Normal’s right hand and then his left, letting his lips linger against his skin.
“Like that?”
He chewed on his lower lip, but when Lincoln sounded so sweet, it was impossible not to be selfish. He flipped his hands over and Lincoln kissed his palms as well, one after the other, and then pulled one hand closer to kiss his wrist next without prompting. Normal giggled. He could feel Lincoln smile against his skin.
“Is that helping?” Lincoln asked, and it was. It didn’t solve the way his skin felt too tight on his bones or the way his brain felt too full for coherent thought, but it made him smile instead of crying. He nodded and when he opened his eyes again, Lincoln was closer, still holding Normal’s hands in his own. “Awesome.”
“Awesome,” Normal echoed, his words still painful in his throat. He picked at the knee of his pants, pulling on a loose thread, and somehow, Lincoln knew his thoughts.
“Do you need more?”
Need was a strong word, but he nodded anyway. Lincoln repeated the gesture back and shuffled closer, leaning in towards Normal’s face. The air caught in Normal’s throat and Lincoln exhaled, shakier than Normal would’ve expected, almost nervous.
“Can I try something?”
“Okay,” Normal breathed and Lincoln leaned ever closer to press his lips against Normal’s face, kissing away a tear rolling down his cheek. Normal could feel the way his face went bright red, the spot almost burning with astonishment under Lincoln’s touch. When Normal didn’t move, his lungs working fast now, Lincoln moved over and kissed another spot closer to Normal’s nose. Between his eyebrows at the very top of the bridge of his nose. His opposite cheek now, right below his eyes. Normal felt frozen, his eyes fluttering shut as Lincoln kept peppering kisses across his face. When his friend eventually pulled back, his eyes stayed closed, unsure what to do with himself.
Lincoln cupped his face with both hands and Normal pressed into the touch, letting himself melt when Lincoln brushed his thumb across the apple of his cheek.
“Was that enough?” Lincoln asked, whispered really, as if he was afraid the moment would shatter if he spoke too loudly. Normal swallowed with some difficulty, his throat raw from crying and his mouth dry from how flustered he was.
It was more than enough. Even though he was still snotty and on edge, Normal’s tears had slowed to a stop. He still had no idea what had set him off, but now that was more because his thoughts were dominated by the feeling of Lincoln’s lips. Everything felt loud around them, but it was easier to focus on the softness of Lincoln’s words. It had been plenty. Lincoln had successfully dragged Normal back to, well, normalcy, as much as he could manage.
“What do I get if I say no?” Normal asked regardless. He could feel Lincoln’s breath on his face when he huffed a little laugh in response.
“I can try and kiss it better one more time,” Lincoln replied, and when Normal felt Lincoln’s hands pulling him closer, he didn’t hesitate to tilt his head and meet Lincoln in a kiss.