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“C’mon, buddy o’ pal o’ mine!” Sampo slid into the stool next to Darling at the Astral Express’s bar, grin wide with that signature turn to his eyebrows. A pleading look on his deceiving face. Darling made a point to ignore him, having his own face turned down towards his tall glass of sparkling water. His jaw stuck out in an aggressive pout as his eyes glowered down into the bubbling liquid. A dark aura seeped out from around him and Sampo tried his best to keep his smile despite the sweat building on his forehead. “Listen, you and I both know that the silent treatment has never stopped me before.” Sampo bumped their shoulders together but Darling shoved his against Sampo’s in one fierce hit to push him away. Sampo gave a wounded look. “Come on, Darling…”
Sampo walked his fingers up Darling’s arm and over his shoulder, a bit surprised when he met no resistance. “I said I was sorry…” Sampo cooed at the pouting Trailblazer, letting his hand rest on Darling’s other shoulder, arm pressed against his back. Sampo could’ve sworn he saw Darling’s lip push out further. Sampo’s voice lowered. “What can I do to make it up to you?” Sampo leaned closer. “As a jack of all trades, I can get you just about anything… Do just about anything…” Darling’s grip seemed to tighten around his glass. His jaw clenched. Sampo could almost swear there was a dampness to his eyes. Any reaction was a good reaction. He pushed his luck by leaning ever closer, right by Darling’s ear now. His voice was barely a whisper. “I would, yaknow? Do anything to make you forgive me…”
Just as Sampo moved to broach that final distance, Darling startled him by whipping his head around to face him. Their lips barely brushed against each other and both of their expressions turned to shock. What a strange feeling, Darling thought. Foreign. Something he might have known in his clouded past. A feeling mixing with his tumultuous heart.
“M-My apologies, I did not intend to- mmf!”
Sampo’s words were cut short by Darling tugging him forward, pulling the larger man into a rough closed-mouth kiss. As the surprise smacked him for a second time, Sampo allowed himself to be kissed, clumsy and unpracticed lips pressing into his. There was a desperation that electrified Sampo’s pulse but he forced himself to calm down. And to wipe the stupid grin off his face.
He slowly began responding to Darling, leading him through the proper way to kiss without saying a word. One hand still held onto Darling’s shoulder, but the other made its way to tip his chin. He tilted his head and Darling mimicked in the other direction. Sampo parted his lips and flicked his tongue out to swipe at Darling. Darling disconnected from him. Sampo tried to pull away, thinking he had pressed the Trailblazer too far. But Darling let out a low growl and yanked him back into the kiss, clumsily shoving his tongue back at Sampo. He obviously had no clue what he was doing, but he wasn’t going to release Sampo just yet. The Trailblazer’s flurry of feelings slowly built up in his chest. The electricity zipped through Sampo’s veins again and this time he didn’t hinder it. He let out a harsh breath and shoved Darling’s tongue back, pulling the Trailblazer’s bottom lip between his teeth and grabbing Darling’s face in his palm. Darling responded by all but crawling into Sampo’s lap, causing the taller man to adjust his grip on him, hand moving from his shoulder to his hip as it turned into a full make out session.
Darling shoved his fingers into Sampo’s hair to grip and pull at his scalp, head moving from side to side as he tried his best to capture Sampo’s lips in just the right way. All of Darling’s emotions had bubbled up and were finally erupting from his heart and fueled the fury of his lips. Sampo grunted as his head was forced back, Darling was invading his mouth and somehow becoming more and more confident by the second. One of Darling’s hands trailed to the back of his neck and a shiver sparked up Sampo’s spine.
Damn, if Sampo knew that Darling would react like this, then he would have tried to sacrifice himself much sooner-
“If you ever pull shit like that again I’ll kill you,” Darling pulled away just far enough to growl out that threat, immediately shutting down Sampo’s thoughts. Sampo dared to peek out and was met with the shimmering glint of Darling’s razor thin pupils. Sampo gulped as Darling returned to his attack on his mouth. Darling slowly winded down into the kiss, his frantic control over Sampo’s lips lessening into a more gentle touch of flesh. Sampo’s thumb rubbed circles over Darling’s cheek before being shocked to a halt by a wetness under his touch. When Sampo took his turn to pull back slightly, he struggled to pull Darling far enough to speak. A single tear streak trailed down Darling’s cheek, the overwhelmed trailblazer moved his kisses to the side of Sampo’s lips and onto his chin. Desperate to keep him close, desperate to know he was still alive.
“I-I’m sorry.” Another open mouth kiss, a light touch of tongue. Not acceptance but tolerance of the words. Darling reeled himself in just enough to let Sampo continue, leaving a prolonged kiss to Sampo’s cheek. “No more suicide missions.” Sampo cracked a smile.
Darling tugged harshly at Sampo’s hair again, causing him to gasp, yanking his head back further. Darling mimicked Sampo’s earlier move and bit on his lip with reignited fury, emotions taking over his restraint as his teeth punctured skin. Sampo shocked the both of them with the groan that rumbled in his throat. He tried to control himself by squeaking out a pathetic,
“Pwomise!”
“Shut up.” Darling commanded, shoving his tongue back into Sampo’s mouth with reckless abandon. That seemed to have been the wrong thing to say so Sampo did as he was told for once in his life and twirled his own tongue around the returning guest, a tinge of copper now staining their buds. Darling’s breath was becoming ragged and his hands clenched in Sampo’s hair one last time before finally letting go. The tension in his gut returned and this wasn’t going to resolve it. He let out an annoyed grumble before dropping his face heavily onto Sampo’s shoulder, leaving the man’s tongue hanging alone in the air. The two took a moment to catch their breath. Darling’s arms relaxed between them, fingers catching on the loops of Sampo’s shirt. Darling took in a deep breath and held it for what felt like an eternity. More tears threatened to spill over.
When he was finally ready, he released it in a heavy sigh. “We both know that your words… No, that your lips do whatever they want… and it doesn’t mean anything.” Darling’s voice was low, disappointment and dejection evident.
Those exact lips settled into a rare honest emotion. One that was unfamiliar to Sampo and felt uncomfortable and unnatural on his face. Guilt. He rested his arms in a loose hug around Darling. It was something he had heard a million times, but somehow… in this moment… Sampo felt something different from the usual pride. He mirrored Darling, pressing his own forehead to Darling’s shoulder to hide his shame between them. His fingers gripped into the fabric that covered Darling’s back.
How would he have felt if Darling had done what he had attempted? Taking an entire army of fragmentum monsters to the edge of a cliff lined with explosives and only being saved because the Wonder Trio came back for him… Because DARLING made them come back for him… The idea of Darling trying the exact same thing as Sampo… And potentially not having anyone go back for him… Made the conman’s heart clench. The Trailblazer was reckless, naive. Believed he could do anything, fight anyone… He most likely risked his life several times every time he set foot off the train. He had never really thought about things like this. An uneasiness settled in his gut.
“I… know this won’t mean much,” Sampo’s voice had lost all of its usual inflection. An even rarer seriousness added to his tone. A crease sat on his brow. A voice he had never shared with anyone, that was now reserved for Darling, spilled between the two of them. “But I promise. For you, Darling, I promise. I won’t leave this mortal plane before you do…” Sampo squeezes Darling tighter, a shake enters his tone. “But you have to promise, too. Do that good that you do, save planets, deal with the stellarons and fragmentum and ne’erdowellers like me…” Sampo’s voice becomes barely a whisper between them. “But come back to your ole pal Sampo, okay?”
Darling’s fingers shook as they gripped onto Sampo’s shirt. A promise from Sampo… Something Darling has never been able to trust in the past. Every time he hears Sampo, he swears on his honor as a merchant… As a businessman. But now, he’s promising for Darling . Can he be trusted? In that meek voice, holding Darling in his arms… he’s asking Darling to trust him and to give the same promise right back. Will it just be a one sided deal?
“... I promise…” Darling clenches his fists and crumples Sampo’s shirt, shoulders raising to his ears. “But I also promise what I said before. If you try that shit ever again I will kill you myself.” Darling finally lifted his head again, releasing Sampo’s shirt. Another shaky breath. A relief washed over him, his anger and fear rolled off of his shoulders. His body must trust Sampo’s words. For some reason.
Sampo raised his head meekly to meet Darling’s softening gaze. They finally made true eye contact. No pretenses between them, no acts, no heroics, no air of superiority. The two men stared at each other for the first time. “For some reason I want to see you alive and happy.” Darling grumbled, trying to memorize the way the color in Sampo’s eyes formed wings. Trying to fly off all on his own… And Sampo did desperately want to look away. Being without his walls for the first time in forever was terrifying. But the way Darling’s eyes looked at him with such care, even with the pain and anger still smoking within, Sampo kept his gaze on Darling. “So you can’t leave me.” Darling finally got out, looking like just saying the words nearly killed him as his teeth grit and his brows furrowed.
Instead of using words that Darling might not trust, Sampo leaned forward to gently press a kiss to his lips once again. A simple kiss. I’m not going anywhere. Even if they ended up worlds apart, Sampo would not go somewhere that Darling wouldn’t be able to follow.
“Why are you two up so late?” Pom-pom’s voice nearly ended their promise right then and there, their souls threatening to jump out of their bodies at the sudden appearance. Pom-pom rubbed at one of their drooping eyes, conductor uniform disheveled and fur sticking up in random directions. Darling awkwardly shuffled out of Sampo’s lap and watched with annoyance as Sampo’s mask easily slid back on as he gave the Train Conductor his cheesiest grin.
“We were simply going over mission notes from today.” Sampo easily lied, brow twitching as Darling huffed and turned from them.
“...At 2 in the morning?”
“What is time as we traverse the expanse of space?” Sampo chuckled, standing from the stool and waving an arm out in a grand appearance. “As the saying goes, it’s five o’clock somewhere, isn’t that right, Darling?” Sampo glanced over as Darling picked up his forgotten glass of sparkling water, bringing it to the sink with an annoyed expression. He was met with silence. Oh boy, this was going to be a rough one. Sampo turned his pulled smile back to Pom-pom, striding over to lead the Conductor back to their room. “Don’t let us bother you further, dear Conductor. We will be turning in ourselves riiiight after we finish our talk.”