Work Text:
“Psst. Ash.”
Ash grumbled under his breath, leaning further over the desk as he tried his best to ignore his lab partner’s pestering. Red, his best friend, and unfortunately the guy he had to sit with in Science Class, persisted in poking him repeatedly in the side with seemingly no care for the fact that their teacher was talking.
“Ash,” Red whispered, kicking Ash in the ankle under the table. Ash turned to glare at Red silently, though his anger didn't seem to dissuade his friend at all. “You should come over after school.”
Ash blinked, unimpressed. “Why.”
Red shrugged, shoving Ash's shoulder lightly. “Homework?”
Ash almost laughed at that response. Him and Red had hung out under the guise of ‘doing homework’ in the past, and they both knew that if they were together, no matter how disciplined they said they would be, they'd never get anything done. Although, no matter how annoying he was, Ash wouldn't pass up an opportunity to sit around and do ‘homework’ with Red. Even if it just amounted to them sitting silently on their phones together.
“So?” Red prompted, and Ash realised he'd zoned out. He seemed to have been doing that more often nowadays. Only around Red, a small part of Ash's mind noted, but he quickly pushed that thought away.
“Whatever.” Ash responded casually, abandoning his want to pay attention to the class. The teacher was just explaining the homework anyway, which Ash was sure he probably wouldn't be doing. What was his friendship with Parrot for if not copying homework? “Are your parents home?”
“Nah, in New York again.” Red said, leaning back in his chair. He scratched the back of his neck. “Spep and Delilah are.”
“Well, obviously, when are they not?”
“Was that a dig at my siblings, Ashswag?” Red asked teasingly, with a lopsided grin.
Ash knew it was bait, it was just Red trying to argue with him for fun.
“You're delusional, Reddoons.” Ash shot back, taking the bait, like he always did.
“You're so obviously an only-child.”
“Why, ‘cause I'm not obnoxiously loud like you?”
Red snorted. “No, ‘cause you're terrible at sharin’.”
Ash crossed his arms, “Just because I won't share with you doesn't mean—”
“Ash, Red.” Their teacher snapped, and Ash felt the eyes of all their classmates turn to them as his lazy grin fell from his face. “Eyes on the board. If you have anything to share, you can raise your hand. Now, as I was saying…”
Ash shot Red one last glare, wishing he could wipe the shit-eating grin off his friend's face, before he zoned back out, staring at the nonsense his teacher was scribbling onto their whiteboard.
×
“I'm home!” Red called into his home as he and Ash made their way in, kicking off their shoes carelessly. The two friends dropped their school bags by the door, almost in sync. “Ash is here!”
A small smile crept onto Ash's face as he heard the chorus of excited greetings from Red's two siblings. He didn't mind being an only child, but he definitely wouldn't mind some siblings like Spepticle and Delilah. He'd mentioned that to Red once, and his friend had looked at him like he'd grown horns and insisted that actually having them as siblings would change his mind.
“My room?” Red asked, and Ash nodded.
As they climbed the stairs, Ash grinned, glancing back at their backpacks, left on the floor in the entryway. “So, what kind of homework were you planning on doing without our school bags?”
The loud creak of Red's bedroom door opening almost drowned out the sound of Red's chuckle. Ash collapsed into the maroon beanbag in the corner of Red's room, his friend closing the door behind them.
“C'mon Ash, you know us.” Red pulled his desk chair towards himself, settling down and turning on his computer, “You didn't think we'd actually be doin’ homework. I don't even know what we have for science, to be honest.”
“Yeah, ‘cause you decided to not listen when it was being explained.” Ash scoffed, “That's fully your fault, buddy.”
“Okay, my bad.” Red mumbled, rolling his eyes. “So what's the homework?”
“I missed it too, dumb shit!” Ash exclaimed, eyeing Red as he got up from his desk chair, walking over to Ash and looming over him. “You were yapping at me while I was trying to listen, bitch.”
“You're complainy today.” Red noted with a mischievous grin.
“I'm complainy every day.” Ash deadpanned.
“Okay, budge, I want the beanbag.”
“You don’t, actually.” Ash laughed at his friend's antics. “You just wanna start a fight. You're so predictable.”
“Ash, moooove.” Red reiterated, drawling out his vowels. “Or I'll move you myself.”
Defiantly, Ash crossed his arms and settled further into the beanbag with a challenging smile. “Oh, you will?”
“I will.”
“Okay, try me.”
Ash couldn't help himself from yelping as Red grabbed at the fabric of Ash's hoodie, pulling him to his legs. Sure, Ash was taller than Red, but Red was unfairly strong, maybe after years of manhandling Spepticle. “Bitch!” Ash hissed as he felt his legs be scooped out from under him, flailing to find something to hold onto. His hands found Red's shoulders, pulling his friend down with him when Red dumped him onto his twin-sized bed.
“Moved you!” Red chirped, obviously happy that he'd won their little tussle, albeit a bit flustered from being unexpectedly pulled down along with Ash. Ash moved to get up, to slip around Red's lanky limbs, which were almost forming a cage around him. This wasn't over. Red hadn't won, if Ash could just get himself back to the beanbag.
“Kill yourself.” Ash laughed fighting against Red as the shorter teen dug Ash's shoulders further into the mattress. “Bro, let me go, I will genuinely kick you in the balls!”
“Oh my god,” Red barked a laugh, although there was a glint of worry in his eye. He knew from experience that Ash would not hesitate to follow through with the threat. Batting Ash's arms away as he loomed over him, Red mused, “Have you ever thought of shuttin’ the fuck up.”
“Maybe I wouldn't be so talkative if you’d let me g-” In the midst of their tackle, in an attempt to get Ash to shut up, Red caught his friend in a chokehold. Ash sputtered, “AUGH, RED-”
“How d’you like that, bitch!” Red cheered as he struggled to find his voice again, fighting against Red's grip.
“Red,” Ash managed, halfway between laughing and coughing, his face flushed from his lack of air. “Fuckin’ a- OW- asshole, you're choking me-!”
“WHATTTTT-”
Red and Ash froze simultaneously, turning their heads toward the door of Red's bedroom, which was now swung open, Spepticle standing wide-eyed in the doorway. Ash could imagine what the scene looked like— Red on top of him, his hands around Ash's neck, his face flushed crimson. It was incriminating, to say the least. Even more so, seeing as Spep was a couple years younger than Red, around fifteen, so his teenagerish thoughts would be particularly lewd.
Spepticle gaped, his gaze flitting around Red's room, seemingly desperate to look at anything but them. “Sorry- to- interrupt, uh. I'll close the door.”
“Wait, oh my god Spep, it’s not-” Before Red could finish defending them, Spepticle had fled the room, slamming the door behind him. The sound of him sprinting down the stairs filled the silence of Red's bedroom as the two friends awkwardly met each other's eyes. After a moment, Red slowly, embarrassedly, almost, slid his hands off of Ash's neck, resting them back onto his mattress to hold himself above Ash. Red gave him a careful grin. “Um. I think he thought we were makin’ out.”
A beat passed, before Ash moved quickly to sit up, Red making no effort to stop him. Ash's face was aflame as he sputtered. “No shit, Red! Oh my god, if word of that gets out it's actually over for us— people will think we're together!”
“You're being dramatic.” Red rolled his eyes, a sneer pulling at his lips. Ash began to panic, suddenly. Why had he been looking at Red's lips? “It wouldn't be the end of the world.”
“Yes, it would be.” Ash snapped, not quite sure why he was so angry all of a sudden.
“If it gets out,” Red said, in that tone he always used when he was trying to get Ash to be reasonable. “We'll just tell people we were smoochin’ for fun or somethin’”
“‘Smooching for fun’?” Ash repeated, incredulous. “You don't kiss people just for fun, Red. Especially not your best friend. You kiss people ‘cause you like them.”
Red shrugged, still looking unimpressed. He was still looming over Ash slightly. He looked down. “You can kiss people for different reasons.”
“Are you stupid?” Ash snapped. This time, he wasn't sure if Red was trying to pick another fight, or if he was serious. “Why else would you kiss someone. Like, give me one good reason you would everyone wanna swap spit with someone that isn't related to roma—”
Ash was cut off as Red quickly pressed his lips to Ash's. Red pulled away just as quickly as he'd leaned forward and grinned, watching Ash's face grow red as he stuttered fitfully. “Kiss you to shut you up.”
After a couple moments of embarrassing blubbering, Ash finally found his voice. “No fucking way you actually jus–”
Red leaned forward and kissed Ash again, and Ash begrudgingly had to admit that it was a pretty good method to get someone to stop talking. It was working on him pretty well, at least, Ash shrinking down under Red for the first time, maybe ever.
Ash wasn't sure what else to do with the kiss other than lean into it.
Red pulled away again, and after a moment of Ash not saying anything, he seemed pleased enough with himself to say, “Works pretty well.”
“Shut up.” Ash mumbled, wiping his lips.
“Make me.” Red said challengingly, egging Ash on. “You know how to do it.”
At that, Ash eased up. It didn't feel like there was anything weird about this anymore. It was just another competition, Ash reasoned.
A competition he could win easily. So he would.