Work Text:
Maybe G6 was a bad idea.
Sure, it paid well, and he got to spend time with more of his friend group now that he’d made the switch from Grime, but waking up every three or so hours to do a vault run with Yuno was a very jarring change for Max’s body to endure.
He had no clue how his friend had managed to do it for so long. Maybe he was nocturnal, and being awake was his default state at night — he was a catboy, after all, so it made sense.
But even Yuno dragged his feet to G6 sometimes, wanting nothing more than to just skip the run and collapse back in bed. He was never much for conversation in that state, but neither was Max, so they were content to just sit in silence and listen to the radio, quietly enjoying each other’s presence.
Tonight had been one of those especially tired nights.
At least they’d gotten Queenie to join them this time. Thank God, because neither Max nor Yuno were in any state to be driving a massive truck filled with other people’s money. Naturally, Yuno had insisted on driving anyway — it was his truck, after all — but after three instances of him falling asleep at the wheel within half an hour, Queenie had kicked him out of the driver’s seat and into the back with Max. (She’d also seized control of the radio, but she had good taste in music, so neither of her passengers minded all that much.)
After a long and arduous run with a stupid amount of stops and narrowly avoiding getting robbed at the vault by the BBMC, they were finally on their way back to G6 to sleep in the back room again.
Yuno leaned his entire body weight on Max’s shoulder, his helmet long since discarded to the seat beside him, somehow still awake even now that he had nothing to focus on. He didn’t seem too happy about that.
“Can’t sleep,” the boy grumbled, barely comprehensible through his grogginess.
His friend chuckled, trying to push down his own less-than-stellar mood in hopes of cheering him up.
“You can lie down if you need to, I can move.”
“Nah, that’s not it… road’s too bumpy…”
Ah.
“There are a lot of potholes in this area… blame the mayor for not patching the roads.”
“Mayor’s stupid,” he growled. (He had every right to feel that way — almost every problem in his life could be traced back to Mayor Thoroughbred’s poor decisions.)
His hostility quickly dissipated, though, as he nuzzled into his friend’s shoulder.
“You’re the better Max. The best Max.”
The sudden compliment brought a flush of warmth and a fond smile to his face.
“Aww. And you’re the best Yuno~”
Sleepy giggling made his heart flutter in his chest.
“There’s only one of me!”
“Well, if there were any others, you’d still be the best.”
The younger hugged Max’s arm and snuggled closer, their hands so very close to touching, sending his heartbeat racing.
“Thanks, man. I’m glad you joined G6… I like spending time with you.”
God, what a sweet boy.
As embarrassing as it was, Max had it bad. His soft spot for Yuno had grown into much more, and now this hyper little cat held his heart in his hands and didn’t even know it.
And to make it even worse, he wasn’t keeping the secret as well as he’d thought he could. His roommates had swiftly picked up on what was going on, and he’d never heard the end of it — he still hadn’t to this day. (The real question was where did Eli get off teasing anyone about having a crush on Yuno? Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!)
As time went on, he’d found himself doing more and more dangerous, adrenaline-junkie-style things just to make the younger happy. Accompanying him for weed runs, joyriding in the Itali, they’d even gone hunting for mountain lions once. (He definitely didn’t have a panic attack while driving a mauled but laughing Yuno to the hospital. Nope, definitely not.)
And of course, nothing brought him a sense of accomplishment quite like seeing Yuno cozied up in the catboy cave that Max had built for him. Seeing the little guy sleeping so peacefully only made him want to kiss his sweet little face that much more.
Most of the reason he was so hellbent on making money was to hopefully work his way up to Yuno’s level so he could sneak the topic of that demon contract into a conversation again. It had started out as just a financial benefit plan to help out the both of them, but as he thought about it longer and longer (and came to terms with his embarrassing puppy crush), it had started to mean something more.
Yuno lived life in the fast lane. Go go go, always moving, never stopping to breathe. He supposed that for the guy with the worst case of ADHD in the city (possibly even the country because Jesus Christ just look at him), the fast-paced life of a career criminal was a dream come true, as there was always something new happening to keep his brain stimulated. But Yuno took his endless desire for action to an unhealthy extreme, chasing adrenaline and excitement every moment of his waking existence.
The boy deserved someone that could help him slow down. Someone that would treat him well, teach him how to take a break so he didn’t burn himself out, and be a safe space that he could retreat to when he inevitably burned himself out anyway and the rush of his everyday life became too much to handle.
Max wanted to be that person. He had love to give, and he knew who he wanted to give it to. He just had to get himself into a position where he wouldn’t scare the poor catboy away just by trying to take care of him.
After all, it wasn’t like he could just spring this offer on Yuno out of nowhere. It would sound much more natural coming from a husband than from a friend, even if their marriage was only supposed to be for financial benefit. Yuno could be so skittish when it came to affection, after all.
But damn it, sometimes he wanted to hold him close and just try. Show just a little more tenderness than he normally did and hope to God he got the message. Could he really be faulted for wanting to love someone that deserved it?
…
Surely one little moment of weakness would be fine, right? It wasn’t like either of them were awake enough to remember it in the morning…
Lifting his free hand from his lap, he gently angled Yuno’s head to face him and softly kissed his forehead.
“I like spending time with you too.”
When Yuno didn’t pull away, Max didn’t either. His hand remained on the younger’s face, holding his chin with his thumb gently stroking his cheek. Maybe he was staying like this for too long, but there was something addicting about being this close. Surely if Yuno wasn’t jerking away and asking what he was doing, that meant he hadn’t done anything wrong, right?
They hovered like that for a long moment, Max soaking in their close proximity while he could only imagine Yuno was still processing a gesture that he’d likely never received before. (This poor boy — who had he run with all this time that had never bothered to kiss him on the forehead?) His hand finally fell from his friend’s cheek, instead moving to rest on his thigh, hoping that that would communicate what this moment meant to him.
When Yuno finally seemed to catch up with what was going on, Max barely had time to notice him pulling his facemask under his chin before the hacker’s lips pressed against his own.
A startled noise left his mouth, but he swiftly fell in line. The hand that had pulled off of Yuno’s thigh in surprise moved to hold the back of his head, while the arm that had just been released leaned back to support the older’s weight and make sure he didn’t fall flat on his back on the bench.
Contrary to his usual demeanour, Yuno wasn’t shy at all now. When Max kissed back, he got bolder, tilting his head and pressing just a bit closer. Unprepared for this sudden milestone in whatever kind of relationship they had now, the older still accepted it without protest, too tired to think about it for long.
Feeling his lungs starting to burn, Max remembered that he did in fact still need to breathe. Disappointed to have to be the one that broke it off, he gently pushed against Yuno’s shoulder, and the hacker pulled back immediately.
As he caught his breath, the first thing Yuno did was try to apologize.
“Sorry, was I… I thought…”
He shushed him.
“Don’t be sorry. You thought right.”
Even in the dark, he was so pretty. Vibrant green eyes shadowed by dark circles from a lack of sleep, cheeks flushed a soft red, lips just a little bit shiny from what he could see in this light.
What a lucky man he was, being allowed to get this close and truly admire him. He would be riding that self-esteem boost for days.
Coming back to himself a bit, Yuno broke eye contact, forcing a nervous smile.
“Uh… can we save the talk for when my brain works again…?”
The older nodded with a relieved sigh that turned into a laugh halfway through.
“Yes please. I’m tired too.”
Content to save the “what are we” conversation for another day, Yuno settled back into place beside him. He hugged his arm and leaned on his shoulder again, except this time, he took Max’s hand in his, interlocking their fingers.
He likely wouldn’t be this affectionate again for a very long time, especially if he remembered all of this in the morning (he would be mortified), so Max was going to enjoy it while it lasted. He rested his head on the hacker’s soft hair, savouring the closeness and breathing in the scent of his conditioner.
He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, he was being jolted awake by the truck stopping.
“C’mon guys, time for bed. For real this time.” Queenie sounded just as exhausted as they were. (At least she didn’t crash the truck.)
Max laughed, still breathless, but relieved that he could finally get out of this damn truck. “Tell me about it.”
He shrugged one shoulder in a request for Yuno to let go of his arm, but he refused.
“Come on Yuno, it’s bedtime.”
A grumpy whine made him smile — he would have tried to be romantic and offered to carry him, but he was in no state to be carrying anything.
“Now now, none of that. You’ll get to lay down in less than two minutes. Let’s go.”
Yuno begrudgingly allowed him to stand up, and pulled himself out of his seat moments after, but while he freed his friend’s arm, he didn’t let go of his hand — of course, Max had no issue with that. Queenie would definitely tease them about holding hands, and if this got back to his roommates they would remind him of it until he died, but he didn’t mind that either.
Forget that negativity from earlier. G6 was the best idea he’d ever had.