Work Text:
"I'm sleep deprived—"
Parrot watched and cheered with the rest of their highschool's track team as Spoke, Parrot's best friend, competed for their school in the two-hundred metre sprint. Around him, Parrot could hear the amazed whispers of his peers and competitors, in awe of Spoke's speed and endurance. Parrot could see the sweat on Spoke's forehead as the black-haired teen sped by, but could detect no bother on his face. It was like he never got tired.
Spoke ended up winning the sprint by a long run. Parrot and Spoke celebrated like nothing was different.
"—and I have a crush on you,"
After the track meet, they and their friends went out for a celebratory dinner. Boston Pizza was always the first restaurant the group chose, and tonight was no different. Nothing was different tonight.
Parrot was not hyper aware of the way Spoke's pinky finger twitched as their hands rested only inches apart on their shared booth seat. Mapicc and Vortex were shoving each other and joking around across the table, and Parrot opted to focus on them instead, getting himself tangled up in whatever arguments they were having as opposed to getting tangled up wondering if last night was a dream.
He'd woken up better rested than he expected, especially considering he'd been awake until nearly four in the morning. Parrot hadn't once felt like he was running on only three hours of sleep throughout the day, to the point where he was close to convincing himself that whatever happened the previous night was all in his brain.
But whatever it was— a dream or something real —it changed how Parrot was thinking. It was scary. He was seeing Spoke now, really seeing him Seeing the way he felt, or maybe the way he didn't, and maybe Parrot saw that he just was a little in—
It was scary.
Everything was different. But at the same time, the same. Maybe it had always been like this, Parrot realised, as his memory was swarmed with inexplicable behaviour from not only Spoke but also himself.
"Parrot?"
But was it a dream?
"—so I don't know how to act normal right now."
"Parrot!"
Parrot blinked zoning back in as Bacon snapped at him from across the booth. He rubbed his eyes.
"You feeling okay, buddy?" Mapicc asked, his voice tinged with concern.
"Yeah dude you look..." Ro trailed off beside Mapicc, assessing Parrot’s features. "Bad. Tired, I mean."
Parrot tried his best to formulate a response as finally, his lack of sleep caught up to him. Just as he opened his mouth to reply, his brain was quickly short circuited again when Spoke shoved him lightly by the shoulder, as if he was afraid Parrot would shatter if he pushed any harder.
"You're being spacey." Spoke tutted jokingly, his eyes boring into the side of Parrot's face. The taller teen was scared to look back. Spoke chuckled again. "Even spacier than Planet."
"Hey!" An offended squawk from Planet was enough to get the group cracking up, and as his friends dissolved into laughter, Parrot felt more at ease. Nothing was different about tonight.
Until Spoke's pinky finger brushed Parrot's own, sending bolts of lightning up his arm and to his heart. Slowly, the two intertwined their hands, their rambunctious friends around them fully unaware of the monumental shift that had just occurred. Parrot, carefully, didn't let his emotions slip through his expression again, but remained exhilarated as Spoke squeezed his hand, whispering just loud enough for the two of them, "You sure you're alright?"
Parrot looked away.
"Yeah." He breathed, "Sorry. I'm sleep deprived and I have—.” Parrot shook his head, careful not to, careful never to make eye contact. “Nevermind. I don't know how to act normal right now.”
But even through the corner of his eye Parrot could discern the carefully concealed shock fall across Spoke’s features.
Was it a dream?
Spoke squeezed his hand once more, then let go. A little louder, he said, "Let me know if you need anything."
And as their food arrived and Parrot stared down at his himalayan pizza, what Parrot needed, what he longed for more than anything, was a simple shoulder to lean on. And if Parrot had a preference for that shoulder to be belonging to Spoke, well, then he could figure that out. Because maybe nothing had really changed.
...
The waitress smiled warmly at the pair as she collected the table's empty dishes. Their friends snickered and cooed quietly, making sure the shutter on their phones was off before snapping photos. They called dibs on who would have to wake them up, and after a long night Zam was the one who had to gently shake Spoke awake, letting him know that he and Parrot had fallen asleep. Their dinner bills were paid and the group didn't have anything going on tomorrow.
Tonight, the only plan was to dream. And as Spoke nudged Parrot awake, trying to shrug the taller teen off his shoulder, as Parrot's piercing blue eyes fluttered awake, both of them had pretty good guesses as to what they'd be dreaming about that night.