Work Text:
“Why do you keep making that face at me?” Simon says.
“What face?” JJ asks, though his mouth curls up in a smug smile. They’ve just finished the first part of the video, and the whole time, JJ kept looking at him like he knew something. As Simon raises an unamused brow, JJ cheeks swell up as laughter bubbles up from his throat. He tries his best to restrain it, but some of it leaks out in little chuckles.
“Come on,” Simon sighs, slumping back in his chair, “You only do that when I’m embarrassing myself, so tell me how to fix it.”
“You know what you’re doing, Simon,” JJ shrugs.
“No, I don’t, actually.”
“Really?” JJ asks, turning toward Simon before realizing he’s being serious. His eyes are wide as he leans forward, and his sly smile comes back. “Well, figure it out!” JJ bursts out into laughter. Simon feels stupid. He hates feeling stupid.
“Okay, fine,” Simon snaps back, “I will.”
This is the tenth time Vik has shifted the weight between his feet in the last ten minutes while the crew sets up the next part of the challenge. That means he’s moved, on average, every sixty seconds.
It’s not exactly annoying, per se. In fact, Simon usually never paid attention to it, but as of late, it’s been distracting him for no particular reason.
Vik has always had this habit of his. Perhaps because his brain goes too fast all at once; his thoughts are carefully withheld behind his teeth. His subconscious manifests itself as bouncing legs and jittery hands.
In the external monitor, Simon can see Vik’s brows rise and his forehead crease as Simon puts his hands over his head to keep him in place. He feels Vik tense up.
“You’re fidgeting too much,” Simon whispers against the shell of Vik’s ear, and he can feel Vik shiver. Simon rests his chin atop his hands on Vik’s head. He watches as Vik’s lips press together before curling up slightly, huffing out something that resembles laughter. His chest feels all warm and fuzzy. Weird.
“Okay, we’re back on,” Josh announces, waving his hands a bit.
It’s not until everyone is back to their respective groups for the video— Vik with Harry, Tobi with Ethan, and Simon with JJ— that Simon is greeted with that stupid look on JJ’s face again as they settle by themselves, away from everyone else.
“What?” Simon scoffs, jutting an elbow into JJ’s rib.
“Nothing! Nothing!” JJ coughs out, clutching his side, but there’s still a little smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. JJ mumbles something under his breath.
“What was that?” Simon asks yet again, but before JJ can even respond, Josh is telling them to get back to the challenge.
Simon cannot stop thinking about it, so here he is at three in the morning. He’s sitting in front of his computer with the footage for the challenge video playing— he’s gotten to the part where he’s resting his chin on top of Vik’s head. Simon has scoured every frame for some sort of sign of something, but the problem is that he doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to be seeing.
“What’re you doing up?” A groggy voice asks from the darkness of the doorway.
Simon jumps— just a little— before turning away from the monitor to the source of the voice. Vik is standing there, the hem of his shirt in his hand and rubbing his eyes with it. Simon’s gaze falls on the sliver of warm, tan skin peeking out, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
“I’m,” Simon says, mouth opening and closing before he directs his eyes back to Vik’s face, “I’m just reviewing some footage.”
Vik stands there for another moment, as if processing his words, before wandering off wordlessly. The baggy edges of his pajama pants brush at his bare heels while his feet drag across the floor.
Suddenly, there’s a sound of loud scraping that stops as soon as it starts. Simon turns to where he heard the sound, and he catches the back of Vik standing somewhere by the dining room.
“What was that?” Simon asks. Vik turns to him in the dark, a night light dimly illuminating his figure.
“I was just trying to pull up a chair,” Vik replies, miffed. His voice is still subdued with sleep even as it tapers off with embarrassment. Simon snorts.
“Then just lift it over here instead of waking the whole house up,” Simon suggests. A grin creeps up on his face when Vik sighs and turns around to go get the chair again.
As Simon looks back at the monitor, which currently is at a frame of him whispering to Vik, he feels his face heat up at the thought of Vik seeing it for some reason. He quickly clicks off to another part of the footage as he hears Vik’s feet padding back with the chair in tow.
Vik comes back with much more grace and settles down next to Simon, though his eyes squint at the brightness of the monitor.
“You know you can do this tomorrow, right?” Vik yawns, “We don’t even edit the videos anymore. You should get some sleep.”
“I just wanted to check something,” Simon replies, “You can go back to bed.”
Vik mumbles something incomprehensible in reply.
“What was that?”
“What were you checking for?” Vik says, though it seems like it’s not what he wanted to say. Simon can see that he’s struggling to keep his eyes open.
Simon makes up some bullshit excuse on the spot, and he’s gesturing at the computer until he feels something hit his shoulder.
He looks to his side, only to be greeted by the sight of Vik’s head on his shoulder. Maybe Simon should be offended that his bullshitting was boring enough to effectively put a man to sleep, but Vik looks so peaceful like this.
It would be rude to wake him up, wouldn’t it?
Simon decides to lean back a bit, making sure Vik doesn’t fall, and puts on a show to watch while Vik sleeps on him. It’s some random show that Harry had been talking in circles about, but Simon doesn’t exactly pay much attention, more focused on the warmth of Vik’s cheek on his arm.
At one point, he abandons the show entirely, looking over at Vik, and he traces the outline of his side profile with his eyes: from his brow bone to the slope of his nose. Simon finds himself staring at how Vik’s lips move as he exhales and inhales shallowly amidst his sleep. He wonders if they’re soft.
Simon’s brain finally catches up with his thoughts-– like a record scratching— and his entire body jerks out of his seat, to which Vik startles awake.
“Sorry—“ Simon blurts, thinking of something to say. “You fell asleep, and,” Simon swallows, “I was going to wake you up so you could go back to your room.”
Simon is frozen in place as he watches Vik, who looks utterly and totally confused. He’s still looking around and blinking the sleep from his eyes, and when he moves, he nearly falls over and knocks over both chairs. Simon finally moves, helping Vik to his feet and to his room. The only thought that crosses his mind is about how easy it is to manhandle Vik— how light he is in Simon’s arms. The air feels so hot, and Simon’s entire body tingles even as he realizes it’s December.
“Good night,” Simon says finally as they reach the door to his room. He releases his burning fingers from Vik’s waist.
“G’night,” Vik says back sleepily, “Thanks.”
Simon turns off the computer, closing the editing program and all the tabs he had open before trudging back to his room, the doorknob cold in his hand as he twists it open. He throws himself into bed and buries his face into the pillows.
What just happened?
Simon wakes up to his head absolutely pounding. He knows it’s late from the clock at his bedside, but it doesn’t inspire any sense of urgency within him because everything hurts so much.
As he sits up in bed, maybe a bit too fast, his head spins, and he collapses back into the mattress with a grunt. The light coming in through the blinds isn’t helping, the brightness creating pressure at his temples.
“Fuck,” Simon groans. He takes a pillow and puts it over his eyes. He doesn’t want to get up at all, doesn’t want to film anything because even the thought of standing up makes him wince.
So, he just lays there for what seems like an eternity before there’s knocking at the door. Simon thinks it’s probably Josh or Vik, simply because of the fact that JJ would just not knock at all and burst inside the room.
“Simon? You alright in there?” There’s a tiny bit of a lisp on his name that’s kind of endearing, so Simon knows it’s Vik.
“Mhm,” Simon replies into the pillow.
“May I come in?”
Simon makes a loud enough hum in response, hoping Vik hears it. He removes the pillow from his face and squints at the door. It creaks open gently, and Vik’s head peeks in. His glasses shine in the residual light in the room.
“Hi,” Simon says, closing his eyes.
“Hi,” Vik whispers back. Simon can hear him coming closer, and the bed dips near his feet, “You look like shit.”
Simon exhales, “Feel like it too.”
“Should I tell the crew to get someone to stand in for you?”
Is Simon really going to miss a bunch of videos because of this? He props himself up on his arms and is sitting up before he can even think of it, and he can feel Vik’s hand on the space between his shoulder blades, helping him up.
“I think I can do it,” Simon says even if he can barely open his eyes without his head crushing in on itself.
Before he can even react, Vik is leaning up into his space, and Simon’s eyes zero in on his lips again, and what the fuck is happening? He can feel Vik’s breath fanning over his face, and he feels so fucking woozy. This has to be some sick fever dream because the thought of leaning in seems so natural in Simon’s head.
There’s a cold sensation on Simon’s forehead that alleviates the pain and wakes him up a little. His senses are sharper, and he registers the coldness as Vik’s hand. Vik’s brows pull together and his eyes soften as he brings his hand to his side.
“You have a fever,” Vik says, frowning. He pats Simon’s thigh lightly.
Simon vaguely realizes that Vik is getting up, and his hand immediately latches on Vik’s wrist. Vik yelps, and Simon loosens his grip, mumbling, “Sorry.”
Vik just chuckles, all airy and sparkly like the grin on his face, “It’s fine. I’m gonna be back, okay?”
Simon watches Vik leave, and embarrassment burns in his chest because why did he grab Vik like that? Ugh. He lays back on his bed and stares at the ceiling, wondering if JJ would be laughing at him right now.
Vik comes back with a glass of water and some painkillers. He places them on Simon’s bedside table, and he’s saying something that Simon is kind of tuning out, honestly. He just focuses on the sound of Vik’s voice, notes how Vik’s mouth curls around consonants and flows over vowels without stringing the pieces together to form any sort of meaning.
“Are you even listening to me?” Vik waves his hand in front of Simon’s face.
Simon groans tiredly in response, and Vik smiles back sardonically.
“I was just telling you not to stay up so late. That’s why you’re like,” Vik gestures at Simon sprawled out on the bed, “That.”
“Wow, thanks for the support,” Simon manages to say, and Vik laughs in that way that makes Simon’s chest twist up in knots and pulse with something unfamiliar.
He wants Vik to get out. He wants Vik to come closer. He doesn’t even know at this point.
“Call me if you need anything else,” Vik says. His mouth is pressed into a smile, but his eyes are still gleaming with concern.
“Fine,” Simon replies, rolling over in bed. He waits for the sound of Vik closing the door, and he lets out a breath.
Maybe, just maybe, there is something wrong with him.
“I think I hate Vik,” Simon says as he closes the door behind him. It’s been a few days since he recovered from sickness, and he’s been thinking too much.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Josh replies, chuckling, turning his body toward Simon but making no move to get up.
“I’m actually being so serious right now, Josh.” Simon sighs, sitting on the edge of Josh’s bed, “I think I’ve started to hate him.”
Josh looks at him like he’s crazy from where he’s lying.
“I don’t think people usually have to think about whether or not they hate someone,” Josh says slowly, his face contorted in confusion.
Simon ponders on it for a moment, “I guess you’re right.”
“Of course, I am.”
“Shush,” Simon says.
Josh sits up in his bed, calculating his next words, “What makes you think that you hate Vik?”
“Okay, so,” Simon wets his lips, eyes trained at his feet, “Vik is kind of my friend, you know? I know all his ticks, his habits, so I’m used to tuning a lot of it out.”
Josh makes a noise to encourage Simon to continue.
“But now, my skin gets all prickly when Vik is near me,” Simon says, rolling up his sleeve and sticking his arm out, “Like actual goosebumps, bro.” He rolls it back down, and he starts to gesture at his legs, “Plus, that shaky thing he does with his leg bothers me so much, and I get so distracted whenever he does something. It’s like it came out of nowhere.”
Josh sits there for a few seconds before rubbing at his eyes with his hand and sighing, “Oh my god, you’re hopeless, mate.”
“What?”
“You have the emotional intelligence of a fucking donkey,” Josh says.
“Actual dickhead,” Simon says back eloquently, getting up and making his way to the door because it’s obvious this conversation is going nowhere.
“Don’t overthink it. You’ll understand eventually.”
“Whatever the hell that means,” Simon mutters as he leaves and slams the door shut behind him. Hard.
Okay, maybe he’s a bit upset. He’s not stupid, and yet, JJ and Josh have made him feel like the biggest idiot in the world over Vik, of all people. They won’t even tell him what the deal is.
Simon knows he’s a bit stubborn, a touch vindictive on a bad day, but it works in his favor.
That’s why he’s in this car with Vik right now, on some shopping challenge, after begging Josh to put them on the same team over the past week. He unfolds his little folded piece of paper.
“Who’d you get?” Vik asks, scooting over, and Simon can feel the heat radiating off his skin. He tenses a little, but he tries to ignore it and read the name on the paper.
“Harry,” Simon says, “You?”
“Let me just—” Vik digs into the pocket of his jacket and pulls out the little slip of paper. Simon leans a bit in order to look at the name over Vik’s shoulder, and his hand falls right over Vik’s. It’s like a circuit connecting, and electricity runs up Simon’s fingers even as he pulls his hand away. Vik looks into Simon’s eyes, something indecipherable in his gaze, before he unfolds the paper with that camera smile of his, “Looks like I got JJ.”
“This’ll be a piece of cake, then, won’t it?” Simon says as the car rolls to a stop. They’re in a rather crowded part of the city, but still far from the areas where they would probably get mobbed. Simon and Vik get out of the car and are handed an envelope.
“I’m guessing this is our challenge to get the money, huh?” Vik asks, a little nervousness in his voice. Simon hums as he watches Vik tear open the envelope with deft fingers, a bit distracted until the sound of the paper rustling brings him back to the video.
“What is it?” Simon asks.
“‘Convince a sales clerk that you’re a gay couple,’” Vik raises a brow, “I mean, it doesn’t sound like a Josh challenge, but alright. We can do that, right?” Vik looks up at Simon with that shine in his eyes that has Simon nodding his head. For some reason, Simon has a sneaking suspicion that this was very very intentional on Josh’s part.
“Lightwork,” Simon agrees, even if he’s not exactly sure if this will work, “I mean, you look easy to dominate, and gay people love me so—”
Vik laughs, bright and cheerful, as he puts the card back in the envelope, “True.” Vik then takes his hand out of his pocket and laces his fingers with Simon’s. His hand is small in Simon’s, and it makes Simon’s chest burn with that familiar feeling. Simon looks at Vik, gaze spiked with apprehension. “We have to sell it, don’t we?” Vik explains simply.
“I guess so,” Simon responds. Simon tries not to shiver as Vik mindlessly draws circles over the back of Simon’s hand with his thumb while they walk through the city.
They eventually stumble upon a bottle shop. Simon and Vik nod at each other.
“We’re going to pretend we’re buying some drinks for a date, but they’re actually going to be for Harry,” Simon says to the camera. Hands still interlocked, they walk into the store, and a sales clerk scans over them with a customer service smile. It’s much more fancy than Simon expected.
“Hi, is there anything I can help you two with?” Simon can gauge the moment she sees their joined hands because she smiles a bit wider, realizing that they’re actually going to buy something. “What’s the occasion? Date night? Wedding party?”
“We’re not that far yet,” Simon snorts, and he swings their hands a bit, “Just a little date night.”
They all laugh, though Vik and Simon are laughing at how easily she’s believed their little lie. Simon is kind of surprised. He wasn’t even sure that would work, and yet, she had no doubts or second thoughts about them dating.
As they walk through the store, he looks over at Vik, only to realize that Vik is already looking at him, and slowly thinks that maybe he understands why.
Simon doesn’t usually read the comments on their videos, knowing how many people have a crazy hate boner for him, but he decides that, just this once, he should.
@xix4_liiifeee
24:26 Top 10 sussest Vikkstar123 moments ever
@ericsmith1672
Why were we thirdwheeling Vik and Simon this whole video 😭
@simplyFrancis
where are the parasocial mfs who said simon hates vik now??? them bitches gay frfr good for them
“Looks like you’re figuring it out, now.”
“What the fuck!” Simon jumps back, covering his phone screen with his chest, and Josh looks down at him with a knowing smile.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” Josh says.
“For what?”
“For putting you and Vik in the same team. Look at those comments,” Josh says, “Do you understand yet?”
Simon looks back down at his phone, scanning over the comments again, “We look gay?”
“Yeah, and that means—?”
“I don’t hate him?”
Josh sighs, long and frustrated, “I mean, you’re technically right, but…”
“But?”
Josh sighs again, “You’ll get it sooner or later.” He walks off into his own room, and Simon slowly lifts up his phone again.
He replays his and Vik’s moments from the video until late at night, trying to understand what Josh is seeing that he just isn’t.
Vik and Simon have been binging the John Wick series for a couple of hours while Josh is out recording his individual parts for another video and JJ is out training. Behind the curtains, the sky has darkened greatly compared to the orange-ish hue it was when Vik and Simon started watching. They’ve elected to take a break in-between the second and third movies.
Simon hears the ding of both their phones, but he left his phone on the kitchen counter. Plus, he’s pretty sure his legs are asleep. Vik pulls out his phone from his pocket, squinting a bit at the screen.
“JJ’s just texted that he’s ordering from that sushi place nearby, do you want anything?” Vik looks up from his phone at Simon, though he looks a bit sympathetic.
“Of course, he picks the place that only serves fish.” Simon pulls a face, and Vik smiles awkwardly before his eyes flash as if remembering something.
“Oh! That reminds me—“ Vik stands up quickly, almost tripping over himself, and Simon sticks out an arm just in case he falls.
“Be careful,” Simon says, but Vik is already walking away, disappearing into his room. Simon can hear Vik rummaging through his stuff, and Vik makes a little sound of delight as he supposedly finds whatever it is he is searching for.
Vik walks back into the living room, one arm very obviously behind his back and obscuring whatever it is from sight, “I got something for you.”
“Oh, wow,” Simon tries to tilt his head to see what it is, but Vik turns. Simon whines, “Just show it to me, man.”
Vik laughs, bringing out the arm that was behind his back and holding up his gift. It’s a black shirt with a terrible fish pun printed on it.
“I saw this shirt while we were doing the shopping video, and it reminded me of you, so I bought it,” Vik says, “You know, because you hate the ocean, and it’s a fish, and—”
Simon falls into the familiar, warm feeling running through his body as he admires Vik. He watches Vik’s eyes sparkle with passion and his hands gesture excitedly. The realization of what he’s fully feeling finally dawns on Simon, but it doesn’t feel out of place or different. It just feels right.
“I think I love you,” escapes Simon’s mouth, low and soft. It takes a moment for him to realize what he’s just said before his stomach sinks. He feels his heart lurch when Vik looks at him with a blank expression, and his nails dig into his palm as he balls his fists. He’s usually great at holding his tongue, but why now? God, Simon just wants to run away and cry in some random corner.
“Really?” Vik says at last, still confused in that endearing way he usually is when confronted with an unanswerable question, brows knitted together and eyes wide. The fish shirt is on the floor now, Vik too caught up in his shock. He doesn’t sound disgusted or scared, and that, at the very least, lets Simon breathe out.
“Yeah,” Simon admits in the most even voice he can manage, “I don’t know when it happened. It just kind of— did.”
Everything stills, silent and quiet, before Vik’s face blooms slowly, opening up and coloring red like the prettiest flower. Vik smiles a small sort of thing, eyes crinkling up, and somewhere in the back of his head, Simon realizes he kind of wants to kiss Vik right now. Vik beats him to the chase, though.
Vik takes a small step, and Simon follows, rising from his place on the couch. They’re caught in a dance, acclimating to each other’s steps until they’re chest to chest, legs and arms brushing against each other. Vik’s hands rest on Simon’s shoulders, burning Simon even through the thick fabric of his clothing.
Vik’s knees knock into Simon’s as he stands on his toes a bit to get closer to Simon, and Simon leans down. It just seems so natural, how his hands fall on the small of Vik’s back. Vik tilts his head up, staring at Simon’s lips before tentatively bringing one hand up to Simon’s cheek. His eyes look hesitant, scanning Simon’s face.
“Can I kiss you?” Vik asks right over Simon’s mouth, each breath full of anticipation. Simon smiles, closing the distance as he slants his mouth over Vik’s parted lips.
Vik is motionless for a second before he softens into the kiss, soft mouth opening and moving against Simon’s like he’s mouthing “I love you” on his lips over and over. Simon feels one of Vik’s hands bunched in the threads of his sweater, pulling him even closer. He revels in the tiny, minuscule reactions of Vik’s— how his fingers twitch on Simon’s cheek and his body shivers as Simon deepens the kiss.
The cold bite of winter is but a memory as his entire body is engulfed in the heat of the moment.
Simon withdraws, and he watches in amusement as Vik’s lips instinctively chase the movement before he halts. There’s only a narrow space between them, foreheads pressed warmly together and lips sharing the same breaths of air.
“So,” Simon breathes, giddy, “You like me too, I reckon?”
Vik rolls his eyes, still catching his breath with heavy, jagged inhales and exhales.
“Oh, quiet you,” Vik says at last, “Mister ‘I think I love you’ shouldn’t be talking.”
Simon grumbles, untangling himself from Vik. He falls onto the couch and buries his reddening face into one of the cushions, “Shut up, Vik.”
“Over a fish shirt?” Vik lifts said shirt off the floor at last, laughing, “This is what made you say that?”
“You looked so cute explaining the stupid pun, though,” Simon mumbles, “I couldn’t help myself.”
Vik’s hold on the shirt falters, a bit flustered as he sits next to Simon. He looks at Vik out of the corner of his eye, and Vik hooks his chin over Simon’s shoulder, a newfound confidence instilled in him as Simon reddens even further.
“Well, I’m glad you thought it was fin-tastic,” Vik says into the crook of Simon’s neck, and now he’s smiling sleazily, trying to hold back his laughter. Simon jerks back, glaring at Vik.
“How do I unkiss somebody?”
“Simon!”