Chapter Text
Jedediah can’t help but notice Octavius’s helmet.
…Yeah, it’s obnoxiously flashy. All those bright red feather things or whatever they are look plain stupid. But that’s not why he points it out.
“You’ve been movin’ that thing around all night,” Jedediah says, louder than he needs to, gesturing at his head to implicate Octavius’s helmet. “Why don’t y’just take it off?”
He noticed it last night when they were talking to Gigantor in the RC car, and he’s seeing it again tonight as they drive around, making small talk with whoever they come across. Whenever Octavius leans forward to see people through the windshield, the top of his helmet flops down over his eyes, and he has to hold it up to his forehead the whole time. It’s goofy as hell. …And kind of endearing, maybe. Just a little bit.
Octavius stares at him, processing what he said, and then he furrows his eyebrows. “Why would I do that?” he asks in a way that makes Jedediah look stupid.
Jedediah suppresses the annoyance building in his chest. They’re friends now, he supposes. …Well, maybe not friends, but they certainly aren’t enemies anymore. Octavius probably doesn’t mean it.
“Well, ‘cuz it’s gettin’ in the way,” he goes on, “y’know, of your…” He gestures to his head again. “...face.”
“Oh.” Octavius nods but his eyes still dart away. “But I… can’t.”
“...Can’t what?”
“I can’t just… I can’t just take it off, it’s my helmet. You wouldn’t just take your hat off.”
Jedediah understands what he’s getting at. He doesn’t like being seen without his hat. It makes him feel vulnerable; a cowboy ain’t a cowboy without a hat, after all. But there’s a part of him, he realizes, that desperately wants Octavius to see him like that. It’s the same part of him that wants to see Octavius without that dumb helmet, without that dumb facade of a fearless, self-reliant leader.
Feeling oddly bold, Jed reaches up and knocks the Stetson off his head. It lands in the middle of the car seats, between him and Octavius, and brushes against the general’s arm. He glances over once, then does a double take.
“Ain’t so weird now, is it?“ laughs Jedediah.
He thinks he sees the faintest shade of pink tinting Octavius’s cheeks, but that’s probably just the crazy party lighting.
With trembling hands, Octavius slowly unties the straps under his chin, grips the sides of his helmet, and lifts it off. Jed finds himself unable to pry his eyes away from the sight.
He’s never gotten a look at him like this before. Before, the sides of his face were always covered by that flashy metal. Now, he can see the blush-slash-crazy party lighting in full effect. Octavius’s jawline is sharp and strong. It guides Jed’s eye up past his eyes and to the dark hair that had been flattened under the weight of the helmet. There’s a touch of grey near his temples. It’s awfully pretty.
Jed scans his face again. Octavius is biting the inside of his lip, glaring out the window, at the wall next to the car.
Then, completely on impulse, and definitely not because he’d been imagining what this would be like for decades, Jedediah reached out and cupped his face in his hands. He kind of wishes he took his gloves off for this, too, so he could feel the warmth of his bare skin against his.
…Woah. Okay. Weird thought. Must be something in the punch.
On second thought, this entire situation is weird. Jed would never hold any of his other buddies’ faces like this. He almost pulls away, but something about the softness of Octavius’s eyes compels him to stay where he is. His thumb gently slides back and forth across the general’s cheekbone. The air in the car is tense again.
“...Y’look dumb with that off,” says Jedediah, smiling, and without any of the bite that he would’ve said it with before.
Octavius’s eyebrow twitches before his hesitant expression breaks into a grin, too. He barks out a laugh and replies, “So do you.” Then, he reaches around Jed’s arms to mess up his hair. Jed’s breathing stutters for a moment but his smile still widens. He feels elated. He feels so ecstatic that it’s almost overwhelming. He squishes the other man’s face as they go back and forth with banter, eventually breaking into giddy laughter, both their faces warm and red. The movement of Octavius’s hands on his head comes to a halt at some point. Now, it’s only his fingers moving, carding through Jed’s untamed hair. One of the cowboy’s hands ends up doing the same, gently thumbing the grey hairs on Octavius’s temples.
He’s not sure when their faces started inching closer to each other but suddenly he’s aware of the warm breath hitting his skin. At that moment, he also remembers that they’re in the middle of a party in an RC car, where any of the other exhibits can see them if they lean down and squint a little bit.
Jed lets his hands quickly slide off the other man’s face. Octavius takes the hint and untangles his fingers from Jed’s hair at a similar pace.
“Uh…” Jedediah swallows and purses his lips together. Now he’s the one avoiding eye contact. It feels like his brain is finally catching up with what he’s doing, because now his heart is hammering against his chest, threatening to break a rib and fall out. He clears his throat and turns back to the wheel. He can’t wipe the smile off his face despite the embarrassment. “Y’wanna… go find Rexy?” he asks. “Drive a bone around for him?”
Octavius settles back against the seat. “Yes,” he speaks slowly, “I suppose we should.”
…
Jedediah wants to put his hat back on now, but he’s already gripping the steering wheel, foot hitting the gas pedal so hard that the sudden speed makes Octavius yelp. Once he slows down, Jed spares a glance at his friend(???). His helmet is placed in his lap and he’s absentmindedly tapping his fingers against the cool metal. His face is still flushed with red.
Jed’s face probably is, too, now that he’s thinking about it.