Chapter Text
Prologue
“You know… I have a formula to see how well a relationship will go.”
It was a chilly rainy evening, and Fit was spending it in the best possible way. Lazily wrapped in a blanket, cuddling on the couch with Pac at his house, they were just enjoying the peace and silence. The veteran was distracted, his mind jumping between ‘no thoughts, head empty, only comfort’ , ‘damn, his hair smells good’ and ‘why is his house so much better insulated against the cold than mine? I gotta fix it when I can’ .
But as usual, Pac had out of pocket thoughts. And as usual, he needed to share them.
“Knowing you, I have no means to tell where this is gonna go”, Fit replied to the other with a chuckle. “Okay, I’m curious. What is it?”
“You know when you’re reading a book or watching a TV show and you have the five-chapter-rule?” Pac started explaining, and the other raised an eyebrow. “It’s a way to tell if you’ll really like it. Instead of judging it by the cover, you give it five chapters, or five episodes, to show what it truly came for. If, after that, you really don’t like it, then you can drop it knowing you gave it a chance and has good reasons not to like it in the end.”
“And that applies to relationships… how?”
“It’s kinda like that, but not really.” Pac has a way to explain things that Fit found absolutely delightful. He was very expressive, lots of gestures, changes in intonation, everything to get his point across to his audience. At that moment, the scientist was looking at his eyes, like he was expecting and hoping for that question. “In a relationship, you have a ton of ways to communicate, and they’re all important. But you can lie through words, you can lie through expressions, but one thing you really can’t lie through.”
“Which is…?”
“Kisses!” Pac smiled. “If you can fake the feelings in a kiss, you’re an Oscar-worthy actor. Of course, it’s not something you use by itself, but I’d say it’s pretty useful to see the intentions of the other people.”
“Yeah, right.” Fit rolled his eyes, an amused tone in his voice. “Says the guy who kissed half the island before we started dating, huh?”
“And I meant every single one of them. In a sense.” Pac raised his hands, with a hearty laughter. “It doesn’t mean that the person you’re kissing is your Prince Charming, but it shows that that moment matters, you know? And besides, I mentioned a five-chapter rule, right? This is kind of the same. I call it… the seven-kiss theory. ”
“Seven?” Fit tilted his head. While it still sounded wild as hell, he admitted he was very curious to learn more about that theory. (Which may or may not have something to do with wanting to kiss him seven times or more, of course.) “So… after seven kisses, you might tell if that person is the one?”
“Kinda, but not. It’s more like ‘expressing different emotions through seven different kisses.’ It’s basically a way to know all the feelings that person has to show and offer.”
For a moment, Fit remained stunned and speechless. He was comically bad with words, and Pac was the main witness to it. And maybe because he was bad with words, he tried to make up for it by any other means available. Gestures, touches, acts of service, gifts, company. So, if Pac could read all the different emotions and intentions through kisses…
“You can tell a lot about people by observing them, but most times, they want to show you.” Pac continued, looking right into his eyes. “And they do. You just need to pay attention. When you have feelings for the other person, and you know these feelings are reciprocated, it’s a good way to learn more about them.”
The veteran remained frozen in place, his eyes locked into the Brazilian's black eyes. And, suddenly, he felt so lucky. What are the chances of the clumsiest motherfucker in the world meeting exactly the one person who was a natural at reading emotions in others? The emotions that were probably now written all over his face, judging by the teasing smile that Pac was opening at that moment.
“So… Do you wanna hear more about it or do you just want to stare at me like that? If you pay attention I might even let you practice afterwards.”
“S-sure, sure!”, Fit was brought back from his musings by force, and Pac laughed again, snuggling more against the other. “That… sounds like a plan, yes.”