Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been about an hour of this, as it was every time Lyney came back from a date with his beloved.

“This is pathetic. You are pathetic.”

Lyney attempted to smack his sister with the pillow he had just been trying to squeeze the life out of. His face was beet red, unusual for the boy with such a calm and collected demeanor. Freminet idly thought that Lyney might explode, but ultimately would continue to contribute nothing to their petty bickering from his front row spot on the floor.

He watched Lyney sit up abruptly to aggressively sign at Lynette when she caught his pillow, “I am not pathetic.” Then, to the boy on the floor, “Fremi, am I pathetic?”

Freminet stared at Lyney for a long time. He made note of the way his hair was out of sorts from being pulled at and played with, the way his eyes sat wider than usual, pupils large, and his lips formed a wild pout or plea of his innocence. In other words, his usually calm and relaxed self was long thrown off the peak of Mt. Hulao. A quick glance at Lynette showed the mirth in her eyes, though she kept the smile off her face.

He considered the truth. That, yes, Lyney was absolutely as pathetic as Lynette claimed him to be. But, well, he also knew he could not really understand the way Lyney felt – he feared he never would. Still, he thought to himself that anybody might find this display a bit pathetic. Because it was. Not in the sense that it was sad or weird, but that it was getting cringey how Lyney behaved even though this was nothing new.

In the end, the answer was a quick, “A little bit.”

“A lot,” was Lynette’s response.

Lyney stared at her. Anybody else would say he seemed angry, but it was plain old embarrassment. Was he considering her murder? Yes, absolutely he was, but more in the way that while it was thoroughly planned and he was sure he could get away with it, he loved her too much to do a damn thing.

That and he was floundering for a way to reply that was eloquent and not him looking like a fish trying to breathe out of water.

Unluckily, Lynette decided this was the chance to continue nailing her point home. “He just kissed you.”

Lyney buried his face briefly in another pillow, screaming. Freminet chuckled. He slyly let Lynette know she’d hit him right where she had intended.

When he came back up for air, the ash blond informed them both that that was the problem!

“You have been dating for six months,” she stated plainly.

Lyney’s brows furrowed at his twin. “So?”

Freminet hopped up on the mattress next to Lynette, curling himself close to her. Her tail found his wrist as it had since they were children. “Well, this isn’t exactly the first time you’ve kissed.” A pause. “Or that you’ve had this kind of….” Freminet knew what word he wanted to use but for the life of him he could not remember what the sign was.

“Breakdown?”

He knew it as soon as Lynette supplied it, “Yes. That. Breakdown.” He made sure to cement the gesture in his brain for next Tuesday, after Lyney’s next date.

Their victim flopped backwards, head landing nicely on his second pillow. He did not look at them when he said, “But he’s so dreamy.”

Lynette looked at Freminet, rolling her bright amethyst eyes. She began mocking Lyney, a smile playing on her lips, using all the usual words Lyney did, throwing in her own exaggerated flare, and- Freminet couldn’t help it. He cackled, causing Lyney to sit up right again. They quickly fixed their posture and facial expressions, the younger blond trying his best to keep the snickers to himself.

The older one glared at the pair. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Me? I would never.” Lynette put an offended hand to her chest and nose in the air. “Why would I ever make fun of my favorite twin brother and his clearly troubling dating woes?”

“We both know he’s your favorite,” Lyney said, nodding at Freminet.

“I said twin.”

Lyney stuck his tongue out at her. “Whatever.” He flopped back again, heaving a sigh. “I think I love him.”

Oh. That was a new one. They had never used the big L when discussing Lyney’s relationship with Aether. The teasers shared a glance, coming to a silent agreement. They crawled their way to Lyney’s sides, each hugging him tightly, Freminet pressing his ear to Lyney’s chest, right over his heart. Lyney threw an arm around each of his siblings, far more relaxed than he had been just a moment ago.

Lynette finally spoke, carefully, “That’s good. Any particular reason you think so now? Do you need us?”

Lyney shook his head. He sighed. He used the hand over Freminet to sign to her, speaking for Freminet to hear, “No. I just do. He’s kind, he’s sweet and attentive, and even though he knows I’m so full of shit he doesn’t say anything unless it’s clearly important. I just,” a heavy sigh, “I don’t think I need you for this. I would like you, though. What do you think?”

“I think you could not have asked two less qualified people for romantic advice.”

Freminet huffed a laugh, agreeing with his sister.

“Freminet has never liked anybody ever, and I am as aroace as it gets. What, pray tell, makes you think either of us could help your gay ass?”

Lyney chuckled. He shook his head with a shrug. “No idea.”

Freminet spoke up, “If it helps, I think he’s good for you. He let me talk about Pers, so I like him.” Anybody who let him lore dump about his mechanical penguin and seemed even mildly genuinely interested was a good enough person for him.

Lyney sighed and agreed. He would never have agreed to more than one date if Aether had not been kind to Freminet. In fact, thinking about Aether’s care towards others made his heart flutter. He had mentioned he liked talking to Freminet about the penguin, and asked Lyney to teach him sign so Lynette would not have to either strain to understand him or wear the aid she hated so much. What a man! Not many people were so understanding to Lynette being deaf, nor that if you asked Freminet anything about a penguin or one of his machines he would never shut up ever again.

(Aether had told Lyney this surprised him, Freminet was usually so quiet, but he had found it endearing and was going to ask about Pers again.

“Please wait until after our date. We’ll never make it out of the house otherwise,” Lyney told him.

Aether laughed, quipping, “Oh, date night in!”

For the first time, but surely not the last, Lyney simultaneously wanted to kiss him senseless and strangle him.)

“If Fremi thinks he’s good, so do I. You’re happy. Take your time, but also make sure he knows how you feel. A relationship without open communication can never work properly and functionally, whether it’s romantic, platonic, or just us.” She paused briefly. “You know he’d probably melt if you did the flower trick.”

“Rainbow roses are a sign of love,” Freminet supplied, recalling one of his books. “But maybe you shouldn’t. I think your heart would give before your trick was finished.”

Lyney huffed, moving to kick Freminet off of his damn bed. Freminet only laughed from the floor, noting exactly how red Lyney had gotten again. “Go the hell to bed already, you jerks.”

Lynette grinned widely as she threw Lyney’s original pillow on to his own face, crawling over him off the bed to help Freminet up. She straightened out his hair (like a mother cat, Freminet thought), and pulled him from the room. “Come on, kitty. We’re leaving him to stew in all those feelings.”

“ARGH!”

Freminet laughed again, allowing Lynette to drag him away, making no note of being called a kitty. It was her funniest joke she had said, and who was he to take that from her? Instead, he allowed her to guide him down the hall where they separated into their own rooms for the night.

As fun as it was to tease and poke, Lyney was right. It was getting late, and Freminet had a test tomorrow.

-

This was great, just fabulous. He was having a breakdown of his own, and there wasn’t even anybody who could help him. Lyney was gone on another date, Lynette was back at home already, and who knew where in the world Father’s trips had taken her? He couldn’t even text anybody – his phone had died earlier.

What had started this? He didn’t think he had been so anxious over his test, and he was confident with his score. Still, his jacket was suddenly way too hot and despite a low neckline it was strangling him. His shirt was choking him for no reason, and his hair wouldn’t get out of his damn face. To make matters worse, a couple of people had stopped to stare at him. One had bent down and asked what was wrong but in his own frustration at being unable to force his mouth to form words, he had simply begun to cry, breaking the very thin line he had created in his mind. She was nice, but she was just too loud, and he really wanted her to get her hand off his shoulder.

Before he’d realized it, he’d smacked her arm away from him. She seemed taken aback, and now he was more frustrated with himself than ever. Why couldn’t he just be nice? Why was it so hard to just say exactly what was on his mind? To say he just wanted nobody to breathe in his general direction until he had soothed himself?

He buried his head in his knees, trying his damn best to stop crying – Archons this was so embarrassing. He heard someone call out, “Give up, Charlotte. Leave him alone.” The girl who had tried to help him out hesitantly stepped away and took the crowd with her.

Freminet wished he had found a more secluded spot to die in (at least he felt like he was dying), so many people were still walking around. Why? Didn’t they have homes to get to? Homework to do? Why were there still so many people still in the damned hallways? When would he be okay? Would a teacher see him and call home? He kind of hoped so, but that was also an embarrassing option.

This was just so frustrating! Damned be his own brain, leaving him incapable of doing anything.

The young blond froze when he heard a quiet plop next to him. Not again. She needed to go away and give up. But she didn’t say anything this time. Good, he thought bitterly, then immediately felt guilty for thinking so of someone who was trying to help him. He would not look at her. Not yet. When he was calm, he could apologize and thank her. Just not yet.

He sat there, breaths steadying, red face buried under the arms on his knees, eyes tired from the tears. He thought that maybe he had fallen asleep right there for a minute when he finally looked up, much calmer than he had felt just a few minutes ago. The sun was going down, pretty pinks and oranges lighting up the sky outside. He glanced to his side to find not the same pink-haired girl from before, but a brunet boy his age, earbuds in and what appeared to be homework in his lap.

Freminet vaguely recalled seeing him around the halls, maybe in a couple of his classes? He wasn’t sure right now; his brain wouldn’t tell him.

The stranger looked up at him, taking his earbuds from his ears, setting the homework aside. He grinned, the smile finding its way quite easily to his bright, honey-amber eyes. “You’re awake!” Freminet thought he might have to squint to look at this stranger’s bright smile.

“You okay? I shooed off a bunch of people earlier. I was gonna say somethin’, but it seemed like you didn’t wanna be bothered. Didn’t feel right leavin’ you alone, though. Oh! I’m Gaming, by the way.” Gaming extended his hand to Freminet.

Hesitantly, reluctantly, Freminet took it. To his surprise, his skin didn’t burn on contact. There were a lot of times when touching another person, especially a stranger, save for very specific people (ahem, his siblings) made his skin feel like it was on fire. It prickled and hurt, and he would have to scrub it on his jacket or something for ages to make the feeling stop. But that was rude, and he often had to endure awhile.

He blinked owlishly for a moment before letting go and staring down the tile in front of him. This was embarrassing. He had cried, he had fallen asleep, and now had stared at this stranger who, for some reason, didn’t feel right leaving him to do that alone.

When he opened his mouth to speak, his throat felt dry but thick. He swallowed then cleared his throat before side-eyeing Gaming. “I’m Freminet.”

“Freminet! That’s cute, I like it. Unless you don’t like cute. Some people, well, some guys don’t like being called cute, or their name? I don’t get it, a compliment is a compliment, y’know? But it really matters how you feel about it. Is that okay? It’s weird, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I- “

Gaming abruptly shut his mouth. Freminet covered his face with his hands. Not again. Lynette had once mentioned that sometimes his face said all that needed to be said, no matter how hard he tried to keep it together. But his little meltdowns brought it out in the bitchiest possible way.

He heaved a heavy, shaky breath, finally tilting his head back to hit the wall they sat against. He looked at Gaming again.

“I’m sorry. It’s, uh, it’s fine. Cute, I mean. Er, you saying-“ This was annoying. He slowed his words, “It’s fine that you called my name cute. It’s- thank you.” In an attempt to be polite, “I like yours, too.”

Gaming brightened up further. Freminet thought again that he might be the embodiment of the sun, vaguely recalling Lyney once saying something similar about Aether. (It was true, Aether was a sunshine boy through and through.)

The other boy stood, stretching his legs, patting imaginary dirt from his pants. “Oh, good. I thought for a second I might’ve offended you. You okay, by the way?” He offered his hands to Freminet. A gesture to help him get off the cold, hard floor. “You need to talk about it? I’m a good listener, I promise, and I won’t tell anyone.”

One of Freminet’s eyebrows flitted inwards, a frown apparent on his face though he took Gaming’s outstretched hands again. “No, it was stupid.” It wasn’t stupid. He didn’t even know what his damn breaking point had been, or what could have possibly accumulated so much over the last few months that his body and mind had no choice but to force it all out of him.

He hated the way Gaming’s eyebrows came up, eyes and smile softening. He was pitying him. He didn’t need it.

“Hey, it’s not dumb. Your feelings are entirely valid, even if it seems small now. See, my cousin,” Gaming gathered his stuff off the floor and into his bag, “she once cried ‘cause she used two different eyeshadows but they were both blue so nobody even noticed until she cried about it, but she was actually crying because…well, I don’t remember why but there was something else to it. My other cousin,” he handed Freminet his bag, “he once wouldn’t talk to me because I ate his toast, but it was much bigger than that. The toast was a breaking point, the catalyst for the dam breaking. But he wasn’t actually mad at me, just needed a way to get it out, y’know?”

“Sounds counterintuitive,” Freminet muttered.

“Not really. Sometimes you just gotta get your feelings out, y’know? Anyway, that’s just to say whatever it is isn’t dumb, and it’s entirely fair for you to be upset about something small now, because it’s probably actually about something bigger. And if it’s not,” Gaming threw his arms up, “then who cares! You had a bad day and everybody has bad days. It happens.”

Freminet nodded, instinctually glancing at his phone, but feeling better about his ordeal. Gaming was right. He had a rough day and that was nobody’s fault. Except that it still kind of sucked because his phone was still dead as dead gets.

Gaming stretched his out. “You need to call someone? I could walk you home if you want, but I dunno if you want to, and-“ he floundered. There was more to say here, but he suddenly couldn’t remember what it was.

The blond shook his head. “No need, I can make it.”

“Are you sure? You…” he was very careful with his words. Quiet, deliberate. More than his stream of consciousness. “You seem like you need a friend.” He turned about as red as the dyed underside of his hair, his brain rather clearly deciding it should shut itself down. “I’m not saying you don’t have any, and I know you said you don’t wanna talk about it but like someone to listen to you at all? Not about,” he gestured vaguely, “this, but about anything! I, uhm-“

Freminet held up a hand. “If you live nearby, then fine, but otherwise, no. I…” he thought for a moment. “Regardless, can I use your phone to text my sister? She’s probably worried about me.”

“Of course!” Gaming readily handed it over, in its red case, a lion design sitting nicely on the back. What a cute design, much like his own of a penguin.

Gaming’s eyes seemed to avoid looking at him on purpose, which Freminet appreciated. It was awkward to use somebody else’s phone while they watched over your shoulder. He typed Lynette’s number and sent her a quick text to let her know he was fine and on his way home now, call the cops if he took longer than an hour.

When he handed it back, Gaming only gave it a quick glance before locking the screen and shoving it in his pocket. “So, I can walk you home, right? Where do you live?”

“If,” Freminet corrected, “you happen to live nearby. I’m off of Fontaine Court on the north side.”

Freminet wondered how anybody could have so much joy in their body at one time, especially in this moment. “Sweet! I’m just a couple blocks away over on Chenyu!” Ah, so he was close. Then, he supposed he could allow this friendly boy to walk him back home. He realized why he was offering but couldn’t find the energy to care about that anymore.

And so, they walked. Gaming did most of the talking for about three minutes, when he asked about the penguin charm on Freminet’s bag. Freminet had apprehensively answered the questions at first, but as Gaming pressed the boy found it easier to talk quickly and wildly about such a familiar and comforting subject. Gaming seemed to be hiding a chuckle the whole time, but Freminet did not get the impression he was being laughed at.

By the time they had reached Freminet’s front door it was nearly entirely dark and he had entirely forgotten about earlier. He felt light, as if it had never happened, which was new; it usually took longer than that. Freminet realized that he had not had such a great time talking with another human being he was unrelated to in… well, it had been an absurdly long time.

(Aether was nice, but he seemed to like being talked at more than with about Pers.)

He was in the middle of explaining the method in which he had put Pers gears in place so that he could walk about and the process of a possible speech module for broader functional use similar to an Alexa or Siri, when Lyney burst from the front door and barreled his younger brother in a tight squeeze. Lynette followed quickly but held off until Lyney released their brother to give her own tight hug, tail whipping back and forth behind her wildly, a purr rumbling through her chest and into Freminet.

“Freminet, where have you been? We were worried about you!” Lyney put his hands on his hips.

Freminet looked over Lynette’s shoulder to Lyney. “I texted her.”

“And? You should have been back ages ago! Honestly, I thought I would be the last one home tonight.”

Disgusting, Freminet thought.

As if noticing Gaming for the first time, Lyney put on a practiced smile, extending his hand with practiced ease. “And who might you be? A friend, perhaps? I’m Lyney. The one trying to kill my darling brother is Lynette.”

She finally let go to punch him.

“OW.”

Gaming laughed, taking Lyney’s hand. “I’m Gaming. It’s nice to meet you! I was just walking Fremi home is all.”

Lyney very slowly turned his head, his smile becoming unsettlingly genuine, his eyebrows disappearing into his bangs. “Just walking Fremi home, huh?” He enunciated the nickname nobody except the twins had ever used for him. “How kind, don’t you think, Fremi?”

Freminet did not like the insinuations in Lyney’s tone, though he was only half sure of what they were. He was doing it on purpose, he was sure of it. Instead of saying anything he signed at Lynette.

Lyney gaped. “I swore you to secrecy!”

Freminet stuck his tongue out at his brother. “Die.” He turned back to Gaming, liking the idea that Lynette was plotting Lyney’s death right that very second. “Sorry for him. Thank you for bringing me back. And…staying with me before. You were right, I think I needed it.” He gave the best smile he could come up with. He was crashing, getting tired, and he knew Lyney would not let whatever he had going on in his head go.

His new – acquaintance? Friend? – gave that same big smile he always seemed to have right back. “Sure! Glad to help. If you ever need me again just lemme know, okay? You texted Lynette, right? Take my number from her phone and give me a text, yeah?” He glanced up at the darkening sky. “Ah, I should get goin’ before my old man starts callin’. See ya around!” He turned, hand up in a wave, trailing into a jog.

He felt Lyney lean heavily on his shoulder. “So, walking you home, huh, Fremi? A date you didn’t tell us about?” When Fremi turned his head to look his brother in the eye, the other waggled his eyebrows. If he hadn’t been before, Lyney was now officially very gross.

He shoved his elbow into Lyney’s side. When he turned, he tossed a universal gesture at his brother and walked inside without him. Somehow, what Lyney was tossing at him genuinely bothered him. He had had a good time, he thought he had made a new friend even. So why in the hell did his face feel like it might burn off his bones at any moment? There was nothing happening but someone who felt a little sorry for him.

Lyney teased him a bit more, but he let him. The teasing between the three was calming, and Lyney ultimately let it go without a huge fuss, instead choosing to talk about his embarrassing crush on his boyfriend (again).

Chapter Text

Truthfully, Gaming had known about Freminet far longer than Freminet would have ever known about him. He had spotted the boy in their first year of high school, on the first day of classes. He had initially thought Freminet might be a girl. His hair was long for a boy, his eyes were big and innocent, his figure tall but slim, he was just possibly the prettiest person Gaming had ever laid eyes on.

It took hearing the blond talking to his brother for Gaming to realize his mistake, though this did not deter him. He became more determined than ever to at the very least befriend Freminet, though his attempts had not succeeded. Every single time he had a chance to approach the shy beauty he was pulled away by his other friends. Other times the twins would drag Freminet elsewhere. Once, he left a note stating he wanted to be friends, but that had mysteriously disappeared.  

By the time they reached their current, final year of high school, Gaming had mostly given up. He instead watched from afar. Though they shared classes now, he decided some elusive and Gaming-hating force was keeping him away with no regard to his feelings. With this force at play he had a lot of time to notice and make note of many things about the other boy, such as Freminet’s love of penguins, or how handy he was with basic equipment. He saw the artistic side of Freminet, the pale freckles dotting his face and arms, and he noted that not many people hung around him just because they wanted to, but because they often needed something.

I want to, he would think angrily at them. But the forces of the world were dooming him. Dooming them.

He noted that Freminet would often go a day without uttering a single word, opting to use sign language instead. Teachers did not call on him on those days. (Gaming took up sign language that year.) He noticed the way that Freminet clung tightly to Lynette, that he fidgeted with his hands when she or Lyney (and more recently Aether) were nowhere in sight. (He once overheard the fidgeting described as the same way a fly does when it lands.) He noticed that, despite actively avoiding many social situations, Freminet looked longingly at other groups of people.

Gaming had seen and put all of this information away in his brain, as often as he thought he would not get to use any of it. Freminet was beautiful, and if nothing else he deserved someone who would see that in every one of his oddities and quirks.

It had been a truly unfortunate stroke of luck for the brunet that he had found the object of his affections crying in the corner of a hallway, onlookers murmuring to themselves about him. Gaming saw Charlotte approach him, and how Freminet tensed as soon as he felt somebody else touch him. He saw the way he went quickly from annoyed to feeling guilty as sin when he smacked her arm away from him. Most importantly, he saw how much he needed somebody around.

Gaming watched the crowds follow Charlotte, shooing away a few stragglers himself, and plopping himself on the floor right next to Freminet. He was careful not to touch him, to give him just a few inches of space. He would be here if he was needed, forces trying as they might to stop him.

He had been elated to learn they lived only a few blocks apart, and more so when he was given permission to walk the taller of the two back home. He tried testing the rocky waters with a few conversational topics; the weather, his cat, asked Freminet some basic questions, but none of it worked. He fell back on what he knew instead.

“The penguin charm on your phone is cute. Where’d you get him?”

This was a good topic, he decided, as he watched Freminet absolutely ramble. He had never seen so many words fall out of another person’s mouth before, at least not when they were with him. That was his job, but he was more than happy to give it up this time. Freminet was smiling, laughing, and talking rather seriously about the tale his mother had once told him about Pers, and how this sparked his love of penguins.

Against the pinks and oranges of the setting sun, this was definitely the most beautiful sight.

He would commit this to memory, and then make it happen more and more often.

And that he did, every beautiful second of it. Yet, it was making him anxious. He had put the ball in Freminet’s court, asking for a text. It was making him wholly nervous, in a way he had only felt when he first came out. In that case the response had been a few seconds of silence before his grandmother, bless her, loudly proclaimed it did not matter who Gaming ended up with, they would never be good enough for her grandson.

There was no response here. Only his overwhelming, racing thoughts and feelings. What if Freminet did not want to be his friend? What if he never wanted to hear from him again? Was he annoying? Did he overstep? Would it be weird to text his sister and ask her?

Yes, that one would be weird.

But what if? What if this was a terrible time and he had blown his only shot and-

Man Chai placed a dainty paw over Gaming’s mouth. He blinked slowly at Gaming. Gaming slowly blinked back. The feline started to purr aggressively, shifting his weight to push every ounce of air out of his owner’s lungs, curling in a tight ball.

The boy heaved a heavy sigh, trying for as much air as he could with ten whole pounds sitting upon his chest. He allowed the cat some love in the form of strokes across his flank, soothing down loose hairs and playing with the long tail.

This cutie was very happy, and still Gaming was not. He had definitely, somehow, in some way, certainly screwed it on this one. It had been three hours since he left their house, three hours since he watched Freminet throw his brother to the wolf (cat), and three hours since he had been staring at the ceiling, praying to any and every archon out there that he might soon hear a text. He was in the midst of another ginormous heave of air when he did.

In his scramble to get to his phone (Way to be cool, he told himself), Main Chai was violently and unfairly tossed to the ground, unloved and unwanted in his own home. (This is a lie; he fell onto the soft pillow next to Gaming. He’s fine, just dramatic as cats tend to be.) Gaming took no notice of his best friend’s disgruntlement, staring at the plain text from an Unknown Number.

“I hope this is right – this is Freminet. Tnaks again.”

Then, quickly followed by, “Thanks*”

Gaming sat up, crossing legs for Man Chai to resettle himself. He had to play this cool if he wanted even half of a hilichurl’s butt’s chance in Enkanomiya for this to work out the way he so desperately hoped it would.

Gaming: No prob!

                Nything 4 af riend!

                Well, idk if u think were friends but I do

                I want to be!!!!!

                If thats ok

Yeah, because five exclamation marks was normal and totally, completely chill. He didn’t seem super desperate or anything, nope.

He put his phone down momentarily to put his head in his hands, groaning about being a fucking idiot. When he picked it up again he felt slightly better about it.

Fremi: Sure.

Gaming: ???

Fremi: Friends. We can be friends if you want. You seem nice.

Yes! Finally, after three long years, the universe granted mercy upon his poor soul.

Gaming was going to reply, but he instead watched the typing bubble come and go for many minutes.

Fremi: [Attached Image]

             You said you wanted to see him, so this is the Pers model I told you about.

             Oh, Aether thinks I shouldn’t dump on you about Pers….
Gaming: NOP!!!!!! DONYT LISTEN TO HIM I LOBE PERS W/ NY ENYTIRE HEART AND OSUL

Hm. That was more typos than he intended, but it was a bit late now, wasn’t it? He should read his texts more before he hits send.

Gaming: Tell me more about him?

Fremi: …Really?

Gaming: I will beg

Fremi: Unnecessary! How much did you catch about him from earlier?

             Lyney says you should never expect to sleep again…. whatever that means…

Gaming: LOL

                Hes the 1^st penguin to fly, right? Well, not rewally cause pneguins cant fly but he taught all of them how to fly under the water?

Fremi: Oh, you were paying attention.

Of course he would, why not? It was an entirely fascinating story, and the way Freminet told it made it even more captivating. He used his normally fidgeting hands, he hopped around when he got to exciting bits, his brow furrowed adorably when it was serious, and not only did his eyes light up like a thousand suns, but his voice also became light as a feather on the winds of the ocean breeze.

Fremi: Excellent. I think I about covered Pers, actually. Do you want to hear about another penguin, Thelxie? Aether hasn’t heard about him yet.

Gaming: I would be honored!

As it turned out, Lyney was correct. When Gaming woke up to his alarm, his neck hurt from falling asleep in an awkward position, his back crackled when he twisted, and his eyes were still heavy. He had fallen asleep mid-text, unsure as to the hour of his temporary death. He had dreamed of penguins, in the aquarium, a freckled boy holding his hand and murmuring interesting facts that seemed to horrify a few passersby.

He glanced blearily at his phone, ten unread texts. Nine of them were clearly max character limit messages, lengthily discussing Pers, Thelxie, and a few other of their penguin friends that Freminet had mentioned that night. The tenth was small, simple, and entirely cute.

Fremi: I think you fell asleep. Thank you for letting me talk about them. Not many people are interested. Good night, Gaming. Sweet dreams.

Gaming: They were, sorry I fell asleep. I liked the stories ytheyre super interesting. Talk about your penguins anytime

Gaming: I liked hearing you talk about thjem

Ah. In his bleary state and the need to bang his head on his pillow for being weird again, Gaming hit his head on the wall next to him.

“Gah!” He sucked in a sharp breath as his father came into the room.

“Gaming? Are you alright.”

He nodded, holding his head. “Fine. Hit my head. ‘M good.”

Yip Tak chuckled, used to his eccentric son’s antics. He only shook his head when he turned to walk away, Man Chai sitting in the door in his place. Gaming stared at the feline, who seemed to be mocking him, sitting all cute and innocent on the floor. Tyrant, he thought. All cats were absolute tyrants, and cute as Man Chai pretended to be, he was almost certainly some sort of evil warlord in one of those rumored nine lives of his.

-

An hour later, Gaming was at the school gates, greeted loudly by Xiangling. She threw her arm over his shoulders in a hug, guiding him quickly to their usual spot across the yard. “Finally!” She huffed, giving him an annoyed look. “I hate third wheeling those idiots by myself. Do you have any idea how obnoxious he is?”

Of course, Gaming knew who ‘he’ was. He laughed, knowing Xingqiu was probably putting on an amazing show of flirting with Chongyun, pretending he wasn’t, and watching Chongyun slowly combust all the while. The darker haired boy paid no heed to any who may be watching, or listening in. He cared only for his own mischief, and Chongyun’s self-destruction. Usually, he would tone it down if friends were around, with only the occasional play at Chongyun’s dignity, but…well, he saw the way they looked at each other. There was only so much Xingqiu could tone himself down before he needed his mouth taped shut and hands bound.

The mischievous heir to an empire looked up at them as they approached. Gaming took in the loud red on Chongyun’s face, try as he might to hide it in Xingqiu’s back. Xingqiu, for his part, looked remarkably calm, like he had not committed whatever grave sin he just had, and instead like he had only been reading his book innocently from the comfort of his partner’s lap.

Xingqiu grinned, making a show of putting his book down, tapping Chongyun’s arms wrapped tightly around him to loosen, and stood to greet Gaming. “Oh, dear friend! You finally deign to join us on this miraculous morning. I fear we may be too boring for Xiangling.” He gave her a pointed look.

She huffed, clearly extremely offended. “Boring? Try gross. Anyway,” she bent down for her bag, “now that everyone is here, I tried a new recipe, and I was hoping you guys would try it.”

Chongyun blanched.

“I like it, but dad says it’s too much and Guoba won’t even look at it.”

“Xiangling,” Chongyun began timidly, “it’s probably really bad if your dog won’t even look in its direction.”

“He glanced at it!” She exclaimed, pulling a tub of mystery food from her things. “He just didn’t want it.”

Chongyun covered his mouth, already seeming to feel the heat her food usually brought. “That’s worse!”

The girl huffed, turning to Gaming. “Well, you’ll try it, won’t-Gaming?” When she got no response, she snapped her fingers at him. “Gaming! Will you try my dish?”

“Oh! Yeah, what is it again?”

Xingqiu began laughing hysterically, like one of those stupid hyena’s from The Lion King, hands on his knees, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. Gaming glared at him. This would absolutely not go smoothly. He was too observant, and Gaming had not been paying attention to where his attention even was. Well, it was no secret to these three; Xingqiu had been swift to point it out. Xiangling had nodded along, as if she already knew and had politely not said a word. Chongyun had given a ‘how do you know?’ as if Xingqiu didn’t know everything.

Smart ass.

Xingqiu regained his composure, grin plastered to his cheeky face. “Talk to him, Gaming. I can even give you pointers! In the novel I read last week, the lead- “

“I did.”

Xiangling shoved her mystery food in her bag. “You spoke to him? Finally? Why didn’t you tell us? I will force Chongyun to eat a chili if it means you tell me everything.” She sat on the grass, legs folded, elbows to knees, hands propping up her head, eyes wide as saucers.

Chongyun spread his arms wide. “Wha-why me?!”

Xingqiu took this as his cue to take his seat on his boyfriend’s lap back. He reached up to pat Chongyun’s squishy cheeks, “Because you’re easy, love.” Chongyun flushed, opening his mouth to retort but being cut off. “Now, dearest Gaming, I believe you have a story to regale us with?”

Sigh. Gaming cast a glance to Freminet, who was speaking excitedly to Aether. About what he could not make out from this distance, but he could only guess and pray he would get similar treatment later. Gaming, too, sat on the grass and began to pluck the stuff from around him. “We just talked is all.”

“All?” Xiangling looked Chongyun in the eyes. “Prepare.”

Chongyun threw a worried look at Gaming. “Please.”

Gaming huffed a chuckle, deciding he should save the innocent boy from their gossipy friends. She would do it, he knew, and Xingqiu would help her. They were a funny group, and they were open and easy to talk to. Maybe that was why he had gravitated towards them when he saw them four years ago. Then they adopted him as their own little cub, and the rest was history for the lot.

“Well,” Gaming glanced up, as if in thought. “Let’s see.” And he did tell them what he thought he could. He mentioned Freminet looking down (he did not mention the crying, which might be embarrassing), how he decided to talk to him (“A brave soldier,” Xingqiu commented), and how Freminet had agreed to being walked home, and then-

“WOAH!” Xiangling held up her hands, stopping the brunet in his tracks. “You walked him home? Sounds like a date to me.”

He smacked one of her outstretched hands. “No.”

Pause.

“No. I wish. ANYWAY, do you want to hear the rest or not?”

She made a face and gestured to him to continue.

Gaming told them of the way Freminet had lit up when discussing Pers and Thelxie, and how they had texted until Gaming passed out like there was no tomorrow. He went into detail about meeting Lyney, and Lynette, and how he thought the way Freminet totally ratted Lyney out for accidentally killing Lynette’s Lumidouce’s was really funny, and clearly over petty sibling squabbles he could never understand. He was, after all, not very close with his own siblings – they were all much older than he was. (Xingqiu sagely nodded his head. “Ah, the sibling rivalry. I am familiar.”)

By the end his heart felt fluttery, and his nerves were alight again. He had been so awkward so many times and Freminet did not return his text this morning and-

Deep breaths. He would be okay, right? He could be totally cool seeing his favorite human being out and about through his day, but now with the opportunity to actually talk to him. Yeah, he could do it. It would be fine. Just this once. Right?

-

HA! That would be too much to ask for. His friends had delightfully teased him, Xingqiu offering his advice, as the only one of them who could get a date.

(“Chongyun doesn’t count,” Xiangling told him.

Chongyun, ever the butt of this joke he knew as friendship, proclaimed, “Why not?”

“Because you’ve been dating since you were in diapers.”

“We were not! We didn’t even meet until we were fully potty trained.”

“You may as well have been. You don’t count.”

Chongyun pouted at her.)

Xiangling, meanwhile, was offering her own services. You should try to win his heart through his stomach, she told him, and offered to make one of her signature dishes, or teach him how. This did not sit quite right, as he had the idea that Freminet’s family did not eat many spicy things. Or maybe things with spice at all if he was an unlucky kid.

With all this teasing having riled him up, and three classes before he was allowed to see the other boy again, he had wound himself like a ball of yarn. One tug and he would go flying, unraveling in a way that was uncontrollable, unstoppable, and unpredictable. In a way he did not want.

It was their history class, with Mr. Zhongli. He was a nice older man, and often allowed the kids to pick their seats at will so long as they behave during class. He had told them that this was a privilege, and one he would take away should they choose to disobey him. Xingqiu, of course, had used this opportunity to fill the square he and Gaming sat at, or as an opportunity to cause trouble. Probably both. He threw up an arm and called out, “Freminet!”

Gaming thought he might die, or that he might kill Xingqiu right there (if he could get away with it, he would have). He watched Freminet turn his head abruptly, clearly confused. He made eye-contact with Gaming, and hesitated. Gaming gave him a smile and waved him over, hoping to reassure him. Freminet looked at Aether, who shrugged and pushed Freminet by the shoulders towards the two. Freminet looked like he was unsure which seat to take, but Aether beat him to it, taking the one by Xingqiu. Great, Gaming thought. Both of them are definitely working against me.

“Hi,” Xingqiu extended a hand to Freminet, “I’m Xingqiu!”

Freminet looked at the boy’s hand for a moment before taking it gently in his own. He did not look like he enjoyed the contact. “I’m… Freminet. You knew that. I’m sorry, have we met before? I’m not very good with faces.”

“Nope!” Xingqiu shook his head proudly, puffing out his chest and winking casually, tauntingly in Gaming’s direction. “Gaming here is my dear friend and has so kindly told me all about your encounter yesterday. He made me quite curious, you see, I’ve just had to meet you!”

The blonde’s bright ocean eyes looked at Gaming, eyebrows knitting together. “All…about?”

It took seeing Aether smack Xingqiu upside the head for Gaming to register that Freminet was worried, possibly upset (At me now, thanks you ass, he thought at his rich friend), and beginning to shrink himself down. Oh, could this rich brat not keep his mouth shut just this once? Where was Chongyun when the boy needed a good scolding?

Gaming made a note to bring this to attention later, knowing Xingqiu would be thoroughly and justly punished for his behavior. For now, he had to play it safe. “No, not all, about,” he saw Xingqiu raise his eyebrows in a teasing manner, as if to say Chongyun would be eating chilis for leaving out some of the juicy details of his story, and he had to switch sides. “I mean, yes, all about-er, all about how I met you in the halls and we walked home! I told him about Pers.”

He subconsciously went to put a hand over Freminet’s in a means of comfort but pulled his away. It would otherwise be awkward. Again.

“I hope you don’t mind. Sorry, I should have asked. Xingqiu just loves stories, don’t you, Xingqiu?” Gaming kicked his friend under the desk.

Xingqiu flinched. “Ow- Yes! I have read many books and never heard of this Pers he speaks of. I hear he is a penguin! How fascinating. Perhaps you can regale me with his tale?”

This conversation was clearly so fake, Gaming was sure Freminet would see through it. He would think they were making fun of him; he would say he hated Gaming’s guts, and that would be the end of their tragic tale. Lyney would kill him, Lynette would use him as fertilizer for her new Lumidouce garden, and Aether…. seemed to be having similar thoughts.

Aether only shook his head and put it in his hands. He seemed just about as stressed out about this crapshoot as Gaming was. “Please shut up.” Then, quickly, “Not you, Freminet. You may speak. Them, they shut up.”

Freminet tilted his head but seemed to relax. “Oh, I can be quiet. Do you have a headache? I have medicine.”

Aether gave Freminet a friendly smile. “No headache, they’re just annoying. I, too, would love to hear more about Pers. We have a few minutes before class, would you like to elaborate since Xingqiu has nicely asked?”

He hesitated but nodded. He started quietly but exactly as he had the previous night, got more excited about the topic as he continued. Xingqiu genuinely did become enthralled with the tale, making comments and notes about the story, asking detailed questions Gaming would never have thought of. The two became so enmeshed in the story of Pers, the first swimming penguin, that neither seemed to notice Mr. Zhongli take the stage until Gaming and Aether hushed them.

At this rate, Gaming thought to himself, his tale would end with his feelings unrequited, and Freminet in love with Xingqiu, who asked better questions and had better ideas. But Xingqiu would not do that to him, and, he supposed, it would be nice if Freminet got along with his friends. They could be his friends, too. How nice would that be?

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Freminet was first introduced to Xingqiu, and consequently their other friends. The dark-haired boy was okay; Freminet got the idea that while he appeared like a well-behaved child, he was much on the wild side, which kept the blond on edge. He had been kind, but he spoke in big words and phrases one could only hope to understand in their lifetime. His sentences came across as rich and filled with glee, as well as something else Freminet could not name – it was as if somehow, every single time, Xingqiu was giving some kind of dig at someone, playful or not he was not sure. Of course, this was speculation and a gut feeling but it gnawed at him anyway. Lyney said it was anxiety.

On the other hand, the feeling could be ignored and in fact would melt away upon being given permission to speak. Xingqiu was actually curious about Pers and his story! He asked so many interesting questions that Freminet was unsure of, and they came up with answers together. It was absolutely riveting! There were only so many things either twin could ask him about by now – they had spent the majority of their lives together, after all. In that amount of time, most questions about a topic tend to get asked already.

Still, they had been right! Lyney, Lynette, and even Father had told him he needed only to find people who truly understood him. He had thought it would be difficult, nay impossible. Who could understand him as his own family did?

As luck had it, Aether did. Or, well, he pretended to. If he had no idea what Freminet was talking about he would smile and nod along, reassuring Freminet the whole way that he did not mind the younger one talking to him about his interests whether he got it or not. As recompense for Pers talk, he was often dragged into conversations about gifts that Lyney would like, and he would try to behave similarly.

Gaming also seemed to understand him. It had not gone unnoticed how touchy Gaming was towards his friends; it was quite obvious upon being introduced to them. He had gathered Xiangling in a very tight hug, swinging her around like she weighed nothing to him. He so easily threw an arm around the quiet Chongyun, and he wrestled with Xingqiu similar to the way Lyney would wrestle with Freminet or Lynette from time to time. Freminet had seen Gaming reach to do similar to him a few times, stopping just short. He briefly considered that Gaming may find him gross or weird.

(Lyney would reassure him that, “No, Freminet, he doesn’t think you’re gross. He probably just knows you don’t like it.”

“He doesn’t know that! How could he know that? We’ve known each other for barely a week!” He paused for only a second before meekly asking, “Am I really so obviously…?”

Unfortunately, while it had been a couple of years since diagnosis, he was still hesitant to describe himself that way. He had spent so long convincing himself he wasn’t, and that he was faking it, and he absolutely could not be autistic. Still, Father had said that she had a feeling, and it made a lot of things make sense about him to his family. It had been that same family who reassured him at the time that this changed nothing for them and would only make it easier for other people to understand him – they already did, after all. This time was Aether, who pulled him quite comfortably into a loose hug. Freminet would not complain about it, nor would he admit he liked it.

“It’s been almost two weeks, and no, not obviously. But you definitely shy away from touching people you’re not comfortable with – a completely natural reaction, mind you – and you hesitate when you shake their hand. It’s not hard to guess you don’t like touching people, and that’s ok. Lynette doesn’t either.”

“I have no idea where they’ve been,” she stated matter of factly, tail swishing.)

Freminet was unsure how correct they were – Xiangling did not seem to pick up on this fact so easily. She was not malicious; she was pure energy unlike any he had ever seen. She was loud, excitable, and very friendly. It bothered him that she would touch him so easily, but Gaming seemed to be doing his best to keep her from it. This included, but was not limited to, calling her name sternly, tackling her into his own hug, sitting on her to keep her in place, and once licking her face to distract her. This had distracted her, but consequently resulted in Gaming being chased as she tried to get him back.

On this occasion Chongyun had leaned close and told him, “They’re always like this.”

That was good, he supposed, that they were so open and friendly with one another. As long as neither tried to lick his face. That was a line crossed by only one, and only because it satisfied her urge to lick his hair down instead. It was mildly less gross. Very mildly.

In any case, the group of friends had tried to include him since day one though he was not quite sure why. They had invited him to dinner, an arcade, the mall, and once to Xingqiu’s house because it was the quietest place they could be. He had declined all but one invitation, where he had felt so out of place he was hesitant to do it again. He was unsure if he could handle it. They were all nice, of course, but he needed time to get used to them and their ways. This, and the fact that he was not sure he meshed with them well. When it was just Gaming it was easy, as if they had been friends far longer than they had, but group settings had never been Freminet’s thing.

This time they had invited him to Xiangling’s family restaurant immediately after classes were dismissed. She assured him she would not spike the food this time and everything was very good. (He knew already, the restaurant had made a good name for itself around the town.)

He had been there before with his family so he knew the menu and what he would like, but… his stomach dropped at the suggestion, and he felt queasy though not as if he would vomit. His heart rate spiked; he was once again fidgeting with his hands… They were so nice, and he was so nervous. He wanted to go, just maybe not yet. But how do you verbalize that when you’ve already declined many invitations with flimsy excuses and have run out of them? How do you say that without sounding entirely rude?

Gaming saved him, tossing an arm around the taller blond’s middle. Freminet felt Gaming tense the second they made contact, like he knew he’d messed up somehow, but did not move away. “No can do, amigos. You see, we-,“ Freminet noticed Gaming tense and stumble over his words when he moved closer, “We, ah, sorry, got plans. Right, Fremi?”

Though he had asked the question, Gaming would not look at him. The shorter took a deep, purposeful breath, relaxing just a hair.  

“Right, yes. Sorry.” He tried all the tricks Lyney had taught him – make eye contact, stand tall (sort of), don’t give too many details that could incriminate you (or any at all if you could help it), and try to sound apologetic. He was a terrible liar. They would probably see through him no matter how Lyney coached him on this skill. He could only hope they would not call him out on it or find him rude and cast him away.

This was so horribly nerve-wracking. Why could he not have an easy time making friends like everyone else? Why was he not born with Lyney’s charisma, or Lynette’s nonchalant attitude? He thought that even Father’s ‘I hate everyone’ attitude may have been a better one to have in the long run. Maybe things would be easier for him that way. Maybe, if he had those things, the way Xiangling was staring them down would not bother him. Maybe, if he had those things, the way Xingqiu appeared as the Cheshire Cat would not throw his stomach into more knots than he could untangle at once.

Still, neither called him on the lie.

Xingqiu clapped his hands together resolutely, grin still plastered to his face. “Of course, no worries! We shall be going then. Come along,” he said, grabbing Chongyun and Xiangling by the arms. They walked almost to the schools’ gates before he turned his head to call, “Have fun on your date!”

He felt Gaming let go of him instantly and when he looked at his new friend, Freminet saw the brunet’s bright red face, his arms crossed tightly, and glaring at Xingqiu. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something but could not come up with the words. Freminet ran through a couple of his old insecurities about it, then settled on the thought of, that’s weird. He seemed fine with Lyney and Aether. Then again, some people had different feelings about it being themselves.

They watched the trio scamper off, Xingqiu clearly cackling at a joke Freminet either did not hear or did not understand. Then the pair stood there. One minute. Two. This was awkward.

“You should go with them.”

Gaming’s face had seemed to cool off by the time he turned to look at Freminet, arms still crossed, like a confused puppy. “Why would I?”

“Well, they’re your friends. Don’t you want to hang out with them?” Or had Gaming just been using him as a convenient excuse? Or worse, had they really made plans together that he so rudely forgot about?

Gaming shook his head. “Well, yeah, but I said I have plans with you. And I do, if you want to come with me.” The brunet showed off his pearly whites as he often did. It was a bright, genuine smile that made Freminet feel more at ease than he had in a while. He hesitated. What would these plans entail? Usually, he would fret about such details, or be upset about the sudden change in his plans to go home and do nothing but…

“Okay. Let me send a text, then. Where are we going?”

-

Jueyun Karst park was not new to Freminet, yet he had never had the chance to go. He would not go to an unfamiliar place by himself unless he was meeting somebody he knew there, and he would not bring it up to his siblings. They would need to go out of their way to accompany him – he would not ask them to burden themselves.

It was exactly as beautiful as he had heard. The area was fairly clear, with a few short trees, a couple of benches, basic shrubberies, and the Sweet Flower beds along the main path. There was an absolutely ginormous koi pond with so many beautiful patterns swimming about within it. This was the true attraction to Freminet, to see such beautiful fish in such a beautiful place. There was even a feeding station to give the koi some food. They practically ate out of his palm.

Near the pond was a play structure. It detailed a jungle gym, swings, a few unknown playthings, and the slides. There was one in particular that was incredibly tall. Despite the fish in front of him, he could not stop looking at this tall slide. The reason was simple – Gaming had climbed on top of it and was lying there, hands behind his head, watching the sky. Freminet thought that if he fell, it would hurt a great deal. Yet the boy seemed comfortable atop the structure.

Freminet glanced at the fish one more time before making his way up to stand beside Gaming’s head.

“That’s dangerous.”

Gaming looked up at him upside down. “It’s not that bad. I do this a lot. I like cloud watching and naming shapes. Sometimes they give me ideas.” The brunet sat up to pat the spot next to him. “Come on,” he said, his usually wild grin gone soft.

Freminet stared at him. “Absolutely not.”

“I wouldn’t let you fall.”

“You can’t control if I fall or not.”

“I can try.” Gaming stretched out his hand. “If you really don’t want to, okay. But I promise nothing bad will happen so long as I’m here to catch you.”

Freminet felt something twist in his gut. It wasn’t the anxiety he was used to, which made it a difficult feeling to pin with a name. He gulped, hesitating for a moment, then took the boy’s hand. “Okay.” Just this once, he decided he would try something new. There was a gleam in the other’s amber eyes that made him believe he really wouldn’t fall, and if he did then Gaming would catch him. It made him feel braver than he was.

He tried not to squirm too much, but he had a hard time making himself comfortable on the narrow slide’s top. This was annoying, but he wanted more than anything to be with Gaming in the moment and agree to his crazy idea. Then his leg slipped off the side, and he panicked, clinging to Gaming’s shirt.

The other laughed, pulling him closer. “Don’t worry, I never break my promises. Here.” He pulled Freminet closer still, placing his hand on Freminet’s waist, much tighter than it had been earlier, more relaxed. “Is this okay?”

Freminet shuffled just a tad so their sides were touching completely. This was comfortable, and he did not feel like he was going to fall anymore. He moved again, taking off his jacket because Gaming’s touch was so warm, and despite the other times not having done so, he expected it to hurt, to burn as everything else did. This was pleasant and safe, and he had no need for the jacket.

“Yes, thank you.”

They sat for a long time, pointing at various clouds to determine what they were, then what they shifted into in the span it took for them to figure out what it had been initially. There were lions, rabbits, dragons, and even some grotesque faces. They sat like this until the sky grew purple and Freminet’s stomach grumbled at him.

He held his arms over his stomach, as if that would shield anyone else from hearing the loud complaints. “I suppose we should be going home.” He was already thinking about if he should wait to eat dinner at home or stop somewhere on his way back. Café Lutece might still be open if he was lucky, or if Lyney had not eaten the rest of the Ratatouille from the night prior…oh, what to do? He supposed Lynette would tell him if there was-

“Have you ever been to Liuli Pavilion? It’s kind of far but really good. My treat, for keeping you out so long.” When Freminet only stared at him, Gaming continued. “Or Wanmin is still open. Xiangling will probably give us something good; she’s a great chef.” Freminet still did not say anything. “If you want. I just wanted to, er,” he paused for only a second, “I wanted to hang out with you a little more.”

Gaming looked at Freminet and every thought he had went out the window. The other boy was so earnest in his request, and looked like the idea that they may split right there would hurt him. The idea suddenly hurt Freminet too. For the first time in years, he knew he had a friend. In the same moment, he realized he would go along with anything to keep being blinded by Gaming’s smile and scorched by his warm touch.

He was out of his element here, and he would drown, but it would be okay. Gaming would not let him. If he did, he would have learned his lesson, but just this once he hoped there was none to learn. Just this once, everything would work out perfectly, right?

“Fremi?”

Right, he needed an answer. “Uh, sure. Er, either. What’s your preference?”

Gaming grinned at him like a kid promised a candy bar.

-

They ended up getting takeout from Liuli Pavilion. Freminet was not usually fond of this type of cuisine due to the typical spices he was not used to, but this was not unpleasant or intolerable. They had eaten nearby, Gaming chatting the whole time about different topics. He talked about his father, his business, his love of dance, and a cat he was very sure was actively plotting world domination. When shown a picture, Freminet thought Man Chai was too cute to do such a thing. If he did, he was too cute for anybody to care.

The two boys continued walking once they had finished their dinner, towards their homes. Gaming chatted away merrily, making Freminet laugh until his stomach hurt. He was much more at ease now, he thought. Things would be easier. He would make an effort for Gaming. He would get along with Xingqiu and Chongyun and even excitable, much too friendly Xiangling.

“Do you want to meet our up-and-coming dictator?”

He was smiling, because he had an idea of what this meant but wanted to ask anyway. “Ha, a dictator?”

Gaming nodded, obviously feigning complete seriousness in the matter. “Yes. Dictator Man Chai requests an audience with ye. Shall you accept this quest?”

When Gaming winked at him, Freminet’s grin faltered for a moment. His heart stuttered. “Ah, sure. If the evil potato wishes it so, I suppose it shall be.”

He watched Gaming’s brows furrow and noticed an eyebrow piercing peak out from the boy’s bangs. How fascinating – somehow, while he had not expected such a thing from Gaming, it fit him well. Did he have any other piercings? Or perhaps a tattoo hidden somewhere? Then again, maybe not. Gaming so often wore tank tops which would surely have revealed one if there were any to at all.

His friend’s smile never left his face but did go lopsided. “Evil potato?”

Oh. Freminet felt his cheeks burn. His joke had been a flop. “Well, you called him a dictator. A tater as in potato and- you know what? Never mind.” He should ask Lynette for her book of dad jokes. He was never good at coming up with his own, after all.

“No, now you need to explain it to me.”

“No, it’s not funny anymore,” Freminet huffed.

He watched Gaming’s smile grow wider. “You’re being crass.”

“I am not!” Freminet’s face went absolutely pink, hiding his freckles among the blush.

Gaming poked Freminet’s shoulder. “Ooo, Fremi makes dick jokes!”

The blond’s mouth fell open and he stopped walking to stare at Gaming, gears turning in his head. “You did get it! Oh, you!” Gaming stuck his tongue out, laughing when Fremi tried to swipe at him.

He ran away. Freminet chased him about a block down before Gaming turned and threw his hands up, acting in surrender. Dancing on his toes like Freminet might actually try to beat the hell out of him any minute if he wasn’t careful. “Okay, yes, I got it!” He was cackling. “I just wanted to see if you would say it!”

Freminet glared, feigning upset at the accusation. “Say what?”

“Dick.”

He shook his head again, shocked. “Wha- why?”

He had relaxed, which Gaming took as his cue to come back and toss his arm over the taller boy’s shoulder. “You’re just so quiet and polite. I wanted to see if you would say ‘dick’ to explain the joke to me or dance around it like Chongyun does.” When Freminet did not respond immediately, “Sorry I won’t do it again. I didn’t mean to upset-“

Freminet looked Gaming dead in the eyes and said the worst word he could think of, grinning smugly. Gaming was right. He was polite and well-mannered and neither of the twins would believe he was capable of swearing unless under some sort of drastic stress. (They did not need to know that he was in fact very foul-mouthed to only himself. A telepath would think he knew no other words.) He knew this, and he was going to use it to his complete advantage. “And you know what? Nobody will ever believe you.”

It was Gaming’s turn to take a swipe at Freminet and give a half-hearted chase, laughing down the road. “You’re cheeky!”

Despite Freminet’s longer legs, Gaming was faster and even not giving his all he easily caught Fremi in a bear hug around the middle. He picked him up, swinging him in a circle before placing him down again, both laughing hysterically. Freminet kneeled down, having to catch his breath and regain his composure. He was sure his face was now bright red from laughter, tears welling in his eyes. He loved this feeling. Gaming stood with his hands on his knees, huffing for his own breath.

“Archons, Fremi. Why would you ever curse me with such knowledge?”

Freminet looked up at him, ocean blue eyes sparkling under the streetlamps. “I told you – nobody will ever believe you and that fact alone is all I need.”

Gaming ruffled Freminet’s hair. “Argh, you’re more like Xingqiu than I thought.” He huffed one last, heavy breath that marked he was now okay. “Except he doesn’t hide it nearly so well.” Gaming shook his head, glancing down at his feet and then up at the sky. “You’re hilarious. Come on,” he dragged out the second word. “The dick potato awaits.”

Embarrassingly, Freminet straight up snorted. Gaming raised a brow at him but said nothing about it, only dragging Freminet by the hand the rest of the way to his front door.

Man Chai naturally greeted him at the door, purring aggressively. He was a friendly cat and seemed to enjoy Freminet very much. Gaming voiced the thought that Freminet might be safe from the dictator and would be Gaming’s replacement as the favorite human. Freminet sat for a long time to play with this adorable orange cat, giving him many treats.

(“Not too many, he’ll get fat,” Gaming said.

“Lynette doesn’t get fat no matter how many treats we give her. And he’s orange, he’ll work it off with zoomies.”

Gaming laughed. “You treat your sister like a pet?”

“She practically begs for it.”)

Freminet was reluctantly pulled away only when Lyney called, stating it was now nearly midnight and while it was the weekend now, he should be heading home soon if he was going to at all. Freminet had agreed. With mock tears he said goodbye to Man Chai, then pretended he had no care for Gaming at all. Both knew this was a terrible lie, proven when Freminet was the one to nervously ask if a hug was alright. Gaming seemed absolutely giddy at the ask, squeezing Freminet so tightly he couldn’t breathe yet was laughing still. It was comfortable, and he quietly hoped Gaming would not hesitate again.

They parted, Gaming watching him walk to the road. He was grinning like a fool when he got home, having spent his time alone with his thoughts thinking about the fun he had had today. The grin seemed to prompt a proper hounding from his brother and said brother’s boyfriend, who had recently become incredibly invested in Freminet’s life. He did not mind. He loved his family, related to him or not. While the teasing was annoying sometimes, he knew they loved right back and just as much. They were merely curious about his new friend and how their brother was being treated. He could handle this much.

Chapter Text

He had asked for a hug. Gaming was elated, for he knew many things about Freminet and exactly what this meant. First, he knew that Freminet was not touchy, yet had pressed closer to him not once, but twice. Second, he knew that Freminet was not someone to ask for affection. He would allow it to happen with his chosen people and look annoyed when they pulled away, but he would never ask for more. Finally, he knew above all else that Freminet had let down his walls that night.

Gaming could almost pinpoint the moment that Freminet relaxed entirely, allowing the anxieties to melt away. This was good. This was so good! He was being allowed in, which meant he was getting places. Where that place was, he could only hope. But even if the final destination was short of where he thought it was when he boarded, that was enough.

-

He was absolutely giddy. He thought he should invite Fremi back, or out to a movie or something. Maybe he would like a movie; sure, it was crowded, but it was quiet besides the movie itself. He wouldn’t have to talk too much about anything. Or maybe an aquarium? Did they have penguins at the aquarium? He would need to check it out. Maybe-

Ding!

Gaming dove for the device atop his bed, nearly squishing Man Chai in the process. All of that to be disappointed but grinning anyway.

Rich Boy: So. How was your date? ;)

Spice Queen: yea how was your date

Gaming: it was NOT a date

Rich Boy: Was it good or not?

Gaming: I am going to have a heart attack and die

Chongyun: where did you go?

Spice Queen: lol your so down bad you got Chongyun interested

Chongyun: what I can’t be curious about my friends lives?

Rich Boy: Not enough to ask questions.

                  Answer me before I give you a weird nickname in my phone.

Gaming: isn’t it meathead or smth rn?

Rich Boy: It’s just a video game controller.

Gaming: …rude

Gaming decided it would take him too long to type and instead regaled the three with the tale of his evening via a phone call, which they were prone to do. He was finding he had to now detail his evenings out more often since he had befriended the boy he was infatuated with for so long. These three were quite nosy, he knew, but he was more than happy to talk to them about this. He had briefly considered talking to his dad and while he knew he was loved and accepted, he thought that conversation might be a bit too awkward to handle. Man Chai was usually the next best because he only ignored his human sometimes. Sometimes he spoke back. Probably telling Gaming to stop complaining or about the cat’s plans for world domination. They may never know.

Xingqiu made a fake gagging noise. “You are sickening. Kiss him.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Gaming you cannot date him,” Xiangling told him, with finality. “Do you know what that will mean? It will mean I need to fifth wheel my own friend group. I refuse to fifth wheel my own friend group! I just got out of being a third wheel four years ago! It’s too soon! I can’t go back!” They heard a dull thwak and then, “Oops, sorry Guoba.”

Xingqiu, in his ever-sarcastic manner, told her, “Just get a partner. It’s not hard.”

“Oh, I’m sorry that you have a boyfriend built into your life! Some of us need to flirt for our partners and I can’t.” It was true that she was a horrible flirt, but also that she wasn’t super interested in it at all. The whole thing was in jest.

Gaming flopped on his back, phone by his head. “How do you flirt?”

“You already are,” Xingqiu told him.

“I am not.”

“Yes, you are,” Xiangling agreed.

“A lot,” was Chongyun’s first contribution to this call. Gaming had forgotten he was even there.

Great, so even Chongyun was against him. “Okay, how though?”

“Look,” Xingqiu began, no doubt about to give some sage advice. “I’m not saying I would write a fic about you two and your clearly blooming relationship or anything, but-“

“He would,” Chongyun cut in. “I’ve read them.”

“I do not!” They heard the novelist huff. Gaming could imagine him folding his arms and pouting like a toddler. “I’m saying that if I did, the general public consensus would be that you need to ask him on a date already.”

“Yeah, Chongyun, ugh!” Xiangling faked annoyance in her voice, clearly stifling laughter. “Obviously he writes fics about his friends and changes their names. How could you?” The other three laughed as Xingqiu scolded her for such accusations, though Chongyun insisted they were true. “Anyway,” she continued. “I’m with Xingqiu. You smile a lot more when he’s around or you know you’re going to see him. And you try to touch him a lot.”

Again, Chongyun was against Gaming. “Then you wimp out.”

Gaming shook his head, forgetting momentarily that they couldn’t see him. “No, he doesn’t like to be touched.”

He heard Xiangling sigh loudly. She was being aggressive about it on purpose. “Babe, he literally asked you for a hug. And you cuddled in the park. And- wait a second. Is that why you push me away from him all the time? I thought you were just being jealous!”

“It was not cuddling, and of course that’s why!”

“You cuddled for hours,” Xingqiu affirmed.

“It was not-!”

Ding! There was an image from Chongyun to their chat. It was a screenshot of a google search, and a clear jab at Gaming’s expense. It was quite a simple read. ‘Cud-dle. VERB: To hold close in one’s arms a as a way of showing love or affection. NOUN: A prolonged or affectionate hug.’ Chongyun had so helpfully included his own comment with the screenshot, “You clearly hit both of these definitions.”

Gaming tossed his hands up. “Since when are you mean to me?”

“Have you met my boyfriend?”

Said boyfriend cackled on his end. “I corrupted him ages ago. Good work, love.” Gaming thought he could hear Chongyun combust over the phone. “So you were, by a definition that we now have, cuddling. For hours. Then you took him to a dinner where you paid, and then walked around.”

Xiangling interrupted, “Not even! They chased each other around.”

“You introduced him to Man Chai and it’s been two weeks.” Xingqiu sighed heartily. “You made me wait two months before I was allowed in your home.”

Chongyun reminded him, “’Qiu, you’re not always very well behaved. I wouldn’t let you in either.”

“Hey!”

Xiangling pulled them back together. “You introduced him to your cat and he asked you for a hug before he left your house. Tell me, Gaming, what part of that was not a date?”

Gaming hesitated. They were right. If he had read any of this in one of Xingqiu’s novels he would think the leads should just get it over with, but he also knew they had not known each other for very long. And, even if they had, he did not want to lose the friendship he had gained. He did not want to freak Fremi out, or make the cute boy think he was befriending him because of a silly little crush. Or, and likely the most important, he wasn’t even sure Freminet liked guys. Or even people!

When he voiced as much, there was silence on the other lines for a good minute.

He heard Xingqiu tut to himself, thinking. “Ah, too serious for me. ‘Ling, you’re up.”

She groaned. “All those novels and you have no good advice? You’re useless.” She went quiet for just a moment, where Gaming heard her shuffling around. She was probably making space for Guoba, who was not a small dog at all. “Well, you could always somehow, and do not ask me how, ask him his preferences? If you’re not sure, I don’t know, ask his siblings? Plus,” she took a deep breath, “he doesn’t seem like the type to think you were just trying to get in his pants or something stupid like that. Just be honest with him. You’re right, maybe things get awkward, or maybe it works, and you get a boyfriend.” She quickly amended, “Which I totally don’t want. Fifth wheel and all.”

“It’s okay, Xiangling,” Chongyun reassured. “We love our precious fifth wheel.”

They heard Xingqiu gasp loudly, a crash, shuffling, and then furious tapping at a keyboard. “I can message Aether.”

Gaming asked, “Why would he give you his number? He scolds you like every time we see him.”

“He didn’t.”

“How will you text somebody you have no number for?”

Silence.

“Xingqiu,” Chongyun said, accusingly. It was in the same tone a parent might use when they wanted their child to admit they had done something. A plea to allow a lighter punishment upon them for their honesty and admittance. Unfortunately, Xingqiu may not go so easily as a small child.

“Lyney posts his magic tricks online. I stalked his following list.”

“Oh my god,” Xiangling groaned at him. “You’re a stalker!”

“I’m a wingman, and a great one at that. Now let’s see…” They fell silent for a whole minute before Xingqiu groaned. “He has no idea. He has suspicions, but he won’t elaborate on exactly what those are.”

Xiangling asked him, “Why did you think he would even know?”

“Have you seen him with Freminet? He treats him like a little brother. I thought maybe that’s something they might talk about.”

Chongyun huffed a laugh. “You don’t tell your own brother things and you’re related.”

“He is evil and will use everything against me.”

“I was invited to his wedding,” Xiangling said. “I watched you cry through the whole ceremony.”

His voice cracked when he shouted, “It was sweet!”

-

Gaming was exhausted. Xingqiu had kept him up too long the last few nights speculating and detailing elaborate plans, straight from his novels Gaming was sure, on how to best win over his beautiful blond. A date he may enjoy, magnificent ways to announce his ‘undying love’. (Gaming had scolded him, no doubt blushing furiously the whole time.) Xiangling pitched in her own ways, which usually involved food. Chongyun had pulled him aside the day after the call and told him only to be himself and ignore the other two.

Unfortunately, they would not relent until he admitted to having a plan in place, he was simply in need of money to enact it. Xingqiu helpfully offered to pay the whole way if it meant he would not look so desperately, longingly, at Freminet anymore. Gaming would absolutely not allow such a thing, stating he had a few odd jobs to do this week that would get him enough for this plan and then some. He had some savings already anyway; this would be nothing. Xingqiu was not satisfied, he and Xiangling jumping down Gaming’s throat for “details!”

He groaned at them but caved anyway. He had plans to take Freminet to the new aquarium in Elynas, which had a portion you could feed and hang out with penguins for a while. He had no doubt that Freminet would love this exhibit. Upon Xingqiu’s doubt that ‘penguins won’t cut it’, he admitted another part of his plan. He got called lame.

(“That’s what penguins do!”

“And you think he’ll get the hint?”

“Yes! He told me they do!”

Xiangling butted her head against his shoulder. “As long as you’re sure. If it doesn’t work, what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?”)

Now, he wasn’t even sure he would be able to see this plan through. Freminet was killing him with casual affection since that night. The blond was in no way a touchy person, yet here he was running up to excitedly ramble about plans, things that had happened, a hand on the shoulder, a feather light touch to the small of Gaming’s back to announce his presence, ruffling the smaller boy’s hair. The texts were more frequent and less formal, and Gaming was finding himself having to take a breather from Freminet lest his heart give out.

Gaming was pretty sure Freminet was talking about somehow modifying the house Roomba (affectionately named Tartaglia by their father, which was a clear joke none of the siblings got), but he wasn’t actually totally sure of this. Maybe it wasn’t the Roomba, and it was their blender. Or maybe the Roomba was a woman in their house? It really could have been anything. But the way Freminet was speaking so animatedly made it difficult to focus.

For possibly the first time ever, he was grateful for their conversation to be interrupted by their ever-strict teacher, Monsieur Neuvillette. He would still lack focus, but alas it was what it was. Of course, as usual, the universe was never quite sure whether to bless him or try to strike him down. Monsieur Neuvillette had been talking up this ‘project’ for the last couple of weeks but would not elaborate at all on what it detailed.

Until now.

“As we reach the conclusion of the String of Pearls, I would like to try something new. As you know, the final of this unit is worth half of your grade this time. It was suggested to me that I ought to take a vote this time.” A small smile seemed to be playing on the old man’s lips. “Instead of the final, I am willing to give you a new assignment – you will have two weeks to complete it. You will choose a passage within the text and reenact it with a partner I have chosen for you.”

Gaming looked at Freminet. He looked paler than usual.

“You will be allowed creative freedom within reason in regard to your interpretation of the text. Additionally, let it be known that while costumes and props will not be required, they may well give you some extra points. So, by show of hands?”

He watched nearly everybody’s hand go up and he couldn’t blame them. Monsieur Neuvillette gave out notoriously difficult tests, refused to grade on a curve, and was possibly the strictest teacher they had. Gaming, too, would prefer this over a test, but…. The look on Freminet’s face told him everything he needed to know.

His hand stayed down.

The project won out. Luckily, Gaming was Freminet’s chosen partner for this. Unluckily, they had been given the period to begin working yet the pair stayed quiet. He could just tell Freminet was worrying and fretting beyond belief, and he would not speak. Gaming tried to give words of encouragement, to try to pry anything out of the blond, but he failed.

Class ended and he struggled to catch up to Freminet, who ran out the second the bell rang. Gaming, out of breath, found him huddled in a corner of a quiet stairwell, very reminiscent of their first meeting. Except this time, Freminet was trying to communicate. He clearly couldn’t make any sound from his mouth besides the occasional whimper through his tears, but his hands were too fast and too shaky for Gaming’s influent self to make out. There were tiny bits, pieces, maybe something about a cat? Two cats?

“What’s wrong?” Gaming startled from his kneeling position, falling on his butt when Aether snuck up on them. “Hey,” the older boy crouched down next to Fremi. “Are you okay?” His brows furrowed and he looked at Gaming.

He shrugged. “I have no idea, I can’t understand. I mean, I do know, but I have no idea what he’s trying to say-we got assigned this project for Neuvillette and-“

Freminet made the same sign he had been, to Aether this time, who shushed Gaming. “Okay, just, try to breathe. Gaming, please sit with him?”

“As if I would leave.”

So, he did. He sat right next to Freminet as he had just a couple of weeks ago while Aether travelled down a flight to make what was clearly a quiet phone call. It only took a moment to realize what Aether was doing, and what the panic-stricken Freminet had been trying to tell him. He should’ve known. Lynette was the obvious conclusion for ‘cat’.

Gaming tried to be reassuring again. “Can I give you a hug?”

No response was not approval. He did not give Freminet a hug. He chose to sit quietly until Aether came back, pulling the twins along. The two were quick to crouch by Freminet. Lynette detangled his fingers from his hair, murmuring assurances and praises and all the obvious love she could muster for her brother. Lyney took a seat, pulling Freminet into a tight squeeze, muttering his own assurances. He made a sign at Lynette, who nodded.

She motioned Gaming and Aether to follow her and led them down to where Aether had made his phone call. “Go to class, we’ve got him.”

“Why?” He could be helpful! They were friends now. Freminet needed him like he had before. He would be damned if he wasn’t going to be there! He was not useless here! Surely-

The look she gave him stopped Gaming in his tracks. “Because I am his sister and I know him better than you. I am telling you; we have got this. Even if you stayed, you won’t be excused from class for this. It won’t do you any good.”

Neither will you.

She sighed, tail swishing, eyes darting back to her brothers repeatedly. “Please.” Gaming noted her messy hair, coming from her ponytail from running to get here. “Aether, your next class is next to Ms. Candace, right? Please let her know Lyney and I won’t make it. Gaming, Mr. Ragn-Ragnvindr,” she stumbled on the name, “will also need to know about Fremi. Can you make that stop?”

Gaming looked back up the stairs to Freminet. The realization hit him that she was right. He was useless right now. They knew the boy better than Gaming could ever hope to. They knew better what made him tick, what he needed in a given moment, about his anxieties and fears. He had known, of course, that Freminet was a more anxious person. But this… he couldn’t help this time.

He nodded.

Lynette turned her back to run back to her brother. Gaming saw her tail find its way around his middle while she soothed his hair down in the most comforting manner she could. He watched her body angle toward his, resting practically on top of him, and how he didn’t seem bothered by this. There was no flinch, no hesitation.

Great. This was fine. He felt tears welling in his own eyes. Aether gave his arm a tug. Right. They had classes to be in. He wasn’t useful here. He wasn’t needed. Freminet did not need Gaming. At all.

-

It was agonizing to go through the day and know Freminet was having a hard time and that he could do nothing about it. The only thing more distracting than having Freminet right there, clinging to him, was not having him there at all. It was distressing.

“Why don’t you text him?”

“He doesn’t need me.”

Xiangling gave his arm a squeeze. “Maybe not right this second, but he does.” She gave the best smile she could. “Text him. Trust me, just knowing someone is there for you even if you don’t really feel like talking to them right that second is comforting.”

Chongyun agreed, “I like the comfort of knowing that when I want to talk, I have someone to talk to. He’ll appreciate it.”

“Tell him we hope he’s okay, too,” Xingqiu piped up. “I like him. He’s a good kid, it felt like he was starting to warm up to us even though someone can’t keep her hands off him.”

“I’ve stopped! I had no idea! People usually tell me to fuck off! Oh! If he wants dog therapy, I know a rather happy, heavy, loving dog who would love some cuddle time with a stranger!”

Gaming laughed dryly. Of course she would offer up Guoba. He would, indeed, make a fine crying companion. Gaming had used him once or twice over the last couple of years. Truly a good boy if ever there was one.

Still…how do you phrase this kind of text? What seems most sensitive and personable? What sounds genuine? What is too far? Too much? What’s not enough? He was not used to dealing with someone like Freminet, who could not be cheered with a silly face and stories about Gaming’s entirely embarrassing family members.

He finally settled on “I hope you’re okay. I’m here if you need me.” He was careful, just this once, for any typos or mistakes. He wanted it to sound as sincere as possible. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would get a text back. But for the rest of the night he did not. His trio had pulled him out and about, trying to keep him from checking his phone (which was wildly disappointing right now).

It didn’t work. As the night went on, he worried more until he feared he would not sleep. It was much later, after returning home and receiving an interrogation from his dad, and suspiciously extra cuddles and purring from Man Chai, that Gaming gave in to his own fears. And his own methods of assuaging them. He texted Lynette. Well, who he hoped was Lynette.

He did not need to wait this time. Her response was instantaneous.

Lynette: He’s fine. Don’t worry about it. He’ll text you when he’s ready, just give him some time to relax a little.

Gaming: wa sit a panic attack

he looked relzaly bad lynetet

are you srre

Lynette: I am.

Actually, I have something to ask you

First: questions

Gaming: ask

Lynette: He said you’re his project partner, yes?

               How confident are you that you’ll ace this assignment?

               Also, none of what I tell you right now leaves our texts. Understood?

Gaming: yea, very, and sure?

Lynette: Swear

Gaming: I swear

Lynette: You swear what?

Gaming: you’re very difficult.

               I swear nothing you tell me right now leave sour messages.

Lynette: Good. This is going to be long.

And it indeed was. Gaming watched her typing for a long time, which was making him anxious but it was for Fremi. He would do anything to help him if he could. Anything Lynette asked, Gaming would do everything in his power to accomplish. If it helped. If it made him useful. If he was needed.

Lynette: First, this isn’t a new issue, but it has been a hot minute. His therapist said he was doing really good, so this is kind of a problem. And he doesn’t want to tell Father at all since she’s on a business trip but… Anyway she used to reward him for doing tough things with little gifts and stuff and I’m not asking you to do that, just saying.

               Lyney and I can obviously do that for him, but we’re also kind of low on tricks. Spending your entire lives together does that. But you are in a unique position to help him in a way we are limited. He likes you. A lot. You’re the first new friend he’s had in a very long time and I can’t say any of the old ones ever made him even a fraction as happy as you do. Even your friends he’s starting to like, and he doesn’t do groups. None of you make him feel ostracized or like he’s DIFFERENT in any bad way. We appreciate that.

               That being said, I know you two haven’t technically known each other a super duper long time, but we know EXACTLY how you feel about him. I’m not sure exactly what I’m asking here, but…

               I guess do you have any new ideas?

Gaming: i kind of had a plan alrwaduy…

Lynette: Is it that penguin exhibit at the zoo

Gaming: !!!

Lynette: That’s cute. You’re adorable. And painfully obvious, and lucky he’s entirely oblivious. That’s good though, I hadn’t considered that. Do it :)

               I also know it goes without saying but pls be nice to him

Gaming: Of course!

Lynette: Good luck you lovesick fool

Gaming: HEY

Lynette: btw if you wanna confess, you’ll have to practically smack him in the face with it

Gaming: are the penguins not obvious enough

Lynette: SMACK. HIM. He will have literally no idea otherwise. I should know, you’re not the first fool

Gaming: !!!!!

Lynette: You ARE the first fool dumb enough to keep trying anyway. I like you the best of all his fools.

               He denies it but so does Lyney. We wish you luck with our mildly dense little brother

Gaming: thx

               i think?

Lynette: if it helps your confidence at all, im pretty sure aether has no idea about his rock collection

Gaming: ?? he loves tohse rocks????

Lynette: Lyney and I cannot touch his rocks

Gaming: he literally gave me one???????

Lynette: Maybe you’re both dense.

               We. His literal siblings. Are not allowed. To touch. His. Rocks.

               He gave you a rock.

               TAKE THE HINT.

Oh. That was very special indeed. It did help his confidence. He felt better. The only thing left was to hope Freminet would text him back soon. In the meantime, Gaming supposed he ought to begin preparing for their assignment. He should take the load off as much as possible.

Chapter Text

He felt guilty. This project was unravelling him though it had hardly started, which meant two things. First, he might need to go back to his therapist to work through a lot of what he thought he already had. Second, it meant that his partner would be stuck with the majority of it. Gaming did not deserve that, to deal with his issues. Nobody should have to at all, especially when he wasn’t quite sure why he was struggling to begin with. Public speeches, while nerve-wracking, had not been an issue in the past, so why was this different?

Lynette had suggested it was probably because he would actually need to act out instead of simply standing there occasionally pointing at a slideshow behind him. She was probably right. This was new and he was not a good liar. How could he be a good enough actor to pass? What if Gaming failed because Freminet sucked at this? He couldn’t live with himself for tanking somebody else’s grade! Agh! This was simply terrible!

In the midst of his panic, Freminet had received a text that, despite all of his worries and the issues he knew would come, implied Gaming wanted to deal with it all. Wanted to deal with him. He wanted to help. And it made Freminet’s heart hurt in the best way possible. Not enough to pull him from his dilemma, but enough to ease his anxieties slightly. Very slightly.

A couple hours later came another text. Freminet finally looked at the first properly.

Gaming: I hope you’re okay. I’m here if you need me.

Freminet noted the lack of typos and concluded that much consideration had gone into such a simple text. It was nice. The second was a bit clumsier.

Gaming: not t o like pressu re you or anytihng but if we pass ima take you out

Out? Freminet’s stomach, against his wishes, flipped. This could mean anything. It could be Gaming being Gaming, taking him to a McDonald’s like a child as a treat. It could be a date (please) where they would have dinner and hang out and talk – wait, they had kind of done that already, hadn’t they? But Gaming had not seen it as a date. At the time, Freminet hadn’t either. Not until much more reflection took place. There was, of course, a third option here, and he didn’t want Gaming to worry about him too much.

Freminet: Like a sniper? Where should I stand?

Gaming: ZQREAZLEW NO I M NOTY GONNA KILL UYOU FREMI WHY

               btw hoaw are you feeli ng?

Freminet: I just figured I should clarify. You never know. And I’m feeling better now, thanks. :)

Gaming: i cannoyt let this go why tf would you assuime a sniper? I meant smth selse

Freminet: Something else? Like what?

Gaming: uuuuuh surprise

Freminet: Like at the park?

Gaming: yea sure sorta a little bit

Freminet: Sounds good to me.

               Thank you, Gaming <3

Freminet saw the green bubble by his friend’s picture go gray, then green again, gray, and green once more. Then, finally, after a minute:

Gaming: yae fo coruse nyatime

Freminet snorted to himself. Gaming was flustered. He, of course, thought this was entirely hilarious. He was beginning to do it on purpose, just for the reaction it would elicit from the shorter boy. Freminet had started to notice little behaviors Gaming exhibited when he was nervous. Behaviors that were easy to get and were pretty cute, if he would allow himself to admit that much.

It was always the little things; when Freminet would get close to him either consciously or not, Gaming would tense up and stumble over his feet or his words. The first time was an oddity for the graceful dancer – if he had not known better then Freminet might say he was like him and did not enjoy others’ touch. The second time made Freminet curious. The third was just confirmation.

There were other times, too, like right now, where his typing would spontaneously get worse after Freminet said something off, or used a new emoji, or complimented him. There was once where Freminet had done nothing at all, sat a bit too close, saw Gaming’s eyes flick down, his face flush, and he had avoided eye contact for awhile after.

All of it had initially confounded Freminet. Gaming was such an outgoing, friendly, and excitable person. Anybody could be nervous but realistically, who would be nervous because of Freminet? He wasn’t particularly threatening, he was quiet and stayed to himself, he had never so much as shown his upset with another human being since he was adopted into his home. So why oh why was Gaming so nervous with him?

(When asked what, generally, would make someone nervous, Lynette answered, “Oh, a lot of things. Intense eye contact. No eye contact. Staring. Petting. Touch. Vague threats and ominous warnings or prophecies of humanities doom. Lack of personal space. No silences. Too much or too long of silences. I could go on, but it gets very specific from here on out and are unlikely to apply.”

Lyney had come up behind her, asking when would vague threats and ominous warning or prophecies of humanities eventual doom apply?

“Well, I did say some things are only applicable under extremely specific circumstances.”

He rolled his eyes at his sister, opting to take a seat and answer his brother’s question. “I guess, yeah, she’s not wrong, but a lot of it also depends on context. Any of those would make someone nervous say on a first meeting. But if you really liked someone, you might get nervous when they’re close because you want them to be but it’s still nerve wracking, or if they talk to you because you want that too but you’re afraid you’ll mess it up. You’d text them a lot, overthink the texts after they were sent, you’d pay pretty close attention to their likes and dislikes. You may even meet their cat-!”

Lynette had smacked him. Freminet noted he was being made fun of.

“Me? I would nev-“

“He is.”

Freminet only sighed. “You know why I’m asking then.”

The pair had stared at him owlishly, unblinking and uncomfortably silent for a moment before Lyney bounded out of the room, back with his phone and begging to allow Aether into this conversation. Freminet agreed, though skeptically.)

After a long talk with the three, he came to the conclusion that Gaming was just nervous because they had really only just met a couple weeks back. Everyone else concluded Gaming had a massive crush on him. He did not entertain that, because that was ridiculous. He wished it was so, but that made it no less ridiculous than it was. With that out of the way, and after many Google searches, Freminet came to the same conclusion. It was exciting, but he had no idea how to express his own feelings, much less ask about somebody else’s. And if he was wrong? He would lose his friend, need to change his name, move to a far away place like Inazuma, and never return.

He had tried his best in the only way he knew how – he bombed more penguin facts. Such as, for instance, did Gaming know that penguins often give pebbles to a potential mate as a courting ritual? If accepted, they mate for life. Freminet then proceeded to hand Gaming an agate he had picked up awhile ago, stating it matched the other’s eyes. The brunet had stupidly laughed and taken the rock, agreeing. Stupidly, or Freminet wasn’t as good at this as he hoped, and he didn’t really have another method at the moment.

So Freminet gave up for now. He would simply be close to Gaming and try to draw it out of him. He supposed the one upside of this partnered project was that Gaming couldn’t escape anymore. They would have no choice but to be close, and he would do his best to take advantage. Through the sheer panic, of course. He should probably try to get rid of that first. How was the question… Luckily for them both, Gaming made it fairly easy. There was just something unexplainable about him and his demeanor that forced Freminet to relax. Or maybe it was that he was forcing the distraction by teasing Gaming.

Freminet had invited the boy to his home to begin on the project, though he wanted to see Man Chai again. Gaming joked that Freminet was now using him to get close to his cat, but they had agreed that Gaming had too much family in and out to be able to work effectively there. So they sat in Freminet’s room on opposite sides of a low table he had had for a few years. It made working on the floor easier.

“So…”

The blond looked up at Gaming from the book he had been skimming again. Sure, they read it, but what part did they want to work with? What would give them a good grade while not being too much of a burden on either of them?

“Hm?”

Gaming ran his fingers through his hair, accidentally pulling some strands from his half-ponytail. “Ergh.” He took it out to begin putting it back together. “Well, are you sure you’re alright? I don’t mind-” The ponytail was uneven and bits were sticking out when he patted everything to be sure it was in the right spot. He took it apart to struggle with it again.

Freminet crawled to that side of the table, taking the hair tie and motioning for Gaming to turn. “I’m okay. I promise.” They sat quiet for a minute while he carefully pulled Gaming’s hair back, combing his fingers through for a smooth ponytail, brushing his fingers (accidentally) along Gaming’s ears. He saw the red they turned, and he grinned. How cute.

“Right, well, you know. Just uh, making sure.” The brunet hastily clamored for his own textbook, scooting away the second his hair was back together. He cleared his throat, “I suppose we should start with um, picking what section we want to use for our act. Do you- jeez, do you have any ideas?” He looked like he wanted to keep talking but forced his mouth shut. He was fidgeting, trying to relax. The quick glances from Freminet to the book in his hands showed it was not working very well.

I guess I should leave him alone. “I think chapter one act two is a good one. It will mean we need to do ours early, but it’s kind of funny and should hit all of the criteria Monsieur Neuvillette gave us. Plus, if we suck then everyone else will forget about it by the last act.”

“Okay, let me…” Gaming flipped through his book to find it. “Oh, but there’s three roles here. One of us would have to take two.”

Freminet blinked at him. He felt his face heat up. He had meant to pick something easy for them, not push more work on either of them! “Oh. Right, sorry, I forgot.” He had just read that part and read it many times over the first course through the story. How could he forget that so easily? How stupid-

“Nah, we can do that. I’ll take the two, which leaves you with the choice – who do you want to be?”

Of course Gaming would agree to his idea without question and take the extra work. Of course. “Can I play Zixin?”

It was Gaming’s turn to blink at Freminet. He tilted his head like a puppy. “That- well, I don’t mind, but you want to be the female lead?”

He hesitated. “Well, I think it works best. Zixin is a kind of serious role and- not that I don’t think you could be serious! I know you can! I just- maybe it fits better? I’ll probably be stiff if I took Grandma Zhang and Fan Jie seems like an extravagant type.” He avoided eye contact. Great, what had happened to all that gusto? “They fit you better.”

“Be honest, Fremi.” One day the way Gaming said the nickname would give him a heart attack, and the way he leaned casually on the table, smirking the way he did was not helping. “Just say you want to see me in Grandma clothes doing a Grandma impression.”

Oh. He burst out laughing. “Haha, I guess I would like to see that!”

Gaming grinned, stifling his own laughter, “Ah, you young ‘uns and your ‘self phones’. Back in my day, we had- hey, young man! Get off ma lawn! Back in my day, there were no cars! There was-“ and he couldn’t keep it together to finish the thought.  They sat there, falling over themselves laughing at his antics.

Freminet felt the tension leave his body, and he actually felt clear enough to work and not be overwhelmed. Maybe that would change but only after many hours sitting down doing the same thing. He knew it. He would be okay.

Once they’d stopped laughing at the atrocious granny impression, Fremi leaned closer. “I know we should probably get going on the lines, but he did say props and outfits are extra points. Do you want to? I’ll make them.”

“You can make clothes?”

The blond nodded. “Yeah, Father taught us when we were little. We would’ve had to throw away a lot more of them otherwise. Rough kids…”

“Sure! How should-“

Freminet was already pulling out a sketchbook he kept specifically for those times he came up with a good idea for the twins’ little shows, or an outfit for Pers. He flipped it to a blank page, grabbed a nearby pencil, and put it to the paper. He did not move the pencil. He realized they had no baseline, so he put it down to look at Gaming.

“Hm. What kind of outfits should we go with?”

“Well, it’s a Liyuan tale, old, so probably traditional type clothing? Oh, but if I’m playing two roles…”

He had an idea. It caused a smile to split his face.

Gaming looked at the blond skeptically. “I don’t like that.”

Freminet was already pulling out his phone to show Gaming what he was talking about. “You know those people who do makeup on one half of their face and then turn around to reveal a different type of makeup for quick switch back and forth songs?”

“Oh no.”

“You’re going to look ridiculous.”

“Will it work?”

“Can you handle looking stupid for ten minutes?”

“I do that all day.”

“Then yes,” Freminet reassured, picking up his pencil again.

He figured he should first figure out a full rough type of sketch before committing to the half and half idea. So, he googled some images and with Gaming’s help regarding authenticity, style, and other minute things Freminet would have never thought were important, came up with the brunet’s rather grotesque outfit. If you could call it that. As two outfits it looked rather nice. As one…well, as previously stated, Gaming was going to look stupid, but he seemed excited by the idea.

So excited, in fact, he was sitting right behind Freminet, head resting on the other’s shoulder, breathing down his neck and speaking quietly into his ear. Freminet’s rough sketch became rougher. He had to force himself to breathe like a normal human being, too. Where had that confidence gone, again? Out the window? Cool, he would totally be sure to go retrieve it later.

And he had to sit like that, struggling to be a normal person with normal breathing patterns while Gaming instructed him on what kind of traditional Liyuan outfit would fit a man while still presenting the image of Zixin. When Gaming put a hand over his arm to point at something, Freminet involuntarily jerked away.

“Oh!” Gaming flushed. “Sorry, I didn’t- You should’ve told- I’m sorry!” He retreated to the side of the table.

Dammit. Stupid, traitorous body. Stupid, traitorous brain. And more importantly, stupid, absolutely traitorous, evil, dastardly mouth.

“I liked it.”

He wanted to die. Why would he say that? It was true. It was so very true that Freminet ran cold, and Gaming did not and his warmth felt very good pressed against the blond’s back while he worked. It was true that Freminet had never felt safer or happier than when he was close to Gaming. It was true that he loved the attention, and more that he loved Gaming’s attention. But what good god would allow him to say something like that out loud? What good, gracious, benevolent being above would simply allow his mouth to betray him so?

It didn’t matter. He cursed all of the ones he could think of.

Freminet hid his face in his hands instead of spontaneously combusting, because apparently he didn’t have that ability. Frankly, that was rude of the universe to not allow him. “Ugh, that was weird. I’m sorry.” He shook his head, hitting his forehead on the table. Fuck all of you.

The silence in the room broken only by the clock in the corner was killing him. He wished above all that Gaming would be himself and reassure him it was fine, that he wasn’t the single most terribly awkward human being the world had ever seen. Say something! Anything would do! Well, almost anything.

Instead of an answer, he felt Gaming press close again, pulling Freminet’s hands from his face. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep like this, then.”

He did not miss the slight waver in Gaming’s gentle voice, nor did he miss that the other boy felt warmer than he had before. Freminet looked up at him, face flushed, but so was his. They were so close. How much would it take to kiss him? One inch? Two? Hail every god who allowed this, he thought.

Ah, but NOPE! He would absolutely not be entertaining such wild and, well, frankly inappropriate thoughts. And if they weren’t yet, Freminet was sure they would be if he let them keep on. The boys were busy, dammit! He looked away, back to his sketchbook frantically, whipping Gaming with his hair, only to look back. “Shit! Sorry, I-Dammit!”

The brunet only laughed into the shoulder of Freminet’s cardigan. hugging his middle in a reassuring squeeze. “Ha, it’s alright. I hit myself in the face with mine all the time. I’m used to it.” He gave Freminet that signature grin he always did, then another squeeze. “Promise, it’s no biggie. At least you don’t put your butt in my face like Man Chai. Brat thinks I want to look at it or something.”

Pft. Of course he did; he was a cat and sometimes cats were funky little creatures.

Tension defused, feeling mildly more relaxed than just a moment ago, Freminet decided it would be okay to indulge himself just a little bit. Only a little, so he leaned back into Gaming. He could hear the other’s heartbeat here, feel it even. It was quick, and his breathing was exactly as erratic. Good to know he wasn’t the only one losing his cool right now, but it seemed they were both too stubborn to let it go yet.

-

As it turned out, the outfits and props had been the easy part. The two had come up with a method to their madness; they sat together for outfit and prop design (which Gaming was surprisingly good at, as well as procuring of the required items) so they could critique each other as needed, but line memorization had been on their own for the first bit. It helped Freminet not to have an audience relying on him to know everything yet. Except the twins, but his siblings hardly counted. Lyney, as it turned out, was a perfect Grandma Zhang in terms of charisma while Lynette was a slightly less enthused Fan Jie. She was still helpful, though. It was kind of funny.

Freminet finished up the last horrible stitches in Gaming’s outfit on their fifth day, shouting a pleased, “Finally!” As the outfit was two different ones meshed together in a horrible display it had taken longer than he anticipated. He had fretted he wouldn’t get his own done, so Lynette had put it together using his pattern and the fabrics they had bought.

(Gaming had whined about not paying for the fabric but Freminet reassured that should he really want to, he could do props. Freminet was much too picky about his clothing to give that up to anybody. He knew how expensive his favored textures could be regardless. Gaming had given up on it immediately when he realized it was a comfort thing.)

Gaming looked up from where he was restringing an old pearl bracelet an auntie had busted awhile ago. She had never put it back together, saying the original maker must have been cheap and not used the correct skills. When Gaming asked to take it for their project, she happily handed it over, asking if it was for a “special girl”? Her child, older than Gaming by many years, had reminded her that would not happen. She had corrected, “a special boy then?” Gaming refused to answer her but told Freminet when relaying the story that it had caught him entirely off guard.

“You did it?”

“Yes. How’s the bracelet?”

“Moving along.”

Freminet laid the outfit out nicely on the floor next to him before resting his chin on his hand, elbow to the table watching Gaming work. His fingers were quick and skilled with the action of putting the pearls on the string, tying a knot to keep it in place, then placing the next pearl to repeat the process. “It’s not too late for me to go buy a cheap fake-“

The look on the brunet’s face shut him up. “Absolutely not! We are being authentic!”

“The story is fake.”

“Hush.” Another pearl. Another knot. “I am going to make this damn bracelet if it kills me.”

Freminet chuckled. “I think it might.”

Gaming glared at him.

He sat to watch for another minute. Gaming had procured every other prop or accessory they needed from his family, and it all sat nicely in Freminet’s corner. Each family member had been kind enough to give him something he needed, saying it was old or outdated or simply that they had no use for it. The only things left were the bracelet in progress and what sort of makeup they would use.

Silly, silly Gaming had insisted that if he was going to wear the ridiculous outfit portraying the characters then his makeup would damn well match, even if he had to wear it all day long before their presentation. Freminet asked what about his makeup. Gaming had hesitated. Did Freminet even like that sort of thing? It can be heavy, would his face be okay? Would he be sensitive to that? The answer was that so long as Freminet used the twins’ bottles it would be fine. They were expensive brands, light, and had been used on him many times already while Lynette practiced something new on him, usually knowing it would take awhile to wash off, she was going out, and he most certainly was not.

Gaming had asked why she didn’t practice on Lyney? They were twins, surely she could get a better idea of how the look would appear on her using his face than Fremi’s? It was simple and exactly like her - because Lyney sat and talked to her the entire time. She preferred a quiet model while she concentrated on her task.

“Are you hungry?”

He looked up from the pearls. “Ah, a bit. What’re you thinkin’?”

Freminet hummed to himself, tapping a finger against his cheek. “I want something sweet.”

“For dinner?”

“You ever had a crepe before?”

Gaming looked suspiciously at Freminet. “Sweetheart, those are dessert.”

Freminet’s face heated, but he ignored the slip. He was being friendly-condescending, which was a concept Chongyun had explained was a habit among the lot. It had started with Xiangling using words like ‘love’ and ‘sweetheart’ in a half-assed attempt to coat her next words (usually calling Xingqiu a fucking moron) with love that the others had picked up on. It was no doubt that Gaming was doing just that right now.

He was indignant, “No! That’s breakfast!”

“And this is dinner.”

“People all over the world eat breakfast for dinner all the time!” He huffed.

Gaming raised an eyebrow, though he was grinning. Freminet noticed a dimple he had somehow missed before. “Do they?”

Freminet’s brow flicked inwards in annoyance. If he had a tail like his sister, it would be waving around like crazy. “Have you or have you not ever had a crepe?”

A beat. A sigh. “No.”

He grinned, annoyance forgotten. “Good, I would be delighted to make your first. How do you want it? Plain? Sweet? Savory?”

Gaming tilted his head. “I thought they were all sweet.”

Freminet shook his head. “No, although the way Lynette eats them, they may as well be. Lyney usually takes his with ham and swiss cheese, but I eat mine filled up with chicken, some sort of sauce, and maybe a veggie. Father eats hers plain.”

“Wait, your father is…a woman?” Gaming paused a beat before quickly waving at something imaginary in the air. “Wait, that sounds more judgey than I meant, I don’t- that’s not like, weird, I just didn’t think- man I should really learn to shut up.” He slapped his face.

The blond snapped his fingers with a huff of a laugh towards Gaming. He forgot not everyone was in on their joke which had become an everyday thing now. It was a fond memory, though he could honestly hardly recall it. It was now only remembered in the words they used to describe the time. It was right after Freminet had been adopted at the sweet age of six. “I think I asked her why she’s our mom, but we have no dad, so she told me that she was both of our parents, a mom and dad. I guess I took that to heart and started switching what I called her every single time. Lynette thought it was funny to watch strangers try to correct me then get told off when Father said it didn’t really matter, so she started doing it too. Now it’s just what we call her.”

Gaming snorted. “I don’t think my mom would’ve been so cool with being called my dad.”

Freminet shrugged in response. It was just funny to the lot. Funnier with an audience. The best times were when she brought co-workers around for a chat and they were clearly curious about it but too afraid to outright ask any questions. It was fair. Father was pretty scary when she wanted to be.

“Savory, sweet, or plain?”

“You reversed the order.”

“Answer or starve.”

Gaming thought for a long minute, tapping his chin. He ultimately decided on savory, just to experience something new, and Freminet ran off to prepare. He had offered to assist but the blond said no, guests do not cook. Those were the rules and damned if Gaming wouldn’t follow them. He did, however, take his pearls to sit and make conversation while both boys worked. It was easy and light and he was able to complete the bracelet seconds before Freminet announced their dinner ready.

They ate quietly, save for Gaming complimenting Freminet’s skills in the kitchen, then a note about how the blond’s food was “more chocolate and whipped cream than dinner”. Freminet argued that he had added some fruits for that very reason and if he had ever seen Lynette eat a crepe, Freminet’s looked entirely healthy and nutritional by comparison. In fact, he had prepared Gaming his own usual choice, but just this once was craving something else.

It was after dinner that they took stock of their items. Freminet’s garments, the bracelet, Gaming’s clothes, other accessories, and even created a Pinterest board of what styles of makeup would be appropriate for the enactment. It was nearly seven o’clock, and they still had time before Gaming ought to be heading home.

The brunet cleared his throat. “Should we start with lines? How are those going?”

Freminet glanced down at his book. He had spent every possible moment dragging his siblings into practicing with him. Once he had even taken the book to Aether, who dragged his own twin into helping out. She was not amused but played along anyway, being as convincing as she could be, even pulling their baby sister, Paimon, in when she got caught up in the moment. It was funny, considering Paimon was not a baby. She was twelve. She was also less than pleased to be unceremoniously Simba’d by Lumine.

“They’re…. fine.” He looked back to Gaming. “I’ve had lots of help, but I think it’ll be different actually doing it.”

Gaming nodded. “Should we go over it once or twice tonight? Get a feel?”

Freminet had a thought. It was a bad thought, and he had to refrain from opening his mouth lest he verbalize it by accident. His brain really needed to learn to just focus. “Sure, lines once and then start going for body language and…all the things I’m no good at?”

“Sure!” Gaming threw an arm around Freminet’s shoulder, as he had been prone to do lately, that dopey grin on his face. “You’ll be fine. I’m right here and I will do everything I possibly can to help you through this.”

The blond pouted at him. “What if I flounder and we both fail?”

Gaming shrugged. “Then we fail, but we fail knowing we did our best and there wasn’t anything we could do to change the results! Get your book, let’s go!” And he pulled away to grab his own book from his bag.

Freminet watched him carefully. His friend was far more optimistic about this than he was. He was almost sure that they would fail. Then again, Lyney had reminded him that he often had this thought when going in for a big project or test or even in his own personal projects with Pers as the subject. This was possibly more nerve-wracking for many reasons. The first was the public speech portion. The second was the fear of failure which would almost ensure he would, which in turn led to the third bit: looking like an idiot in front of Gaming.

He felt more recently that he had stopped caring what most people thought of him. Well, he hadn’t cared much before, but he was still conscious about how he was perceived. That had almost dissipated, becoming comfortable in the new sun his world now revolved around. But he still wanted to impress his sun. He feared he would appear like Pluto – small, insignificant in the eyes of whom it mattered (though Freminet would tell you it very much is still a planet). He wanted to be like Saturn – big and beautiful. Only if he was lucky would he get his wish.

It took a hand in front of his face to realize Gaming had been speaking to him. “Yo, you okay? We can just call it quits and pick up again tomorrow.”

Freminet shook his head. “Sorry, just spacing out. I want to do it at least once. If you don’t mind.”

Gaming looked at him quizzically but said nothing at all about it, opting to turn the pages of his book instead. So the two ran through the second act of chapter one, Gaming playing up the act of an old granny. He hunched himself over, one hand on his back save for when he needed to turn the pages. Then, when he needed to switch the roles, he stood straight as a rod, hand still against his back, and put on a snooty face. This meant raising his brows as high as he could, hiding them well in his hair, giving as blank of a look as he could, and pushing his mouth as far from his nose as he could down his face. It was quite the sight.

While quite the sight, it was also quite the distraction. Poor Freminet, who had been near confident in his ability rehearsing his lines to others, was stuttering and stumbling his way through. For thirty minutes, he could barely string together just one of his lines, even reading directly from the pages. Gaming, angel as he was, only waited patiently for him to get it out before continuing smoothly with his own lines.

By the end, Freminet was dying. He got out his final line, “How shameful…” as loud and aggravated as he could. It was genuine, and not at all how he read the scene. It was not how it should play out, but he was feeling it with all of the mistakes and mishaps throughout.

Gaming did not bother with his own final line of the scene. “Hey, it’s okay! That was just a first go. We’ll get it. It was probably my fault anyway, I was kinda screwing around. Should we go again? Scouts honor I’ll be totally serious.” He held his hand up in salute, grinning at Freminet.

Freminet gave him a deadpan look. He stared for a moment before sighing. “Yeah, sure. I’ll try not to screw it up again.”

When Freminet looked back down at his book to flip back to the beginning of the act, he felt something soft press to his hair. It was gone quite quickly, and he saw Gaming scrambling over himself, flushed, for the first page of their chosen act. He would have asked but the way Gaming was mumbling quickly and incoherently about the act did not allow for such a thing. Then, he realized, oh. He kissed me. The blond flushed just as much, pressing a hand to his head. Why would he do that? Why right then? Because he was distracted? Was it meant to be a comforting gesture?

As it turned out, the second read through was worse. For one, Freminet was now so preoccupied thinking about a silly little kiss on the head that he had stared quite dazedly at Gaming until Fan Jie was to come into play. Then, Gaming turned the tables, staring Freminet down to the point that he had to give up on his own staring. The act made his stumbling worse, mixing words around and screwing up the inflection he hoped to give his character.

Once again, Gaming flustered Freminet when, in the part where Fan Jie checked Zixin’s wrist for marks of the pearls to ascertain if she is the true owner of them, he kissed his hand. Freminet pulled back unwittingly, falling over Pers on the floor immediately behind him, then hitting his head on his bedframe.

“Ow!” Seriously? He really should have cleaned up a little more before doing something like this, especially knowing the tale was a damn romance. He thought an earlier act might not be so bad for them…

Gaming bent down, pulling Freminet’s head forward to see if he was bleeding, or had a bump. “I’m sorry! I know you don’t like being touched – I just got caught up, y’know? Man, I should have asked!” He was poking and prodding at the blond. “Gah, I’m sorry, Fremi! I won’t do that again. I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe-“

Freminet grabbed Gaming’s hand to pull it away from his head. After just a moment of fighting with his own brain about acting like a petulant child, he gave in to his childish desire. He pushed on Gaming’s shoulders, forcing the shorter boy to lay flat on the carpet.

“Buh, uh, Fre-er, Fremi?”

He refused to answer, having now pinned Gaming with his own body, his head on the brunet’s chest. Gaming was tense, heart beating fast, breaths shallow. Freminet tossed his arms around Gaming in a hug, snuggling close. He was going to play up the already dulling ache on the back of his head just this once to get what he wanted. It would definitely not become a habit.

“Yeah, you’re the worst. But you could totally make it up to me if you let me stay like this for a few minutes.” He squeezed, not wanting to let go. He would, of course, if Gaming told him to. He knew what it was like for people to do things you didn’t actually like, or to do it and refuse to stop. He hoped that Gaming knew it was dramatics and fanfare more than he was serious about it.

Gaming shifted under him slightly, hesitantly putting his arms around Freminet, squeezing lightly back. “You kind of sound like how Xingqiu does when he’s teasing Chongyun.”

Freminet tilted his head up to look at Gaming’s pretty amber eyes. Yes, very pretty indeed. “Does it work?”

“Only because Chongyun is an absolute sucker.”

He considered for a moment. He had come this far, surely a little more pushing would be fine? “Are you?”

Gaming’s heartrate picked up even more. “Am I what?”

“An ‘absolute sucker’?”

He watched Gaming’s face turn the same shade as the underside of his hair, visibly swallowing. It sounded like his heart would give out soon, but Freminet could not find it in himself to care. He liked the attention too much to be embarrassed about it right now. He would be later, when Lyney asked him about it. Right now he was focusing on Gaming breaking eye contact, tossing one of his arms over his eyes to hide.

After another moment, “I guess I am.” Freminet snuggled closer still, heaving a content sigh. He thought he may have imagined it, but he could have sworn he heard Gaming murmur very quietly, “Just for you.”

Chapter Text

Once again, Gaming was going to die of embarrassment. And, once again, his friends were no help at all, choosing instead to poke fun and give incredibly unhelpful suggestions. He could not believe he said that, or that he had been stupid enough to kiss Freminet. What in Teyvat had given him that stupid amount of courage? To make matters worse, Freminet was so put off that he recoiled and fell and- and had asked to…what? What had they done on the floor for twenty minutes? It didn’t matter. Gaming had to run away and change his name and his face because why would he do that?! A kiss? Was he stupid?! Surely he was-

“It was his hand.”

“Normal people find that embarrassing!”

Xingqiu snorted at him. “Couldn’t be me.”

Xiangling groaned, crossing her arms and making a disgusted face at him, “Yeah, we’ve all noticed.”

It was true; Xingqiu made his affections grand and elaborate when he could, but otherwise still no secret to anybody with eyes. Much to Chongyun’s mixed feelings on the matter. Gaming wondered if he could ever be so unabashedly, grandly, openly in love with somebody. With Freminet. That was a nice thought but would require him to stop panicking over a kiss. A kiss that wasn’t even close to the other’s face.

She continued, “You should just confess already.”

“My plan-“

“To hell with your plans,” Xingqiu interjected, smacking his hands down on the table. “Ow,” he muttered, taking a second to take his warm cup of tea in his hands. “Take him to that mountain you like, the very top, watch the sunset, go beforehand and hide like a bouquet of roses or something and confess your undying love! Then you can kiss him properly-“

I might die.

“-and makeout in the glow of the setting sun! Wouldn’t that be lovely? That’s like, an ideal confession!” He was so clearly excited by such an idea. It had obviously come straight from the book he had read last week, which meant it was an immediate veto. That would never happen. Still, the idea of doing something so grand for Freminet, and being rewarded with a kiss? He wondered if it would be awkward or if it would be soft, if Fremi would be soft, gentle. What would he taste like? Probably something good, like-

Gaming could just feel his face getting ready to combust. He banged his head on the table in front of him. Maybe he could get some sense into himself? Maybe he could calm his stuttering heart and quiet his inappropriately roaming thoughts? Cool his face? Actually, the table was quite cold and did help his face. Everything else was still trying to kill him from the inside out.

Chongyun waved Xingqiu off with an unimpressed look. “Ignore him,” he told Gaming. “He confessed to me right after I crawled out of a dumpster. First time a scalding shower sounded like a good idea.”

Xingqiu put a hand to his chest, offended. “You just saved my earring! It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me!” He continued, like he was trying to defend himself against something everyone present knew he couldn’t, “And it worked! You kissed me back!”

Chongyun raised an eyebrow at him. “It worked because I was already in love with you, which is also the only reason I dived in that dumpster. And you’ve just lost your own point – why does he need an elaborate thing like that when his own plan is already better than a dumpster diver?”

Xingqiu opened his mouth to argue. Gaming beat him to it. “Yeah! Why isn’t the aquarium a good idea? Fremi loves penguins!”

Xiangling agreed this time. “Yeah, he does. I saw all his charms and stuff. They’re cute.” She nudged Gaming with her shoulder. “You picked quite the cutie.”

He felt himself flush again because she was so right. He was adorable! He had seemed more open lately, which was even cuter. He was jabbing and poking and joking with Gaming more now. He had long stopped apologizing for his rambles, growing as loud as Xiangling when he was in the zone. The blond was initiating more obvious touches; brushing their hands, a hand on Gaming’s shoulder, hugs without any warning, and then…whatever that had been.

It didn’t matter. He couldn’t think about this anymore. It would force his heart to have no choice but to jump out of his chest and go skydiving without a parachute. Maybe that was a valid option…?

Xiangling hit him upside the head with a stern, “Absolutely not,” for that one.

As it turned out, as she would declare was often the case, Xiangling had been correct not to allow such an idea. If she had then Gaming would not be seeing the sight before him. There, in the largely empty house’s entryway was Freminet, keeling over laughing. He was red in the face, tears streaming down his cheeks whilst he tried to get some breath in his lungs. The boy couldn’t look at Gaming. If he did, he would immediately turn away and start cackling again.

This was enough to draw Lyney’s attention, who came down the stairs loudly asking, “What’s got you in such a fit, Fremi? It better be g-“ Lyney stopped dead when he saw Gaming. The brunet watched the other slap a hand to his mouth, clearly trying not so well to hide his laughter. But his shoulders were shaking, so Gaming knew he was being laughed at. After a moment, Lyney removed his hand, tossed his head back and yelled, “Lynette! Come here!”

“She’s wearing her aids today?” Freminet had kindly informed Gaming that she did not often wear them inside the house. They made her ears uncomfortable, so she reserved it for school and special events where she might actually want to participate in conversation.

Lyney snickered at Gaming. “Y-ha, yes.” He looked like he wanted to say more, to explain why his sister would go out of her way this time, but he couldn’t.

Lynette made her way down, an unimpressed look on her face as it always was. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, only for Lyney to point at Gaming, taking a seat on the steps next to her so that he could laugh freely. She stared at him. He had not yet heard her laugh, and he suspected it was a rare sight. Would today be the day?

It was not. Lynette contained herself a lot better than either of her brothers, though an uncontrolled smirk found its way to her face. “You into drag?”

Gaming rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight before dignifying her with a response. “I thought about it once. Not my style.”

The grin stayed on her face as she shook her head, waved a hand at him, making her way back wherever she had come from. Lyney took one last look, a snort, then followed her. Freminet remained with his back turned at Gaming, using a pillar in the area for support. His shoulders weren’t shaking anymore, and he was finally ready to begin the ceasing of his hyperventilation. He was taking huge gasping breaths, a few giggles still playing their way through when he exhaled.

“Does it look that bad?”

Freminet turned to him, grinning, shaking his head. He stepped forward to put his hands on Gaming’s shoulders. “This is the best thing ever, but I have to ask why?”

“Immersion.”

“We’re practicing.”

“Immersion.” When it didn’t work, “And I thought it might help you relax.”

See, Gaming had shown up prepared for today’s practice. He had already been made proper fun of by Xiangling, who sent a voice note of her absolutely wheezing. Xingqiu asked about his hobbies, and Chongyun had kindly sent a laughing emoji. They had seen his look already. (Xiangling threatened not to speak to him if she didn’t get to see at least one picture.) It was, without a doubt, the stupidest he had ever looked in public, but it was well worth it for the laughs.

He had done up his makeup as if he truly were two different people. Grandma Zhang, and Fan Jie. He had painted wrinkles on one half of his face, used bright red lipstick, and even some gaudy old eyeshadow his aunt had told him was good. On the other side was, what he had thought, a handsome man. In truth, he couldn’t think of much here – dark eyeliner, contouring around his cheek bones, trying to make his nose look longer than it was. He looked stupid.

He looked utterly stupid and Freminet was loving it, so if you asked Gaming, it was well worth it.

“This is going to make it so much worse.”

“You’ll have to live with it day of anyway.”

Freminet gave one last snort, pulling Gaming up to his room again. “I know, I thought I would have time.”

Gaming had been right. Freminet relaxed a lot that day, glancing up from his text more often than not. Though he had to say his lines through his giggles he did not stutter or stumble once. Gaming even got in his space again, and Freminet could only laugh through more lines. He had been right, and now he was sure they would make it through fine. The blonde even began with moves of his own through their practice, flitting about the room and being as dramatic as he dared to be.

So, for the next few days, Gaming toyed with his look. He would play with the thickness of his eyebrows, the color of eyeshadows and eyeliners to use, mascaras, blushes and lack thereof. He once tried to place a mole on his face that had not turned out quite right. He did everything he could with it – this was two birds with one stone. First, Freminet relaxed and became increasingly comfortable, enough to use their friends as a test audience. Second, Gaming got to figure out what looks he liked for each character, techniques that worked or didn’t, and so on. The twins were kind enough to teach him something new, too.

On the second to last day before it was time, they began practicing on Freminet. Fremi was no good at doing his own makeup – a basic look took him too long and he was short of patience for the task. That, naturally, left Gaming to get in his space. Freminet sat kindly on a spare chair, Gaming sitting as close as he could get without melding the two together. This proximity was killing him. Yet again, he wondered if a toaster would make a good bathing companion. His mental Xiangling said no, it did not.

He was struggling mentally. Realistically, yes, he could move his face just three inches forward for a kiss. In his head, that kiss led to many more kisses that were soft and everything he hoped they ought to be. That said, his brain knew better. There was no guarantee Freminet would reciprocate, it was rude to just do that, and if it didn’t work out then they would inevitably fail this project due to the awkwardness. Similarly, he would lose Fremi. He couldn’t allow such a thing, it would be unthinkable.

This did not stop his eyes wandering around Freminet’s face as he worked, lingering on the blond’s lips (which were soft to the touch, thank you very much), and wondering what it would be like to kiss every freckle. He noted how serene Freminet looked while Gaming worked, as if he were falling asleep. Then again, he often did this for Lynette. He was probably used to falling asleep while they sat there quietly.

Gaming was not quiet. He couldn’t be. His brain would wander and lead him down paths he would need to keep to himself. Luckily, Freminet did not seem to mind. He answered when he could, but otherwise allowed Gaming to ramble about useless things. Anything to keep him distracted from the distraction in front of him. He started with Man Chai, how he had found the kitten on the streets and taken him in. It devolved to the time Xingqiu had goaded Gaming into eating the spiciest thing Xiangling could make up without barfing. (He had succeeded, but he cried.) Next was the time his older cousin had convinced him that car tires were made of chocolate, convinced him to take a bite of one, then consequently how Gaming had avoided chocolate for a few years after that.

He told Freminet about the first time he dyed his hair, which he had done himself at nine with some box dyes a different older cousin had left under the bathroom sink. She was mad he got to use them before she did. He still wasn’t allowed to dye his hair for three years after that, but his parents had given in when they caught him eyeing the dyes again. He liked the look. His mother had reasoned that it was better to allow it and have control over it in a certain capacity than to have no control at all. Then, he got his ears pierced at fifteen, his eyebrow just a few months ago, because Xingqiu had once again dared him. The look his dad had given him when he noticed didn’t hold much fire, given he only took a breath like he was going to scold Gaming, then shook his head and walked away.

“It suits you.”

He couldn’t find a gracious way to accept the compliment, so he kept talking about anything and everything he could think of. He moved to his family and how big it was, how each person had their own set of drama, but most importantly how accepting they were. He was surprised, since a lot of families in his culture were not. His own grandmother, an incredibly traditional woman, had cracked a joke that he wasn’t sure was actually a joke, but it was supportive nonetheless. She had once seen him talking to Chongyun and chased him off with her slipper, stating he couldn’t have her precious grandson. Chongyun had not returned to Gaming’s home since.

Freminet chuckled. “Would she chase me off?”

His heart leapt. Right. If they dated (what a thought!) he would eventually need to introduce Fremi to his family. Would they like him? Would Fremi like them? Would they be overwhelming for him? His grandma could not be allowed to chase off the boy of his dreams. Would his dad help restrain her if she tried? What would his uncle, who had been mildly less supportive of the ordeal, think? What would he say to Fremi’s face? But…well, the uncle could be avoided, and Gaming was sure if he showed his sincerity to his grandmother, she would keep herself in line. Probably.

He shook his head, forgetting Freminet still had his eyes closed. “No, I think she would like you.”

(And it was true, for he had mentioned Freminet to her once. For approximately three hours. She had sat nicely with her knitting, letting him speak. Only when he was finished did she ask when she would meet her grandson’s boyfriend. He had to tell her they were not dating. Her response? “You talk about him like you are. Bring him here.”)

The conversation lulled here, Gaming at a loss of how to pick up any other topic. He had just about dumped his entire life on Freminet by this point, what else was there that wasn’t about his stupid embarrassing crush on the blond? Not much, but luckily there was no need for there to be. His work was finished, and he backed away from Freminet.

“All good. Go look,” he said.

Freminet went to look in the bathroom mirror whilst Gaming watched anxiously from the doorway. While he had played around with makeup he could find as a kid, and more lately with encouragement from his friends, he was not confident in his abilities. Any skills he learned had been from YouTube or, lately, the twins. Most of it was basic foundation, concealer, eyeliner, and occasionally lip balm because Xiangling had insisted he needed it.

While it was fine to practice little things on himself, a slightly more extravagant, though ultimately still plain, look on someone else was nerve wracking. He watched Freminet turn his face this way and that, bringing his fingers close to his face but never touching. Lynette had instilled the importance of no touching in him quite well. The boy did this for a couple of minutes, after which he turned to Gaming with a smile on his face.

“It looks good! Definitely better than…”

Gaming narrowed his eyes accusingly. “Hey! My makeup is beautiful!”

“As planned, you look ridiculous.”

“You said you liked it!”

Freminet laughed easily. Gaming would look ridiculous every single day for the rest of his life if he could make Freminet keep laughing like this. “I do! It’s lovely. Just silly.” Gaming moved to get out of his way when the blond came near the door but Freminet followed, bringing a hand to pat Gaming’s cheek. “You’re very silly, Gaming. It’s cute.”

And the blond walked away, leaving Gaming to stand there with an unbearable heat crawling all over him. This boy would be his undoing! What the heck was that? Cute? You could call friends cute, right? Xiangling called the boys cute all the time, and they in turn would tell her she was the cutest ever. But…well, that was different, wasn’t it? Was it different? He didn’t know. He couldn’t think anymore, his brain was becoming mush in Freminet’s hands. He would either need to get a damn grip or later consult the council of friendship, even if he was sure they would deem him guilty and sentence him to death.

 -

They had prepared for two weeks to ace this assignment. They had spent ages scrounging up ornaments and props, putting together designs and fitting character suits. They had played around with makeup they only had an inkling how to use, and finally settled on how to go through. They would either embarrass themselves but have fun doing it or pass with flying colors and still have fun. Or, well, at least Gaming hoped for the latter.

The brunet noted now, waiting for their turn to begin, that while the flush on Freminet’s face from the morning had faded, it was slowly returning. He had been embarrassed about showing up to class like this, though Monsieur Neuvillette had agreed to give the class a few minutes before their presentations to prepare. The two had decided it would not be enough time for the makeup they had chosen, so Lynette had kindly done Freminet’s that morning.

He attributed the dying flush to seeing a couple of other classmates doing the same thing, and possibly because the drama students, under Mademoiselle Furina, were wearing far more ridiculous looks that day. Xingqiu well included. (Xiangling had complimented all three on their looks, though she ultimately did decide to make fun of Xingqiu.) The fact the blond’s redness was returning meant his anxieties were coming back as well, possibly stronger. He gave Freminet’s hand a squeeze under their desks, hoping to reassure him.

Two groups had kindly chosen act one to enact, so the two had a few minutes before their turn. Gaming did his best to subtly tell Freminet that it would be okay, they would be fabulous. If they weren’t, he would still take him out on their little… treat day. Yes, that was what he was calling it. It was not a date. A date was mutually agreed upon by both parties as being so. This was not.

He was distracted when Monsieur Neuvillette called them up for their part. He stood, looking to Freminet, who hesitantly stood as well, following Gaming to the front of the room. Gaming took a spot on the right side, so their audience could only see his Grandma Zhang left side. Freminet took his spot in the middle of the room. When they were ready, they nodded at Monsieur Neuvillette.

“Action,” he told them.

Off they went. Freminet held a handbasket full of fake, kid kitchen fish, pretending to call out to the class, “Fresh fish, fresh fish! Buy it here, buy it now!”

Gaming could already feel the blond’s confidence wavering. It was in the slight quiver of his voice, in his stiff posture, the way he wouldn’t acknowledge anyone in the room. The brunet took a breath, steeling himself. They would both make it through this okay. He had to have faith that, like usual, Freminet would loosen, and if he didn’t, then their act would still be enough for the old man. Additionally, Gaming made a mental note to give Freminet many warm hugs later. He seemed to quite enjoy them, though he would never say so.

He, hunched over and a hand behind his back like a mimic of an old woman, hobbled over from across the room to Freminet. “Oh, look at those fish!” He made a show like they had splashed him with water, hands coming to shield his face. “So fierce! They will make a tasty soup!” Then, he stood a bit straighter, pulling a pose with one hand on his hip, the other on his head in a dramatic fashion. “My, all soaked like that, from head to hips, don’t I look like a young lady with pink cheeks and vermillion lips?”

He had been right to believe. Freminet’s shoulders shook slightly, a grin fighting for real estate of his cute, freckled face. This had seemed to be a particularly favorite line of his, always stifling his giggles when they practiced their skit together. It seemed to also work its magic on their classmates, who laughed at Gaming’s antics. He noticed that even stoic Monsieur Neuvillette was donning an unusual, thin smile whilst tapping his pen to his chin.

So far so good.

Freminet held the smile, focusing only on Gaming. Hey, whatever helped him get through. “What do they call you, granny?” He tilted his head as he said it.

Gaming’s heart did The Thing™. Archons, why was this blond boy so cute? It wasn’t fair!

He did his best to pull himself together. “You may call me Grandma Zhang! I sell flowers on the street,” he tossed a couple of his fake flowers into their makeshift crowd for dramatic effect.

Gaming had decided acting as comedic relief was the best way to gain the crowd’s favor, maintain some semblance of dignity for the text, and keep Freminet relaxed. So, he did, as much as he could think of.

“Deary, such a soft-spoken girl like you won’t sell a fish before the sky turns dark.” Gaming watched the startled look on Freminet’s freckled face when he reached forward to boop his blond’s nose. “You might be beautiful,” he winked with the side their classmates could not see, “but if you’re too shy to raise your voice, you won’t be able to fill your stomach!”

Freminet, a little red, turned to face away from Gaming, staring down at his feet, per the script. “Oh, you’re so funny, granny.” It was true, Gaming could hear the grin, but he also saw the telltale deep red on his ears. “O-oh, no! Where…?” Freminet began to mimic looking around, dropping to the floor in his search for something not there.

“What has happened?”

He stood again, facing Gaming. “My string of pearls, I never take it off my wrist!” He made a show of his bare wrist (“How scandalous of you, showing off your wrist,” Gaming had joked the first time), flicking his long sleeves back for the crowd. “But it is gone. How could that be?”

Gaming hastily went to Freminet’s other side, standing straight as he could, and showing off the other side of himself. He heard some stifled giggles, clearly enjoying their act and the ridiculousness he had so readily agreed to. “Like a golden crow that utters the truth beyond the waves blue, I went for a stroll and a string of pearls appeared in my view!”

He donned the pearls from a hidden pocket, showing them off to a crowd paying attention only to him. He spoke as if he talked to them directly, though he could not face them.

“My name is Fan Jie, at your service. I make a living doing odd jobs in the docks. My brothers here selected me as their leader.” He gestured to imaginary people. “The string of pearls I picked up must belong to that lady,” he gestured at Freminet. “I intend to return it to its rightful owner, though I don’t want to be falsely accused of any indecent act. Perhaps I shall see if there are any marks of wearing the pearls on her wrist.”

Gaming did his best at redirecting to his beautiful Zixin.

“In scorching sun and steaming breeze, does selling fish come with ease?” He approached Freminet, feigning fake curiosity. Man, acting was hard work! No wonder Xingqiu enjoyed the challenge of drama courses. Of course, the rich one already had quite the dramatic flair without them.

Freminet nodded, showing off his fish. “My fish are fresh, that I guarantee. Boil them or fry them, the choice belongs to thee.”

Gaming pretended to shield his face as he had before, though the lines were more serious this round. “Those fish are fierce as a tiger, they won’t stop moving even for a second. Would you step forward and introduce yourself?” Gaming extended a hand in invitation.

Freminet took a step closer, accepting Gaming’s hand.

“It’s only fitting that these beautiful pearls belong to a fair lady of equal beauty.” He knelt, fitting the pearls over Freminet’s wrist and feigning the kiss this time. When he looked up, he could swear Freminet almost looked annoyed at him. Well, Zixin was mildly annoyed here, though the other had not given him such a look in practice. Right, acting dictated a certain level of improv. That’s what he was doing, playing the part.

Freminet addressed their crowd, “My heart is telling me that this man might be a mack, taking pleasure in playing with me, but he won't fool me with his nonsense. I turn around with my apricot eyes wide open and scold him." Then dramatically pulling his hand away, to Gaming, “Such a scoundrel like you must have no dignity!"

Gaming stood up, backing away, hands up in surrender. “No need to get so angry, milady. I just wanted to check if there are marks of wearing the pearls on your wrist. It looks like, indeed, you are the rightful owner, milady. Now that the string of pearls is returned to you, you need not worry anymore. My name’s Fan…” he trailed off, looking at something imaginary behind Freminet. “Ah, It is time for me to go.”

He darted behind Freminet to again switch his roles, whilst Freminet falsely chased Fan Jie. “Oh, hero, please wait!” He stopped just a few steps off, addressing their classmates again. “Led by my timid heart, I wronged a righteous man. I can’t even remember the name of that hero of mine. What should I do to thank him?” Freminet turned to Gaming (now Grandma Zhang), looking down and rather sad. “How shameful.”

Gaming, hunched as hunched could be, stepped forward and placed a hand on Freminet’s arm. “But my deary, what is if it if not destiny? A fair lady has finally met her noble hero.”

They stood like that momentarily, before Monsieur Neuvillette gave a clap, prompting the rest of the class to do so as well. They were released from their acts.

“Excellent work. Please, take a seat. Who will be next?”

Even a quick word of praise like that from this man was enough for Gaming to look at Freminet wide-eyed, that dopey grin on his face. They had done good! Excellent! They had definitely passed. Freminet had done a good job, Gaming had done a good job, and all of their hard work had paid off. Though, now, looking at him, Gaming could see Freminet becoming tired. He was smiling back yet he was droopy and slouched in his seat.

Gaming glanced at Monsieur Neuvillette to be sure he wouldn’t be caught. He grabbed his notebook, writing out, are you okay?

That was exhausting, came the reply in messier script than Gaming had anticipated him having. He had seen it already, of course, but he was still surprised by it. He had always thought Freminet’s handwriting would be neater than this.

Remember the deal?

Freminet leaned into him, whispering, “I remember.”

Was a dat-treat day really going to work? Would his heart survive? Would this even work the way he hoped? Was Xingqiu right, and Gaming was utterly doomed to failure? If there was no faith in himself, he ought to have some in Lynette, who had praised his idea. She would surely know her brother best. So, well, Gaming supposed that was his only next step.

Chapter Text

As if it were a miracle, he did not have a panic attack like he might’ve after a big assignment like that, where he had to go so far out of his comfort zone. He attributed it to Gaming, who took as much attention as he could while keeping Freminet as relaxed with the antics of his performance. He wasn’t even panicked over what grade they would receive. The brunet seemed to just have that effect.

Of course, he did very much hope they had passed. Gaming had promised him a day out if they did and he was excited about what that would entail. The other boy had refused to elaborate on the matter, even now, simply turning a satisfying yet unsettling shade of red before he would change the topic. Freminet liked it better when he was the clear cause of Gaming’s complexion change. Not knowing was…something else.

“Is it out yet?”

Freminet looked at his brother, who sat on the floor in their living room playing a card game with Lynette. He shook his head.

“Boo. He’s usually so quick about grades.”

Lynette cocked her head at Freminet. “Are you okay?”

He nodded again. He simply didn’t feel like talking anymore. Though he had been calm after their presentation was over with, and he remained calm all day, he had gone quieter and quieter throughout until Xiangling asked him the same question. He hadn’t known how to explain to her that sometimes talking was harder than other times, so either he simply wouldn’t, or his body would not let him even if he wanted to. Gaming, with a nod from Freminet, had taken the initiative to explain to her that he was just a bit tired.  

Lynette turned back to the card game, satisfied enough. She knew how he was, having lived the majority of their lives together. She would not bother him, especially when it was clear this spell was not due to a bad mood at all. He was, in fact, quite satisfied with the day overall.

He watched her tail flick behind her. She was losing the game for the twelfth time that night. Freminet was pretty sure Lyney had stuck a few cards up his sleeve to cheat her but the only proof was that she was losing a game she had only lost against Father. That wasn’t very concrete evidence, now, was it? Though she seemed to suspect him, keeping a watchful eye on him.

Freminet turned his attention back to his phone, where Gaming was rather erratically texting him.

Gaming: i think we passed

               If we dindt im goinna fight him

Freminet: I think that’s assault of the elderly?

Gaming: im gonna fight so good he cant od anything about it

               BAM BAM WHAP he down

               thats gonna be me kickin his nbutt

Freminet: I really think fighting your teacher is frowned upon and usually ends up with some sort of consequence.

               One of them being jail time.

Gaming: IM TOUGH I CAN BEAT JAIUL

Freminet: It’s not a video game. Father was in jail once. She….I think she did beat it actually

Gaming: SEE!!! IT CAN BE-

               Wait she was in jail? For what?

Freminet: I don’t know, she won’t tell us, and to be honest I’m 90% sure she killed the guy who let it slip to us. He’s never come over again… so it was probably homicide or something.

Gaming: pls tell me next time shes in town so I can avoid ur house

Freminet: I was joking. She spent one night there. Wrong place, wrong time when she was our age. She probably might let you live if you don’t annoy her. She’s too smart to be caught for homicide anyway :)

Gaming: that is horrifying stop that don’t smile at me like that I don’t like it

Freminet: :)

“What did he say?”

He looked up.

Lyney was grinning at Freminet, cards still in hand. Lynette was very clearly trying to telepathically murder her twin, though he seemed unphased by the notion of death itself staring him down just three feet away. “You laughed. What did he say?”

He put his phone down to say, “I made him paranoid.”

Lyney snorted, turning back to the game of ‘dig my own grave’ with Lynette. It appeared her telepathic abilities were severely lacking, for he stilled breathed. If she was truly so determined to only have one brother she ought to practice a little more. Maybe Father could give her pointers on such a thing.

Gaming: ur terrifying im jusjy saying

               man I hope he uploads the grades soon

               im gonna die here

               [ATTACHMENT]

               If i die know its man chais fault

               Im sory fremi

               the date shall never happen

               am squished

Freminet: You’re so dramatic.

He tried to play cool, but the word ‘date’ was sending him down a rabbit hole in his own brain. Freminet knew that Gaming had meant that special day out if they passed, which he had promised as a means to incentivize Freminet. It would, in fact, not be a date. Unless it was, because Gaming definitely liked him, right? But if it was, wouldn’t he just say so? Maybe not. What if Gaming had no idea about his own feelings? Or, worse, Freminet was a completely egotistical maniac who thought everyone should be hopelessly in love with him? That was the worst case. Oh no. How does one stop thinking?

Gaming: OY I AM VALID

               GRADES POSYTED!!!!!

Freminet refused to go look; Gaming would tell him. He waited for three minutes. He watched Gaming type, stop typing, and type some more. Well, that just sealed the deal! His friend was trying to find a nice way to inform him that they had failed, it was all Freminet’s fault, and he should probably just get up and go start crying in his corner. Except Gaming had already seen him in such a state twice, so a third was not allowed. Not so soon, anyway.

His phone finally dinged.

Gaming: So.

Freminet: Ohmygod did we fail?

Gaming: How does Saturday at ten sound? Meet me at Marcotte Station, we gotta ride! :D

Freminet: You literally could not have found a worse way to tell me we passed but I will forgive you because I love you dearly I’m excited about it. NOW will you tell me what we’re doing?

Gaming: SORRY I LIKE DRAMATICS

Freminet: I hadn’t noticed!

Gaming: And no, I said surprise I meant surprise!!! >:3

               :(

Freminet: It’s okay, I like your dramatics. They’re fun. Like you.

Gaming: :D

 -

Lynette’s murder attempt had failed. She gave up on telepathy just thirty minutes later and tried smothering him with her entire body weight. Freminet had tried to help her, telling Lyney’s offended face it was to be without a doubt her favorite brother. Lyney had insisted Freminet did not need to try, he was already her favorite, but you could never be too careful! Alas, it did not work, which he was yet to determine if this was a good or bad thing.

He was lying upside down off the edge of his bed, watching Lyney go through his closet. Not Lyney’s closet, through Freminet’s closet, because of course he was! What kind of big brother wouldn’t try to dictate his younger brother’s choice of outfit for a not-date? Lyney turned around with a light blue t-shirt in hand, showing it off. “This top?”

Freminet tried to protest, “It’s not a d-“

Aether dutifully placed his hand over Freminet’s face, effectively shushing him. Of course he was also there, going through Freminet’s closet. What boyfriend of his older brother wouldn’t be? “Plain! Try the one two to the left. Oh, and those pants in the corner!”

He pushed Aether’s hand away to remind them, “It’s going to be warm today.”

“Shorts next to them,” Aether corrected.

Lynette shook her head, sitting next to Freminet’s head. She had simply been watching so far, commenting only once to tell Lyney that if he was going to be allowed to dress their baby brother up then he would have to know whatever he chose might very well get ruined. This made Freminet suspicious she knew something he did not, but he knew better. She would never answer if she had not already explicitly told him.

She looked at Freminet. “Are they annoying you? I can force them gone.”

He knew she could, but he shook his head. “It’s fine, they just care a lot.”

“That wasn’t the question, Fremi.”

He stared her down. The two older boys were far too concerned picking a suitable outfit for him that neither saw her signing to him. He took a moment to consider her words and yeah, it really was fine. They were excited, and he was too. Truthfully, they were doing him a favor – he probably would have spent way too long picking something himself and still looked like a slob. It was just them being silly. When he told her as much she took the answer, choosing to tell Lyney the shirt he was holding had a stain on the back.

In a grand show of kindness and love, they had only made him try three separate outfits before Aether commented that he was sure Freminet might just make them spontaneously combust. Lyney told him that Lynette had already tried that, and it failed, then went to try to accessorize his brother. Aether took one look at Freminet’s face and whispered something to Lyney. Based on the shade of red he turned and how quickly he pulled Aether out, the blond didn’t think he wanted to know what it was.

Lynette took on this duty instead, sitting him down in front of her vanity. She gracefully moved around him, humming to herself all the while. (She was purring, though she would insist she did not purr, thank you very much.) She carefully brushed the tangles out of his hair, using a little penguin clip she had found to pull his bangs from his face. She dug out one of his older jackets, a lighter navy, stating his favorite one might get too dirty if he took that one instead.

He narrowed his eyes at her to no avail.

When she was well finished grooming him, because she was way more feline than she would admit to and she very much did groom, Lynette presented him to Lyney. Lyney was a little dazed looking, approving rather quickly. Aether, more smug than he usually was, told Freminet he should wear a dark banded watch. He thought it might add a little something. He was right, so Freminet was finally allowed to be on his way to the not-date.

He listened to some music on his way to the station, thoughts wondering about. First he thought of the time Gaming had seen his favorite playlist and said, “Somehow I am both shocked and not at the same time.” He wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not. Then, he idly wondered what they would do. It was day of, and normally having no idea about his own plans would make Freminet anxious but he wasn’t this time. He knew that Gaming picked up on his little things easily. He would not take him anywhere that would make him uncomfortable. At least not on purpose.

Freminet jumped when he felt someone jump on him from behind. He turned to find Gaming – who else? He was grinning like the fool he was, jumping around on his feet.

“Hey! Did I scare ‘ya? Sorry. I’m excited! Are you excited? Oh, I like the clip! That’s cute. So, we’ll get off in Elynas, walk a few minutes and be right there! Should be around when they open, shouldn’t be too crowded yet. Figure we’ll be out around twelve thirty? One o’clock? I’m okay staying later, though, I know you’ll want to look around.” He was leaving no room to cut in. “Oh, did you eat? If you haven’t we should eat before we get there, food prices are a nightmare.”

Freminet saw Gaming fidgeting with something in his pocket, start to pull it out, and put it back.

“Though I hear they’ve got some good sandwiches. You like sandwiches right? I wonder if there’ll be many other people with us-“

Gaming abruptly cut off when Freminet looped their arms together, using Gaming’s shoulder as a momentary rest, laughing to himself. “Relax, Gaming. Do I even get to know where we’re going?”

He watched the brunet’s face change colors again. Gaming shook his head, keeping his mouth firmly closed, eyes darting anywhere but at Freminet. Hm, what would it take to make him turn even redder than he was? Oh, now that he thought about it, he did sound like Xingqiu. Was that a testament to the other’s bad influence on him or had he always been like this?

…. He had always been like this deep down.

They rode the train in quiet, Gaming nervously fidgeting with his phone while Freminet stayed looped to him. He thought Gaming might just decide to call it quits and go home, claiming sick. Instead, he seemed to find his voice by the time they found their way at their Elynas stop, telling Freminet how excited he was to finally get to go. Freminet, still oblivious to their destination, nodded along while Gaming guided them.

The route seemed distantly familiar but…and there it was. The Elynas Aquarium, home of nearly every sea creature you could think of, and by far Freminet’s favorite place in the world. He hadn’t been in a couple of years, not finding a good enough reason to ride the train down. He had thought last time they brought in a new set of catfish to come visit so he could pet them, but had decided it wasn’t worth it.

He looked at Gaming. “I demand to pet the catfish.”

Gaming chuckled. “Sure, are they slimy?”

“So slimy, it’s really weird and I love them.”

They had to go through the entrance first, where it was revealed that Gaming had already purchased the tickets online. Freminet made a huff about it but Gaming insisted that the whole thing was his idea so he would pay. Suck it up. Freminet faked a scowl at Gaming but let it go this time. He would be sure to get him back next time.

Quickly forgetting the whole stink, Freminet took Gaming straight to the catfish exhibit near the middle of the aquarium, telling him how he had wanted to pet them for awhile now. They felt funny because they did not have scales but were, in his experience, slimier feeling than other non-scaly aquatic animals. Last time he had been with Father there was one that just kept coming back for pets like a little sea dog. It was cute. He hoped it was still alive – it had already been quite old by catfish standards at the time.

They were strictly instructed by a staff member watching the catfish to use hand sanitizer prior to and after the petting of the animal, told explicitly to keep their hands on his head and back. Do not touch the sides or face of the catfish.

The two rolled up their sleeves, sticking their hands in the cold water while the big catfish swam in circles around their tank. “Oh!” Gaming jumped back a little. “Ew, why does it feel like that?” He put his hand back in the water despite the protest to touch it again. “That is so weird. Fremi, why do you like this?”

It was indeed a very weird texture to endure, yet Freminet was grinning like a little kid on Christmas. He loved the aquarium more than words would ever be able to express. Of course, Gaming had guessed as much and brought him here knowing this. “I don’t know, it’s just so funny! Did you know some catfish can produce electrical currents?”

Gaming stared at him. “Am I going to get shocked?”

The blond shook his head. “No, these are regular catfish. Silly little guys!”

Freminet saw Gaming retreat from the corner of his eye. When he looked up, Gaming was putting more sanitizer on his hands, done with petting them. Freminet took one more glance at the catfish before pulling his hand out of the water too. Sad, but they would need to move on eventually. They really were such cool little creatures...

“You can stay,” Gaming said. “I just don’t like the feel. I’ll watch!”

“Are you sure?”

The brunet nodded. “Sure, it’s fun to watch you in your element like this. Go for it, do whatever you want.”

Even with permission he felt guilty. This wasn’t just about Freminet – they had both passed that assignment (a ninety-six percent, which was the highest grade Freminet had received from Neuvillette). Shouldn’t Gaming be having fun too? Well, he did look perfectly content to just watch and look around the area at the tanks on the walls containing various neat fish, shrimp, shells, and more.

Freminet supposed that if Gaming insisted then he wouldn’t fight it, so he pet the catfish for another minute before deciding he would rather stay next to Gaming. Arms linked together again, they walked the exhibit. Gaming adored the underground shark tube, where Freminet told him about the different kinds of sharks, their diets, typical temperaments, and at least one totally insane fact about each.

(Gaming’s favorite fact was about the tiger sharks, of which there were two recorded cases of females reproducing asexually, though another study showed this occurrence in more of the adorable, striped sharks.

“How?”

“How should I know?”

“You know they reproduce without a partner but not how they managed it?”

Freminet had playfully pinched him. “Hush yourself.”

Gaming laughed.)

They got to see octopi and puffins, jellyfish and some large, nasty sea bugs. There was a crab that Gaming was sure could eat him if it escaped its tank. Freminet informed him he was correct; it could. It probably wouldn’t, but it had the potential to do so. They saw seals and otters who swam close, doing flips and tricks in the water. There was an exhibit indoors allowing visitors to pet sea urchins under strict supervision of an employee. Freminet wasn’t a huge fan of that one, but they did it anyway.

“I didn’t know an aquarium would have a vulture.”

Indeed, in a large enclosure, was a vulture just outside the indoor urchin area. A person stood within the enclosure, bucket of food in hand, the other gloved for the vulture to come say hello. They watched the vulture eat its food quietly though clearly pleased with the sacrifice. It seemed far more pleased with a pumpkin tossed its way, which it dug right into. Freminet didn’t really have much to say about the bird, except that sometimes, as a defense mechanism, they puke on things that get too close. Gaming pulled Freminet a step away.

It was like this for an hour – the pair walking languidly around the exhibit from tank to tank, Freminet gleefully muttering increasingly weird and mildly disturbing facts all the while, even when he claimed he ‘didn’t know much’. Finally, they made their way to the penguin exhibit. It was their last stop, per Gaming’s adamant request. Freminet sat in front of the glass windows watching the penguins – they really were beautiful birds.

He noted that they were probably Adelie and Gentoo penguins, which are more favored in media and more frequently thought of when you think of a generic penguin. He was preferential to the Humboldt penguins for their sweet stripes and smooth appearance, though that species of penguin was kind of dwindling at the moment, nor did it reside in any nearby aquariums. They're still incredibly beautiful and the true owners of his heart.

Gaming nodded along politely for a couple of minutes, which Freminet appreciated. It was nice to be able to let his brain go without the need for filter or to be concerned about boring his audience with what he knew were an inane amount of facts most people wouldn’t give a care about. Gaming wouldn’t judge him for his frankly extensive and mildly disturbing facts and tidbits. Or, maybe he was but was politely keeping it to himself. Freminet chuckled at the idea.

Finally, Gaming tapped Freminet’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Disappointed but still pliable to Gaming’s plans, Freminet stood up to loop their arms again. Bye, penguins. “Okay, where now?”

Gaming didn’t answer, taking them over to who looked like possibly a trainer of the aquarium. Definitely an employee but certainly not one that typically worked inside. She was speaking animatedly to three other people – a couple and their kid, about ten years old if Freminet had to guess. As they got nearer, he heard her talking about the penguins and how much she loved to work with them. He, too, might like to work with them if he could. Would Father pay for his further education so that he could do so? Maybe. He would need to ask. She probably would.

The employee greeted them politely as soon as she noticed them, smile never wavering. “Good afternoon, gentleman. Can I help you?”

Gaming nodded. “Yeah, we got passes for the penguin encounter. You’re Emily, right? The lady at the front said you were the one running it today.”

The woman, Emily lit up further. “Oh, yes! Good, you’re here! Give me just a few minutes to sort out a couple of things then I’ll get us all ready and take you back.” She turned, red ponytail swishing behind her, speaking again to the family and talking into her walkie-talkie for who knows what.

Freminet, meanwhile, was frozen where he stood. There was no way. That was- there were no words he could think of. They had all at once decided he did not need to know any human language in the moment, so he stood there for a moment, trying to collect himself. Finally, he squeezed Gaming’s arm and hissed, “Gaming!”

Gaming, appearing quite pleased with himself, looked at Freminet. “Yes?”

“Wha- why would- why would you do that! Those tickets are so expensive! Let me pay you back-”

“No.”

How stubborn could a man be? This cost a fortune to do. Enough so that, despite knowing Father wouldn’t bat an eye at the money it demanded, Freminet had never dared ask. It was more than he would ever be willing to spend on himself or have anybody else spend on him. How had Gaming come up with the money? It must’ve taken ages! There were so many better uses, so many better ways to spend it-

Gaming unhooked their arms to put his around Freminet’s shoulders in a reassuring hug. “Relax, if it’ll calm you down, I got them at a discount.”

“Still-!”

“And,” Gaming interrupted, “I really wanted to. I’ve never met a penguin, but I definitely don’t want to be alone when I do. Who better to bring along than my favorite penguin enthusiast?”

Freminet couldn’t come up with a rebuttal. He wanted to, he really wanted to fight Gaming on the matter, but his brain had long short-circuited. He decided to bury his face in Gaming’s shoulder and squeeze him. “Are you serious? We’re really going to meet them?”

The brunet squeezed Freminet back in turn. “Sure are!”

With no way to argue, the excitement was setting in. He was going to meet a real penguin. He would be able to reach out and touch it! They would be all over the place, in close proximity. With luck one would let him pet it. What did they feel like? He had a theory that they would be smooth but there was no way to know! Wait – he had researched this particular endeavor many times. It was always recommended you should be wary of wearing anything you wouldn’t want to get ruined by the birds. That damn Lynette had known and not said a word! How long had she known? How could she keep something so huge from him?

It didn’t matter. He would forgive it, because penguins!

“Fremi, you’re gonna kill me.”

“Oops! Sorry,” Freminet let go and jumped away a bit. “I’m excited. I’ve never done this before. Do you think we’ll get to pet them?”

Gaming opened his mouth to reply, clearly laughing at Freminet’s excitement, but Emily cut in. “Maybe! They’re quite friendly, but you should still be careful they don’t go digging in your pockets, they like to take stuff sometimes.”

Freminet noticed the way Gaming’s hand flew to one of his pockets, the same one he had been fidgeting with, to clamp the pocket shut from prying beaks. That was mildly suspicious but maybe his keys were in there or something. He supposed he would never know, and Emily was trying to corral them over to a corner with the other three participants.

She went over just a few things with them. IDs and passes to verify all of them were of an appropriate age to go back without a guardian; exactly what would happen when they went back; shoe sizes to provide them with some boots to wear within the enclosure, lest their own shoes be entirely unusable after the escapade. Once clear, she took the lot back to a separate storage room to leave any bags and important items they would not want to drop, lose, or have unfortunately stolen.

Gaming hesitated over his stuff for a minute before shaking his head and grabbing on to Freminet once more.

Emily guided the group through to a separate area – not the spectacle behind the glass Freminet had been watching before. It was a more hidden space for the penguins to get away from those eyes and the children tapping on the glass. She guided them around to a certain spot, stating this was the best place to be for the penguins to notice them and come say hello. Emily noted the correct way to touch a penguin (the wet ones were slippery, but the drier penguins were way softer than Freminet thought they would be). She went on about different cool facts about the penguins, even pointing to some and calling them by their aquarium given name, then telling the group how to distinguish those from the rest.

Freminet was so ecstatic, hanging on to her every word and trying to cajole a couple of different penguins to him. Off to the left he pointed out to Gaming a penguin giving another one a rock. The child of their group pointed, “Oh! Mom, look! I heard they give each other rocks to propose. Miss Emily? Is that true?”

She nodded and laughed along. “Yes! Many species of penguin will find smooth rocks or pebbles to give to their potential mates as a proposal to sort of marry them.” Freminet glanced at Gaming, who was turning an intense shade of red and fidgeting with his pocket again. “If she takes the rock, they will likely mate for life. The one with the rock is Maverick. He’s giving it to Jolene. He’s done this before, but she never takes it. She’s pretty picky about her rocks, that one. Maybe this time she will! Should we watch?”

So the lot kept their eyes on the two penguins with bated breath as Jolene inspected Maverick, then the rock he so lovingly brought to her. If she had rejected him so many times, it was probable that she would this time, too. Freminet still hoped she might take it, just so he could witness such a thing. And she did! She took the rock from Maverick, nudging him with her beak, and bidding him to follow her along out of sight. Presumably to a nest, or to begin a new one with him.

“Yes!” The kid cried. “They’re married now, right?”

Emily nodded. “Yeah, penguin married! Pretty cool, huh?”

Freminet was grinning too. How cute! He turned to Gaming to tell him what would come next for the two love-birds (no pun intended) and other methods different species use, only to pause when Gaming wouldn’t look at him, a much brighter shade than he had ever been before. What was it now? Had Freminet done something? Was penguin matrimony such an unholy sight?

He chose to pretend not to have noticed; he would ask later, away from the eyes of others.

For half an hour they got to hang around the penguins, learning about them, their habits, their food, and more. Many of the penguins were curious enough to come say hello and occasionally bump the humans for more pats. One of the penguins, lovingly named by the staff as Atisha, came by with a pebble to give Freminet.

“Hey!”

Emily laughed at Gaming’s outburst. “Careful, these penguins will absolutely try to steal your partner away if they can get away with it!”

Freminet looked at Emily, trying not to hang on to the implication that he and Gaming were dating. “How do I nicely reject him?”

She guided him through rejecting this cute penguin’s advances, sending Atisha away looking quite dejected. Freminet felt bad, but on top of their difference in species, his heart belonged elsewhere. No penguin, no matter how cute, would be able to sway him away. It would still be something to laugh at later and definitely something for Lyney to laugh at. He could just hear his brother now, with something along the lines of ‘wow, they love you as much as you love them!’.

With the time for their penguin encounter over, Emily guided the small group back to the storage to grab their stuff and shed them of the penguin encounter boots, then out the door they went. Freminet clung to Gaming once more, speaking animatedly about how cool it was to get to touch the penguins and be so close to them! That, and being able to witness a mating so close was an experience in and of itself.

“I’m glad you liked it.” That sounded a little blander than normal.

The blond looked at Gaming curiously. “Are you okay? You seem out of it?”

Gaming flushed. “Uh…well…” He glanced at Freminet but looked away when they made eye contact. “Hm, come here.” He dragged Freminet to a corner that was still empty despite the aquarium now beginning to fill up with people itching to entertain their kids for an afternoon.

They stood in that corner for a good minute, Gaming fidgeting in his pocket and shifting his weight around. Freminet waited patiently, but nothing came up.

“Gaming?”

He cleared his throat, finally deigning to look Freminet in the eye. “Sorry, bit nervous is all.” He shifted again. “I’m glad you liked it. And- er, honestly, I’m no good at this and the nerves aren’t helping but please bear with me!” Gaming took a deep, clearly needed, steadying breath. Not that it seemed to do much. “Freminet.”

Freminet hummed as Gaming took one of the blonde’s hands in his own. He noted that Gaming’s hands were very warm and a little sweaty. He would ignore it. This was either going to be way better than the penguins or the worst, most embarrassing day of his life.

“I was just – archons I should’ve listened to Xingqiu.” He huffed at himself, annoyed. “To hell with it. Here.” He placed a light blue stone in Freminet’s hands – possibly aquamarine? It was small and smooth, and a beautiful shade. “You gave me an agate saying it matched my eyes. That one – it matches yours. I just thought, you know, penguins give pebbles, and they were doing it so it reminded me I had it…and uh…”

The blond grinned. Definitely better than meeting penguins. Then, in a very scheming manner, should I let him dig or put him out of his misery?

Chapter Text

He was floundering here. Maybe Xingqiu had a point, and this was stupid and he should’ve thought of something better. Literally anything else! But… Fremi had looked so happy with the penguins that he couldn’t regret it. He was regretting trying to come up with a way to confess on the spot. The rock was one part of it but where were the words? How was Fremi supposed to know how he felt if he couldn’t voice it? He needed words, dammit!

Or maybe not.

Whilst Gaming sat, sputtering his way through a gods-awful hilichurl’s rear of a confession, Freminet pocketed the aquamarine stone. Gaming could only watch, suddenly silenced when Freminet grabbed his face and forced the two to make eye contact. He was smiling, a big grin like Gaming would usually sport around. He looked excited and smug and-

“I like you,” Freminet told him.

His brain could only process a fleeting thought of, I’m sorry Xiangling, before his mouth was moving and he hoped, for the nth time in the last few weeks, to die on the spot. “Can I kiss you?”

Freminet snorted, pushing his head into Gaming’s shoulder, laughing in hysteria. Oh gods. He had made a fool of himself. Freminet had beat him to the proper confession and now he was laughing at Gaming’s sudden lack of a filter. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened. He should have written it down. He should have prepared. He should have done literally anything else.

Except this was perfect, because while his face felt hotter than hot, Freminet was pulling himself together, still grinning like a fool.

“Please?”

Oh.

That was it, Gaming pulled his blond forward. He felt Freminet turn to putty in his hands, melting in a quite satisfying manner. He decided right then he would never let go. He liked the soft feel of Freminet’s lips against his. He liked the taste of the peppermint ChapStick Freminet occasionally applied through the days. He liked being able to kiss and kiss and kiss some more. He liked how warm Freminet’s face was in his hands. He liked pulling the other boy closer, and the feel of his own hair being toyed with by the other.

Gaming loved Freminet. Everything about him, every weird quirk and the little brat he seemed to politely keep hidden from most people. He loved that Freminet would show him that shit-eating side of himself, and what was now incredibly apparent was a massive teasing side, too. He loved Freminet’s interest in new topics and the way his eyes lit up when he saw something he loved. Oh, Gaming realized, Freminet had been looking at him like that for quite some time.

Gaming was in love with Freminet, and he would be the single most unbearable person ever about it. What else did he need but the blond in his arms and the adoration he had for him?