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The pair, EMF and Evbo, had gone through so much together. Both faced struggle head-on and had done everything in their power to save parkour civilization. For their struggle, they had been aptly rewarded; Evbo had ascended to being the Parkour God, and EMF his faithful champion.
To some, this might seem like an unfair arrangement. The champion had to do all of the work while the god lazed around. Even though Evbo had done more of the work, both of them had risked it all to save this world. However, to EMF, there was no happier outcome. He sat on the Champion’s throne as the sun set in front of him, making plans for their world, and his god slept next to him, resting his head on the man’s shoulder. He knew that everything had been worth it for this.
Sometimes EMF wished they would spend all of their hours together talking; however, when he saw the peace that resting at his side brought his god, no force in the world could compel him to wake the man, and so simply enjoying the other’s presence was enough. When one is allowed to bask in God’s light, they don’t demand more.
Evbo rested with his head on his champion’s shoulder. He had already woken up a while ago, but he knew if he opened his eyes, he’d have to leave the man’s side. Only when resting or sleeping would he allow himself to linger in his friend’s presence. He knew his friend didn’t have any issues with it but it felt unfair. He didn’t think there was something he could ask EMF for that he wouldn’t do; when he had accepted being the champion, he pledged himself in his entirety. It wouldn’t be right for Evbo to abuse his friend’s trust, his kindness, and his devotion. He was his god, nothing more; he sometimes needed to remind himself of that. He should probably “wake up” now, before EMF gets suspicious.
The man next to him began to stir and eventually sat himself up while stretching. EMF knew he was looking at a god, but he truly was just divine; sometimes it felt like he was staring at the sun.
EMF didn’t mind that his god chose to rest when he was with him; he was happy that Evbo felt comfortable enough to do so, but he was curious about something. He seemed to do it every time; a question began to form in his mind. “Hey, Evbo, mind if I ask a question?”
The god, still shaking off his sleep, groggily replied, “Shoot.”
“Where do you sleep when you aren’t around me? I mean, I don’t spend all night up here, so you have to have somewhere else to rest, right?”
Evbo, still not fully in control of his mental faculties, stupidly responded, "Oh, I just don’t sleep when you aren’t around. I don’t really have a home now that I’m God and all. I kinda just hang out in the sky doing parkour.” The silence from his friend made Evbo realize he shouldn’t have said that. “But it’s not a big deal! I mean, I don’t really need to sleep since becoming the Parkour God. I only really do it for fun, you know.”
His champion just stared back blankly at him before quickly standing up. “Evbo.”
“Yes…”
“Come with me. Now.” After saying that, EMF jumped from the temple, water bucket in hand, the lanterns on the parkour highway illuminating the path beneath him. His god followed after him. Evbo tried to ask where they were going but was only met with a disappointed stare, ow.
After a few minutes, they reached a familiar skyscraper; it was EMF’s house. Evbo had the gall to ask, “What are we doing here?”
“Have you really not caught on yet? You told me that your only time spent sleeping is a few hours every couple days on a marble chair. Did you really think I was just going to let you get away with that?”
“I don’t really see how it’s any of your business how much time I spend sleeping or where I chose to do so.”
EMF paused for a minute. “It is my business since I’m your champion. It’s my job to make sure you are taking care of yourself. So, stop arguing and come inside; you are sleeping in a real bed tonight. I won’t listen to any arguments.” Despite being the god in this situation, EMF’s tone left Evbo feeling like he would regret disobeying.
As they made their way up EMF’s house, they eventually reached his bedroom. “I don’t have a spare room, so we’ll just have to share.”
The god quickly lost his composure when he heard this. “What! We can’t just share a bed. Don’t you have a couch or something I can sleep on?”
“You aren’t sleeping on the couch, and neither am I. What’s wrong with the two of us sharing? You literally sleep on me all the time at the temple. How is this any different? Now, unless you have any other objections, it’s getting late, and I’m not letting you stay up a second longer than needed.”
Evbo couldn’t share the real reason he was resistant to sleeping with his best friend. If he did, then EMF would know that he secretly liked him. Having no valid excuses, he grumbled out, “Fine, you’re right.” Then, in a quieter tone, almost like an afterthought, he said, “Nothing wrong with two good friends sharing a bed. Yup…”
Seeing that Evbo had stopped arguing with him, EMF went to his dresser and grabbed pairs of sleeping clothes for the two of them. "Here, put these on; I’ll clean your clothes tomorrow; seeing as how you haven’t had a home for months, I’m assuming you haven’t washed those in awhile,” he said while gesturing to Evbo’s entirety.
“I’ll have you know I didn’t wash my clothes even when I had a house.” Evbo said proudly. EMF once again just stared at his friend and questioned himself for having feelings for him.
“Just get in the bed," EMF said with a sigh while shaking his head.
The pair somewhat awkwardly arranged themselves in EMF’s somewhat too small bed. Evbo tried to take up as little space as possible and was nearly falling over the edge. “You aren’t going to be able to get a good night’s sleep if you fall out in the middle of the night. Come here.” EMF pulled Evbo into his chest. “There you go; now you won't fall out. Good night, Evbo.”
Trying to hide his blushing face in his friend's chest, he muffled out “Night!”
Light shone through the windows, giving the room, with two sleeping inhabitants, a heavenly glow. The first of the pair to wake up was Evbo. He wasn’t quite sure where he was or how he had gotten here. Even stranger though, he found himself pressed up against something warm. I didn’t take him long to realize what had happened. He was pressed up against EMF’s chest, and his lean arms were wrapped around him tightly. He was cuddled up against him.
He wanted to stay there, safe in his champion's arms away from all of his worries. But he couldn’t; he shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair. His friend was just trying to be nice; if Evbo let himself enjoy this moment, wouldn’t he be taking advantage of him? He slowly pulled himself out of the other man’s grasp and sat up. Evbo’s movements woke up the man who was holding him so lovingly close a minute ago.
Evbo noticed that EMF had woken up, and hoping to avoid him talking about their previous position, he started talking quickly. “Oh, sorry for waking you. You just go right back to sleep, and I’ll be on my way and see you at the temple later. Byeee.”
EMF, missing the weight on his chest, sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “You don’t need to apologize. Also, where do you think you’re going? You can’t exactly just leave wearing my pajamas, even if it would be a funny sight. Go take a shower, and I’ll lay out an outfit for you. You can leave once I finish washing your clothes.”
“Do I have to?”
EMF paused and put a faux-thinking face on. “Hmm, yes. Now go; the sooner you get it done, the quicker I’ll let you go back to doing whatever you do.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Evbo grumbled as he fully got up and headed to EMF’s shower.
As much as it annoyed him that EMF was treating him like a child, he had to admit sleeping in a bed was really nice. Though he wasn’t sure if that was just because he got to do it with EMF. Also, the shower was heavenly on his skin. Not getting to use the many amenities of the master level was one of his biggest regrets since becoming a god. Maybe EMF would let him borrow his shower from time to time. Would he even say no if he wanted to?
Not wanting to explore that thought any further, he quickly got out of the shower and put on the clothes that EMF had laid out for him. They fit him perfectly, and they felt handmade. Evbo wondered when EMF could have found the time to make these. Already feeling guilty about all the effort his friend spends on him, he quickly rushed down stairs and tried to head for the door.
“Wait! Evbo, before you leave, you need to eat something. And you might as well wait for your clothes to finish washing. Come sit; I made breakfast.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay; thank you, though. I’ll just be getting out of your hair. I can get my clothes another time. Thanks for all of this.”
“It’s really no problem. Please come sit. You need to eat; it’s good for you even if you are a god.”
Everything started to pile up, and it was becoming too much for Evbo. Why was EMF wasting so much effort on him on stuff that didn’t even matter? He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t deserve this. He was abusing his friend's kindness; he was abusing his devotion. His friend was so kind and he was using him. Taking advantage of him every moment he could. As the self-destructive thoughts flooded into Evbo, he became more sure of one thing: he needed to leave. No matter what, he couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t keep using his friend.
Evbo blurted out, “Who even asked you to do all of this for me? I know I didn’t! So just let me leave.”
Taking his rudeness in stride, EMF calmly replied, “I am your champion. If you aren’t going to take care of yourself, then I have to.”
“Hmm, last I checked, I don’t remember making it part of your duties to make sure I take a shower! So just stop, my champion . I can take care of myself.”
EMF started to get frustrated. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you are. Or that you need to do it alone. I won’t just let my friend neglect himself; even if you don’t need to do things like eating or sleeping, that doesn't mean you should just stop! I don’t need to eat when I wear the Champion boots, but it still affects me.”
“I’ve already told you it’s not your job to worry about this!”
“But I want to! I want to worry about you. I want to care for you. I want to be there when you need me. It doesn’t need to be my job, and you don’t need to ask. I want to do it.”
“Why? Why do you care what I do with myself? It doesn’t affect you!” Evbo spat back.
EMF couldn’t stop him. “Because I love you!”
Evbo was stunned; he so desperately wanted to run forward and kiss his friend, but he couldn’t. “Well. Well, you shouldn’t. You just think you love me since I’m your god. You’re confused.”
EMF looked hurt and coldly said, “I didn’t know you thought so little of me.”
“No wait, EMF, it’s not like that; I think the world of you. It just wouldn’t be fair. You literally pray to me and stuff; I can’t just take advantage of you like this.” Evbo reached out a hand, but EMF pulled back.
“You really think I only like you because you’re a god? I loved you before that! Back when you were just another pro, I loved you. I couldn’t care less about you being a god! To me, you’re just Evbo. I don’t worship you because you got some fancy boots; I do it because to me you’re perfect; you’re everything even before becoming a god.”
“Em…”
“But if you believe me to be so shallow, maybe I was wrong. You’re right, it’s not my job to force you to take care of yourself. After all, you would know what’s best, my god.” Grief streaked across EMF’s face, and he did a sarcastic half bow. “I’m sorry for defying you. Please excuse your subject’s stupidity. You’re free to leave, but I’m sure you don’t need your champion telling you that.” EMF turned away from him; he didn’t want Evbo to see him cry.
Evbo quickly closed the distance between them and locked his friend in a hug. “Em, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that to you. I just couldn’t believe it. You actually love me? Even back when I was just a pro?”
“Of course. How could I not?”
He hugged him tighter. “I love you too. I have for a long time.”
“What? Then why didn’t you tell me? Why did you say that I was just confused for loving you?”
“I’m sorry… It just felt like if I told you I would be pressuring you into being with me. It felt like I would be using you.”
“Evbo… I’m so sorry you felt that way. Know that everything I do for you is because I want to. It’s not because I feel pressured to or because you made me the champion, or even because you’re my god. I want to help you; I always have and always will. Please just let me.”
“Will you accept my apology? I really didn’t mean what I said.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve everything and more.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because I know it's true. You’ve done so much for everyone in Parkour Civilization. You deserve kindness; you deserve to be loved.”
“I love you so much... I’ve been wanting to say that for so long.”
“Ha, I love you too. I’ve also been wanting to say that for a long time. So, Evbo, will you let your humble champion pamper you?”
“That’s not funny.”
“It’s kinda funny. But seriously, Evbo, will you move in with me? We can be happy together. I can even get a bigger bed if you’d like.”
“I would love to move in with you if it’s not too much trouble. Being homeless isn’t very fun, even for a god.”
“Of course, it’s no trouble at all. Even if it was, I’d happily do it.”
“Also the bed can stay the same…” Evbo said sheepishly.
“You know we can still cuddle, even if we get a bigger bed? It would just mean we are less likely to fall on the floor. Ohh, was that your coy way to ask me to hold you every night?”
“No, of course not! I just don’t want to trouble you, and it would be a pain to move a bigger bed into that room.”
"Oh, if that's the case, we can just get two beds then.” EMF said with a smirk.
“Wait! No one said anything about anything like that. You mentioned breakfast earlier; it sounds delicious. Let's talk about that.”
EMF laughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop teasing. You’re right, we should go back to breakfast before it gets cold. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about how you haven’t eaten in forever.”
Evbo sighed. Not because he was sad or frustrated, but because it felt relieving to have someone who loved him. Someone who accepted everyone of his faults and found positives in them. He sighed because he was in love, and that person loved him back.