Chapter Text
“Hiya Gale!”
“Hey Pablo! How’s it going?”
The blacksmith grinned. “It’ll be going great in about an hour, when I trounce you at pool!”
Gale narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see about that.”
“Oh don’t start with him, he’ll just brag more if you get cocky.”
Pablo shot a glare over at his brother. “Hey now, I’m always a good sport! Right Gale?”
“Hey Rafael! Uh, I am not answering that.”
Pablo rolled his eyes. “Rude. So what brings you in today?” He grinned. “Finally gonna order a locket?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gale’s face started to burn. “And no, I brought a few more geodes for you to crack open.”
Rafael’s face lit up. “Awesome!”
Gale dumped several more than a few rocks out of his backpack and onto the counter next to the excited man. While he got to work, Pablo walked out to join them in the main room and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed.
“It means, when are you gonna ask him out dude? It’s been years.” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not getting any younger.”
Gale’s head dropped to the side in exasperation. “Thanks dad. Last I checked, 29 wasn’t old.” He straightened up and laughed softly. “It’s not like the locket would make him more likely to say yes.”
He sighed. “Of course not. You would make him more likely to say yes.”
“I don’t know, man. I just… I’d rather be sure.”
Pablo frowned at him. “You’ve known him for what, almost three years? This is about as sure as you can get before you take the leap.”
“He’s right, Gale. You need talk to him eventually. He obviously cares about you.”
Gale started placing the rocks Rafael had set on the counter into his bag and gave him his card in return. He hummed as he inspected the smooth gemstones, then placed a dark one back on the counter as his friend went to ring up the transaction. “I can’t believe you even handed this back to me. You know I’d never rob you of a fresh onyx.”
Rafael smiled at the register. “Just checking to see if you were paying attention.” He looked up with a serious expression on his face. “But you should talk to him.”
“What is with you two today?”
Pablo grinned. “We’re just trying out aggressive sales techniques for our jewelry line.”
Sincerity leaked into his expression once his friend started laughing. “You’d be happier, Gale. I know it’s hard. But I really think he’d say yes.”
Gale took a deep breath. “Maybe he would. But I know I couldn’t handle it if he said no. If I lost him.” He tipped his head back. “Ugh, we’re not even dating and I’m talking like that.”
Rafael’s eyes were to the ceiling. “You were in his lap during our last movie night.”
“So? It was cold. We always do that.”
Pablo let out a small noise of disbelief. “How can you say that and not realize he likes you?”
Gale narrowed his eyes. “Yuri joins us sometimes.”
Pablo’s eyebrows flew up. “Yuri’s like 10 years older than you and has been referring to you as her ‘favorite brother’ for over a year now.”
Rafael frowned. “Yeah, why does she do that?”
Gale’s face turned beat red. “Uh. We. Don’t need to talk about that.”
Pablo’s eyes lit up. “Wait, Raf, were you not here for this story?”
“We don’t need to-”
Rafael grinned. “Oh yes we do. What story?”
Pablo raised an eyebrow with a mischievous glint in his eye, spurring Gale to speak before he could.
“Ok, ok, but only because I know you’ll make it sound horribly dramatic. My older brother’s wife is a nurse, and she did a short stint in the same program that Yuri did when she was a traveling doctor. They uh.” Gale rubbed his neck. “Hooked up. Fairly often, according to Yuri.”
Rafael’s eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was slightly ajar. “Didn’t your family kick you out for that?”
Gale snorted. “Yeah. I’m guessing she never told my brother about it.”
Pablo shook his head. “I still think you should tell him.”
“Oh, they deserve each other.” Gale shrugged. “I couldn’t be the one responsible for turning them loose onto the dating pool again.”
“Alright, alright.” Pablo gave him a pointed look. “But anyway, big deal. Your older sister occasionally joins the cuddle pile. You still cuddle with him, occasionally big sis, and no one else.”
“And Scott.”
“Scott has no boundaries. He’s used everyone but Millie as a pillow at least twice.”
Gale hummed. “True. What about Surya?”
Rafael shook his head with a laugh. “Falling asleep on whoever he sits next to while he’s working doesn’t count as cuddling.”
Gale returned the laughter. “Ok, fine. So Theo is my closest friend. I don’t even know for sure if he likes men.”
Pablo grinned. “Oh, I can answer that one. Or rather, some of his fans can. He absolutely does.”
Gale’s face went slack moments before his eyes grew wide. “What?? Why didn’t you say something before? And how many fans are we talking?”
Pablo gave him an incredulous look. “Are you serious? He’s not one of those guys that keeps it a secret.” He raised an eyebrow. “And he’s your best friend. I mean, I would hope you know that I’m bi…?”
“Well yeah, of course. I don’t know, I guess I just never talk about... that, with him. I mean, he knows I’m gay. But…” He pinched his lips in. “I've never asked outright. I know we joke about things, but he never talks about his love life or any exes.”
Pablo chuckled. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have any. The guy only has enough social batteries to spend one and half, maybe two days a week in the tavern before he needs to isolate himself at the beach for the rest of the week.”
A sadness crept into his gaze. “He wasn’t always like that, you know. I mean, he’s always needed his space. But… he used to spend more time with everyone. All of us who grew up here.” He looked at Gale with a soft smile. “You’ve been good for him, man. It’s felt really good to have our friend back, even if it’s slowly. You should really give it a chance.”
Gale took a deep breath. “Thank you, really. I… I’ll have to keep thinking about it.” He shot a look at Rafael when he heard a barely audible sigh from his direction. “Hey, these things take time.”
Pablo clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Like I said, three years is a good amount of time.”
“Yeah, yeah, I guess.” Gale narrowed his eyes. “And you didn’t answer my question. How many fans?”
Pablo shook his head with a laugh and held his hands out in front of him. “Calm down, it wasn’t hundreds. But I’ve definitely seen him kissing a few men and women backstage before.”
Gale tilted his head. “Since when were you in his backstage crew?”
Rafael smiled and straightened up. “He used to take one of us with him whenever he played out of town. It’s nice to have someone there to help set up and keep the mics running.” His smile dropped to a mildly disappointed look, but only for a brief moment. “It’s, uh, been a while since he’s done that. But that’s ok. We’ve gotten much busier since you moved here, anyway.”
Gale laughed. “I guess you have. And speaking of busy, I should really run to the lab before they close. I’ll see you both in an hour!”
Pablo held out his arms for a hug, an invitation which his friend immediately accepted. “Can’t wait!”