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Lighter was never one for the romance stuff. Every time someone came up to him with an envelope, be they a man or woman, he felt disturbed. That people could feel something so intense as love for a stranger, someone who kept his heart behind walls made him oftentimes shake his head at the absurdity of it all – not at the people, mind you. You could temper your feelings, but they were a body's natural reactions to a change in an environment, not something you actively controlled.
He could keep his annoyance hidden behind his shades, however, it didn’t stop it from creeping on his back whenever he was stopped in the streets by an “admirer” who would confess their – always loud – “ever-burning love” to him. Some reacted fairly well to rejection while others resorted to hurtful remarks. It was during one of these “times” that a particularly insistent girl didn’t simply leave him alone, convinced that he was merely “hiding his love desperately, but didn’t want to hurt her…” Or something. He didn’t want to be rude, but it was getting increasingly harder not to ask her to leave him alone.
He didn’t like this. While he appreciated the spotlight decently as Champion of the Outer Ring, he was not the best at handling a volatile individual currently suffering from complete obliviousness. He tried to placate her, really, he did, but it hardly seemed to matter. Sighing to himself, he tried giving her a half-smile, but it only came out as a grimace. That seemed to work minutely on the girl, and Lighter took it as his cue to speak:
“Listen…” He tried to recall her name, she’d mentioned it, but he couldn’t. Swallowing his saliva, he continued. “I truly appreciate the… Depths of your feelings… But… I’m… Like the wind, you know?”
“Unbound? Surely you can take-”
“Didn’t you hear him the first time? I’m pretty sure he said no.”
That voice sounded so utterly clear in his ears that Lighter didn’t even need to force himself to recall where he’d heard it before. In all his life, it’d never been so easy to remember someone’s name. It was especially troublesome when he couldn’t place a person’s face to a name. But this time, he didn’t need to do anything – the same came just as naturally as the words slipped out of his lips in a single breath:
“Hello, Wise.”
Seeing him felt like someone applied soothing balms on his worst scars. His shoulders sagged ever so slightly, and he was overcome with the urge to get the two of them out of there, at least, away from that woman. She was undoubtedly about to insult Wise for his comment, but she seemed slightly surprised that her “would-be boyfriend” knew him. Her mouth twisted into a grimace, and she asked in a vaguely interested voice:
“And who might you be?”
Wise’s smiles were as numerous as his good qualities, Lighter came to find out. There was the one he reserved for difficult clients, the ones he gave to those that gave him trouble, the one he had for those he called friends… And the one he kept for those who were extraordinarily thick.
“Oh, my name is Wise, nice to meet you.” The corners of his lips must have hurt with how far he stretched them. “I came here because Lighter and I agreed to hang out today.”
Her figure tensed and she drew her shoulders back, standing at her full height. She looked at him up and down, and something about the judgment in her eyes made Lighter clench his fists. He wouldn’t hurt someone, far from it, but it was obvious that there was something insulting at the tip of her tongue when she gave an equally-as-fake smile at the manager. And despite Wise having nearly done the same, it wasn’t in Lighter’s eyes.
“Hello, Wise.” She uttered, the name sounding like venom in her mouth. That she dared to word his friend's name like an insult was like a punch to the guts. He counted in his head to ten as the woman continued her streak, blind to Lighter's reactions.
“Lighter didn’t mention a… friend would be coming by.”
Wise raised an eyebrow:
“Why would he? It’s not like you guys are close or something.”
Lighter’s head whipped at the manager’s crude words. It certainly wasn’t usual for Wise to speak like that, but something was burning in the manager’s eyes. There were far more emotions in Wise than he’d thought in someone who was just a friend. His heart stuttered at the thought, but he clenched it in an iron grip. He was looking too much into it… Swallowing slowly, he breathed out and looked at the girl, who was quite struck at Wise’s audacity.
“How dare you-”
“Leave my friend alone. You’re making him uncomfortable, and if you actually care, I'd like you to consider what’s the best course of action: acting up like a petulant child or accepting the rejection for what it is.”
She gritted her teeth, and her teeth twisted in a nasty grin:
“You say that, but you barely know anything about him.”
Lighter’s heart stopped, and his vision focused mind-numbingly fast on her. There was a knowing glint in her eyes that made him swallow his saliva subconsciously, and Wise must have noticed it. The manager’s smile slipped off his face and for the first time in a long while, he felt genuine fear. Wise was not simply a Proxy, he was Phaethon. A monster that took on giant organizations for breakfast, and gave nightmares to his enemies at night.
He was not the kind of person you wished to rile up, because these calm depths were deep pools that could drag you into a Hollow if his safety and that of those he held dear was threatened. That woman didn’t know what kind of beast she’d awoken with her antics. And she seemed to realize it too, if her small step back was anything to go by. Wise was no murderer, but Lighter knew enough about killing intent to see it blazing in the Proxy’s eyes.
Silence stretched into infinity, before Wise closed his eyes, and exhaled:
“I don’t doubt you were about to go on and on about Lighter’s past – believe me, I don’t need to hear it again, least of all when the man himself is haunted by it. So in light of your so-called love…”
The Proxy took one menacing step, his rage twisting his face into an unrecognizable mask, before he whispered lowly, voice ice-cold:
“Don’t you dare say another word.”
She nodded her head, trembling all over and she ran, scared for her life. Lighter barely cared, for Wise let out a long sigh, his shoulders sagging and his entire disposition even more exhausted than usual. He looked so small now, and Lighter felt the urge to wrap an arm around his shoulder. He took half a step, before realizing what he was doing. Wise’s attention snapped to him and the Proxy raised an eyebrow. Swallowing his saliva, his voice low and careful, he asked:
“You okay, Wise?”
Wise nodded absentmindedly, his eyes slightly off to the side. Lighter was no expert in emotions, but there was something that looked suspiciously close to sorrow in his expression. The biker hesitantly placed his gloved hand on Wise’s shoulder, a way to ground himself in the physical world, and an unspoken “thank you” between the two men.
“You didn’t have to do that, you know?”
Wise placed his hand on Lighter’s, laughing a bit:
“And let her spill your embarrassing secrets for the whole world to hear? It’s not like I’m interested in the baby pictures.”
Lighter snorted, and the memory of the girl soon slipped away, his heart warmer and quicker due to Wise’s presence.
“True, baby Lighter wasn’t the best baby ‘round, let me tell you…”
A small, amused smirk danced on Wise’s lips and Lighter’s entire being melted under the gentle gaze. A desire was sparked, and suddenly, Lighter wanted to make sure that Wise’s attention was wholly and solely focused on him. It could be something stupid or epic, it didn’t matter: he so desperately wished for the man in front of him to watch him through it all that it gave him lightheadedness for a brief moment.
“Hey, Wise?” He asked, his voice barely audible.
“Mmh?”
Lighter was no good with emotions, especially his own – that was why he loved hanging out with Caesar and the Sons of Calydon. Ambiguity was a foreign concept in the biker gang, they were so forthcoming that Lighter was always sure that whatever emotion they portrayed, they meant it from the bottom of their hearts. As for Wise, the Proxy could be just as emotionally distant, if not even more than Lighter. He was wrapped in tight layers of secrets, and threads of truths tended to be scarce, especially regarding his past. He was friendly in his interactions, but that had been it for many of his relationships. Even then, Lighter let him in, regardless of Wise's emotional involvement in this friendship. Something had beckoned the biker closer than any other human truth, and despite risking a fall worthy of the legend of Icarus, he couldn't resist. Even if he were to fail, it would be worth it. He was content with Wise's company. But right now, in that very moment, he saw something in Wise that echoed just the same inside of him. A reflection in the pale irises that granted him self-reflection of his own mental state.
“Nothing.” He answered with a soft smile.
His heart echoed that answer with a tight throb, and Lighter let out a low exhale as Wise's gaze became warmer with affection far too raw and powerful to be that of friendship. Wise nodded and they began to walk, no destination in mind except the other's next footstep. There was no need to speak, Lighter realized. No need for a grand reveal, a sumptuous feast, or a sealed envelope with a thousand words that someone may have found romantic by stringing them in non-sensical order.
He loved Wise. And Wise loved him.
His heart soared, and he could swear he heard a bird's wings flapping by his ears as the blue sky greeted them in its magnificence.