Work Text:
Wise
Are you busy?
Lighter
Hey, darling.
I’m free, what’s up?
Wise
Ok, good.
Can you come here?
I need your help.
Lighter
Sounds important.
I’ll be there soon then.
Wise
Thank you, Lighter.
See you soon.
Lighter checked his messages to see no new ones popping up, getting off his bike after parking at the back of Random Play.
His boyfriend’s messages didn’t sound urgent and if it was, Wise would have just called him directly instead of messaging. Even so, Lighter had time and if he needed help, then a bike ride to New Eridu was never trouble for him.
As he entered the building through the backdoor, he saw Belle organizing tapes at the counter with 18, raising her head and waving at him with a smile.
“Hey, Lighter!” She greets him cheerfully, “Big bro’s upstairs, just head on up.”
Lighter nodded at her, heading up the stairs to Wise’s bedroom, the door wide open as he heard shuffling.
Approaching the bedroom, he knocked on the steel door, peeking in.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
Inside, Wise perks up from his couch and smiles at him, getting up to wrap his arms around him for a hug. Lighter thought it was cute, hugging him back tightly with a kiss to the top of his head.
“Lighter!” He exclaims happily, “Sorry for asking you to come on short notice, I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
Lighter shook his head, “Nonsense, you know you can call for me anytime.”
“Still, I don’t want to cause you trouble.”
The young proxy kissed his cheek then his lips, holding each other close.
“It’s no trouble at all, Wise. But I am wondering why you called for me.”
When he asked this, Wise suddenly shifted around nervously, glancing away. Lighter raised an eyebrow at the change in behavior, grasping his chin to turn his head back to him.
“Hey, is everything okay? Did something happen?” He asks, sounding concerned.
This only made his boyfriend become even more nervous, turning red in the cheeks and grasping at the front of his leather jacket. His mouth would open and close, as if he wanted to say something but unsure. It was only a minute later did he lower his head, hiding into Lighter’s chest.
“... y-you…” He stuttered quietly, “... you promise… you won’t laugh…?”
Lighter blinked, surprised.
“I promise.” He answers immediately, “You know you can tell me anything, sweetheart.”
Wise nodded, peeking up at him from under his silvery eyelashes and God, he was just too adorable for his own good. Lighter felt lucky to have landed such a pretty boyfriend, intelligent too.
“Then uhm…” His slender hands began to fidget at the folded collars of the leather jacket nervously, his cheeks reddening, “... can you… p-play a game with me…?”
“A game?”
Another nod, the way his teal eyes were practically begging for him to say yes, pleading for help.
This was not what Lighter had expected when he read those messages asking for his help, figuring it could have been a myriad of reasons, and playing a game was just not one of them.
“Not that I mind but Wise, you know I’m not good at playing games.” He had to ask, wondering why he was called to help, of all people.
Wise shook his head, tugging at him, “I know that! It’s more like… keeping me company while I play.”
“O… kay.” Lighter drawled, unsure where this was going as he urged his young boyfriend to explain more.
Finally stepping back, he tugged at Lighter’s arm to the bed where his laptop laid open and a controller beside it. When Lighter leaned down to see what was on the screen, he raised an eyebrow at what was basically some scary visuals and imagery. It was accompanied by a strange low droning sound, unnerving.
He looked back at Wise, still holding his arm, shuffling his feet.
“Is this a…?”
Wise nods at him again, embarrassed as he sits down on the edge of the bed.
“... ar…” He mumbles.
“Huh? Didn’t hear ya, darlin’. Say that again?” Lighter strained his ear.
Wise took a deep breath then sighed.
“... I’m scared.” He says, a little louder this time, “I got this game after hearing it was fun, but I-I didn’t think it would be… this scary.” His fingers traced the edges of his laptop, “So I thought maybe, I could… call you to keep me company while I play.”
This seemed to fluster the young proxy, shaking his head from embarrassment.
“S-Sorry, this sounds kind of stupid now that I said it out loud.” Wise muttered all of a sudden, hiding his face in his hands.
“I’m sorry for calling you all the way out here for this, Lighter. Maybe we can just do something else instead!”
All of it made sense now, Lighter sighing then smiled, kneeling down in front of his young boyfriend who looked at him with wide eyes.
Lighter reached out to pat his head gently, seeing him calm down and lean into his touch.
“Do I make you feel safe?”
Wise lowered his hands to his knees and nodded, still being shy with him.
“Then I’m glad you think so, Wise.” Lighter got up and started taking off his jacket, getting comfortable. Wise watches him in confusion, making the older man chuckle.
“You wanted to play that game, right? So I’ll be here with you to make sure you’re okay.”
When he saw Wise brighten up and lunge at him for a hug, it made coming to the city worth it if it meant making his loved one happy just by being present. He pressed kisses all over his boyfriend’s adorable face, making the younger man giggle and feeling a whole lot better already.
“Thank you, Lighter. You’re the best!” He says gratefully, kissing him on the lips.
Lighter smirks, proud, “I know I am.”
Both of them settled down in Wise’s bed, with Lighter dressed down after tossing his jacket and belt aside, boots by the bed while he cuddled up to Wise with an arm around him. He’d also taken off his sunglasses, placing them aside as well.
“You ready?” Lighter pats his head, seeing him take a deep breath then nod his head.
“Y-Yeah, I’m ready.”
Once he started the game, they were quickly greeted with a creepy atmosphere as the main character began to monologue their story. The small figure in his arms trembled, Lighter gently shushing him with a rub on his shoulder.
Finally gaining control of his character, it was clear to see just how easily scared Wise got when it came to horror; every little sound made him flinch, his breath hitched until he finally breathed once nothing happened. The way he leaned closer when he got especially scared, shutting his eyes tightly and hiding into Lighter’s shoulder with a squeak.
Now, it wasn’t as if Lighter never got scared himself, but compared to fighting Hollow Raiders and facing Ethereals, this was tolerable and he needed to be strong here for Wise anyway. His own need to keep his lovely boyfriend safe and sound overrode his own fear, not that there was anything to be scared of.
Wise did appear to be making good progress despite everything, continuing to play as he solved a couple puzzles and tried to keep his wits together.
All the while, Lighter stuck beside him, even sometimes holding his hands over the controller, seeing him tremble and shake until he slowly calmed down. He’d tiredly smile at the older man, a small appreciative peck to his cheek then continued playing.
“Can you still keep going, darlin’?” He gently asks.
Wise gave him a small nod, trying to keep his eyes on the screen.
“Mm, I think… I’m still fine.” He lets out a shaky sigh, “I don’t think I could have gotten this far without you though, Lighter.”
The older man chuckled, kissing the top of his head, “Mighty kind of ya to say that, considering all I did was sit here beside you.”
Wise disagreed, “That’s not true, you being here is more than enough.” He paused the game and placed down the controller, “It’s… not as scary when you’re here with me, Lighter.”
It was like Cupid struck an arrow to his heart, even though they were already dating. Sometimes, it caught him off-guard how Wise could say the cutest things like this all of a sudden, raising his need to protect the fragile being in his arms even more.
Even if all that meant was keeping him safe from the pixels on his laptop screen.
“When you say it like that, then how could I ever leave you alone, baby?” He peppered kisses all over his boyfriend’s face, the cuteness aggression overflowing.
Enjoying the attention, Wise let himself be assaulted with endless kisses, letting Lighter satisfy his need to be affectionate. It took plenty of tugging and playful whining from Wise before he was finally free, both of them back to cuddling and playing the game.
With the game unpaused, Wise was back to concentrating on playing. Lighter couldn’t understand why someone would play a game like this, the idea of purposefully putting themselves in a scary situation baffled him. Maybe it was due to being a traumatized ex-mercenary; why would anyone think this was entertaining when they could have fun doing other things?
Fighting was to survive, to protect. Yet he’d seen teenagers treating going to the Hollows like a game, videos of exploring dangerous areas for entertainment and talking as if they knew what they were doing despite the real dangers that lurk from the dark depths.
Of course, he never worried for Wise to ever do such a thing, safely traversing the Hollow together within the confines of his bangboo. Wise was a smart and responsible young man too. As long as a sudden appearance of a mini Hollow didn’t happen anyway.
“You’re thinking real loud there, you know.” Wise speaks up, glancing at him from the corners of his eyes, “Anything on your mind?”
Lighter hummed, his arm resting on the head of the bed and head propped on his hand, with Wise shifting around to get comfortable again, “Maybe I might be too old to understand these kinds of games. Is it because I don’t live in the city?”
There was a light chuckle from the other, “You're not that old! We’re not even that far apart in age.” Wise shook his head, amused, “To answer your question, I don’t think it matters where you’re from but there are people who are just into the occult and mystic. I can see the appeal, I’m just not into it either.”
“Then why play this game? Don’t ya have anything that’s less scary to you?” Lighter asks him, curious.
“I do have other games, but I just really wanted to try this one.” Wise turns his head and nuzzles him, cheeks warm, “Besides, if it means I can spend time with you like this, then I guess I don’t mind playing the odd horror game or two once in a while.”
Lighter felt his heart become warm, kissing his forehead, “Alright, alright, though maybe next time let’s do something that doesn’t scare you to the point of calling me for help, okay?”
“Haha, will do, Lighter!” Wise exclaimed, happy.
Maybe it might not answer all his questions nor will he ever truly understand the point of it all, but as long as Wise was safe and sound in his arms, then everything else didn’t truly matter to him.
Even if that meant Wise screams his heart out when something extremely scary in the game happens, jumping in fright into his arms and lap, trembling.
Lighter sighed, patting him comfortingly.
Oh well, they’ll survive.