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Now, Almond Milk wouldn’t exactly call himself nocturnal.
Not that he would call himself diurnal either, but well, he definitely wasn’t a night owl.
And that was a large factor in why he wasn’t really happy when he was woken up by loud knocking on his door at, he quickly checked the time, two in the frickin’ morning! He had half a mind to just turn over and go back to sleep, but his annoyer was… persistent, if nothing else.
Pulling himself up, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed, blindly searching for his slippers. All the while, he couldn’t help but wonder who on earth would try and bother him this late at night.
His first guess was Lighter, but he quickly discarded that thought again. Lighter was a huge jerk, who to some degree definitely enjoyed seeing Almond Milk suffer, but he never went out of his way for that.
He certainly wouldn’t get up in the middle of the night just for the fun of it.
His next would’ve been Apple Bomb.
It definitely wouldn’t have been out of character for them, but also why would they bother him out of all people. They’d probably go to Mortar, or heck, even Crystal! Someone they’ve
actually interacted with.
Popcorn, maybe, but she would’ve probably already identified herself, one way or another. Well, it’d probably be easiest to just, you know, open the door and find out.
Stumbling upright, he slowly walked over to his door, blanket still wrapped around himself in an attempt to preserve his prior coziness. Finally, he opened the door, harsh words on the tip of his tongue, ready to chew out whoever decided it was a good idea to bother him.
But before he could even get a word out, a hand was put over his mouth, shushing him.
In the darkness on the other side of the door he was able to barely make out… Comic Book? Why was Comic Book knocking on his door?
He had even less of a reason to be here than Apple Bomb and Popcorn did.
Finding his footing again, Almond Milk took the other’s hand and pulled it away from his face.
“What are you doing here?!” he whisper-yelled, a grumpy tone in his voice.
Comic Book had at least the decency to look embarrassed.
“I, uhhh…” He avoided Almond Milk’s eyes, despite the dark making eye contact kind of redundant in the first place. “I need you to come with me,” he eventually said.
Almond Milk just raised an eyebrow.
“At two in the morning?”
“Yes?”
That would’ve probably been more comforting if it hadn’t sounded like a question. Not that it would've been particularly great in the first place, but Almond Milk digressed.
“Look,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, “it is late. There is a challenge tomorrow. Unless you tell me what you want, right now, I am not going anywhere.”
He watched the taller squirm for a few moments as he debated with himself, a conflicted expression on Comic Book’s face. He looked abashed, as far as Almond Milk could make out.
It was honestly kind of cute.
“It’s…” the magazine started, before quickly trailing off again. He was fidgeting with his hands, seemingly nervous.
“Well, it’s supposed to be a surprise.”
They stood in silence, neither of them saying anything. Slowly, being hyper aware of the eyes on him, despite the darkness, Comic Book began to fidget, shuffling on the spot.
He couldn’t make out the others' expressions, but Almond Milk had his hands on his hips, so he probably was some kind of disappointed.
“So you came here, in the middle of the night, despite the possibility that I wouldn’t even answer the door, and were hoping that I would just follow you without you even telling me where we are going?”
“... yes?”
Almond Milk’s arm dropped to his side in… defeat?
“You know what? Sure, I’ll bite.”
“You don’t- You- Huh?” was all Comic Book could stutter out in surprise. “Wait, what do you mean you’ll ‘bite’? I kinda thought you were just gonna call me stupid.”
“And you are,” Almond Milk sighed, “but you are also incredibly optimistic. Impressively even. So I’ll bite. Show me, whatever it is.”
It took a few seconds before he processed what was just said, but the moment he did Comic Book lit up like a Christmas Tree.
Making Almond Milk feel… some kind of way.
“Yes, of course, this way!” He grabbed the other’s hand, forcing Almond Milk to hold on to his blanket as he quickly tried to shut his door behind him.
Whatever he wanted to show him, it involved going up, which for some reason also meant using the stairs. When pressed about why they couldn’t just use the elevator, Comic insisted that it “was way too loud”, “would disturbed the others” and also would “ruin the effect”.
Almond Milk respectfully chose not to argue with him.
Just as they were about to reach the top, they stopped again. Before Almond Milk could ask, Comic Book instructed him to cover his eyes, which for once he did without complaining. As the door to the rooftop opened, cold air hit them both and Almond Milk had to suppress a shiver.
He didn’t have anything on him other than his slippers and the blanket, so he hoped this wouldn’t take too long.
Feeling himself being guided forward, they eventually stopped somewhere in the middle of the roof.
“Ok, you can look.”
He quickly took his hand off his eyes, feeling Comic Book tilt his head up in the last second, and then-
Almond Milk had lived in the city for his entire life, and the truth is that with all the light pollution, stargazing just had never been an option. It wasn’t something that had ever particularly distressed him, astronomy never really being one of his interests.
It made him feel so foolish right now.
The hotel was a good distance out of town, and up here on the rooftop the streetlights down below were well out of the way. The world around them was dark.
Almond Milk had never seen so many stars before.
It was- he didn’t even know how to describe it. Magical maybe, but that just felt cheesy. Turning to the other, he could see that there was a soft smile on his face. His eyes were entirely focused on Almond Milk, and the beverage couldn’t help but blush lightly.
“How did you…”
“I, uhhh,” Comic Book laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his head, “I couldn’t really sleep, so I went up here to get some fresh air and discovered all this.”
He gestured to the sky above them.
“I just thought it was really beautiful.”
Almond Milk nodded in understanding, though there was still a question on his mind.
“So why did you get me?”
The taller just shrugged.
“I don’t know, it just made me think of you. I thought maybe you’d like it.”
God, he was kind of glad for the darkness right now, as he could feel his face warming up further.
“Oh…”
“D-do you like it?” Comic Book asked carefully, having turned his attention upwards.
Almond Milk was quick to respond, attention still trained on the other.
“It’s the most amazing thing I’ve seen in my life,” he said, and his heart fluttered when Comic Book’s face lit up again.
The magazin, oblivious to the eyes on him, simply let out a pleased hum. He would’ve been content to simply enjoy the view with the other for a while, so he was startled a little when he suddenly felt his hand being grabbed.
Turning his attention to his teammate again, they found themselves suddenly face-to-face, a mere inches apart. Time seemed to stop for a few moments, and Comic Book could just about make out the others blush, before reality caught up again and they both quickly turned away.
“Sorry, I- I didn’t mean-” Almond Milk stuttered, trying to let go but felt the grip around his hand tighten instead.
“No! It’s- it’s fine,” Comic Book laughed abashedly. “I don’t mind a-at all!”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he asked in response, doubt clinging to his voice.
“I’m sure”, the other reassured, despite refusing to make eye contact again. “It’s… honestly kinda nice.”
Not knowing what to say, Almond Milk simply smiled, a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach. He really didn’t mind either.
“Let’s watch the stars for a bit longer,” he said eventually. Comic Book hummed in agreement, and this time they both turned their attention up to the sky.
Their hands stayed intertwined, and truly, neither of them were planning to let go. Why would they? Everything felt exactly right, as if this was how it’s supposed to be.
…
Better not think too hard about that.