Work Text:
“Y’know, I’ve always wondered,” Zam said, her long blonde hair blowing in the faint breeze as the two sat with their backs to the pink wall of his house.
Pangi waited for a moment for the shapeshifter to continue, but when she never did, he prompted, “wondered what?”
Zam turned to look at him, his expression mostly blank. Pangi felt the air tighten a little, confused and wary at her sudden expression.
“What do your eyes look like? Under the sunglasses I mean. I’ve never seen them.”
Pangi’s smile faltered. “I don’t- it’s, um. Private.”
“Yeah ok, that’s fine. I just… what color are they?” The pangolin hybrid’s lips pressed into a thin line at the question. “I bet they’re pretty.”
Pangi found himself blushing at that, somehow, but still not sold on showing Zam his eyes. The few people who had seen them had seen them because they had fallen off during combat, with only one exception- and that person was gone, long gone, replaced with a clone.
That person was as close to him then as he is with Zam now.
Maybe he did trust Zam.
But not now. He couldn’t- because Zam had been there. Zam knew, Zam took him away. It hurt, but he didn’t want to risk Zam leaving too. Maybe he was paranoid, but that knowledge didn’t make him want to show his eyes more.
He only wore the glasses in the first place because he had the self awareness to know he had a horrible poker face. It was made much easier with the sunglasses hiding his eyes, he only had to focus on maintaining a smile. On Lifesteal, being able to lie and manipulate was crucial, so he’d adopted the glasses to protect himself.
The sunglasses were the reason he was able to trick Zam in that bedrock box, all those years ago, back in Season 4.
He would never think about doing something like that to Zam again.
The more he thought, the less confident he was in showing someone else his eyes.
“I’m gonna go, he mumbled, standing to his feet.
Suddenly, a hand gripped his shoulder and roughly pushed him against the cherry wood wall, making him gasp in surprise.
He saw Zam’s bright yellow hand on his shoulder, and when he looked up to look at her, she took the opportunity and kissed him.
Blood rushed to his cheeks as the shapeshifter kissed him, and after the surprise wore off Pangi kissed back, their tongues dancing in harmony as Zam’s nails dug gently into the fabric of Pangi’s shirt.
Eventually, Zam pulled away and the taste of him lingered in Pangi’s mouth. Zam tilted his head, eyes squinted as she reached her free hand up to his sunglasses. Whether it be because he was too flustered or he had finally decided to trust Zam, for whatever reason, he didn’t stop her.
The glasses were slowly lifted off his eyes and rested in his hair, and he squinted from the sudden brightness. It was always jarring when he took them off, the brightness overstimulating to his eyes and the colors tripling in intensity.
Zam’s bright yellow skin particularly made him squint, as if he were looking directly at the sun itself.
“They’re blue,” the shapeshifter whispered, her own dark brown eyes twinkling in the sunlight, “like the ocean.”
Gently, he ran his finger over Pangi’s cheek, the two not breaking eye contact as he did.
“They’re beautiful,” she said, and then she dove into another kiss.