Chapter Text
The Discord call was filled with laughter– the four boys taking some time off after an extensive collab stream together. It was a ritual, one could say. They’d spend a few minutes warming up together before starting up their streams, then they’d each have some time alone with their chat, before spending long hours with their undivided attention on each other in-game, before eventually ending their stream to lie back and have some time together. Just some nice, unfiltered quality time with each other. They were close like that, after all.
However, today’s stream took a bit of a weird turn. Well, they always do, but it was a lot more noticeable this time around. The call had died down a little; it was more so just Kaelix and Seible talking while Zeal and Freo sat there doing their own thing in comfortable silence, finding comfort in simply listening to their genmates talk in the background. Usually, this would be where the call would end– everybody slowly accepting that they were getting tired, but not today. Not when Freo finds something interesting on Twitter.
“Hey,” Freo speaks up after being silent for a long while, which causes Kaelix and Seible to pause their little conversation. “Have you guys seen this?”
The question itself is harmless, Freo even laughs a little as he asks. Followed by the question, he sends a Twitter link into one of their Discord channels. “Here, look at what I sent just now.”
It’s another long pause as the others open the link, seeing a post from a well-known clipper in the community. It was a snippet of the stream earlier, the four being in an intense Splatoon match together, constantly getting steamrolled by the team that they were up against.
The clip plays.
“Ah!!” Kaelix screamed, the sounds of his frantic clicking of buttons on the controller being picked up on his microphone while he was being chased down in-game by another player. He was fighting for his life (at least that’s what it felt like), on the brink of being splatted. “I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna– ah!!”
The sound of Kaelix’s panicked definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the others, Seible and Zeal laughing a little at his situation, while Freo groans as he gets caught in the crossfire– getting himself killed while Kaelix continues to run (well, swim) around, hoping to survive at least a second longer.
By some miracle, Zeal’s inkling swims in right in time with his special ability, practically saving Kaelix from the other team.
“Better now, baby?” Zeal chuckles, his voice lowering just a bit, just enough to make Kaelix scream again despite being safe from any danger now.
“Agh, don’t do that!” Kaelix jitters, stuttering both in his words and his movements in-game. “I think I’d rather I just died, oh my god.”
The white haired man had a frown on his face, but it couldn’t mask the flush of red splashed across his cheeks after that little encounter. That’s how it always was when it came to him and Zeal; they’d play a game together, Zeal would tease Kaelix, Kaelix would react so loudly, some viewers would question whether or not this was how he really was. Spoiler alert, this is how he is. Always has been.
The clip ends with a few laughs from the other boys while Kaelix is seen shaking his head, as if it was going to help him get rid of that blush on his face.
“I almost forgot about that.” Zeal laughs as the clip finishes on his end. “Kaelix is so easy to tease.”
“Kae-chan, you’re so bad at hiding your embarrassment.” Seible joins in, also barely able to hold back his laughter. “I probably lost count of how many times you’ve been clipped with Zeal teasing you like that. Or by any of us, actually.”
Freo joins in, the smile on his face evident in his voice. “He really can’t control himself on stream, huh… It’s like he’s just begging us to do it to him.”
“ Woah, ” Kaelix interjects, his mouth wide in both disbelief from what Freo had just said, and in defensiveness with how much his genmates seemed to talk about him. “Pause. Rewind. Play. Say it again, but look into my eyes this time.”
The rest of the group laughs again, and Zeal speaks up. “He really does sound like he begs for it, huh?”
Kaelix lets out a frustrated groan. “You guys make me sick. You make me sick .” He says that last phrase with a bit more conviction, but he knew he wasn’t convincing anybody.
They knew Kaelix says it in lighthearted fashion, as he always does, which led to him receiving yet another round of laughter from the boys.
“You’re not helping your case at all, Kae-chan.” Seible chuckles, a hint of playfulness in his voice. “There are so many more clips from today aside from the one Freorin sent. And it’s usually you and Zeal…”
It wasn’t a lie. Scrolling down from the clip that Freo had sent, there were multiple related tweets with similar clips, all at different times when Zeal had teased Kaelix on stream, and when Kaelix would panic from how flustered he’d become. It was no surprise that the majority of the clips were tagged under their names and ship tags, already gaining lots of traction from many shippers.
“They’re really blowing up this time…” Zeal couldn’t help but comment, a hint of curiosity in his tone. He was well used to the fans being obsessed with his interactions with Kaelix, but it had never gotten this much attention before.
Freo hummed, deep in thought. “Well, I guess you did kind of go a bit overboard this time. I mean, you guys have a lot more clips together than usual. You guys aren’t doing this on purpose, are you?”
Seible chuckled a little. “I don’t think it’s on purpose if Kae-chan’s reacting this much.”
“I’m not reacting that much!” Kaelix huffed a little, which was met with a pause of silence from everybody else. He sighed in defeat. “Fine, I guess a bit. But that’s not the point! If anything, it’s Zeal’s fault that he keeps… doing that!”
“Doing what, hm?” Zeal steps in, using that same deep voice that made Kaelix lose his mind every single time.
Kaelix nearly shrieked. He swore he was going to implode if it happened again. “Agh…! See?! It’s always him!”
Zeal couldn’t help but laugh again. He would never admit it, not to Kaelix directly, but he did enjoy teasing the younger man like this. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop for now.”
The call dies down again, and it doesn’t last any longer than that. It was late for everyone, after all. One by one, they each left the voice call, surrendering for the night.
…
‘Better now, baby?’
Kaelix laid back into his bed, placing a pillow over his face as he screamed into it. Was it out of frustration? A bit. Anger? Not even a little. It was safe to say that he was a lot more affected by Zeal’s words than usual, but he couldn’t put a finger on why.
Was it because he was being noticed much more now for this? That could be the case. He hasn’t seen a huge spike in his subscriber and view count ever since he debuted, and it’s been quite a few months since then. They really were blowing up because of that stream, huh…?
“Ugh, what am I gonna do…” Kaelix groaned, reluctantly removing the pillow from his face, as if he was scared to reveal himself to someone who wasn’t even there. “Is this what I’m gonna be known for now…?”
He didn’t know why, but he reached for his phone, deciding to scroll through Twitter himself now. And of course, it was everywhere. Clips of the stream, mostly between him and Zeal, were spread by a bunch of fans. It couldn’t be helped; he knew where they were coming from. Hell, he’d do the same, too, if he were just a mere fan as well.
Pushing his white hair out of his face, Kaelix sighed. “I should talk to him about this tomorrow…”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
The sun had started to set, which meant another day of work at the club.
Zeal was there early today, already at work, cleaning glasses and preparing ingredients that he’d use for his drinks. It was a peaceful routine that he did every time he clocked in, one that calmed him before he’d have to deal with hectic amounts of orders, drunk patrons, and other chaotic events that may unfold during the night.
Soon enough, Zeal’s solitude was put to a pause when a certain white-haired bouncer entered the building, clocking in as well. Not that he minded, he had always found peace in Kaelix’s presence, even when Kaelix himself seemed like the exact opposite of the word peace to some.
As the bartender finished up on cleaning his station, he was about to go around the area for a final check, only to be interrupted by a certain bouncer.
“Zeal.” Kaelix called out to Zeal from behind, to which Zeal stopped in his tracks to give the younger man a small smile.
Almost immediately, Zeal changes the direction he was going in, stepping closer towards his genmate.
“Kaelix. What’s up? Did you need something?” He asks, his voice calm and soothing. It never failed to make Kaelix melt on the spot– but he couldn’t let that distract him now.
Kaelix merely shook his head, trying to get out of whatever trance that he didn’t know he was in. “Y-yeah, kinda. I need to talk to you.”
The older man raised a brow, his curiosity piqued. “Oh?”
“Yeah! Uh…” Kaelix couldn’t get his words straight. God, why was he having such a hard time…? “I wanted to reach you before we opened up the place, figured we might be too tired once we close…”
The bartender hums in understanding, then nods. “Alright, what do you have? I’m all ears.”
“We should sit somewhere first…”
The clank of the whiskey glass hits the bar table with a soft thud. The two had resorted to having a small drink– well, Zeal had some whiskey, and Kaelix just had some iced water. They couldn’t risk their only bouncer being tipsy on the job, after all.
“So… you’re asking me to stop with the teasing…?” Zeal asks, repeating what Kaelix had just tried (emphasis on tried) to tell him. It was more like an apology disguised as a request– he didn’t know how Zeal would take it, seeing how he seemed to enjoy playfully flirting with him all the time despite how much he tended to overreact.
“W-well, not stop , maybe tone it down a little…?” Kaelix tried to explain further, but Zeal could already see right through his nervous demeanor. He chuckles a little, placing a comforting hand on Kaelix’s shoulder.
The bouncer flinched a little, looking up to meet his friend’s gaze.
“Don’t worry, I won’t continue if it makes you uncomfortable.” Zeal reassures him. But it doesn’t make me uncomfortable , Kaelix almost says, but he stops himself. “I’ll tone it down. I don’t want our content to purely just be well… us .”
That felt like a jab at Kaelix’s heart. He enjoyed their moments together, he really did, but a part of him maybe wished that Zeal would voice those types of feelings, too.
“Yeah, exactly!” Kaelix agreed, yet it felt like a lump suddenly appeared in his throat as he did. “It’s really okay with you? To just stop all of that for me?”
He really wished that he would take it back and ask him to let him continue his whole flirting bit with him, but the look in Zeal’s eyes practically screamed with understanding of the discomfort that Kaelix definitely did not have, that he would definitely not get down on his knees and beg Kaelix to let him continue his antics.
“Of course.” Zeal nodded. “You’re my best friend, Kae. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable because of me.”
Kaelix swallowed the lump in his throat, he had to suck it up for now.
“Yeah. Thanks, Zeepaw. I appreciate it a lot.”