Chapter Text
Every couple of months, Sebek would make the trip from Dragonopolis back to his family home for regular reunions. Learning teleportation magic had made the journey a breeze compared to when he'd started as a recruit within the royal guard, but even before then the regular visits had been a constant that Sebek refused to miss, no matter how busy life grew. He kept visiting even when he'd been ceremonially knighted and his job grew more time-consuming, kept visiting even when he'd moved out of the barracks into an apartment with Silver, and kept visiting even when Silver eventually queried why he visited family quite so often.
Sebek had a large family who were split amongst Briar Valley. His sister lived near his parents at the foot of mount dread, sure, but his brother was constantly on the move with work, and Baur lived on the outskirts of Dragonopolis—and only attended their reunions once a year.
Still, it was essential to plan get-togethers if they were to ever see each other, unlike Silver who only had a father who visited at the most random of times between his travels, and a sort of brother he saw daily. Sebek knew Silver and Malleus spoke to each other with such familial fondness that—from both of their perspectives—they were practically siblings, but Sebek couldn’t bring himself to accept that. It was improper for Malleus’ personal guard to believe they were siblings, for the fabled Knight of Dreams to believe they were siblings, but Sebek would never dream of saying anything about it. Not when it would be questioning his liege to do so, and not when Silver was considered a national hero and was adored in the eyes of the public.
Technically Sebek was as well, the pair of them having received the same accolade for their actions during Malleus’ overblot back when they were all still students. He couldn’t believe that had been ten years ago, but the constant passage of time was entirely why this visit to his family had been so eventful, and why Sebek was anxiously waiting in a cafe until Silver’s shift finished.
He could’ve waited back at their apartment, but Silver always stopped here for coffee after work and to be entirely honest, Sebek was panicking and needed to see Silver as soon as possible. Usually visits to his family were wonderful, getting to catch up with everyone and enjoy his family cooking, but his parents had sat him down for a serious conversation and Sebek had handled it… well, he hadn’t handled it at all, which was why he was in his current predicament.
Sipping his takeaway tea, Sebek couldn’t stop his leg from jumping, and he kept glancing towards the front door of the cafe. This could be the one evening Silver didn’t decide to stop for coffee, or he could’ve fallen asleep at work, or maybe his night relief hadn’t shown up on time, or maybe—
The bell for the door chimed loudly, Sebek jerking from his spiralling thoughts as he turned and saw the blessed sight of Silver tiredly stumbling through the front door. He was clearly moving on autopilot, but he’d visited this same cafe enough times that he didn’t have to slur through an order anymore—simply smiling quietly and paying the barista. Though as he waited for his drink, Silver looked around the room—his training as a guard never ceasing for a moment as he carefully checked for possible threats. To an outside observer it simply looked like the wandering gaze of someone tiredly waiting for their coffee, but Sebek knew better. He could see a focus that hadn't been in those tired eyes a moment ago, and when Silver caught sight of Sebek he furrowed his brows in confusion, and made his way towards the obvious anomaly.
“Sebek? Why’re you here? I thought you were staying over at your parents.” There was a small pause, Silver moving to sit down opposite Sebek before he pulled his ponytail in front of him so he wouldn't accidentally catch it. “I’m sorry. I’ve only prepared enough food for one person…”
Silver was speaking so casually, completely oblivious to the crisis Sebek was quietly going through, and Sebek fussed with his cup as he wondered how to even bring this up. After all, he’d inadvertently dragged Silver into his mess as well. His mouth felt like it was full of ash, and he didn’t know if he could even form words with how tightly his throat was constricting. At least the silence, plus his growing pallor, seemed to eventually clue Silver in that something was wrong. Tilting his head, Silver frowned quietly.
“Did something happen…? Is everything ok with your family?” Silver’s takeaway coffee was placed on the table between them, the man thanking the barista sleepily, before he rather quickly moved to start drinking it. The scent of bitter coffee made Sebek frown, his nose wrinkling as he couldn’t understand how Silver could drink it without adding anything to it, but at least the disgust calmed his anxiety enough to actually be able to speak.
“I… I need your help, Silver.” Sebek’s voice was no more than a rasping whisper, and Silver stared at him in surprise, before his expression turned concerned—the small dimple at the side of his cheek creasing with the slight frown. The man looked over his shoulder, scoping out the room with that focused gaze again, before he turned and leaned closer, speaking just as quietly as Sebek had done.
“Is it safe to speak here?” Silver was looking at him with such a serious and determined expression that it was almost intimidating, especially because Silver seemed to believe Sebek's life was in danger. Of course he'd jump to that conclusion, Sebek looked rattled and was being vague in a coffee shop, when they both knew Sebek hated coffee.
Rubbing a hand down his face, Sebek sipped his tea again to give his hands something to do, even if his tea was both cold and overbrewed at this point. “Can we speak at home?”
Silver gave Sebek a firm nod, moving to stand so quickly it would've been seen as abrupt if Sebek didn't know Silver so well at this point. He was focused on a task, so the only thing that would stop him at this point was a sleep attack. Even that was unlikely, seeing as Silver believed someone was in danger, as the adrenaline of the situation would usually keep him awake. Really, Sebek should tell Silver that he was alright, that he wasn’t in danger, but he was still struggling to speak even as the pair of them left the coffee shop.
They didn’t live too far from here, the cafe a half-way stop between their apartment and Castle Blackscale. Their main goal when finding an apartment together had been ensuring the place was close to the castle, but also that the rent was cheap. That had been the entire reason they moved in together in the first place, so they could share the cost. They could’ve kept staying in the barracks, and Silver had fully intended to do so, but both Malleus and Lilia had insisted they have a life outside of work and they couldn’t exactly argue against the two of them.
Their insistence hadn’t exactly worked, however, as the pair didn’t really do anything outside of work despite living away from it. Silver would practice with his magearm in their small courtyard when he had energy and devise new training regimes for recruits when he didn't, whilst Sebek would read new combat treatises and regularly challenge Silver to spars to try out the new techniques. Of course not much had changed from their days as students, as Silver was still significantly better than Sebek was, but the number of times Sebek would win had definitely increased. He blamed that on Silver’s injury, however, and not an improvement on his own behalf.
It had happened during Malleus’ overblot. Silver had broken his arm defending against Malleus—defending Sebek against Malleus—and despite recovering it still gave him issues sometimes. Sebek didn’t like to think about it much, it had been years after all, and it helped that Silver was still a terrifyingly good swordsman even with the minor handicap.
Before Sebek realised, they were already outside their apartment, Silver unlocking the door and opening it. He’d hoped to reassure Silver on the way home that this wasn’t life-threatening, even if Sebek felt like it was the end of the world, but he’d gotten too lost in thought and Silver was stepping back and gesturing for Sebek to head inside first. Clearly he was still on guard, wanting to ensure Sebek was safe first, and the taller man felt his guilt grow.
Silver had just finished a day of guard duty and was now on edge again, which was entirely Sebek’s fault. Again when they were both inside, Silver closed and locked the door, before taking Sebek’s tea and giving it a confused shake as he made his way into their small kitchen. “Um. Do you want to keep this…?”
Shaking his head, Sebek placed his unused overnight bag on the counter before hanging his jacket up. They were both overly familiar with navigating the small space, Silver sidestepping him easily as he emptied and disposed of their cups, before he realised Sebek was just hovering nervously in the space. He took his own jacket off, sitting down to take his boots off and nodding towards the other chair at the kitchen table.
Silver didn’t speak until Sebek had sat down. “What’s this all about then? You being so quiet is unsettling.”
“Sorry…” Sebek mumbled, rubbing his face, and Silver’s expression grew more concerned.
“You apologising is also unsettling.” In some ways it was a good thing Silver was still as indelicate as always, as his words annoyed Sebek to no end—and the annoyance replaced his anxious guilt. He knew how to apologise, had apologised to Silver countless times, but he couldn’t get angry at Silver if he wanted his help. After all, there was an extremely high chance Silver wouldn’t agree to this, so with a frustrated sigh he let it go.
The sooner he got this over with, the better, and Sebek glared at the wood grain of the table as he spoke.
“I messed up. My parents… they’d arranged a formal courtship for me, with this woman back at the castle town.” Sebek started, not looking up even as Silver tilted his head in confusion—as this clearly wasn’t the life or death situation he’d imagined.
“Courtship?”
“It’s ludicrous. Apparently they were concerned I’d spend my life alone, because I’ve never seriously dated anyone, and decided to take matters into their own hands.” Sebek felt his jaw tightening, his leg jumping again in agitation as he just wanted to flee from this entire situation. He couldn’t see a way out, and he’d only made it worse with how he’d responded. “If I were to go through with this courtship I would have needed to move back home, because my ‘future wife’ couldn’t share an apartment with my friend, and I just… panicked.”
Sebek finally looked up at Silver, the man staring at him with a blank expression like always, but he could tell from that slight dimple that he was also troubled by the situation. “I came out, which I never planned on doing even if it surprisingly went well, but…”
“Out?” Silver’s head tilted again when he spoke, and Sebek stared at him in disbelief. Had he seriously never come across that term before?!
“I’m romantically interested in men, Silver.”
“Oh. Ok. So that called off this courtship, then?” Silver had also taken that information surprisingly well, his expression not even shifting. Granted it usually wouldn’t change anyway, but even his subtle tells that he was surprised hadn’t shown, so this news genuinely didn’t bother him. Maybe he just didn’t understand, or hadn’t considered the implications, but then Silver was odd like that. He’d never been interested in dating anyone, so this was likely unimportant to him.
“You’d think it would, but then they suggested she had a brother and that I should give it a go, so they wouldn’t worry about me, a-and I just…” Sebek pressed his head into his hands, speaking the next words in a muffle. “I-I said I was already dating someone.”
“You shouldn’t have lied like that…”
“I KNOW! And to make matters worse they then got excited and asked to meet them!!” Sebek was growing pale again, his expression one of pure dread as he stared at the table. “I was panicking, I don’t know why I didn’t just tell them I wasn’t interested in a courtship, but my mother was so excited and I tried to get them to stop by saying they’d already met my imaginary partner and they just— th-they—”
Sebek was struggling to breathe suddenly, panic gripping his throat like a vice, and Silver tapped the table loudly to get his attention.
“Hey. Calm down. It’s not the end of the world.” Silver spoke so calmly, even if there was a firm edge to his words as he tried to get Sebek to focus on him. It was easy for him to dismiss the situation, because he didn’t have the full picture, and Sebek shook his head.
“They assumed I’m dating you, Silver. Because we live together.”
“Huh? Me?” Sebek shouldn’t have been glad Silver finally looked surprised, as this entire situation was terrible, but at least Silver seemed to realise this was a problem. Although Silver’s brows were slowly furrowing in what Sebek recognised as annoyance, and the dread he’d felt started to grow once more. “You corrected them, right?”
Sebek didn’t respond.
“Right? You told them you appreciated their concern, but that you’re happy with your life in the capital and don’t want to move, correct?”
Sebek still didn’t respond, and Silver’s expression turned suddenly severe as his annoyance spiked.
“Sebek. You did not lie and say we’re in a relationship.”
“...Technically I didn’t say we were dating, but I didn’t correct them either.” Sebek watched as Silver exhaled sharply, bringing a hand to his forehead, as he clearly told himself to calm down. He looked exhausted, and Sebek realised bringing this up immediately after Silver had already had a long day was probably a terrible idea, but what else could he do?
“Earlier you said you needed my help. What could you possibly need my help with? The solution is just calling your parents and explaining the situation.” Silver spoke quietly, his eyes closed as he continued to rub his head. Clearly he was getting a headache, but his spare hand resting on the table was clenched, so Sebek could tell Silver was furious.
This was going to be bad.
“...I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.” The response had been instant, that fist slammed hard into the table, causing Sebek to flinch as Silver inhaled sharply in an abysmal attempt to keep his anger in.
“That’s a stupid idea, Sebek!” Silver’s voice had raised, making Sebek stiffen further, and he knew this was a terrible idea. He knew it was a terrible idea when he was speaking to his parents, he knew it was a terrible idea whilst sitting in that cafe for hours, and he knew it was a terrible idea when speaking it out loud. But Sebek didn’t know how else to fix this besides disappointing his entire family and having to end up dating some random stranger.
“Just think about it, Silver—”
“Yeah, I’m thinking, and it’s dumb.”
“You’re not interested in dating people, right!?” Silver sat back in his chair, folding his arms defensively as he continued to glare at Sebek, though there was a slight quirk to his brow—a challenging question—as he spoke.
“Yes. I’m not interested in romance, I’ve made that clear for years. I don’t exactly get what point you’re trying to make, because that makes it even less likely for me to date you.”
“It’s just pretend! And it’s not like you’re going to miss out on finding the love of your life because you don’t want one in the first place!” Sebek was getting frustrated himself, wondering why Silver wasn’t even taking the time to consider this. It would simply be lying to his parents, occasionally visiting them and having to maybe hold hands, it wouldn’t be a big deal. At least until they started to ask when they would get married. Or if they started telling other people they knew. Or if—
Silver exhaled sharply, the sound catching Sebek’s attention. “Did you consider that this could make me deeply uncomfortable? Like, even at all?”
A cold feeling filled Sebek’s chest at that question, especially at the reality that he hadn’t considered that. He’d assumed Silver would get angry—because Sebek was lying and was asking him to lie—but not that pretending to date him would actually make him uncomfortable. Again, he hadn’t assumed they would act any differently, just the odd term of endearment in front of his parents, but Sebek realised that was maybe fine for him, but could be a completely different boundary for Silver.
The sobering thought at least calmed Sebek down enough to talk more rationally.
“I… hadn’t, but I hadn’t really considered us acting any differently either. It’s not like we need to kiss in public—” Silver had visibly recoiled at the word ‘kiss’, clearly freaked out by the idea, “—as we’d just say we’re a private couple. My parents would understand, considering I’ve been in the closet over a decade now, and we’re both rather reserved people in general.”
Silver had gotten over the horrific idea of kissing him—a fact Sebek was trying to not feel insulted over as he knew it was just Silver— but he was still obviously against the idea. “I really do not want you to kiss me, Sebek. I don’t want any of this. It’s not like I’m uninterested in romance just because I’m focused on my career, I don’t like it. I thought you understood that. You remember that woman at the coffee shop, right? I nearly stopped going back because she was so… insistent.”
Watching as Silver paled slightly, Sebek felt guilty for not thinking about this. How hadn’t he considered this? Silver had often avoided attention way back when they were still students, particularly because Silver was a strikingly attractive man surrounded by a lot of teenagers full of too many hormones and drunk on the freedom of living without their parents. Silver had always handled it calmly and coolly, or didn’t even seem to notice the attention. To this day, Sebek still didn’t know how Silver missed the several videos of him in his equestrian club uniform that went viral, specifically because of how much people wanted him to ride them instead of his horse, but he was thankful Silver missed them if it would’ve just upset him.
He’d assumed Silver was just not bothered at all by romance, not that it made him uncomfortable. Carefully, Sebek moved to place his hand on Silver’s shoulder, and he hated how he jerked slightly at the touch. Though he hadn’t immediately shoved him off, so he’d at least calmed down somewhat from his previous fury.
“I’m not going to make you uncomfortable, Silver. We already do literally everything together, so it’s not going to be hard to just… say we’re dating without doing anything different. Living together is already a thing couples do, and that’s never been a problem, right?” Sebek could feel the tension leaving Silver, which was a relief that he hadn’t truly upset him with this, but the man was still leering at him and still had his arms crossed defensively.
“It’s a problem when you get so frustrated by the smell of coffee that I have to spend half my wages on takeout coffee because I can’t even have it in the apartment…” Silver muttered, the gripe at least getting some of his frustrations out even if Sebek found himself getting annoyed in return.
“I put up with your obscene number of alarms, Silver! I’m not putting up with the house stinking on top of the constant threat of a noise complaint!!”
“Our neighbour is an old lady who is half deaf, Sebek. You’d know that if you spoke to her even once. Also she would have complained because of your constant shouting long before she complained at a few alarms going off for a short period of time every morning.”
“I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND HOW LOUD THE ALARMS ARE, SILVER.” Sebek shouted, leaning back as he found himself side-tracked and frustrated by this new problem instead. Silver winced at the volume, closing his eyes as his brows furrowed in pain and a growing annoyance.
“You should’ve just gone ahead with the courtship. He’d have broken it off immediately and your parents would've been forced to give up…”
“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!” Sebek just grew louder with his indignation, but instead of responding Silver just opened his eyes and gave him a sceptical look. Really, Sebek had no idea what Silver was on about, as he was certain he would make a great partner to someone someday, just… not right now. And certainly not one which required him to drop his lifelong dream.
After a long silence, the pair of them staring each other down, Silver let out an exhausted sigh—leaning into the table as he pressed his forehead into his hand. “I don’t know why I’m so lenient with you, this is beyond ridiculous…”
Sebek stiffened at the words, staring at him in surprise as the anxiety he’d felt for hours looked like it could finally, finally start to settle. “Y– You mean—”
“Yes. I’ll pretend to be your damn boyfriend, just promise me it’s only until you’ve worked up the courage to tell them the truth. I don’t want to be living a lie for the rest of my life, or enabling you to do the same.” Sebek could almost cry with relief at Silver’s words, the man trying to sneakily rub his eyes when he felt them start to sting, but he wasn’t subtle. Not when Silver was staring straight at him, sighing and shaking his head.
“Maybe I should set a deadline… I don’t exactly want to pressure you, but a goalpost like that will hopefully stop you stagnating? And we need to go over some rules…” Silver rubbed his face tiredly, and Sebek recalled yet again that Silver was likely running on fumes by this point. He didn’t want to cause him more hassle, not when Silver was helping him out so much by simply agreeing to this, so he would do whatever he could to make this easier. Though the idea of a deadline was stressful, considering Sebek still wasn’t sure how he would be able to explain everything to his parents… He hated the idea of worrying them, or disappointing them, and telling them the truth would ensure both of those things.
But he had more time to think, at least.
“I shouldn’t need a deadline! I don’t wish for us to be stuck in a pretend relationship either!” Silver nodded tiredly, Sebek surprised he wasn’t insistent on a set date, but he was slowly realising Silver will have set a timeframe in his head and was liable to bring it up when they neared it. He figured it'd be a couple of his family reunions, tops.
Still, that was a problem for the future and wasn't important right now: understanding Silver's boundaries was.
“As for rules, what do you suggest? I assume kissing is a definite no.” Silver nodded immediately at that, which was understandable, but it was going to make pretending a little difficult. A simple kiss would convince most people, but Sebek wasn't going to distress his closest friend just because he was struggling to get out of a situation he caused. “Is hand-holding ok?”
“I… suppose? Though I don't see why we'd do that unless there was a chance of us separating.” Silver's blunt answer threw Sebek for a moment, realising Silver not only had zero interest in romance, but also zero knowledge if he didn't understand why couples liked to hold hands. This was utterly baffling, Sebek looking at his friend in an entirely new light, as had he never read a romance novel?
…Actually Sebek had never seen him read a book. A romance film? Wait, Silver fell asleep watching any movie… None of their close friends had started relationships whilst they were students, Lilia had never dated anyone through Silver's entire upbringing, and Silver wasn't constantly around Sebek's lovesick parents.
Did he genuinely not know anything about romance…? This might be more difficult than Sebek first realised, as how was he meant to convince his family they were dating when Silver was this clueless?
“Couples… hold hands to just stay close to each other. It's the same with hugging a lot, and generally just casually touching each other. It's a way of showing affection.” Sebek watched as Silver furrowed his brows in thought, before he shrugged tiredly.
“Hugging is fine. We're rather tactile anyway, so same with just casual touching I suppose. Anything else in particular couples usually do?” That gave Sebek confirmation that Silver truly had no idea, and he rubbed his forehead as he tried to not spiral at the reality that this was likely hopeless. His family would immediately realise, and this would be for nothing.
But that was doing Silver a disservice. He might not know now but he was a quick learner. “They oftentimes call each other by pet names.”
“Pet…?”
Great Seven, Silver, are you for real?? Sebek exhaled slowly, trying to keep his voice steady as he answered Silver's confusion. “It's a nickname, but again meant to be affectionate. Such as ‘dear’, or ‘honey’ or ‘sweetheart’.”
Silver's expression twisted further. “Those… are weird. Can I not just call you Sebek?”
“Of course you can! Not every couple uses them.” So far they barely had anything that made them seem like a convincing couple, in fact cuddling and holding hands were things they could simply do as friends, and Sebek's previous anxiety started to surface again as he desperately tried to consider other acts.
“There's… There's also…” Sebek was suddenly drawing a blank, wondering how to get any of this across to Silver when he'd never seriously dated anyone either. There'd been a couple flings, but they'd been exceptionally casual and Sebek had broken them off almost as quickly as they'd started, whereas this relationship with Silver was meant to be a long-established one if they were living together. “Dates…?”
“Oh, like going to restaurants and such.” Silver actually knew something, and Sebek was utterly baffled for a moment before Silver's expression grew troubled. “Though we have lunch together all the time, what makes a date different…? Is it feeding food to each other?”
Had Silver seen a couple on a date before, and was just listing off things they did during it? “Ah, they held hands too, that's what you'd said before… And they laughed a lot?”
He really is just remembering someone else's date.
“Perhaps we should consider dates later. It's not like we're going to go on one in front of my parents.” That seemed to frustrate Silver, or maybe he was just getting a headache as he rubbed at his face again. Sebek realised instead of asking about everything they could do together, he should simply ask Silver what they couldn't do. “We should focus instead on what you know makes you uncomfortable, Silver. We'll just keep checking in with each other for the rest of it.”
“Alright. That makes sense.” Silver looked at the table in thought, the crease between his brows deepening slightly as he concentrated. “I know I dislike the idea of kissing. I don't really want someone else's saliva on me, that's… just gross. I didn't like that lady constantly complimenting my appearance, and I especially disliked it when she patted my behind. It's also weird when people wink at me, and there was this one guy who kept insisting on buying me things until I told him to stop.”
Silver just kept going, and Sebek felt his chest tighten with growing dread as he really didn't like romantic attention from people at all.
“Obviously nudity is a no, but we don't have to act whilst here, right? I think I'd murder you if we had to share a bed…” That startled Sebek, the man sitting back and glaring.
“What's that supposed to mean?! You sleep through ANYTHING!”
“And you just cocoon under all the covers. I would prefer to not have to fight for a blanket every night, so we are not sharing a bed.”
“WE DIDN'T HAVE TO ANYWAY!!”
Silver winced once again at the volume, before closing his eyes with a pained sigh. Sebek had assumed Silver had given up on the conversation finally, his patience running out as his exhaustion caught up to him, but he suddenly opened his eyes in surprise. “Oh. Uh. I… suppose an important part of being a couple is saying… Um.”
To Sebek's complete astonishment, Silver's cheeks started to turn pink in his following silence. It was a sight Sebek had never seen. Silver rarely grew embarrassed in the first place, nevermind getting embarrassed enough to blush, and he'd been about to ask what was wrong when Silver finally mumbled.
“Saying you love the other person… right?” Sebek had not considered that, the very concept making his own cheeks blush, and he felt his chest constricting. He'd never really said that to Silver before. Maybe indirectly, when Silver had been struggling in the past, but certainly not a simple ‘I love you’. Those words felt heavy suddenly, and he wasn't sure if he could even say them when Silver spoke up again.
“I… could probably say that. Though I imagine it'll just… sound odd.” Glancing back at Sebek when he'd finished speaking, Silver's expression grew tight before the intensity in his gaze almost made Sebek press back into his chair. “I love you?”
Silver was right, it sounded odd, it sounded extremely odd, and he almost choked on his own spit.
“W-Why’d you say it like it's a question?!” Sebek stammered, and Silver's frustration simply grew.
“I didn't mean to. It's not exactly something I've said to anyone other than my father.” A sudden idea clearly came to Silver, the man’s eyes widening a fraction before he again looked directly at Sebek. He looked a lot less intense, a quiet smile on the edge of his mouth even if the warmth didn't quite reach his eyes. “I love you, Sebek.”
That… sounded a lot more convincing, even if his name had come out a little clipped, and Sebek's flush just grew worse because what had caused the sudden change? His chest was still uncomfortably tight at the idea of saying the same, and Sebek had no idea how he was meant to respond before something dawned on him.
“Wait, did you just pretend I was Master Lilia when you said that?” Silver glanced away, immediately telling Sebek the answer, and he shook his head in disbelief. “Is it truly impossible to imagine saying it to me!? Even platonically?!”
Silver shrugged. “We don't normally say it, and it's not like you've said it either. A relationship goes both ways, dear.”
To have Silver go from saying pet names were ridiculous, to using one to specifically wind him up, was both unexpected and entirely something Silver would do. Trying to not rise to the bait, Sebek took a deep breath and decided to prove Silver wrong. He would give a much better admission of love! Without pretending he was speaking to his parents!
Moving to take one of Silver's hands (although he essentially snatched it, causing the other man to stare at him in confusion) Sebek cleared his throat. “I love you, Silver!”
Again, Silver winced at the volume, tugging his hand back just so he could cover his ears, and Sebek knew he was playing up his discomfort on purpose. Silver wasn't the most expressive, but he was a terrible liar to those who knew him, and the mirth in his gaze was impossible to mask even with his attempt to look annoyed.
“Well, I didn't shout it, at least…” Silver muttered, and Sebek growled and moved to stand up—his own patience coming to an end.
“I DIDN'T SHOUT IT! YOU'RE BEING FACETIOUS ON PURPOSE!!” This time Silver was genuinely wincing in pain, and he lifted a hand to try and get Sebek to quieten down.
“God, ok, fine, just—” After a moment to settle the ringing in his ears, Silver sighed before shaking his head in disbelief. “I'm not sure how this is going to work, Sebek. I'm still willing to give it a try, but truly you should start working out how to speak to your parents. We won't be able to pull this off long-term, that's for certain.”
Sebek grit his teeth. “I know that. And I intend to figure it out! This is just to give me more time!!” A small thought crossed Sebek's mind, the man’s frustrations calming with it, as he spoke half to himself. “Maybe we could stage a breakup and I swear off dating for a while because of heartbreak—”
“Tell them the truth, Sebek. I'm not moving out just to pretend we've split up, otherwise I'm breaking up with you right now and you can find someone else for this ridiculous charade.”
Sebek knew no one else would even entertain the idea, or would be as convincing an option as Silver. They'd known each other twenty years, were living together, and had faced far too many trials together. This was just another one, and he was sure they would get through it.
He hoped they could get through it.