Chapter Text
It’s a typical Saturday for Gelatin and Firey, where they hang out at Gelatin’s house and have their weekly annual sleepover together.
Today’s a pretty lazy evening, since with Firey sprawled over Gelatin’s bed and Gelatin sitting on his beanbag slumped on the floor, mindlessly playing some sort of Roblox first-person shooter game on his old, broken-down laptop, the two weren’t doing anything of importance. If one counted being horribly beaten by kids who were probably under the age of 10 an act that held a high value of importance, then oh well, guess Gelatin made their sleepover a vital one—but, most people didn’t find that very interesting. Firey would want to sit next to Gelatin and watch him play, though the only way he can do that is to either sit on the cold, hardwood floor (not desirable! Firey treats his body like a temple, except for the times he doesn’t) or lean close to the edge of the bed and hope he can see from there (not a guarantee he will). So, there they sit. Bored, exhausted, yet unfortunately, wide awake. Thanks, Monster energy drinks. Now, Gelatin and Firey get to do nothing late into the night.
Firey takes a throw pillow and, tilting to the side, groans in it. Gelatin looks up from his game and at the sound, hissing slightly when he notices that he’s been killed—again.
“What’s up, bro?” Gelatin asks after closing the laptop shut without any care as to not damage the ratty thing further.
“Just… nothing,” Firey says, muffled. Taking the pillow off of his face, he continues, “Well… I mean…”
Firey hesitates for a second. Gelatin, curiosity now piqued, abandons his spot on the beanbag to jump up onto his bed. Thoughtfully, Gelatin places a hand on Firey’s leg. “Dude. You can tell me anything, ya know.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” he sighs. Firey suddenly rises, sitting upright now. He takes back the throw pillow and hugs it close to his chest, picking at the seams with his fingers. “I was just thinking. And, like—uh, how do I say this…” he trails off.
“Um, go on?”
“So. You know how I’m like around Leafy, right?” Firey squeezes the pillow tightly. It’s a green pillow with the words ‘Dinosaurs Rule!’ on it, alongside a little cartoon drawing of a dinosaur. Must’ve been a relic from Gelatin’s youth, with how old it looks now. Firey’s never paid it any mind the past sleepover’s he’s had with Gelatin, but now he’s fixated on it. On the pillow, and the way Gelatin looks so oddly at it.
“Duh, how can I not? You’re like, in love with her, bro.” Gelatin grins, waving a hand in the air to emphasize the fact.
Firey’s cheeks redden almost an unhealthy amount. “Dude! No way am I in love with her.” He coughs into his hand. “...not yet, at least.”
“Ooh, what'd you say?” Gelatin leans in closer, intent on milking all the teasing he could out of Firey’s little crush.
Or his huge crush, Gelatin absentmindedly thinks. Firey looks sometimes as if Leafy's hung the sun and the moon herself.
“Ugh. Don’t start with me, man.” Firey drops down, laying flat on his back again. Gelatin can’t deny he laughs a little bit when Firey hits his head on the backboard, garnering Gelatin a dirty glare.
“No, no, Firey. You literally wait for her after class every day, bring snacks from the corner deli for Leafy when you have extra cash on you, talk about her every chance you get—and! This one’s the kicker,” Gelatin pauses, stopping counting the reasons on his fingers to set them on his lap, “you kissed her! Seventh grade, spin the bottle —ring a bell?”
“Aah! Don't—don’t bring that up, dude!” Gelatin couldn't imagine Firey getting redder, but it did: now, his face was a warm shade of deep maroon.
“It was one time. Plus, who’s to say she even enjoyed the kiss? Like, I bet, my breath was super smelly, or something like that.” Firey moaned in displeasure. “Bro, I’ve never been kissed before that game. I’m super inexperienced. What if I ask Leafy out, and she rejects me because I’m not a good kisser?”
Gelatin mulls over Firey’s words for a minute, or two. Never been kissed before… Pfft, who cares? Gelatin’s really the inexperienced one, considering the fact that he was making up a gym running test in the lunch period everyone in his class was playing spin the bottle . Thinking back on it, it must’ve been extremely awkward, though also good in a sense that it built up experience. Gelatin didn’t get any prior kissing knowledge. So, what was Firey’s problem?
Finally, Gelatin says, “Stop complaining, man! You literally have kissed a girl before. Where, on the other hand, I’ve got nothing for a romantic background. C’mon, Firey, don’t be so greedy.”
“Ugh. Gelatin. That’s not enough, like at all.”
Then, stricken with a burst of intelligence, Firey jumps up to sit right next to Gelatin on the foot of the bed; he starts shaking Gelatin by his shoulders for some reason unbeknownst to him. Gelatin pries Firey’s hands off of himself, rolling his eyes fondly. “What’re you shaking me for?”
“Dude. Gelatin. Gelly-boy. Bro.” Firey, instead of shaking Gelatin, now fidgets with his fingers to bring out all the nervous energy he didn't know he had.
“Yeah?”
“What if… and, hear me out on this, we kissed?” Firey pauses, as if considering the insanity of the statement. Quickly, he adds, “Not, like, for real. Just, you know—practice. ‘Cause, I need practice for when I date Leafy… no, if I date her, not when…”
Gelatin has a shell-shocked look on his face before he sobers, face hardening into a steely expression that Firey’s sure he’s never seen on Gelatin’s face before. Calmly, he says, “Not if , Firey. You gotta have confidence … You’re going to date her. So, c’mon! Let’s start practicing for that!” He smiles so wide and bright Firey might be staring into the sun. Nonetheless, Firey grins just as hard back.
“Yeah! Yeah, you’re right, Gelatin! I got this!”
Enthusiastic, Firey sets his hands gingerly on Gelatin’s waist, careful to get it just right. Gelatin’s surprised: he, despite his clear encouragement, didn’t fully realize what he was doing until now. Kissing the guy he’s had a crush on for, what, two years now? Under the false pretenses of helping him succeed in his completely heterosexual relationship? No homo here, nope, none at all. Except… Gelatin doesn’t exactly want it to be that way.
Firey’s arms wrap around Gelatin’s waist—they’re so warm that it almost burns, even if Firey hasn’t even touched bare skin yet. Gelatin doesn’t know what’d happen to him if Firey actually went through with kissing him. On the lips. Firey, kissing him, on the lips! Gelatin’s stomach twists into knots at the thought. Is his face red? Is he sweating? God, does he even look presentable? This’s his first kiss , with Firey, his crush, and it’s a completely straight kiss! With a gay man! Or a gay boy, Gelatin’s right in the middle of teenhood with a smart age of 16.
Firey moves in closer, retracting a hand to cup Gelatin’s face. He’s basically straddling Gelatin’s legs—the latter’s completely boxed in with no way out, for better or worse. Gelatin swears he can feel Firey’s breath on his face, hot and humid and getting increasingly closer …
Firey’s inches away from Gelatin’s lips. In a spur of the moment decision, Gelatin decides to close the gap between them. He hopes he doesn’t regret that action.
Instantly, the weight of another person’s lips against Gelatin’s is all he can feel, alongside the hand reaching up to stroke his cheekbone, caressing his face then navigating northwards to run a hand through his hair. Firey’s lips are really chapped, Gelatin knows now. On a normal day, maybe he’d tell him to drink water, but the only though running through Gelatin’s mind is oh my God, this is actually happening . Firey’s lips taste great, though—a faint hint of salmon, Gelatin thinks. Firey leans in to kiss deeper, and Gelatin lets him.
They’re like that for a few more heavenly minutes. Firey’s the first one to pull back, leaving Gelatin reeling.
“So…” Firey starts. “Should we practice some more?”
“Yes,” Gelatin says a little too fast. He doesn’t care, anyway, because the thought of Firey kissing him is much more important.
“Wait, also, just for more experience—can we practice every time we have a sleepover? Y’know, I need all the help I can get.”
“Yes, bro.”
“Alright.” Firey smiles.