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For all that Tanner pissed Crafty off in every single thing they played, he had to say he was fond of the guy. Maybe fond wasn't the right word, but he tried not to think about that on most days.
Especially not when he was pissing him off. Like right now.
"HOW DID YOU EVEN GET UP THERE?!?" Crafty yelled from the ground below. Tanner laughed at him. That stupid laugh, that made Crafty's heart flutter.
"I dunno man! How did I get up here?" Crafty could strangle him.
"Ohhh I know. I'm coming for you." Fir spoke off to the side of Crafty, and immediately began some stupid trick jump that Tanner definitely learned from some youtube video. The nerve of this guy.
But from this angle... he was kind of handsome.
Crafty quickly shook that thought out of his head, just in time to watch Tanner dive from his spot and roll off.
"CRAFTY I TOLD YOU TO GET HIM!!!" Fir yelled as they both gave chase. Crafty gritted his teeth. He didn't even hear him.
"I'M SORRY I WAS DISTRACTED!!!" He'd never admit what had distracted him. Not to a single soul. Ever
After a stupidly complicated series of events, Tanner got away. Because of course he did. That guy was crazy skilled. Of course he was going to win the whole game again. That's so like him.
That, too, pissed Crafty off.
Slowly, all the others were found. Cj, Moarf, Mars, Plati. And of course, of course Tanner was the last one. Hint after hint passed. They should've had him narrowed down, but no one could find him.
Until Crafty finally did. The stupidest possible spot. This shouldn't have worked so well, no doubt he'd only gone here after having no backup plan for his previous spot.
"You. Fucking. Bitch." Crafty moved towards him, and in response, Tanner scurried away just a bit.
"Waitwaitwait Crafty hear me out-"
"IT'S BEEN 30 MINUTES YOU DO NOT NEED MORE TIME." Crafty exclaimed, exasperated. Despite himself, he stayed where he was, and let Tanner speak.
"Hey, okay, listen. If you let me live. I will pay you. 20 dollars. I need like 5 more minutes to get over Fir okay."
"... I need more than that to be bought off." Crafty crossed his arms, and Tanner sighed.
"Like. 50. I'll pay you 50?" He offered. Crafty pretended to contemplate it, but really he'd already made up his mind, before he was even offered money.
"Fine. But I'm sitting here with you. And tagging you once you have enough to beat Fir. Okay?"
Tanner sighed dramatically and agreed, then sat on the ledge overlooking the sea of trees ahead of them. Wooded Kingdom was a scenic place, really. Crafty took his place next to him, careful not to get too close so he wouldn't tag him on accident.
Tanner shuffled closer. Just an inch or so apart. Crafty swore his heart skipped a beat, and he lifted his hand to put it in his lap. To keep the distance. That made Tanner laugh. That stupid laugh.
"Man you're so uptight about this! If you're not trying to catch me it'll be fiiiine." He waved his hand in the air carelessly. Crafty narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, well when you accidentally tag yourself on me too early don't whine about it." Tanner laughed again. Crafty really could strangle him.
After that, they fell into a nice quiet, aside from voices buzzing over their communicators, looking for Tanner, wondering why both had gone quiet. The view was nice. It was shaded in this spot. The air was cool, just enough to be refreshing and not uncomfortable.
Crafty wanted to enjoy this. He did. It was nice. To sit here with someone he held so close to his heart. Closer than anyone knew. But all too soon, Tanner checked his time, chuckled, and stretched a bit. "Alright, I'm good now. Thanks man." He turned and smiled wide and bright at the other man. Before Crafty could answer, he felt a hand grab his own. He looked down, and saw Tanner's fingers entangled with his.
Oh. Well okay.
They got up, hand in hand, and Crafty pulled his communicator out to relay to his teammates that the pest had been caught (although he didn’t phrase it quite like that out loud). He waited quietly for Tanner to pull his hand away, but he never did.
"... Um. You're welcome, haha." He laughed awkwardly, then, after an agonizingly long time, he pulled his hand away himself. His hand felt like it was on fire. His face did too. Tanner snickered at him, and he figured it had to be because his face was completely red. This was so embarrassing. Demoralizing, even.
"Hey, we should hang out like this more. The two of us, y'know?" He slung an arm around Crafty's shoulder way too casually, and started to lead them back towards the odyssey, so they could venture off to the next round and leave this whole experience behind. Crafty’s voice didn’t seem to work. He could only nod as Tanner continued. "Plenty of pretty places in other kingdoms. Maybe Seaside next?"
This felt too much like being asked on a date. Crafty almost couldn't handle the closeness. He nodded again, like an idiot, and cleared his throat.
"Y-Yeah. That sounds nice." He managed to choke out.
"Awesome! Man, I'm so glad we're friends!"
... Crafty could strangle him.