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“I knew it was you, you little shit,”
were the last words Flambae said to him… before trying to kill him and flying off once he failed and was ridiculed by the rest of the Z-team.
Robert expected that reaction, but it made today's shift much harder than usual due to his absence. He wasn't sure how long he'd be gone or if he would even come back.
… So imagine his surprise when he saw the man in the middle of his apartment, filling the place with smoke, accompanied by tension and undeniable anger.
“Why are you in my apartment, Flambae? ” he asked, his monotone voice hiding the hint of anxiety he felt. The looming threat of being incinerated was stuck in the back of his mind.
The other man just stared at Robert with eyes full of hatred and… something else. “You ruined my life, Mecha bitch.” He balled his hands into flaming fists before they extinguished themselves as Flambae took a deep breath.
“I want a fight. A fair one.” He changed into a fighting stance, raising his fists.
Robert was about to hit the man with an immediate no, but he knew that Flambae wouldn't take that as an answer. He probably had no choice anyway, since the man was in his house. “You ruined your own life when you burned down that mall.”
“... but fine.” He groaned, putting down the large bottle of vodka he had bought on the counter. “A fair fight, meaning no powers.”
“Yeah, that's what I said, bitch.” Flambae immediately made the first move, charging at Robert, who narrowly dodged the attack. This led to Flambae punching a hole into the door, but he immediately recovered, pulling his splintered hand out with minimal force.
He swung at Robert repeatedly, with the man dodging and blocking.
“Is that all you can do, Mecha bitch? Don't have your trusty sword or gadgets now, huh, bitch? ” he taunted, which led to him getting punched in the cheek, which made him stumble. “Ugh, fuck! ”
“Wow. Not so strong when you can't use your fire, huh? ” Robert laughed, and the man retaliated by sliding his leg across the floor, knocking Robert off of his feet. “Ow! ”
This gave Flambae the opportunity to pin him to the ground, landing a few punches to his face before getting kicked off, his back hitting the cabinets, and a bunch of Twinkies and silverware hitting his head.
He quickly wiped blood off of his mouth and could barely open his eyes when Robert lunged at him. He grabbed the man by his shoulders before throwing him into the chair that sat in the middle, breaking one of the plastic legs.
“Fuck—” Robert quickly recovered, narrowly dodging a quick punch by Flambae.
The man crashed down on the ground with a grunt, letting out an angry huff before tackling him to the ground, quickly turning the brawl into more of a catfight.
They rolled on the floor, punching, scratching, and kicking at each other while barking insults and trying to push each other off.
Flambae eventually threw Robert to a wall, pinning him against it, their faces centimeters apart while they took advantage of the moment to catch their breaths.
Robert panted, angrily maintaining eye contact with Flambae. Though as the seconds passed without another move, he found his gaze drifting to Flambae's lips. He could tell the other also found himself staring down at his own.
Another few seconds passed when Robert put a hand around Flambae's cheek. The move made Flambae flinch a little, expecting another attack, but he quickly calmed down, even leaning into it a little.
His hand explored Flambae's face, his thumb moving down, then at the base of his damaged and discolored under eye, then down to his bloodied nose, before eventually meeting his lower lip. He pulled his lip down, showing off the inside of Flambae's mouth, who seemed to be in a trance, surprisingly not doing anything to stop him.
He placed another hand on his cheek and pulled him closer, stopping to check for any signs of discomfort.
But instead, Flambae leaned in, their lips crashing together, immediately slipping his tongue in. His hand moved to wrap around Robert's waist.
After what felt like an hour, they pulled away, leaving a trail of saliva between them, evidence of what they just did.
Flambae, realizing what he had just done, nearly burst into flames. Smoke came out of his nose, mouth, and ears as he gave out an embarrassed huff. “Fuck you, bitch. I won this fight.”
Robert smirked, wiping blood off of his face with the sleeve of his jacket. “And here I thought you hated me.”
“Shut up, I do… hate you.” He scoffs, running a hand through his long and messy hair.
Robert snickered in response and grabbed Flambae's cheek again, pulling him into another rough kiss, tangling his fingers into his raven hair.
The human fireball quickly melted, savoring the taste of his blood and flesh and letting the man push him to the ground.
Once they pulled away, Flambae seemed to be slightly calmer, not looking like he wanted to kill Robert anymore. “What are we? ” he inquired, feeling a tad bit sheepish.
“I don't know either.” Robert shrugged. “Do you want to… talk about this? Us, I mean? ” he asked, getting off of Flambae.
At first, Flambae looked at him like he just threatened to kill his niece and then brutally fuck him in the ass right after. No one really ever asked him that.
“No… yes, I… I don't know.” He stammered before he then let out a deep sigh. He sat up and moved to sit beside Robert. “I hate you… I thought I hated you.”
Robert chuckled. “Well, if it makes you feel better, when I became your dispatcher, I thought I would hate you too.” He gently took his hand, examining the little stumps that were once his pinky and ring finger. “But now…”
Flambae winced at the touch but made no effort to pull away. “My name is Chad, by the way.”
Robert smiled, intertwining their fingers together, before weakly shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you, Chad.”
Flambae laughed, his gaze softened for once. Robert had never seen him like this before. His hair was down, and he didn't look like he was about to let out a stream of insults at him.
But it was only for a split second, as Flambae pulled his hand away, his gaze narrowing. “I am still angry at you. You took away my fingers.”
“Right. I know, and I'm sorry.” Robert stared at his hand. He could remember the day it happened, the look of shock and fear on Flambae's face as his fingers flew away from his hand.
But now here he was, just a minute after they kissed twice.
“Fuck—I'm so fucked. Because of you, bitch.” Flambae groaned, realization setting in. He kicked at a random rock that had found its way into Robert's apartment.
“I hate you—I have to hate you after what you've done to my hands. But you also helped me… help me be better. I'm in love with your stupid ass. Fuck.”
Robert was surprised at the admission and tried to comfort the man but was met with a searing pain when he tried to touch the man's shoulder.
“Ow, fuck.” He winced, looking at the redness on his fingers and the smoke coming out of the man's body.
Flambae, noticing this, took a deep breath, grumbling. “... Sorry. My body just… does that, sometimes.”
But Robert smiled and leaned closer, placing a hand on his cheek once more. “Yeah, yeah. That's okay.”
Flambae smiled back, allowing Robert to lean in and kiss him for a third time, tasting the excess blood on his lips and around his mouth. He felt the man's unnaturally warm hands snake around his waist, pulling him close until they were right against each other, their chests and stomachs rubbing together. They had no intention of breaking apart when…
“Oh, holy shit! ” Malevola, who had entered the home by portal, immediately took a step back, nearly shattering the intricate glass of her lamp.
The two immediately threw themselves off of each other, their eyes filled with surprise and embarrassment.
“Malevola, maybe knock before entering? ” Robert hissed, wiping off the mix of blood and saliva on his lips.
Invisigal and Royd poked their heads out, curious. “What? What did you see? " Invisigal asked, looking at the tall demon in front of her, before looking down at the two men in front of her, faces red and covered in bruises.
“Oh… were they…”
“No, we were not, bitch,” Flambae interrupted, trying to hide the redness on his face, which was visibly reaching unnaturally hot temperatures. “We were just—”
“Kissing. Fuckin– making out, type shit. I should've made the portal outside his door, goddamnit.”
“Holy shit, dude. I had no idea you swung both ways. I'm so telling the others.”
“Do not, Invisigal. The last thing we need is a long lecture from HR. So just… don't tell anyone, especially Chase or Blonde Blazer.”
As if on cue, two new figures appeared from the portal, looking around the lonely, dark place accompanied by smoke coming from Flambae.
“Don't tell us what? Did I miss something? ” Blazer asked, looking down at Robert.
“I swear to fucking God, if we just walked in on these motherfuckers having sex, I'm killing you all! ”Chase angrily exclaimed.
Robert and Flambae exchanged a flustered look. They were in for a long night…