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Training team blue was a chore- and Goggles himself the most tedious part. Despite having long surpassed Rider’s own talents, Goggles insisted he continue training him, much to his chagrin.
When he said he wanted to see Goggles more often, this is not what he meant.
Rider slumps down on a bench just outside the training area, thoroughly exhausted after spending what felt like a whole year trying to simultaneously get Goggles to focus and to keep up when he did. Honestly, why he’s still so insistent that he needs his help is beyond him; he’s clearly grown much stronger than he was when they first met. Much stronger than Rider might ever be, despite all his tireless efforts. He lets out an annoyed huff, only for it to turn into a yelp as something cold presses into the heated skin on the nape of his neck.
“Got ya a drink from the vending machine,” a familiar voice rings out with an annoyingly cheerful lilt as Goggles plops onto the bench beside him, pressing a bottled soda into Rider’s hands.
“Don’t you dare do that ever again. Pest.” The last word is grumbled under his breath, but if Goggle’s chuckle is anything to go off of, he definitely heard.
Despite his protests, Rider downs a third of the bottle in one gulp. Goggles rests his elbows on his knees, his chin resting on his hands.
“Why again do you force me to ‘train’ you? You clearly don’t need it,” Rider huffs, looking at the other through the corner of his eye. Goggles’ eyes shine bright, a brilliant blue that makes Rider’s face warm in an uncomfortable manner.
“Cause I wanted to spend time with you, dummy!”
What.
Goggles barely has time to glance at him before Rider’s fist bonks the back of his head.
“Don’t say stupid stuff like that.” The lime-green inkling averts his eyes, face feeling hot. This amuses his companion, who leans back in his seat, smiling widely.
“Heh- it’s been a few years now, but you’ve still got such an attitude.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
Goggles chuckles.
“Like, when we met. You were such an ass.”
Rider sits up indignantly, though he doesn’t deny it.
“I know you’re super different now, but it’s funny to see that you’ve still got a bitchy side.” Goggles hums happily.
No matter how many times it happens, Rider will never be used to him cursing.
Goggles turns to him, that infuriating grin still plastered across his face.
“It’s cute.”
Oh. That’s…
Before Rider can say a word, Goggles glances at his watch and jumps up with a gasp.
“Oh, shoot, I’m late again-! Specs planned a whole meeting and-“ he continues on, but Rider doesn’t hear a word he’s saying over the blood pounding in his ears.
Goggles said he was cute. He actually said that. That annoying brat called him cute. And he liked it. Fuck.
“Seeya, Rider!”
Goggles waves as he scampers off, and Rider feels a pang of multiple emotions at once. Disappointment that he’s leaving, annoyance at his carelessness, fluster at his compliment, and…
a whole lot of disappointment in himself. That’s the guy he likes? Seriously?
Rider sighs, then packs up his gear, walking to the bus stop to make his way home, to the apartment he shares with his teammates.
The apartment door swings open as Rider walks in, kicking his shoes off only to arrange them neatly by the door. He stalks into the living room, setting his training bag down by the couch. He hears a voice from the kitchen.
“Home already? How was your date?” Blazer pokes her head out of the doorway, her usual outfit covered by an apron that doesn’t belong to her.
“It wasn’t a date. And quit wearing my shit.” He shoves past her into the kitchen, where she was preparing dinner.
“Why’re you making dinner? Ain’t it Stealth’s day?”
“He came down with somethin’ nasty. I wouldn’t go into his room if I were you.”
Rider exhales sharply, then makes his way to his bedroom, collapsing face first onto his bed. At least he shouldn’t have ‘training’ for the next few days. As much as he loathes to admit it, he’s not sure his heart could handle it. The way he feels about Goggles isn’t exactly a secret, but he’d rather not address it. Ever.
-
Goggles rolls out of bed, bright and early- to him, at least. It’s 9:37 in the morning, and he has a team meeting in 3 minutes.
Crap.
Flinging open his closet door and dressing himself in whatever he finds, then hurrying into the bathroom and tying up his tentacles, Goggles frantically readies himself. It’s not like he didn’t try to get up early. He even set an alarm! It just… didn’t go off.
He rushes out the door, barely remembering the lunchbox he packed the night before- his poorly made umeboshi onigiri that he’s been so looking forward to eating. Quickly jumping onto the bus, he bounces on his heels impatiently, opening his phone to check the time. 9:54. He got ready in record time.
Stumbling off the bus, he rushes into the cafe his team was supposed to meet at, yet to his surprise, it looks as though he hasn’t missed much.
“Headphones, your plan actually worked,” Specs says with amusement, adjusting his glasses.
“Huh? What plan?” Goggles cocks his head.
“We told you the meeting was 30 minutes earlier than it is. You actually made it on time.”
Damn. And he thought he’d done well.
The meeting passes quickly, though that may have something to do with Goggles not paying attention to it. He stands up, stretching his stiff back until it pops, then walks outside into the warm, spring air.
With nothing to do, he reverts to his favorite pastime- bothering Rider. The ever-oblivious lime inkling always brightens Goggles’ day, even if unintentional. He pulls out his phone, dialing a number he knows by heart.
Rider picks up on the first ring, his voice crackling through the receiver of Goggles’ positively ancient phone.
“What do you want,” he huffs.
So cute.
“Just callin’ to bother you! What’re you up to?”
“Polishing my dynamo. And you?”
Goggles chuckles to himself. His friend’s straightforward way of speaking is (somehow) absolutely adorable to him, though his teammates never seem to understand it.
“Just finished a team meeting. I’m gonna come over.”
“What?! You can’t just-“
Goggles ends the call, a smile on his face. He could practically hear the fluster in Rider’s voice, something he thinks he hides well. Rider may act tough, but he has no clue how shockingly easy he is to read. That, and Blazer told him about the lime inkling’s little crush ages ago.
-
Rider is frozen in place as he hears the call cut off.
That little shit hung up on me.
He doesn’t worry about that for long, though, because there’s a more pressing matter- Goggles said he was coming over. To Rider’s apartment. Where his teammates live. His teammates, who would gladly tell Goggles all his secrets with no convincing at all. Damn it.
Rider huffs as he pushes himself off the couch, dragging his feet as he turns to tidy his already-clean bedroom.
“Why the fuck am I cleaning for him? He’s messy as hell, it’s not like he’d care,” he grumbles under his breath, yet he continues organizing his shelves meticulously. It brings an odd heat to his cheeks when he questions why he wants to look presentable for that aggravating twerp he calls his friend.
Pushing that thought out of his mind, he shuffles into the kitchen. Knowing Goggles- and his appetite- it’d be a good idea to start on dinner earlier. Soft footsteps come up behind him from the hall.
“Rider, why’re you making dinner already? It’s, like-” Bamboo pauses, presumably checking her watch, “-6:02. Way early.”
“Goggles is coming over,” he grumbles, turning to look at her over his shoulder.
“Dude, at least tell us before inviting your boyfriend over-“
“He is not my-!!”
Bamboo chuckles.
“Whatever. Just remember to lock the door, loverboy-“
She’s cut off by a swift whack to the back of her head. Rider whirls back to the kitchen counter under the pretense of continuing his dinner preparations, though it’s really to hide how hot his face is burning.
“Just- just stay out of the way. And don’t tell him anything weird again.” He shoots her a glare, though it’s not nearly intimidating with how flustered his voice is.
“Whatever you say,” she mumbles condescendingly. Rider bristles but chooses to hold his tongue; the more defensive he gets, the more she’ll tease him, and she’s been getting infuriatingly close to the truth lately.
Before he knows it, a familiar, overly-enthusiastic knock echoes through team yellow-green’s apartment.
“Blazer, get that,” Rider hollers from the kitchen. Blazer mutters something under her breath, then reluctantly climbs off the couch. A couple moments later, her voice shouts from the doorway:
“Rider, your boyfriend is here!”
Rider’s eye twitches.
“Hi, Rider! Ooh, you’re cooking? There better be some for me,” Goggles yammers cheerfully as he walks into the kitchen.
Why didn’t he correct her? Cod, this is humiliating-
“Quit bothering me. It’s almost done, so just sit at the table.”
Surprisingly, Goggles listens. He pulls out a chair and happily plops down, sitting on his hands and rocking back and forth. Rider shuffles over, placing a plate of food in front of him.
“Nice apron,” the blue inkling remarks.
“Shut up.” Rider turns his back to him, walking back to the counter and preparing plates for his teammates, then himself.
When he’s finally finished, he sits in the chair across from Goggles, who’s already started digging in.
“Thish ish really good!” he chirps through a mouthful of food, though he has the decency to put a hand over his mouth first.
“Chew your damn food. You’ll choke.” Rider wonders why the hell this is the guy he’s into. Goggles only chuckles in response, gulping down what’s in his mouth.
“You’re a good cook, Rider! Heh- my teammates always ask me to cook since Specs doesn’t know how to season and Headphones only bakes, and none of us wanna eat Bobble’s food cause she burns everything, so-“
Rider rests his cheek on his hand as he listens to Goggles ramble. Ah. This is why he likes him. He smiles to himself, then quickly schools his face back to practiced disinterest.
-
He totally just smiled. Cod, he thinks he’s so sly about it-!
Goggles grins even wider. He shoves another forkful of food into his mouth- eating Rider’s cooking is like a dream come true, and not just because it tastes good. The fact that his friend, who’s so insistent on acting as if he doesn’t care, made such a thoughtful gesture absolutely melts his heart.
He would call it cute, but that usually makes Rider shut down, so he refrains. Barely.
The two of them finish their dinner, Goggles finishing much quicker and waiting with surprising patience for his companion to eat, and they make their way to the couch. The blue inkling makes himself at home easily, grabbing the remote and turning on some random reality TV show. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rider’s leg bouncing.
“Me an’ Bobble watch this show a ton. Apparently, the main guy’s wife was inking someone else’s splat zone, and-“
“This is fuckin’ terrible,” Rider says dryly. Goggles grins softly- that stupid attitude is so adorable to him, for no reason at all.
“Hah- yeah, it is. But isn’t that the fun of it?” Goggles’ statement is met with a grunt of acknowledgment.
He leans back.
“Did you wanna watch something else?” He holds it out to Rider, who takes it, careful not to touch his hand.
He’s so not subtle.
He watches quietly as Rider turns on some documentary about ink weapons.
“Nerd.”
This retort earns him a hefty shove to his side. He quiets down and watches. For a few minutes at least.
-
Rider, who was previously locked in on the documentary he chose- one of his favorites, he’s seen it countless times- was thrown off when Goggles’ head slowly falls to his shoulder.
“Jeez…” He scrubs a hand down his burning cheeks. Of all places to fall asleep…
He grabs the remote and shuts the TV off, awkwardly shifting Goggles around to throw him- gently- over his shoulder. He shuffles to his room. Carrying Goggles isn’t an issue- Rider’s dynamo is much heavier. The problem is that they’ve never been this close, and Goggles isn’t even awake.
Shoving his bedroom door open, Rider throws the blue inkling onto his bed with much less gentleness. Once he’s sure the other is comfortable, he grabs a blanket from his closet and carries it back to the couch.
He may have a teeny tiny itsy bitsy not-huge-at-all crush on Goggles, but sleeping in the same bed? No, that’s just too far.
At least, he thought.
Rider is rudely awoken by a hand prodding his side.
“Riderrr…” a voice murmurs, drawing out his name.
“If we’re gonna have a sleepover, we should be in the same room.”
“Go back to sleep,” he grumbles, not even bothering to open his eyes.
Said eyes fly open when an arm wraps around his middle, hoisting him off the couch with ease.
“You must’ve carried me to bed right? Well, now it’s my turn!”
Rider barely hears him over how fast his heart is pounding. Then he finds himself tossed onto the bed unceremoniously, landing in a crumpled heap.
“Hey-!” His protest is cut short by strong arms squeezing his waist.
“I’m sleepy, so be quiet.” A warm face presses into the crook of his neck from behind, Goggles’ breathing steady against his skin.
Rider is frozen in place. Is he seriously in bed with Goggles? Being spooned?? What the fuck has his life come to.
Unable to form any thoughts, his mind gives up and passes the fuck out.
-
Goggles wakes up late the next morning, per usual. What’s not usual is the warm body curled up beside him. Goggles smiles softly to himself, tightening his hold; Rider isn’t vulnerable often, so he wants to enjoy it while it lasts.
He’d almost think the lime inkling were asleep- if he couldn’t feel his heart pounding under his hand, that is.
But Goggles chooses not to announce it. If he wants to pretend he’s asleep, then fine. Just means more cuddling time for Goggles. Just a couple more minutes…
A couple more minutes turns into 5, then ten. He buries his face in Rider’s shoulder, his voice muffled by the line inkling’s shirt.
“Rider, weren’t we gonna train today?”
He hears him grumble something unintelligible under his breath, then is promptly shoved off as Rider climbs out of bed.
“Hey-! So rough…” he whines, reluctant to leave the cozy blankets. Sleeping beside his best friend is like a dream come true, but laying in Rider’s bed is just as good. His sheets are soft and simple and smell like him- a warm, clean smell that Goggles just can’t put a name to.
“Face the wall,” Rider commands, his authority undermined by how rusty his voice is from disuse.
Goggles flops onto his other side and he can hear clothes rustling behind him. He grins; the Rider from when they were 14 would never be this vulnerable.
“I’m gonna get breakfast. You can just… borrow some clothes, I guess. You shouldn’t wear the same thing two days in a row.”
Dork.
Goggles huffs, then swings his legs over the side of the bed, making his way to Rider’s closet. He hears the door click shut as the lime inkling exits the room.
Rifling through his closet, Goggles pulls out a simple black shirt. Rider doesn’t seem to own much clothing that’s not black or the occasional red. Pulling it over his head, he’s reminded of the differences in their frames- although Rider is taller, he’s also slimmer, making his shirts tight over Goggles’ chest. He barely notices, pulling on a pair of jeans that are a bit long on him.
Rider, however, definitely notices, his face heating up as Goggles exits his room.
Oh yeah. I never wear tight clothes. Cod, it’s so cute to see him flustered like this-!
“Ready to go? I’m gonna train super hard today!” he chirps.
“Uh- uh, yeah. Yeah, let’s go.” He leads him to the front door stiffly, carefully hoisting his dynamo over his shoulder. Goggles swears he hears snickering, and he looks over his shoulder to see two of Rid’s teammates- Bamboo and Blazer- spying from the living room. He catches Rider shooting them a glare.
“Where’s Stealth? He lives here too, right?”
“Sick,” he says gruffly, not elaborating. Goggles doesn’t mind.
The two inklings get off the train together, walking towards Sheldon’s weapon range- their preferred training grounds.
“So, you take the train here? That’s super cool! I know I’d get off at the wrong stop, though. I usually take the bus.”
Rider simply nods along to Goggles’ ramblings.
The blue inkling holds the door of the weapons shop open for the two of them.
“Ladies first!” he chirps, earning him a whack to the back of his head. He chuckles, rubbing the sore spot with one hand. It always hurts a bit, but annoying Rider is totally worth it.
“Morning, Sheldon. Can we use the training range?” Ever since handling the weapons shop for a few days, Rider has been something of an honorary employee, and he seems to take full advantage of that.
“Alright, but have you seen the new weapons we just got in? They’re-“ Goggles grabs Rider by the collar of his shirt, not letting him listen to Sheldon drone on. Last time, he made the mistake of letting him talk to Sheldon about his dynamo, and it was nearly an hour before they were done.
They make their way to the training room, though Goggles makes a brief pause to pick up a loaner weapon, since he forgot his own the day prior. A splattershot, just like the one he owns.
“Are you ready? I won’t go easy on you,” Rider warns, taking his beloved golden dynamo from its case with care. Goggles almost loses himself watching the way his companion carefully sets his weapon up, more gentle than he is with any living being. Sometimes, he wonders if Rider loves that dynamo more than him.
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” He raises the splattershot in his arms, making a show of aiming at Rider’s head.
He mimics taking a shot. “Bang!”
Rider rolls his eyes in return, though Goggles catches the faint smile tugging at his lips.
So cute!
-
A shot of ink whizzes past Rider’s head as he barrels forward toward Goggles, whose firing shot after shot in his direction. Despite Rider’s strength and skilled usage of his dynamo, the heavy weapon makes it nearly impossible to catch up with Goggles’ agile movements. He watches the blue inkling zip around, a competitive smirk coming to his face; this is what he likes about training with Goggles- the challenge.
The air leaves Rider’s lungs as a blow to the sternum nearly takes him off his feet. He stumbles backwards, his ears barely registering the loud clatter of Goggles’ weapon hitting the floor before warm hands clap against him.
“Are you okay?! That sure hit hard!”
He shoves him off, embarrassed at both his touch and how easily he’d been knocked off balance.
“You know, you’re supposed to continue attacking. You won’t pass my training like that.”
Goggles huffs, his face defiant.
“And who says I wanna ‘pass’ it? I like hanging out with you!”
For once, Rider doesn’t have a retort. He just stares at Goggles with exasperation written across his heated face.
“You shouldn’t say shit like that. It’s weird.”
“Aw, and here I thought we were having a moment.”
Goggles chuckles as Rider straightens himself out.
“Back to training. I expect you to continue until neither of us can take any more!” he shouts with renewed vigor. Goggles chuckles under his breath, but Rider doesn’t understand what’s so funny.
Their training continues for another half hour, until Goggles asks to break. He watches the blue inkling plop onto the bench- the same one they sat on after their last training session, he recalls- then sits beside him, keeping a reasonable distance between them.
Goggles is humming happily to himself, drinking from his waterbottle- which, for the record, belongs to Rider.
“I’m hungry. Wanna find some place to eat?”
“Sure. Got my paycheck from Sheldon yesterday, so it’s on me.” He stands, busily packing up his training bag.
“What a gentleman,” Goggles jokes, earning him a dry glare.
“Don’t make me regret it,” he huffs.
-
After an approximately ten minute long bus ride, Goggles is positively starving. Since he slept over at Rider’s last night- completely by accident, by the way- he didn’t pack a lunch like he normally would. And a lunch paid for by Rider? Maybe even better than his usual umeboshi onigiri. Especially because it’s almost like a date, right?
Stepping inside a small restaurant, Goggles walks up to the hostess and requests a table, with Rider trailing behind. Despite all his bluster, the lime inkling doesn’t seem to like talking to strangers, and usually leaves that to Goggles.
Once they’re seated, Goggles rocks back and forth in his chair excitedly, looking over the menu. Rider, however, appears on edge. The blue inkling doesn’t notice, though, since he’s too excited to eat.
Soon enough, their food arrives, and Goggles starts scarfing his meal down.
“Have some manners-!” his friend protests, folding his napkin in his lap.
Dork.
“So, aside from our training, what’ve you been up to? The move was recent, right? To the new apartment, I mean.”
“Uh, yeah. Blazer insisted we all live near the square, so…” he trails off. From what Goggles knows, the move happened shortly after the incident in the metro.
That must be why she was so insistant…
It’s no secret what happened, even though neither of them really speak about it. The dark teal scar marring Rider’s face and right eye are a sore subject for the both of them, and it’s obvious others would notice.
They continue eating in a comfortable silence, broken only by the quiet sound of chewing. Goggles fork scrapes against his empty plate; he finished eating long before Rider and is now attempting to wait patiently. He rests his chin on his hand, looking across the table at his companion.
This is nice… It’s so rare to see him at peace like this. So cute!
Goggles grins. He’s definitely fallen for him, and he has no intention of getting up.
Rider notices him staring, and swallows down a mouthful of food before answering.
“What’re you staring at,” he grumbles, glaring down at his place. Goggles has known him long enough to recognize that as a nervous tic.
“Am I not allowed to look?”
“You’re not looking, you’re staring.”
Feeling bold, Goggles grins.
“Maybe ‘cause I like what I’m seeing.
Rider’s face flushes with an unhealthy heat.
Ah. Too bold.
A statement that obvious, and even someone as oblivious as Rider would catch on. Well, it’s about time. Goggles has been ‘dropping hints’ for way too long anyway.
-
Did he actually say that? He didn’t, right?!
Rider’s mind is going a mile a minute. There’s no way Goggles said that. He must’ve misheard. Or maybe he meant something else, or someone else. Anything but what he knows he heard.
Because that’s impossible, right? Goggles returning his feelings?
He huffs. “You’re weird,” he grumbles, unable to form a deeper sentence. Instead, he pushes his food around with his fork, trying to will his cheeks to cool down and quit embarrassing him.
But Goggles doesn’t look away. Stupid, infuriating, sweet, kind, handsome Goggles. When did he turn into someone Rider couldn’t live without?
Well, if Goggles really means all that sappy shit, then he can say it directly, because Rider sure as hell won’t.
He continues eating in silence, though his shoulders are tenser than before. He’s not questioning if he really feels that way about Goggles- he already knows he does. But if the blue inkling were to feel the same way, what would he even do? He never thought about it because it seemed so impossible.
Much related to his history of having no friends, Rider also has never been in a relationship. If Goggles means it when he jokes like that and isn’t just playing with his heart, what would he even do? Kiss him? The idea makes his face hot. He busies himself with his food, hoping to hide his self-inflicted fluster.
Despite that, he can feel Goggles’ eyes staring holes into him.
“You’re staring again,” he grumbles. He hates when he stares. To feel like a gross little insect being scrutinized is not something Rider is used to or pleased with in the slightest. Yet when he meets Goggles eyes, he sees something far from the scrutiny in his head. In fact, he’d rather not name the look the blue inkling has in his eyes- too embarrassed to seem presumptuous.
“Why can’t I stare?” he pouts in an unfairly cute manner. Rider coughs into his fist.
“Because it’s weird, that’s why. Now cut it out.”
“No.”
“Wha- the fuck do you mean, no?!”
“If I wanna stare, then I’m gonna stare,” he huffs, “Rider, you can be so stupid sometimes.”
“The fuck-?!” His outburst is met only with an amused tilt of the head from his companion.
“I mean, it’s cute and all, but… there’s no way you’re really this oblivious.”
Unfortunately, he truly is.
“…huh?”
Goggles sighs, seemingly exasperated.
“Rider. I like you. Romantically. I keep asking you to train me and get lunch and hang out because I want to be around you. You might not notice, but you’re actually pretty great company. So there.”
What. The. Fuck.
Rider short circuits. He’d hoped for a confession, yeah, but he didn’t expect it-! He quickly realizes Goggles is waiting for a response.
“Uhm- yeah, uh, I like you too. I guess,” he mumbles, still unsure of what to say. But, to his relief, even such a stupid answer seemed to please Goggles, who smiled softly. He sets his hand atop Rider’s- sun-kissed and strong, with little freckles peppered across his forearm. His calloused thumb strokes the lime inkling's palm, a rougher texture than Rider expected. It’s a very welcome surprise.
With a slow, awkward turn of his wrist, Rider takes his hand in his own. For a moment, he flushes, remembering how clammy his palms must be- then he notices that his companion’s hands are too, and his worries subside.
He gives Goggles’ hand a slight squeeze, and in return earns a beaming smile from the shorter inkling.
“Uh. Goggles?”
“Yeah?”
“Does this make us, like, a thing?”
-
Goggles almost chuckles to himself. With the tough image Rider projects, he sometimes forgets how truly innocent the lime inkling can be.
“If you wanna be.”
“I think I’ve made that pretty obvious,” he states dryly, causing the laugh Goggles was holding in to slip out.
“Then yeah. You’re my boyfriend.”
“…good.”
“If we weren’t in public, I’d kiss ya right about now. Just so you know.” He grins.
“Wha- why the fuck would you say that?!”
Goggles raises his hands in a placating gesture, but the grin on his face is playful.
“Just bein’ transparent! I mean, if I’ve got a boyfriend with a face like that, why wouldn’t I wanna kiss him all over?”
Rider’s face seems to heat up at that.
“Stop being so corny-!”
“Aww, but why? It’s fun!”
“What, you just enjoy humiliating me? Some ‘boyfriend’ you are,” he snarls, but the nervous twitch of his fingers gives away his fluster.
“So you don’t want my kisses?” he pouts. At this point, it seems he’s saying things he knows will get a reaction from the lime inkling.
“…I didn’t say that,” he mumbles.
“What was that? Say it louder.”
“Not happening.”
“That’s okay, I heard perfectly fine. Somethin’ like ‘oh, please give me kisses, Goggles, I love you so very much,’ yeah? I’m right, aren’t I?” he jokes, poking at Rider’s cheek with one finger. He whacks the hand away.
“Stop that! We are in public! Behave. Please.” He’s looking at Goggles with that frustrated, embarrassed glare that always makes him weak, and the blue inkling really has no choice but to fold.
…Might as well tell him that.
“Fine. But only ‘cause I can’t say no when you’re making such a cute face.”
He gets another light smack to the back of his hand, causing him to giggle. He looks into Rider’s dark eyes, though the taller inkling looks away when he meets his gaze.
Rider mumbles softly, “…I’ll let you kiss me later. When we’re alone. Deal?” He looks back, his eyes tentatively meeting Goggles’ own.
“Deal!” He’s grinning from ear to ear.
It took long enough, but Goggles finally has him, and he doesn’t plan on ever letting go.