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Noli coughed into his arm, blinking away the smoke that had gotten into his mask, gasping and cursing out the wind for blowing the smoke in his direction.
They were grabbed by the wrist and pulled back before he was able to reach for his gui causing their breath to hitch—Was this it? Had the admins finally gotten their hands on him?—Right as their thoughts started spiralling, he was met with a pleasant sight.
Double-oh Seven. His roommate, their friend, and most importantly—his partner.
The other exploiter laughed at their daze, the sound snapping him out of it.
“Sevens?” He gasped out, still recovering from the smoke. Now that it was clearing up, he could see their beautiful chaos better—Builder Brother’s Pizzeria, on fire—They joined in the laughter, they couldn’t help himself, the situation had been so fucking stupid, admins.
As 7n7 started typing in a command, he looked up at Noli, tail flicking after he did so.
“Don’t choke,” he mused when the purple hacker regained his breath, finally freed from the clutches of that ash cloud, which was now headed towards the industrial side of Robloxity.
“Gee, thanks.” He couldn’t help but snicker, straightening out his back before stepping forward and falling back into their usual slouch.
They leaned over, trying to see what Seven was doing, only getting a glimpse of “-n7 Dummy108” before he was grabbed once again, only to be teleported.
The moment they’d spawned in the new place he forced his mouth shut, still not used to the nausea they got from teleporting. They mumbled something along the lines of “A heads up next time?” before taking in their surroundings.
He was quick to recognize the rooftop, it was set atop one of Central Robloxity’s tallest buildings, and where they’d set up one of their teleportation Dummy’s.
No matter the distance, the smell of fire was still present.
As he turned to the direction he knew the pizzeria to be, they saw a clear picture of the fire, and his partner admiring it.
“...Sev?” He asked carefully, trying to see his expression yet failing.
The red exploiter's tail shortly formed itself into a heart whilst he turned to look at Noli, before quickly flicking into motion again.
“Isn’t it gorgeous? Our chaos. Our fire. Ours.” He grabbed his partners hands, a grin stretched over his face.
“Ours?” They perked up, the purple pupils of their mask dilating before he nodded, looking back over to the fire. “Yea. Yea, it is.”
When looking back, he wasn’t expecting to find their partner looking at him expectantly.
“...Huh?”
“Say…Don’t you think this is the perfect time for a dance, theatre kid?” Seven shot him a pointed look, shortly opening up his c00lgui again, turning on some music before looking back at them, as if he was daring them, challenging them.
Noli couldn’t help but laugh at the choice of song, of course he’d choose Just the Two of Us. “You aren’t wrong in your diagnosis…” He grinned upon feeling the exploiters tail wrap itself around his ankle.
I see the crystal raindrops fall
And the beauty of it all
He pretended the action didn’t have their cheeks hot under his mask, as if his heart wasn’t beating abnormally fast and that it felt like it were in their throat, especially when their partner interlocked their fingers, and started humming with that frustratingly soothing voice of his.
Is when the sun comes shining through
To make those rainbows in my mind
When I think of you sometime
They were led into a simple waltz, a chill running up their spine, not from the cold wind calmly rushing around them, but from the way they felt his breath on his neck.
Seven noticed, but refrained from commenting on it, instead gently blowing on his neck before snickering.
And I wanna spend some time with you
Noli tried to focus on anything but the heat slowly but surely making it up his collar. The smell of smoke, still lingering on their clothes, like quiet reminders of the discord that had taken place just a few minutes prior.
“Just the two of us,” his partner sang teasingly, calmly bobbing his head in tune with the music.
“We can make it if we try,” the purple exploiter responded in song as expected, allowing the other to lead him into a twirl as he did.
Just the two of us
Just the two of us building castles in the sky
Noli felt his heart start speeding up again, in a—partially futile—attempt to calm themself, they inhaled quietly, still tasting the tinge of smoke that’d been caught in his mask.
To distract himself, they thought of whatever caught their attention and right now, that just happened to be the other exploiter.
Just the two of us
“You and I,” the two spoke in unison, it was instinctual by now, as they’d claimed this as their song.
Their eyes flicked over the others form, but eventually took notice of Seven’s hands, they were soft but scarred, and a little burnt, the corruption the c00lgui left after use hadn’t left completely either, it made his hands feel tingly.
We look for love, no time for tears
Wasted waters all that is
And it don’t make no flowers grow
They don’t know when they took off their mask, but it’d ended up on the ground next to the dummy as the two continued their waltz, leaning into each other's safety and the warmth that came along with it.
Good things might come to those who wait
Not for those who wait too late
We gotta go for all we know
The next thing Noli noticed was how the red exploiter’s tail had unfurled itself just a moment ago, only to move up to his lower back, not quite pressing against it but leaving the ghost of a touch, for sure. Adding just enough pressure for it to be noticeable through the black hoodie he was wearing.
Just the two of us
We can make it if we try
Just the two of us
They felt his partner’s hand lightly clench around the fabric atop his shoulder blades, which caused him to tilt his head in curiosity, only to notice Seven looking in the pizzeria’s direction, the admins were finally getting the fire under control just the least bit. Well, all good things must come to an end eventually.
Just the two of us building castles in the sky
Just the two of us
You and I
In a moment of impulse, he grabbed the others’ chin and redirected his head to face him, the grin on their face worked to hide just how nervous he’d felt about doing that.
“Eyes on me, pretty boy, no worrying about admins now.” They started humming to the rhythm of the jazz solo, grin widening just the smallest bit at how Seven snickered at his words.
I hear the crystal raindrops fall
On the window, down the hall
And it becomes the morning dew
Out of the corner of their eye he saw the fire flicker lightly and start dimming, the grey clouds moving further and further towards the distance that was the industrial section, it seems their fun would almost be over.
And, darling, when the morning comes
And I see the morning sun
I want to be the one with you
As if the song were giving commands, the smoke (Just the two of us) finally clears up from in front (We can make it if we try) of the sun, finally (Just the two of us) having dissipated away, the smoke still coming from the fire not being enough (Just the two of us) to hide the warm glow (Building big castles way up high) that engulfed his partner’s face (Just the two of us, you and I), making Noli’s breath hitch upon seeing just how ethereal he looked.
They picked up their pace, “Just the two of us,” Noli couldn’t help but laugh lightly as he was spun around yet again, “Let’s get it together, baby,” the red exploiter exaggerated just how drawn out every word was, it helped make them smile even more.
And just for a moment, it felt as if they were alone in this world, no potential witnesses who’d snitch on them, no pesky admins ruining their fun, no yellow-haired cashier yelling at them to get out and how they were blacklisted. None of that, not even the chaos they left behind in their wake. Just them. Just Noli and Seven.
When noticing the lack of smoky air and heaviness on their lungs, the two looked over at the pizzeria they’d left burning, only to see the fire barely alive, flickering weakly as it looked for more to destroy, more to devour. Just like them, because they both knew this was just one of many instances.
Today may come to an end, but as long as they have each other, they’ll be fine. They’ve never needed anybody but themselves, and yet they couldn’t help but both feel drawn to each other, like a moth to a flame. But the question is, who is the moth and who is the flame?
As the song came to its high-noted end, he felt Seven’s arm wrap around their waist, holding so softly despite the strength they both possessed. He stared into his partner’s eyes, seeing the fire in them, both metaphorically and literally, despite how small the danger now was, it was reflected in those beautiful eyes that they loved oh-so much.
The song had ended, the only sound left being the far-away yells from the pizzeria, the wind around them, and their heavy breathing, both tired out from their ritual of chaos.
Noli bit down on his bottom lip, forcing it to stop shaking as Seven cupped his cheek.
“...Sev?”
“Noli.” The look of determination in his eyes threw off the purple exploiter, making him briefly wonder if he’d done something wrong—messed something up, was this all a ploy to get his guard down? Was this all just an elaborate trap? What if—their thoughts were interrupted by the sweet kiss pressed to his lips.
When the other broke away just moments after the gesture, Noli was left to gasp, wide-eyed as he realized what’d just happened.
They felt something similar to anxiety start to build up in his stomach, but they knew better than to think of it as negative.
He hugged the other close and hid their face against his shoulder, a muffled hum coming from them as he felt Seven’s tail wrap itself around his waist, accompanied by his arms just a few seconds later.
Noli came to a conclusion: Even if he’d considered cancelling their plans in the morning out of fear of messing up and driving the other away, they were glad they hadn’t.