Work Text:
Context: frenemies with feelings. (Inspo: The author by Luz)
3rd person:
The sky was beautiful. Citrus orange hues blended neatly with dashes of golden flecks. The sky was like a soup of orange juice and edible gold leaf. The sun stood proud amongst its work like a straight man after fixing his car.
Beneath the glittery gold sky was a calm ocean. Saxe and ginger merged together on the synthetic ocean surface, dancing together like forbidden lovers.
Even further back was a simple beach. Particles of khaki colour sand blended and split occasionally, forced to be too realistic for the old internal system to fully keep up. Darker coloured creases illustrated how far the ocean creeped up the sand, before collapsing back down again in exhaustion.
The sight was Pinterest worthy, honestly.
On the sand sat two men, blanketed in the warm glow of the horizon. The taller had razor sharp claws that looked blunter under the kind golden gaze. His sclera were inky black with faintly glowing white pupils and matching iris. He was chubby, with metallic silver arms and legs. He adorned basic black sweatpants and a simple dark green t-shirt with a black binder strap poking out.
The shorter was thin and pale, but not sickly so. He had big eyes and a little button nose. His irises were pitch black, but not hollow; a little glint of yellow tinted light remained in his eye. His clothes matched his irises - plain black. A hoodie, vest, and sweatpants.
Both of their gazes held on the swirl of warm tones above them. Neither moved. Not for a long while anyway.
Austin’s pov:
My eyes flicked across the coded sky. It took me months to code in an ‘evening’ into the Wii Sports Resort. But it was worth it.
Although it wasn’t my main focus. What was my main focus was the man beside me, sat just out of view. The man I’d spent nearly two decades hating. The man that was now sat beside me on the beach, watching the sunset together like some corny date.
It was pretty gay. But honestly, I was learning a lot about myself those few months, so it seemed stupid to say that.
The worst part wasn’t being attracted to a man - albeit I wasn’t super overjoyed about it - but being attracted to him. To Henry. To Eteled. To the man that literally fucking murdered me.
And yet here I was thinking of my hands (if you could really call them that) running up and down his body, squeezing, rubbing, cupping, grazing.
Not lustily, just.. we were both touched starved, okay? We’d been trapped in a damn Wii for 20 years. If you were trapped in a Wii for 20 years with someone only a few years older than you, you’d start thinking shit too.
My gaze slowly trailed over to the other. His deep blue eyes gazing up. Everyone thought they were pitch black, but I knew they weren’t. I’d been close enough to spot the blue tint to them. The blue reflection when light mirrored off of their glossy surface.
I looked at the whole of him. His sharp jaw that had no stubble. (Matched his head, little bozo…) The vest that peeked out from under his hoodie, followed by a pale collarbone. The way he leaned back, propped up by his hands.
God, he was hot. And god, it frustrated me.
Eteled’s pov:
I noticed eyes boring into my side. I looked back, which seemed to startle him.
“What are you looking at?” I cocked an eyebrow, not accusatory but confused and slightly amused. “You spent ages coding all this and you’re staring at me?”
“I was thinking of all the ways to drown you.” He scoffed, turning his head away.
“If you really were you’d remember that we can’t drown; we don’t need to breathe.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t imagine it.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
He was turned away from me now. He was always to stubborn, it was almost charming. Watching the previously violent and bloodthirsty man pout like a child at light teasing was oddly amusing. Oddly adorable.
I had struggled with my own feelings ever since that dumbass had decided to stop beating my ass all the time. When he started to become passive - almost docile.
I’d learned he liked to talk a lot. And his hands were always running along himself somewhere, such as his arms or waist - like how he was running his hand up and down his arm right now. He probably didn’t even know he was doing it. He wasn’t good at sitting still. Or being quiet.
He liked talking. He loved the colour green. Specifically deep green. He liked video games. He liked coding. His favourite tree was weeping willows. I didn’t know a person could have a “favourite” type of tree. But he did. And I remembered.
I also remembered that he loved spicy food. Loved sweet food too. The kind of sweet that makes your teeth feel like they’re rotting the second it touches them. He loved coffee, with no milk but loads of sugar - because it made him look like he was drinking black coffee when he wasn’t. He thought it was more “manly” to drink it black. So stupid… So adorably stupid…
I also noticed when he was nervous, he would run his hand along his thick stubble. When he was frustrated he’d shuffle and squirm and squint. When he was excited he’d flap his hands - only when he thought I wasn’t looking though.
“Hypocrite.” I was dragged out of my own thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You’re were bitching at me for staring but now you’re doing it.”
“I wasn’t bitching.” I rolled my eyes with amusement. “Simply commenting.”
“Same thing.”
“Bitching implies that I didn’t like it.”
His face dusted with a small coat of scarlet.
“Shut up.“
“Awee.. someone’s blushing.” I turned my body around 180 degrees, facing away from the sun to face the real view. I leaned by side against his heavy metal legs which were almost tucked to his chest.
“No I’m not. It’s the sun.”
“Uh-huh.” I reached a hand up, giving him a playful -boop- on the nose. “Sure, dear.”
His face scrunched up for a moment, nose twitching like a little bunny’s. He quickly swatted my hand away, face redder than before.
“Don’t call me that!” He huffed stubbornly.
“What, can’t handle a little petname?” He stammered. I laughed. “You act like you’re in love with me, dude.”
He turned away at that. But it wasn’t an embarrassed turn. He looked.. ashamed. My smirk faltered.
“Austin?”
“Shut up.”
His voice was firm. Too firm. There was a pause, silence filled only by the gentle waves on the prosthetic beach.
“Austin, are you in—?”
“SHUT UP.”
He completely pulled away from me, emotionally and physically closing himself off. I nearly fell as his legs yanked away from me. He looked like he was about to get up and leave, so I quickly grabbed his shirt.
“Austin. Please, let’s talk about this like adults.”
“What is there to talk about?!” He barked, avoiding eye contact. I hesitated for a moment.
“Our feelings.” He immediately scoffed.
“What is this, a kids cartoon?”
“Fine, fine. You want something to talk about? Let’s talk about…” My mind scoured through related topics. “Kissing. On a beach. Secluded. Under the golden sun.”
He immediately went beet red.
“See? That’s more interesting, isn’t it? Just the two of us, on this beach, all alone, kissing our worries away.” I leaned closer.
“You’re such a tease!” He snapped.
“Oh, I’m serious. If you wanna kiss I’m not opposed.”
He contemplated for a moment before he quickly turned his head away.
“You’re— You’re fucking with me! You’re gonna pull away last minute and make fun of me or some stupid shit!!” He screwed his eyes shut.
“And why would I do that?” My voice grew considerably softer. “It would be a loss on my end to pull away.”
His eyelids fluttered for a moment, contemplating before they opened. His softly glowing pupils stared at my lips.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want. I won’t pressure you.” I lightly brushed his cheek with my thumb. “You don’t have to decide anything now.”
I was about to pull away when I felt a hand lightly grab my hips.
“Wait..” His eyebrows remained furrowed but his eyes softened.
“I’ll wait as long as you need. We’ve got the rest of eternity, after all.” I flashed him a soft smile. Even if he couldn’t see it, I hoped he could feel its warmth. There was a pause.
“You’re so gay…” Austin mumbled with a huff, taking a hand off my hip and slipping it around the back of my neck. “C’mere..”
“Oh, so I’m the gay one even though you’re the one pulling me in all nice n’ close?”
“Oh fuck off you dork..” He huffed. “If you pull any stupid shit I’ll tear your legs off.”
I chuckled. “I’d probably like that anyway.”
“Probably.. little masoch—“ He squeaked as I cut him off with pressing my lips against his.
Austin’s pov:
Damn.
The first thought to enter my mind was how gay this was. The second thought to enter my mind was how good it felt.
Then my thoughts stopped entirely, being replaced by feeling alone. The feeling of his gentle lips against mine. The feeling of his soft hand on my cheek. The feeling of our fingers intertwined. When had that happened?
Who cares? It was ecstatic.
The hand I had on his hip trailed to his waist. His hand sat comfortably against my cheek, holding me softly like glass.
The digital sun coated us in a warm external glow, but the connection filled us with a light brighter than any sun - real or fake.
After a moment that felt like hours, we pulled back. His gaze was soft. His cheeks were rosy. His smile was.. real. Genuine. Happy.
Eteleds pov:
Austin looked absolutely baffled - and christ if it didn’t give me the butterflies. I felt like a teenager discovering love for the first time.
His normally half-lidded eyes were wide and filled with shock and something I’d never seen before. His lips were slightly parted like he was about to speak but no words ever left his mouth. His cheeks were painted perfectly in pink and scarlet. He was a complete work of art.
“Not so bad, hm?” I teased lightly, thumb grazing his warm golden and pink swirled cheek.
“No…” He stammered. “Can I..?” His hand on my waist lightly tugged me back toward him again. And I let him.
“Mhm..” And with that, he pulled me back into another kiss. And that’s how the rest of the evening went. Soft, gentle kissing and small touches here and there - nothing ever demanding or hungry. But searching. Exploring this new experience. This new discovery.
Night fell and we spent the night together. No, we didn’t fuck. But we held each other. And kissed. And talked. And eventually fell asleep in each other’s welcoming embrace.
We didn’t know what the future would hold. If we would work. If we would become a thing. If we were meant for each other.
But we were together, and we were happy.
And that was all that mattered.