Chapter Text
If you were to ever ask Poundy if he's ever entertained the possibility of his close friends Couriway and Feinberg actually being a thing beyond best friends, he would lie and say no. The discussion had come up more than once during vc, assumptions and jokes being made that neither of them shut down (rather, they entertained the thought of a something romantic budding between the two of them), and Poundy would be lying straight out of his ass if he didn't say that their relationship did seem different from others, not that there was much to say about it because who doesn't flirt with their homies now and then?
He always thought that maybe there was something because their chemistry really was too good to be true, but it would be weird to pry even as a bit. He should've raised an eyebrow at the fact that rather than getting a hotel room nearby when they both came to hangout with him at his apartment, Couri agreed to share an air mattress with Fein who had stubbornly decided that he would rather stay at Poundy's rather than stay elsewhere during the three days he would be there, but he chalked it up to the fact that the two of them would rather pick the option that saved the most money rather than spending it on something that wouldn't be too required, and they both didn't seem to mind the tight fit (even with how small Couri was, Fein was a massive guy who took up the majority of the mattress, but Couri didn't seem to care at all so Poundy left it at that).
It didn't bother him much at all, obviously. He has his own room and they could separate themselves with a pillow if they were feeling homophobic and didn't wanna cuddle with the homies, and they willingly picked to be in that situation so they were the one's to blame. Though, through the couple days that they had stayed with him, his suspicion about their friendship grew. Sure, HBG as a whole could be touchy for jokes and all, and Fein could also be touchy since that and gifting people things was how he picked to show his appreciation, but there's something different about his touchy habits when Couri was involved.
It was… well, it wasn't weird per se, but it was so starkly different from anyone else in their friend group that it has him questioning how deep their friendship (or relationship?) went. His hand always stays near Couri's back, a hand to nudge him forward or to just touch as he passes by. Really what should've been the final nail in the coffin was the fact that more than once in the photos that they took together, Fein always managed to pull Couri close and leave the hand hovering at Couri's waist out of frame, pairing that with their constant hand holding as they went around Poundy's city and the nagging suspicion that he's been third wheeling them practically this entire time really puts the puzzle together into a clear image for him to understand.
So, it's not weird for him to assume that the reason behind so many little things that looked odd to him was because they were actually a thing.
He honestly dreads the day Couri appears in Fein's hoodie rather than his actual puffy jacket he had brought to combat the cold, and he moreso dreads the fact that he can’t point it out without it being a weird topic and has to sit oblivious to all of their eye fucking behind him during their streams.
Mind you, he has no issue with two of his best friends dating, but he'd appreciate it more if they outright told him before he found them cuddling with each other and sharing a morning kiss right when he was leaving his room. Like, did this have to be the way that he found out? How long were they intending to keep it a secret from all of their friends?
He's not really upset because he knows the reason for it; even though they all could keep their lips sealed shut, the jokes would come too often to be just a bit, and he knows that a certain part of their fanbase would explode if they knew anything about two of the more popular runners actually being something. Though, maybe he can’t outright blame them because they both had been pretty god damn obvious with their chat messages to each other and any time they appeared together on stream and in photos. Did anyone ever think it was suspicious that they were always basically stuck to each other like glue? Probably not, but it wasn't like the community ever cared about the taboo act of shipping, and a majority of HBG held an entirely neutral take on it, but he knows of more than one person who might take it more negatively than most (and those people weren't part of HBG, so that's a positive to cancel the negative).
Neither of them are particularly slick or subtle, skimming through the vod shows him how their eyes hold so much affection towards each other when they look in the others general direction, especially when Couri is playing with Glaze, and he can't really fault them because it must be hard to hide how much you love each other when it comes as easy as breathing.
How exactly is he supposed to go about bringing up the fact that he knows about this (apparently) extremely secret relationship of theirs without being extremely fucking weird? Like he can’t go up to them randomly saying "oh, by the way I know what you guys are." like it would be funny, but if he wanted to be invited to their wedding at all maybe he shouldn't do that.
Even without saying anything, Couri gets up while he's talking so that Fein could get up and go to the bathroom, and maybe they had texted each other since they had both just been on their phones but Poundy thinks that's just plain unnecessary. His question about if they were heading to bed gets completely opposite answers, but it wasn't like it mattered since the two of them would be sharing anyway.
"Alright, well I'm staying until Feinberg is out of the bathroom." Does that mean he'll leave for bed when Fein is back? His ponderings are cut short when Couri looks at the wall of seeds, and he shrinks the face-cam to the very bottom right, making sure that his friends wouldn't get randomly outed somehow.
"Okay– that's cool–" Seriously, what is he supposed to say to that? Why was he even waiting when there's another bathroom in his apartment?? "Dude, I hope he comes out naked." It's a joke, and he's testing the waters, expecting Couri to sputter and tell him to shut up because that is his boyfriend (he thinks) Poundy was joking about, but he gets the complete opposite effect instead.
"That'd be hype," Couri hums, looking over towards the door where Fein had just disappeared past, awaiting his return.
"That would be so fucking hype. Lowkey highkey."
"That'd be kindaaa hype!"
Couriway is a fucking weirdo, and maybe he isn't dating Feinberg because he expected at least a bit of surprise from his words, but then again why would he agree if they weren't dating?
…probably because they always made these types of jokes constantly to the point where actual flirting and developing relationships were indistinguishable from suggestive jokes, and these types of jokes weren't uncommon at all between the pair– they've been like this since forever it seems.
Fein comes back and decides to flop down on Poundy's bed as Couri gets up like he said he would, and he wraps up the stream and ends it when he notices how still Fein had become on the face-cam, falling asleep at some point. He gives one shot at waking Fein up which predictably fails, so he takes this chance to test out his theory, seeking out Couri when he leaves the bathroom.
"Yo, your boyfriend fell asleep on my bed, mind getting him up?" He keeps his voice as nonchalant as he can, and Couri laughs and rolls his eyes at how he referred to Fein but doesn't say anything else, disappearing into Poundy's room before coming out with an extremely drowsy looking Fein in tow, collapsing directly onto the couch to go back to sleep as Couri messes with the inflatable mattress to set it up.
Well, there's nothing much else to say but the fact that multiple theories of his had been proven right just from this interaction alone.
Firstly, Feinberg never exactly says no nor refuses Couriway.
Secondly, Couriway could get Feinberg to do basically anything and everything he wanted.
And thirdly, they're dating.
Well, maybe that wasn't as hard to discover, but it's pretty easy with how they were off camera here, seeing them in person. He's sure that they trust him enough to not hide their relationship, but rather they don't want to make it a topic of a conversation and instead leave it as a background thing that didn't need full focus on it. Acknowledgement that they were something was enough, verbally confirming it isn't something that Poundy needs when he sees them both canoodling in the bathroom after waking up or before going go bed because really, no other evidence is needed after witnessing something like that.
Even though Fein had said that he totally wasn't going to go directly to sleep tonight, Couri still finds him asleep on Poundy's bed while he had been waiting for him to come out of the bathroom. He can't blame Fein since he only came over today and landed a little while before him and Poundy started stream for each day that he would be there, walking in as a surprise for chat that was quite expected. Dealing with Poundy during the challenge run that they had today probably only tired him out more, and he can't help the fondness that seeps out of his words when he gently shakes his boyfriend awake, watching him mumble incoherent excuses before his eyes peel open, squinting at Couri.
He watches as the haze of sleep clears bit by bit behind Fein's glasses, fingers rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he stretches with a groan, blinking at the other man.
"You fell asleep with your glasses on, dumbass," Couri giggles with a tease, poking the bridge of Fein's glasses and getting his hand swatted away. Fein, as most didn't expect, is easiest to get dragged around when he's sleepy because he doesn't have enough energy to object against going somewhere if it'll let him sleep more. Couri for one thinks it's pretty cute, coaxing Fein up for flights and letting him sleep on the passenger seat after packing last night for the pair of them and allowing Couri to not stress over as much with things, tugging him through TSA precheck that always made things so much easier. He pulls Fein towards the living room, passing by Poundy and huffing softly with a mix of endearment and amusement when Fein attempts to get comfy on the couch as Couri blew up the inflatable mattress.
Glaze seems interested or annoyed by what is making so much noise, sniffing around Couri and allowing him to pick her up and play with her a handful of times since he's gotten here. It especially warms his heart when he sees Glaze leap onto the couch and sniff at Fein's sleeping face, deciding to climb on his back and curl up there, and when he peeks at Fein's face his brow is furrowed from the additional weight caused by a mysterious yet not so mysterious force, and it makes his mouth curl up in amusement.
When the mattress doesn't absolutely deflate into a pancake under his weight and feels sturdy enough, he wakes Fein up again enough to pull his hoodie off of him, watching how Fein sideeyes him through the tears of his yawn and stretch as he pulls it onto himself, cheesing uncontrollably when Fein leans in to kiss him and kisses the corner of his mouth instead, his crooked glasses and drowsiness still evident by his sluggish movements and how he had missed his intended target.
He has to remember to take this off and give it back to Fein in the morning, but for now the extra layer of warmth was exactly what he needed while he's pressed against Fein, his very own personal heater that he won't take for granted, especially when it's usually Fein in his arms instead of the other way around. Couri presses kisses up the line of Fein's jaw, stubble scratching him as he goes, tickling rather than actually hurting. Fein mumbles something before tucking Couri's head under his chin, practically rubbing his face against Couri's hair unconsciously.
"Do you think he noticed?" He whispers, waiting for Fein's sleep-addled to catch up with his thoughts and words, resting his hand over Fein's beating heart, feeling each inhale and exhale in the quiet.
"Who? Poundy?" Fein pulls back to look at Couri's face properly, heavily squinting at him enough that Couri grows worried for his eyesight possibly getting worse.
"Stop straining your eyes, stupid," he pushes Fein back down so he also isn't straining his neck to look down at Couri for whatever reason, as if their height wasn't a major enough difference. "But yea, do you think he knows?"
"Would it matter if he did? It's not like he's homophobic or anything, I'm sure he knows but doesn't wanna say anything to make us uncomfortable or something," Fein cuts himself off with a yawn in the middle of his sentence, stretching himself out slightly before curling back around Couri under their blanket. "It would be funny if we were only affectionate around him so that only he knew and would sound crazy if he brought it up with anyone else, that would be a good long term prank to do.." Fein murmurs, leaning his head against Couri's, intertwining their hands above the blanket.
"Yea? Like pissing in a bottle and hiding it somewhere in his room so he couldn't find the source of the smell?" Laughs bubble out of him at Fein's scrunched up face at the words, pushing Couri out of his arms causing him to wail "nooo! I was joking!!" between his giggles. Fein turns his back to him for only a couple minutes before turning back around and pulling Couri back into his embrace, Couri smiling into his kisses when he presses pecks up Fein's jaw, eventually capturing his lips and noting the minty taste from the toothpaste he used.
"Go to sleep my love, get enough energy to deal with Poundy tomorrow." Fein whispers against his mouth into the kiss, and Couri can’t help the flustered giggle that escapes him from the words when he pulls away and snuggles closer.
"You used a pet name on me, you called me your love." He explains with a pleased grin when Fein looks at him with a slight tilt of his head, basking in Couri's soft laughter and flushed expression but also wondering the cause.
"It's 'cause you are my love," Fein nuzzles the side of Couri's temple with his nose, pressing a kiss there too after while he talks. "'nd I'm tired so 'm being sappy with you. I should use more pet names on you like you do with me, it's cute… but it sounds so fucking cringe whenever I call you something though.."
"Doesn't matter if you're only doing it around me, who else will hear and judge you? I think it's adorable." He presses impossibly closer, hands sliding underneath Fein's shirt with his forehead resting against his collarbone, feeling the bones of Fein's spine through his back when he runs his fingers over it, absentmindedly tracing shapes as he feels sleep slowly catch up to him for staying partially past his usual bed time.
"Well, I'll see how I feel about it in the morning… goodnight, though." Fein kisses his hairline, and he leans up to kiss his cheek in response, a dopey smile pressed against Fein's warm skin.
"Mm, goodnight, love you baby." Couri mumbles, finding that sleep had been lurking until he closed his eyes, practically falling asleep immediately and almost missing Fein's response.
"I love you, too." Fein whispers, resting his face in Couri's hair and inhaling then exhaling slowly, smelling the familiar shampoo that he always used, remembering it still even after months of being apart.
In the morning, the look on Poundy's face when he saw Couri absolutely drowning in Fein's hoodie was absolutely un-fucking forgettable, and the fact that he couldn't really tell anyone else about this was also a funny thought, so without much fanfare, they laughed over the shared thought of continuing this behavior without entirely coming out about their relationship.
Eventually, they forgot entirely about it since it was so… normal just to be with each other and love without care and worry on how their relationship could even be perceived, so they entirely forgot about mentioning it to their friends who had grown used to their dynamic around other friends too.