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Juan was pretty sure he was Juan. He must be Juan. He's always thought so, at least.
But right now, he was looking at someone who seemed to be Juan as well, standing next to Graf in the shopping district near MiArte.
Juan took a second to judge the situation. He blinked a few times. He rubbed his eyes. Nope, the Juan was still there, talking to Graf. Apparently, it wasn't just one of his weird dreams. He approached the two a little cautiously.
Graf noticed him first, and he didn't look surprised about it, like he wasn't just talking to another Juan just now. Then, the person who most definitely wasn't Juan — because Juan was Juan — followed his gaze and turned around to also look at Juan, and had the audacity to look excited at the sight of him.
"Oh my god, it's him!" he said. "Or should I say, it's me."
Juan stopped in front of them. The 'Juan' was wearing a pink shirt, the same one he had in his own closet back at the North, a dark blue tie, a red bandana, the same as Juan's, and brown pants. He wore the same glasses, the same bandana, and the same face as Juan. It was like looking in the mirror. But it was impossible, wasn't it…?
"What the hell is going on?" he asked, looking between… himself and Graf.
"Hi, Juan," Graf greeted him, ever so polite. He didn't look surprised to see him, but there was a hint of amusement on his face. "We have a bit of a situation."
Juan blinked again to see if anything changed. Nope, there was still another him. "I can see that! Who the fuck is that?"
The other Juan was smiling at him with Juan's own smile.
"Well, It's— it's you," Graf said.
"It's not me! I'm me!"
"Technically, I'm you as well. I was just explaining this to Graf," other-Juan chimed in. "But I'm gonna explain to both of you, now that you're here."
Juan measured him with a look. "You better."
"Okay, as I was saying to Graf, I'm Juan, but not from this timeline. I'm from another reality that's similar to this one, but not exactly the same."
"Wait, what?" Juan interrupted him. "Are you telling me there are multiple realities?"
So the guy was him, technically. Just from another timeline. Which apparently was a thing. Okay. It wasn't the craziest thing that had happened to Juan since coming to the island. Maybe it would be somewhere in his top five, though.
"Yes!" other-Juan replied, excitement bleeding into his voice, like he got the opportunity to talk about a subject he's passionate about. "Probably infinitely many. You didn't know this?"
"Isn't that crazy?" Graf asked, looking at Juan with awe on his face. "There's like, another you!"
"Wait, wait, how do you know all that?" Juan asked, looking at the alternate version of himself. Despite all of his initial suspicion, some excitement started rising in his chest. It really was a crazy situation. "And how did you get to this timeline?"
There was a hint of annoyance on the other-Juan's face. "Oh, yeah, it's all Foolish's fault. That stupid monster."
"You have a Foolish too?"
"Yeah, obviously." Other-Juan looked at him like it was a ridiculous question to ask. "Foolish and I have been working on figuring out how these timelines work. We found a way to travel between them; we've actually been working on it for a long time. I was supposed to test it in practice today, but that idiot put two days on the counter instead of two minutes, and I got transported into your timeline before I could stop it. So now I'm stuck here for the time being."
Juan started at him, baffled again. He looked at Graf, who looked surprised as well, but his face was mostly stoic. He was silent, listening to other-Juan's words very intensely.
"Holy shit," Juan said. "You and Foolish figured that out?!"
"Yeah, we're scientists," other-Juan replied in that same tone, looking confused again. "You guys aren't?"
"No, obviously my Foolish and I do science as well," Juan replied, not wanting to be worse.
Other-Juan looked at him unconvinced now. The thing about talking to yourself is, you know every emotion immediately, because it's you. "Oh yeah? And what have you discovered so far?"
"Many, many important things. I can't tell you, might ruin the timeline." Juan crossed his arms. "Actually, won't you being here have some kind of catastrophic consequences on this reality?"
"Well, no, we already know timeline interference doesn't have lasting effects. Or— we think so, at least. Unless I were to do serious damage while I'm here, which I have no intention of doing, it would be fine." He looked between the two of them. "You know I'm not a bad guy."
Juan studied himself. Somewhere, in other timeline, there was probably a version of him who was an evil supervillain, but it definitely wasn't the guy standing in front of him in a pink shirt and blue tie, practically vibrating with excitement as he was telling his multiverse theory. He just looked like a huge nerd, if Juan was being honest.
"Okay, so you're just gonna be here for two days, and then what?"
"I'm gonna be pulled back into my own timeline automatically," other-Juan replied. "It's probably best if the whole island doesn't see me, though. I don't want to explain this to everyone here."
"Okay," Juan said slowly. "So Graf and I are just gonna babysit you for the next two days, and everything goes back to normal."
"I wouldn't say babysit, but—"
"We can do it, yes," Graf chimed in. Juan glanced over at him, and he looked excited about the whole situation as well. Weird. Probably just because it was such an unusual occurrence.
Okay, this was kind of exciting, Juan had to admit. His suspicion had been mostly replaced by curiosity. Spending a few days with a version of himself from an alternate timeline sounded like it might actually be fun.
"Wait, can I tell Foolish?"
Other-Juan looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You tell him everything. You would tell him anyway, even if I told you you can't, so why ask me?"
Yep, this guy was definitely him.
As it turned out, not long after, his excitement turned into annoyance very, very quickly.
They discussed what to do with other-Juan and finally settled on having him stay in the Polish Cave, since it would be easier to hide him there than at the North. They were making their way there to find him somewhere to sleep.
"It's mostly empty anyway these days," Graf said after proposing the idea. "Ewron is barely here, I haven't seen Nexe in a long time, and Multi spends most of the time in the reactor anyway. And if someone does see him, it would be easier to pretend that it's you than if someone saw two of you."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Juan nodded along as Graf was talking. But then, he immediately added, "Wait, I want to hang out with you guys as well."
"It's okay, we will just be careful." Graf smiled at him, making a warm feeling spread in his chest.
"Thank you, I hope it won't be too much trouble. It's only for a few days anyway," other-Juan said with a smile. "I hope my husband doesn't miss me too much."
That got Juan to stop dead in his tracks. "Husband?"
He looked at other-Juan, eyes dropping to his hand, and— oh, god. He really did have a golden wedding band on his finger. How had Juan missed that earlier? And more importantly, a version of him was married?
Juan definitely wasn't prepared for what came next. Other-Juan's entire face lit up in a similar way as when he had the opportunity to talk about his nerdy timeline stuff, but even more sincere now.
"Yeah, my Graf."
Juan felt the air leave his lungs like he'd been punched. He inhaled so suddenly he started choking on his own saliva, coughing violently. Beside him, Graf stopped too and began patting him firmly on the back.
"Graf is your husband?!" Juan managed, once he'd finally stopped choking.
He felt the urge to look at Graf and see the look on his face, but he didn't know if it was a good idea. He couldn't help himself and did it anyway.
Graf looked way more composed than he did, his expression not really betraying anything, but Juan could see that his entire face had gone red. He was staring at the other-Juan, who looked between them, clearly amused.
"Yes, of course," he replied. "Since last year. From that reaction, I gather you two aren't yet? How long have you been together?"
Juan wanted to die. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole. He felt the blush on his own cheeks spread to the tips of his ears.
He was thinking of what to reply before Graf beat him to it.
"We aren't together," he said. "We're just friends."
There was a heavy, uncomfortable silence that hung between the three of them after that. Juan wanted to die. He didn't know how to deal with the information that there apparently was another version of him who was married to another version of Graf.
Graf, who confessed to him in this timeline, but Juan rejected him. It was a little complicated, but recently, he and Graf got really close, and he's been second-guessing that decision more and more. Now it just felt like the universe was mocking him directly.
"Oh," other-Juan said. He looked so caught off-guard, like the possibility of them not dating hadn't even crossed his mind. "Oh, weird timeline we got here."
He resumed walking. Juan and Graf took a second to catch up with him.
"Are you okay?" Graf asked in a hushed voice, once other-Juan had gone a little ahead.
Juan most definitely wasn't okay. The universe must be playing some cruel joke on him.
"Yeah, I'm—" He audibly swallowed. He glanced to the other-Juan and at the wedding band on his finger. "—I'm okay."
They made some space for other-Juan in one of the unused corners of the Polish Cave, in a secluded spot where he could sleep safely without anyone easily noticing him. Graf made him a bed and gave him some basics, like a pillow and a blanket.
"Thank you," other-Juan said once it was finished.
Then, he proceeded to pull Graf into a hug.
Graf looked visibly startled for a beat, arms hovering awkwardly in the air before hugging back. The pink slowly crept back into his cheeks. Juan stood there watching, feeling something unpleasant curl in his stomach.
What the hell?
"I'm going to bring you some clean clothes," Graf said, and disappeared into the cave.
The moment he was gone, other-Juan turned to Juan with a knowing little smile. "So, he's shy, huh?" he said in a hushed tone.
The question took a second to register in Juan's mind. "What?"
"You said you aren't together, so I'm assuming he hasn't confessed yet." Other-Juan sat down on the edge of the bed, acting like he had the right to discuss Juan's love life right now.
Juan felt the sudden, sharp urge to punch him, even though he hadn't technically said anything wrong. He wondered if there was a way for him to get out of this conversation, but after a few seconds of thinking, his mind was blank.
"He did," he said truthfully. "I rejected him."
That, at least, seemed to genuinely surprise other-Juan. "You— what?!"
"I don't— I didn't feel the same about him!" Juan said, voice rising before he caught himself, remembering that Graf was somewhere close by. "Maybe it's different between the timelines," he added, quieter, not wanting to explain his feelings any further to other-Juan right now.
Other-Juan took a second to study his face. "You don't, or you didn't?"
Fortunately, before Juan had to find an answer to that, Graf reappeared, holding some clothes in his arms. Other-Juan's head snapped up immediately, his whole face lighting up at the sight of him.
"I found something for you. I hope they'll be alright," Graf said, setting the clothes down on the bed.
"Thank you, you're too sweet," other-Juan said, looking at him with something bordering on adoration, and it made Juan feel mad again. "I'm sure they'll be perfect."
"It's no problem, really," Graf replied. Something about the easy warmth in his voice made Juan even angrier than before. "I can make us something to eat now, if you guys want."
"Yes, that would be nice," Juan said before the other him got the chance to reply. That managed to get Graf's attention for a few seconds. Graf smiled at him, and it calmed him down a little. For now, at least.
They went to the kitchen area, and both Juans sat at the table while Graf started making dinner for them.
"My Graf is such a good cook," other-Juan said, leaning back in his chair, and Juan felt the annoyance flare up again almost instantly. This fucking guy. "He always cooks for both of us."
Juan imagined a version of himself who woke up to a version of Graf every day and got to live a cute, domestic life with him. He felt dizzy just from the mental picture. He looked at other-Juan, who had a soft, pleased smile on his face, like just thinking about it made him happy. He then looked at Graf, who was making some kind of dinner on the stove, his back turned to them, so he couldn't see his face. He wondered how hearing all this was making him feel.
"Well, Graf cooks for me as well," he said. He noticed that Graf briefly stopped moving, but quickly recovered. "He brings me food when I'm painting. And he's really good at it too."
Other-Juan looked at him with a weird expression. "I bet he is."
Juan found himself disliking this guy more with every passing second. Before he could think of anything else to say, there were two plates of pasta with some sort of creamy tomato sauce in front of them.
"It's ready," Graf said, going over to the stove to grab another plate for himself.
"Thank you, Graf," Juan said quickly, wanting to be the first to do it. Other-Juan just looked at him and only gave Graf a smile, which was somehow also bad.
They ate their meal in silence, and when they were done, other-Juan got up, gathering all their plates. What a fucking guy, wanting to prove how kind he is by cleaning up after everyone.
Then, he leaned down and gave Graf a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, it was delicious," he said, and put the dishes in the sink.
Graf's face went entirely red again, which was way too many times in a day for Juan's liking, and his eyes flicked over to Juan, looking wide and a little panicked. Juan felt his blood boil. He really, really wanted to kill this guy now.
"Don't you have a husband?" he asked in a sharp tone.
Other-Juan turned around from the sink, hands still dripping from washing the dishes. "Yeah, I do. He looks exactly like the guy sitting right here. Actually, he is a version of this guy."
"No, that's not your Graf, that's—" Juan caught himself just before the words my Graf could leave his mouth, "—a different Graf."
"Technically he's the same person, just in a different timeline. You're the same person as me too, you know."
"No, I'm not," Juan snapped, annoyed. "I'm my own person."
"Sure." Other-Juan turned around, not adding anything else.
Juan glanced over at Graf, who was looking between the two of them, looking redder than he did a second ago. Juan waited for him to say something about this, but it didn't seem like he was going to. When their eyes met, there was something in Graf's expression that made Juan's heart flip in his chest. Graf looked at him with flushed cheeks and parted lips, his pretty eyes focusing only on Juan. Juan held his gaze.
Too bad it wasn't Juan who made him look like that. Well, technically it was, but it wasn't the Juan that mattered. He'd never been angrier at himself, in every meaning of that.
"I think I'm gonna go to sleep now," other-Juan's voice pulled him from his self-deprecating thoughts. "I'm so tired after everything."
"Oh, okay, sure! Just— let me know if you need anything," Graf said, turning his attention to other-Juan again. Juan felt himself get mad again.
"Yeah, I'm going to go back home as well," he said, because he didn't trust himself to stay in the same place as this guy for longer. Graf looked at him with a disappointed look, but Juan had already made up his mind.
"Goodnight," Graf said to him. "Come by tomorrow?"
He glanced at the other-Juan, disappearing into the depths of the Polish Cave, before looking back at Graf. His beautiful, way too sweet for his own good Graf.
"Of course," he replied. "Goodnight."
"And then he kissed Graf on the cheek, the audacity of this guy! He has his own Graf in his own timeline; can't he just kiss him when he gets back? And Graf just let him do that as well!"
They were in Foolish's room at the North, Juan pacing around and telling him all about the events of today, while gesturing widely. Foolish sat cross-legged on his bed and watched him with amusement.
"Wait, I'm still processing the part in which I built the machine that got him there in the first place," Foolish said. "I'm so smart, holy shit!"
"We built it together! He clearly said Foolish and I."
"Yeah, but probably mostly me, knowing how you are." Foolish grinned at him.
"Shut up! Did you miss the part in which you were the one who messed up the time on the machine in the first place? It's your fault I have to be stuck with this guy for the whole next day."
"He probably just said that because he was too embarrassed to admit he was the one who messed it up," Foolish said, shrugging. Before Juan got the chance to argue, he added, "Why are you so annoyed by this anyway? Are you jealous of yourself?"
"No," Juan said immediately, far too fast, even though he most definitely was. He stopped pacing just long enough to glare at Foolish. "He's just— he has his own Graf. And he goes around kissing my Graf like that anyway. Isn't that basically cheating? I would never kiss some other Graf if I already had one!"
Foolish looked like he was actually considering it for a moment. "Well, I don't know, you're technically the same person."
"We're not! He keeps saying it, but we're clearly not!"
"Yeah, but maybe he's just destined to be in love with Graf, and that includes this Graf. Because of some higher cosmic power or something."
That got Juan to stop dead in his tracks. The thought of other-Juan being in love with his Graf made him so unbelievably mad that he had to stop himself from thinking about it before he did something stupid.
"I hate that he's staying with Graf alone," Juan said instead, dropping onto the edge of Foolish's bed, dragging both hands down his face. "I need him gone. I can't wait until he's gone."
"Dude, you have some issues," Foolish said, enjoying his suffering way too much. "He will be gone soon. You know, I've always thought you'd be the kind of guy who'd make out with an alternate version of yourself, given the chance."
Juan looked at him, baffled. To be honest, maybe he would consider it under different circumstances. But he definitely wouldn't make out with that guy.
"What the fuck!" he said. Then, his curiosity got the better of him. "Would you?"
"Yes," Foolish replied without thinking about it even for a second.
"Ew!" Juan grimaced. "I hate you for putting this image in my head."
He spent the night thinking about it even more. He kept circling back to the same thought: that in some other timeline, some other version of him had gotten to marry some other version of Graf, and they were both very happy. And here, in this timeline, Juan rejected Graf, and only recently started to question that decision. What if it was too late to take back now? Or worse, what if Graf liked the other version of Juan more?
The thought made him sick to his stomach.
He came back to the Polish Cave the next day, and the first thing he noticed as he walked in was other-Juan, sitting at the table and eating breakfast, wearing Graf's clothes. Juan knew that Graf had borrowed some of his clothes, but knowing it and seeing it in practice were two entirely different things. He hated the sight. Graf had never borrowed any of his clothes before.
"Hi!" other-Juan greeted him as soon as he saw him.
Juan gave him a cold look. "Where is Graf?" he asked.
"Showering," he replied, unbothered by Juan's hostility.
Juan took a seat across from him and just glared, jaw clenched. He looked at the way the shirt that belonged to Graf lay on Juan's body — his body — and decided he hated the guy even more. For getting to have this when Juan only recently discovered that it was a possibility for him; he wasn't even sure if it still was. He looked at his hand again, unable to help himself. The wedding band was still there, catching the light whenever other-Juan moved.
Other-Juan followed his gaze, but didn't comment on it. Graf stepped into the room a few minutes later.
"Hi, Juan," he greeted, looking at Juan, and it felt like a small victory, which was probably stupid, but Juan didn't care. He got to have Graf's attention on him for a while. Graf wore a button-up shirt, and his hair was slightly damp from the shower. He looked so attractive like this.
Apparently, other-Juan thought so as well because he was ogling Graf in a way that made Juan want to throw up. He felt some ugly, possessive feeling claw its way up his throat at the thought that other-Juan also found Graf attractive, which he obviously did with the way he was staring.
Does Juan act like that? Is he also so goddamn annoying?
"So, what are we gonna do today?" other-Juan asked, looking between them.
"I don't know, we could watch some TV?" Graf offered. "Juan and I have been watching this show together recently, but we're in the middle of it, so I don't know if you—"
"I'd love that!" other-Juan said, cutting him off before he could even finish the thought.
Juan felt another wave of anger wash over him. That was his and Graf's thing. He didn't like the idea of sharing it with anyone, and he especially didn't like sharing it with this guy.
"Okay, let's do it, then?" Graf said, looking over at Juan for confirmation with a careful expression, like he could sense the anger radiating off him.
"Yeah," Juan said, forcing something that was probably closer to a grimace than a smile. "Let's."
They usually watched TV in Juan's room, so doing it in the cave felt a little unusual, and it was only made worse by the fact that there was suddenly a third person involved.
They sat on the couch, and other-Juan, without hesitation, sat down close enough to Graf that their shoulders were pressed together. Juan hated it. He made a point of shuffling closer himself, pressing himself to Graf's other side. They were crowding him from both sides now, which must have looked ridiculous if someone were to see them right now.
Not ten minutes into the episode, other-Juan let his head drop onto Graf's shoulder, and it made Juan feel sick with jealousy. Graf flinched slightly against him, but didn't pull away. Juan wrapped both hands around Graf's arm in response, in some twisted attempt to show other-Juan that this Graf was his, which was probably really childish, but he didn't care. He didn't even pay attention to the show they were watching. He felt Graf glance down at him, but he didn't say anything and didn't pull away either. Good.
He felt a little crazy. He knew he could be a jealous person at times, but he never found himself getting affected by it to this degree. It was just— It was unfair. Other-Juan had his own Graf waiting for him back home. Why did he have to be so greedy about this one too? And worse, why did Graf seem to like it?
They watched a few episodes of the show like that, and Juan barely registered what happened. Other-Juan, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy it. At some point, his head stopped resting on Graf's shoulder, though he was still sitting too close to him for Juan's liking.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur, if Juan was being honest with himself. He spent most of it glaring at other-Juan and feeling Graf's concerned gaze on himself in return.
Graf made dinner for them later once again. This time, while he was doing it, other-Juan didn't sit at the table, but went over to Graf to chat with him about something instead. Juan didn't hear what they were talking about, and he didn't want to. He just kept glaring at them with a clenched jaw, hating the way Graf's face got red when other-Juan got a little too close to him in the process, his eyes glancing nervously all over his face.
Did Graf think other-Juan was attractive? Did that mean that Graf thought Juan was attractive? Juan didn't know whether the thought should make him happy or mad.
Graf plated their dinner, and they ate, chatting idly this time. Well, Graf and other-Juan chatted about something; Juan was working on finding a way to kill someone with his mind.
Graf kept glancing over at him. At least he still remembered about his existence.
"Are you okay?" he asked when other-Juan left for the bathroom. "You've been quiet."
"Just tired," Juan lied.
He would just have to survive a little longer of this. Less than one more day, and then other-Juan would be gone forever.
Juan couldn't do this anymore. He's been thinking about a version of himself with a ring on his finger, and a version of Graf who made that possibility real. He's been thinking about his own Graf more than ever for the past day and a half.
He asked Graf to meet him in his room the next day, and Graf responded he would. If his calculations were correct, other-Juan had first appeared somewhere around noon two days ago, which meant he'd be pulled back to his own timeline sometime in the next few hours. Finally, Juan had never looked forward to saying goodbye to someone quite this much.
There was a knocking at the door, and Juan knew who it was. "Come in," he said.
Graf stepped through the door, closing it behind him and standing there awkwardly for a second. Juan was starting to second-guess this. He didn't think this through; he just needed to make sure he and Graf were on the same page. But seeing him like this in person made Juan even more nervous than before.
"Come here," he said, patting the spot on the bed next to him. Graf sat down, looking at him with a nervous expression as well.
"You wanted to talk?" he asked.
"Yeah," Juan said, throat suddenly tight with fear. This was way scarier than he could have imagined. How did Graf do it the first time? "Yeah, I— I do."
Graf looked at him expectantly.
"Do you like the other Juan more than me?" he asked, and it was not what he wanted to say at all, but it slipped out before he could stop it.
Graf looked surprised at that. "No, what? Why would you think that?"
"It's just, you seem to like when he touches you," he said, and it came out way more accusatory than he intended. "You look like you're having fun around him, and he clearly likes you as well."
Graf's face fell. "Juan—"
"And I know I probably don't get to be upset about any of this, because I already told you no once, but—" he kept on talking, voice cracking slightly at the words. "I think I've regretted that ever since. And then this guy shows up, and he's so easy and eager and clingy, and he makes you happy, and he gives you all this attention, while I'm— like this."
"You… you what?" Graf's voice had gone very quiet. His eyes were wide, and they looked so hopeful; Juan felt sick to his stomach. He wanted to kiss him.
"I hated every single moment he touched you," he pressed on, because he owed this to Graf. "And the way he looked at you. It's not fair, because he has his own Graf that apparently is his husband and you're not his, you're—" He caught himself, heart hammering in his chest. Graf looked at him with wide eyes.
"Do you mean it?" he asked. "Do you really regret saying no when I confessed?"
Juan just nodded. He didn't hesitate this time. "Yes," he said quietly.
"Juan," Graf reached out and took both of his hands, holding them. "Listen to me, okay? That guy looks exactly like you, and I have to say, him being affectionate with me was— It did affect me, but only because it felt like you were being affectionate with me, you know? He looks like you, but I don't want him. I don't want any other Juan; I only want you."
Juan felt his heart slam hard against his ribs. Graf wanted him. Graf still wanted him, after everything. Graf wanted him, specifically this him.
"You still do?" he asked, needing to hear it again.
"Yes," Graf replied without hesitation as well. His thumbs were making small circles on Juan's hands. "I've never stopped."
"I was so jealous of him I thought I would punch him in the face," Juan breathed out.
Graf let out a surprised laugh at that. "I've noticed that; I just didn't want to get my hopes up."
"I've been thinking about it for a while; I just— I didn't know how to tell you."
Their faces were closer now. Juan wanted to laugh with how happy he felt. He was the one who closed the distance between them, kissing Graf softly. Graf's hand came up to cup the side of his face, fingers trembling slightly against his jaw, and Juan melted into it.
"He was good for something, at least," Juan said when they pulled apart.
"I think we owe him a thank you," Graf replied, sounding giddy.
"Absolutely not."
They went back to the Polish Cave holding hands, and they found other-Juan sitting idly on his bed. His head turned to them when they walked in, and he immediately looked at their hands. Juan squeezed Graf's hand harder; some petty part of him wanted to make a point in front of other-Juan. But when their eyes met, other-Juan's entire face lit up, and a huge, pleased smile appeared.
"Oh, finally!" he said, clasping his hands. "I was starting to think you were hopeless. I'm glad I could see this happen before I left. I think it should happen any minute now."
Juan blinked a few times, feeling a strange mix of emotions in his chest. "What the fuck? You mean, you've been acting like that to make me jealous on purpose?"
Other-Juan grinned at him. "I would know best how to motivate you to act. I'm you, after all."
Juan wanted to punch this guy for being such a smug asshole about this, but he couldn't quite manage the same anger this time. Not when Graf was right next to him, holding his hand. And he hated to admit that it actually kind of worked. Graf laughed softly beside him.
"Well," Graf said. "I'm glad it was intentional, then." He squeezed Juan's hand, and it made everything better altogether. He looked at other-Juan again and added, "Thank you for giving him that motivation."
There was something fond in other-Juan's expression, and for the first time in two days, Juan felt some appreciation for the guy. And gratitude, however reluctant it might be.
"You're welcome," other-Juan said. "Enjoy it! And who knows what's going to happen in a few years?"
He lifted his hand with the ring and gave them a proud smile. Juan felt his cheeks flush, and he felt the urge to hide his face in Graf's chest, but he resisted. He couldn't think about that possibility too hard, or he was going to do something stupid on the spot, and they just started dating.
"Yeah, whatever," he said dismissively. "Go kiss your husband, idiot."
"Go kiss your boyfriend," other-Juan shot back, looking delighted.
"I will," Juan said, and he did just that. He grabbed Graf by the front of his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss. He closed his eyes and let himself enjoy it. When they broke apart, the room was empty, and other-Juan was already gone.
"This was the weirdest two days of my life," Graf said, looking at him, and only at him.
"Yeah," Juan agreed. "But totally worth it."
He pulled Graf into another kiss, thinking about some other Juan in some other timeline doing the exact same thing right now, and this time, his chest filled with pride.