Work Text:
*Clink!*
Milkshake glasses and sundae cups collide gently as the Bad Kids toast another successful battle. The six settle back into their usual booth at Basrar’s as they all begin to chat animatedly about awesome spells, daring moves, and close calls.
Speaking of close calls, Fabian’s had been the closest; he had been knocked prone and the marilith’s attack missing seemed to come down to the flip of a coin as its longsword attack narrowly missed him and instead shaved the side of his head. Now at the table, adrenaline still flowing, he talks excitedly about how his new ‘haircut’ is going to be the next fashion trend at school, just you wait and see.
Riz rolls his eyes at this and continues to gobble at his sundae while Fig suggests Fabian even up the trim, but the half-elf waves her off, saying the unevenness is part of the allure of “The Fabian.”
Soon enough the creamy desserts are finished and it’s time for everyone to head home and get ready for school the next day. Gorgug offers Riz a lift home, but the goblin tells him he’ll just hitch a ride with Fabian as usual. Rides settled, everyone waves good-bye and goes their separate ways. Riz clings tightly to the back of Fabian’s jacket as they ride back to Strongtower, saying little, mainly because his voice gets lost over the loud roar of the motorcycle’s engine.
The Hangman pulls up to the apartment complex and Riz hops off before Fabian has a chance to cut the engine.
“The Ball!” the half-elf calls out, startled at Riz’s speed. “Is everything alright?”
“Mm-hmm. Yeah,” the goblin replies, not looking Fabian in the eye as he unfastens his briefcase from the back of the motorcycle.
“Okay…” Fabian says hesitantly. “Just, you seem… withdrawn.”
Riz flicks his gaze up and over at his best friend’s face and sees nothing but concern radiating off of him.
“It’s nothing, really. Just…”
“Just?”
“Just nothing!” Briefcase in hand, Riz rocks on his feet a little as he flips a mental coin in his head.
Fabian continues to watch him with a puzzled look, until suddenly the rogue dashes forward and before Fabian can blink has climbed up the motorcycle and is facing him. Riz leans in and kisses Fabian gently on the side of the mouth. Unable to process what’s just happened, Fabian’s jaw drops and stares forward. He registers movement as Riz slips away and vanishes into the night.
Six seconds… twelve… eighteen… twenty-four… thirty seconds pass until Fabian finally moves a muscle; if he had been in combat the kiss would have been deadly. As it is, he’s just given his assailant a thirty-second head start on getting the hell out of there, but Fabian knows Riz. Well, he thought he did. He never thought the goblin would kiss him. But still, he may have been frozen in shock, but his brain was still registering what was going on and he recalls the automated doors of the building opening and closing after the kiss. He leaps off the motorcycle and runs into the apartment complex, ignoring the elevator and instead charges up the stairs towards Riz’s apartment.
Fabian pulls up short of the apartment door, panting heavily, and hesitates. Banging on the door feels right, demanding to know what the hell Riz was thinking, but that would surely scare him off for good. So instead he gently knocks on the door and waits, still heaving and feeling a stitch in his side from the run.
Sklonda is the one to answer, and when Fabian looks down at her, he sees kindness in her eyes.
“Ah,” she says. “So you’re the one he’s upset about.”
“I, uh, I don’t know what you know, but um, may I come in?”
“Sure thing. You’re in luck; he went straight to his room and his window’s sealed shut so he hasn’t escaped. You’d think he wants to be caught.”
“I, um, I don’t want to ‘catch’ him per se, just… want to talk.”
“Hm. Better bring him a peace offering, then.” She nods towards the coffee machine where a fresh brew is percolating.
“I’m not sure what you think has happened, Sklonda, but we didn’t have a fight! I don’t see why I need to give him a peace offering.”
“Suit yourself, but I know my boy and when he’s like this, he has good reason to be upset and it’s best to get on his good side.”
Fabian sighs and walks over to the coffee maker and waits for it to finish brewing.
“Thank you, Sklonda.”
“I won’t pry; he’ll tell me what’s happened in due time.” The goblin lady walks back to her office, giving Fabian a moment alone with the coffee machine. As he waits, he reaches up and touches the side of his mouth where Riz had kissed him. He hasn’t given any thought as to what it might mean, but now his mind begins to race with possibilities. Well, mainly one possibility, but it’s Riz, so there must be some other logical reason the asexual, aromantic rogue would kiss him… right?
The machine sputters and Fabian fills up two cups, bringing one to Sklonda before turning down the hallway towards Riz’s room. He knocks on the door, and hears a clatter and shuffling, then silence.
“The Ball?”
More silence. Fabian can’t help but think that it’s oppressive, hostile, even.
“I’ve got coffee.”
Somehow the silence now seems welcoming.
“I’m coming in.”
The door is unlocked, thankfully, otherwise Fabian would have felt the fool for his words. When he opens the door, he manages to see a green tail snake its way underneath the bed. He walks over to the bed and sits down on the floor, his back to the frame, and places the coffee on the ground next to him. A clawed hand darts out and grabs the cup, miraculously not splashing any on the carpet.
Fabian says nothing for a while, and can hear slurping as he pictures Riz awkwardly drinking out of the cup while laying on the ground beneath the bed.
“So…” he says at length, and the slurping immediately stops. “I imagine you don’t want to talk about outside, but I do. And I think you owe it to me.”
He hears an odd sound coming from under the bed, a high-pitched scratching sound similar to claws on a chalkboard but less raspy – the sound of claws scraping against a ceramic mug, perhaps.
“I owe it to you?” hisses the goblin.
“You think you can just kiss someone out of the blue and then run away?? That I’ll just go home and not react to it??”
“You think I can just watch you nearly die today and not feel anything!?” Riz snaps back. “That I can see you a hair’s breadth away from death and not have a reaction? And then you’re so cavalier about it, joking about your new hairstyle! Can’t you think of how others might feel to see that!? And I owe it to you to tell you why I kissed you!?”
“The B- What? I’m genuinely confused here.”
“You big idiot,” Riz grumbles from way in the back of his bed.
“Come on, now!” Fabian says angrily, doing his best to not shout. “Just tell me what’s going on in your head! You’re angry because I almost died and that has to do with you kissing me how!?”
“Because,” Riz snarls, face growing hot from embarrassment, “because… because I like you and I was scared of losing you!”
His blush must be contagious, because immediately Fabian’s face heats up as well.
“You… like me?”
“Yes, idiot! Why else would I kiss you!?”
“But you’re… you said that you don’t like people like… I’m confused.”
“Well, so am I! …but when I saw you on the ground like that, and that marilith came for you and no one was close enough to help, my heart froze up at the thought of you dying. And I don’t care that we could revive you– I’ve died before! I know what that’s like and I don’t want that to happen to you!”
“Riz…”
“And anyway, all I could think about after that was that I need to tell you that I’m scared of you dying! More scared than if anyone else did (well, maybe except for Mom…), and I think that means that I like you even if I didn’t think I’d ever like someone-!” Riz cuts himself off and tries to fight back the tears that are forcing their way out of his large eyes.
“Riz… would you… please come out from under the bed? I’m sorry that I’ve upset you by nearly dying.”
Fabian hears a few hiccups as the goblin fights back his emotions, and then the sound of scuffling as Riz shimmies his way out from under the bed. His eyes are red-rimmed and full of tears, and his face is bunched up with sorrow.
“Fabian, please don’t die! It’ll hurt too much because I like you!” Riz sobs as he throws himself into the half-elf’s arms.
Fabian holds Riz close and rubs his back.
“Shhh, shh, it’s okay. I’m okay now. I’m not going to die, I promise. I wouldn’t want to hurt you like that.”
Riz nods, his tears soaking into Fabian’s jacket.
“But you’ve got to promise me that you won’t die again.”
“...what?”
“Because it hurt like hell to see you die, and I don’t ever want to feel that again. I like you too much for that.”
“You… like me too?”
“You idiot.” Fabian leans down, cups Riz’s cheeks in both hands, and kisses him slowly on the lips. As he finishes the kiss, he leans back just enough to look Riz in the eyes. “I always have.”