Work Text:
—
Side task days. They weren't meant to be called that, but it was Hummer's attempt at being productive without disguising them as the days they'd hang out and do nothing. Yet today, Wifies hadn't spotted Hummer anywhere. He'd seen him in the morning, but they slept next to each other, making it harder to avoid him.
They'd also eaten breakfast together and looked over at least a dozen reports—where did Hummer go during the small fifteen-minute 'break' they were meant to be taking in between them?
It was too hot for him to start looking around the ship in his sweater, and the rain wasn't helping with that issue; there weren't many options left for him.
"Hummer?" He peeked his head back into the library. Nothing.
"Hummer?" Wifies decided to check their beds again, not being surprised as he tried the same routine in both the kitchen and even by the bathroom door. The only trace he saw left on the ship was a pile of Hummer's clothes on the bedroom floor.
"Hummer?"
That time, it worked. And it served as a crucial reminder that Wifies was blind, considering the huge fishing rod shot off the side of the ship and the TV screen sitting next to it. Seeing him was a different thing, considering this was the one time he'd ever seen Hummer in a tank top.
Who wears a tank top to go fishing on the most humid, horribly hot, summer day?
"Oh! Wifies!" Hummer had almost instantly propped up the fishing rod, walking away from it and ignoring his slight confusion.
A fish had definitely just bit, and he was still walking away from it.
"Were you looking for me?"
What was this whole get-up? He'd never seen Hummer fishing before this, but sure, now he was.
"Obviously."
"Did you need something?"
"Not really."
"You sure?"
Upon getting another shake of his head in response, Hummer didn't ask again. All he said was, "I'll pull up an extra chair next to me, 'kay?" Wifies hadn't even said anything else, but he was pulling up the chair for him and bringing out an umbrella.
"I don't know if you'll still get sick with it set up like this." He'd adjusted the chair for the umbrella to properly stand, trying to triple-check that the umbrella wouldn't fall out.
Wifies had to redirect himself away from staring at Hummer, not wanting to look like some freak overanalyzing his arms or legs out of curiosity. It took a second of staring before settling on a stupid question.
"When'd you start fishing?"
"I usually fish when you're asleep," he answered, going back to looking at the rod and 'attempting' to fish something else.
There were at least three separate things he was trying to dodge by talking about that, and Hummer had shut down all of that with one answer. Cool, great.
For one, neither of them had brought up that little 'I Love You' incident after it happened. Part of that was probably Wifies' fault, rushing off to the bathroom and eating in there during breakfast solely to avoid that conversation. Immature, sure, but he also licked Hummer's hand. Then there was the fact they'd woken up cuddling.
Two separate issues out of one night. He'd never talk while he was sleepy again, actually.
The final issue was one he'd been juggling fine before; it'd become a bit impossible to ignore.
He had a crush on Hummer. Full-grown man, having some middle-school level crush and being unable to ignore it. Some part of it must've been the travelling together for searches multiple times, or all the stupid conversations the two of them had to have about trusting each other.
"Wifies?" Oh, he'd been zoning out at the TV in front of him, actively holding something up to his face.
"Ah?"
"Look!"
It wasn't anything important, just some tropical fish Hummer had managed to catch in the bucket. But it was important to him, so it had to be somewhat important to Wifies as well. "Good catch!"
"Look," Hummer had begun pointing at specific parts, something that'd apparently help him recognize what sort of fish it was at a glance. Anatomical concerns, all of that.
Which unfortunately meant zoning out all the rest of what he'd been talking about. There were a lot of interesting parts of Hummer to look at after all, like how the metal of his body allowed for enough movement to put pressure, how his joints moved without breaking off— "Wifies."
So, now he looked like a pervert.
"Hi! Yeah, hi, Hummer, what's up?"
"What's the scientific name for a mandarin fish?"
Oh.
So, he usually could've given his proud response, 'splendid' or whatever Hummer had added to the already fancy name. It was some long, complicated thing he had no shot of guessing, unfortunately, and the fact that the fish wasn't still there didn't make things any easier.
However, he had heard of the fish once before, so his best guess that'd make it look like he'd at least heard something was:
"Psychedelic fish?"
There was a small flicker of the other's screen, but he didn't disagree. Only giving a small 'tsk' and mumbling something about how, "You're not even listening."
He'd end up indirectly hurting the other's feelings at this rate. Now, Wifies was a bit dense, but not enough that he'd keep ignoring Hummer due to his own curiosity.
"Hummer?" He got a hum in response, continuing almost hesitantly, "How's your arm working?"
At least being distracted by that and not some stupid crush sounded better.
"Do you mean like— the joints? Or do you want to see all of the wiring?"
"Either!" Too deeply invested to get out of it now.
"I mean, I could show you the most directly if I got something."
Hummer jinxed himself, looking back at his abandoned rod and immediately moving away from Wifies. Considering how he'd asked directly to see it, it only made sense for him to stand close and watch. It was clearly a somewhat bigger catch this time, with Hummer's screen visibly lighting up in all the fog of the rain.
His body had to be mostly aluminum, based on how easy it was to move, but there was also the chance it'd be something like tin.
It only hit him while looking that they'd have to be close for him to properly see it; not only that, but he'd given himself a proper excuse to stare at Hummer as much as he wanted to.
That was so free!
Wifies had already begun quietly noting everything that interested him, from the other's arms to his shoulders. Hummer wearing a tank top made the whole thing easier, able to more directly see some parts of what were definitely metal ball joints. As he got closer, he didn't acknowledge at all how focused Hummer was until—
Now, he hadn't meant to, but Hummer had damn near directly elbowed him. And this idiot, in all his smart TV instincts, immediately let go of the rod to focus on him.
As little knowledge as he had on Hummer's arm, letting go of that much pressure all at once would snap back anyway. Which meant:
"Hah- Hummer, don't pull me down too!"
He'd started laughing before he could stop himself, being grabbed by the other as he snapped back. Being elbowed in the face to being grabbed was a skip, wasn't it?
"Keep us up!"
"It's not my fault you grabbed me!"
Their tumble was more unceremonious than he'd like, a lot of metal on skin that'd bruise way too easily from it. The only thing that'd pulled Wifies out of laughing as they fell was the feeling of a screen colliding directly with his head. He'd flinched back, but the damage was already done.
That wasn't actually Hummer's version of a kiss, right?
His screen was only glowing so brightly because of the sudden pain, and not because of how Wifies had landed on him. He moved off as fast as he could; the damage was done.
Hummer was glowing pink again. It wasn't night. Wifies opened his mouth instantly, holding back a groan of pain to speak properly. "That's not actually— no, that doesn't count, does it?"
Whatever fish he'd caught was long gone, but no, this was still an embarrassing situation.
"You idiot."
Giving a sheepish smile in return wasn't the right answer, apparently, but it should have been.
"Come here." Wifies would've assumed it was for a proper kiss, and he'd almost leaned into it before realizing that, yeah, Hummer was only checking over his body for bruises. As much as he was all glowy, he wasn't reinitiating it.
Leaning into it before they'd even done anything- oh, he wanted to kill himself on the spot.
"You're actually an idiot, dude."
"How's it my fault you thought a human could hold up that much metal?"
"Not what I was calling you stupid for," Hummer retorted, having already lifted some of the other's shirt and spotting another big bruise. "I'll get the first-aid kit."
That first sentence had almost exited his head before he caught on. "I'm not an idiot for that!"
"Ah-huh."
When he was getting dragged up, he didn't object. The most Wifies could do in retaliation was follow with a frown. Hummer wasn't looking at him other than checking his injuries.
That was so unfair.
Even when he sat down on their bed and let the other try to apply ointment or wipe at the bruises, it was still unfair. They'd both already said 'I love you'; there was no good reason for their first kiss to end up in some mess like that. He had to know how Wifies felt about him in some way. There's no way with all that nerdy overanalyzing he could do with a fish, he couldn't read a hint or two.
"Hummer."
"Hi."
"Dude?"
Well? Elephant in the room yet, or—
"See, you're stupid." Was that seriously all he'd get for his 'valiant' efforts to not humiliate himself more?
Getting called an idiot?
"No, I'm just trying to say," he cut himself off with a small hiss at the gentle prodding at one of his bruises, frowning more at the television before propping himself up more comfortably, "That's cruel."
"It's not."
Okay, so no redo.
He didn't want to pressure Hummer into anything, only turning his head the other way and trying to play off everything. Even when he was actively being poked at, and definitely looking a different shade from embarrassment alone. That hand-licking thing down to whatever they'd just done was horrible.
"Will we talk about it?"
"In a minute."
Ignore Wifies in honor of treating his bruises.
Prick.
The most entertaining thing he had to do was watch metal fingers press around any deeper purples, but Hummer finished it up pretty quickly. And right as Wifies opened his mouth to talk about it, you know, give his two cents after having some crappy kiss like that— Hummer was moving up.
"Look."
With how blinding his screen was, he damn near didn't want to, but there was a gentle grab at his chin, and then it hit.
Jeez, even intentionally, Hummer would suck at kissing.
Screen on face wouldn't have gone better no matter how much effort they put into it, meaning that instead of embarrassment, Wifies busted out laughing. Much to the other's humiliation.
"Hummer- oh my God, don't do that again." He had to cover the bottom half of his face as much as he could, trying to hide the little bit of giddiness that'd come along with the kiss.
That was just horrible, holy crap.
"Quit laughing." Hummer's whine and attempt to push his face further away didn't work in muffling it, clearly trying to recover by himself.
"No, 'cause Hummer, that's just—"
Stupid. So stupid he could only laugh about it.
He would have kept laughing if it weren't for how Hummer's hand took a moment before clasping over his mouth again, shutting him up. Even if he accidentally licked it again.
Ironically, considering suicide over licking Hummer's hand twice wasn't crazy, was it?
All his complaints became muffled, with Hummer's screen obviously dimming as he looked down. This was just another problem they'd have to go without talking about all week.
Wifies had to wait until Hummer felt his smile go down, then the hand was off of his mouth. Meaning he had a new stupid thing to blurt out again, being able to say it more comfortably.
"I love you, Hummer." He said it more sweetly than he had the first time, somewhat trying to butter the other out of looking so visibly disappointed in him.
He still hadn't said it back yet.
Did he push his limits and need to consider dying again— well, no shame to him-
"Love you too, Wifies."
"Oh, but I'm the idiot?"
"Shut up, have the moment!"