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“What is...your favorite color?”
Lust scrunched his nose in thought, absentmindedly straightening out the fur in the hood of Red’s jacket. Red was currently laying half across Lust’s lap, and only because they were currently alone in the house.
“What color are your eyes, again?”
Red snorted and smacked him, prompting a grin to cross Lust’s face. “Stop it with the cheesy bullshit,” Red growled, though Lust was pretty sure he could detect the hint of a smile in the other’s voice.
“You know you love it,” he chuckled, then he thought again before saying, “Probably blue. It’s a color that doesn’t pop up in my world very often, but it’s always a pleasure when it does!”
Red snorted at the pun, then fell silent. “Is that why your dumb vest thing has all that blue fur ?”
“Hell yes it is. But it’s also soft as fuck, so that definitely helps.”
“Mmhm,” Red agreed, turning to press his face into the section of lining he could reach. Lust snorted, but continued playing with the other’s jacket.
“What’s yours?” he asked curiously. He was pretty sure he could guess, but he wanted to be sure.
“Black,” Red said, his voice still muffled in the fur.
Lust laughed. “I thought so, McEdgeLord.”
Red grumbled quietly and wrapped his arms around the tops of Lust’s hips, cuddling even further into his warmth. Lust just watched him for a few seconds, a warm smile crossing his face.
“Other than mustard, what’s your favorite food?” Lust asked.
Red breathed in deeply, then said, “Probably cherry pie. Especially when the Toriel in this universe made it. That shit is fantastic .”
Lust grinned, relaxing back into the couch and moving one hand to run along the bottom of Red’s jaw. “Should have known you’d like cherries,” he said teasingly.
Red cracked open an eye socket, glaring up at him. “The fuck’s that supposed to mean?” he asked grumpily.
Lust raised a browbone, then, in answer, moved one hand to brush against the upper curve of Red’s pelvis.
The reaction was immediate. Red's face turned bright crimson, and he he sat up quickly, the motion making him fall off of the couch. Lust clapped a hand over his mouth, knowing the other wouldn’t appreciate his laughter, and leaned over to make sure Red was okay. Red was laying on the floor on his back, still blushing furiously and spluttering. The moment they made eye contact, Red made to get up, blushing even brighter.
“Are you alright?” Lust asked, still trying not to laugh.
Red stood and folded his arms tightly across his chest, but he looked like some of the hilarity of the situation was starting to get to him. “Shut the fuck up,” he said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Lust grinned up at him, leaning back and spreading his arms so they draped across the back of the couch. “Why don’t you make me, cherry?”
Red smiled fully now, but his blush only grew stronger as he looked at the other. Without saying a word, he stepped forward, climbing back into Lust’s lap and straddling his legs. He planted his elbows on the back of the couch on either side of the other’s shoulders, in a gesture that was almost a hug, before leaning in close and closing his eyes.
Lust smiled wider at the picture the other made, taking a moment to drink in the sight of his blushing face, before reaching forward to pull Red closer to him. Their teeth were a centimeter away when the sound of the door crashing open had their eyes flying open in panic.
Red started to turn to see who it was, and in the same moment, Lust seized his soul with blue magic, practically throwing him away and onto the other side of the couch. They both did their best to appear casual as Blue, Fell, and Papyrus all walked in, the Papyruses talking animatedly while Blue half-nodded along.
“Hey, guys! How was...shopping?” Lust asked, cursing himself for how breathless he sounded. He felt more than saw the way Red was grinning at him behind his back, but he ignored him completely.
Papyrus, of course, launched into an explanation of their adventures, describing the battle he had apparently fought with a bunny monster over the last of the pasta.
Blue was grinning knowingly at Red, and Lust risked a glance back, realizing that his face was still almost the same color of crimson as his eyelights. Lust did his best to fight the smile that was threatening to overtake his face, turning back to the others with the most serious expression he could muster. He saw that Fell was looking between the both of them with an unidentifiable expression on his face, and he couldn’t help the shudder of fear that passed through him. It had been months . Why was this still a problem for him?
He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing off his jacket casually before reaching for the bags in Papyrus’s hands. “Here, I’ll help you put this stuff away,” he said, leading the way into the kitchen.
Red watched Lust go, trying his best to ignore the way that his brother and Blue were looking at him.
“So…” Blue started casually, dropping into the seat that Lust had just vacated. “You guys have fun while we were gone?”
Red nodded, making the mistake of eye contact. The huge smile across the other’s face was making him light up like a beacon. “Yeah,” he choked out. “Just watched some TV, you know, usual stuff,”
Blue looked very pointedly at the black TV screen and the remote that was sitting across the room, then back to Red. “Sounds like fun,” he said, raising a browbone.
Red very pointedly ignored him, standing and stretching languidly. “I think I’m gonna go help in the kitchen,” he said, beginning to make his way in that direction.
He was brought up very suddenly by his brother grabbing his arm, bringing him to an abrupt halt. He turned to look at Fell, making a face and trying to pull his arm out of the hard grasp. “What the fuck, boss? Let go of me, will ya?”
Fell kept his hold, and he glared at Red before saying, “You know, if you’re trying to hide it because of me, you should know that I only wish you both every happiness. And you should tell him that.”
Red stared at him in shock as Fell dropped his arm and turned away, jogging up the steps and into his room. Red turned to look at Blue, who also looked surprised. Fell wasn’t exactly one for sentimental crap, and they all knew it. Then Blue grinned, facing him and shooting him a pair of finger guns.
Red rolled his eyes, then made his way into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of Lust having lifted himself up to stand on the counter so he could put something away in the very top cabinet. He had taken off his vest, and it was draped across the back of one of the kitchen chairs. The perfect white of his exposed spine gleamed in the harsh light of the kitchen, dancing across his bones and creating a display that Red always felt himself almost mesmerized by.
“Help me down, Paps?” Lust said, turning around so he was facing the doorway. When he caught sight of Red in the doorway, he smiled happily. Papyrus stood from where he was putting things in the fridge and grabbed Lust under the arms, lifting him from the counter and setting him down on the floor. “Thank you!” he said, grinning up at Papyrus before crossing to Red. “Well we’re all done now, so if you came to help, you’re a bit late to the draw here.”
Red sighed in mock frustration. “Oh, no, that really sucks,” he said, then he grinned at Lust and winked, “Guess we’ll have to find something else to do, then.”
He was treated to the rare sight of a purple blush crossing Lust’s face before the other just shook his head at him, smiling as he walked past him into the living room to sit next to Blue. Blue, of course, immediately shoved the other off the couch for trying to take the remote, and they fell to bickering comfortably, Blue trying to hold the remote out of the other's grasp and failing miserably, as Lust was slightly taller than he was.
Red watched them for a few minutes, a small smile on his face. He spared a quick glance up to his brother's room, thinking about what the other had said. It was true, they had been, in a sense, hiding their relationship from the others, but despite what his brother seemed to think, it wasn't necessarily because of Fell. Red had just...never had anything like this before. He'd never had someone he felt so entirely comfortable around, that he could tell anything to, that he could actually relax around. Despite the fact that he knew those were all good things and he was very glad to have them, he didn't know how to begin to share it with the others. It was almost like he was embarrassed to be anything but edgy and grumpy and tense all the time. He had no idea how to change that. But, he supposed, if they already thought they had him entirely figured out anyway, what was the harm in living it out in the open? Maybe...maybe he could be that comfortable all the time.
Maybe he could find his own happiness.