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It was just another day for Riley and Isaac. Actually, they didn’t know whether it was day or night since the days all blended together, not to mention the dark void surrounding them. Despite that, they found ways to entertain themselves, even if they were stuck in a floating house.
“I’m boooored!” Riley whined, rolling a baseball back and forth on the table out of boredom. Isaac, who was lying in bed, sighed.
“You’re always bored, dude. What’s there to do anyway?” He pointed at the window, which, to no one’s surprise, showed a great view of.. nothing. There was a moment of silence as they both stared into it. Riley groaned.
“Well-“ He stammered as his eyes scanned the room for anything that might spark some inspiration. Just under the bed, he spotted a baseball bat that was kept for self defense even though it was basically useless. Riley’s ears twitched in satisfaction.
“There! Get that bat, man!! Err- No pun intended!” Riley smiled. Isaac muttered something to himself and lazily rose from the bed to reach for the bat under him. It wasn’t difficult to piece together what he wanted to play, but he was still confused. Where in the world, or void in this case, would they play? From his perplexed expression, Riley had already guessed what Isaac was thinking, replying before he even got to say anything.
“We’ll play in the house!” He beamed.
“Uh,” Isaac rubbed his neck. “I dunno, dude. You’re not scared we might break something or whatever?”
“If I break anything, I promise to buy you a new one! But if you break something, then you have to buy it.”
“That’s not- Ugh, fine.” Isaac finally stood up. Riley let out a satisfied hum and stood from his chair as well. They both got into position, although they were probably a lot closer than they should have been if it was a normal game. But it was better than nothing. They both looked at each other when they were ready.
“Ready?”
Isaac looked down at his feet, adjusted his position a bit, gripped his bat tighter, then looked back up.
“Ready.”
“Alright! 3.. 2.. 1-“
*CRASH!*
“That was totally your fault…” The pair were now sitting together on a bed, where Isaac was patching up a cut that Riley got right under his left eye. Isaac huffed.
“I’m sorry, okay? But to be fair, you came up with the idea.” He teased, dabbing the wound with a clean cotton cloth. Riley winced, staying silent. The feeling of his touch had stirred something up inside of him, and he didn’t like it. Just.. seeing Isaac actually care for him like that.. he would never admit it, but it felt nice.
Touch-starved. Was that the word? Well, it wouldn’t be surprising, considering they were both trapped here for who knows how long…
“There,” Just then, Riley was snapped out of his trance. There was now a bandage on his cheek, carefully applied by Isaac himself. “You should really thank me, you know?”
“Oh. Yeah, thanks, or whatever..” Riley muttered. “That was absolutely still your fault, but thanks.” Isaac snickered.
“If you wanna argue about who’s at fault, don’t waste your time.” They both giggled, Isaac sighing after. He looked out of the cracked window across the room, reality slowly creeping up on him. Then, suddenly, he felt weight fall on his shoulder, and he looked back. He saw Riley, eyes watering. Weren’t they just laughing with each other? He thought to say something, but he stopped himself. He just let him sit like that for a while until someone spoke up.
“I-I’m sorry,” Riley’s voice trembled, “You’re kinda a-all I have right now.” And he was right. All they had was each other, stuck forever in a place hidden from the rest of the world. Even if it got annoying, even if it got stressful, they would have to go right back to each other. They both knew that, but would never admit it, even when they’d both pretend nothing happened after every time they fought. Riley clung to Isaac’s shirt.
“You’re annoying… I hate you…” His words reduced into unintelligible sobs as he cried into his friend’s shoulder. Even he himself didn’t expect that he would cry this hard. Isaac’s heart filled with an odd sense of guilt as he pulled Riley into his chest and shifted so that he was lying down while keeping him comfortable on his chest. He did not object. In fact, he nuzzled against the other. None of them said a word, even when Isaac wrapped one of his arms around Riley and began to stroke his fur. It was warm. And they could find comfort in knowing that they were sharing it. An idea came to Isaac’s mind. It was a bit embarrassing, but this time was better than choosing to say it any other time.
“..I love you.”
They both paused. Isaac got more anxious by the second. There was a heavy silence in the air that no one dared to break… Until he did.
Riley laughed half-heartedly. “I can hear your heartbeat. You’re so soft, man…” He said as if he wasn’t the one getting his friend’s shirt all wet. “Don’t leave me, okay?” Isaac spotted a bit of blush on Riley’s cheeks. Or maybe that was just from him crying. Although it was indeed kind of stupid, he couldn’t help but laugh along.
“Don’t think I could if I wanted to.”
“That’s the point, idiot.” Riley sniffled. His ugly sobs had already died down.
“We’ll stay like this for a while, then..”
So they did. Isaac closed his eyes and continued to run his hands through Riley’s fur, both of them entering a relaxed state. It was quite a beautiful sight. They both trusted each other completely. Not long after, they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.