Atlantis

Hobie’s whole day passed in that grimy waiting room. The sun was setting and all he’d had to entertain him was the hum of the vending machine and his thoughts. He was sound asleep when he heard the medic waking him up. Hobie quickly wiped the drool off his face, hoping no one noticed, and followed her into the room. 

He walked in quietly, staring at Pavitr who was now completely awake. Pav didn’t look at him, instead he had a cold expression, the complete opposite of the boy Hobie had first met a year ago. Pavitr raised his new arm up, gently opening and closing it. Hobie’s eyes trailed along the machinery, it was developed beautifully, all the silver pieces noiselessly moving together. 

“I’m glad you came back to see me.” Pavitr said, almost devoid of emotion. The normal glint in his eyes had darkened. Hobie could tell, this week had changed him. He slowly got up from the operating table, using Hobie to help him. 

The next few weeks Pavitr kept himself busy, filling up his schedule with missions. Whenever he wasn’t doing that, he was in the gym. You see, early this monday he had discovered metal arms come with an unnatural strength. Not only that but he needed the ego boost from lifting heavy. It distracted him, it gave him an excuse to feel well deserved pain. 

Hobie had been distant from him, and for good reason. Pavitr barely spoke, and when he did it was fueled by anger. They had separate rooms now, but that didn’t stop the nightmares from plaguing him. Every night, without fail, he’d wake up violently, feeling hot stained cheeks and a distinct ache in his chest. 

He had successfully avoided Hobie until one day the teens happened to be assigned to the same mission. By now it had been around two weeks since they had even talked. It’s not like they were on unfriendly terms. It was just different. 

The mission was standard: locate and secure a rift in a completely new dimension. Hobie glanced coldly at him, taking it as a sign to lead the way. 

This dimension was sometime in the future, big digital advertising lit up the city while the pair made their way to an underground restaurant. They wordlessly changed out of their clothes into the waiters uniforms, the pace of a mission coming naturally to both. 

The warm overhead chandeliers immediately illuminated them, despite entering from the back of the restaurant. A rich man entered to give another nap worthy speech, eliciting a loud groan from Hobie. 

Pavitr snorted, earning a smirk from the other. 

This type of mission was so second nature that they could almost dance around the people, handing out all types of food with ease. In a second, Hobie watched an older man leaning in and indiscreetly wrapping his grubby fucking hand around a woman.

The punk motioned at Pavitr, who was busy balancing a bunch of plates, to watch. 

Hobie walked right up to the man, offering all kinds of pastries while simultaneously holding eye contact with Pavitr. With a small grin, Pavtir realized that the punk had been skillfully unclicking the man’s watch and slipping it into his own pocket the entire time. 

The woman glanced down.

But instead of immediately screaming, the woman breathed a sigh of relief, uncrossing her legs and unclipping the barrette on her head. After Hobie was done she handed it to him, it was a priceless ruby with stunning decorative accents. 

A token of her thanks. 

He smiled, bowing while the old man grit his teeth. The teens exchanged a mischievous look. 

That was fun.

They continued their act, focusing on searching for the rift. Well, as much as Pavitr could when he felt Hobie slip the red hair clip to him, winking as he did. The entire job suddenly became incredibly hard, he was sure his face was flushed and the weight of the clip in his pocket felt hot, burning him to his core. Thankfully, these people were too self absorbed to notice any of the emotions plaguing his body. 

Pavitr quickly left to the bathroom, he had to get a better look at the thing. This had to be a good sign right? Maybe they weren’t so bad off after all. He pulled it out, 

It was beautiful. 

The rubies didn’t just seem real, they seemed pure. Maybe he should try it on. His hair was already in a short ponytail anyways. And besides, he’d take it off right away. Just as Pavitr reached up and secured the pin, Hobie crashed into the bathroom, clearly out of breath. 

“I’ve found the rift. Come quick.” he said urgently, already running out of the bathroom. For a second Pavitr stood there stunned, mind going uncontrollably blank. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and ran out behind the punk.

Hobie was in denial. He’d been in denial about his best friend. Today only confirmed it. It started with Pavitr letting Hobie gently pull his mask off after the incident. And then watching him wear his vest in the operating room. It was the way Pavitr’s cold gaze melted into a laugh when he saw Hobie stealing from that old man. Hobie really needed to hear that more often.

Fuck. Fuck this was worse than he thought. Much much worse. And he was still in the middle of goddamn work. 

They made it to the rift, it always took some effort to close it, but luckily it hadn’t spread too far so there was less ground to cover. As Hobie began setting up his control system, he caught a red glint out of the corner of his eyes. 

God. 

He was wearing it.

Hobie immediately fought the urge to go home right now and make him hundreds upon hundreds of them. 

“Where’d you get that from?” Hobie teased, trying to hold back the giddiness rising in his throat. 

Pavitr stopped. 

Was he still wearing it?

He was, wasn’t he.

To his ultimate horror Hobie walked over to him, that shitty grin still on his face. But instead of saying anything else, or even making fun of him, he moved over to adjust the clip, hands brushing lightly over Pavitr’s hair. It felt like time had completely stilled.

“Looks better if you do it like that.” Hobie said. But the words barely registered in Pavitr’s mind. He was busy mentally landing on the moon. He couldn’t feel his cheeks anymore, at all. Hobie’s touch was relaxing, comforting even, and Pavitr desperately wanted to lean into it. 

He tried to snap out of it, rationalize it. The clip must’ve slipped while he was running and Hobie was probably just a perfectionist. 

Yeah…that was the stupidest thought he’d ever had.