Always Confide in the One

Little Talks

Author's note: Sorry I forgot to update lol! This chapter was shorter than I expected. It changed more than I thought it would too. 

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As Mass'de surveyed the area, his stomach felt as if it were caving in on itself. Not really. But he did experience a sensation that was new to him nonetheless- and most would refer to it as 'butterflies in their stomach'. Why? Well, the answer's simple. Simply because he had laid eyes on Denzel Zephyr. The ..man..? who was as tall as a mountain and..probably as horny as a jackrabbit. Which is honestly something Mass'de wished he didn't know. It was nothing against Denzel personally..it's just that Mass'de had trouble seeing a man so comfortable in his sexuality..not to mention sexuality with both men and women. Well. That, and the fact that Mass'de was a little uncomfortable with the fact that Denzel used to sexually harass him. But he stopped. And he's really changed for the better. But it's not like Mass'de disliked when Denzel made comments about Mass'de's tits..or..slapped Mass'de's ass... However, it's not like Mass'de would ever admit that to anyone. 

But why did of all people..Denzel Zephyr.. make Mass'de nervous. It's a thought that'd been plaguing Mass'de's own mind for weeks. Mass'de had trouble understanding people, words, feelings.. the like. When Denzel had told Mass'de 'I love you' point-blank, he had no idea it was a confession. It happened numerous times and Mass'de still hadn't realized. 

So, obvious to those around Mass'de..hell, even obvious to Denzel.. the two had feelings for each other. But Mass'de was too avoidant of his own feelings to realize. 

Mass'de stared at Denzel from across the street.. he was so freaked out that he would've forgotten Denzel was right there...if Mass'de weren't looking right at him anyway. Denzel still hadn't turned to wave or shout Mass'de's name- he didn't notice Mass'de at all actually. The air genasi seemed to be deep in conversation with a random street vendor. It looked like they were having a great time. It made Mass'de's stomach churn harder than if you were looking to make thick butter. 

Eventually, Mass'de was able to break his anguished trance and continue walking down the street. He hadn't hung out with Denzel all day, so why start now? 

I don't need to hang out with him. Even if he does make me feel better when he's around. I can find something to do on my own. I can train. But I always train..and routine is good! I love routine. But recently routine's been boring... Why do I have to go through this uughh...

(Un)Fortunately for Mass'de though, he had managed to get lost in his head and ended up forgetting to lead his feet in walking. It must have been something in his subconscious telling him to go to Denzel because when he looked up from the concrete, his eyes were met with the tallest man he'd ever met. Great. 

"Oh, hey Mass'de! How's your day been?" Denzel was already smiling, but somehow it looked like he was smiling even harder once Mass'de was there. Denzel wasn't the type of person to hide something like that, after all. 

"Um..it's been..fine. Bye." Mass'de tried to scurry off before Denzel could utter another word. However, he wasn't fast enough and Denzel had managed to catch him by the arm. "Augh! Let me go, man!" 

Denzel's smile started to dour, and his eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Why're you in such a hurry? You're not like. Avoiding me, right? Because you walked over here to me." 

"I'm not avoiding you. I just. Uuuugghhh." 

Whoever the vendor was that was talking to Denzel had gone off by now, so it was just the two of them talking. Denzel was a little sad at the notion that Mass'de might be avoiding him- but more so he was just confused. They'd spent a lot of time together recently, and to his understanding, he thought Mass'de enjoyed it. 

"It's fine if you are, I guess. But can I at least know why?" Mass'de was looking at the ground again at this point, so as to avoid Denzel's puppy eyes. 

"I'm not. I just..mmgngn. You make me feel weird. And I don't like it. And I DON'T wanna talk about it, okay?!" 

Denzel releases Mass'de's arm so that he can put both of his hands on his hips. Denzel leans over and snickers a little at Mass'de. "It's not my fault you like boys, Mass'de." Denzel's smile started growing again as Mass'de's face flushed from the statement. 

"I- I don't! Stop saying that. I'm not a boy-liker." 

Denzel couldn't stop himself from bursting with laughter. It wasn't even the fact that Mass'de was clearly lying- it was the fact that Mass'de just said the word boy-liker. "Listen, I don't mean to tease you," Denzel said while wiping a tear from his eye. "Listen, it's fine. Really. If you don't wanna hang til you sort your shit out, it's cool. But in the meantime, I do actually have to be somewhere. It was wonderful catching you Mass'de." 

Denzel did the cocky smirk that he always does..the one that somehow got people to like him. Mass'de managed to convince himself that the smirk doesn't really work on him..but it totally does. As soon as he looks up into Denzel's eyes, his tail curls without him noticing. 

"Well um. Where are you going."

"Why do you need to know, Mass'de?"

"Because.." Mass'de takes a moment to think of an excuse. "I wanna make sure you're not going to see Martin Martini!" 

Denzel's eyes dance around, which basically gives Mass'de the answer he needs. 

"I'm going with you. You..you can't see him. By yourself, I mean. It's um... Dangerous! Yeah!" Mass'de crosses his arms to assure his confidence in his statement. Denzel just rolls his eyes and puts one of his hands on his face in frustration. 

"You know what? Uhh..sure! Yeah! Come on then. We've got places to go." Denzel pulls his hand away from his face and holds it out for Mass'de to grab. 

Mass'de stares at Denzel's hand. It scares him. It feels like committing to something life-changing. It's just holding a hand. That's all. Isn't it?