high rise hearts ☆ lifesteal smp au

𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐒 ✦✯

𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: fluff
𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: swagdoons
𝘁𝘄: n/a
𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆: ShadowWolf951 (and all the people on discord who wanted more swagdoons)
𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁: the aftermath of the party... (p3 of thinking of you + dreaming of you; i reccomend that you read them first!)

─── ⋅☆⋅ ───

𝐏𝐎𝐕: reddoons

Redd came to sometime in the early afternoon, and the first thing he was greeted with was an uncomfortable ache in his neck. Seriously, with how much it hurt he might as well have had his neck snapped while he was sleeping (now that he considered it, it may very well have happened).
He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck, letting out a low groan of discomfort, squinting at the bright artificial lights of the apartment even though he was wearing his sunglasses still. Why was he wearing his sunglasses?
He was made aware of the shifting of familiar bright purple fabric beneath him, and suddenly, like a tsunami hitting him head on, the memories of last night flooded back to him. Oh. Oh SHIT. He had just fallen asleep on top of Ashswag.
The aforementioned man is stirring beneath him, raising one hand to rub his sleepy purple eyes (god, those eyes), and Redd hesitates for a moment, letting his gaze linger on his face just that little bit longer, before prying it away, covering his transgression by letting loose a string of muttered curses, an effort to distract as he attempted to scramble off of Ash's lap before he fully awakened.
But before he was able to sit up, he felt a hand, loosely snaking its way around his waist, not so subtly trying to pull him back, closer. Even though Ash's grip wasn't all too tight, he froze anyway, brain running on overdrive and caffeine, trying to process whatever the hell was happening.
"Not even gonna say good morning?" the familiar smug voice, today holding just a hint of drowsy, teased from somewhere beside him, oddly musical in the way Ash's voice always was.
He briefly debated whether to turn around and face Ash, although in the end it was never a question. The other man was wearing a half smirk, half tired smile, patiently waiting for his response, and Redd couldn't seem to stop himself from staring, regardless of how hard he tried.
"Fine, good morning. Can I leave yet?" Redd rolled his eyes, but in truth he didn't quite have the nerve in him to move. He didn't know why- maybe it was the comfortable warmth created by the extended contact, maybe it was the way Ash's fingers felt like they were hooked into his suit, holding him fast with just the faintest touch.
"The hell are you asking permission for, dude." He was very rudely shoved off Ash's lap and onto the cold hardwood floor. Even though it did in fact hurt, he just couldn't stop some giggles from bubbling up- he must have looked stupid, just laying on the floor laughing like a fool. Ash laughs a little too, and Redd picks it out of the sound of his own laughter, amplifying it in his mind like a favorite song on the radio.
"As far as I'm concerned, you didn't ask permission to sleep on top of me last night." Ash stands up from the couch, and Redd pushed himself upright too. Ash was very tall, and looking up at him from the floor felt really weird. Also, he'd probably step on him if he stayed lying there any longer.
"Hey, you weren't complainin'." Redd puts on a sly smirk of his own, following the taller man as he steps around the still-sleeping bodies of their passed out friends to get to Parrot's kitchen.
Ash scoffs as if offended, but otherwise remains silent. Redd notices a little bit of blush crawl up his cheeks, tinting the tips of his ears pink- he's obviously flustered.
Aw, he's blushing-
Wait. What the hell is my brain doing...
"What, was I comfortable?" Redd elbows Ash, who shoves him away without a word and bends down to check inside the fridge. However, just before he hides his head behind the steel door, he catches a glimpse of his face, which has turned tomato red. Cute- okay, maybe I had a little bit too much to drink yesterday. Wait- there wasn't even any alcohol. Goddamn it.
"Aww, you're flustered~" He promptly finds himself whacked in the head with a half-empty bottle of soda. "Ow."
Ash removes his head from the fridge, empty-handed again. It looks like Parrot's fridge is just about empty. He gives Redd his best scowl as he walks away, pointedly not looking at him. "I was not flustered."
"Objection. Your face is tomato red." Ash shoves him away again, and he laughs a little, quickly recovering and finding his original place beside Ash. "Rude."
"I am not blushing. Fuck you." Ash snaps back. He turns his head away from Redd in his usual impudent manner, and as he does so Redd catches a hint of an amused smile appearing on his lips.
They're back in the living room again, and Ash is extracting his hoodie from where it lay draped on top of the back of the couch. Unfortunately, Zam was also out cold and snoring on top of half of it, so Ash had to drag it out from beneath him bit by bit. Redd watches him struggle from the side, arms crossed over his chest, still smirking.
"Dude, I'm going to kill Zam when he wakes up..." Ash grits out as he pulls the last of his hoodie from under the sleeping man. Zam doesn't even react.
"You could have just said you needed help." Redd watches him tie the hoodie around his waist by the sleeves, eyes flicking from the eternally-messy state of his hair to the irritated frown creasing his face, vibrant violet eyes sparking with a wealth of complex emotions. Perhaps it was that look that had drawn him to Ash, perhaps it was something more.
"Well, I didn't need help, so screw you." Ash flips him off and starts digging through his pockets for something. "Shit, where are my car keys..."
Redd can only laugh as Ash lets out a stream of colorful vocabulary and starts pacing the apartment, poking through every corner for any sign of his keys. "Goddamn it, how am I gonna get home now..."
"I mean, I'd suggest the subway but..." Redd shrugs. He knows Ash isn't that big a fan of the subway. "Maybe get a taxi?"
"I'm broke, dude." Ash pulls out his wallet and extracts about three measly dollars, waving them in the air while rolling his eye at Redd.
"Well, I've got money..." Redd gives Ash his best innocent grin- he absolutely loves doing favors for Ash. Just so he can hold it over his head later. Not for any other reason. (Okay, maybe a few other reasons.)
"No thanks, I don't need your help." Ash sticks his tongue out at Redd, stuffs the money back in his wallet, and goes back to looking beneath the couch. "Fuck this place, dude. They've gotta be here somewhere..."
"Dude, I doubt you're gonna find your keys. Someone probably stole them or something." Redd watches Ash resurface from the dusty floor, the glitches bouncing in electric arcs through his hair indicating he was annoyed.
"You think?" Ash huffs. "Actually, you probably stole my keys. I'm gonna need them back now..."
"Woah there, let's not jump to conclusions, Ash. I'm perfectly innocent." Redd holds up his hands with a nervous chuckle, all traces of his previous humor abandoned. He doesn't have the keys (at least he doesn't think so), but he didn't think he'd survive having his pockets searched, especially by Ash...
"You're sure." Ash takes a step towards him, and Redd backs up a step in return, hands still raised in surrender. They repeat this process a few times until Redd feels the wall pressing against his back. Fuck.
"I don't have your keys, I swear-" Ash obviously doesn't buy it, only walking closer. At some point, he gets so close Redd can feel wisps of his breath- soda, citrus, peppermint- brushing his face. He's effectively turned into a statue, locked firmly in place with only the look Ash gives him. (He's also probably got a gun somewhere or other, but he doesn't like to think about that prospect.)
"Yeah, sure..." Ash grins confidently, knowing he's got Redd cornered. He can't find it in himself to put up any resistance as Ash slides thin fingers into his left pocket. They fumble around for a moment before withdrawing his own car keys, dragging them out by the metal key ring.
"Those are my keys, actually." He laughs apprehensively, prying the keys from Ash's hand mid inspection and shoving them back in his pocket. "I swear I don't have them, dude..."
"Well, maybe they're in your other pocket-" Ash leans in again, reaching for Redd's other pocket, and this time Redd panics, grabbing Ash's wrist before he can start digging. His hand feels cold, clashing with the heat that runs through his fingers where they touch.
"I don't have them, Ash. Just- please don't dig through my pockets..." He sounds like he's begging, because he is. Ash freezes for a moment, their hands hovering in the air. Then he raises his eyebrows, clearly taking his resistance as suspicious.
"If that isn't admitting to the crime, I don't know what is." Ash frees his hand, reaches for his pocket again, and this time Redd can only watch as he digs through it, praying to whatever gods are out there that he won't find the one thing he wants to keep hidden.
"Wait, what's this-" Redd mentally curses, words running through his head that could rival even Ash's lack of filter. Ash extracts a folded-up piece of photo paper from his pocket, and Redd can practically feel himself turning scarlet.
He'd have liked to protest, plead Ash not to unfold it, but it's too late- as soon as it comes out of his pocket, Ash flips it open. Redd wants to shrivel up and die, sink into the floor and decompose, all traces of himself erased from this planet.
He can't see it from where he's standing, but he knows by heart what's inside. It's an old photo of him and Ash that he'd printed out, in some park and probably half drunk. Ash is throwing up a peace sign and grinning, Redd's leaning against his side and laughing, sunglasses thrown askew. He may or may not have doodled hearts over the photo with one of his coworkers' glitter pens, act of a foolish lovesick teen.
"The hell is this..." Ash stares at the photo for a time, looking about as shocked as he's ever seen him. His cheeks have turned rosy as well, but Redd isn't looking, too occupied being embarrassed. "You know, you're blushing too. Just in case you haven't noticed."
"S- shut up, Ash." Redd snaps out of his trance, snatching the photo from Ash, folding it back up and putting it in his pocket again, patting it in place. "You saw nothing."
Ash hasn't moved- he's still holding his hands up as if the photo's still there. "You keep a photo of me- of us- in your pocket." He says it like a question and a statement all at once, as if trying to process the fact it actually existed, actually happened. "And you've drawn hearts on it."
"I- okay, maybe." Redd kind of has no choice but to admit to it, now that Ash's seen it. "Uh, it's just a- cool memory. A keepsake, you know?"
By some miracle, Ash manages to look over the implications. He doesn't know how- they're still standing way too close together, and he's sure the look on his face is way too obvious. "Whatever. I still haven't found my car keys."
Redd tries his best to recover from whatever the hell just happened, at least enough to speak. "I mean, I can drive you home?"
"Fine." Ash finally lowers his hands from where they hung in the air, grasping a photo that wasn't there. "Let's go."