Work Text:
The nice thing about dating your best friend is that the difference between being in a relationship with him and being friends isn’t that extreme. Not that there should be—and now that Saps thinks about it, that actually should be the norm—but the one thing that remains constant is the amount of hangouts Flux and his friends have at their dorms.
Only nowadays, Saps is always invited. Well, less that he’s invited and more like he wakes up and opens the door to their hallway and everybody and their mother is here.
“Good morning,” he says. He has shorts and a dark hoodie on and at that point he’s not complaining. He’s been worse.
“It’s like 2 PM,” Snowbird informs him, sprawled out on the living room floor with Hvyrotation, and Gotoga next to him. There’s a card game on the coffee table—Uno, judging from the bright red and blue colors and numbers.
The rest of the goons–as Flux so fondly dubs them–are either laying down on the couch watching the game or on their phones. NewKids waves a hello as he continues scrolling, Seraphim packing up their things and waving goodbye as they head out the door. The only sensible ones. Thomas is typing away on his laptop, glancing up every now and then. He nods at Saps and continues the grind.
Saps sighs. “Exactly. Why the fuck are you all here?”
“Group project,” they all say in unison. Sure, some of them live here, but that’s not the point. Hvyrotation puts down a card and Gotoga slaps down another without missing a beat. This has to be scripted. They all came together on this beautiful Saturday morning instead of going on any other side quest to terrorize him and their fearless leader, who is still fast asleep in his bed. Perfect.
“All of you?”
“Yes.”
Lies. “For what class?”
“Uhh—“
“History,” Gotoga answers. He’s still locked in on the game.
Lies and slander. “Name one president.”
“Emperor Schpood.”
Saps’ eye twitches. Not a single one of them knows shit about history, much less take a class for it. However, given that he’s not going to have any luck telling them to get lost, he groans and makes his way to the kitchen to find breakfast. “Sure. You gotta be fucking joking,” he mutters under his breath.
“Wow.” A warm arm wraps around his waist and a chin rests on his shoulder. “Whatever happened to ‘hi, good morning, how are you?’”
“Hi, Flux,” everyone choruses from where they are. If looks could kill, this would be a group assassination, all of them dead on the kitchen floor.
Saps rolls his eyes and whirls around to face him, placing a hand on his hip. Flux’s hair is a mess, a plain white t-shirt hanging off his shoulders and gray sweatpants on. The bags under his eyes are prominent and his voice is still groggy, tinged with sleep. The sight makes Saps’ heart flip, even though he literally saw him a minute ago. “I literally said that to them. Also, that’s my shirt.”
“That’s my hoodie,” Flux replies. Saps looks down, and the dark purple hoodie he’s wearing is in fact, not his own. Of course. He’s not about to take it off so soon though, and Flux smiles smugly as Saps crosses his arms across his chest defensively.
“Since when were you awake?” He asks instead.
“Since you left. You didn’t wake me.” There’s a hint of pettiness in his tone, and the pout on Flux’s face isn’t helping. “Now, why are you terrorizing my goons?”
“Wha—they’re the ones terrorizing me—“
“It’s your fault,” Thomas helpfully chirps from where he’s typing away on his laptop. He doesn’t even look up. “You made Saps all sassy now.”
“What?!” It is too early to be handling these accusations right now. Nevertheless, it’s his time to shine. “Girl, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Hey Thomas,” Snowbird calls. “If you look at Saps right now, does he remind you of anyone?”
Thomas’ eyes flicker to where he and Flux are standing, pause, and then zero back into his laptop. “Don’t talk to me,” he mutters and everyone laughs.
“It’s your turn,” Gotoga says, elbowing Snowbird. The card on top is red. Gotoga has two cards left and he’s the only one angled toward Saps. One plus four in his hand and a reverse card. Snowbird has more cards in his hand and Hvyrotation also has two remaining. Saps has his money on Gotoga.
“Saps has always been sassy,” Flux interjects, much to Saps’ chagrin (“Hey!”). “I didn’t do anything to him.”
“What about last night?”
“Okay, woah, woah, woah,” Saps says, at the same time Flux starts yelling obscenities at the person in question, which just so happens to be Snowbird again. Snowbird screams and dives across the room to get away from Flux, but he’s already there. The room dissolves into chaos, the cards flying over the table, Thomas yelling at them and NewKids recording eagerly.
In the meantime, Saps takes note of all the havoc and does what any sensible person would do.
He makes himself a sandwich and pulls up next to Hvyrotation, who has retreated to the kitchen table with him.
Once the dust settles and Gotoga is standing in front of a very traumatized Snowbird and a very pissed off Flux, Saps finishes up the last of his sandwich. He licks the crumbs off his fingers and washes his plate, listening to the poor attempts of diplomacy in the background.
“Can you guys not?”
“He started it!”
“Okay, but you guys were so loud yesterday—”
“For your information, we were playing Fortnite–”
“Okay!” Thomas claps his hands loudly, getting everybody to jump. “Do you guys mind? Some of us actually have group projects to work on.”
Saps snorts. He fucking called it.
With that, they clean up their mess and retreat back to the coffee table. Gotoga starts dealing the cards for a new round and Hvyrotation joins back in. NewKids gets up to go to the bathroom. There’s space on the couch next to Thomas now and Saps groans as he remembers his looming deadlines as well.
“Hey, Thomas,” he says. Thomas glances up and Saps points to Flux’s room. “I’ll get my laptop and join you. I have slides to finish.”
“Can you do my homework too?” NewKids shouts from the hall.
“Just drop that class!” Hvyrotation yells back.
“But I need it to graduate!”
“That’s your fault then!”
By the time Saps returns, they’ve somehow roped Flux into the Uno game and he cheers as he slams down a plus four on Gotoga, who groans and draws the cards.
The score is all different now, with the first round going to Snowbird and then second to Flux. With this third round, it looks like it’ll go to Snowbird overall from what Saps can see out of the corner of his eye. Flux is in a bad spot, five cards in his hand and he groans when it gets to his turn and he has to draw another card.
“Stop giving me yellow cards,” he complains, huffing as he adds it to his hand.
“Aw,” Saps croons in mock sympathy. He’s close enough to Flux to be able to kick him softly with his leg. “Poor baby.”
“Shut up,” Flux says to him, but his ears are red and his cheeks are beginning to flush too. Saps smiles behind his laptop screen and chuckles while the rest of their friends gag.
“Ugh, get a room.”
“We did. You guys are in it.”
“That actually reminds me,” Thomas says amidst the bickering. “Do you guys use pet names for each other?”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?” Flux asks, turning to him.
“Like do you call each other anything besides your names?”
“Yeah, all the time. Like, this dumbass,” Saps says without hesitation and jabs a thumb in Flux’s direction. Flux chokes on air.
Thomas regards him for one full second, staring at him blankly before shaking his head. “Forget I asked.”
A beat passes. Two. Then, it clicks, and Saps’ mouth falls open and he slaps a hand to his forehead. Oh. Oh, shit. “Wait! I know what you mean, sorry. No, we don’t actually. Right, Flux?”
Flux recovers from his choking and Saps helps him out by patting him on the back. “Yeah, we don’t," he coughs out. "Why are you asking?”
“No reason,” Thomas says in a way that tells them both it is definitely not nothing. They’ll unpack that another day. “Just thought it was funny. You’re always using pet names, Saps.”
“Do I really?” Saps pauses. He and Flux have been dating for only a few months, but they’ve been best friends for years. There’s the nicknames they call each other of their own names but everyone calls them that nowadays. Other than that, it’s just the occasional play insults and banter that they’ve always had. Maybe a ‘babe’ drop or two in there, but nothing crazy.
"Yeah, but me and Flux don't use that many pet names," Saps says as he’s typing. "I mean, I guess I do a little, with 'baby' and 'babe' but that’s it! It's not like I'm saying 'honey' or 'sweetheart' or some shit like 'my love' or 'darling’—“
He keeps cringing with each one, but the bit is too important to commit to. By the time he's finished listing off more and more names, his face feels hot and he stops typing. The room is silent, and Saps looks around. Everyone stares at him, mouths wide open.
“Uh…” He finds Flux first, who has a similar expression on his face. His eyes are wide, and his face is even more red than before. Saps waves a hand in front of his face. “Flux? Hello?”
"Oh my god, I think you broke him,” Thomas says, half-awed and half-horrified.
“Flux?” Saps puts his laptop down, and sits down next to Flux on the carpet. He pokes at Flux’s cheek who immediately frowns at him and swats his hand away. “You okay?”
“You—“ Flux’s face is bright red, and if Saps weren’t so concerned, he would be laughing. An embarrassed Flux is a rare sight to come by and he wishes he could frame it, just like he wishes he could frame every moment of Flux’s expressions because he’s one of the only ones able to witness them all. He looks cute like this, wearing Saps’ shirt and flustered, trying to push Saps back. “You are—so annoying sometimes, you know that?”
Flux reminds him that everyday. Still, Saps laughs. He takes the opportunity to fully place himself into Flux’s lap, grabbing the cards from his hand and inserting himself in the game.
“Alright then, what do we have here?” Flux has, indeed, all yellow cards. Absolute dogshit. Saps freezes, surveys the odds (slim to none), and sighs. He hands them back to Flux and cracks his knuckles before taking them back. “Okay, baby,” he says, grinning when Flux sputters indignantly. Music to his ears. “Watch this.”
“You should not have won,” Flux complains when they’re back in his bedroom. Saps is in the middle of packing his things up for the weekend and Flux sits up on the edge of his bed. “That had to be rigged.”
“I’m just that good.” Saps dodges a pillow expertly thrown at his face. He catches it with his free hand and chucks it right back at Flux’s face. “Geez, babe.”
Flux peels the pillow off his face and flops back onto the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. He doesn’t reply for a good second and Saps zips up his backpack before joining him.
“You good?”
“You can stop it with the pet names.” Flux frowns. Saps’ stomach drops and he gets closer to him, hanging onto his arm. “I don’t know why Thomas was asking anyway.”
“Sorry. Was it too much?”
“No. It’s just…” Flux’s eyebrows furrow and he sits up, shrugging Saps’ arm off. “I’ve never thought of any pet names for you.”
“Yeah, I guess they’re too cheesy.” Saps sighs. They really don’t use them, and today was an exception on account of riling up Flux. It’s not like they need pet names, they have plenty of names to call each other anyway.
Still though, it would be sweet. He fiddles with the strings of Flux’s hoodie, watching Flux shift in the corner of his eye.
“That’s not what I mean,” Flux says quickly. Saps sits up and watches as Flux stutters, and then tries again. “Like, you already have a nickname for me.”
“I do?”
“Yeah. It’s my name.”
His name? “What? Flux? Everyone calls you that,” Saps points out. “Nicknames and pet names are supposed to be what only some people call you.”
“Yeah, but you do it differently.” At Saps’ confusion, Flux huffs. “You do that thing, with the ‘u’, you always draw it out. Here, just say it.”
“Flux,” Saps whines. Huh. He really does draw out the vowels in his name.
“See? There. Sometimes you add an ‘uh’ after it, which I don’t even know why.”
“Fluuux,” Saps continues. He gets cut off when Flux slaps a hand against his mouth and the pink in his cheeks give him away. “Fl-mmph,” he says, muffled.
“That’s enough of that. But you get my point, right?”
“Yeah.” A warm fuzzy feeling settles in Saps’ chest and he can’t help but break out into a grin. “Aww, Flux,” he coos, making sure he says his name all drawn out. A smile twitches on the corners of Flux’s mouth and it only fuels him more. “I didn’t know you were such a sap.”
“Shut up, Saps.”
“Heh.” He knows he’s got the dumbest smile on his face now and he motions for Flux to come cuddle with him, which he obliges. He pats down the ends of Flux’s hair, mostly tamed now, and styles the rest of it. “You know, I like the way you say my name too.”
“Really? I don’t think I say it that differently.”
“Nah, it’s not that.” Now it’s Flux’s turn to be confused. “Do you remember our first year? That class with Ish?”
“I remember.” In their first year, one of the required classes every freshman took was some introductory college seminar taught by Ish. He and Flux knew each other beforehand, having met during orientation a few weeks back. They chatted a bit before comparing class schedules and ended up sitting together during the lectures. The rest is history.
“He usually called me by my full name,” Saps says. Distinct memories of Ish calling out “Saparata!” with a lot of emphasis for a class that was far too early in the morning come back to his mind. “But, I think one time we were talking and you called me ‘Saps’, and Ish used it for the rest of the semester.”
“And so did everyone else,” Flux finishes for him.
Saps nods. “My name stuck because of you.”
Flux was always a nickname because people tended to skip over the obvious “I” in Fluixon, which Flux never really cared about. Saps wasn’t exactly new either, but people used his full name majority of the time until Flux was around. He was always using it, always bringing Saps up.
Looking back, it’s shocking they didn’t realize their feelings sooner. All of the fumbling and the awkwardness was so painfully obvious to anyone who knew them, yet it was all worth it for where they are now.
“I mean, you say ‘Saps’ in your own way too,” Saps adds.
“How do I say it?”
“Like I’m yours.” Flux sputters indignantly, and Saps takes the opportunity to press a quick kiss to his cheek. “Got you,” he says.
“Saps.”
“Flux.”
“Ugh.” Flux rolls his eyes, but the smile on his face and the fondness in his gaze tells Saps all he needs to know. “Is that really all—“
“Hey Flux!” Someone shouts. Two knocks on their door. “Can we borrow Saps for a second?”
“Why?” Flux shouts back.
“There’s a question we’re stuck on!”
“Of course.” Saps groans and stretches. It’s probably NewKids again, or someone else who doesn’t want to do their damn assignment. The Conspiracy versus homework assignments. More of a threat than anything else in the world for them. “I’m coming—hey—Flux!”
“No.” Flux’s arms wrap around Saps’ waist and pull him back to bed while Saps laughs, halfheartedly trying to push him off. “No, you’re not.”
“We need him!” They protest behind the door, and Saps laughs harder as Flux hugs him tighter, pouting and looking at the door like it’s personally affronted him.
“Flux,” Saps teases one last time. Flux’s face softens immediately and he leans down, pressing the softest kiss to his forehead.
“Nope. No, you don’t. He’s mine,” he says to the door. “I’m keeping him. Sorry.”
“You are not sorry.” Saps chuckles.
“Nah, not at all.”