Mindcrack Secret Santa
Wednesday, December 25th, 2013 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silvercheers posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
mindcracklove*_*_*
“Look,” Bdubs slurs as he slumps against a metal door. “You forgot the booze, and I forgot the booze, but at least we’re pre-drunk, right?”
“But the point, the point was…” Guude raises a finger, trying to remember. “Yes! The point was drunk stargazing, not getting sober while stargazing.” He grins triumphantly and pushes the button to open the door.
Bdubs tips backwards at the sudden loss of support, flailing his arms wildly about. His head smacks the ground with a muted thud. “Hey!”
Guude giggles at him, stepping over his prone form and into the cool night air. The observatory’s massive dome arches behind him. Neither he nor Bdubs have the dexterity to operate a telescope right now.
Still grinning, he sets himself down next to his complaining friend, who hasn’t even made the attempt to move. “-an’ really, why was that necessessessary? You coulda just said ‘Bdubs, you’re an idiot’ and been done with it but nooooo, let’s drop poor ol’ Bdubs on his head-”
“Bdubs, you’re an idiot,” Guude parrots cheekily, bopping the man lightly on his forehead. Bdubs bats irritatedly at his hand.
“Now see,” Bdubs pauses, concentrating as he attempts to wiggle himself out of the doorway. He finds his new position comfortable and continues his thought. “That’s just insult to injury, there. Did ya need to hit me too?” he whines.
Guude lets a pondering expression cross his face for a moment before he smirks. “Yes.”
“That’s it, I’m leaving,” Bdubs says. He doesn’t move.
After a moment, Guude crawls forward a few paces and lies back, so he and Bdubs are like the hands of a clock at 6.
It’s actually pretty cold out. It’s nighttime, and anyone sane would be wearing at least a jacket, but here they are, both of them wearing their customary thin shirts. The chill doesn’t affect either of them overmuch. Bdubs grew up in the north, where temperatures changed wildly with the seasons, and Guude… Well, Guude spent months cold and alone and lightless, one time long ago in a place far away.
The alcohol helps too, even if its effects are fading.
Bdubs reaches over his head to poke Guude somewhere on his shoulder, finger stabbing at air for a while before it clumsily connects. “Is that the Big Creeper?” he asks, pointing at a pattern of stars with his other hand.
Guude squints at the inky sky, trying to pick out a creeper face. “Yes. Nooo-yes. Yes it is. ‘Cause that’s the Skeleton to the east, who’s shooting an arrow at the Golden Apple, and that over there is the Ripple Where Kurt Isn’t Allowed To Point His Telescope For Our Continued Existence.” He traces out the constellations as he speaks, and he knows without looking that Bdubs is watching his fingertips with rapt attention.
“Wow…”
He nudges Bdubs’ head with his own. “Some of us listen when Kurt talks astronomy.” There’s no reproach in his tone, he knows Bdubs would never ignore Kurt, he just doesn’t have much of an attention span for some things.
“I do too!” Bdubs grumbles at him. “I just…”
“It goes over your head a little?” Guude finishes, amused.
“Yeah…” Bdubs sulks.
Guude smiles to himself and they’re quiet for a time. He contents himself by finding the rest of the zodiac, but can tell Bdubs will be bursting to talk once he stops moping.
“Hey, remember that time when”
“Yeah.”
“We were kind of drunk”
“Yeah.”
“And running from a lot of stuff”
“Oh that was a great one.”
Remembering the Super Hostiles is fun.
“No, but,” Bdubs grasps at the air, like he’s trying to pull words from it. “Remember when we realized we were more than friends? That we were… bros?”
Guude’s sarcasm softens into something distant and happy. “The best bros ever, of all time.” He says. He’ll never forget that.
*_*
There’s darkness to his right. He’s covered in mud and leaves and monster guts and some brown shit that looks disturbingly like a face, frozen in a scream for all eternity. There might also be blood on him, most certainly his own and possibly someone, or something, else’s, but that’s something to worry about later, after he’s out of the dark, horror-filled swamp and fighting through some other horde of monsters out to shoot him or bite him or blow him.
Guude giggles. Possibly a touch hysterically, but that’s fine, he can deal with mental scarring later. Now it’s just time to run.
He can see the tunnel where he died earlier, his hasty torches illuminating the entrance with a beautiful glow that promises happiness and safety. Or at least a different set of jerks trying to kill him. Maybe it’ll be poison gas this time. He wouldn’t put it past Vechs. Okay, stop thinking about the tunnel, start thinking about how to get there without dying.
An arrow zings behind him and he hears it clack against the bones of a skeleton, Bdubs sniping from his temporary safe spot. Guude vaults a pile of dirt, he’s almost there. He skirts the pool of slimy, no doubt horror-filled water, clambers exhaustedly up near-vertical sandstone, and finally—finally—finds himself in the tunnel of joy and magic; thankfully without a spider pal this time.
He turns to catch sight of Bdubs, pinned against the sandstone by skeletons and creepers. Oh god, they’ve almost made it, he can’t die now, respawn would be terrible. Guude draws off one skeleton with rapid fire shots, anything to get it away from his friend. He tosses down a torch, calling encouragement and slinging arrows to cover Bdubs’ back as he dashes for safety.
He reaches for Bdubs’ arm to haul him up the last few steps and they both collapse to the ground, overbalanced and half-dead.
Guude lets out a ghost of a chuckle, which quickly becomes a full laugh, ringing off the walls. Bdubs’ gleeful giggling joins it, surrounding them with echoes of fading hysteria and terror.
Guude tiredly raises his fist, still laughing and waiting for Bdubs to get ahold of himself. He does, and taps it with his own, his dirt-encrusted face reflecting Guude’s own fierce, victorious grin. They worked together seamlessly this time, and it feels amazing. Like… something just lit up in his own mind and he knew exactly what Bdubs was doing and that Bdubs knew what Guude was doing, and something just worked. He had his concerns at first, but going on this adventure with this indescribable guy is undoubtedly the best thing he’s ever done.
Despite all the fire and death and grime and whatever the fuck that brown stuff is.
Bdubs gasps out, through his fading laughter, “You. Are the best bro a man could ask for.”
Oh. Guude stares at him, his eyes widening in wonder, now I get it. “You actually are my bro, aren’t you?” That’s why Bdubs, through tentative excitement and shared laughter, fits so well beside Guude. Why he giggles at Guude’s stupid jokes and why Guude laughs himself to tears after the Invisible Hole Incident. Why they throw themselves in front of arrows and explosions for each other. Why Guude will never trust Bdubs to protect a diamond tool, but still freely gives his heart to the man who regularly drops them both into lava.
He promptly rolls over and gives Bdubs a noogie, grabbing him across the chest as he tries to squirm away.
“Hey now! I did not give permission! Being bros does not give you noogie permission!” Bdubs says, smacking at Guude’s hand.
It totally does, he’s just in denial.
*_*
Bdubs has become drowsy during Guude’s trip down memory lane, eyes shut and arms gone relaxed. He’s shifted too, so now he’s next to Guude.
On impulse, Guude raises his hand, fingers closed tight, watching as a tiny smirk crosses Bdubs’ face and he taps their fists together without opening his eyes. The best bro a man could ask for, indeed.
Guude blinks, eyes heavy. He’ll just sleep here tonight, Bdubs has the right idea. Under the stars and next to a friend, what more could he want?
*_*_*
Kurt finds them the next morning, before either of the two wake. They’ve curled around each other like it’s natural, in a way that will probably have them teasing each other for weeks, but perfectly comfortable for the night.
He sighs and goes back inside to fetch a spare blanket. They’ll catch a cold like this.
*_*_*
End.
Inspired by these prompts from imagine-your-brotp.tumblr.com: http://imagine-your-brotp.tumblr.com/post/37382003346 and http://imagine-your-brotp.tumblr.com/post/54773307505.
no subject
Date: Thursday, December 26th, 2013 02:58 am (UTC)OOG has and will be awesome forever.
no subject
Date: Thursday, December 26th, 2013 05:52 am (UTC)