"So, about your friend..."
René glanced over his shoulder at where Elliot was slouched on his couch, hair still damp from his shower. He frowned, turning back to the mugs of tea he was making before answering. "Yeah..? What about it?"
There was a long silence, as René poured the hot water from the kettle over the teabags and stirred. The teaspoon clinked against the ceramic. "What happened, exactly? My back was turned and..." Elliot trailed off. René could practically feel the guilt, and sighed. He picked up the mugs and made his way over to where his friend was sat, handing him one and sitting down next to him. It was a relief to finally be able to sink into the couch cushions, after having spent the time since they got back finding some new trousers for Elliot to wear and extracting him a towel. The fact that it was almost two in the morning was finally catching up to him. But drowsy as he was, he didn't want to put this conversation off. He took a breath.
"Firstly, don't beat yourself up so much. She was practically invisible. And throwing her voice. And apparently a time mage. I think you can forgive yourself for overlooking her. Secondly... after you went through the portal, she lunged for me. Zexal got in the way, blocked her knife and attacked her." René shot Elliot a sidelong glance, assessing his expression. He was conflicted, that much was easy to tell. Upset that he hadn't been able to protect him, and confused that what was the very picture of a demon was apparently to thank for him being unharmed. It was understandable, and sweet. "I get that it's hard to believe," he went on, when Elliot didn't answer immediately. "I didn't, at first. The first time, I mean. But I really don't think it wants to hurt people. It's almost like a child."
"It took a knife for you," Elliot said, shaking his head. "I guess I have to give it credit for that. Do you even know what it is, though?"
"A voidling, it said. I don't know what that means. I think it can sense people's emotions, though. It kept talking about things like that... that I was warm, and that she was obsessed with 'hurt'. It feels other people's pain, I think. That's why it doesn't like violence."
Elliot chuckled dryly, running a hand through his hair. "This is crazy. A demon watching your back. And which of us is apparently anathema unto god, again?" He sighed, leaning back into the couch. "It has good taste in friends, I guess."
René smiled, looking down at his mug and letting his head loll back on a cushion. "It wants to meet me again, actually. You should come with me." He paused, remembering Zexal's earlier comment, and blinked. "Or, uh... maybe not, on second thought."
"Why's that?" Elliot raised an eyebrow, turning to look at him. René did his best not to blush.
"Ah... it's quite easily intimidated, is all, it might not want there to be more than one person-"
"This thing straight up murdered a vampire, and you're telling me I'm going to intimidate it? I'm offended, Ren. Give me some credit, my smile's not that scary. C'mon, what's the real reason?" The werewolf smirked. "Why're you embarrassed? Secret tentacle fetish?"
"Oh my god, no, El!" René elbowed him, laughing. "Just, uh... it picks up on some kind of ... personal stuff, with its telepathy thing. It could be awkward, maybe."
"Keeping secrets, huh? And here I thought we trusted each other." Elliot shook his head disapprovingly, but his expression turned more serious after a moment. "But, seriously. Is everything okay? It's not like you to hide something."
René turned away to avoid his steadily deepening blush from showing through, although he knew that was only going to make Elliot more worried. Stupid overprotective ass. Stupid gentle, caring, loving and wonderful ass. Looking back, it was hard to pinpoint when exactly he'd fallen in love with his best friend. They'd been neighbours for going on two years, now, but it felt like much longer. When he'd dropped out of school he'd expected to lose friends, and had - he was only in touch with a couple of his old schoolfriends, and only infrequently. But when Elliot and his mother had moved in next door, it had been like a little miracle. They'd met when Elliot had helped him get his grandma up the stairs of the apartment building one day on the way back from the doctors, and had gotten talking about their respectively shitty situations. After that, the werewolf had started coming over just to hang out while he was taking care of his gran. They'd gotten to know each other better than René had known any of his friends before, had been so much more open with their issues by merit of sharing many of them. He hadn't had to pretend that everything was fine, with El. They both knew better.
"Uhm..."
That friendship was exactly why he shouldn't risk saying anything. He didn't know if Elliot felt the same way, or even swung that way at all. He was very protective and caring, sure, but that could easily just be because they were good friends, and protectiveness was a werewolf thing, right?
"Ren. Look at me."
René turned to meet Elliot's blue eyes hesitantly, knowing that his face wasn't doing him any favours in deflecting the interrogation. "El, it's not..."
"Your heart's uh... beating pretty fast." The werewolf said quietly, something in his expression having changed from concern to ... something else, that René didn't entirely recognise. "I ... look, I don't know if I'm getting this right or if I'm going to hate myself in a few seconds, but ... do you..?"
Oh, gods. René screwed his eyes shut, and wanted to find a hole to crawl into and die. Stupid Zexal and its stupid mind-reading, why did it have to-
His thinking was abruptly cut short when he felt warmth pressed to his lips. He opened his eyes. Elliot was kissing him. Elliot was kissing him. He tried to gasp, but ended up just letting out a horrendously embarrassing moan instead. He didn't pull back, and realising this, Elliot began to kiss him harder. More urgently. René flailed out for the coffee table to clumsily put his mug down, then let himself be drawn into it, snaking his arms around the werewolf and clutching at him, pushing back. By the time they came up for air, he was halfway onto Elliot's lap and panting for breath. They were both as red-faced as each other now, and there was a long silence in which René just stared into those blue orbs like the rest of the room didn't exist.
"I..." Elliot started, but René interrupted him by leaning in to take the initiative this time, mashing their lips together clumsily. One hand came up to brush against his face, tracing his slightly angular cheekbones and running over the light fuzz. His heart was beating in leaps and bounds, and they stayed locked together for what felt like an eternity all over again.
They finally separated, and René couldn't help but laugh at the stunned look on Elliot's face. The werewolf blinked down at him, and slowly a smile crept into its place. "I'll take that ... I'll take that as a yes, then," the werewolf murmured breathily, trailing a hand through René's hair. "Wow. We need to get mugged by werewolf hunters more often, if this is what happens after."
René snorted, and punched him in the ribs. "Shut up. Oh my god. I didn't think ..." he trailed off, failing to find words. They could talk later. There was something kind of distracting, keeping his brain from really doing its job. He gave a small, happy sigh and leaned into Elliot, breathing him in and pressing a kiss to his neck. The werewolf shivered under him. "Let's ... not talk. Uhm. Do you want to ... I mean ..."
Elliot's eyes widened. "Your gran..."
"Slept through the smoke alarm last week," René shook his head urgently. "Please. I want this. So much."
The werewolf just nodded dumbly, then leaned in to kiss him again. While their lips were pressed together, René felt Elliot's hands move down to under his legs, and he was lifted from the sofa. He started tugging at their clothes before they even reached his bedroom door.