#omni span

Aaaalirght, let’s go!!! Btw, this is an AU where Ricardo moved to Charter City sometime in middle school.

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“People are staring.”

“My name is Nathan Park,” the boy said, looking at his own face in the mirror, seeing the way his brows lowered a bit as he said that, his nervousness fading away from his face for once in his life. 

“My name is Nathan Park,” he repeated, more confidently this time.

Alright, he could do this. It was just school. Nothing was that different … well, okay, that was a complete lie. But he was going to be fine.

“My name–”

“Honey!” his mother called from the kitchen, “come on, you’re going to be late! Your sister’s already eaten all the corn flakes!”

“U-uh, coming!” Nathan called back, his gaze on the mirror for a moment more before he turned away to grab his bag and make his way to the kitchen.

Nathan grabbed a granola bar from the pantry, too nervous to eat a big breakfast. What if everyone hated him? What if he was bullied? They were all going to stare at him, he just knew it. Jake would be there for him … and he knew Ricardo would, too … but for how long? What if they couldn’t handle hanging out with someone who was mocked every day? Someone who everyone was surely going to hate?

“Nathan,” his mother’s clear voice pulled him out of his thoughts as she placed a hand on his shoulder, “you’re going to have a great day, okay? Call me if you need to come home, but I know you can do this. And don’t worry, I’ve emailed your teachers and principal, and they’ve said they can change the yearbook to–”

“MOOOM! HE STOLE MY HAIRBANDS AGAIN!” Isabelle yelled, interrupting his mother.

His mom gave him a small, warm smile before her expression turned to her mom-stare. “Now, Jason, give that back to her right now. You’re all going to be late for school!”

Maybe things would be okay … if not, he was at least glad to have his family’s support.

When Nathan arrived at school, he tightened his grip on his backpack, holding it close to his chest as he looked around to try and spot Jake. He smoothed his hair out a bit, not used to the short length, as he finally noticed Jake waving to him from the foyer. Seeing his friend relaxed him a bit, and he made his way over to him.

“Wow, Nathan, you look awesome!” Jake grinned, giving his friend a side-hug. 

“Thanks,” Nathan smiled shyly. “Where is Ricardo?”

“Oh, he’s coming,” Jake smirked.

Just then, Ricardo ran up to them, holding a teddy bear and shoving it in Nathan’s arms. “Hey dude! Aw, you look hot!”

“W-I do?” Nathan sputtered.

“Hell yeah! I’m so proud of you, dude!” Ricardo grinned, “hence the teddy bear.”

“Uh … thanks,” Nathan gave a small smile before he frowned, looking down, “but … people are staring. I-I knew they would, it just … “

“Hey,” Ricardo said, gently lifting Nathan’s chin. “You look at me, okay? Just focus on me and Jake, and nobody else. They don’t matter. And if they give you a hard time about this, I’ll make them sorry they ever set foot in this school.”

Nathan bit his lip at that, blushing slightly at what his friend had said. He was glad they were there for him … he shouldn’t have doubted they would be. Still, that was anxiety for you.

“Okay, now let’s get to our lockers so we aren’t late for Botany?” Jake suggested, gesturing towards the lockers with a small smile.

“Okay,” Nathan nodded, following his friends towards the lockers.

As they neared his locker, Nathan swore his heart stopped. Because there, on his locker, was a large poster, covered in flowers and smiley faces and crudely drawn unicorns, and on it said “WE’RE SO PROUD OF YOU, NATHAN!” with a pink, white, and blue striped flag below it.

And that … that was enough to make him cry.

He wiped the tears away quickly, but not before Ricardo and Jake had noticed.

“Dude? What’s wrong?” Ricardo asked worriedly, his grin quickly replaced by a frown.

“N-nothing, I just … “ Nathan smiled, “it says Nathan on it.”

Ricardo and Jake gave each other a look, and then Jake smiled, “yeah, it does. Because that’s your name.”

Nathan was grinning now, pulling his friends in for a hug. 

“My name is Nathan Park,” he said through his smile, and Ricardo nodded.

“Your name is Nathan Park. And you’re the manliest guy I know.”

–

Nathan: Man, past me was really weird.

Ricardo: Present you is pretty weird, too.

Oooh this will be interesting~(Ofc I’m doing it romantically lol) (not NSFW though you guys chill)

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“What happens if I do this?”

Ricardo would be lying if he said he hadn’t ever had … gay thoughts about Nathan. He’d definitely thought the guy was cute a couple of times, and he’d even wanted to kiss him once or twice. It had freaked him out a bit at first … he was sure he was straight, after all. Eventually, though, he’d come to terms with the whole thing, and he’d accepted that he might have maybe had a crush on his best friend. (He still kinda liked Riya, too, but lately he’d been thinking they were a little too alike … )However, Ricardo had never once intended to actually act on his feelings. That is, until one particularly warm day when Nathan and him had been on a mission together.They were in an alley way, sweating like hell, when Ricardo noticed Nathan’s abs. They were showing through his suit, which they definitely hadn’t been a month ago, and the male wondered why he’d just now noticed. His gaze trailed to Nathan’s masked face, who was staring at him and looking a little confused. Maybe even blushing. Ricardo suddenly really wanted to kiss him again, but he wasn’t going to do that …“W-were you just checking out my abs?” Nathan asked, flustered.Crap.Ricardo knew there was no way out of this, so he just gave a nod as he shrugged. “They’re nice abs, man.”“I-I … uh … “ Nathan stuttered, looking down at himself and then back at Ricardo.“What, you embarrassed?” Ricardo chuckled. “Is that really all it takes to make you all flustered? Someone just has to check you out?” He had no idea where this confidence was coming from, he thought he’d sound more embarrassed, but he was glad his usual bravado was holding out.“Well … nobody’s ever really done it before, so … “ Nathan looked down. “B-but I can handle it! You just … I didn’t expect you to … “ Nathan was looking at him now, hands flailing around sporadically as he tried to explain.“Oh, I see. So you can’t handle a little flirting, can you?” Ricardo raised a brow.He was sure Nathan was blushing now. “I-I can!” The Asian insisted.“Hm,” Ricardo took a step forward. “Sooo if I came up to you and did this,” Ricardo put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder, “and said ‘hey Wingspan, lookin’ pretty sharp,’ then you would be able to handle it?”Nathan looked at his shoulder, then back at Ricardo to meet his gaze. At least, that’s what Ricardo assumed he was doing under that mask. “Y-yes.”Ricardo smirked. “And if I did this … “ Ricardo backed Nathan into the wall and put his hand by his head, leaning towards him. “You wouldn’t freak?”“I-I … no. I’m n-not freaking.” Nathan insisted, then gulped.“And what happens if I do this?” Ricardo asked, smirk still on his face as he leaned closer, their noses now touching.Nathan’s breath was shaky, and his face was as red as Ricardo’s suit, but he stood his ground, tilting his head ever so slightly. “I’m f-fine.” He paused, and for a moment they were close, the tension between them ready to snap. Then, he seemed to tense, either freaking out or having an amazing idea, and he leaned forward, connecting their lips together.Ricardo was the one blushing now.Nathan pulled away quickly, a small smile on his face as he ducked under Ricardo’s arm and clapped his hands together. “Well, we’ve got a mission to get back to, right?”“I-u-uh … “ Ricardo blinked, trying to process what just happened.“C’mon Ricardo, I thought you could handle a little flirting,” Nathan chuckled, walking off, though his voice was a bit higher than usual.“That was way more than flirting, man … “ Ricardo whispered as he walked after Nathan, still wondering what the he’ll just happened.