#pbbbbbbbbbth

This is probably the only work of its kind in existence and therefor is incredibly self indulgent and mostly for me

It’s wasn’t an uncommon site townside on Haskin’s Planet to see Legionnaires crawling about all over the place. In fact, it was just a fact of things, ever since Willard Phule had come in and taken over.

It was common knowledge that the Legion posting had been a group of misfits and other fuck-ups that couldn’t find a place in other companies within the Legion. A sort of dumping ground for these horrible hard cases, Phule had come in and completely turned the group on its head.

The company was currently basking in the afterglow of victory, having agreed to split the Honor Guard duty with the regular army after a few days of intense competition.

Ever since the event, the general attitude towards the unit on the planet had been of a very flattering cut, and the entire unit had been running amuck in the sheer joy of it, wreaking havoc every which way they could. He and Sushi in particular had been on a roll, with Sushi pulling miracle after miracle out of his hat, much to the delight of his partner.

After ever misadventure the two would find themselves back at the Club, Sushi sipping a beer with a proud and humorous air as he watched Do-Wop recount the story in it’s entirety. (Well, plus or minus a few embellishments here and there…) His arms would flail wildly and his eyes would widen with every “good part”, which seemed to be a good half the story if you actually started counting.

But no one was. It was all in good fun. Do-Wop would tell about how he had barely gotten away from something running towards him, or how Sushi had pulled of some technological feat he hadn’t even known possible. No matter the scenario described, the reaction was the same.

Tonight however, there was none of that. The day’s events had completely rattled Sushi. He thought back on the past few hours as he headed back to his barrack. He didn’t think Do-Wop was there, but he hadn’t seen him in the bar, so there really was no way of telling.

They had spent the day messing with a few of the rather unsavory youth from the college (a typical pastime, if ever there was one) and had been chased off into an alley when their tricks were discovered. Huffing and puffing, the two had burst into uncontrollable giggle fits.

It had been…. so routine….. The two had been reliving the highlights of the hijink as normal, recalling the other’s finer moments and congratulation one another. He admits the energy had been high, but…. Lost in the moment, Do-Wop had leaned over quicker than he could process and planted a kiss straight on his mouth.

He raised his fingers to his lips absently, closing the room’s door behind him.

Do-Wop had pulled back seconds later, a sense of urgency and a panicked look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Sushi, oh jesus man,” Sushi hadn’t moved at all, Do-Wop had just kept apologizing and apologizing until Sushi finally put his hand up to stop him.

“I…” he frowned, “I think I need some time, Do-Wop. I have some thinking to do.”

The taller man had just stared at him, too many emotions conflicting on his face for Sushi to get a clear read.

“Yeah… okay I get it….” He had shuffled his feet and rubbed his neck, “I, uh, I’ve got some stuff to do, I’ll stay out of your hair.” Sushi had watched him walk away back down the alley.

Standing back in their shared room now, Sushi rubbed at his face. He’d been pushing it to the back of his mind for a while, waiting for some time to sit down and process the whole event; and now here it was, pushing back up, as fresh and numbing as it had been earlier that day.

What? What did it all mean? Did Do-Wop think their relationship was more than just partners within their company? Hell, come to think of it, what was their relationship?

Sushi sat down on one of the beds. Do-Wop had seemed really sincerely apologetic about the incident. He rubbed his hands over his face again, apparently unaware of the gesture.

The memory threw itself into his working conscious again, but was soon overtaken by another memory. The day the new aliens had landed…. What a day that had been. Sushi recalled the way Do-Wop had looked lying on the floor of the swamp, completely unmoving.

He couldn’t help it, he shuddered. No lasting side-effects had come from it, and Do-Wop was perfectly alright afterward, but for a moment he thought he might have lost his partner forever. He hated to admit it but, Phule had been right pairing the two of them together. He’d never had as much fun as he did letting Do-Wop talk him into the most hairbrained schemes he’d ever heard.

His lips curled upward at the thought. Phule had been right more often than he would like to admit and if he was being honest he really did admired the man.

But… Do-Wop….. That was…. Shaking his head he got back up and began to prepare for bed. It was something he didn’t want to get into, and that’s all there was to it. He’d tell Do-Wop that he understood it was just one of those things that happened, and that they could move past it when he saw him in the morning.

Sushi crawled into bed, determined that that was the end of it, but couldn’t stop tossing and turning on the mattress.

It was very early in the morning when Do-Wop finally showed up at their shared space and flopped face down on his bed. Sushi thought about pretending to be asleep, but couldn’t help himself and turned over under the covers to face the bed across the small room.

Do-Wop’s head bobbed up rather quickly to stare back across the way. “Oh… Soosh…. I didn’t mean to wake you up… Sorry man..” He dropped his head back onto the covers.  

“No… It’s okay.” Sushi pulled his covers down from over his head, “I was already awake.”

There was a long silence in the room as they both just laid there. Finally, it was Sushi who spoke; “Do-Wop…. About earlier…” “No!” Do-Wop interrupted, “It’s! I mean, it’s….” he shifted uncomfortably on his bed, “I’ve been thinking about it and, I’m real sorry and all, and….” He sighed and sat up. “I just.. I don’t want this to change anything.”

Flopping back so that his back rested on his pillow and his head against the wall, Do-Wop continued, “Look, I’m… I’m really glad we got assigned together, even though, y’know, things didn’t work out at first. I’ve really learned a lot and it’s just, really nice to have…” He sighed and sunk down, “to have a friend. A real friend.”

The room was silent again. Finally Sushi made up his mind and spoke, “Do-Wop, I can’t just ignore what happened today,” Do-Wop started to open his mouth in protest, but Sushi was faster, raising his hand to stop him.

“I can’t ignore it, and I really want you to hear me out. The captain was right, I’ve had more fun in these past few months that probably my whole life.” He swallowed lightly, “You are, without a doubt, a very real friend to me now, and I’d do anything to protect that.”

“Do-Wop, do you like me?”

Do-Wop shifted on his bed, arms crossed across his chest. He looked around the room before his eyes finally came to rest on his partner. He cleared his throat a little in an attempt to clear his nerves. “Yeah, I-“ he exhaled, “yeah….”

Sushi nodded, more to himself than anything. “Alright.”

“What do you mean, ‘alright’? How is this alright?” Do-Wop was on the edge of the bed now, practically falling off. “I tell you something like…” he grasped desperately for words, “like, that, and all you can say is Alright?”

Sushi shook his head, “That’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?” Do-Wop demanded.

“I mean that it’s alright!” Sushi shouted. Do-Wop blinked, clearly taken aback at the sudden rise from his partner. “It’s fine, alright? I like you, too!” Jaw set, brow slightly furrowed, he stared straight at Do-Wop, hand poised in front of him, pointing at himself.

Do-Wop blinked again. “I-, um, I….. alright…..” They stared at each other again, in the same position as before, before a small bubble of laughter wormed its way out of Do-Wop’s throat, seemingly without permission. Sushi couldn’t help it and a small smile began to creep onto his face. The two started laughing in earnest then at the ridiculousness of the entire exchange.

It died down after a few minutes and they were suddenly very aware of their positions within the room. Sitting on the edge of their beds, directly across from each other, they shared a small smile. Finally Do-Wop raised his arms above his head and began to stretch with a slight groan.

“It’s very late,” Sushi said, “we should go to bed.” Do-Wop gave an exaggerated nod, “Yeah… that’s a good idea.” He moved himself back onto his bed lengthwise and slipped back under the covers.

He watched as Do-Wop stood up and began peeling off his uniform until he was left wearing his boxers and the loose tank-top they all wore underneath. Having successfully kicked the pile of clothing into a corner, Do-Wop turned and instead of walking back over to his bed, began to walk towards Sushi’s.

“What are you doing?” Do-Wop paused, “I’m sleepin’ with you, what’s it look like?” He got to Sushi’s bed and pulled up the covers. “Scootch over, man.”

Sushi didn’t say anything, but just moved as close to the wall as he could to let Do-Wop crawl in next to him. Do-Wop yawned and curled in on his side, still facing Sushi. “G’night, Soosh.”

“Goodnight, Do-Wop.” He blinked a little at the way his partner already seemed to be asleep. He’d have to talk to the captain about getting a bigger bed in the morning. Or maybe he wouldn’t, he thought, begin to drift off, maybe they’d be selfish and keep it to themselves for a while.