https://archiveofourown.org/works/85049791

It was something Sophist simply had to live with. Amongst the other quirks his magical body had like his gem that changed color depending on his emotions and his tendency to cough magical clouds when he became sick, he also had certain dark scars from years of practicing dark magic. They weren’t painful or anything, at least nowadays, so he paid them no mind for the longest time.

That was, until Zombie found out about these scars after seeing Sophist without his robes and flipped out.

“What the fuck are these?” Zombie asked. Sophist cringed even though he knew they didn’t mean any harm.

“Oh these? They’ve been there a long time. They’re nothing.” he looked away, avoiding their gaze as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Are they painful? Cause they’re all over the right side of your body.”

Sophist chuckled at their naivety. They were a studied wizard, knowing magic mostly through books and schooling. Meanwhile, he lived magic as a sorcerer, and he lived with these blemishes for most of his adult life.

However, he couldn’t blame them for worrying. They did look scary to the untrained eye, and his entire right half was practically covered in a dark, almost sooty color. His gem changed to a deep purple to reflect his worried state.

“Not really. I’ve gotten used to it.”

“You shouldn’t need to, Sophist,” they exclaimed, using their fingers to gently trace the dark spots. He winced from the touch, not knowing that it was sensitive there. “How long have you been hiding this from everyone?”

Sophist could almost hear the silent “from me” escaping from their mouth. He wanted to chuckle, but Zombie looked dead serious and it felt a little rude to be laughing at a time like this.

“Well, it’s pretty easy to hide something like this when you’ve got a long, flowy robe to wear.”

Unable to resist the temptation to jest, he added, “and the fact that no one really comes around here anyway helps.”

They didn’t react to the self-deprecating joke and instead shifted their focus onto the dark spots. He stared at them nervously as they grabbed his arm and wouldn’t let go, even as much as he tried to jerk out of their grasp. He started to wonder what they were going to do to him.

“Don’t you want them gone? I can try and find a spell to reverse the damage.”

“It’s unhealable,” he scoffed, still trying to escape. “I tried. Just let it be.”

“Let me try, Sophist,” they pleaded, grabbing his other hand and looking at him with this face that was truly irresistible to him. No wonder his plans always failed; he had this display to foil him every time. He wondered how he fought his feelings for so long.

“Fine. But I reserve every right to keep ignoring it if it doesn’t work.”

“It’ll work. Trust me.”

Sophist didn’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Zombie (who restored their mana a while ago) started to draw strange symbols over the dark areas. He wasn’t familiar with this kind of magic; it was unlike anything he had seen before, especially from them.

“What are you doing?” he asked, slightly panicked.

“I found some old scrolls detailing a different form of magic,” they rambled. “Supposedly it’s even closer to our world’s magic source than anything taught or commonly practiced. I think it’s called a glyph. And these glyphs should be able to heal any damage.”

As soon as they finished the last symbol, they tapped his body, and all of the symbols on his body started to glow a yellow light. He felt a weird sensation on the right side of his body; it was like he was being warmed up and cooled down at the same time.

When the symbols stopped glowing, it revealed that nothing changed, only reaffirming in Sophist’s mind that these were unhealable. Zombie frowned.

“Shoot, that one doesn’t work. Let me try again.”

“And do what? Waste your mana? Save your energy and face the facts. I’m unhealable.”

Sophist cringed, realizing how harshly he was speaking to Zombie. Gods, he felt like a monster; his dark scars only adding to that fact. Years of dark magic catching up to him, perhaps serving as a reminder that he wasn’t redeemable. Maybe the scars were a way of the universe telling him he was truly evil. Reminding him he was truly unloveable, and he didn’t deserve someone like them.

His gem glowed a dark blue, the room itself darkening because of it.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” they asked, placing a hand on his.

“Nothing you could understand, my love,” he grumbled, thunderclouds appearing in his mind.

“Let me try.”

“It’s rotten work. A fool’s errand to try.”

“Not for me. Not if it’s you.” They cupped his face in their hands and stared passionately into his darkened eyes.

Sophist sighed. They looked like they got over him yelling at them earlier, as they had a concerned look on their face right now. Their hands grabbed his and he just let them. His heart sank to the floor, and he settled into a slouch and frown.

“Why do you care so much about me?” he wondered out loud.

“Because you deserve it,” they replied, as if it was the simplest fact in the world.

“No, I don’t. I threatened to destroy countless villages. I- I start thunderstorms because I’m bored. I- I practiced fucking dark magic for the longest time. I hurt you and your town for so long. Why would someone like you care about me?”

“I don’t care about all that.” Their gaze softened. “What you might see as someone that’s irredeemable, I see as someone that’s hurting inside. Someone that needs someone to trust in a world that’s cast you away. Someone that, frankly, has a lot of love to give and none going towards them.”

Sophist couldn’t respond to that, as his heart was pounding in his ear and he could feel his attraction to Zombie growing by the second. In his lovey-dovey state, he fell forward, tucking his head into Zombie’s arms. Gods above, not only was he irredeemable, he was pathetic.

Zombie graciously took the hint, hugging him closer to their chest. He could hear their heart beating faster and felt the immense warmth coming off of their body. He took a second to just enjoy the embrace, letting himself go in their arms. Even if he did cry, they simply comforted him, allowing him to finally breathe for the first time in forever.

“Do you still love me even though I have these stupid scars?” he cried out, pain staining every word.

Zombie released from the hug to grab Sophist’s face and force him to look at them. Their gaze pierced through his eyes, and all he could see in those dark brown eyes was his own reflection. An ugly, brutal reflection.

“Sophist. I don’t care if you have these dark scars on your body. I love every single thing about you, no matter how ugly it might seem to you.”

He couldn’t believe it. How was it so simple for them to love him? How was it so simple for them to not care about his flaws? How was it so simple for them to not see an evil man before them?

Maybe years of propaganda about him really did get to him.

“Can I try again?” they offered.

Sophist wiped away his tears. His eyes were still puffy, but he gave them a smile anyway. “Okay.”

“Maybe I was using the wrong spell,” they thought out loud. “Cause that one was a healing glyph, but maybe I need to use one that can expel darkness.”

“A light spell?” he suggested. It was the only other good idea he had that day, at least in his mind.

They shrugged. “Well, it was either that or a fire spell, but I like your idea better.”

He grimaced; the idea of him getting spontaneously combusted like he had done to so many before was so painfully ironic he had to recoil back.

They carefully drew different symbols on the affected area; he was still nervous about seeing such strange magic being performed on him. They finished the last glyph and tapped Sophist’s body. The glyphs lit up in the same yellow hue, though this time he felt different from last time. It was less of a hot and cold situation and more just a comforting feeling. Like he was being given toad’s tea on a rainy day. Or like the same feeling Zombie gave him all the time, just amplified.

As soon as the light show finished, the dark spots on Sophist’s body faded away, revealing his true body underneath. The evil within him was gone. He was no longer a monster, at least on the outside.

Perhaps he wasn’t as evil on the inside as he thought either.

Sophist hugged them this time in celebration, a rush of joy flowing through him. He laid down on the bed behind him, dragging Zombie down with him, both of them in hysterics. Then, he just stared at them, them staring right back with a smile.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“I’m looking at a man who thought he was evil but was proven wrong by a ‘skill-less wizard’.”

He rolled his eyes affectionately. “That was a long time ago.”

“Is five months ago really that a long time to you?”

“Yes,” he said, closing his eyes to rest.

“Do you love me?” they asked after a bit of silence.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been affirming you all day today, but I do have to ask if you love me.”

He rolled his eyes again. “Of course, I fucking love you. And not for healing the scars on me, though I thank you for that. I love you because you believe in me. I love you because of how kind, caring, and patient you are. I love you because you are love.”

Zombie smiled brightly at him. The same bright smile that entered his life not so long ago. The same bright smile that reaffirmed in his mind that good people were in the world. The same bright smile that was the light of his life for all that time. The same bright smile he fell for all that time ago. 

They then tapped his chest with a giggle.

“What?” he giggled back.

“You’re shirtless. Aren’t you supposed to have a robe, Mr. Sorcerer?”

“You could join me. Maybe we could… put our love to the test?”

“Well, good thing I never fail tests,” they smirked.

Zo was too anxious to focus during math, which was a shame because it was during one of their favorite units.

They got a text from Noah a while back, simply stating, “meet me in the janitor’s closet after 4th period”. No amount of protest could ever get Noah to tell them why, which terrified them. Their rivalry was generally a light-hearted one, and while they made jokes often in jest, Zo was seriously worried they took things too far. They couldn’t think of any reason specifically, but they weren’t exactly known for knowing when they said something wrong.

Class let out and they were all released into the halls for their next class, though for Zo, their next class was not their next destination. They debated on ditching Sophist and just going to lunch, but they couldn’t do that when he was acting this serious about it. They took a deep breath and opened the door to find Sophist staring intently at the doorway, arms crossed.

“You finally showed up.”

“It was a long way from my math class, okay?” they whined.

“Okay, whatever,” he rolled his eyes, blowing a stray hair out of his face in a way that stabbed Zo's heart. “I’m just glad you could show up.”

Zo looked around the old janitor’s closet, filled to the brim with various cleaning supplies and lit with a flickering lamp that barely lit either of them up. If Zo didn’t know any better, they would’ve thought Noah was there to kill them. Which they felt like they deserved, even though they didn’t know what they would’ve done to deserve it in the first place.

“Why here of all places?” Zo wondered, tilting their head in curiosity.

Noah scoffed, looking away from them. “It was the most private place I could think of.”

Zo rolled their eyes. “You could’ve just invited me to your place. We hang out in your room all the time.”

Noah groaned, rolling his eyes again. 

Now, Zo wasn’t often well-equipped to understand social cues. It very well could have been the reason they were here in the first place. But they could’ve sworn that there were multiple instances of Noah trying and failing to find the right words to say. Call it a hunch.

It went on like this for a solid minute before Zo spoke up and said, “Okay, are you going to tell me why you needed a private place or are you just gonna give me the silent treatment?”

“Shut up!” Noah exclaimed. “I’m thinking.”

“Not thinking fast enough,” they jabbed, unable to resist the obvious joke. “Come on, I wanna eat.”

His face scrunched, and Zo could swear there was a hint of a blush creeping up on his face. “I’m trying. It’s… hard.”

Zo looked down to take the pressure off of their rival before noticing the massive boner Noah had on display. He was wearing really tight pants too, so it wasn’t like he could hide it. They smirked, finally understanding part of what was going on.

“I can see that,” they said, stepping closer with a smug expression on their face.

Noah slightly panicked, stepping back before realizing that he couldn’t due to how small the room was.

“I thought you were mad.”

“I am!” he grunted. “Why do you think I wanna talk to you?” 

“Oh yeah?” Zo said, grabbing the bulge staring at them the entire time. “Then what’s this?”

Noah groaned. “A hate boner!”

Zo pointed at Noah’s face. “Yeah, then what about your flushed complexion?”

“It’s… really hot in here, okay?”

 “Then what about-”

Zo couldn’t finish their sentence because Noah kissed them straight on the lips. It was a long kiss too, one that had Zo pinned up against the wall and yearning for more when the two of them let go.

“So you aren’t mad,” Zo sighed dreamily.

“I guess not,” Noah hummed, licking his lips.

“Then why did you ask me to come here?” they asked, playing dumb.

“Because I wanted to tell you I like you, idiot,” he countered with a dumb smile.

“Why didn’t you just say that?”

“Because I couldn’t find the right words. And I felt stupid trying to tell you. But yeah, I like you.”

“As a friend?”

“No, dumbass,” he groaned, rolling his eyes fondly. “I like like you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” he blushed.

“Well, I think I like like you too." they blushed back, hiding their face in their sleeves.

“You think?” he asked, feigning taking offense.

They kissed him on the mouth, making his smile even brighter.

“Shut up, stupid. Why do you think I beat myself up before coming here because I thought you were mad at me?”

“You did that? Shit, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” they reassured him, smiling brightly. “I’m glad this is how it turned out, at least.”

They both stared at each other, then at the door for way too long.

“You wanna go get lunch now?” he offered.

“Nah," they replied, staring down at his lips. "I’ve got all the food I want right here.”

They made out in that closet for god knows how long. When they emerged to finally get something to eat, both of them came out of there breathless, blushing, and wanting more. Perhaps the rivalry could be put behind them, though knowing them, they’d be the same doofuses they were then, just kissing sometimes as well. 

THIS IS A SMUTTY FIC AND A SELF-INSERT ONE AT THAT PLS DO NOT READ ON IF YOU'RE NOT INTO THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Zo came home after tennis practice, throwing their bag to the floor and flopping on the bed whilst drowning in their own sweat. Meanwhile, their friend Noah walked in and stood in the center of the room, chuckling to himself. Both of them needed to be working on homework right about now, but Zo was simply too tired and Noah was too distracted to even think about school.

“I thought you didn’t want to dirty up your sheets,” he remarked, tone light and giggly.

“I’ll only be here for a second,” they replied. “I just… need to rest.”

“There are other things you could be laying on, you know.”

Their ears perked up, and they turned to face Noah with intensity behind their eyes. “Enlighten me. What could I possibly be want to lay down on that isn’t this soft bed?”

Noah blushed slightly, already caught in a lie. “There’s the floor. Or the wall. Or some of your plushies.”

Zo gasped, feigning taking offense. “I would never lay on my babies with gross hair. That’s even worse than laying on my bed!”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Okay, well then, do the floor or a wall.”

“I’d rather just lean on your shoulder,” they muttered without thinking, though they immediately shut their mouth when they realized what they said.

Noah, meanwhile, was trying to hide the fact that he blushed at that and wanted to play it off and tease them.

“Nah, I think the floor would be a better option.”

“Why’s that?” they asked, now trying for innocence.

His face burned, the pressure being put on him again.

“Cold,” was all he said.

Zo’s eyes narrowed, trying to burn a hole in his forehead, but they eventually gave up and looked toward their bag.

“We should probably get started on homework,” they sighed.

“Yeah,” he agreed, mentally relaxing.

They reached for their phone, ready to check the time, when all of the sudden, Noah grabbed their phone and held it above them.

“Hey, give it back!”

“You shouldn’t be using this, remember?” he lectured. “You told me how much it distracted you.”

“I just need to check the time!” they yelled, jumping for it each time. Unfortunately for them, Noah had quite the height advantage against them, so there was no way they could reach the phone with how he was holding it now.

“That’s what you always say!”

“I really do need to check the time right now!”

“Get a watch, then!”

They fought like this for a while, eventually taking the fight to the floor with a soft thump, though no heads were hurt, thankfully. Zo tried their best to reach for the phone in the various positions Noah put it in, while he did his best to push Zo away and move it in obnoxious ways.

Eventually, though, he pinned them to the floor, one hand grabbing both of their hands while the other held their phone high in the air.

“Gotcha,” he panted, trying to catch his breath again.

It was only then that he realized the position he had over Zo and blue-screened. Zo just looked so undeniably pretty like that. They had to take their glasses off in the mess, which meant that he could see their beautiful cocoa eyes in all of their glory. And the way the sweat beads glistened in the light made them look like a movie star. He just wanted to-

Zo took the opportunity to turn Noah over, reversing their roles without much extra effort. Despite their obvious size difference, Zo definitely was the stronger of the two, considering just how much they went to the gym outside of practice. So it was no surprise to them that Noah was easy to flip over.

What surprised them was just how hot Noah looked when he was like this. They knew he looked good sweaty; they always got a good look at him like that after every practice. But the way his hair was messed up from the perfect curls they usually were to the way his sea green eyes sparkled was just so tantalizing to them. The fact that Noah sweated enough to make his uniform partially see-through wasn’t helping matters, either.

They continued wrestling with each other for control, not even caring about the phone at that moment. Their laughs echoed in Zo’s room, neither of them taking each other seriously. Eventually, though, they came to a stop, staring at each other deeply, laying on their sides and panting to catch their breaths.

“Do you like me?” they both said at the exact same time, causing them to burst into hysterics.

When they finally came to, they couldn’t stop smiling at each other, staring deeper into each other’s eyes, blushing more and more until both of their faces were flushed with red.

“How long have you-“ Zo started.

“For a while,” Noah chuckled. “I didn’t realize it before, but, yeah. For a while.”

“I- Since, like- forever!” they giggled.

“And you never…?” said anything.

“No! I thought you were-“ straight.

“I thought you-“ didn’t want anything.

So much left unsaid. So much they didn’t tell. But nothing else needed to be said. They both rolled away from each other, looking up at the ceiling for a respite.

Zo slowly inched their hand toward Noah’s, making sure every step of the way that he was comfortable with it. Noah said nothing, tensing up slightly but ultimately relaxing into the hold. They grabbed each other’s hands, rubbing thumbs, all while not saying a word. Because they didn’t need to.

They kissed for what felt like forever. Zo never wanted to let go. Noah wanted to forget all about the homework they had that night and just continue loving their best friend- no.