Echo

Dox was taken aback, watching their partner’s face in a shocked silence. As he sat speechless, Amir continued his explanation, “I’ve been told plenty of times growing up— ‘Amir, you’re too much’, ‘Amir, sit still’, ‘Quiet down’, ‘You’re so weird’… Where other kids liked football and sports, or were interested in cars like my dad… I was the video game nerd who knew how to code before I knew how to write. I’m… Broken.”

Silence echoed between the two as the last word was allowed into the air. Dox’s heart ached for his love. They knew what it was like to be the odd one out. To be different. He shifted slowly, fingers resting gently on the protoframe’s chin as he tilted Amir’s head to face him. They removed the man’s glasses, setting them aside to gently trace the intricate scars trailing down his cheeks like tears.

“Oh, my love… Someone’s inability to love you doesn’t make you unloveable.”

He drew in a breath, glancing to the side. He hadn’t spoken about this since Duviri… But they trusted Amir. And he felt comfortable being vulnerable to his love. He settled down against Amir, resting his head against the man’s shoulder.

“I get it, you know… What we both went through was very different, but… Both of us were… Not what people considered ‘normal’.”

At the questioning look Amir gave him, he continued to speak, “Before the void jump… The man in the wall… Duviri… I was just a kid. But I was… Sick. Always in and out of the medical bay, weak and small… An easy target. Mom and dad couldn’t do much about the bullying, cause they had to focus on convincing the Orokin not to declare me ‘unfit for the colony’ or whatever… And if they had time away from that, they were arguing over me. And Solar tried their best, but… Y’know. I could see the weight on their shoulders too.”

He paused, pulling in a breath. They felt Amir’s arm, wrapped around his frame, shifting to hold him closer. More intimately. Providing Dox with a comforting warmth and allowing him to keep going, “I was the defective one. Felt like a burden, and kept wondering if I was worth putting the resources towards. Then the jump happened… I made the deal… And got left behind. And that… Kinda solidified it for me. I wasn’t worth it. I was alone, and I deserved to be alone. I wasn’t meant to know love…”

They blinked back the mist in his eyes that threatened to let tears spill. With a shaky breath, he turned to face Amir— gaze into those stormy gray eyes that they swore crackled with electricity ever so slightly. Like a thunderstorm in the distance. His cool pale skin met Amir’s warm brown, as he cupped the man’s cheek with a hand, “But I do know love. I found a family, I found a partner. People who showed me every day that being different doesn’t make me broken. We are not broken, Amir. We need help sometimes, and we think differently than most people but… We’re both still worthy of love.”

Amir said nothing, and he didn’t have to. Dox could see the way his lips curled into a gentle smile, while his brows furrowed lightly and his eyes glistened with tears. The tenno didn’t speak further, only leaning in to press their lips against his. The touch was tender and full of warmth, a light static tingling on his flesh from the protoframe’s eternal current. He felt a hand lace into his pale blond hair and rest on the back of his head— and soon Dox slung their leg across the man to rest on his lap, hands tangling into Amir’s own soft black hair. The moment lasted for some time, yet felt too short for either of the boys’ liking. Dox rested his forhead against Amir, breathing in every bit of him in a calm silence.

“Thank you for loving me… All of me…” Amir’s voice was low and loving, dripping with sincerity and bliss. He huffed in a short laugh, a sly grin coming to his face, “Every wrinkle in my brain feels loved loved loved.”

A snort left the tenno, amusement in his elated expression as he gently scritched at his love’s hair, “I’m glad we’re together…”

“Mmm, you are tempting me right now, kitten,” Dox knew exactly what that little grin meant, and his expression sharpened in anticipation. They chuckled lowly, pressing his lips against his loves cheek. Then jaw. Then neck. Head lifting to lean in to Amir’s ear, they murmured soft words to his love.

“Perhaps you should indulge then, puppy…”

“Don’t mind if I do…”

Not much was left to be said as they were swept into the moment once again. The evening was quiet, the Hex were lounging in their respective spaces… A perfect night for intimacy. Soft and gentle perhaps— light touch and tender embrace, content in the company they kept together. Or maybe one would rather a night passion— a blazing need for carnal satisfaction, intense desire to know one another in ways that only they could.

Yes, it was a good night for softness and passion.