Work Text:
Drip
Drip
Drip
Rindo let out a groan as the sound of water droplets echoed through his dorm. With it raining more often than not lately, the blond had been hearing mentions of leaks from the other students on campus. Rindo supposed it was now his turn to suffer, but felt too lazy to go up and check the leak. He was relaxing on the couch, mindlessly scrolling through social media, but couldn’t see the source of the leak from there.
As he went further and further down his feed, he saw a post Shoka had uploaded a few days ago. It was a picture of her, Rindo, Nagi and Fret. They’d gone to see a new film adaptation of an EleStra chapter. Rindo didn’t play it, but Shoka and Fret had long since joined Nagi and were now also fans of the game. The blond would be lying if he said he was interested in the movie, but Fret had asked him to go. How could he have possibly refused?
A faint blush spread across the boy’s cheeks. Just thinking about Fret made Rindo’s heart skip a beat. Fret’s big grin in the post didn’t help calm Rindo’s emotions either. As the blond came to realize, Fret’s laughter was genuinely contagious to him. He couldn't help but feel happy whenever the brunette was happy. Rindo was sure Shoka and Nagi knew about his obvious crush, considering how the two would give knowing stares towards the blond during their outings. Rindo didn’t dare to confess his feelings though, he didn’t want to risk his friendship with Fret. The fact that they were roommates only complicated things.
Laying his phone on the couch, Rindo closed his eyes and sighed. In a way he regretted agreeing to share a dorm room with Fret. Sure, having familiar company helped stave off the loneliness. And having Fret around helped keep the intrusive thoughts away. And Fret was cute. And Fret was a pretty good roommate, generally doing his share of the chores like they agreed to. And Fret would take care of him whenever he was sick. And Fret kept things lively. And he was cute. Did Rindo mention he was cute?
Okay, so maybe he didn’t regret being roommates with him.
Fuck my life, I’m so down bad.
As if the universe was playing a cruel joke on him, Rindo’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the dorm’s door swinging open. Rindo turned his face around to look towards the door only to see-
“Heya, Rindude!”
Rindo casually greeted back as Fret walked in. He was wearing sweatpants, along with a tank top that showed off his, in Rindo’s humble opinion, very nice arms. The blond made a mental note thanking Beat for going to the gym with Fret over the past year.
“Man, I really worked up an appetite back there. Do we have anything ready to reheat?”
“I don’t think so. We could stop by Justice Burger in a bit. I don’t really feel like cooking right now.”
“Awesome! I’ll go shower and freshen up a bit first.”
Rindo nodded in agreement. He forced himself to get up to go and change into something more presentable. As he entered his bedroom, he found the dreaded source of the leak he had been hearing. Except, there wasn’t just one leak, there were two holes in the ceiling. One was dropping water on the floor, away from anything important, but the noise was taunting Rindo, like a metronome from hell.
The other leak however, had been falling directly on his bed. He would’ve acted on this earlier, but the sound of the water droplets hitting his mattress were masked by the louder impacts of the other leak. Rindo groaned in annoyance, but quickly pushed his bed out of the way. He grabbed the now soaked covers and took them to a basket to dry. A few online searches later, Rindo was no closer to finding a solution. The blond could leave the covers to dry in sunlight or take them to a laundromat, but Rindo had no choice but to wait out until his mattress dried.
Rindo peered at the time on his phone. Shit. He had been too preoccupied with the leak that he had almost forgotten what he had come to his bedroom for. When he quickly put his sweater on, Rindo couldn’t find his coat anywhere. After quickly searching his bedroom and the shared part of their dorm, he had turned up empty. In hindsight, the blond would argue his next decision was made due to the combined stress of the leak, the rush that he was in to not make Fret wait and the hunger pangs he had begun feeling.
So, in his infinite wisdom, Rindo decided to search the bathroom.
And as luck would have it, the door was unlocked.
Upon entering, Rindo saw Fret neatly combing over his hair. Fret however, had just stepped out of the shower, and was wearing nothing but a towel over his waist. His body was still damp from the shower. His now glistening skin highlighted his developing pectorals. Droplets of water made their way past his chest and down Fret’s stomach, as if taunting Rindo, and through the ridges of the brunette’s faint abs. Rindo knew he shouldn’t be staring at his best friend, but his self control was slipping fast. Before Rindo could even formulate a proper sentence, apologies started coming out of his mouth as he turned around and practically sprang out of the bathroom.
“Wait, fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
Fret didn’t even get a chance to reply as Rindo crawled onto the sofa, his hands around his face, hiding his beet red face. Great. Now I’m making things awkward. Hope he doesn’t think I’m a creep or something. Luckily for Rindo, Fret didn’t seem to mind the attention, as he came out of the bathroom fully clothed a few minutes later with an almost amused smile.
“Don’t sweat it, Rindo! Stuff like that happens once in a while, right? How about we just go enjoy those burgers?”
With a smile, Rindo nodded in agreement. He could never turn down Fret regardless of what happens.
Fret was rubbing off on him, he supposed.
“Ahh, that hit the spot, don’t you think, Rindude?”
“Yeah, we should go there more often. The food wasn’t that expensive either.”
The two had returned to their dorm with full stomachs and wide smiles on their faces. Fret must’ve been famished considering how much he ate. Though Rindo supposed it must’ve been all the calories he had spent at the gym. Fret certainly seemed tired, with him constantly yawning. During their conversations at Justice Burger, the topic of the leak came up. Fret didn’t hesitate to offer to share his bed with Rindo, though the blond was a bit more hesitant. He’d prefer his chances on the sofa then sharing a bed with his totally-not-a-crush roommate.
“I know it’s a bit early for you, but I think I’m gonna hit the hay. Offer still stands though, okay?”
“Mhm.”
After Fret retreated into his bedroom, Rindo noted how Fret didn’t bother locking his bedroom door. Changing into a loose shirt and shorts, Rindo fell back onto the couch with a groan. Saying this was a bad day wouldn’t be completely accurate, but it was definitely eventful in Rindo’s eyes. The blond tried laying down on his side while having a pillow support his head near the armrest. He’d just browse on his phone for a bit until he falls asleep from exhaustion. Simple as that.
It wasn’t that simple.
Rindo swore that the sofa had never felt this hard before, but he just couldn’t fall asleep. It didn’t help that there wasn’t any thermostat outside of the bedrooms, so Rindo had to deal with the very uncomfortable heat.
This isn’t working…
With a frustrated sigh, Rindo got off the sofa, using his phone’s light to see in the dark room. Reluctantly, he made his way towards Fret’s room. Gently pushing the door open, Rindo could see the brunette sleeping on the side of his bed, clearly leaving room for him. The blond smiled at his roommate’s thoughtfulness. While he was nervous at the prospect of sleeping with sleeping next to Fret (and the fact that Fret slept only in pajama pants didn’t help things), he found himself at ease seeing Fret’s sleeping form. His normally excited features were soft and relaxed, helping calm Rindo’s nerves.
This isn’t fair. How are you so cute all the time?
Quietly, Rindo slipped underneath the covers and laid next to Fret. The blond’s cheeks were warm to the touch given the situation, and he absolutely felt butterflies in his stomach. Rindo’s pining was interrupted by Fret fidgeting in his sleep. Rindo wondered if he was dreaming, but he didn’t want to potentially wake up Fret, so he turned his back towards the brunette to try and catch some sleep. As he closed his eyes, he could feel the covers shuffling around again and Fret’s voice barely echoed out through the quiet room.
“Rindo…Why won’t you…”
Hmm? Is Fret dreaming about me?
Rindo couldn’t fall asleep even if he wanted to, he had gotten curious. On one hand, he didn’t want to intrude on his best friend’s privacy. On the other, he was curious about Fret’s murmuring.
Before Rindo could turn to face Fret again, he felt a pair of arms gently cling around his midriff. Rindo’s heart started to race out of a mix of anxiety, nervousness and excitement. The brunette’s arms felt strong, Rindo could feel the effort Fret had been putting into his workouts. Though Rindo didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, on the contrary, he felt safe in Fret’s arms. Fret’s faint murmurs snapped Rindo out of his trance as he listened in.
“...are you?...Do you…me back…?”
Wait. What?
Rindo’s heart stopped as his mind did a double take. Did he hear that right? Fret was asking his dream self whether he liked him back. Fret asked him whether he liked him back. Fret liked him.
Like like liked him.
Needless to say, that ended up being a very long night for the former proxy.
As the first rays of sunlight beamed through the window, Fret started to open his tired eyes. He remembered having an interesting dream the night before. But what he didn’t remember was hugging the target of said dream in their sleep. Said target was also wide awake at this point, and glaring at the brunette with flushed cheeks.
“Ah- Good morning Rindo… Sorry about that, I move around in my sleep sometimes and-”
“Shut up…”
Fret’s eyes widened in surprise. Did he go too far this time? He really hadn’t wanted to make Rindo uncomfortable, he just wanted him to have a good night’s sleep and he fucked it up. Before Fret could start to apologize, Rindo continued with…tears in his eyes?
“You can’t just walk around with that big dumb smile of yours, that stupid laugh, those dumb muscles and your beautiful eyes thinking I’m not desperately in love with you..!”
“H-huh?”
“I heard you, you know, talking in your sleep all night like that… You were dreaming about me, weren’t you, Fret?”
Now it was Fret’s turn to blush. He wasn’t just saying those things in his dreams, he was actually saying them, too. He finally worked up the courage to confess to Rindo in his dreams and he ended up blurting it out in reality as well. And Rindo heard it. All of it.
“You can’t just say stuff like that, Rindo..! You aren’t exactly a pro at sending clear messages…”
Rindo’s eyes slanted in disapproval for a bit, but his features quickly softened as a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“Let’s just agree that we’re both idiots this time and I’ll forgive you.”
Fret reciprocated with his trademark grin. It had all worked out in the end, even if it didn’t go to plan. Rindo always liked him back. It was obvious in hindsight, but Fret guessed that Rindo’s indecisiveness might’ve rubbed off on him this time.
“So, does that make us boyfriends, or…”
Rindo rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe his friend boyfriend sometimes. The blond decided to be uncharacteristically forward with his approach, now that he knew his feelings were reciprocated. Pushing himself up with one of his arms, he leaned in towards Fret’s face, looking down towards his lips. It didn’t take long for Fret to pick up his signal and to lean forwards and share their first kiss.
Fret chuckled lightly when he pulled back and saw Rindo’s nervous expression. In turn, Rindo saw Fret’s dumb beaming grin, as if he was the luckiest person in the world now. It would take a while for them to get used to their new relationship, but it all worked out in the end.
“Sooo, what does Tamarindo mean?”
“Ugh, you heard that too..?”
It was Fret’s turn to anxiously blush as Rindo recalled the pet names the brunette had inadvertently given him last night in his sleep, while Rindo’s face wore the most satisfied shit-eating grin. They could get used to this.
All in all,
Sharing a bed wasn’t that bad.