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Ted is just out of the shower when Booster lands gracefully on his balcony. Ted rolls his eyes when he sees him, but he’s opening the doors before Booster gets the chance to wrap gently against the glass.
“Oh goodie, another Booster,” he greets sarcastically, but there’s a strange softness to it.
“Wanna hang out?” Booster asks, as he proceeds to enter Ted’s home and make himself comfortable.
“Sure” Ted says “it’s not like I have a job or anything” it’s sarcastic, again, but also a little playful, like he’s ready for Booster to call him on the fact that he was already hanging around his house at 2pm on a Tuesday.
Booster just raises a brow.
“What?” Ted says defensively, “I was dropping you off at the airport.”
Ted grabs two beers from the fridge and ushers Booster to the living room sofa. Booster can see Ted observing him from the corner of his eye. As planned he’s taking in the lack of self-tanner, the retro suit, and the slightly different part. Ted likes to pretend he knows what time frame Booster is from right away, but he never actually reveals it until Booster has been visiting for a while. That’s because he’s gathering data and playing it close to his chest until he knows he’s right, then he just acts like he’s known everything all along.
This is something Booster is counting on for his prank.
Only… Only Booster doesn’t really feel like setting it up right now. There’s a certain easiness to this visit that hasn’t been present in the interactions for a while now. Booster kind of just wants to hang out with his friend.
And isn’t that sad? He has to pretend to be himself from another era just to get his best friend to stop pushing him away and he doesn’t even know what he’s doing to make Ted so damn on edge these days.
“Wanna watch TV?” Ted asks, already reaching for the remote.
And Booster surprises himself by saying, “Nah, show me what you’re working on in there.” He points to the entrance to Ted’s home office. Something about Ted’s demeanor today makes Booster want to make him happy. He feels like he can try to make Ted happy without them breaking into an argument or a painful loop of back and forth criticism.
Ted ducks his head a little shyly and maybe even blushes? But that doesn’t seem right.
“Sure,” he says.
So then Ted shows him the modifications to Booster’s own gloves that he’s making and explains the process for re-sewing the future tech fabric without messing with the circuitry. And as expected, it’s easy, no miscommunications, no wounded feelings.
“Actually” Beetle says, taking Booster’s gloved hand in his own, “I wonder if I can see…”
Booster snatches his hand away, “no peeking!”
“I mean sure but, I’m going to do it anyway might as well get a hint” Ted takes Booster’s hand once again, except this time Booster pulls the gloves off and tosses them across the room. He absent mindedly returns his hand to Ted’s grasp and Ted accepts it. So now they’re just holding hands.
It’s weird.
Ted turns Booster’s hand over in his, he traces the lines of his palm, trails his fingers across the bones in Booster’s wrist.
It’s wonderful.
“I know you’re from less than 5 years into my future” Ted says, almost in a whisper. He traces a circle just at the base of Booster’s palm, “There’s a scar you’ll get -nothing serious- just right here” he kisses the spot. Not a peck, but a kiss, a nice warm press of lips to skin.
Booster’s stomach does a backflip and he can feel his heart racing. Instinctively he wants to deflect, break the tension, but he doesn’t give into that fear. He really wants for this to play out.
Ted steps forward, close, and runs his fingers through Booster’s hair, he smirks to himself “and your hair isn’t thinning yet”
“Hey!”
Ted Bwahahahas at Booster’s expense and it’s still the most beautiful laugh Booster has ever heard. Something tight in Booster’s chest snaps and he starts to laugh along. It feels great, just to laugh with his best friend again. And then Ted is pulling him closer and Booster follows easily before he even knows what’s happening and suddenly they’re laughing against each other's lips. Laughing into a kiss.
Ted’s smiling lips are thin and tight at first, but they relax into a soft pleasant pucker.
Ted licks at the seal of Booster’s mouth and slides his tongue against Booster’s own.
Ted bites Booster’s bottom lip exactly the way Booster likes it.
Booster is floored.
Kissing Ted is everything he had never admitted he wanted. Booster whines a little into Ted’s mouth and pulls him closer. Their bodies are flush together and Booster is consumed by Ted’s scent, the softness of his hair between his fingers, the solidness of him just being so close to Booster.
Booster deepens the kiss and puts everything into it, the longing and desire, the joy, the love he has for Ted.
Ted moans and grabs at Booster’s ass almost gently, with his other hand he pulls a little at Booster’s hair in a way that Booster didn’t know he’d like but really really does.
Booster feels like he’s on fire. Beautiful, gleeful fire. He pulls away to kiss at Ted’s neck and he’s mumbling nonsense about how much he wants Ted how much he needs him and how he can’t believe they’ve waited this long.
It isn’t until Ted says “Booster” firmly, in a cold and detached voice that Booster realizes how rigid Ted has gone in his arms.
“Ted?”
“I want you to let go of me please”
Booster does, and a sick sludgy feeling of dread settles in his abdomen. “What’s wrong?”
Ted sighs and with it he deflates a little. The coldness is gone but it’s replaced by defeat “Is this the first time we’ve kissed for you?”
Booster gapes “What? of course it i- oh”
Oh.
And it clicks. The easiness to their interactions, the warmth Ted’s been showing toward him. The blushing, Ted being the perfect kisser - the perfect kisser for him. This isn’t Ted’s first time kissing him.
“What the hell?” he asks.
And Ted shrugs, he’s clearly pissed off about something but the more Booster thinks about it the more he feels like he should be the one who's pissed.
“You’ve been having an affair with future me this whole time?” and it’s stupid, because it’s him but it’s also not him, he hasn’t gotten to experience it yet. And the idea that Ted can go around treating him like crap, complaining about Booster’s every move when he’s also apparently sleeping with future him… well it hurts. What’s so bad about present him that Ted wants to push him away but seeks out him from another timeline?
Ted shrugs again, detached “I don’t know, it’s not like future you comes by that often.”
“Ted” Booster feels pleading, he needs more information, he needs something to make this better.
Ted sighs “Look, it’s stupid okay, I should never have trusted future you anyway,” his voice breaks a little with emotion, “or any version of you.”
Booster is angry, and so is Ted, but Ted’s also got tears welling up in his eyes, getting ready to fall, and he’s turning away so Booster can’t see his face. Booster just, he’s so lost anyway and Ted is his best friend. So he puts the anger aside.
“Teddy” he says softly, “what’s wrong?” Tentatively he puts a hand on Ted’s cheek and gently guides Ted to look back at him.
Ted sniffles, “I don’t want to ruin the timeline.”
Booster laughs, “I don’t want to ruin us.” He pulls Ted closer into him, praying Ted will just accept the hug. He does, and it’s comforting how Ted’s tension dissipates as he simply melts into Booster’s arms.
Fuck, Booster loves him so much. He wants to say it, but holds it back, not knowing if it’ll just complicate whatever the hell is going on. Instead he says “Tell me what’s going on, screw the timestream just this once.”
Ted rests his chin on Booster's shoulder and lets out a sigh that Booster can feel all throughout Ted’s body. “One time future you came to visit, I don’t know how far, but a good deal older. And we got drunk and, I don’t know, you slipped that future me and you were together. And one thing led to another and it just became a thing. When we do get together, in my timeline, I must tell you everything because most future Boosters know I know.”
Ted pauses and pulls at a loose thread at the shoulder of Booster’s suit. Booster cararesses loving circles into Ted’s back. Booster isn’t even surprised to hear that he’a going to end up with Ted, he’s mostly just satisfied. Relieved it lasts, content that they have a happy ending at some point. But it still doesn’t make a lot of sense to Booster, why Ted is so emotionally distant if he knows they end up together. “But what’s the matter now Teddy?”
Ted buries his face into Boosters neck, it must help him to hide his face “You’ve, well future you, has told me that my Booster isn’t ready for us to get together for a long while” Ted’s voice turns melancholy and Booster can imagine the frown Ted’s hiding into his neck “It’s just so draining Boost. At first I was hopeful, and happy y’know, but present you is just so oblivious. He’s in Miami with fucking Gladys right now! But I still thought it would be soon you know? But I know you must be a ways off from my time -you hate that suit right now, and you’d feel naked these days without a tan- and it’s just” Ted’s voice turns small “I can’t believe it takes so long for you to love me back.”
Booster can’t help but whimper at that, he pulls Ted into a desperate kiss. He pours all of his love into it, slow and needy. He trails his hands soothingly all over Ted’s body. He pulls away and promises “I do love you, I love you so damn much, Ted I want you in every way and you’re right, I didn’t see it, but I always have.”
Ted’s tears finally fall, “then go back to your Ted and tell him. Fuck, I don’t care what I’m doing just stop me and ravish me against the nearest flat surface. Please Boost, don’t make me wait any longer.”
Booster pulls away and smiles “yes, I will!” He kisses Ted one last time.
“Go.” Ted says, reluctantly separating himself from Booster.
And Booster walks out the door.
He’s so damn happy. Ted loves him, and he gets to surprise Ted by revealing that he loves him back now.
First he thinks about going home, fixing his hair and tanner, changing his suit. He could pretend he had a revelation and flew back right away. …But then he thinks about Ted thinking that he needs to wait years for him, and suddenly even an hour seems too long.
He turns on his heels and knocks on Ted's door.
“Right, your forgot your gloves, I’ll get them” Ted says when he opens the door, avoiding eye contact.
Booster stops Ted with a hand at his wrist “So, you know how pranks can sometimes get out of hand…”
“Yeah?” Ted confirms, confused.
“And sometimes you pretend to go on vacation with your elderly ex but instead change your appearance and pretend to be from the future to trick your friend into thinking he retired, married Guy Gardener, and has 7 miserable red headed little tikes running around.”
“Booster, what?”
“And sometimes, instead of following through with the prank you just realize you're an idiot in love with your best friend?”
“What?”
“I’m not from the future Teddy, I’m from right now and right now I need to tell you I love you and ravish you against the nearest flat surface. Understand?”
Booster raises his eyebrows pointedly at Ted and he can see the exact moment his confusion shifts into understanding. “You asshole, are you really my Booster?”
Booster laughs “I made you drive me to the airport for nothing!”
Ted playfully hits Booster’s shoulder and the two of them laugh together. A relieved, doubled over, draped across one another laugh.
And when it’s over Booster says “I love you, Teddy” and kisses him.