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“You are such a fucking ass, Regect, I swear to god—”
Ze’s forearm pushes against Regect’s face. Regect growls, “Ow! Watch your fuckin’ elbow, dude!”
“I’m not watching anything.” Ze hisses, jamming a knee into his side. Regect curses loudly. “I can’t watch anything because it’s dark. Because you boxed us in a fucking hole.”
“I saved your ass!” Regect says, because, well it’s true. Ze took a nasty fall and just as luck had it, a skeleton appeared, backing them into a corner with Ze one arrow away from meeting his maker. Could Regect have teleported them out of there? Yes. Could he have killed the skeleton? Easily. But the point is that Regect panicked.
He set down two of the blocks he’d been messing around with beforehand, caging them in and successfully saving Ze from getting hit. The problem is that those blocks happened to be obsidian.
The hole is— not big. Not really. It keeps them awkwardly pressed together in several places. Regect has to duck his head down to even fit at all. Their legs tangle together messily because Ze keeps shifting in place, trying to find a position that grants him the furthest possible distance from Regect, which in their current predicament, is, at most, four inches.
Ze’s head falls back, giving up. He’s pointedly looking away, refusing to meet where Regect’s face should be above him. Regect's claws rest on either side of Ze’s head, trying to help ease the distance between their torsos because, fuck, Regect’s not evil, and he doesn’t want to make Ze more uncomfortable than he already is. Especially because it’s half, maybe, slightly, his fault. “At least like, spawn me in a pickaxe, or something.”
“If I wanted you to skewer yourself, I would.” Reject sighs, “Hold on.”
> moe
> plz help
< 📯📯?
> stuck with idiot
> sending u coords
< 📯📯📯 !!
“There,” Regect says, smugly. “Got Moe to come for us. You’re welcome, by the way. Second time I’ve saved your ass tonight.”
Ze doesn’t say anything. Regect frowns. He’s looking to his left, head ducked slightly downwards, just enough to hide his eyes, “Ze,” Regect says lowly, “You good?”
“Fine.” Ze says, clipped. He starts shifting again, not so subtly trying to push himself further back into the wall, even if there’s nowhere else to go. Regect’s face falls a little.
“..Look, man, I’m sorry I got you trapped down here or whatever,” Regect tries, gently, because the last thing he wants is Ze genuinely upset with him right now, “I already gave Moe our location. You know how fast she is. She’ll get us out in no time.”
“Ok.” Ze says, and then he double takes, “Sorry. Sorry, I’m good, sorry. It’s just..” he shrugs, wincing, “Cramped.”
“You scared?” Regect says, genuinely asking.
It must’ve come out wrong. Ze whips his head towards him. In the dim of the light, Regect can finally see Ze’s face, nervous and ticked, traces of offense pinching at his brows. A scoff, ”No.”
It’s the certainty in his voice but the unease on his face that makes Regect push further, “You are,” he grins, leaning closer, trying to egg on a reaction.
Ze scowls, and Regect gleefully thinks there he is. He prefers Ze like this, angry and loud, trying every insult in the book and making up new ones just to try and shut him up, over him sulking and quiet, like he’s thinking too loudly to hear Regect. Regect hates being nothing more than Ze’s second thought.
Ze opens his mouth, and Regect leans back, amused, ready to watch the string of curses fall from his mouth, before Ze immediately clamps his mouth shut again, eyes wide. His hand scrambles in between them, trying to push at Regect’s chest, “D-dude, stop.”
Regect’s smile falls, “What?”
Ze looks—flustered. Panicked. It sets off the alarm bells in Regect’s head. Fuck, maybe he is scared. Clusteredphobic, or whatever the hell it was called, and Regect fucked up, “Shit, Ze, sorry, man I didn’t mean to—let me—”
He pushes backwards, moving his legs to push at the wall behind Ze, trying to help him get more space to breathe from the head up, at least. Regect’s leg brushes upwards and then—
Ze grabs Regect’s shoulder, and Regect freezes in place.
“Regect,” Ze’s face is completely red, voice breathy and weak. The way he says his name makes Regect completely fucking bluescreen. “Stop moving,” he hisses.
“Huh?.” Regect says, a little dazed, trying not to fixate on the way red looks nice on him, “I’m— I'm serious, Ze, I can give you space. Just let me—”
He was never the best at following instructions.
Regect’s knee moves up, and Ze lets out a startled noise, his hand immediately coming up to slap his mouth shut and the other shooting up to grip Regect’s shoulder. Regect freezes. Something shoots up his spine. There’s a ringing in his ears. Oh.
They stare at each other. Regect half-convinces himself it might have just been the dark playing tricks on him if it weren’t for the wide-eyed, mortified, stare on Ze’s face, the silence that follows.
“Ze,” Regect starts. His mouth feels incredibly dry, “You..”
“I’m fine,” Ze interrupts, his face burning, Regect stares and stares and drinks it all in, greedy, “That wasn’t— that was an accident. I’ll be fine if you stop moving stay still, you ginormous piece of—”
“Don’t wanna.” Regect cuts him off.
Ze’s gaze snaps up to him. “What?”
He shrugs, “Dunno.” He moves closer, “Don’t really feel like it.”
Regect looms in, almost closing the distance between them completely, listening to the yelp Ze lets out right next to his ear as he scrambles against him, shrinking back. Regect’s never been known for being patient. He’s got a taste and now he’s just realized he’s fucking starving. He looms over Ze’s space, their faces inches apart. Regect wants to know what other noises he can make. If he’s still this quiet if you really push him. Regect watches him carefully, the way Ze pants for air, flushed and red, red, red, up his neck and down the lines of his collarbone. The way all his bravado and arrogance slips away the moment Regect is only a few inches above him, the small, breathy noises leaving his mouth everytime Regect moves purposefully, adjusts his leg ever so slightly—
HONK!
They jump apart. A trickle of light starts to pour in as Moe shoves a torch into the opening she’s made. The obsidian is cracked apart beside them.
She glances between the two, watching them both cough awkwardly and duck their heads, praising her clumsily for saving them.
..Honk?
Regect lays wide awake that night, thinking of closed spaces, tangled bodies, and quiet noises that echo in his ears like a fucking church bell, final and divine.
When he finally closes his eyes, he dreams of red.