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“Welcome to the Badlands Cafe and Muffin Shop, how may I help you?” an extremely pretty barista asked Branzy, as he entered the cafe.
Branzy wasn’t sure why he never went to this café before. It was a small and cozy looking Café at the corner of the street a few blocks from his college and relatively new.
Well, if you’d consider five months ‘relatively new’.
Anyways, he had never been to this café before, likely because it just… never came up, but his best friend, Rek, who had apparently befriended a few of the workers, recommended it to him after Branzy complained to him about his boredom and wanting to do something.
What Branzy obviously had not been expecting was to be greeted by literally one of the prettiest people he had ever seen.
The guy had beautiful, short and straight red and black hair pulled into a small ponytail with a red fringe falling in their face, the lower half of their face covered by a black medical mask.
They were wearing a black turtleneck paired with a black, red and white sweater underneath a black apron with a white dog and ‘BADLANDS CAFÉ: CLOWN’ in turquoise lettering stitched into it.
“Um, sir?” the barista asked, “Are you going to order?”
“Oh- Uh, yeah!” Branzy stammered, feeling his face heating up, “Sorry, uh, I’ll have a, um, a heart chocolate and a, uh, an alien muffin?”
“Good choice,” the barista said. “For here or to go?”
Well, originally Branzy had planned to eat here, but after that embarrassment he could not.
“Uh, to go?”
“That would be…,” the barista said, clicking their tongue before continuing, “Six dollars.”
Branzy put six dollar notes on the counter and watched as the barista moved behind the counter, placing a mostly purple muffin in the shape of a UFO with sprinkles and a green muffin tin acting as a beam on the counter, before starting to make the drink.
About two minutes of very awkward silence passed before the barista put the drink, which was served in a red and blue paper cup, on the counter.
“Here’s your order,” they said, “Enjoy your… sustenance?”
Branzy snorted.
“I’m sure I will,” he said, laughing quietly, “Thanks!”
He put a five dollar note in the tip jar and made his way outside.
Just before the door fell shut behind him, someone ran past him, into the shop.
“Is everything okay, Clown?” the person said, panicked, “Geppy told me he set the place on fire!”
Then, before the door actually fell shut, he heard the barista, Clown, apparently, laugh.
It was a really… cute sounding laugh.
“As you can see, Bad, the place is currently actively burning to the ground and we are all in immense danger,” Clown said, sounding as though they were grinning underneath their mask.
“WHAT?”
The door fell shut.
-
Okay, Branzy was not crushing on that barista, okay?
Sure, they were extremely pretty and Branzy kept thinking of them and their little laugh and odd behaviour and kept making up scenarios in his head where they meet for a second time and become friends and fall in love and get married and adopt ten pets and kiss and Branzy needed to stop, but it was not a crush.
They barely even talked and Branzy kind of messed up any chance that might have existed with his idiocy.
Rek sighed, reminding Branzy that he wasn’t alone, but sitting next to Rek in their college’s cafeteria.
“What’s wrong Branzy?” the brunette asked.
“...Would you believe me if I said it was nothing?”
“You zoned out more than five times today and are being weirdly cryptic, so yeah, I would believe you.”
“Wait, that doesn’t make any-,” Branzy said, but got cut off.
“Of course I wouldn’t,” Rek said, “So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or…?”
Branzy looked around.
“Not here.”
Rek sighed again and looked at his wrist watch.
“We still have 55 minutes of our lunch break left, so how about we go somewhere else?” he asked Branzy.
“Where?” Branzy asked back.
“I know a place,” Rek answered in a way that made it clear that he was not going to elaborate, so Branzy just stood up.
“Lead the way, then.”
Rek then proceeded to lead the way to his mysterious location and only when they arrived, Branzy realised it was the Badlands Cafe and Muffin Shop.
“Uh, Rek? Are you sure about this?” Branzy asked, because he really did not want to go in there and talk about his not-crush on the barista who worked in said café.
“Yeah, why not?” Rek asked, opening the door. “It’s really chill and not that busy, so it should be a good place to talk.”
“I-,” Branzy tried, but was interrupted by Clown greeting the two.
Oh no, Clown was working, too.
“Oh, hi Rekrap!” they said, “It’s been a while!”
Or, well, greeting Rek.
“It has been a while!” Rek said, walking in with Branzy, who was, begrudgingly, following him, “I’m sorry about that, Clown, my lion, my bear.”
“Oh, Rek, my architect, my house,” Clown replied, “Don’t you worry about that! You are focusing on your school work, as you should. I’m glad, however, to see you here on this fine day. How may I serve you today?”
“Uh, the usual,” Rek said.
Oh gods, Rek and Clown were friends ?!
“My brother in Christ,” Clown said, “You order something completely different every single time you come here, what the fu- muffin do you mean ‘the usual’?”
“Hm… I’ll take the SkepHalo Special,” Rek said, before looking at Branzy, “What do you want, Branzy? My treat.”
While he was thinking, Clown gasped slightly.
“I almost didn’t see you there, you’re the guy from yesterday, aren’t you?” they asked.
“You came here yesterday?”
“Oh- uh- yeah…,” Branzy said slowly, “I’ll take the, uh, the same I had yesterday?”
“The heart chocolate and alien muffin?” Clown asked. “A’ight, that’d be, uh, six plus 8,14… 14,14 dollars. Nice.”
Rek put the 14,14 dollars on the counter as Clown put the muffin on the counter and started preparing their drinks and/or food.
“Ah, to go or for here?”
“For here,” Rek replied.
“Okay, cool, you can go sit down wherever you’d like,” Clown said, before placing a drink on the counter and continuing making the stuff as Rek and Branzy sat down at the table in the far right corner.
“Soooo…?” Rek asked.
“We are absolutely not talking about this here!” Branzy exclaimed in a low voice.
“What, you got a crush on Clown, or what?” Rek whispered jokingly, but Branzy’s cheeks heated up anyways.
“No way,” Rek said, sounding fascinated.
“I do not have a crush on them,” Branzy whisper-shouted, “I barely even know them!”
Rek raised an eyebrow.
“But?”
“Can we like, not talk about this here?” Branzy asked, not wanting to talk about it.
“Sigh… Fine..:,” Rek replied.
“Did you just say ‘sigh’ out loud?” Clown asked, appearing next to them with their food.
Branzy startled completely, while Rek just laughed.
“Shush, I do what I wanna,” he said.
“Sure,” Clown replied, putting their food on the table.
They were wearing a red pullunder over a white, short-sleeved dress shirt, over a black long sleeved shirt, paired with dark brown shorts and black tights and boots and the apron from yesterday, their hair in a small bun this time.
The ‘SkepHalo Special’ seemed to be a half blue, half red muffin with some colourful sprinkles and a blue and red drink served in a black cup with white pinecones on it.
Clown was about to leave and go back to the counter, but Rek just had to be a little prick and speak up.
“Hey Clown, would you like to hang out with us until someone comes in?” he asked, “You know, cause it’s not very busy right now?”
Clown looked at Rek for a few seconds before nodding.
“Sure, let me just put the little bell thingy,” he said, walking back to the counter.
“Why would you do that?!” Branzy whisper-shouted at Rek, who just smiled.
Then, Clown came back and sat down next to Rek.
“‘Sup,” he said, “I don’t think we’ve properly introduced yet.”
“Uh, yeah, I’m Branzy,” Branzy said, trying to be normal, “You?”
“Oh, I go by Clown,” Clown said, pointing to the lettering on their apron, “They/he, you?”
Ahhhhhh, and he was considerate, too! Well, asking for someone’s pronouns should be the bare minimum, but still!
“Uh, he/him, thanks,” Branzy said quickly.
Clown nodded and took a gracefully sliced a small piece of the cheesecake he had apparently brought with them.
Branzy was lowkey confused as to how Clown would eat, considering they were still wearing the surgical mask.
He could take it off, but would he really do that right in front of Branzy whom he didn’t even know?
Clown didn’t seem to really care about that though, as he pulled down the mask under his chin and ate the piece of cheesecake.
And gosh darnit, the guy was pretty.
Branzy tried to hide his blush by starting to eat the very delicious muffin.
Rek took a bite of his and looked at Clown.
“Wow, you really outdid yourself on this one,” Rek said.
“Thanks king,” Clown said, smiling slightly, “I’m glad you like it. Worked on that recipe for quite a bit.”
“You made those yourself?” Branzy asked him, because holy moly christmas glory, that was a very, very attractive trait.
Clown nodded.
“Yeah,” Clown said, “It’s kinda my job. I’m usually just in the backroom or the kitchen making new recipes and stuff, but two of our main barista’s are on parental leave right now, so customer service it is.”
“That is really cool,” Branzy said, then jokingly added, “Do you have a secret lab back there?”
“Oh yes, of course. I take muffins very seriously.”
“That is-,” Branzy said, grinning, “That is very understandable.”
“I’m glad you agree,” Clown said with a matching grin, “Glad you agree.”
Branzy nodded and slightly tapped one of the heart shaped marshmallows with his straw, causing it to turn in the hot choco.
“Hey, why are love hearts that shape?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “Like they don’t even remotely look like hearts.”
“Oh, don’t quote me on this, because I haven’t actually done much research on that topic, but I heard it originates from the fact two human hearts being pressed or sewed together make that shape and it symbolises love and/or soulmate stuff,” Clown said, “Don’t quote me on that, though. Like I said, I did not do a lot of, if not any, research on that.”
“Oh, that sounds like it makes sense,” Branzy said, then decided to go a step further, “Wow, you’re so smart, Clown!”
“Stooop!” Clown exclaimed, apparently picking up on the jokingly flirtatious intention, “You’re making me blush!”
Branzy giggled at that, because how else was he supposed to react at literally one of the most perfect- uh, a person that he might find kind of attractive in a multitude of ways, he meant, was joke-flirting with him?
They continued talking for about five minutes, until Rek remembered that he totally had something very important he definitely needed to do.
“So, yeah…,” he said, “I’m so sorry, but I really gotta go now. Pretty sure Branzy could stay though!”
Surprisingly, Branzy wasn’t too mad at Rek for that, especially after he saw Clown’s reaction.
“Really?” he asked, sounding strangely hopeful, continuing after Branzy nodded hesitantly, “You’re really fun to talk to, so that’s cool.”
“Alright, then,” Rek said, standing up to leave, “Bye guys!”
“Bye Rek!” Clown said and waved before looking back at Branzy.
“Bye!” Branzy said, directed at Rek, who smiled knowingly.
Gosh darn it…
Branzy decided to just turn back to Clown and ignore how Rek was obviously trying to set him up with Clown.
Well, at least Rek approved of his not-crush.
Alright…
So, judging based on his interactions with Clown in the past few minutes, this next line would likely land.
“Sooo, you come here often?” he asked.
His prediction was correct, of course, as Clown laughed quietly.
“No, this is actually my first time here,” he said, smiling, “You seem like someone who belongs here though, so why don’t you tell me about this place?”
Alright, so Branzy had two options here: Number one, flirt back harder or number two, let Clown win and be flustered, and he was not about to let Clown win and be flustered!
“Oh yeah, love this place,” Branzy said, smirking, “This one employée here is really pretty and really, really cute. Shame you haven’t gotten the chance to meet them…”
Clown blushed and was about to say something in response, but Branzy was not just going to let this go.
“And they’re really nice to talk to and are very interesting. And they seem like a person I would like to get to know more,” he said, watching Clown’s cheeks redden even more.
“Are you flirting with me?” Clown asked, dumbfounded.
“Uh, no?” Branzy said in a fake judgemental tone, “I’m talking about the employée Clown, not you. Who even are you?!”
“Oh, I’m Clowny, a very feminine female girl, who definitely doesn’t work here,” Clown said in a high pitched voice, “Ehehe!”
At that, Branzy laughed.
“Oh my god,” he said, still laughing, “Please never do that again!”
“Should have thought about that before talking about my gender bender,” Clown said, still using the high voice.
“Alright, if you’re just his gender bender, you wouldn’t mind if I kept talking about his beautiful face, wouldn’t you?”
“Well-,” Clown started, but was interrupted by the ringing of a bell, “Oh, a customer, I’ll be right back.”
Branzy nodded as Clown rushed over to the counter and talked to the customer, a tall, loud and blonde kid, giving them a blue and green muffin and some drink in a to-go cup.
“Thanks, big PP!” the kid said loudly, before paying and leaving.
“Don’t call me that,” Clown said, walking back to Branzy, “I’m back.”
“Welcome back, Clown!” Branzy said, “I could move to a table closer to the counter so you don’t have to keep walking back and forth?”
“Oh yeah, that’d be great.”
So Branzy moved his stuff to the table closest to the counter and sat down there and the two proceeded to talk for about thirty five minutes, with a few minor interruptions, until Branzy realised that his next class would start soon.
“Oh, I have to go now,” he said, “My next class starts in less than ten minutes.”
“Oh god, yeah, you should go then,” Clown said, starting to clean the table, “It was nice talking with you, though.”
“Yeah, you too,” Branzy said, smiling, “Bye Clown!”
“Bye!”
On his way out, Branzy also put a five dollar note in the tip jar.
Yeah, he was so screwed…
-
Over the course of the next few weeks, Branzy came to the café almost every day, when Clown was working.
He had learned a lot about Clown in that time.
Clown was about two years younger than him, loved musical theatre, had an appreciation for poetry and architecture and his favourite colour was red.
-
“How come you call yourself Clown?” Branzy asked Clown the first time they hung out outside of the café.
It was a Saturday, which was a day off for both of them and they were sitting in the court of the apartment complex in which Branzy was living.
“Oh, funny story, actually,” Clown said, “So basically almost all throughout my time in school I was bullied for being, you know, autistic and stuff, and got called a clown for being weird and having a special interest in clowns and circuses and it just sort of stuck and now everyone just calls me Clown.”
That was not funny in any way, shape or form.
“I- I am so, so sorry, my guy,” Branzy choked out, voice slightly hoarse.
“Oh no, it’s fine,” Clown- should he still call him Clown after that?- said, laughing slightly, “It’s funny, to be honest. I mean, it used to make me feel so bad, but now it’s just hilarious to think that ‘Clown’ was the best they could come up with and that it hurt me so much.”
“My guy, have you- have you considered therapy?” Branzy asked, “Because that does not sound very hilarious nor healthy to me.”
“Ehh, I’m fineeee,” Clown said, shrugging, “Besides, therapy is pretty expensive, so I dunno.”
“Do you need a hug?” Branzy asked then.
“I… I don’t necessarily need a hug, but I suppose one might be slightly beneficial,” Clown said slowly, sounding like he really needed a hug.
“Alright, bring it in, then,” Branzy said, smiling fondly as he opened his arms and Clown just about threw himself into them.
“There, there,” Branzy said, slowly stroking his back.
“Thank you-,” Clown choked out, sounding as if he was both about to cry and laugh at the same time, “Thank you for using my pronouns.”
“What?” Branzy asked, laughing nervously, “Where is this coming from?”
“Their, their,” Clown said, giggling in Branzy’s shoulder.
“Oh my gosh,” Branzy said, giggling too, “You’re just a little goofball, aren’t you?”
Clown just continued giggling in Branzy’s shoulder. Yeah, just a little goofball.
“And also very sleep deprived and running on only two energy’s and an oreo,” the little goofball in his arm said in a still giggly voice.
“That is not very good,” Branzy said, very concerned about his favourite little goofball, “I- I think I still have half a sandwich, if you want it?”
“Eh, I’d rather not eat the last of your food,” Clown said.
“Let me rephrase that,” Branzy said, “I have half a sandwich and, unless you have your own non sugary food, you are going to eat it, because I am not about to have you just completely disregard your needs if I can do anything about it.”
“But I don’t want to stop hugging,” Clown said, “Unless you’re uncomfortable with it, of course.”
“How about you eat and then I can hug you again?” Branzy suggested.
A few seconds of silence.
Branzy was about to repeat himself, when Clown finally responded.
“...Fine…,” they said, moving out of Branzy’s arms and Branzy immediately missed the contact.
He tried not to let it show though, because Clown had to eat and he couldn’t show any signs of weakness before he did.
And so, Branzy reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic box containing the sandwich and gave it to Clown.
“It’s just plain bread with butter and gouda, so it’s something you can eat,” Branzy said, because he knew that Clown was very picky with food, likely because of their autism.
Clown nodded and slowly ate the sandwich, leaning onto Branzy’s side.
A few minutes passed and Clown passed the box back to Branzy.
“Thanks,” Clown said, “Now cuddles >:(“
“How- how did you say that?”
“Say what?”
“The- the thing.”
“Branzy, what are you saying? I didn’t say anything weird.”
“You- You literally-,” Branzy said but cut himself off, deciding to just let Clown have it, “You know what nevermind. Let’s just hug, or whatever.”
“Yesss!! >:D” Clown said, hugging Branzy, who just ignored the weird sound that came out of Clown’s mouth and hugged back.
They fell into a comfortable silence, so Branzy decided to just think more about Clown.
Through a recent conversation, Branzy had found out that Clown had a passion for blatantly untrue crime, because it was ‘really fucked up, but didn’t actually happen, which doesn’t completely obliterate the last remaining specs of my hope in humanity, like true crime does’, which was honestly rather endearing.
Clown was also studying psychology and pedagogy with architecture and home ec on the side in an online college, because he had issues attending regular schools, due to autism and mental-, as well as physical health related issues, and was rather successful with that, which honestly wasn’t very surprising to Branzy, because Clown was very intelligent and creative.
One of the things that did surprise Branzy, however, was the fact that Clown wrote fanfiction.
And it wasn’t even bad fanfiction, which was not surprising, but honestly fun to read.
Most of it was pure crack and very hilarious, but Clown had written his fair share of more serious fiction too.
Branzy’s favourite had to have been Clown’s fanfiction about the owners of the Badlands Café and Muffin Shop, Skeppy and Bad Halo, who were pretty much married, which was pure crack about their shenanigans and Skeppy kidnapping hundreds of kids who had to compete in tournaments, fighting for their lives. And they surprise-adopted Clown and a former employée named ‘Snapmap’, or something.
Bad was also a cult leader on the side, worshipping some big, red egg, or something.
It was still ongoing and Clown had mentioned maybe including Branzy in the story as a prince, who wanted to save Clown from his evil kidnappers, only to find out that Princess Clown felt more comfortable with their new ‘parents’ and join their evil empire.
So yeah, that was… something.
Honestly, it was really fun to listen to Clown’s world building, even though some of the things Clown mentioned in his rants were rather concerning and Branzy would rather not think about the implications of the surprise-adopting and Clown feeling more comfortable with his kidnappers and that type of stuff.
Of course, Branzy would not just jump to conclusions from just that little information, but that didn’t mean it didn’t leave a sour taste in his mouth.
At least he knew that Clown was living with his employers in the apartment above their café and not somewhere unsafe or something.
Anyways, Clown was very, very creative and lowkey insane and absolutely chaotic and the love of Branzy’s life.
Yeah, throughout the weeks Branzy’s feelings for Clown only grew and grew and he became more and more sure of his love for Clown, so to hold them in his arms like that, he felt insanely happy.
“Soooo,” Branzy started after a few minutes of silence, “Any news on your story?”
“Oh yeah,” Clown said, sitting back, “So, basically the whole arc with you as the prince is canon now and you got kidnapped by some organisation called pro-omelette, because they thought you were part of the cult, but obviously I came to your rescue and then burned the place to the ground and then you proposed to me, so we could get tax benefits and I obviously said yes.”
Then, as if he didn’t just tell Branzy they married in his story, they just continued talking.
“Oh, before all the stuff, you and Rek had like, friendship issues, because of a misunderstanding where you thought he betrayed you for the evil empire, but he didn’t mean to betray you, so you tested if he did by trapping yourself and he saved you, so you went back to being best friends and then a little later you came to save me and then the entire arc where you realise the evil empire is actually pretty cool happens. Oh, and I had an idea, where I drive a Flixbus Paluten style and terrorise the streets.”
“That- uh, that’s a lot,” Branzy said, chuckling, “Absolutely insane, I love it.”
Branzy paused for a few seconds before deciding that, frick it, if Clown could casually say that they marry in his story, Branzy could say this.
“Especially the part where we marry,” he said, grinning.
He watched Clown’s cheeks redden and his grin growing.
“Well, would you like to replicate that IRL?” they said, biting their lip and brushing a strand of their now wavy, red hair behind his ear, Debby Ryan style.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely, babagrill,” Branzy said, /hj-ingly.
Clown giggled and Branzy soon joined in.
He was so glad that they were currently in a relatively private place, because he knew for a fact if anyone saw or heard them, they would think the both of them were absolutely insane, which was probably true.
They continued their stupid conversation for multiple hours, until it started to get dark and rather chilly.
Branzy almost didn’t notice it, being pretty warm in his multiple layers under his favourite purple hoodie, but Clown, who was wearing only a dark red dress shirt with a black pullunder and black shorts and tights, started shivering ever so slightly.
“It’s getting rather cold, isn’t it?” Branzy asked, leaning forward.
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” Clown said, sounding slightly disappointed, standing up, “I guess that would mean I’d have to leave soon.”
“I mean, you could stay the night, if you wanted to,” Branzy suggested, standing up too, not really wanting their time together to end, “I mean, we both are off of work and college tomorrow, so…”
“If you don’t mind, then sure,” Clown said and Branzy nodded.
“Alright, let me just text Bad, so he doesn’t go into worried father mode,” Clown then said, pulling out his phone and presumably texting Bad.
When they got up to Branzy’s apartment, Clown stopped short.
“Wait, I don’t have any clothes to sleep in on me,” he said, “Oh my god…”
“You can have some of mine,” Branzy said, “You’re not that much taller than me without your boots and I wear more loose clothes to sleep, so they should fit you no problem.”
Clown nodded.
“If you’re sure,” he said, as Branzy unlocked and opened the door.
The two entered and proceeded to wash their hands.
“Alright, so we’re going to eat,” Branzy said, leaving no room for debate, because he was not just gonna let Clown go to sleep, having only eaten an oreo and half a sandwich, “And then we could go to my room?”
Clown nodded and they went into Branzy’s humble kitchen, where he made them instant ramen, which thankfully was the right type from the brand that Clown actually ate, and they talked about the flaws of the school system, capitalism and the healthcare system, before the ramen was finished and they ate in silence.
After that, they went to Branzy’s bedroom and Branzy gave Clown the one of his many purple hoodies, which wasn’t in the wash, and black sweatpants and Clown went to change in the bathroom, while Branzy changed into his only black hoodie and sweatpants in his own room.
He could’ve given Clown a black hoodie, but he was kind of, uh, a simp and just wanted to see Clown in his signature purple hoodie, but Clown didn’t need to know that.
After he was done changing, Branzy slightly opened his room’s door, to signal to Clown that he was done changing and Clown was free to come in.
About two or three minutes later, he heard a small knock on his door.
“You can come in,” he said, and Clown came in, wearing Branzy’s clothes and holding his own in his arms and gosh did they look cute in that.
“Where do I put my clothes?” they asked.
“Oh, you can just put them on my desk chair,” Branzy said, pointing to his desk chair from where he was sitting on his bed.
Clown put them there, nodding, and sat next to Branzy.
Branzy looked at them for a few seconds.
Aside from his clothes, they looked a little different, but Branzy couldn’t put his finger on it.
He looked at him again and finally realised the difference.
Clown’s hair was in a small ponytail, as usual, but their fringe was pinned out of their face with a pink hair pin with small white stones on it, making their entire face visible.
He was really pretty.
That wasn’t a new realisation, of course, god no, but Branzy never really got the opportunity to just see their entire face without some part being obstructed by either their mask or their fringe.
Their facial structure was both sharp and really soft at the same time, if that made any sense, their skin rather pale, although that wasn’t a new revelation nor a big surprise, considering how his skin was almost entirely covered almost all of the time.
His lips were a beautiful red, with a pretty cupid’s bow, looking very kissable- I mean- yeah…
Their dark brown eyebrows looking neat, with a few stray eyebrow hairs slightly out of place, were literally perfect and the left one had literally the most perfect looking eyebrow slit.
And to top it all off, his beautiful, piercing bright green eyes, that contrasted perfectly with his beautiful red bangs, which weren’t in his face for a change, were lined with dark lashes and the tiniest trace of washed off eyeliner.
A single bright red strand of hair fell in front of their right eye, creating the greatest contrast Branzy had ever seen, but that might just be Branzy being in love, as Clown cleared his throat, snapping Branzy out of his thoughts.
“I- uh, is there something wrong?” Clown asked, sounding very unsure all of a sudden, “I just put my hair out of my face when I sleep, but I can put it back, if you want me to-”
Branzy wanted to assure Clown that nothing was wrong, that he wasn’t judging him, but was simply enamoured by his beautiful face, but somehow that thought didn’t translate properly, because all that came out of his mouth was, “Can I kiss you?”
“What?” Clown said, voice a solid octave higher than usual, face bright red, almost rivalling his hair.
“I-,” Branzy said, but immediately cut himself off, his own face growing very hot all of a sudden.
“That is-,” he said, “That was not what I meant to say, I don’t know why I said that. What I- What I meant to say was that you’re fine and I was just surprised because I’ve never seen your face like that before- I am so, so sorry for that.”
“I-,” Clown said quietly, looking anywhere but at Branzy, and Branzy couldn’t help but note how utterly beautiful Clown looked with that blush decorating his cheeks, “I wouldn’t- I wouldn’t mind if you did, you know? Uh, kiss me, I mean…”
Wait what?
“Wait, what?”
Clown hid his face in his hands.
“I should not have said that, I’m sorry,” he said, voice muffled by his hands.
“No, no,” Branzy said quickly, lightly gripping Clown’s cold and soft hands with his own, because he was not about to pass up the opportunity to kiss Clown, “It- I was just surprised you'd want that, but I’m more than happy to kiss you, Clown.”
Clown slowly moved his hands, and Branzy’s with them, away from his face.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
Branzy nodded determinedly.
“Very,” he said, moving his right hand to cup Clown’s cheek, to which Clown’s only response was a hand with black nail polish moving to Branzy’s left cheek.
Branzy then gently moved Clown’s face closer to his before softly putting his own lips against Clown’s.
It was everything he had imagined and more.
Clown’s lips, though slightly chapped, felt incredibly soft and warm against his own.
A few seconds into the kiss, Clown closed his eyes, and Branzy, although not wanting to stop looking at him, followed suit.
The kiss was by far the most soft and gentle thing Branzy could have ever experienced, let alone imagined, and he loved every second of it.
They only separated after what felt like hours, but was likely just a minute or so, when they really needed to breathe and even then, their foreheads stayed leaning against one another, as they kept looking in each other’s eyes.
“I love you Clown,” Branzy said, breathless, “You are so, so beautiful and literally the most perfect person in this world.”
He was pleased by the way Clown’s still and already flushed cheeks grew even darker and their eyes darted away from his.
“Don’t say that,” he said half heartedly, moving the back of his hand over his mouth and cheeks, “Just- don’t. Don’t do that to my poor heart, you know I have heart problems.”
“Oh, but how could I ever lie to you, Clown?” Branzy said, smiling sweetly, “You’re just too perfect for me to be quiet about it.”
“Pearce,” Clown said quietly, pausing before elaborating at Branzy’s confused look, “My actual name is Pearce. It feels kind of weird for you to call me ‘Clown’ in an emotionally intimate moment like this.”
Branzy’s expression softened at that.
A name wasn’t really that big of a deal, but when Clown- no, Pearce didn’t bother telling anyone their actual name, it kind of felt like a very important secret and a special privilege to know.
“Alright then, Pearce,” he whispered, “You’re insanely beautiful and intelligent and just such a great person to be around and just saying that I love you is a major understatement. I adore you, Pearce, and you have made my life so much greater and less boring, simply by entering it.”
“God, you’re being way too nice, Branzy,” Pearce whispered back, laughing slightly, “I love you too. I- I’d say something more poetic, like I thought I would, but I’m simply missing the words to do so at this very moment.”
Branzy giggled at that.
“You can’t just say that, Pearce, and make it so freaking poetic,” he whispered, barely containing any remaining giggles.
“What can I say?” Pearce said, grinning, still in a quiet tone, “I’m a walking paradox.”
Branzy smiled widely.
“And that’s just one of the many things I love about you,” Branzy said, not missing a single opportunity to be the most absolutely sappy person he could be .
“Oh, shut up,” Pearce said, pushing Branzy’s face away from his, still grinning, “You need to stop saying those things, because I can’t keep up.”
“Have you tried getting good?” Branzy asked jokingly.
“No, actually,” Pearce replied, about to say something, but cutting themselves off with a yawn.
“Let’s go to sleep, yeah?” Branzy said, posing it as a question, although it wasn’t really.
Pearce nodded leaning on Branzy.
“Mhm,” he mumbled, “We can cuddle, right?”
“Of course, love,” Branzy said, absolutely loving this sleepy Pearce, laying down and pulling his new boyfriend down with him, “C’mhere…”
Said boyfriend cuddled into him as Branzy pulled his blanket over them and wrapped his arms around him.
“Love you, Br’nzy,” Pearce mumbled sleepily, “G’night…”
Branzy was barely able to suppress a high pitched, very manly squeal and buried his face in Pearce’s very good, very gay smelling hair.
“Good night to you too, Pearce,” Branzy mumbled in Pearce’s hair, although the guy had probably already drifted off to sleep, “I love you too.”
