Work Text:
It was a quiet evening in the Jungle Kingdom- or well, as quiet as it can be when Viking and Avid are annoying each other and Doovid is away on a quest on his flying machine again.
Their laughter drifted over the branches softly, as Avid tuned the guitar on his lap.
They had both sort of drifted into a comfortable silence when Avid stopped tuning and just sort of froze. He took a deep breath, and his guitar clanked as he placed it on the wood. Avid exhaled shakily as he put his head in his hands. Viking, who had been distracted by the dulcet tones of sunset, glanced back over to Avid worriedly.
“Hey man,”
Avid flinched at Viking’s words. That's… odd.
“Hey- is everything okay? Are you alright?” He said, extending his hand somewhat towards him.
Avid curled in on himself even more, bringing his legs up to cover his face as he hugged his arms around his torso, and wrapped his tail around his body. His form was trembling. He was breathing way too hard.
Don’t spiral, don't spiral, please, please don’t spiral!
“Breath, Avid. C’mon, deep breaths.” Said Viking, in the calmest and most comforting tone he could muster.
Avid’s body shuttered, but his breaths slowed down to a more reasonable pace.
“It’s okay, you’re alright. Now please tell me what's wrong.”
“I- its fine its nothing, I just. Um,” Avid took a deep breath and uncurled just enough so Viking could see his face, “Okay it might be.. It might be something, but you have to one hundred percent promise you won’t tell anyone.”
Viking’s face crinkled with concern, and his ears perked up.
“Um, yeah, of course.”
Avid shook his head, “And I mean like anybody- Not Fix, not Doovid, literally no one can know about this! No one.”
Viking took in a shaky breath and nodded.
“Got it, won’t say a word.”
Avid let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“If you… Let's say you had to make a really- like really really big decision and it was, um,” Avid took another breath to calm himself down, and broke eye contact again.
“Let's say that you.. that you had to make a really, really big choice, and there's a chance that people… might not like the decision you make in regards, um, to it, and there's a chance they… won’t want to be your allies anymore. But let's also say- hypothetically- that if you didn’t make the decision- like you just plain chose not to- um. That you might not be.. happy? With yourself? And then you’ll have to try to stay that way… Forever. Without being able to change? Would you do it?”
Viking.. paused to think, and clapped his hands together.
“Well. For me it’d obviously be complicated, I mean I- You know the kind of person I am. I always prioritise keeping my alliances! And having my little contracts and such!”
Avid nodded sadly, despratly trying to hold back tears.
“Avid…” Viking said queitly, as he moved his hand to brush Avid’s bangs out of his eyes. Avid looked up at him surprised, a couple tears rolling down his face and landing on the jungle wood of the bridge.
“I’m not done.” He said firmly.
Avid looked down, but nodded to indicate that he heard him.
“That's what I would do. I probably wouldn’t be able to keep it that way forever, if the other option would truly bring me a happiness I didn’t have before, but I would honestly still probably prioritise my allies! But again- That's what I- me, Viking, would do. Not what I think you should do.”
Avid looked up at him again, confused.
“What... What do you mean?” Avid replied.
“Well,” Viking tilted his head, “I’m not you, I can’t make whatever hypothetical decision you may or may not be facing for you. The way I’d respond is different to the way you’d respond, and it's different to what I think you should hypothetically do! And given the uh, gravity you seem to have about this, um- I’d not prioritise myself unless it was something I absolutely felt like I could not live without. If it was something I really felt I needed, or wanted, to the point that I did not think I could keep going otherwise? Then I’d have to do it. I wouldn’t have a choice otherwise, right?”
When Avid’s eyes met his, there were still a couple tears trying to make their way out, but a softer look was on his face now. One of resolve, of feeling comforted.
“Mhm.. Yeah, okay.”
Viking looked at him pointedly.
“How badly do you want this- whatever it is?”
Avid looked down again and uncurled his tail from around himself, somewhat sprawling on the bridge, he was looser but still clearly nervous.
“…. Maybe more than anything- well. Not more than one specific thing but. More than anything other than that, I think. I…. I could maybe- maybe I could live without it but… I really. I really don’t want to have to, Viking, its-“
Avid took another shaky breath, “I don’t want to have to live without it.”
Avid drew a deep breath again, quite a lot calmer now, and spoke.
“Viking I- I have something to tell you- and- and I’ll tell the others um. Someday, I promise but,” inhale.
Viking nodded nervously, tail slightly fluffed up.
Exhale, “I think I’m a girl, Viking.”
…Viking may have severally misjudged what Avid was going to tell him. His eyes were wide with surprise, but still he smiled as he responded.
“O- oh! Um! Congrats!”
Viking’s surprise showed maybe a bit too clearly on his face. Avid snickered, and couldn’t resist the urge to make fun of him.
“What, did you think I was going to confess my love to you or something?” She laughed.
Viking coughed and hid his face under his hat, his ears had flattened to the sides of his head, making him look really silly, and slightly pathetic.
“M- maybe a little bit!” he said, laughing, “But that’s- That’s really cool!” He put his hat back on his head.
Avid was laughing so hard that she was kicking her legs. Viking loved the sound of her laughter.
“Don’t worry, that comes later!” She said, still laughing at him.
Viking blushed as he laughed, unable to tell if she was joking about that or not. He was so glad to see her smiling again.
The mischevious look on her face, her monkey tail flicking around and ocassionally brushing against his leg… He thought back to when he brushed her hair out of her eyes with his hand. When he had done that, he had almost wanted to-
No! Stop that line of thought, this is about her and NOT YOU, Viking. You will NOT potentially ruin this moment for her!
“I’m um, I’m happy for you Av- Oh, do you still want us to call you Avid or are you picking a new name?”
Avid shook her head.
“I think I’m keeping my name, I mean come on, Avid’s a pretty cool name already! And… Well my problem was never really with my name anyway, its really just with kind of how people perceive me, and how I perceive myself. Perceiving myself as not this just… Didn’t make me feel happy.”
“Okay! I just didn’t want to like make you uncomfortable by using a name you didn’t like or something!” Viking nodded excitedly.
She laughed and smiled softly.
“Awe, you’re so sweet! Thank you, genuinely, though. For listening to me ramble, for being so considerate.. And… I…” She scooted a bit closer to him.
They were already fairly near to each other before, but now Avid’s hands were snaking their way up Viking's arms, and then resting at his shoulders.
Viking couldn’t breathe. This could NOT possibly be happening.
This is a dream. I am dreaming right now. He thought. Avid wouldn’t- Avid wouldn’t make the first move, right?
Avid moved her hands up onto Vikings face and smiled softly, clearly very nervous but trying to hold onto the confidance she gained from being able to geuinely be herself.
“I…” She laughed, looking away, but meeting his eyes again, “Well, I think you can guess what I want to say but. Thank you, for everything, and um…”
Her eyes glanced to Viking’s lips before looking back up at him again. “Do- Do you want to?”
And Viking couldn’t do anything other than nod breathlessly.
Avid’s left hand moved into Viking’s hair behind his head, and her right dropped, hugging him tightly as she closed the distance and Viking leaned in.
The two of them had kissed before, but those times were… different. A passing joke, just to embarrass the other. Viking had always been the one to initiate the bit, Avid only ever playing in for a short while until eventually chickening out. None of their past kisses had been truly sincere.
The difference in how this sort of kiss felt was overwhelming. Viking’s chest rumbled with a purr as Avid’s tail looped its way around one of his legs, both of them pressing into the feeling, not wanting it to stop.
Pulling away from the kiss honestly made him slightly dizzy, but Viking shook himself off and just smiled. Avid giggled nervously, still looking a little shaken that she had actually done that.
As Viking pushed Avid’s hair out of her eyes once again, he smirked.
“Love you too,” He spoke softly.
It was Avid’s turn to be caught off guard, as Viking initated the kiss this time. This kiss was shorter, but tinted with that same sweetness as the first.
After the kiss was broken, Avid had to pull her arms away just to flap her hands up and down with joy. Viking loved her! He loved her! Her happy laughter and little vocal chirps of excitement made Viking’s heart feel so full.
As he glanced away for just a moment, he realised.
“Avid! Avid look, its sunrise!”
Avid turned to look, and gasped with delight. Swaths of pink and orange washed over the trees of the Jungle kingdom, the warmth of the sun exintuating that warmth in her heart.
To her, it felt nearly like exiting a dark tunnel. For so long she had felt trapped within herself, but now she finally had a taste of freedom… And a taste of Viking’s lips, but that was a different thought that she would think about later!
She knew that…. Even with how much joy she did feel, she was still missing… Something.
Gone… Ripped out… She thought.
She grabbed Viking’s hand and squeezed as she kept staring into the bright new dawn ahead of the both of them.
I will make it out. I have to. I have to get out. I have… She glanced at Viking and smiled, looked back to the sun
I have more than my friends to fight for, now.
She sqeezed harder.
I have to keep them all safe but… Viking… I need to keep him safe, most of all! But…
She understood deep down that she couldn’t replicate this. There would be no way for her to feel this way with nothing but a replica of him…
The thought made her stomach churn.
Vintage. I wonder if… she…
Avid swallowed down her thoughts before she let them drown her, and shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about this.
She snuggled into Vikings side, slowed her breathing, and let herself relax into him. She could worry about all of.. that… later. For now she would simply enjoy this moment. Enjoy the love she had found. Enjoy this comfort, for as long as it could last. For as long as she’d get to have it. Avid hugged herself tightly to Viking’s side, and the two of them continued just cuddling there together, neither quite wanting to break whatever this was just yet.
Doovid was exhausted. He had been out for two whole days now and done the equivalent of like four night shifts worth of work. He stumbled off the flying machine, giving it a hardy pat as he mustered his strength to climb up the ladder.
He should really have suggested building a water elevator, he thought, as he pulled himself up the last rung and promptly laid on the floor for a moment to catch his breath. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he gripped onto the safety railings and used them to force himself to stand.
Mental Note: Thank Avid for OSSHA later.
He was still getting his balance when he noticed that the rope bridge he needed to take was… occupied? Doovid rubbed his eyes tiredly to make sure he wasn’t sleepily hallucinating. He grabbed onto the wall again to get a better hold of his balance, and attempted to process what was going on.
Is that…?
“Avid? ‘S that you?”
Avid yelled, very quickly removing her arms from around Viking’s torso and face, nearly jumping in shock. Viking only had barely enough time to remove his hand from behind Avid’s head for his arm to not get injured in the crossfire. His eyes were incredibly wide, and his tail was probably the most fluffed up Doovid had ever seen. Both of their faces were incredibly red.
Maybe I should have taken, like, a picture as blackmail or something first.
“IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!”
Doovid raised an eyebrow.
“Your tail is still curled around his leg, you know.”
Avid looked behind her and made an “Eep!” noise upon noticing that he was right, promptly causing her to let go of Viking's leg.
“Okay, okay uhm uh maybe it- maybe it is what it looks like- but please please please don’t tell anyone!”
Doovid made a tired sort of snort that was probably supposed to be a laugh.
“I’m pretty sure most of us already know anyway. You guys are like, really bad at hiding the fact that your boyfriends, actually.”
Avid froze for a second. Viking tapped her leg, so she turned to look at him and just nodded before turning back to Doovid.
“She’s my girlfriend, actually!” Viking piped up.
Avid almost fell over upon him saying this, causing Viking to just laugh. Doovid blinked twice and stood there for a second, completely still so his tired brain could process this. Or try to, at least.
“…. Oh, um, okay. Congrats on being girlfriends, you two? But, um, I need to get to my bed, it's on the other end of this bridge and I can’t exactly walk across it while you guys are making out or something- I mean I could but that’d be really weird for all of us I think.”
“Wait-“ Viking started.
“Yeah- Yeah, we’ll go! Sorry about this Doovid! Have a good sleep!” Avid said, grabbing Viking's hand and pulling him to the other end of the bridge, down the ladder, and all the way out the door.
Doovid sighed tiredly, and sluggishly made his way finally to his bed, and promptly passed out.
Avid and Viking looked at each other, and just laughed.