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"Mr. David!"
Xander set his hands on his knees, panting as he caught his breath. In front of him, David was tying his bowtie, his hairclips missing from his messy hair. Xander blinked at seeing his appearance. The David he knew was always put together. He must just be running late today.
"Ah, Xander. I told you to drop the formality." David leaned down to grab his hairpiece off the floor. "Anyways, what are you doing here? It's pretty early."
"It's noon."
David's eyes widened. Xander noticed that his bed was unmade and there were dirty clothes strewn across the floor. "Mr. David- I mean- David, are you ok?" He gestured to the room, unusually messy. He hadn't been to his bedroom before, but this looked more like his own room. The blue-haired man cleared his throat awkwardly. "A-Ah, yes, I'm fine. My... my alarm didn't go off today."
"Did you not hear the morning announcement? You missed breakfast. MonoTV had news for us. That's actually why I came. Plus, I wanted to check on you." He walked past David, grabbing his sheets and blankets and folding them over the mattress neatly. David gulped. "What was the news?" He asked. "It isn't bad, right?"
"No, not at all! He opened up a new floor! I wanted to see if you'd explore with me."
Xander grabbed another one of his hairclips from the bedside table. He stepped closer and tried his best to click it into place where David usually kept it in his hair. He swept the excess hair behind the other man's ear. "U-uh-" David stuttered. His breath almost stopped. He could breathe in and smell the rebel's musk, a mix of cologne and gunpowder. He set his hand on Xander's chest, pushing him back a couple of feet. "Shit- David, I didn't mean to get so close. I-"
"It's alright, Xander." He assured. He fixed his hair, grazing his fingers over the spot where the other man's hand had touched.
"I'd love to explore the new floor with you. Let's go!" He gestured to the door, and the two of them exited into the hallway. He saw Teruko being dragged by Veronika, J and Arei bickering outside Eden's room, and Nico walking alone behind Rose, seemingly following her. He smiled.
David and Xander entered the elevator, pressing the button labeled "4."
"So..." A British voice spoke. He trailed off, though, unable to think of what to say. Eventually, he seemed to come to a conclusion. "This elevator moves awfully slow."
David laughed. "Yes, it does. I'm curious about how well it functions. We shouldn't ask MonoTV, though. He seems like he gets offended easily."
"That's for sure."
The elevator arrived at their floor and the two of them entered the new floor. There was a sign in front of them. It had four arrows, two pointing to the left that read, "Lounge" and "Spa", and two pointed to the left that read, "Library," and "Pool."
In only a second, Xander's eyes lit up. "There's a pool! Can we go there first?" He asked. David chuckled and nodded, yelping as his forearm was grabbed and dragged away.
The pool room was large with sizeable locker rooms that were for men, women, and non-binary people. When they entered the men's locker room, there were shelves with different colored swim trunks and swim shirts. Xander grabbed a pair of dark red trunks, David doing the same, although his were pale green.
Awkwardly, they stared at each other. "So, uh... Can we both just turn around?" David suggested.
"O-oh, yeah. Of course." Xander turned around and stripped off his jacket, throwing it on the bench next to him. David did the same, taking off his suspenders and belt.
Eventually, the two were finished changing.
"Are you finished?" David inquired, tying the strings on his trunks.
"Yeah, I am." They turned around, Xander never really looking at the speaker. They both exited to the pool area.
David dipped his foot in, wincing at how chilly it was. "Cold?" Xander was behind him. He could feel the rebel's breath on his shoulder, warm and enticing.
"Y-Yeah." He wanted to punch himself. He was always such a good liar. So why couldn't he stop himself from stuttering? His breaths were heavy and his face was flushed. He fisted his hands, stepping into the pool. "FUCK-" Behind him, Xander gasped.
David turned around, his nails digging into his palms. The other man's eyes were blown wide, a shade of red spread across his cheeks. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." He swam away, towards the other side of the pool. Xander entered the water carefully, almost way more cautious than he usually would be. "Why are you getting in so slowly?" He asked.
"I don't want to get chlorine in my wound." He pointed to his eyepatch. The speaker nodded in understanding and waved closer to him.
"Are you a good swimmer?" Xander asked. He shook his head. "Not especially," he lifted his arms to his hair, unclipping his hairpin. "I know the basics but I'm not very fast with laps." Silence fell between them, and David noticed how the rebel's gaze flickered down to the speaker's chest every now and then. He found himself doing the same. Neither of them could deny it. They were checking each other out shamelessly. But neither could find the courage to say anything about it.
David sighed.
He stepped forward and grabbed the other's chin, forcing him into eye contact.
"Make a move or quit staring at me."
Xander gulped. His eyes narrowed. "Don't pretend like I'm the only one who can't keep my eyes to myself," David smirked and pressed his hand to the red-haired man's chest. "Well, you make it hard for me to do that when you look the way you do."
"Just kiss me already," Xander said. David smiled and leaned forward. When their lips finally met, it wasn't like fireworks. David felt a burning sensation in the bottom of his gut, spreading to his chest and down his arms into his hands. Despite the low temperature of the water, he was on fire. Xander's lips were warm and welcoming and so many other things.
When they separated, Xander smiled. "I like you."
David almost cried at those three simple words.
"I think I like you too."