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It's really hard to function properly when he's so close to Dev like this. Tonight was meant to be just another get-together at a party, another party where he gets to stare long into his roommate's eyes as the guy talks his head off about his work on his Minecraft server. This was meant to be the same kind of party night where Red gets so drunk that he needs to carry the guy back to the car.
Just those normal, average party nights.
And yet, despite the usual expectations, he finds himself on a couch with Red– and truthfully, his roommate was strangely close with Dev right now. It's just the two of them alone in this lounge room, and Red just somehow finds a way to lean close to him while going on a tangent about some stupid Minecraft mechanic. But then again, he's only doing so because Dev himself asked him to do it– All to distract himself from the fact that the two were practically shoulder to shoulder.
“–and like… that's basically it… But you could technically just get them from like… villagers and stuff.” Reddoons finishes his rant, taking another sip from his glass of beer.
“... Right. Gotcha.”
Red nudged him, “Bro, you– I just realised this now– why aren't you, like, on the DJ set?” He asked, looking at him with half-closed eyes.
“Someone's taking my place for tonight.”
His roommate snickered, “What? You made someone take your place and all you're doing is listening to me tell you how to get diamond armor in Minecraft?”
“Thats just ‘cause I like hearing you talk,” He stated, “How about, like… that one that's… like… is it called Netherite? Tell me about that.”
“Yeah, Netherite armor… sure… So–”
Reddoons goes on yet another long tangent again, his speech slightly more slurred than before.
While Dev listened closely, he kept noticing how his hands would occasionally brush against Dev's ever so suddenly. The moments were always short and barely noticeable, but it always feels like he's getting closer to a disaster. He glances down at the man, watching the way his hands move animatedly while ranting, and the way he's obviously about to fall asleep at any moment.
Dev will admit, he looks adorable right now, but he can't say that out loud, can he?
After a while, Red gets quieter, eventually stopping his rant. He wanted to ask another dumb question, maybe ask him about whatever he's doing on Lifesteal, but the question hung in his throat as the streamer suddenly held out his glass to Dev.
“Finish this for me?” He insisted.
His tone was low and tired– perfectly aligning with his favourite tone of Red's voice. He resisted cracking a grin on his face.
“You don't want it anymore?”
“Nah.”
He took the glass from his hand, their fingers slightly touched– which honestly was the closest he could get to hold his hand. He pours down the beer into his own glass, putting the other down on the table.
Silence hangs in the air, heavy enough for him to hear the soft breaths area let out. He dunks down another sip of the liquor, eyes still kept focused on his roommate. Red seems to be in a deep thought– either that, or he's just dozing off into the void with nothing in his mind.
Red looks up at him, “You're still bi, right?”
He tilts his head in confusion. What could possibly be the reason why he asked him that? Well, it might be one of his goofy questions that he'd ask only while he's drunk.
“Yeah, still bi. Why'd you ask?”
Reddoons let out a laugh, “Y'know, for someone who's, like… said he's hooked up with so many people, I've never really seen you flirt with some random guy in parties that we go to.” He teased him.
A wide grin appeared across his face, laughing along with him. It's not like he could easily tell him it's because he wants to flirt with Red instead.
“Y'know how it is, man. I'm just waiting for the right time.”
He looks right into Dev's eyes, sneering, “Isn't this the right time?”
His eyes narrowed down into a slit, completely dumbfounded from the words that left his mouth.
Red saw that he was speechless, then continued, “I mean like, we're alone in here, and you're bi, and, like, I've never actually seen you flirt… I'm just curious, man.”
“Why are- you're curious about my flirting skills, is that what you're saying?”
“Yeah, basically.” He nodded.
“... And you're… you're implying that… you want me to flirt with you, or..?”
Red laughed, “Depends. Maybe.”
Confusion struck in him. Reddoons have joked about stuff regarding his love life before, but he never really outright said that he wanted Dev to flirt with him. Dev cleared his throat, staring down at his half-empty glass as he pondered more.
He looks up at Red again, “Bro. You just asked me to flirt with you.”
“Yeah I did do that. Crazy, right?”
“You're so drunk.”
“I- I mean, you're not wrong, it's not– it's just the thought of it that intrigues me!” He added, “Like, you? Flirting? With me? With your roommate? Dude, the internet's gonna go crazy with that information, man.”
Red nudged his shoulders with his knuckles. Now, usually if someone casually offered a flirting attempt at Dev, he won't be this nervous– but it's Reddoons that's doing this. That's what makes this so hard. But then again, he's drunk, it shouldn't really mean anything, right?
“How do you even… Want me to flirt?” Dev said, his eyes darted around the room, trying to not focus too much on Red's stupid snarky face.
“I don't know, say I'm pretty?”
Dev laughed, “You are, in fact, pretty, I know that. I just don't know why you're doing this.” He insisted, “But, I guess you could just… Try to forget about it tomorrow morning? And all this doesn't have to mean anything at all?”
“Sure thing, why not. Like– fuck it. Try me.”
He hesitated for a moment, the words were stuck in his throat. He seemed confident at first, but it felt like a humiliating ritual trying to do this. “... I- fuck, I don't know bro, you're…” He paused, looking away from him.
Silence.
“... Hey man.” He looked back at him, a nervous grin on his face.
Red chuckled, “Hi.”
“You look handsome dude.”
Another chuckle escapes the man's lips, his face slightly reddening as time passes on. “Th- thanks, man.”
“Got a girl?”
“No…”
“A guy maybe?”
“Not that either.”
“So like–” He paused, clearing his throat again. He felt so embarrassed right now. There's no way he's getting nervous doing something that he did back when he was 16. He really thought he could try to be nonchalant around his roommate, did he?
Red yawned, “God, I'm getting sleepy from this.” He said, crossing his arms together.
“Sleeping already, handsome?”
“Shut the fuck up.” He bantered, and Dev laughed in response.
“You can just sleep now. I'll wake you up or something if I, like, need to.” He insisted, darting his eyes towards the reflection in his drink.
Red hummed under his breath, “Yeah… sure…”
Dev just kept staring at his glass, sipping a little bit more for some taste. He expected Red to maybe move out of the seat and just lay somewhere else, though for some reason, Red chose to move closer and lay his head on his shoulders. Dev stood still, maybe a bit frozen at the spot.
He glances down at the man, observing him slowly drifting off to sleep. He could already hear a few little soft snores, and God, he sure falls asleep fast when he’s drunk. He knew that already. But now’s really not the time to relax about it when he’s so close to him like this. Reddoons is just a whole other person tonight, for some unknown reason.
Dev didn't mind it that much though. Maybe he liked it.
His thoughts wander off for a bit. And by wander, it means he's continuously thinking about.. . Whatever the fuck they talked about just now. Dev needs to remind himself, this doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything. It's just one of those jokes Red makes at him sometimes, and this time the topic was just… slightly different than usual. That's all, there's… no implications here.
Well, he hoped there were some implications, but he's not gonna forever cling onto the hope that maybe he could have a chance with his roommate. He wouldn't get that anyways.
He was 100% sure his shoulders are gonna hurt so bad if this keeps on for an hour, though it's not like it's gonna be a problem for now– he'll just ignore it.
For the sake of… not sure. He's just abandoning everything and ignoring future potential problems just to watch Red sleep and gush silently about him being so adorable.
Maybe he really is down bad… for him…