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"William."
William pauses, looking up from his phone to see Dakota, expression solemn. Immediately, alarm bells are pinging in his brain. That's not the I'm-sad Dakota solemn face. That's the-
"We have to find the homophobes."
Yeah. That's the I've-got-a-stupid-idea-that-I'm-taking-really-seriously Dakota solemn face. William considers, for just a moment, not entertaining him. He's got a potential lead on where Mark has gone underground now, but he's honestly not super enthused to be throwing that guy back in jail right now. And Dakota's thing- it's interesting, okay. He's just a little curious. Sue him.
William puts his phone down and turns towards Dakota. Dakota, knowing he's won William's attention, grins wildly. "It has recently come to my attention that there are homophobes in the superhero ranks," Dakota says primly, flourishing like he's smacking a holoboard with a ruler despite his empty hands. He almost knocks a vase over instead.
"Tide isn't a homophobe." Despite his curiosity at how, exactly, Dakota plans to 'find the homophobes' William feels weirdly defensive. "He didn't even get a childhood, man. He was super nice about it when we actually explained."
"Ah! But that's because he's Tide." Dakota flourishes again. "Think about it, William. He got his ideas from somewhere- about goodness, and greatness, and stroganoff-ness.”
"I think he was literally born with those."
"But someone had to program those into him!" Dakota declares triumphantly. When he knocks the vase over William is ready for it, and sets it upright again with a little ghostshaped hand. Dakota doesn't notice. "Come on, William, think! If they literally made a guy and made him good and they missed the B, who's to say they didn't miss anything worse in people who they didn't make?”
William feels a little bad. "Dakota, I don't think a little ignorance... stops? anyone from being a superhero? Or any career, actually. It's just- different kinda people exist everywhere, you know?"
"So you're figured it out already," Dakota says solemnly. "That's good. I didn't wanna make you cry again. But!" he continues, completely bowling over William's protests. "We've gotta see how bad it is. Imagine someone doesn't get saved because their hero doesn't like their rainbow hair? What if Archangel hates gays?“
"...Yeah, that's bad," William agrees cautiously. Dakota is being pushy. There’s almost no lead-up into this at all, except for that encounter with Tide at the breakfast table earlier. Dakota has a plan. Does William want to harass WATCH right now? It feels like they've all finally found some equilibrium, some peace, and after everything don't they deserve to rest...?
But he thinks about Tide, and their island, and the manhunt. He thinks about calls for help gone unanswered.
Yeah, fuck those guys.
Dakota comes closer to William. He kneels down, expression serious, and William's unbeating heart suddenly tries its very best to start going again. He takes William's hand in his own and William finds it really really hard to think about much more than warm skin and hard calluses. Dakota's eyes, practically a pale gold in this light, stay locked on William's face. "Do you trust me?"
William doesn't even have to think about it. "Yes."
Dakota's hand squeezes his, so gently that William almost doesn't feel it. For an insane moment he wishes that Dakota would squeeze harder- crack his bones and tear his nails through his skin - but Dakota wouldn't do that to him. Dakota asks, "So will you help me?"
"Yes," William says, and doesn't even realize that he doesn't know what he's agreed to until Dakota starts to grin. There's a light in his eyes that promises mischief and not-crime and evil, evil schemes. This isn't a light that he sees in Dakota's eyes a lot. It's terrifying.
William forgets to feel terrified when Dakota bounces up to his feet (higher than a normal human should- even without his heart, he's strong) with a cheer. He grabs William's head with both hands, plants a quick kiss at his hairline, and is out the door before William can register what's happening. "Thanks, Wiwi!”
William goes intangible and very slowly sinks through the floor.
--
William is worried.
He stays worried the next day, and then the next day, and then the next. Dakota keeps on acting like Dakota, and any questions William tries to ask get immediately put down with an accusatory, "You said you trust me." So. He can't really ask about that at all.
Dakota keeps being normal.
Another week passes. And another, and another, and William doesn't forget about whatever hare-brained scheme Dakota came to him with, but he figures that Dakota probably has. Dakota in a good mood- he likes to bounce from idea to idea, from concept to concept. Flying between Private Investigator and Pro Wrestler and Chef and Pizza Chef (which is different from a chef)- it makes William feel safe, seeing his friend happy enough to start having fun again, so he doesn't look the gift horse in its mouth and just assumes that Dakota has moved on to other things.
And then there's the giant beetle.
It's just a giant beetle. It's not a really exciting battle. The beetle eats half of a building. Vyncent cuts three of its legs off at the joint and William almost flies directly into a building and lies about it (he was having a crisis about whether or not Vyncent was really really hot or really really gross. He’s never going to fucking admit to that). Lightspeed shows up at some point, and Wordsmith too, and they work together to wrap a big rope around the beetle's remaining legs to keep it immobile. Dakota gets William to pick him up and carry him into the sky (and William focuses on the fact that he's holding Dakota. It's not even the same time of day. The clouds are totally different and there is a giant bug terrorizing the city. He needs to keep his head together -- ha! -- and do his job). Dakota asks William to let him go. Dakota falls. Dakota smashes through the centre of the giant beetle and kills it. Wham, bam, done.
William floats downwards faster than he should. He doesn't freefall, but he almost wants to. If he goes intangible before he hits the ground it won't even break anything and the wind can burn his whole face but he sees Dakota on the ground, covered in bug juice, waving up at him and smiling.
William lands safely. Lightspeed zips up to say hi to him, and Wordsmith trails after her. Vyncent, not wanting to be left out, wanders over too, and Dakota bounds towards them.
Dakota moves really fast.
Dakota slams into William, spraying horrible bug juice into his face and almost bowling him over. William has just enough awareness to see Vyncent and Wordsmith splattered with horrible liquid as Lightspeed zips out of the way. Dakota's arms are doing something weird - going around his shoulders? Everything is suddenly moving so slowly and William is having a hard time figuring out why. Dakota's face is getting closer. His eyes are bright and golden and William goes to take a breath and then
Dakota
kisses him.
His brain goes quiet.
Dakota is warm. He's horribly wet. His arms are around William's shoulders -- no, one is behind his back -- and the world is upside down- Dakota has swept him into a kiss and dipped him. He's holding William up effortlessly. William hadn't even realized that he isn't supporting his own weight anymore. Dakota's lips are chapped and his nose is pressing into William's cheek. He's warm.
Once upon a time, William had a beating heart. And then he lost it, and then he gained a new one. This new heart had beat so very fast and pumped so much blood. Even the slightest fluster would cause his entire face to flush. He’s spent a lot of time warming his cold hands on the horrible red heat that had been his face. But now he's dead, and his heart is still.
Thank you, William thinks. He doesn't believe in God anymore, but he sends prayers anyway. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. He is so grateful to be dead, and calm, and composed. He will never blush again, so he's suave as hell.
Dakota stops kissing him and sets him upright again and William has to grab onto Vyncent to stay steady. He's dizzy. Vyncent's arm is solid under his hand. Vyncent is-
Vyncent is staring wide-eyed at William. Every thought of being suave flies from his head. He looks away quickly -- had that been a blush on Vyncent's cheeks? Shit, he's already looked away, he can't check for sure. Instead, desperate for something else to focus on, he casts his gaze on his other companions and regrets it instantly. Wordsmith's eyebrows are raised. Lightspeed looks amused. Dakota is watching the old heroes intently.
Neither Lightspeed nor Wordsmith make a big deal about it, in the end, and Dakota doesn't kiss him again. Wordsmith mutters something exasperated about teenagers, but he always does that. It turns out that Bookworm isn't here today because he has a dentist appointment. Wordsmith is carrying a small satchel of books on his hip and the hip is higher up than it should be and William is staring blankly forwards, trying to figure out why, when there's a nudge at his side.
"Will," Vyncent hisses to him. William looks over again, blinking slowly, and thinks Huh. Vyncent is shorter than usual. But there's something wrong with that thought because Vyncent is standing perfectly in William's eyeline. It's the world over Vyncent's shoulder that's wrong.
William blinks twice and looks down. They're in the ground. He's still holding Vyncent's shoulder and he turned intangible and apparently he started sinking himself and Vyncent into the ground. Oh God. He's going to throw up. He breathes slowly and just as slowly floats them upwards again. If he's slow enough then no one will notice, because that's how that works, and William is the luckiest boy in the whole wide world.
Once they're mostly out of the ground again William chances a glance upwards. Wordsmith is looking straight at them.
William closes his eyes and wishes to die again.
--
"What was that?"
William wants to ask that. He wants to storm up to Dakota and grab him by the collar and demand an answer. Maybe do something wispy and scary. Make sure Dakota knows he really means business.
He keeps thinking about Dakota's golden eyes. It's awful.
Dakota just- kissed him! Right there! In front of Vyncent and everybody! William has been through enough crises in his life and here comes Dakota- just cheerfully handing him another one. He's gonna throw up.
Dakota dipped him. William has never been dipped before. The bright blue sky and Dakota's sun-golden eyes glittering down at him...
He lays on his bed, face-down, closes his eyes, and goes invisible. This will help. He just needs to take some time to breathe. Think for a little while, or not think, but just close his eyes. Maybe even take a nap. That's one of the greatest things about being the Whisperer instead of just dead- he can take naps now.
"Wiwi?"
Dakota.
William is really invisible and his bed isn't made so any indents in the covers can just be mistaken for wrinkles. He's fine and it's fine. He stays very very still, all-too aware of the fact that he's like prey hiding from a predator. This is okay and he will be fine he just has to stay still.
"Will?"
Don't breathe, don't breathe, don't breathe- he doesn't need to breathe anymore, but he's gotten used to it. It's comforting, sometimes, but now it is terrifying. Dakota is a hunter. There's too much risk. If William breathes and that moves the sheets at all...
"Hey. I know you're-" A hand lands on William's shoulder and he shrieks, flailing away and falling into intangibility and through his bed. He lands ass-first on the floor. The top half of his head stays mattress-free, which just so happens to give him the perfect view of a pile of fucking wisps floating cheerfully around Dakota's head. They must have been resting on him when he had been invisible.
Those bastards.
Dakota is frowning. He's got his hands in front of him, and he's usually not shy about leaping onto furniture but he's not even touching William's bed. He's clean now, and wearing his civilian clothes. His nails look freshly picked at.
Fuck.
Dakota asks, "Are you okay?"
William wants to sink under the bed entirely, but those words send a fresh little spike of fear through him. He can't explain it. The need to do something bleeds through him, because William is fine but if Dakota is asking if something is wrong then something must be wrong. Something has rattled his friend and anything that rattles Dakota- well. William figures it's fine to get preemptively rattled. He pulls himself out of the bed, reaching and taking his friend's hands, just in case. He keeps his ears peeled but it doesn't sound like there's anything outside. Still. The Trickster may be dealt with, no more doors opening, but William knows how fast a situation can change. He gives Dakota's hands a little squeeze for good measure. William still hears nothing, but Dakota looks worried. "Yeah, I'm- fine, I'm fine, Dakota. Everything's- what's going on? Is there something wrong?"
"I dunno," Dakota admits with a limp little shrug. He lets William take his hands but doesn't squeeze back. "Did I scare you?"
"Did you scare me...?"
"When I kissed you."
Oh.
William hunches downwards a little and his stomach flips. He still hasn't let go of Dakota's hands so they're in a really awkward position where Dakota is just standing there and William is scrunched up like a frog. Awesome. He's so attractive.
Dakota stays silent. Shit. He's waiting for an answer, isn't he? William is good at speaking and he can do this. He croaks out a little, "No," and promptly starts thinking about what window would be the easiest to jump out of.
"Don't lie to me, Will," Dakota says quietly, a little sharp, but not a little mean.
Fuck. Awesome. William literally cannot lie to him now that he's invoked the sins of their past fucking awesome. He hesitates anyway, but Dakota’s hands are heavy in his own, and still so warm. He focuses on the feeling of his calluses, the rough skin. Dakota is solid in the way that William almost never is, and he tries to draw his strength from that. He still wants to throw up when he admits, squeakily, “I was- I was a little surprised.” Dakota’s shirt has little pills forming on it now, short strands of fabric rolled up into tight little balls. William tries to count them, unwilling to look at his friend’s face.
Dakota’s thumb rubs over the back of William’s hand. It burns like a brand. “I’m sorry,” Dakota says. When he sniffles William can’t help but flinch upwards to see Dakota’s eyes glittering with tears. “I just- I just wanted to see how they’d react. I thought you were fine with it, I didn’t-“
“I was!” William yelps. Oh god oh fuck oh god oh fuck. “I am! It’s- no, no, no, Dakota- I just-“ He lets go of Dakota’s hands to make wild gestures, as if they’ll explain the terror-fear-glee. He thinks about all of the bad anime he’s watched over the years. He just has to find the right magic words, understand the genre, the moment, and maybe he’ll get another kiss. No, that’s not the goal- then he’ll make Dakota feel better, fix this misunderstanding and get those tears out of Dakota’s eyes. Dakota has cried over William too much already.
Dakota’s bottom lip is wobbling. It’s still chapped, and the wet pink of his inner lip catches William’s eye.
He’s focused and he’s focusing and he is so in the moment here. “You- really, Dakota, I promise. You just startled me. You didn’t hurt me, and I-“ liked it. He makes a wheezing sound instead, gasping out a strangled dog sound as he changes his mind at the last second and panics into a different sentence. “I-I-I thought it was a good way to check! This is- it was about making sure Lightspeed and Wordsmith aren’t homophobes, right?”
William Wisp is a coward.
Dakota sniffles again. He nods. “Yeah…”
“And they aren’t, right?” William prompts. He tries for a winning smile. “So no harm done.” He needs to jump out of a window and then climb the stairs and jump out of it again.
Dakota sighs and wilts downwards until he’s half-draped over William, pressing his forehead into his shoulder. William had sat up when he let go of Dakota’s hands, so the position isn’t too terrible, but now he doesn’t know what to do with his hands. He settles for resting them on Dakota’s biceps.
It’s a mistake.
It’s a mistake he can’t unmake, though. It’s be impossible to describe the depths of his relief that he can't blush right now. Dakota has lots of muscles. “It’s okay, Wiwi,” Dakota says quietly. He nudges a little into William’s shoulder with his head, almost like an affectionate dog.. “I won’t kiss you again. I'm sorry for- for putting you on the spot like that."
"It's okay, Dakota," William's mouth says, even as his brain screams. Awesome. Awesome. This is so awesome. An incredible kiss from a super cute boy and William freaked out about it so hard that he's being apologized to. He fucked up kissing so much that he's been promised that he won't be kissed again. Cool. Sick. Nice. He's got unlimited rizz and he needs to bury himself in the dirt just to scream. He squeezes Dakota's arms -- another mistake oh god biceps -- and nudges Dakota's head with his own. He won't make this Dakota's problem. He'll just let them move on from this and it will never have to come up ever again.
--
It comes up again.
William is having, for once, a really good day. Another giant beetle appears. William is irked about not knowing its name (he did a lot of beetle research, after the last one. He learned that beetles and bugs aren't actually the same thing and almost had another crisis. He'd given Vyncent a crisis instead and then wrote an essay to make him feel better about it), but even not knowing the beetle's name can bring him down. He’d won at Mario Kart just that morning, and Ashe had sent him a playlist he'd thought he would like, and they were out of beef stroganoff, so Tide made slightly burnt pancakes for breakfast. It's a good day.
It's an okay battle. This beetle is armoured at the top, so they can't repeat Colestyle: Bug Crusher, but there's chinks in its armour. Summer shows up. William waves at her. He's mostly keeping the beetle distracted with a big shiny lamp, letting it tap at the wisps instead of a hapless building. Dakota and Vyncent are doing something on the other side of the beetle, and he hears Dakota cheer. Summer goes to help them, and William starts in that direction too but before he can even see them the bug is splitting in half horizontally, along the seam of its carapace where its top half becomes the bottom. A freakishly large piece of paper slips out the other side, and William can see the edge of the paper is glinting in the light- sharp as a knife.
The piece of paper wobbles downwards and starts to shift, twisting and morphing and- oh, ew. William can't avert his eyes. He can't help but compare the process of unflattening with real physics to the the process of unflattening with cartoon physics. Real physics are worse.
When Summer comes back over to him, her eyebrows are higher on her face and her nose is flatter. She’s perfectly clean. William doesn't mention it. He just greets her with a little, "Hi, Summer," and then starts walking quickly around the beetle's corpse to find his teammates so that he won't be alone with her for too long. Is this Dakota's doing? Is he trying to make sure William gets some alone time with her? He feels spiders crawling under his skin with his anxiety, and he knows her eyes are on him. He almost turns invisible out of reflex, but he manages to stop himself just in time. He's cool. He's so cool. A pretty girl is looking at him and he isn't sinking into the floor or passing out from holding his breath.
He isn't breathing. Did she notice?
He gasps out a breath so fast that he starts sputtering. "Will- Whisperer?" Summer sounds alarmed, and he hears her footsteps pattering as she hurries to catch up to him.
"I'm- I'm fine," he wheezes, waving her off, trying not to look at her. He coughs once, twice, then abruptly stands straight up again and continues powerwalking around the giant horrible beetle and its giant horrible puddle of beetle juices. He's so cool. He still can't look at her. But he's almost there. Soon, there will be backup, and he can stand just a little bit behind Vyncent while Dakota talks to Summer and then maybe William will be able to angle himself so he can look at Summer and Vyncent at the same time (and maybe Dakota, too-?)
His step falters at that last thought and he hiccups when his breath stutters.
Okay. No, yeah, sure, he can handle this. He can be normal about all of his teammates at once. He can be surrounded by hot people while being fully aware that they're all super hot. He can do this.
He can't do this. He needs to run. He needs to jump into a hovercar and fly away. His feet aren't touching the ground- he's already flying? When had that happened? He can do it right now. Just look up and go and trust his team to fill Summer in on whatever she needs to know and then William can go to bed and hide under it for a while and then tomorrow everyone can be normal again and
He rounds the corner, sees Dakota and Vyncent, and his feet hit the ground so hard he would topple entirely if someone didn't catch him.
Dakota has his fist curled loosely in Vyncent's jacket, pulling him down by the collar. His other hand is light on Vyncent's cheek, practically caressing his jaw. One of Vyncent's hands is on Dakota's arm, and William can't see the other one. Vyncent is leaned over to let Dakota reach him, one of his legs stretched out behind him just a little bit for balance. Dakota is on his tippy-toes. Their lips-
William stares blankly. Is his brain short-circuiting? Is that something that can happen to brains?
"Oh, wow," Summer's voice says from above him. She sounds a little impressed. "Good for them."
William has felt like a protagonist in a horror film a few times in his life. More than once he's used that experience to spread the fear outwards, elsewhere, know what scares him and use that to scare other people. He's familiar with fear and dread, and he's so familiar with it that he's been able to use it. He recognizes that same fear now, that dread, the knowing of what he'll see when he looks up but he's forced to look anyway.
It's Summer. She's the one who caught him. His head is against her collarbones, and her arms are around him, wrapped almost like he's her teddy-bear, and they're both more sitting on the ground than not. One of her knees is bent, stretched out straight on one side of him to give him something to lean on, and her other leg is on the other side next to him, letting her balance. Her neck is just a little too long so she can peer over his head. She smells like cinnamon and plastic.
Dazed, almost, he follows her gaze again to his teammates. He needs help. He needs to be fucking rescued.
Dakota is looking back at them, smiling. His lips are wet. He locks eyes with William.
William stops thinking and goes invisible.
The next few minutes are- hard to recollect, later. He remembers Dakota's face twisting in alarm. Vyncent acting first, grabbing Dakota's arm and pulling him along (and William wants to hit him with a car again. Hit them both with a car? Hit himself with a car). Summer's arms are tight around him, warm, twisting longer than they should. Her suit stretches with her, pulling like elastic. It alarms some part of William's brain. It feels like a rubber band being pulled further and further and further, and then it shifts gently instead of snapping back, some strange relaxing without losing ground, and then it stretches further and further and further again.
"I've got him," Summer says above him. Her voice is a little different now, in a different spot. She's laying him down, he realizes, and he's almost grateful for it. He feels dizzy. "I don't know what happened- he started coughing, earlier? And then we rounded the corner and he just fell- I didn't see if he was hurt, he was moving too fast-"
"Will?" Vyncent crouches down next to him, reaches out a hand. It lands on William's chest and William stays really really still as those long, warm fingers graze over his body, brush over his jaw, stay there. "Will? Are you still with us?"
"Ngh," William says.
"Maybe his powers...?" Vyncent mutters, locking eyes with Dakota for a moment. He looks back down, gives William a little shake. "Hey, how are you feeling? Will?"
William feels like he wants to bite him. He wants to surge upwards and sink his teeth into Vyncent's shoulder, latch on and bite down until he reaches bone. He wants to kiss him. He wants to choke Dakota to death with his own stupid headband. He wants to kiss him, too.
Summer's arms are still wrapped around him. He manages a strangled, "M'fine."
"He's shaking," Summer tells them. "He's getting colder." Embarrassment flushes through William. The fire from his wisps is hot- she's not fireproof, is she? He hopes she's not. If he set them all alight-
Vyncent's hand moves over William's mouth, up to his nose. William holds so, so so still. This is basically him kissing Vyncent's palm.
"He's not breathing," Vyncent reports.
"I- I thought he didn't need to, anymore?" Dakota asks, voice tremulous. William would protest them talking about him like this, but Vyncent's hand is still over his mouth. And William has just looked at Dakota and seen the stricken, frightened look on his face, and it's like a bucket of cold water washes over him.
"He shouldn't need to," Vyncent answers. He starts to take William from Summer, whose arms start detangling from him. His head is transferred from Summer's arm to Vyncent's shoulder, and he realizes, in a vague sort of way, that she must have been trying to use herself as living padding if he had a seizure. Oh.
Vyncent holds William bridal style. William tries to speak up again, opens and closes his mouth like a fish. He makes a low keening noise instead of anything that sounds like words, and it doesn't help anything when Vyncent holds him tighter. Dakota is the one who carries William, normally, and it's sort of breaking his brain to have Vyncent do it instead. Vyncent's lips are still wet. William wants to bite them. He bites his own tongue instead and focuses on being very still and quiet and playing dead.
Do they deserve this? He wonders at that question as Vyncent hurries along and Dakota talks quickly into his communicator. Some vindictive part of him says yes. This is exactly what they deserve. They kissed. His blood doesn't move much anymore but he feels like its broiling- constant movement under his skin, a familiar mixture of terror and anger and some other things he doesn't want to look at too closely right now. He stares up at Vyncent's jaw. He should say something. Say that he's fine.
Summer says something behind them. Dakota answers, a little sharp. Protective. Then he apologizes and there's more movement and jostling and a second later Vyncent is moving William into Dakota's arms instead, wisps dancing playfully around them. William curls up his own arms really tight and small against his chest. This is different now. This is familiar now. This is his teammates being worried about him, and him using their uncertainty to make them more afraid. They kissed. They deserve it.
William looks up at Dakota, like he had looked at Vyncent, and at Summer. They're all such different people, with different features. And each time he had looked up at their faces, he’d found one thing that was always the same: fear.
He’s scaring them.
"Dakota?" William whispers. Wheezes, more like, and he wants to kick himself, because there's no way anyone could have heard that.
Dakota did. Of course he did. "Will?" he gasps, almost skidding to a stop. Vyncent, just a step or two ahead of him, whirls back around to face him. "Oh, god- we never checked you for injuries- Will? Wiwi? Are you bleeding? How many holes are in you?" He starts patting frantically at the side of William's knees, his head, but he can't reach further than that while still holding him.
"Ow- ow- ow- Dakota, I'm fine, Dakota!" William gasps out, writhing in Dakota's grip to escape the smacks. Dakota shifts a little and due to some cruel god of probability, or maybe just an evil joke, William manages to squirm out of Dakota's arms and collapse onto the ground in the same moment that he manages to turn off his invisibility. Summer is gone now, he notes with relief, right until he spots her still standing by the beetle corpse, waiting for the authorities and watching him and his team as they'd drag him away. As he flops onto the ground. Like a fish. He almost goes invisible again right then and there.
"Are you sure?" Dakota hovers over him, outstretched like he's thinking about grabbing him again. Dakota is moving a little faster than usual, pushing himself harder. It's something he does sometimes when anxious or not thinking much, William has noticed. Just because Dakota's heart can't sustain his superspeed anymore doesn't mean that the rest of his body doesn't remember what it was like. Guilt washes over William, heavier than his jealousy, and he almost wishes that he could still die.
"Yeah," William says, and doesn't wheeze even a little bit. The pavement is kind of nice. Maybe he'll stay down here forever. Maybe he'll live here.
Vyncent grabs his arm, and keeps holding him. The grip is firm, but not painful. Hard to shake. "We should still- you should still see someone," Vyncent tells him, worried. "Your healers have special machines, right? They were able to know you were actually dead before. Maybe they'll know what's going on now."
"I'm fine, Vynce, really," William insists, his cheek pressed into the pavement. He realizes the purpose of Vyncent's hand on his arm, now. He can't go intangible and escape without dragging Vyncent along. It's stupid, because if William's powers really were on the fritz then maybe he would just go down into the pavement and become tangible, and then Vyncent would be stuck in the concrete with him, except Vyncent can die. It's stupid. It's sweet.
"Please?" Vyncent asks. His eyes are really pretty, too. In this light, with the sun above them and Vyncent's purple hair framing his face and casting his features into shadow, William shouldn't be able to see much of his eyes at all. But they're silver, and maybe it's just Vyncent's magic, but William can't seem to look away from them.
Vyncent's hand is still heavy on William's arm. It's really sweet.
--
That's how he ends up in the doctor's office, staring down at a piece of paper that tells him, yes, he's mostly dead. But this paper matches up with the paper from his last checkup last month, which had also told him he was mostly dead. This new paper tells him that he's fine. He is perfectly fine, and Vyncent and Dakota are going to want to see it, and he doesn't know what he's going to tell them.
The doctor has already left- William is all set to go. He just needs to get up and leave. He doesn't have to leave right away, because the doctor is busy, but this is a clinic that handles superheroes and powered people. They're used to handling traumatic injuries from traumatized people who got those issues from protecting the city- he needs to leave, but he won't be punished if he takes another ten minutes. Buffer time for processing- he thinks he read something about that, once. Extra time scheduled in just to let the heroes sit with their heads in their hands with no one to watch them. Not that he's doing that. No.
He's looking at the paper.
It's instinct to lie. "It must have been something else. They couldn't tell me why I was still moving around, before. Maybe they can't tell why my powers were fritzing in the same way?" No. Too complicated, too much follow-through for later. "I had a nightmare, and that bug really..." That would work. Or, even simpler, "I don't want to talk about it."
They wouldn't ask more. They understand. Sometimes there's things that are okay to talk about, and sometimes there isn't. He's had to use that before, with the heights thing, and they never pry. He said he was okay to go up, and they just never mention it when he gets weird or quiet after going up. He could do that. It isn't even a lie, really. He doesn't want to talk about it. Dakota wouldn't be mad. It’s better than telling them that seeing them kiss made him-
"So."
William shrieks and falls backwards. He remembers at the last second that he knows how to fly and catches himself, but the chair clatters loudly to the ground beneath him. Vyncent stands in front of him. Arms crossed.
"How long is this going to go on for?" Vyncent asks. "We've been waiting an hour."
"I don't- I don't control how fast the doctors work," William protests weakly.
Vyncent sighs heavily. He walks over to William, grabs him by the shoulder and hoists him up. William continues floating upwards slowly, but at least he's eye-level now. "It's one thing to deal with teenagers. It's another thing to deal with teenager relationships."
Oh. It's not just the lighting. Vyncent's eyes are blue right now, not silver. "Jason?" William asks. Then, more offended, "We're not kids."
"Still teenagers," Jason says grimly, like it's a bad thing.
"I'm turning twenty soon!"
"You freaked out so badly about your best friends kissing that they made you go to the hospital."
William sinks downwards slowly. "This... this isn't a hospital," he mumbles. "It's a clinic." A horrible thought strikes him. "Does Vyncent know?"
"No. Not yet."
Oh, that's worse. "Yet?"
"You need to tell him," Jason says plainly. "Do you know what it's like living around so many young adults like this? It's messy. It's torture. I'm stopping you from making it messier. So, yeah. Yet. You need to tell him."
William starts to feel actually nauseous. He floats over in the direction of the garbage can, just in case, and clutches at the hem of his hoodie nervously. "I- I can't."
"Then I'll tell him," Jason says. "And Dakota."
"Won't that make it messier?! Y-y-you're just shooting yourself in the foot here!"
"Not in the long run," Jason says. "It'd be better for everyone if you told them, though. So here I am. Warning you."
William floats slowly closer to the trash can.
Jason watches him. "...Tomorrow," he decides, and William doesn't know if that's kindness or more torture. "I'll give you until tomorrow night to tell them, and then I'm ripping the bandage off. You can't have shit like this in your team, kid. Someone is going to get hurt, and it's not just going to be feelings getting battered."
"Yeah," William squeaks, as if he hadn't kept Mark a secret from Vyncent and Dakota for over a year. As if that hadn't hurt them all. He'll do it, he decides as Jason turns to leave the room again. William trails slowly after him. He'll face the music. He'll tell them that their kissing freaked him out, and tell them never to do it again, and-
Oh God Dakota is going to think he's a homophobe.
--
William can't find the right way to do it.
He hadn't said anything he didn't have to to once he rejoined his friends, brushing them off with "I'll tell you later" and "I'm fine, really, I promise." He'd given them his medical papers to prove that he's okay (they all share their medical information freely. There's some special clause for superhero teams and medical information, like for married people, and William has been looking in to applying for it just in case one of them goes down and can't hand over the information themselves. He doesn't know what he would do if either of them goes down and he isn't allowed to know when they'll get back up again), and then floated directly into his room to hide. To think.
That's what he's doing now. Thinking.
He can't ban them from kissing each other. Dakota will get weird about it. He might get stupid about it, too, and make the whole team go in for sensitivity training. William has to be sneaky about this.
Seeing his best friends kissing gave him a medical condition.
No. That's fucking stupid. And it's a lie. He doesn't want to lie to them. Seeing them kissing made him uncomfortable.
He has to pause at that thought. It isn't a lie. It feels like a lie. Of course he's uncomfortable! Dakota was kissing Vyncent! He knew how William- he was so weird about William and Vyncent, and then he goes and kisses Vyncent himself! William should feel betrayed!
Vyncent kissed Dakota, too.
Dakota had kissed William.
Would Vyncent feel jealous if William kissed Dakota? Would Dakota feel jealous if William kissed Vyncent? His thoughts wander for several minutes. He wouldn't have to make Vyncent lean so far to kiss him as with Dakota. Would that make Dakota jealous? That William wouldn't have to stand on his tippy-toes? Or does he like grabbing Vyncent by the shirt and dragging him down? What about Vyncent? Maybe he's jealous of William, and how easy it was for Dakota to throw him into a dip. He thinks about Dakota dipping Vyncent and practically feels steam coming out of his ears.
No, wait, those are wisps. "Go away," he hisses to them, swatting at the air. It won't hurt them, just lets them dance along the air currents and away from his head. "I'm thinking!"
What was he thinking about? He's trying to figure out how to tell his friends to never kiss again. Right. He can do this. He only has a few hours left until Jason's deadline. He can do this.
--
If his life were some comic book, William thinks, or some novel, then his earlier enthusiasm would be splashed big, bright and bold. Maybe a full page. Something triumphant and ready to face the day. Something dramatic that declares "I CAN DO THIS." Then the next page would be turned and he would be shown huddled into a little ball on his bed and there would be text wilting down the page. There'd be one of those little boxes, too, the narration boxes, or maybe a droopy thought bubble coming right from his head, and the text would say "I can't do this."
Or "he can't do this." It depends on the first-or-second person of the original "I can do this." However that translates.
He's thinking about stupid things right now, that way he doesn't have to think about the serious things, like moving out. The team is going to be disbanded, and every time he thinks about that there's this horrible sinking feeling in his gut. So. Not thinking about that. What other stupid shit is there?
William stares blankly at the opposite wall.
Le Frog is gonna be sad.
Or maybe he won't be. Maybe even he'll be excited to get a fresh new nemesis, whoever the team brings in to replace William. They'll probably be cooler than he is, which is the antithesis of Le Frog. Maybe Le Frog will get bored, then, because he'll lose his fights even faster.
Will Ashe stay in touch with him?
The fear grips William's chest. Ashe won't send his playlists to whoever replaces Will, right? He'll still get those? Unless he goes to the spirit world too quickly... or doesn't visit Prime enough. Maybe if he keeps up the contact Ashe won't even think about replacing him, too. Maybe he'll get lucky and Ashe won't even find out that William was kicked out of the Prime Defenders.
Or maybe he won't get kicked out at all. Maybe he's being dramatic. He killed Cantrip, and Dakota still cried over his corpse. Vyncent still tried to save him. Maybe this isn't that big of a deal.
It wouldn't be a big deal if it were Vyncent who had done this, or Dakota. William has been forgiven for a lot. This isn't lying, but it isn't kind, either. He was cruel to his team. He made them worry for nothing. There's a limit to forgiveness. Even if Dakota forgives him --which he probably will, because he's Dakota-- there's nothing that guarantees the same for Vyncent.
He's really bad at thinking about stupid things.
There's nothing else for him to do, though. The deadline had passed hours and hours and hours ago, almost without William even noticing. It had been scary, of course, because Jason King revealing William's newest deep dark secret is a nightmare scenario. And then he had thought about it more, and more, and more, and realized just how short his thread of leniency must have become. They won't be chomping at the bit to get rid of him, William knows that much. They love him, and that makes it worse.
How are you supposed to trust a liar? How could they turn their back to him out in the field and know that he's going to take care of them? Okay- he can't usually do that anyway. Ghostshaping only does so much, and he’s way better at going intangible and letting his allies take bullets for him than not. (He hadn't been happy when he started dreaming again and that moment kept replaying. He wasn't upset, because Ashe had survived that bullet, but he wasn't happy.)
Whatever. The point is that all William has done is prove, once again, that all he's good for is slowing them down. They had been there for him at his lowest moments, and he can't even let them kiss each other without making a horrible scene about it. Maybe he really is homophobic?
There's a knock at his door.
"William?" Vyncent's voice calls.
William goes rabbit-prey still.
"Will?" Vyncent calls again. "Can we come in? Um. Dakota thinks we should talk."
'We.' Right. Okay. Right.
It's like William's body isn't even under his own control. He sits up slowly, stiffly, like a corpse flinching its way through its death spasms. He sits up on his unmade bed and curls one hand into the sheets next to him, hoping that the sensation of the fabric sliding against his skin will help ground him. He doesn't take a breath. He doesn't have to. He calls, "Come in."
Dakota steps into the room first. Then Vyncent.
Vyncent pauses, and William takes note of his silver eyes. Actually silver, this time. William knows that isn't a guarantee that Jason isn't here right now but, considering his attitude about their "teenage relationships" William thinks that he's probably trying his best to ignore them right now. "Did you sleep?"
William blinks at him. Realizes the time. Opens his mouth to lie and accidentally tells the truth instead, "No."
Vyncent looks down to Dakota, a small frown on his face. "Maybe this should wait...?"
"It's Will," Dakota says.
Vyncent considers for a moment, nods, then looks back to William. "...Are you homophobic?"
William recoils so fast he almost flies into the wall. Nightmare! Nightmare! This is a nightmare! He looks rapidly between them, hands stretching out like he can catch the accusation and throw it away before he sees Dakota's face cracking into a grin. He's giggling.
"Sorry, Wiwi," he says, and doesn't sound apologetic at all. He bounds forwards and on to William's bed, into the space William just vacated, and sprawls himself easily across the pillows.
"Perfect opportunity," Vyncent explains, smiling a little as he approaches the bed. "You get it."
"Y-yeah," William says, as though he isn't experiencing seven forms of whiplash all at once.
"Was he telling the truth?" Dakota asks too eagerly. More nightmare. "Are you jeaaaalouss?"
"Um," William squeaks, leaning away from him. The bed dips as Vyncent sits on the corner of it and William stops leaning, because more leaning means leaning closer to Vyncent. He's pinned.
The wall is behind him. There's still an escape, and it's one they can't follow through. That makes him feel... a whole lot better, actually.
Dakota giggles again. He kicks his feet, almost jabbing Vyncent in the arm, but Vyncent has wisely positioned himself just out of reach. "You're really not dying? You're just super possessive and weird?"
"Um." William feels like he should defend himself here. "I'm already dead."
Dakota grins wide, and it reminds William of a shark. "But you're just jealous. Don't worry, William, I've got it all figured out! We can keep catching homophobes, and you don't have to be weird anymore!"
Vyncent blinks a few times, looks over to Dakota with a puzzled little frown.
Dakota continues, "You can be our bait. By kissing Vyncent."
Huh.
"What?"
That wasn't William who said that. That was Vyncent, whose face is suddenly a really interesting shade of pink. William is again grateful that he can't blush. He doesn't think that anyone could ever be capable of blushing as prettily as Vyncent is right now, and he doesn't want to be distracted from it by worries about his own warm face.
Wait.
His brain replays the last few seconds over again.
Wait.
Vyncent says, "I thought he was jealous over you!"
It's Dakota's turned to look stunned. "Me?"
"Yeah! You saw the way he was looking at you after you kissed him!"
"I thought he didn't like that! That's why I kissed you!"
Vyncent pauses, frowns. He looks hurt. "So you didn't want to kiss me?"
"I did!" Dakota protests quickly. "Do? I don't know- I'm weird with that stuff- but it was nice and it worked and we know Summer isn't a homophobe now!"
William can't handle this. His brain latches onto the one part of the conversation that it has any hope of comprehending. "Weird?" he echoes, voice a little strangled despite his best efforts. "Are- does that mean you're ace, or...?"
Dakota pauses, considers that. "Oh," he says, surprised. "I might be."
"Oh," William says. "Congrats, man."
Vyncent echoes the sentiment, but there's enough of a lilt to his voice that William knows he doesn't know what it means. He sets an internal reminder to send Vyncent an essay about asexuality.
"I still like kissing, though," Dakota says, looking to William. "Is that like... allowed?"
"I... don't know why it wouldn't be?"
"That's settled, then," Dakota declares, and he seems pleased enough that William figures he's right. But he's still in this horrible phase of making William's life a nightmare, so he looks right at William again and asks, "So who do you want to kiss, then?"
Vyncent lunges forwards suddenly, turning William's squeak into a full shriek as his leg is grabbed. Vyncent’s face is still flushed, and there's a look in his eyes- a little piercing, a little desperate. "If you're leaving, you're taking me with you."
Ah. Camaraderie. William takes comfort in Vyncent's misery the way that a mangled car would enjoy the company of the truck it t-boned.
Dakota is still grinning. "I think that means that Vyncent gets dibs," he says, sounding much too pleased with himself. "You two can even practice in here, so you're ready to go for our next big team up."
"You can't- you can't just volunteer people for kissing, Dakota!" William squawks. Oh, God, why can't he just talk normally? "You don't even know if Vyncent wants to kiss me!"
"Do you?" Dakota asks. This horrible question is directed to Vyncent.
Vyncent pauses. Blinks twice. "Yeah. Huh."
"Huh?!" William can't fucking handle this. This isn't happening. Vyncent wants to kiss him. William grasps for outrage just to cope. "What do you mean, huh?!"
"I've just- I've never thought about it before!" Vyncent protests, holding up his hands to defend himself.
"Never?" That was from Dakota, startled. He reaches over to grab William's face in one hand, under his chin so he can pinch both cheeks inwards with his fingers. William really appreciates the fishbowl look. Thanks, Dakota. "But he's so kissable!" William no longer cares about whatever the fuck Dakota is doing to his face. He can have it. Whatever.
"There's been other stuff on my mind!" Vyncent is blushing harder now. He's not looking at either of them. "I just- I guess- yeah, I think he's kissable and I'd like to do it!"
"Then that’s that," Dakota says, again with too much satisfaction. "And I can get kisses later, if either of you two want to, but I'm happy with whatever."
"Y-you didn't even ask if I wanted..." William starts weakly, then trails off.
"You look at Vyncent like you want to eat him sometimes, Will," Dakota says, leaning his head on one of William's shoulders and patting his other shoulder with the hand that had been clasping William's chin, now wrapped around his back. "Even if you don't want to kiss him now, you will later."
"M-maybe I changed my mind!" WIlliam protests. Why is he doing this. What is wrong with him.
"Have you?" Vyncent asks. His hand is still on William's leg. His eyes are wide. He's hunched inwards a little, shy, and his voice is a little shaky. He's leaning forwards, towards William. "Changed your mind?"
William Wisp is a coward.
William swallows, then slowly shakes his head no. He still wants to kiss Vyncent. Of fucking course he does.
"Okay," Vyncent breathes. He breaks out into a smile- wide and boyish and beautiful. He leans forwards a little more, and then William realizes that he's crawling up the bed. William thinks, for the millionth time, that it's a really good thing that he doesn't have to breathe.
Dakota stays where he is, comfortable with an arm around William's shoulders. He's warm. Solid. Vyncent is solid too. The bed creaks softly, the mattress dipping beneath his weight with every movement. For one crazed moment, William is convinced that Vyncent is going to sit in his lap, but Vyncent just settles next to him. Dakota on one side, Vyncent on the other. Vyncent is leaning in, knees folded under him. Anyone else in this same position might seem small, but Vyncent isn't small. William has to look up to him.
Vyncent's hand lightly touches William's jaw. "Hey," he whispers.
"Hi," Dakota greets. The moment shatters instantly, the three of them breaking down into giggles. William squeezes his eyes shut and desperately tries to get himself under control again, but the other two are shaking against him and he's helpless but to laugh along. Vyncent's head drops against the shoulder that Dakota isn't leaning on, and William feels Dakota's hand shift to run through Vyncent's hair.
They still love him.
It hits him suddenly, and he has to squeeze his eyes shut harder to stop any tears from gathering. They still love him. They're not even mad at him. This situation is- it's scary for its own reasons, but he doesn't have to worry. He's still theirs.
Too soon, the giggling subsides again. William opens his eyes to see Dakota beaming at Vyncent (but he spares a moment of that radiant smile for William, before William has to look away again), and William looks to see Vyncent smiling so sweetly at him.
Vyncent's hand, William realizes, has returned to its place on his jaw.
"Try that again?" Vyncent suggests, his voice low, and he starts to lean in again.
Oh.
This is really happening.
Vyncent is going to kiss him.
It's happening really slowly.
Is this to make sure that William has enough time to pull away?
He isn't going to do that.
Vyncent is going to kiss him.
Vyncent is going to kiss him.
Oh God.
Dakota's arm is still around William's shoulders. They're both really close to him. They're so warm.
He's so cold. Is he making them cold? He's wearing his hoodie, but Dakota's bare arm is against William's neck.
Fuck. Wait. William's hands. They're just next to him. Isn't he supposed to be holding someone? Something? Vyncent's hand is on his jaw and Dakota's hand is on his shoulder and his own hands are fucking next to him on the sheets and Vyncent is getting really close to him and his eyes are shutting and his breath is warm and there's not enough time- William lifts his hands up, fast, frantically plants them on Vyncent's shoulders and-
he goes intangible and flings himself forwards. He ducks his head to make sure that Vyncent's lips don't intangibly connect to his own, and kicks off of the wall he can't actually touch to get himself away even faster.
William Wisp is a fucking coward.
He goes tangible again almost the moment he's cleared Vyncent, and doesn't remember he can fly. He tumbles off of the bed instead, bringing a blanket to the floor in a horrible little heap. He phases through the blanket instead of trying to detangle himself, scrabbling back to his feet again. "Sorry-" he gasps out. Vyncent looks disappointed. Dakota looks startled. "Sorry! I just- I can't- I panicked- I- um, shit-"
"I guess it's not just jealousy, then," Dakota says after a moment, thoughtful. "I think it's just any kissing that freaks you out right now."
"Oh," Vyncent says, blinking a few times. His eyelashes are so nice. He relaxes a little (relieved?), smiles, settles against Dakota where he’s still leaning against the wall. "Yeah, everyone gets a little performance anxiety sometimes. You should have seen me in my first sword fight. Christ."
William, maybe out of some insane survival instinct, latches on to this mystery. "What does that mean? Christ? I've heard you use that word a few times."
"Huh?" Vyncent blinks a few more times. It's fucking adorable. "Christ? Jesus Christ? The first warlock?"
"What?"
"Yeah, we invoke his name sometimes as a curse. Like shit or something."
"Why don't we say Prime to curse?" Dakota asks, looking up to the ceiling like the answer might be there. "Or maybe- Mrs G! Mars! Earth!"
"I don't- I don't think fuck was a person," William says. "I don't think we use names as curses at all, Dakota."
"Weird." Dakota stretches an arm out towards William. "If you get back over here we can watch a movie on my phone," he says primly. "I don't want to talk about kissing anymore. Cuddle time."
William hesitates, and then he climbs back onto the bed.
--
Le Frog is riding a giant beetle.
"What the fuck, man!"
Le Frog shouts something back at William. He's too far to hear, but that horrible fake French accent is undeniable, so William doesn't even wait for his friends- he floats up into the air and flies closer.
This beetle William recognizes almost immediately. It's a dung beetle, and it's larger than all of the other beetles. Not by a lot. But by a little.
"Oh, ho, ho! Will-i-em!" Le Frog crows. He's holding a too-large gun in one hand, the almost comically-shaped barrel gently smoking. "Now you see, my nemesis! Look! Fear! Le Frog found that ze bugs in this pond were a little... lacking!" He cackles madly.
"Dude. Bugs aren't beetles."
Le Frog freezes. "What?"
"Yeah. Different thing. Bugs have different mouth parts and soft wings."
Le Frog frowns, looks down at his giant mount. "But it looks like a bug!"
"Different classifications," William says, almost apologetically. "Hey, is that a grow gun?"
Le Frog preens, waves it around. "Best on ze market!"
William ghostshapes a flyswatter -- normal sized -- and swats it out of Le Frog's hand. The villain scrabbles for the gun as it tumbles to the ground. William waits just long enough to make sure that Le Frog won't fall too, and then he floats back down to the others. In the distance, he hears Le Frog wail, "That was th-ree 'undred dollars! My life savings!"
"It's been Le Frog this whole time," William tells the others once he reaches them. Vyncent visibly relaxes, and Dakota visibly wilts.
"Can we Colestyle: Bug Crush, at least?" Dakota asks hopefully.
William hesitates. It's tacky, usually, to replicate a move like that so soon... but he can't find it within himself to say no. It’s just Le Frog, anyway. Barely counts as using a move when you use it against him. In response to Dakota's question, he holds out his arms. Dakota whoops and bounds forwards, grabbing on to William and preening in his arms.
"What do I do?" Vyncent asks.
"Stand there and look pretty," William suggests, and then they’re gone, shooting upwards to get enough height for Dakota to crash through the beetle's carapace. Dakota's cackles catch on the wind, leaving a trail of laughter behind them.
This, William thinks, is where he'd end the story if his life was a comic book. It's satisfying. Clean. A mirror of an earlier moment, but lighter now, the danger resolved and left behind.
His life isn't a comic book, though, so he keeps climbing through the air. He's holding Dakota. The clouds are different. There is a giant beetle below him. He's fully intact. The beetle won't be. "Hey, Dakota! What if I fall with you?"
"You'll get hurt!"
"I'll go intangible!"
Dakota laughs, squirms in William's arms. He kicks off, sending William almost ten feet higher into the air as Dakota propels himself towards the centre of the dung beetle's carapace. The call "Race you down!" trails up to William, who laughs, and lets himself fall after him.
This would be a good end to a story, too. Really cinematic.
It’s peaceful, this freefall. The wind streaks across his face, burning at his eyes. All the other times he’s chosen to fall it’s been faster, just a few seconds, and he’s been alone. He can see Dakota down below him, twisting to get his feet under him like he’s going to fall into water. William goes intangible before the wind can actually hurt him, and he’s not a second too late. Dakota slams down into the beetle, disappearing inside in half a blink. Hot wind blows up to greet William, followed by a mighty geyser of beetle gore that phases right through him.
He keeps falling, down into the carapace, through the soft meat, into Dakota's newest pothole.
"Wi-"
Past Dakota's pothole. Into the ground.
Wait, no-
Further down. This is just like the water. Why hadn't he learned from the water? He focuses, stops breathing, flies upwards. It would be so much easier in the water because then he could just swim up, but nooo, he had to go and forget about the fact that nothing can catch him when he’s intangible. Nothing can slow him.
By the time he makes it back to the surface and returns to tangibility, Dakota has already retrieved Le Frog from where he'd been stranded on the top of the collapsed beetle's head, and Vyncent, still a ways out, is heading towards William. William can vaguely hear what Le Frog is saying- something about suing them for three hundred dollars. He's not really concerned, personally. Dakota says something that William can't hear and kicks the beetle hard in the side.
William is hit in the back, hard. He shouts, goes flying, tumbles head over heel and just manages to see the beetle leg where he had been just moments before. Death spasms. Or Dakota spasms. Something.
No problem! William has just failed to solve this problem, and he knows how to fix it now. He just needs to start flying and then he'll stop.
He starts flying. He doesn't stop. His momentum doesn't stop. He tries to put on the breaks, fly backwards, and that helps a little but he's going so fast and-
"Will!"
Vyncent catches him.
Fails to catch him- they go tumbling over one another. Vyncent's arms wrap around William, shielding his head from the hard pavement of the road, and William scrabbles to try to do the same for him. His arms are trapped- he's a fucking superhero, he doesn't need arms.
A ghost bubble forms around them, bouncing them down the street. The two tumble inside, shouting, until William figures out that a square will stop their momentum faster. Their ghost bubble hits the corner of the large ghost square and both pop, leaving William and Vyncent collapsed on the ground.
Vyncent is on the ground. William is on the Vyncent.
His hands are on either side of Vyncent's head. One of Vyncent's hands has fallen naturally to William's waist. Their faces are inches apart.
Vyncent caught him.
Vyncent stares up at William with wide eyes. His hair is away from his face, but William's shadow means that one of his eyes is darker than the other. Are those flecks of gold in the iris? William struggles to see, and then realizes that Vyncent's pupils are blown. He shifts his head, lets the light fall into both eyes, feels relief when they contract a little. Probably no concussion. William relaxes, almost settling in before he remembers where he is. Vyncent's hand shifts a little on his waist, and he doesn't stop looking up at William, even when he has to squint against the light in his eyes. When Vyncent smiles up at him, almost shy, William feels his mouth go dry. "Hey," Vyncent whispers.
William brings one hand, shaking, to the side of Vyncent's jaw. "Hey," he whispers back. They pause there for a moment. Vyncent tips his chin up a little, almost like a question, and William lets out a slow breath. He leans down, doesn’t let himself think. He thinks a little anyway, caught by the question of whether or not Vyncent's lips really are as soft as they look.
William Wisp is a fucking coward, but he kisses Vyncent anyway.
Vyncent's lips are softer than they look. He tastes like cherry. William's brain doesn't go quiet- not the same way that it did when Dakota dipped him, but it settles. He settles. Relaxes into Vyncent like he's candlewax and Vyncent is the flame. If he kisses them enough, will he get to keep their warmth? Carry a part of them with him again, and maybe try to actually keep it, this time. William draws his hand down, over Vyncent's jaw and to his ear, then through his hair to cup it beneath his head. The pavement scratches at William's knuckles as he makes himself the barrier between Vyncent and the hard road, and he sighs happily into the kiss.
Then, there's screaming.
William and Vyncent don't rip away from each other. They more roll and twist to their feet, using the other as a balance- William pulling Vyncent into a sit by the shoulders as he rolls off of him, and then Vyncent pulling William up the rest of the way to his feet. They turn as one to the source of the screams- Vyncent, sword already drawn, and William, a wisp in each hand.
It's just Le Frog.
"No!" he wails. Dakota is just standing there, looking at him. Le Frog is on his knees, clawing at the air, and screaming. "No!"
"What- what happened?" William asks. He doesn't banish the wisps, but he does straighten up a little.
"He just did this," Dakota tells them.
"I? I?! I have done nothing!" Le Frog wails. He's trembling. William steps forwards, and Le Frog scrambles back.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," William says.
"I-I knew you would do anything to get me, your greatest nemesis!" Le Frog babbles. He keeps backing up until he reaches Dakota's legs, clings to them, tries to hide behind them. Dakota just stands there. "But I didn't zink zat you would go this far!"
"What?" Vyncent hasn't caught on yet.
William gestures to Le Frog. "He's-"
"I am a 'ome-o-phobe! I am a villain - I have 'ome-o-phobia!" Le Frog wails, almost tearfully. He clings even tighter to Dakota's legs, affecting true terror. It would almost be convincing, if William hadn’t known so many liars. If William didn't know Le Frog, and known he'd cheerfully tried to team up with a pair of gay villains just a few months before. He doesn't know why Le Frog would lie about this. He's not sure that he cares. "You 'ave found my greatest weakness!"
William locks eyes with Dakota.
There’s this thing thing about William- he's a little mean, sometimes. And Le Frog did steal their winnebago - and then gave it back? William isn't sure if this is mean, or if he's just giving Le Frog more nemesis enrichment.
It doesn't matter.
William marches up to Dakota. Le Frog isn't pretending he’s scared of William himself, continues clinging to Dakota's legs. William grabs Dakota's face in his hands, pulls him up, leans down- kisses him.
Le Frog wails again, flinging himself from Dakota’s legs to go hide behind Vyncent instead. Dakota, giggling madly, struggles to kiss William back, but his hands wrap around William's shoulders and pull him in with a strength that makes William's legs go weak. William rests almost all of his weight against Dakota, letting his friend hold him up, and he doesn't mind the screaming or the giggling.
It's enough, to him, just to kiss Dakota's smile.