Work Text:
"Can best friends kiss?"
Bojan watches as Kris freezes at the question and he immediately regrets asking it. Sure, it had been turning around his head for the past couple of hours so it's a relief to get it out, but to just blurt it out randomly like that? It sends an uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment creeping up his face and he almost considers trying to take it back and laugh it off.
But then Kris lets out a short, amused-sounding breath, not turning to face him. "I mean, sure, if they want to."
Bojan frowns, thinking it over. Kris isn't wrong, but technically anyone can do anything if they want to. It's a vague answer, and he isn't satisfied.
"No, but like, is it weird? Because not many friends just casually kiss each other, do they?" he asks. He thinks he sees Kris try to hide a small smile before he turns to face him properly.
"I think that's because most people tend to only think about kissing someone if they see them in a romantic way, Bojan," Kris says gently, but despite the calm tone of his voice, something about his words sets Bojan on edge.
He looks down at his lap and twists his hands together. "Oh," he says quietly.
Kris nudges him with his shoulder. "Doesn't mean it's weird, though, if you do want to kiss your friends."
Sheepishly, Bojan glances up and meets Kris' gaze, pausing for a few seconds whilst his thoughts settle. He takes a deep breath and eventually, he voices the other thing that was playing on his mind.
"Do you think about it? Kissing your friends?"
Kris pulls a face and then looks away, tapping his fingers against his leg. "I mean, it depends. If they're my friend but I have feelings for them, then yeah. But do I think about kissing my friends platonically just because I can? ........Not really? No, I don't think so."
Bojan nods although Kris isn't looking at him anymore, and he goes quiet. He thinks that for himself, it's probably a mixture of the two situations Kris described, but he can't be sure. He just likes people, and he feels like he has a lot of love to give. But what the hell does that even mean, and what is he supposed to do with it?
After a moment, Kris notices Bojan's sudden silence and turns to him with a questioning look. "Bojan, why are you asking me this?"
He lets out a sigh, knowing that Kris was going to wonder where this all came from sooner or later. "I don't know, I was just wondering, I guess," he mumbles, but Kris shakes his head.
"No, what I mean is: why are you asking me specifically this?"
That makes Bojan pause. "Because... because you're my friend," he presses out hesitantly, but it's only when Kris gives him a look that he realises the implications of what he said. "Wait! Wait, Kris, that's not what I... I didn't mean-"
"Didn't you?" Kris interrupts him, and he has a smug look on his face, but beneath it, there's genuine curiosity.
Again, Bojan falls silent and looks at Kris like a deer caught in headlights. He can feel his face heating up and is sure that soon he'll be visibly blushing.
Kris' expression softens and he reaches out towards Bojan's hands, but pulls back at the last second as if he was fighting against his better judgement. Instead, he lets out a small sigh and says, "You know, you can always kiss me if you want."
Bojan's eyes widen in shock and he gapes at Kris. "You're... you're serious?"
Instead of answering, Kris gives him another look and appears to be rather amused by the situation. Bojan, however, is having a hard time decifering anything other than the feeling of his racing heart, which is currently occupying most of his brain.
Then, Kris leans in closer towards him and Bojan freaks the fuck out.
"No no, wait, oh my god, sorry!" he blurts out with a nervous laugh, face definitely flushing red now. "Sorry, just... give me a second."
Kris laughs at him too. "Bojan, you've kissed plenty of girls before."
"Yeah, but that's different!" he hits back immediately, desperate to claw back some of his dignity. "Girls usually expect you to take the lead, and I've known you for years, and-"
He doesn't get to finish before Kris is pressing his lips against his, shutting him up incredibly effectively. It takes a moment for him to remember to kiss back, and when he does, a feeling of unbridled elation rises in his chest that has him smiling against Kris' lips.
"You talk too much," Kris says when they part. Bojan rolls his eyes and swats at his arm playfully.
"Thanks, like I've not heard that one before."
They kiss again, slowly and calmly, with the kind of familiarity to be expected after kissing someone for years, except they haven't been kissing each other for years, which seems a shame really to Bojan. Kissing Kris turns out to be extremely enjoyable.
Bojan doesn't know how much time passes, but he ends up curled into Kris' side with his head pillowed on his chest and a hand gently stroking his hair. The casual intimacy of it fills him with warmth and he lets out a contented hum.
Kris chuckles quietly and Bojan feels the vibration of it from his chest. "I'm guessing that kissing your friends is something you want to do more often?" he asks.
The answer comes to him immediately. "Yes. I don't know why more people don't."
He feels Kris shift underneath him a little, and then after a few moments, he says, "Maybe you're right. I think they should too."
Bojan smiles to himself and snuggles closer to Kris. "Oh, and - thank you, by the way. This is... nice."
He practically hears Kris rolling his eyes to accompany the little exasperated sigh at his less-than-eloquent choice of words. "Yeah. Anytime, idiot."
*****
A few months pass and Bojan slowly learns to allow himself to show affection to his friends more, even indulging in the odd kiss here and there to his utter delight.
And then, in a move which feels like he's almost "upping the stakes" somehow, he kisses Jan on stage, bringing him a huge amount of joy and yet also leaving him feeling as though it's not enough, like he wants more.
Maybe it's residual adrenaline from the gig, but something compels him to corner Kris backstage afterwards and clutch onto his waist as if he's afraid he'll run away if he doesn't hold on tight enough.
"Kiss me," he says almost urgently, and Kris scans over his face before breaking out into a grin.
"Was kissing Jan not enough for you today?" he asks teasingly.
Bojan sighs, but has a hint of a smile of his own. "You know me. I like attention."
Finally, Kris wraps his arms around Bojan and spins him so his back is against the wall. "Well, in that case..."
Their kiss isn't hurried, it never is, but Bojan knows that Kris can tell there's a little more desperation than usual behind it tonight. He obliges effortlessly, by now fine-tuned to Bojan's behaviours and needs, and the reminder that someone gets him on that level so perfectly is utterly addictive to Bojan. He craves it like oxygen.
A quiet contented noise, not quite a moan, escapes him at some point, but evidently it's loud enough to be heard elsewhere in the room, as the sound of someone clearing their throat breaks the two of them apart to turn to its direction.
Bojan peers over Kris' shoulder just in time to see Jan shoving Nace gently and Jure standing beside them, an amused expression on his face.
"What did you do that for?" Jan hisses to Nace, who shakes his head disbelievingly in return.
"They looked like they'd rather have a private moment!" he replies in defence, then turns apologetically to Bojan and Kris. "Sorry, guys."
Jan huffs. "No, don't listen to him. Don't stop on our account."
Stepping away from Bojan a little, Kris doesn't miss a beat. "Um, with you pervs watching us? No thanks."
"What if we offered you money?" Jure speaks up with a grin. "Then you'd have to, right?"
Everyone turns to him in utter bewilderment.
"What the fuck, Maček?" Nace splutters, and Jan just laughs.
Bojan, however, feels as though he could be easily convinced. He opens his mouth to reply, but Kris gets there first.
"You'd only be encouraging Bojan's exhibitionism kink if you did that," he says matter-of-factly.
Bojan nearly chokes. "E-excuse me? My what?!"
To his horror, no one else objects.
"Actually, that wouldn't surprise me," Jan says, then looks Bojan dead in the eyes. "Not with how attention-seeking you are, anyway."
Bojan scoffs and crosses his arms. "Oh, come on. I'm not that attention-"
He cuts himself off as he catches Kris looking at him with a raised eyebrow, and then remembers what he'd self-confessed just moments earlier. His face heats up and he looks away before the blush completely overtakes his face. "Whatever," he mumbles instead, and then walks away to begin gathering his things.
The giggles quickly quieten down as the others also disperse to get ready to leave the venue, but then Bojan feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to face Kris.
"Come home with me?" he asks, and then pauses to lean in closer and mutter, "I can give you plenty of attention there."
Bojan's face lights up and he smiles eagerly at Kris, who is doing a poor job of keeping his own expression neutral. A warmth spreads through him and settles somewhere in his chest.
"Yes."