Chapter Text
noun. a color varying from light crimson to pale reddish purple.
Often thought to be a calming color associated with kindness and love.
“Leaving so soon?”
The canine who had just asked the question perked up his head, looking at the arachnid, stretching slightly from laying down in the towel.
“I’m gonna hang out with Diane. Sun’s about to set.” She said, dusting the sand off of her fur as she shot a glance back. “Plus, you know I’m not exactly made for swimming.”
“Have fun.” Wolf said, putting his head back down as he stared at the intense blue sky above them.
He had to admit, he had his doubts about a vacation, but they’d been helping Diane and working so much lately that a break was much needed. A break away from the busy city streets of L.A., from the constant noise and speeding cars, from the crowds of people.
The beach was a pretty fine choice, of course. This was the third day of their week off, and they were already feeling much, much better. Wolf hadn’t even realized how stressed and tense he was until he allowed himself to have fun, and stop worrying about proving that he was good.
No, he cut his train of thought. I am good. I don’t need to prove it to anyone.
He tilted his head again, this time towards the opposite side, to stare at a certain reptile who was pleasantly relaxing under the warm rays of the sun. The light bounced off of his yellow scales beautifully, making him almost shimmer just like the waves did, making him glow as if fallen from heaven itself.
“I know ‘yer starin’.” Snake said, making a point to wait for a second before opening just one eye to peek at Wolf.
Ah, Wolf. His gaze quickly inspected the canine up and down, admiring his fuzzy body; he was only wearing a pair of swim trunks, which Snake had to admit looked amazing on him. (Well, to be honest, anything looked amazing on him.) But what really caught his attention, just like always, was his eyes; those intense, burning, electric orbs of amber that were currently locked onto his own. He had this soft expression on his face, too, with a little smile that made it clear to anyone that he was deeply in love.
And the reptile allowed himself to mimic that same expression.
“Can you blame me?” Wolf chuckled, scooting closer to wrap an arm around said scales, making Snake instinctively start to coil around his arm in return. “Can’t help myself when I got such a fiiine piece of eye candy right here.”
“Mister Wolf!” Snake feigned surprise, before his usual smirk crept back into his face. “Behave yourself, please! ”
The lupine’s smile just widened, as they both leaned forward to meet into a soft, yet much needed kiss.
They stared at each other as they pulled back.
“Did y’hear Webs? Sun’s setting soon.” Wolf commented. “Wanna go inside? We can watch from the balcony.”
The serpent hummed for a second. “...Yeah. It’s gonna get cold out here.” And without much effort, he slithered into what would be a standing position, waiting for the canine to do so as well before grabbing the towel with his tail and rolling it up.
Wolf got lost in thought for a moment, staying behind as he stared at the serpent slithering towards the beach house, and the way the just-about-to-set sun perfectly framed his silhouette against the background of sand and ocean.
“You comin’ or what?” Snake’s low voice shook Wolf out of his little trance. “Oh, uh, yeah.” And with that, they both started making their way.
Tonight, Wolf thought. I’m doing it tonight.
Wolf was thankful that they had decided to stay at a separate beach house than the others. Sure, it meant that they weren’t together 24/7, but the rest of the gang was always a short walk away if they wanted to hang out at night. (To be honest, he was already grateful that Diane could get such a perfect, secluded spot; but that’s the perks of being Governor.)
But tonight? Tonight it was just the two of them. Just like he had planned.
The canine had already changed into a more cozy outfit. Not his usual white suit, but instead, a much more casual white shirt with a loose jacket, plus some warmer pants. The nights got pretty damn cold out here, thanks to the sea breeze.
Snake, on his end, was wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and hat combo. Sadly, his biology didn’t really help him when it came to wearing clothes, (but deep down he was glad he had an excuse to nuzzle up to Wolf so frequently).
The snake was already sitting on a reclining chair in the balcony when the lupine came in, with a small charcuterie board for the two of them to share. He sat down on the other chair, right next to Snake, and put the board on the little table between them.
The reptile briefly stuck out his tongue, smelling the scent of cured meat and bread, prompting him to look at the board. “Fancy.” He commented, tentatively reaching into it to take a slice of salami and chomp down.
“Y’know I have to keep it classy, baby.” Wolf shot back, the word ‘baby’ dripping with what he would call the ‘Clooney charm’.
“Mm.” He swallowed, reaching out for another. “S’no guinea pig, though.”
Wolf just snickered, the guinea pig subject now being a bit of an inside joke in their relationship, as he leaned in to grab a little cube of cheese and eat it.
The two allowed themselves to stare out into the ocean, watching as the sky began to show hints of orange, the sun barely touching the horizon. No words were spoken; no words were needed. The silence that spanned for the next couple minutes, coupled with the soothing sound of the waves, brought an indescribable sense of comfort to the two of them.
“This was a great idea.” Wolf said, prompting Snake a small hum of approval.
“Agreed.” He said, making a point to grab another slice of salami and bite down on it. “And I guess the vacation’s okay too.”
The lupine’s gaze shifted from the scene in front of him to Snake, staring at the smug expression on his face. “Smartass.”
“You love me.”
“I do.” He didn’t hesitate, not even thinking of answering with a snarky quip. “And you love me. ”
Snake’s cheeky smirk softened into a more honest one. “I do.” He mirrored his lover’s words.
They both stared back at the scenery. The hints of orange had now overtaken around half of the sky, with some lovely hues of intense red and pink shining through and bouncing off of the waves as well.
Although they knew very well it didn’t matter how pretty the sunset was, as long as they had each other.
“Did you ever think we would make it this far?” Snake broke the silence after who knows how many minutes, although his gaze was still focused on the waves.
Wolf blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Being this successful.” The reptile clarified. “Being good.” He continued, before tentatively adding, “...Us.”
The canine thought about it for a moment. “I always hoped we would be successful, eventually.” He says, picking up a small piece of bread from the board and taking a bite. “I mean, I wasn’t really sure, but I hoped.” Munch munch munch.
“The being good part…” He allows himself to swallow. “It just kinda came out of nowhere, didn’t it?”
“It didn’t.” Snake replied, causing both of them to look at each other. “I always knew you had some good in you.”
“...What do you mean?”
The serpent sat a bit straighter, preparing himself to explain. “You’ve always been… I mean, don’t get me wrong, you were stealing stuff, and doing crime, just like the rest of us. But…” Snake fumbled for a moment, trying to find the right words.
“You cared.” He finally says, making Wolf’s ears perk up. “I can’t explain it better than that. Y’cared about us, and about the little things, and about making sure to have moments of goodness in between the bad. And sure y’stole– But you never harmed anybody .” He said, before muttering the next part. “Can’t say that about all of us…”
Wolf tilted his head. “...I didn’t know you thought that.”
“I’ve kind of always thought that.” He let out a sigh. “Back then, it was…” He felt the canine’s eyes on him, which made it a bit more difficult to speak properly. “I don’t know. Made me feel like someday you’d realize that y’were better than us, and you’d leave.” He finally confessed, looking back at the ocean to avoid having to show his embarrassed expression to his lover.
“...So that’s why you reacted the way you did.” Wolf pieced together.
“Yeah. Well, part of it. I was a mess, we know that story already.” He chuckled, bringing the mood back up slightly, before continuing. “But I’m glad you turned out the way you did.”
Wolf couldn’t help but smile. “I’m glad you turned out the way you did.”
The reptile couldn’t help but stare back at Wolf, and the way his smoky fur shined under the intense pink lights of the sunset, highlighting him –and only him– as the most important thing in the scene.
As the most important thing in his life.
Snake felt his heart suddenly become too big, too heavy for his chest, hesitating before opening his mouth to speak.
“I…” The way that Wolf looked at him so reassuringly, so lovingly, tugged at his very heartstrings and threatened to get him teary-eyed. “I can’t thank you enough for not giving up on me.”
Now it was Wolf’s turn to get a little teary-eyed. “I didn’t even do anything, I…” He trailed off, not being able to word his thoughts properly. Instead, he opted to stick his hand out, allowing the snake to coil around his arm and slowly travel to his chair for a warm, tight hug.
“God, I love you so much, Snake.” Wolf’s voice was low. He could scream it, he could tell the whole world about it, but he didn’t need to. Snake was his world, and as such, his words were only for him.
“I love you too.” The reptile’s voice cracked a little, and Wolf felt something warm fall onto his shoulder– A tear.
They both pulled back to stare at each other, the reptile still coiled around him.
“These past two years have been… Ever since the crater, I…” His eyes wandered, the pink glow around them seemingly increasing in intensity. “You’ve changed me, too.” Those piercing amber orbs settled back onto Snake’s face before continuing. “You’ve helped me so much as well. You’ve always been there to have my back, to talk with, to laugh with, to cry with, I…”
Snake’s smile couldn’t be wider as he wiped a tear from the canine’s face with his tail.
“I wanna spend the rest of my life with you.” Wolf finally said, his heart beating so loud it was almost throwing itself against the walls of his chest, and he was sure Snake could hear it.
The serpent took out his hat and held it close to his chest. “Oh, Wolfy…”
“Snake.” Wolf said his name with more determination in his voice, almost with a sense of finality. “You make me the happiest person on the planet.” He carefully pushed the reptile off of the chair, him shakily standing up as well, only to…
Snake’s eyes went wide, gasping in shock as Wolf got on one knee.
“Would you marry me?” He asked, pulling out a small box from his back-pocket and opening it; showing the contents inside to the serpent.
A small collar was inside. It was a simple yet slick design, a silver band of metal that looped around, the ends curving around each other like a serpent’s tail. And on the very middle, embedded into the collar and displayed in all its glory:
A Scarlet Emerald.
Snake took a quick glance towards the collar, but his gaze almost instantly went back to Wolf’s expression, the way he smiled with hope in his eyes and this pink glimmer to his whole body.
“You’re joking.”
The canine’s expression dropped, and his blood went cold. “...I’m… Not? I mean, ha–” Immediately his mind started wandering, berating himself for even thinking that this was gonna be a good idea, for pushing Snake so fast, for forcing him to think about this so suddenly–
And then, all his doubts went away when Snake fetched a smaller box from the pocket of his shirt, opening it up to reveal a ring.
“YOU’RE JOKING!” Wolf basically shouted, immediately standing up and frantically laughing through his tears.
“I’M NOT!” Snake shouted back, his voice enthusiastically happy mixed with high traces of disbelief.
“Oh. My. God?!”
“Did you– You got a Scarlet Emerald as well?!”
“ YOU GOT THE EMERALD AS WELL?!” Wolf traded the boxes, allowing Snake to get a good look at the collar and him to get a good look at the ring. Now that he was taking the proper caution to examine it, there it was– An extravagant silver ring with snake skin markings, and a Scarlet Emerald on full display. “WHAT?!”
“I THOUGHT I WAS BEING CLEVER!” The reptile yelled back, taking the collar off of the box to examine it as well.
“I THOUGHT I WAS BEING CLEVER!”
“I–” Snake looked at the collar, before just holding his head with his tail in disbelief. No words could express how many emotions this moment had made them feel.
Instead, they went for the next best thing, as Snake tugged Wolf in for a passionate kiss which made him drop to the ground from how low he angled him. Snake rolled right next to him, both of them staring into the now-darkening sky.
“Holy fuck.” Snake said.
“I know.”
“We’re gettin’ married.”
“I know. ”
“It’s really fuckin’ happening.”
“I KNOW!” Wolf could not contain his excitement.
“I didn’t even get to say my speech! ” Snake laughed, still.
“You had a speech planned?”
“Well maybe not a speech, but…” He quickly got back on track. “Look, the point is– I love you. I love you too. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you too.” He leaned close to Wolf to look at him, directly into the eyes.
“...Oh wow.”
Snake was starting to come down from his high, noticeably panting a little from the excitement and adrenaline. “What?”
“This is perfect.” Wolf said. “I mean, you’re perfect, and this–” He motioned to the scenery, “is perfect, and this– ” He motioned to the ring, now on his finger. “is perfect.”
He took a moment to stare at his wedding ring– (his wedding ring, could you believe that?!), wearing it proudly and showing it off.
Meanwhile, Snake was already putting on his collar with a bit of trouble, the canine helping him adjust it without even mentioning it.
“Smart idea. The collar, I mean.”
“I know, I’m the best.” He said, shuffling it around a little. “How’s it feel?”
The serpent tilted his head around. “Surprisingly comfy.”
“Good. I had to get that custom-made.”
“Wow, you’re spoilin’ me.” The serpent meant for that to come off as a joke, but he found himself kind of meaning it.
They stared at each other through tears and smiles and lingering gazes.
“We’re getting married.” Wolf repeated.
“We are.” He paused. “We’re gonna be husbands .” Snake’s eyes widened, as if he was just coming to the realization now– Trying out the word.
“Husbands.” Wolf repeated, standing up a little. “Husbands…”
The reptile let him bask in the revelation for a moment longer, before wrapping his tail around his wrist. “Alright, that’s it. C’mere, you–” He tugged him closer to place a kiss on his lips.
And with that, he dragged him inside the house again, closing the glass door to the balcony behind them.