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“What if we get bored?”
Kon looks up from his plate, sets his gaze on the boy across the table. The sunlight that comes through the window makes him look a little sick, dark circles under his eyes, and he’s lost some weight due to the flu that’s been plaguing him since last week. He wraps both hands around the brown mug, steam comes out of it because he likes his tea hot enough to warm his insides and leave him relaxed. Hair is a complete mess, sticking up on all sides. His small frame is covered by Kon’s Superboy t-shirt, and a pair of plaid sweatpants that he found in his wardrobe the night before complete his outfit. Although he looks miserable with his itchy throat and cracked voice, his eyes stand out from all the paleness of his skin. It gives the impression of something beautiful, but broken.
Kon shakes his head, finishes chewing on his food and takes a sip of orange juice. He then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and gives Tim his full attention.
“What?” Tim brings the mug to his lips, drinks his tea, tastes lemon and honey and shrugs, setting the mug in front of him once again. He rests his arms on the table, sweaty skin making it glue on the vinyl tablecloth with hideous flowers printed on it.
“What if we get bored?” he asks again.
“Bored of what?”
“Well, this.”
Kon frowns. “Breakfast?”
Tim makes a face, pouts his lips and he looks so much like a child that Kon feels the need to smile a little.
“No, not breakfast. Bored of each other.” Leave it to Tim to go straight to the point.
Raising an eyebrow, Kon tilts his head to the side and squints his eyes. “Sure you’re okay?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“But I’m serious.”
Kon leans back on his chair. It squeaks and scraps against the kitchen tiles. “Why would we get bored of each other?”
“I don’t know,” Tim shrugs. “It’s just…”
“Just…?”
“I can’t stop thinking that it’s silly to believe this is forever.” Tim says, gazing down at his mug. The tea is getting cold.
There’s silence. Not the kind of silence that is uncomfortable and awkward. It’s the kind of silence that tells you something, that makes all the sounds stand out, such as a heartbeat or the click of a pen. The kind of silence in which there’s understanding. Loud and warm, delicate in all its secrecy. Tim tries to take another sip of his tea, but now it’s way too cold, and Kon stares at him and wonders if they have enough Tylenol in the house because Tim’s cheeks are redder than before, eyes no longer carrying that shine. They’re glassy and sick and Kon’s trying to find a way to convince him to stay at home instead of flying to San Francisco. Of course he’s also registered everything Tim said, and it doesn’t bother him. Doesn’t bother him because he knows what Tim’s gone through, knows what he’s seen, understands that for him, happy endings belong in fairy tales.
“Did you hear what I say?” Tim’s voice brings Kon back to reality. “Kon?”
“Yup,” he nods. “Every word.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“You don’t have anything to say?”
“Nope. Well, you’re a pessimist, but we knew that already.”
“I’m not a pessimist, I’m a—”
“Realist. Yeah, I know.”
“Kon, I’m actually worried here. Could you take this seriously?”
“Worried about what?” Kon asks. “That we’re not gonna stay together?”
“Well, statistics say-“
“Okay, you better stop right there.” Tim closes his mouth, stares right into Kon’s eyes. “If you’re basing our relationship on numbers, then we should break up right now.”
Tim feels his heart on his throat. He’s afraid of choking on it.
“Screw the statistics, Tim! Seriously, you gotta stop doing that. That’s why you can’t sleep at night! You worry about things you shouldn’t!”
Realizing he’s yelling, Kon clears his throat and takes a deep breath. “You’re a realist, well, I can be one, too. Just watch me.” He licks his lips. “I love you, you dumbass. And I have no idea what’s gonna happen in the future and I don’t care. We’re together now. Maybe we’ll get bored of each other, we might even break up! But I know we’re ending up together one way or another. So whatever life throws at us, we can take it, okay?”
Wide eyes and open mouth, Tim tries to make sense of what just happened and the things he’s just heard. Kon’s so sure of himself, of their future, it makes him feel a bit dizzy. How can he not be afraid? With the life they lead, and the things they’ve seen, how can he be so confident? And then it doesn’t matter anymore and he smiles and looks to the side, he’s suddenly embarrassed, but he meets Kon’s eyes and the smile gets wider.
“That was…That was really good.”
Kon snorts and all the seriousness in the room dissipates like dust. “It was corny as hell.”
“Yeah, felt like I was in The Notebook.”
Laughter fills the room, everything seems a bit brighter and the future doesn’t feel so heavy.
“Dumbass.”
“You know I love you too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s kinda why I worry…”
“I get it, Tim. I really do. But you can’t worry about these things all the time, you’ll go insane.”
Tim nods in agreement, sighs and takes a glance at the clock on the wall. “We’re gonna be late.”
“Uh,” Kon starts. “I was thinking that maybe we should stay here.”
“We can’t do that.”
“Actually, we can.”
“Kon, I’m not staying home ‘cause of a stupid flu.”
“Come here.”
Tim is unsure for a moment, but he pushes back his chair with his feet and gets up. He tries to cover up the fact that he feels weak and walks closer to Kon who turns on his chair and grabs Tim by the waist, bringing him down on his lap. With a hand on his forehead, Kon says, “you’re burning up.” Tim doesn’t even care anymore, his head feels heavy and he finds comfort on Kon’s shoulder. “I’m calling Cassie.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“I am.”
“Tim-“
“I’m not bailing out on my team, Kon, forget it.”
“You’re not bailing out, you’re sick. Besides, Cassie is an awesome leader, I’m sure she can handle a weekend without you.”
“I know that, but I don’t feel comfortable lying in a bed while everyone else is working.”
“You can sit on the couch, then.”
Tim laughs. “I’m-“
“You’re my boyfriend and you’re sick and I wanna take care of you.”
“Yeah?”
A quick kiss on the lips, Kon smiles. “Yeah.”
“So you wanna play doctor?”
Kon smirks. This kinky boyfriend of his is bound to drive him crazy. “That depends. Will you be a good patient and do as I say?”
“But of course. I’m very obedient.”
Amused at how quickly Tim changed his mind, Kon bites his bottom lip and shakes his head. “Then go wait in the bedroom while I make a very important call.”
Tim complies, stands up and gives Kon a kiss on the cheek, dragging his lips on soft skin and whispering in his ear, “I’m very sick,” he slides a hand down Kon’s torso, smiles and gropes him with no shame whatsoever. “Make sure you bring the right medicine.”
Kon watches as Tim makes his way to the bedroom with a smile that hurts his cheeks.
How he thinks they’ll get bored of each other is beyond him.