Chapter Text
Humphrey breathed in the fresh evening air, releasing a rare sigh as he smiled. Golden light illuminated from his skin, glowing as an ability crossed the threshold into Gold rank. They were getting there. It’s been eight years of monster and Messenger battles. The team was reaching the end of Silver rank.
He sat cross legged, hovering a few inches above the cloud floor balcony. Gracefully, he rose to stand by the balcony’s edge. Resting his forearms on the railing, he gazed out at the meadow and forest stretching beyond. Belinda and Sophie lounged on a picnic blanket spread out in the field. The two snuggled close, Belinda’s head resting on Sophie’s shoulder as they watched the setting sun together.
“When did that happen?” Jason’s voice drifted in as he settled next to Humphrey. He caught the other man side-eyeing him.
“A couple of days ago.” Humphrey answered with an easy smile.
“When did you two break it off?” Jason hedged. “I thought you were a couple for the ages sort of thing.”
“About a week ago.” He replied, seeming unconcerned.
“Mate, I am so sorry.”
“What?” Humphrey startled. “Why?”
“Isn’t that a little…” Jason floundered. “Insensitive of her?”
Humphrey looked at him like he’d grown a heidel head before realizing Jason’s concerns were based on his own sordid love life issues.
“Ohhh, no, we’re on the same page.” Humphrey nodded. “We talked about all of it before we split up.”
“Well, aren’t you just wildly mature, understanding, AND sexy.” Humphrey blushed at Jason’s words. “How is anyone supposed to compete with that?”
Little did he know, Humphrey’s been adjusting to having the freedom to pursue his own desires. He’s been taking his time to plan out his own approach to none other than the man beside him. Perhaps he should try diving in instead. His planning had gotten him nowhere.
“Would you like to get a drink?” Humphrey asked.
“Sure,” Jason answered casually. “You have to try this place I found. The owner does the most amazing thing with Drappleberries.”
Moments later, Humphrey was being unceremoniously led into town via portal. Standing beside a street cart, holding a fruity drink, and listening to Jason make all those sounds that would be better suited for the bedroom, it occurred to him. I don’t think he knows I meant that as a date.
He sipped his drink blankly, barely tasting it. How in the gods names am I going to get that through to him and not just get rejected outright?
“Hump?” Jason’s face was closer than he expected. “How is it?”
“It’s good.” Jason’s eyebrow rose. “It’s really good.”
He threw in some emphasis for good measure, nodding, and his companion’s features smoothed out. They shared an easy smile and strolled down the market street looking at trinkets and more food carts. It was so easy spending time with Jason in his element. He never had to say much. Jason talked enough for the both of them. And he could just be.
When they returned to the cloud house Jason walked Humphrey to his room.
“Thanks for tonight,” Humphrey said softly as he leaned against the door frame.
“Anytime, mate.” Jason smiled and clapped him on the bicep before sauntering off. Humphrey gazed after him, a half smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes.
“You and Clive should start a club.” Humphrey startled at Belinda’s voice from the other side of the hall.
“What?” He asked in bewilderment. Belinda sighed and shook her head.
“You and Clive. You both stare after him like he hung the moons. And neither of you seems to be willing to do anything about it. You should talk to each other. Start a club. Maybe have sandwiches while you talk about your woes and years of pining.”
“That’s not—wait, what do you mean, Clive’s been pining for him for years?”
Belinda shook her head again.
“You men really are oblivious.” Humphrey gave her a flat look. “Alright, Soph too.”
“Goodnight, Lindy.” He turned to go into his room.
“Humphrey,” She called back. “I’m serious about talking to Clive though. Especially if you’re planning something. I don’t want him hurt in the crossfire.”
His eyes softened. “Alright, I will.”
Laying in the soft cloud bed he pondered her words. Has Clive had feelings for Jason all this time? Why hasn’t he ever said anything? His mind swirled with thoughts for hours until he finally passed out from exhaustion.
——
Breakfast the next morning was a quiet affair. Jason was cooking those flat cakes and eggs along with something spicy. Deliberating over how to summon Clive without the rest of the team joining was more challenging than he imagined. He wasn’t used to keeping secrets from the team. Of course, he wasn’t used to having something worth keeping to himself either. His regard for Jason has always taken precedence over the romantic feelings, which he dismissed as unimportant for so long, it just became a part of the background noise in his soul.
He opted to wait until everyone was done eating and breaking off to go about their day.
“Clive,” Humphrey waved him down as they walked down the soft corridor. “Can I speak with you?”
“Of course,” Clive stopped dead on the spot.
“Ahm,” He stumbled over his words ineloquently. Clive tilted his head. “I meant in private.”
He should stick to being direct. Last night, while still pleasant, did not go according to plan, weak as the plan may have been.
“Oh, sure.” Clive followed him down the hall. Humphrey glanced at the door to his room and then made a snap decision.
“Can you portal us into town?” Clive looked at him pensively, but opened the portal without asking questions. The two stepped out into a busy square, the same one he’d come to explore with Jason the night before.
“Here,” He stopped at the fruit bar Jason had taken him to and bought Clive a drink. Clive narrowed his eyes, but didn’t comment further, taking the fruity beverage. Humphrey led him through the crowds to the edge of the square and sat down on a park bench. Clive hesitantly sat down before addressing him.
“For wanting a private conversation, you’ve chosen a strange location.” Civilians and merchants went about their business while Humphrey steeled himself.
“I wanted to talk to you about Jason,” Humphrey finally spoke.
“What could you possibly need to talk about that he can’t overhear?” Clive frowned at him. His disapproval plain to read on his aura.
“I—it’s nothing bad. It’s… personal.” This didn’t alleviate Clive’s protective air. He was going about this all wrong. Direct it is then. “Do you have romantic feelings for Jason?”
Clive’s eyes went wide, shock ran through his aura like an ocean wave. “What?”
“I… I wanted to know if you…” His stomach tied in knots. It hurt even asking this. He didn’t want to have to do it twice.
“Why would that matter?” Clive’s aura and face clammed up, shutting him out. A stony look replaced his easy going nature. Humphrey took a deep breath. Admitting this had been hard enough with Sophie, he didn’t realize it would be this difficult to express this to others.
“Because I do.” He blurted out in a rush. I meant to handle this better. He dropped his head into his hands, elbows resting on his knees. This wasn’t getting any easier.
Clive was silent beside him for a long while.
“Alright,” He shifted on the park bench beside Humphrey. “I still don’t see why it matters.”
“Don’t you… want to be with him?” Humphrey ventured a glance at the other man.
“Well, that’s not really up to me, is it?” The protectiveness Clive had always exuded over Jason on full display.
“What do you mean?” He leaned on one hand while watching Clive, treading lightly.
“Jason would have to want that.” He said pointedly. “And Jason hasn’t wanted a relationship for years.”
“But that doesn’t mean he’ll never want one again.” Humphrey pointed out.
“No, but he pointedly brings it up every time some new woman comes along.” Clive contested.
“Maybe that’s because he doesn’t want a relationship with some random woman.” He argued. “Maybe he wants something more, something deeper than that.”
“Either way, it would still have to be Jason’s decision. And I don’t see bringing it up to have many benefits. It would just make things awkward.” Clive took a sip of his berry drink. “Oh, this is good.”
“I know, right? Jason took me here last night.” Clive stared at him and he elaborated. “I asked him to go out for a drink… and I don’t think he caught on to the implied date part.”
“No, I suppose he wouldn’t.” Clive snorted. “We do plenty of things with him on a regular basis so that wouldn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Humphrey said ruefully. “I want to make an overture, but I have no idea how to go about it. And I’m pretty sure bluntly telling him will just make things awkward and get us nowhere.”
He sighed and picked up his drink, sipping silently as the crowd passed by.
“You know, in his world, people tend to be a lot more closed minded than here.” Clive began. “Farrah told me about it. She said that transitioning to a different gender was often contested and a huge ordeal. He comes from a backwater planet when it comes to things like gender, sexuality, and relationships.”
“I didn’t know that.” He pondered. “Do you think that’s why we’ve never seen him date a man? I always thought it was because he was hurt too badly by his previous relationships.”
“He was. But gender might be important to him too. I haven’t asked because it seemed like a sore subject either way.”
“What about you?” Humphrey prodded. “I’ve never seen you with anyone?”
Clive gathered his thoughts before answering.
“I don’t generally have that sort of thing on my mind. Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, those are the things I’m constantly searching for.”
“But you do think of Jason romantically, don’t you?” Humphrey asked again and Clive relented.
“I do. I bury it for the most part. He doesn’t need that on his mind. There’s just something about him that gets under your skin,” he chuckled. “One way or another.”
They both wore a half smile, lost in memories of all the people Jason has riled up in every way imaginable.
“What if he doesn’t know all his options?” Humphrey gazed out over the crowd. “What if… knowing that we were an option changed things?”
“We already agreed telling him would make things awkward.”
“It would.” He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “We’d have to be sneaky about it, like Jason.”
“I don’t like where this is going.” The lithe man paused. “What exactly do you mean?”
“Being close to someone, intimate with them isn’t just about sex or romantic feelings. It’s about small moments. Gentle touches. Closeness that you wouldn’t normally initiate with someone you weren’t interested in. Right?”
“I’d never really thought about that,” Clive admitted.
“I only noticed because Sophie and I have had a lot of changes to make since we decided to split up.”
“About that,” Clive chimed in. “This isn’t some sort of rebound, is it? I don’t intend to let you hurt Jason just so you don’t have to be alone.”
“What? No.” Humphrey’s eyes went wide and sincere. “No, I’ve felt this way about him for a long time. I just didn’t know what to do with it. And I thought I should just be happy with Sophie.”
“What changed?” Clive didn’t relent. Humphrey chuckled.
“Sophie.” A sad smile crossed his face. “She finally wised up to what Belinda means to her. I think it was the day we almost lost her in that fight.”
Clive paled and nodded.
“Jason’s not some substitute though.” He said with gravitas.
“Alright.” Clive nodded again. This is one of the things he’d always loved about Clive. There was never any agenda or layers of nuance when speaking with him. And he asked clarifying questions when necessary. It was comforting.
“Anyway, we’ve had to work on letting go of each other. It didn’t happen overnight. We’re still close, just not in that way. But little things like our hands brushing or standing too close. We’ve both had to pay attention to what we’re doing with our bodies more than usual. I’m still working on it, though it’s gotten easier. We even started before we broke up.”
“I hadn’t realized. I suppose I don’t pay attention to those things.”
“Well, this…” Humphrey paused, a little unsettled. “This feels a little manipulative to suggest. But… we could try being closer to him. See how he reacts. Maybe give him an idea without scaring him away? I don’t know, it’s probably a terrible idea. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“I think we’d be playing with fire. And we’d be mucking about in Jason’s arena. I don’t think it would end well.”
“You’re right.” He said quietly. The two sat in silence. Drinks forgotten and hearts heavy. Clive eyed him before sighing heavily.
“I’m going to regret this.”
——
That afternoon they went over details before returning to the cloud house. As a peace offering for disappearing, they brought fresh bread for Jason.
“Ohhh,” He breathed deeply taking in the scent. “This is the good stuff. It’s still warm too.”
“Glad you approve,” Humphrey smiled as he gently brushed the back of his knuckles briefly down the back of Jason’s arm. “I hope you have some butter.”
Jason paused momentarily, his face frozen, before he turned and dug the butter out of the magical fridge.
“Here ya go.” His casual smile reasserted itself with the task of carving and serving up the bread. When Humphrey took a bite, he may have gone a little overboard with the suggestive moan.
“Oh, that’s good.” He followed up with licking his fingers.
Jason was frozen again, mouth open, bread halfway to his lips. Even Clive, who was the only other person in the room with them, stood stock still wearing a blush. Jason’s chuckle broke the awkward moment, thank the gods. Clive finally took a bite as Jason enjoyed his own slice.
“Oh, that is rather good.” He hummed in appreciation in a more sedate manner.
“This is why we always buy local goods.” Jason flashed them a smile before sauntering off. Alright, it probably isn’t a saunter, but he looks so damn good… Humphrey’s thoughts were interrupted by Clive clearing his throat. He blushed at being caught.
“You really aren’t trying to hide it, are you?” Clive’s mouth quirked up in a tiny smile.
Humphrey sighed. “Like I said, I just don’t know how to approach him.”
“So instead, we’re going with–fumbling in the dark like awkward teenagers.”
“Pretty much, yes.” Humphrey looked chagrined. “I don’t think I ever actually learned how to flirt. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“We never discussed what we’d actually do if he took interest in one of us.” Clive brought up. Humphrey had been thinking about it constantly since Belinda mentioned Clive the night before. And he felt confident in his compromise.
“I’d be willing to share if you’re alright with it.” Humphrey put forward. “If he was interested in both of us that is. Obviously, like you said, it would be up to him.”
“Hmm,” Clive gazed out the doorway Jason had left in contemplation and then nodded to himself. “I think I’d be alright with that. Only because it’s you.”
Humphrey was feeling like the blush was going to become permanent at this rate.
“I trust you.” Clive said simply.