Sleepovers were a common thing for Ninten and Lloyd. Not too big ever happened with each night—just hanging out with each other and then sleeping. The two middle schoolers had been friends for a couple of years after their world-saving feats, so sleepovers were nothing new compared to each night they spent with each other in the outside world.
Tonight's sleepover was, however, just a little different than all the other ones. It was the first time they had could see each other in nearly a month. Lloyd was sent to a private cram school during the summer, forced to stay within the school boundaries and forbidden to leave. Ninten was left alone and bored for the whole month, which felt very agonizing.
There were times that Ninten would call Lloyd, or the latter would call the former first, but they were rather dull conversations. It was if something was missing in those interactions. Eventually they realized that they simply missed being in each other's company. So with one week left in the cram school session, they had planned that as soon as Lloyd got home they would have a big sleepover at Ninten's house as usual, and they would watch movies or play video games, and snack on their favorite junk foods.
When Lloyd got back to his house, the first thing he did was to run to a convenience store and bought a few packs of Oreos and gummi worms. Then he immediately made his way towards Ninten's house, not too far away. The first knock on the front door received a quick response from the psychic boy living in the residence, and they reunited with a tight hug.
With Lloyd's return, the two boys settled in the living room to watch one penguin movie and many sci-fi movies, whilst snacking and chattering on about everything and nothing that happened in their life. Ninten's sisters would eventually run into the room, trying to playfully bother them, but acquiesced into watching one movie with them, and then left. At that point, the boys stopped watching movies, and headed into Ninten's room to play video games until bedtime.
Sounds of unsupervised yelling and giggling could be heard from the room, but neither of them cared about being too loud. It was a usual thing that happened whenever Lloyd was over, and Ninten's family did not mind so much. The boys could care less about how disruptive they could get, because they were with each other, and that was all that mattered to them.
Ninten caught his breath, trying to stop himself from giggling at Lloyd's video game victory for just a bit, long enough to get these few words out, "I really missed you."
Silence fell into the room next as the sincerity of his friend's words hit Lloyd like a thousand bottle rockets. Usually he was the one to say sincere things like that back in the day, but hearing Ninten say those three words was surprising to say the least and Lloyd had no idea how to respond.
Lloyd cleared his throat, slightly uncomfortable with the newfound situation. He did not know what to say, so he settled with a simple, "Okay."
But the awkwardness still stayed. Lloyd realized he should've said something more sensitive and grateful. Now, neither knew what to say or how to act. They both just turned to look back at the video game, hoping that one of them would press a button and start a new game, but they just sat still.
Soon enough, their bodies twitched enough to cause the game to restart, but the discomfort remained. Even as they started up another round, their mouths wouldn't run freely like before. Neither of them knew what to do to fix it.
Ninten had a sudden idea. He dropped his controller toppled onto the other boy, his fingers planted on Lloyd's sides firmly. Knowing Lloyd was ticklish, he continued with moving his fingers along his sides and under his armpits, all which were just the easiest to reach of the boy's sensitive body. The silver-haired boy fell over and kicked his legs to get his attacker off him, ignoring the video game that persisted without their control.
"Get off!" Lloyd breathed in between giggles.
Ninten replied in a dramatic tone, "Never!"
Lloyd finally grabbed hold of Ninten's arms and tried to push them off, but it was futile as well. "Please! I'll do anything!" he blurted.
This statement caught Ninten off guard, but he smirked and continued tickling the smaller boy. "Anything? Do you really mean that? You'll do anything I ask?"
Lloyd didn't realize what he uttered until he did. "Yes! Yes! I'll do anything—just stop tickling me!"
Ninten pulled his hands off of the other boy and clasped them together in his lap. He hummed audibly and said in a mocking tone, "What should I make you do? Hmm…so many things I can take advantage of. Think of the blackmail possibilities, think of the—"
Suddenly, Ninten was pushed back by Lloyd, who tickled him in return. Caught off guard, Ninten burst into high pitched fits of laughter and screams that continued to roar through the house.
"No fair!" he managed to yell in between gasps.
"Not so fun now, is it?" Lloyd mocked.
Ninten frantically tried to reach for Lloyd's arms and gripped comfortably firmly. "All right! Truce!" he begged.
Lloyd looked at his friend cautiously, as if he may attack him again any minute now. Ninten recognized his friend's concern, and reassured him. "Don't worry, I won't tickle you again."
Lloyd grinned as he nodded at his flushed friend who was trying to recover from the intense tickle fight. He turned back to the video game that had long been forgotten, which the round had ended without their attention with both players dying from CPUs. Yet, neither found much interest in playing anymore now. Lloyd's thoughts were preoccupied with Ninten and everything that had just happened, from the "I missed you," to the tickle fight. Something seemed rather off with how Ninten suddenly acted.
Turning to his friend again, he quietly asked, "What were you going to ask me to do?"
Ninten pulled himself together while rubbing his flushed cheek, "Huh?"
Lloyd repeated. "When I said I would do anything for you to stop tickling me, what were you gonna ask me to do?"
Immediately, a darker blush formed on Ninten's cheeks, more visible compared to the recent tickle fight. "It was nothing," he quickly said. "Couldn't think of anything."
"Oh, come on!" Lloyd whined, taking note of the blush that was spreading across his cheeks and down his neck, he added, "You're blushing! It has to be something!"
Ninten turned his head away in an attempt to hide. "It's embarrassing."
Lloyd moved closer to Ninten and put his hand on his shoulder, "You're my best friend, you can tell me anything."
Ninten shook his head, "No, I can't tell you. You'll judge me."
Lloyd was beginning to get worried, with a slight hint of underlying eager curiosity. "Ninten, how bad could it be? I won't judge you. Come on, just tell me."
Ninten reluctantly huffed once. He turned his head back towards Lloyd, but glued his eyes down at the ground. "Fine, but promise to not think I'm weird for saying this."
Lloyd tilted his head arrogantly, "I promise."
Ninten looked up straight into his friend's eyes, silently gulping once. "I was going to ask you to kiss me."
Lloyd's lips immediately became ajar, but he quickly brought his hand up to his mouth, as if covering it would allow him to still hide his response. However, the new expression only made it worse. From the new concern that came on Ninten's expression, he could see that the damage was done. Ninten probably thought he hated him now. Lloyd frustratingly tried to come up with a plan to mend the situation and show his friend that he didn't hate him. If anything, it was the opposite.
Then it hit him. He had the perfect idea to show Ninten how he truly felt.
Lloyd leaned forward and gently grasped the sides of Ninten's face, forcing him to look at him. Closing in swiftly, Lloyd touched his lips the other boy's, just enough to get the point across, then he pulled back. Looking at the shocked expression on Ninten's face, he smiled and averted his eyes downward, a blush now present on his cheeks as well.
Lloyd looked back up to Ninten, locking eyes with him and answered back. "I missed you too."
