(Originally posted on AO3 in 2015. I love these dorky losers so much haha. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it!)

"Pohatu I swear on all that is good if you don't sit still for at least five minutes I am going to scream."

Pohatu stopped tapping his hand against the tabletop and looked up at his companion. Kopaka's bright blue eye was absolutely seething with quiet rage. He gripped the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white, and his normally ramrod straight posture was hunched and agitated. "Is something wrong?" Pohatu offered tentatively.

Kopaka slammed his hand on the table so hard the heavy stone tablets they were supposed to be reading actually bounced a few centimeters into the air. "I am trying to study these, and you should be too! I can't concentrate with you fidgeting everywhere."

He scratched the back of his neck idly. "Kopaka, I have to fidget. I have so much energy that just sitting forever drives me bonkers. You know that."

Sullen, Kopaka dropped heavily into his seat. "Well do it quietly and in a way that doesn't move the table."

Pohatu nodded and propped his chin in his hand, staring at the tablet in front of him. The Toa Nuva had collected a bunch of tablets from a previously undiscovered cache in Kini Nui and had divided them amongst themselves, separating to study the ones that pertained to their individual strengths and interests. Pohatu insisted that Kopaka stay in Po-Koro with him to work on theirs together, and he had been flabbergasted when Kopaka actually agreed. The Toa of Ice generally hated spending more time with others than he had to.

So far, however, Kopaka had resisted all of Pohatu's attempts to make nice. He knew that Kopaka generally couldn't stand others, making special exceptions for him and occasionally Gali, but even he knew that Pohatu was chatty and had more energy than any of the other Toa aside from Lewa. Pohatu had tried making small talk, offering Kopaka something to eat (Kopaka wasn't hungry. Kopaka was never hungry. Sometimes he wondered if Kopaka ever actually ate.), asking if Kopaka wanted to take a break and do something else for a bit (this had earned him a disgusted glare), and talking about the tablets they were studying. Kopaka was having none of it, and Pohatu was starting to get a little sick of it.

"Alright so here's the thing," he finally said. Kopaka looked up at him with murder in his eye, and Pohatu held up a hand. "Hear me out. So we're supposed to be studying these tablets—which, by the way, I can't make heads or tails of, and I'm pretty sure a trip to Turaga Nokama's place is in order because I have no idea what language these are even in—and you're over there working in silence, and I can't work like that Kopaka." Kopaka started to say something, but Pohatu talked over him. "I need company and chatter and noise. You know how I work. I need outside stimuli. And then there's you." He gestured to Kopaka, who was regarding him with a look of semi-interested boredom. "You need to have quiet. You can't have outside stimuli or you can't concentrate." Kopaka stood up and started to come around to Pohatu's side of the table. "So I guess what I'm asking is why did you even agree to stay here in the first place?" Pohatu looked up at Kopaka, making eye contact even though he knew it made Kopaka uncomfortable most days. Kopaka was standing over him, arms folded, steadily meeting his gaze. "You know our work habits are so different, and sometimes I think you don't even like me—"

"Pohatu." It was Kopaka's turn to interrupt. He bent down and took Pohatu's face in his hands. Pohatu immediately shut up, eyes going wide and thankful that his mask hid how easily he blushed. "You are rambling," Kopaka stated. "It needs to stop."

Pohatu fumed. "What the hell, Kopaka—"

"I agreed to stay here and work with you because for some stupid reason I actually like you." Kopaka looked like he regretted the words the minute he said them. His entire body tensed, but he kept going. "I enjoy your company," he corrected. "And I wanted to work with you if I could. But by Mata Nui, Pohatu, you are so annoying sometimes and I always forget that." Pohatu just looked up at him, not sure what to say. "Perhaps I have an idealized version of you in my head," Kopaka admitted, "because I always want to spend time with you, and then when I actually do—"

"You can't stand me," Pohatu finished bitterly.

"No." It was so forceful that Pohatu actually recoiled a little. "That is not what I'm saying. I want to spend time with you. I know it doesn't come across that way because I generally hate spending time with people. But I like spending time with you. It's just that there's this version of you in my head and I want you to know that I like the real you more than that idealized version—even if the real thing annoys me more.

"Now," he said, "I'm not getting anywhere with these tablets either. How about we take a break and try taking them to Turaga Nokama? I'm sure that's what everyone else will end up doing anyway." Pohatu nodded, difficult with Kopaka's hands still on his cheeks. Kopaka seemed to suddenly realize he was still holding Pohatu's face and started to release him, but without thinking Pohatu's hand darted out and grabbed Kopaka's wrist. They paused for several heartbeats, staring at each other, searching each other's faces for something without knowing what, before Pohatu released Kopaka's wrist.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled, standing up.

Kopaka tapped Pohatu's head with one knuckle. "You are such a loser."

"Oh like you're one to talk."

And just like that, they were back to normal, good-naturedly arguing as they gathered their tablets and began the long walk to Ga-Koro, trying hard not to think about how they had felt while they were so close.