AN: Written for Valentine's Day. Yes, I know it's late. Merry Christmas.
Perry the Platypus had many skills and talents. Kissing, as it turns out, was not one of them.
Sure, he'd watched a lot of romance movies, and read a lot of cheap romance novels, but that didn't translate to skill. He knew the basic idea and that was it.
Still, one summer evening when he'd finished his work for the day, or at least the part that wasn't endless paperwork, he hesitated. Jetpack half-slung around his shoulders, he turned back to the man still staring at him, disappointment in his deep blue eyes as always. Heinz wore a loneliness about him, lonelier than Perry could comprehend, wrapped around him like a cloak.
All at once, visions of his romance movies crossed Perry's mind. Every single one of them ended in a kiss. He may have been a platypus but he thought himself skilled enough to succeed nevertheless. OWCA had trained him in everything he needed...
...or so he thought.
Nevertheless, he dropped his jetpack, walking back to the nemesis who'd somehow wormed a way into his little platypus heart. Stopping just in front of his nemesis, he shrugged, blushing below his fur. This was it, then. Forcing a smile through his nerves, he gestured for Heinz to lean closer.
Heinz, wary but trusting, obeyed. He, too, had felt like there was something between them. Something new, and wonderful, and as comfortable as his nemesis's little paw in his. Something shared.
With a deep breath, Perry steeled his nerves, settled his paws around Heinz's face, and pressed the tip of his bill to the man's lips.
The kiss, it should be stated, was far from the best Heinz had ever had, between skill and anatomy. But what Perry lacked in finesse he made up for with the emotions Heinz had taught him to embrace, chirping in the back of his throat.
When he finally pulled away, eyes searching his nemesis's face, he couldn't stop his paws shaking. Was it wanted? Was it appreciated? Was it enough?
To Heinz, the answer to all three was a resounding "yes". He'd yearned for this for so long, deep in the dark corners of his heart where he'd shoved his wants and desires, as if that could stop the longing. Deeper still lay the scars of his past: a lifetime of second-best and a deep-seated belief he didn't even deserve what he had, let alone anything better. And what could Perry's love be but everything he'd dreamed of, everything he'd convinced himself he could never have? Love was for other people.
He'd never considered he could act on it. Even if he could make himself believe Perry cared, even if he could stop second-guessing every moment his best friend spent with him, he was sure any move would scare Perry off.
And he would have been right.
Where Heinz had insecurities born of trauma, Perry had long since found himself torn between the expectations of his job and the intensity of his feelings. It was a delicate balance, keeping from losing himself in the turmoil, and any nudge could have sent him falling. Had his nemesis made a move before he was ready, he would have panicked, retreating behind the stoic mask of professionalism he'd always worn, never to return.
That was then. Here and now, he'd made his peace with the love he felt for his nemesis.
"Oh, Perry the Platypus..."
Heinz's voice was quiet, barely a breath at all. A slow smile spread across his face, and he placed his own hands atop the paws he'd grown so familiar with. Slowly, he too leaned in, brushing his lips over the top of Perry's bill, delighting in the way the agent shivered at his touch.
It was rare enough for his nemesis to show any weakness at all, let alone such vulnerability. His success in concealing his ever-present blush was a testament to that. So for Perry to melt into his nemesis, his one-and-only lifelong enemy, Heinz thought it a miracle. One he'd soon become familiar with. Until then, all he could do was watch in awe as Perry's normally-stern eyes fell shut, showing a trust he was usually too professional to let slip.
Words pressed against the back of Heinz's teeth, words he'd wanted to say for what felt like a lifetime, and still he hesitated. A lifetime of isolation and ostracism had left its scars, and he wasn't yet ready to push past that.
Someday. He swallowed the words back and exhaled, tipping Perry's fedora back to place a kiss on his forehead. Someday, he'd tell him.
For now, wanting to hear more of Perry's little noises, he dropped to his knees and guided his nemesis's bill up to meet his lips again. He, unlike Perry, had at least some idea what he was doing. An ability he put to good use.
His tongue traced along the edge of the soft rubbery bill, pulling a soft groan from Perry's throat, a noise like nothing he'd heard from his nemesis before. Something to work on, he decided. Sliding a broad hand around Perry's waist, he marvelled at the texture of the teal fur, soft despite how unkempt their earlier fight had left it, and bent his nemesis back to kiss the underside of his chin.
All Perry could do was shiver at the feel of the rough, thin lips on his sensitive bill, growling low in his throat. The throat his nemesis then kissed. Shocked out of his torpor, he clung tighter to Heinz's shoulders, fingers digging into the thick fabric of the man's habitual lab coat. This was intimate, shockingly intimate, allowing his nemesis this close. Letting the man who'd fought him so long touch him so gently. Trusting him, the way he'd never trusted anyone before.
That was something they'd both come to find in each other: trust.
Heinz pulled back, eyes opening, to meet Perry's gaze. His nemesis's chest rose and fell in unison with his, two hearts beating as one, an unspoken love filling the scant space between them. Swallowing, he pulled their foreheads together. "Perry the Platypus," he breathed, again, the corner of his mouth turning up in a grin, "how... unexpected."
Huffing a laugh, Perry nuzzled at the man's jutting chin. Trust Heinz, he thought, with the now-familiar fond exasperation his nemesis always evoked in him. Trust Heinz.
Then, reluctantly, he pulled away, trailing fingers along his nemesis's jaw as he did so. Paperwork waited for no man. Or platypus, as the case may be.
Smile fading, Heinz closed his eyes, forcing back disappointment and the ever-present insecurities that plagued him. He'd be fine, he told himself, hands falling to his lap. Perry did this every day, leaving, and he always came back, so he had nothing to worry about, right?
If he tried, he could almost believe it.
"See you... tomorrow?" he asked quietly, wringing his hands together in an open display of anxiousness. Perry deserved that much from him. No more would he hide the shattered remains of his self-worth behind layer upon layer of masks, not when Perry saw through them all anyway.
Perry, his little platypus heart aching all over again for the man before him, smiled softly, fingers curled into his palm and thumb raised. Of course he'd come back tomorrow.
Exhaling, Heinz wiped away the tears that had formed in his eyes. "You... you should go, Perry the Platypus. I." He swallowed, rising back to his feet. "I have a scheme to plan. Monologue to write. Trap to set up. Very busy. You know how it is."
That excuse, as they both knew, was a lie. Heinz would be too distracted to focus on any sort of scheming.
Nevertheless, the unspoken farewell shone through.
Tipping his hat in response, Perry settled it back into place from where his nemesis had moved it. He, too, would be lucky to get much work done that night.
Finally, reluctantly, they turned away as one, both lifting trembling fingers to the still-tingling skin their nemesis's mouth had pressed against, realising at last how much their worlds had shifted under the two of them.
Tomorrow, the sun would rise on this new, shared, world of theirs, a world where their long-hidden feelings would bloom in full. A world where their fingers and their lips would brush together at the slightest excuse.
A world where Perry the Platypus could finally develop some much-needed skill at kissing.
AN: Crossposted from ao3, finally. Title from Sakura Kiss aka the Ouran theme song.