THIS IS GAY AND I DONT EVEN KNOW IF IT MAKES SENSE TO ANYONE BUT ME BUT GODDAMN IF ITS NOT AT LEAST A LITTLE GAY. It's what we've all been waiting for. They still don't kiss yet. (But they will, it's okay. It'll happen.)
Offhandedly considering changing the title of this. i probably will when i move it to AO3 but idk if i want it to match quite yet.
With the laptop pushed away until it's needed again, Steven shifts to sit sideways so he can face Riley. "I was under the impression that conversation helped, but somehow you look even worse after it."
Riley looks at Steven, expression a mix of forced blankness and slight distress. "You could say it was a bit worrying to be told I'm probably possessed and running the risk of death." The main response to this is a frown. Steven didn't really see this as bad news— bad news would be Cynthia saying she didn't know what could be happening, or that there was nothing anyone could do. Having both what's happening and what's to be done answered seemed like a very satisfactory answer to Steven, and he told Riley as much.
He has a point. Riley knows this, and it only mildly alleviates the anxiety coiling around his chest. He sighs. "I don't know. There's still something about it that bothers me. Like— ahm, like finding Cresselia. I don't know, I just get the feeling it won't go well." He doesn't know why he gets that feeling. It's just there, buzzing in the staticky parts of his head.
Steven just reaches up, completely serious and focused, and… pats Riley's head. There's something completely absurd about the gravity with which Steven seems to do that that Riley can't help but burst out in tired giggles.
Steven considers this a victory and smiles as well. "It's fine. You'll be fine. I mean, if anything wants to kill you it'll have to go through me first." It's the first time Steven has actually said anything along these lines aloud, and it just sort of slips out. He has, of course, previously decided that he's going to help Riley with this and announced as such, but saying that he will do this for any and all problems sounds a bit too close to a declaration of affection, and Steven hasn't planned that one out properly. He realizes he should think about that a bit more than he has (which has been approximately not at all) right after he speaks.
Riley notices Steven's embarrassment directly after he speaks and finds it kind of funny, as well as word choice. He laughs quietly, two notes. Finding himself rather devoid of energy after the day (not entirely usual, it's late and extra exhaustion hits him like a brick), Riley decides the next appropriate action is to let himself fall forward, landing nicely on Steven's shoulder.
It would be nicer if Steven weren't quite so angular, but it's fine enough. He'll take it. Steven seems surprised by this but adjusts.
"So you're saying that I'm the princess to be rescued in this tale?"
"Hm?"
"You sounded as if you'd decided that you were the knight in some children's tale. Protecting me, meaning I'm the princess if this story follows the usual archetypes." Riley yawns. "Though since I do have some sort of magic curse on me, apparently, you're not that far off."
Steven considers discussing this debate further because he did not mean for that to be taken that way, but instead decides it more prudent to tell Riley to go to bed. It's rather late. Riley refuses in childish fashion, and offhandedly considers biting Steven for insisting on his sleep. Sadly he doesn't not have the energy for the declaration of war that would be, and his head is too staticky for him to consider going to sleep.
Steven nevertheless continues to prod at him, and Riley can fell the concern radiating off of him in taupe waves whenever Riley closes his eyes.
"Hmmmm. I am sleeping right now."
"You're talking to me."
"Sleeptalking."
"I know what your sleeptalk sounds like, and it isn't half this coherent."
He has a point. Riley grumbles and adjusts himself, turning his head enough where he can look up at the underside of Steven's jaw out of one eye. It's the closest he's going to get to looking at his face without moving, and he doesn't want to do that. "Let me look at your aura."
The sudden topic shift surprises Steven. Do what now? Steven's not actually sure that the means. "Don't you do that all the time with everybody?"
"Not unless they're being loud about their emotions. It's rude to read people's emotions without warning." Or so Riley decided, himself being all about personal privacy.
Steven shrugs the shoulder that doesn't have Riley on it. "Sure."
Riley closes his eyes again and exhales slowly, relaxing himself. He doesn't need to do this in order to read anyone, just to mentally prepare to be inundated with someone else's emotion. When he opens his eyes, it appears that most everything has been overlaid with thistle-purple. Steven's colour. It carries no emotion by itself, those are mingling around the edges, and Riley feels them as he notices them. Confusion about the edges. Sensical, as Steven doesn't really know what he consented to. Slight worry in dusky indigo hues. And most notably, all around the edges of Steven's aura suffuses an orangey pink glow. Riley shuts his eyes again. He wanted to know but he also didn't, because it means he really does have to acknowledge another dimension of this entire arrangement. He hesitates to name the colour or the feeling, but finally settles on 'affection' as a safe term. He can't be too harsh. It's this more than anything else that diffuses the anxiety and static in Riley's head.
The sheer determination with which Steven's affection throws itself at Riley means he has no hope of keeping it from influencing his own current emotion, even if he wanted to. It's nice to feel for a second like he's not angry at himself because it's his fault this all started. It's nice to pretend for a second he's capable of cutting himself a break without Steven's love doing it for him.
Wait— damnit. No calling it love.
That might more severely force Riley to think about how he feels about this and wants to go about it, while knowing that this particular excursion could very well end with him slipping into a coma and dying. He can't do that to Steven.
It'll just… be a problem for later. For the moment, Riley's perfectly content to stay balanced against Steven, watching the purple ebb and flow of his aura with half-open eyes. Steven mutters something Riley pays no attention to (he's trying to inform his companion that he'll be moving and trying to see if Cynthia sent anything yet). Steven does move and Riley just drops his head onto Steven's leg.
Steven responds with an exclamation of "Ow, jeez," but nonetheless places a hand on the side of Riley's head, indicating he can stay. Awkwardly bunched up as Riley may be, he's comfortable and there is not a convincing enough argument in the world to get him to move.
He'll just sleep here. Yeah, that'll be okay. He closes his eyes, and cuts off his aura reading. As nice as everything dyed Steven's purple may be, Riley feels skeptical of anything good coming of him being that deeply entrenched in Steven's aura for too long. Especially while asleep and thusly running the risk of being exposed to Darkrai (or whatever it may be in his head).
"Was my aura suitable?" Steven asks, joking lilt in the question.
"Mmmmm-hm. Thank you."
"You can sleep there if you don't mind me waking you when I move." Steven can tell Riley's not too eager to sleep in any proper location. Besides, Steven liked being able to keep an eye on him this way.
Riley's only response is an incoherent "mfph", interpreted correctly as agreement. He dozes off as Steven intermittently refreshes his email.
For the first time since this started, both of them are equally wary but strongly confident they can work out all problems.