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Lord Hater shifted endlessly in his sleep, small grunts of uneasiness escaping his mouth as he did so. His hands thrashed and his whole body began to sweat.His commander, who was up late catching up on his duties, passed by his room (as he often did). Making sure Hater was tucked nicely in to bed had almost become a routine as of late.As Peepers stepped in to the room, he was confused as to what Hater was doing. He was thrashing about as if he was trying to get comfortable, which was quite rare. Normally, Hater slept very soundly. Peepers wondered if his pillow needed fluffed, or if he would like an extra blanket.He reached out his hand to Hater, barely touching the bones of his back. The delicate touch awoke Hater immediately, which never happened before. In fact, Hater wasn’t even aware of Peepers’ nightly visits.The skeleton launched up, his eyes wide as he gave out a loud gasp of air. This reaction startled Peepers, causing him to jump back. Hater’s eyes looked rapidly around the room before he settled them on Peepers.Peepers could already hear Hater scolding him harshly for waking him. “Sir, I was just…”“Oh Peepers, thank grop!” Hater quickly reached over his bed, grabbing Peepers in his hands before bringing him on to his bed. He hugged him tightly, still trying to catch his breath.This reaction was something new entirely. Peepers felt flustered as he tried to think of something to say. Fortunately, he didn’t have to. Hater, as always, had begun running his mouth nonstop. For once Peepers was grateful for this, because the extra time could help him process everything that just happened.“I had a dream where I lost my ship, the watchdogs, and you!! Dominator and Awesome and all the other lame villains teamed up and destroyed everything I had, and then they started coming after me and my awesome lightning powers weren’t working!!” Hater sobbed loudly as he clutched Peepers tighter.“It was awful!!”Peepers sighed. “Sir, it was only a…”“I couldn’t think of a plan, I couldn’t find anywhere to hide, no one was protecting me when my stupid powers weren’t working!! I needed you but you weren’t there!!” Hater’s chin trembled as he spoke.Peepers felt himself get flustered at Hater’s words.“Now, sir, you needn’t worry about that silly dream. Your powers would never just disappear, all those lame villains couldn’t beat you, and most importantly, I would never leave you.”This seemed to soothe Hater a bit, and he hugged Peepers tighter.“Thanks, C. Peeps…”Peepers blushed and nodded. He wanted to get out before Hater noticed.“Of course, sir. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s pretty late.” Peepers found that getting out of Hater’s tight grasp was surprisingly easy. As soon as he squirmed, Hater let go completely.Peepers hopped off the bed and straightened his helmet, ignoring the urge to stay with Hater just a little longer.Hater’s eyes stared at Peepers as he headed towards the door. He twiddled his fingers together and fought himself internally over whether or not he should ask Peepers to stay just a little longer. He didn’t think before he spoke when Peepers’ hand reached for the door.“Peepers, wait!!” Hater called out.Peepers took a deep breath, hoping for the love of grop that Hater wouldn’t notice the slight blush. He turned around to face him.“Yes, sir?”Hater averted his eyes and coughed.“Can you, uh, stay in here a little longer?”Peepers gave a nervous glance to the door before letting out a defeated sigh as he walked back towards Hater. Part of him was excited to spend more time with Hater, another part was nervous, and the final part was tired.The commander took a seat on the edge of the bed, avoiding eye contact.“Peepers?”“Yes, sir?”“Are you alright?”Peepers rubbed the side of his eye. “Yes, sir. Just a little tired.”The two were silent for several long moments.“Why don’t you stay in here for the night?” Hater suggested.Peepers was at a loss for words, and he stuttered as he tried to form a response.Hater quickly reacted to this.“So you don’t want to, that’s cool! That’s cool.”The two sat there awkwardly for several more silent moments.“It’s not that I don’t want to… It’s just.. Why?” Peepers asked, finally looking up at Hater. He could’ve sworn he saw a faint blush on Hater’s cheekbones.“You just make me feel safer, is all. But you were right. Just a dumb dream, after all.”Peepers looked at him in confusion, the blush becoming more apparent.“You… I make you feel safe?”Hater nodded, but shrugged it off.“Yeah, but it’s whatever.”“But I’m…” Peepers gestured towards himself, unable to think of any proper words.Hater looked at Peepers skeptically, his hood raising over one of his eyes as Peepers continued to try to find words.“… Small.” Peepers croaked out. He hated that word.“So?”Peepers seemed surprised by his response, and once again found it hard to find words. Hater noticed this and continued.“You have some pretty sick abs.” Hater said with a smile, gently nudging him with his elbow.Peepers didn’t seem satisfied with the response, and just looked down at the floor. Hater put on a more serious tone, and he told himself he was only saying this because he was tired.“C. Peeps, no matter how much trouble we get in to together you are always able to come up with a plan. When you’re around I feel like I don’t have to worry about anything, because no matter what happens, you’ll have a plan for it.”Peepers felt his eye water.“Do you really mean that, sir?”“Gee Peepers, I don’t know.. Of course I do!!”Peepers chuckled a bit. “I’m glad I help you, sir.”Hater yawned an obviously fake yawn. Peepers suspected it was to hide the obvious green glow of the blush on his cheek bones.“Well, now that THAT’S all settled…”Hater once again reached forward and grabbed Peepers before collapsing back on to his pillow. They held each other tightly.“If you tell anyone about this though, you’re fired again. Got it?”Peepers gave a tired chuckle.“Yes, sir.”“Good.”Hater sighed peacefully as he took Peeper’s hand in to his own, holding it as he always did when he was scared.
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Hater stared up at his ceiling for a long while before looking across the pillow beside him, “Hey, Peepers? What were you originally going to do with your life…? Before you hopped on board to work with me, I mean.”Peepers’ eye slowly opened and focused on Hater. Normally, this late at night, Peepers would have ignored any attempts Hater made to start a conversation. However, this time there seemed to be a hint of something different in his voice that differed from his usual obnoxiousness. Whatever tone that was, Peepers knew it was genuine.The two stared quietly at each other for several moments. Hater was twiddling the blanket in his fingers while Peepers tried to set his sleepiness aside to think of an answer. His voice was tired as he spoke.“Why do you ask?”Hater’s eyes slowly moved away from Peepers, looking at nothing. He didn’t exactly know why himself.“Just uh… Curious, I guess.”Peepers slowly blinked, trying to focus more on Hater. For whatever reason, he seemed stressed. His eyes were dull and his movements were slow. Had he been up all night?“Well.. I studied everything I possibly could, and always pushed myself to do better than anyone else. I wasn’t exactly sure on what my life goal was, but I knew I wanted to be someone great.”Hater’s eyes returned to Peepers.“Do you think you could’ve become “great” in another way? Like, uh, great at being good? What made you want to, you know, join me?“Peepers bottom eyelid slid up slightly, and Hater knew that it was the equivalent of a small smile."Seeing how everyone looked at you, and almost worshipped you… That was something I wanted for myself.”Hater’s fingers continued to twiddle the blanket.“But joining me hasn’t exactly gotten you that. Like, yeah I know I’m really great, but you’re great too, and I guess I just don’t want to hold you back, because you could conquer like a million—”Peepers gently grabbed Hater’s hand and held it to his chest. This small gesture caused Hater’s sentence to trail off in to mumbling nonsense as his cheekbones blushed.“Wanted is a past participle, Hater. Sure, originally I may have planned to take over your ship and do things on my own…”The hood over Hater’s eyes furrowed, and he opened his mouth to question that plan. However, Peepers didn’t give him the chance and continued talking.“But as I got to know you, there was something about you that just.. I didn’t know what it was. It only took a few days for me to decide that I wanted to be by your side instead of take over your ship.”Hater didn’t seem quite satisfied with the answer.“Do you know what it was now?”Peepers gave a tired chuckle before giving Hater a small kiss on the cheek.“Attraction.”Hater blushed more and couldn’t think of any words to say.“You helped me become who I am. You gave me a job I wouldn’t have even dreamed about having otherwise, and I love it. I never would have felt as strong as I do now without you coming in to my life. It was great having you as a friend, but grop, now that I have you as my lover… I wouldn’t want to have my life any other way.”Hater wrapped his arms around Peepers and pulled him to his chest, holding him tightly.“You know I love you, right Peepers?”Now it was Peepers’ turn to blush. It was quite rare for Hater to use that word. The commander cuddled closer in to his chest, holding one of his large fingers tightly with his small hand.“Yes, of course I know.”
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“Peeeepers…” Hater grinned as he prodded his commander with a long finger. “Open your eye…”“Sir, please. I’m trying to sleep.” Peepers groaned, his eyelids still stubbornly stuck together.“Peeeepers, I know you’re hiding something…” Hater said chuckling, giving Peepers another gentle jab with his finger.Peepers gave a tiny laugh before slapping Hater’s hand away. He was ticklish on his sides.“Go to sleep.” Peepers groaned.“Peeeeeeepers…. C. Peeps… Peepie Pie…”Hater cooed. He wrapped his arms around Peepers and pulled him to his chest, holding him as if he was a teddy bear.“Siiiir…” Peepers whined, but didn’t resist.“We can make a deeeaal….” Hater held Peepers’ hand in his own, gently caressing the back of it with his thumb.“What?” Peepers groaned.“If you open your eye, you can kiss your favorite electrical skeleton man, who also just happens to be the greatest in the galaxy…” Hater said, gently cradling Peepers’ head in his palm.Peepers cursed himself inwardly. That was an offer he could never refuse.Slowly, Peepers opened his eye less than half way to reveal a distinct, large heart in the place of his pupil. He glanced away from Hater, but kept his eye open.Hater got in to a fit of giddy little chuckles and pulled Peepers closer. Whenever Peepers got like this it always helped put Hater in a good mood, because he knew it was because Peepers genuinely loved him.“Now I get my end of the deal.” Peepers said, his eye still close to being closed as he grabbed Hater’s face.Hater couldn’t stop staring at his heart eye, and couldn’t stop the giddy laughter that seemed to stem from the butterflies in his stomach. How long they’d been together didn’t matter, because Peepers was still able to make him feel like this after all this time.“Sir, stop laughing so I can kiss you!”“Oh, right! Right! Sorry!”Hater was able to stifle his laughter as Peepers gently pulled him in for a quick kiss. Both of them seemed satisfied now.Peepers cuddled closer to Hater, giving a quiet sigh as he closed his still heart-shaped eye. Hater smiled as he held his tiny boyfriend’s hand as they both drifted in to sleep.