In contrast to the previous chatty voice, the other line went silent, aside from Seven's breathing, Zen wondered if he had said the wrong thing as he laid in the comfort of the guest bed. He thought about taking it back until he heard soft sniffling on the other end, accompanied by shaky breathing. Seven was crying.
"Hearing you say that...that makes me so happy." Seven said, sobbing into the phone.
Seven smiled as he cried, tears streaming down his face when he was so filled with happiness. It felt right for him and Zen to be together, but it just wasn't practical.
"Are you sure you're in love with me though?" Seven asked, choking on his breath. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, trying to regain his composure. Why was he crying? This was supposed to be his happiest moment in ages.
"Sev," Zen said, "I am absolutely positive that I am in love with you." He wasn't expecting Seven to react like this. "Are you in love with me?"
Seven looked at his door. ".....yeah, I'm love with you. I've been in love with you for years." Seven said, keeping his voice steady this time. Zen's eyes widened. "Years?" He said, clicking his tongue. "Why though?"
Seven laughed. "You're so passionate about your work, and you make everyone feel better about themselves. Well, you make me feel better. You validate me and my actions and care about me, telling me to eat, reminding me to sleep. You've been there for me since the beginning." He sighed. "You tolerate my weird humor and even add on to it sometimes, and I just. What's not to love about you?"
The other line remained silent, as if he was processing the words. Zen opened his mouth to comment, but closed it again and hung up.
Seven wondered if what he had said was too weird, perhaps he had creeped Zen out. If Zen was creeped out and never talked to him again, that would be great. Seven would only put him in danger time after time, and lead him to undetermined places with no real plan in mind. Zen needed someone grounded. Right?
Wrong. Zen stood in the doorway of Seven's room, grinning like an idiot. His eyes flickered with happiness, and he seemed to radiate a light around himself. Seven wiped his tears and laughed as he ran into Zen's arms, instantly getting engulfed by a tight hug.
The hug felt like a home, like he was finally back where he belonged, back into the place where he was accepted. It was a tight hug, which would have usually made Seven uncomfortable. This time though, the hug made him feel safe. He wanted to stay forever.
Zen felt the warmth of Seven, who seemed to be crying into his shirt, as usual. All he wanted to do was hold onto the other man and keep him safe, reassuring him and comforting him for a long, long, time.
They stood there for a while, arms around each other, rocking back and forth in the comforting silence.
"I love you so much." Seven said, finally releasing himself from the hug. Zen held Seven's face in his hands and just studied him, smiling. He wiped the few tears that still spilled out of Seven's eyes, "I love you too." Zen replied, just spending time to look into the other's honey eyes, just happy to be apart of his life. He interlaced his fingers into Seven's fingers. Seven's hand was understandably clammy, but Zen didn't really care.
They stood in the room together for possibly half an hour just looking at each other, smiling, and swinging their held hands together like middle schoolers. The only thing they said was "I love you," over and over. It was sickeningly sweet, and just overall kind of embarrassing.
Eventually, they headed out onto Seven's roof, and looked at the stars.
"It's kind of cloudy." Seven said, still holding Zen's hand as they sat together on the roof, slightly freezing in the night air. "It's okay, you're the brightest star anyways." Zen said, smiling at Seven sweetly, lifting their attached hands, and kissing the back of Seven's hand.
"Are you implying I'm a flaming ball of gas?" Seven chuckled. Zen frowned jokingly, "Well, you're the most handsome flaming ball of gas I've ever seen."
Seven laughed and laid down on the roof, indicating Zen to do the same. "Do you think I'm annoying?" Seven asked, looking at Zen lying beside him on the freezing roof tiles.
The last time he had seen Zen asleep seemed so long ago, despite the fact that it was only the other night. The difference was that there was no longer such a thick emotional barrier of unrequited love. Seven was still scared to try to progress in the relationship though, past the cute hand holding and hugging. He was afraid of love itself, elated but completely terrified to be in a relationship with Zen.
"No, why would I think you're annoying?" Zen replied, brows angling up in concern. "Because I am." Seven said, shrugging. "Well I don't think you're annoying." Zen said, "I think you're fantastic."
Zen smiled and rolled onto his side, running his fingers through Seven's curly hair. Seven sighed. He enjoyed the feeling, as always, but he wondered how long it would last. When would Zen get tired of him?
"What do you think is gonna happen?" Seven said, looking into Zen's eyes. Zen's eyes kind of reminded him of a fire, always burning, always working, and of course, hot. "Happen to what?" Zen asked.
"Us." Seven said.
Zen's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened. If he was standing, he'd probably just fall over. "Us?" He said, only slightly hyperventilating. "Like in the future?" Zen smiled dumbly again, eyes sparkling with hope.
"Well I imagine we move into my house and I'll make sure to keep the fridge full for you. I'll cook you dinner everyday and we'll go for walks on my days off. One day, we'll move out and get a house by the beach even though it'll be a longer drive to my job. We'll get married in a space station, just like you wanted, and then we'll get two or three kids a few years later-" Zen stopped when he saw Seven blankly staring at him.
"I'm getting ahead of myself, sorry." Zen chuckled sheepishly.
Seven continued to stare at Zen, almost through him.
"Did I say something wrong?" Zen asked, kind of concerned.
"Can I?" Seven asked, ignoring the question.
"Can you what?" Zen was getting increasingly confused by Seven, so he just wondered if he was doing everything wrong. He hadn't dated in years, maybe he forgot how to do it.
Seven leaned forward and closed his eyes, locking lips with Zen.
