Chapter Text
Eighty six days.
Eighty six days that Gold has treaded down to the lab. Eighty six days that he’s spent sitting in the basement. Eighty six days that he’s sat waiting for a change, talking to himself. Eighty six days that he’s waited for Crystal and the Professor to find a cure, find anyway to bring them back. Eighty six days that his daily question of ‘Any good news?’ has been met with sorrow silence and slow head shakes.
Eighty six days that he’s spent staring at Silver’s petrified face, hoping that today would be the day a cure was found.
He knows he shouldn’t be spending everyday down here, talking to the wall, it’s not healthy. But he can’t bring himself to stop. It started with spending only an hour or two a day down here, staring silently at his fellow dexholders. Then it evolved to being all day, filling the empty basement with one sided conversation. Around the two week mark, he ran out of things to talk about, and started bringing books to read out loud. Spending hours reading books he thought Silver might like; the most Gold has ever read in his life. Doing this everyday until the lab closes for the night, Crystal coming down to tell him such.
At the end of the night, Crystal would always sit with him for a minute, staring at their petrified companion, never joining in his conversation. Eventually she’d solemnly grab his arm, dragging him back upstairs. Then Gold would repeat his newfound routine the next day.
“Good morning, Silv. Sorry I’m late, the professor kept yapping to me about his new theories. How’s today going? Good?” Dragging the lone chair in the room over to Silver, he plops down into it.
“So what would you like to do today? Would you like to hear what happened last night at my ridiculous family gathering? Or continue reading… which book did we start the other day? Whichever book that was.” Setting his bag in his lap, he rummages through it, looking for the book he knew he had; giving Silver time to respond, not that he ever would. “Let’s continue reading, I’m actually interested to see what happens next.”
Pulling out the book, he gets as comfortable as he can in the tiny wooden chair, propping his legs up against the sole table in the room. Flipping to the page they left off on, he removes the bookmark, placing it neatly on the table. As he reads, keeping his voice low to prevent echoing, he continuously glances at Silver, looking for his reaction.
It’s always the same. That same slightly confused look he’s had for the past three months. Despite knowing that it’ll never change, Gold keeps looking, keeps hoping. Only bringing himself disappointment when nothing happens.
He spends the next few hours reading, getting several chapters further in the book, until his stomach starts growling. Reminding Gold he skipped breakfast that morning. Finishing the chapter, he calls it there, deciding to take a small break.
“Alright, I think that’s a good place to stop for now. We’ll pick back up after lunch.” Placing the bookmark into the book, he sets the book down, swinging his legs off the table afterwards.
Standing up, his back pops as he stretches. He lets out a sigh as he straightens his cramped limbs, pushing the chair aside. As he goes to leave, he glances back at Silver. He always feels terrible leaving him here, alone. Their seniors are here, Gold knows that, but they’re also petrified. It’s essentially the same as leaving him alone. And whenever he goes to leave, he gets this gut feeling that he should stay.
“Can’t believe it’s been almost three months.” Gold chuckles, stepping away from the basement stairs. “I’ve missed you.” Letting his smile drop, he stares at Silver, raking his eyes over his stone features. He stops speaking, hoping Silver will respond; letting out a sigh when he’s met with silence.
“It’s kinda funny when you think about it.” He walks over to stand in front of Silver. “Just two years ago, I hated you, couldn’t have cared less if you dropped off the face of the earth. And now,” Stepping forward, he gets close enough that if Silver could move, he’d definitely push him away, “Now, I’d do anything to get you back.”
This close, he can differentiate the different shades of gray of his stone skin. Glancing into his eyes, he notes that the gray is eerily similar to his actual eye color.
“Mom misses you too. She keeps asking me to invite you over again.” Taking a deep breath, he hates how it shudders. “I don’t know how to tell her you can’t.”
He suddenly realizes how close he is to Silver. His eyes flutter down to Silver’s slightly parted lips. Gold’s close enough that he could easily lean in and… kiss him.
The thought startles him, and he flinches back, eyes wide. His hand flew to his face, covering his mouth as if he had kissed him. Why did he think that? He didn’t feel that way towards Silver. While he can admit that Silver is pretty, and he has spent quite a few hours admiring him, Gold doesn’t like him in that way.
Except, he does. No matter how hard he tries to deny it, he’s grown to like Silver quite a lot over the past year; more than as a friend.
“Would you be upset with me if I kissed you?” Whispering, there’s no reason for him to, there’s no one in the room that can hear him. But it feels taboo to say out loud, like if he says it too loud, Silver will come back to life and beat him up.
“I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t.” Licking his lips, Gold’s eyes flicker between his eyes and his lips. “But it’s just one small kiss. And you would never know.” He chuckles, eyes focusing on Silver’s lips. “I think that makes it worse. Like… ten times worse.”
He shouldn’t do this. Really, really shouldn’t be doing this. Silver would never want this. He’d push Gold away and yell at him if he could.
But he’ll never know.
Silver’s still staring at the wall with that blank look in his eye. There’s no way he’s aware of what’s going on. He’ll never know if Gold just… quickly kisses him.
Bringing his hand up, he cups Silver’s cheek. The coldness of his stone skin seeps into Gold’s hand, and he runs his thumb over the area, trying to rub some warmth into his face. Gold hovers his face a couple inches from Silver’s, leaning in as he rests his other hand on his shoulder. Hesitating, he can feel his breath blow off the stone in front of him, reflecting heat onto his face.
It will only be two seconds, he just needs to test this. Then he won’t do it again. He’ll go back to sitting alone, talking to himself, waiting until Crystal tells him they’ve found something.
Before Gold can hesitate further, he closes his eyes and presses his lips against Silver’s, slightly disturbed by the unnatural coldness against his lips. At first, he's unsure, gently resting his lips against Silver’s. Then he gets a surge of confidence, and presses in harder, part of him hoping he’d feel Silver kissing back.
For his first kiss, he doesn’t think it’s too bad. The position is a little awkward, and he can already feel an ache forming in his back. Since Silver’s already shorter than him, and he’s crouched down in his petrified state, Gold has to bend at almost a ninety degree angle to kiss him. But the longer he stays there, the more he ignores it, focusing on the sensation of the kiss.
It feels so wrong, yet so right at the same time. The icy feeling against his lips reminds him of the situation, reminds him this is wrong, that he’s kissing Silver without his consent. But the heat in his chest and his rapidly beating heart tells him that it’s right, tells him to not break the kiss, to savor it for as long as possible. And he stays there for a minute longer than he planned, not wanting to stop.
When he pulls back, he peels open his eyes, and can’t help but feel disappointed. Glancing over Silver, he’s disheartened by his motionless stare, gazing blankly at the wall behind him. Gold knows the whole ‘kissing someone to bring them back to life’ is just a fairytale, it doesn’t actually work in real life. Yet part of him hoped it would work. He idly runs his thumb over Silver’s lips, still cold and gray, but now slightly wet where Gold’s lips touched his.
Realization washes over him, and he backpedals, trying to create distance between him and Silver. He can’t believe he just did that. That was his first kiss. And it was to his best friend, who’s currently frozen in stone. His best friend, who will never know about this. Would this even count as his first kiss?
He doesn’t know. But what he does know is that he is very much in love with Silver. The realization makes his eyes widen, and he tears his gaze away from Silver, looking anywhere but at him. Noticing his breath has quickened, he leans against the wall, placing his hand over his chest to try and calm his beating heart.
He’s in love with Silver. That thought makes his heart skip a beat. He’s in love with Silver… and his feelings will never be requited. There’s no way Silver would ever feel the same way about him. And now he doesn’t know how he’ll be able to look Silver in the eye again. If a way to reverse the petrification is ever found, that is.
“I-I’ll be-be right back.” Spinning around, he quickly runs up the basement steps, not looking back.
One month later:
“I don’t know about the other four…” Silver pauses, turning to face Gold. “...But I was conscious even as a statue.”
Gold freezes, feeling his face heat up as he registers Silver’s words. “The- The entire time?!” His voice cracks mid sentence, and he suddenly has the urge to jump off the roof into the dangerous waters below. The urge only amplifies as Silver nods, confirming Gold’s fears. “L-Listen, about what happ-”
Holding his hand up, Silver signals for him to stop talking. He glances at Gold, holding eye contact for a silent moment, before his eyes drop lower, lingering on his lips. “We’ll talk about… that later. When we’re not in the middle of saving the world.”
Watching Silver walk away towards the other dexholders, Gold drags his hand over his face, cursing to himself.
So much for ‘Silver will never know.’