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A deafening knock came from the other side of his door, well… more the sound of someone banging his door. Seriously, it was like said person was trying to break Pickle’s door down. Gradually getting louder by the millisecond, Pickle grew tired of the fists that suddenly pounded against his door. He groaned, pausing his ongoing treasure battle on Tekken to let his boyfriend inside.
Pickle swung the door open and leaned against the doorframe. Obviously as dumb as he was, he thought he looked really cool - if you ignored the fact he was wearing Garfield slippers.
“You don’t have to knock y’know, my room is unlocked you dumbass.” Pickle said with a slight snicker.
Knife rolled his eyes, “Whatever, you want this piercing or not dude?”
Pickle moved out the way so Knife could enter his room, and he followed afterwards. He was here to give him the piercing of his dreams… snake bites. All that had been on his mind for the past few weeks, that was the answer. Sure, he was distracting himself by trying to platinum games on his ps5, but not even that could rid of the thoughts completely.
Every single waking moment, he hoped some sort of miracle would happen and with a quick snap of his fingers he would be pierced, but that would never happen. After all, this isn't some sort of fantasy world - it’s real life.
That’s why he asked Knife to fulfil his wish. Not only did he know what he was doing but he was trustworthy, well... Pickle hoped he did anyway. Countless piercings, his face is literally full of metal. Most of them were done by his own hands, how could anything possibly go wrong? Especially when Knife pierced his own dolphin bites, which he won’t stop talking about, not like Pickle cared though. He does enjoy listening to him talk about whatever, his voice soothed him despite how rough it was.
Knife plugged in Pickle’s cd player and switched it on, searching through his cd rack to find an album he left there ages ago after they played Fortnite for 6 hours non-stop. Nonetheless, he found what he was looking for and turned the volume up. Not too loud so they couldn’t hear each other speak, yet not so quiet it was one click away from total silence. Music just helped him focus a little better, the sound of Pickle’s ceiling fan was so unbearable.
“You sure you know what you’re doing? I mean, I know you’ve pierced yourself before but…” Pickle trailed off, fidgeting with his hands as he avoided eye contact.
“Dude don’t get so nervous. I’m a professional, trust me! Besides, I do this every week, why wouldn’t I have a single clue on how to do this?”
“You’re holding a safety pin… is that really professional?”
“Uh… well, it works. It’s all I had lying around, plus I'm sterilizing it as we speak.”
“Seriously, you won’t screw up?”
“Pickle, I won’t fuck your face up, I promise.”
Pickle wasn’t normally this nervous, he was usually more laid-back and relaxed. This time, the lingering fear of pain was all on his mind. Knife was definitely dependable, but he wasn’t careful. Honestly, he might manage to rip his lip off with his strength. Despite how scared he was, his dread was accompanied by a side of eager anticipation.
He tilted Pickles head towards him after sterilizing the safety pin, then he slowly applied antiseptic to the area he was gonna pierced. The smooth motions of Knife's warm and comforting touch calmed him down a little, relaxing his muscles as the cotton pad as moved in slow circles.
He watched as Knife raised the black sharpie in his hand towards his face, planning out where the piercing would go with 2 small dots in only a few seconds. Right after, he grabbed an ice pack and handed it to Pickle.
“Press it against your bottom lip for a few minutes or whatever, I don’t numb the areas usually, but I have a feeling you’re gonna punch me in the face without anything to aid you.” He instructed.
The sensation of the cold ice against his skin sent chills down his spine, a quick shiver that made his lip tremble a little. Part of the icy feeling Oj’s fault for being a cheapskate and not running heating during the freezing winter weather, or maybe it’s because this nutcase is only wearing a band tee and pyjama shorts, who knows…
Pickle removed the ice pack from his grasp and rested it on his bedside table, turning to face Knife who already angled the safety pin towards him. Shock returned to his body and he gulped like a cartoon character, skin appearing a tad bit paler.
“You ready?” Knife asked, his calloused index finger grazing his bottom lip. He pulled his lip away from his mouth, checking that when he inserted the jewellery it wouldn't interfere with his teeth or gums. Pickle hesitantly nodded in reply, bracing himself for the impact. As it inched towards him, he squeezed his eyes shut.
And…
“Oh, it wasn’t that ba- “
“FUCK! OH, FUCK!! SON OF A BITCH!!!” Pickle shouted; Knife taken aback by his sudden reaction.
“Dude stop moving, I’m nearly done with the first one.” As Knife continued, Pickle’s eyes teared up. It wasn't that surprising though, it's a natural reaction
“Knife it hurts so fucking bad, I think I’m gonna die...” Pickle sobbed, sniffling.
“Bro, if you don’t shut up I will shove my fist so far up your fucking ass I swear to Mephone4 you won't be able to walk.” Knife stabbed the safety pin through his lip, making Pickle scream dramatically. Seriously, he sounded like a murder victim.
Knife wiped the blood from the freshly pierced hole in his boyfriends face, leaning over him to grab the jewellery to insert into his lip. Almost as if it never happened, Knife slid the bar into place and screwed the balls on.
His green haired companion however was deathly pale, pretty concerning.
“Dude, are you alright?” Knife asked, looking him in the eyes. The other's pupils were dilated, he looked like he was in a completely different universe. Knife raised an eyebrow, waving his hands in Pickle's face in hope of waking him up from fhis trance.
Pickle shook his head, consciousness returning. An agonising pain was throbbing all over, his head aching for whatever reason. He silently mumbled scoldings to himself for his reactions, muttering curses over his decisions.
“I think you uh… hit a nerve… owwiiee…” Pickle whined, flicking imaginary tears from his eyes. Knife scoffed, offended that one could doubt his ways.
He grabbed the remaining equipment in preparation for the 2nd piercing. “Pickle, if i hit a nerve your face might be paralysed right now.”
“It hurts though, can you do something please? I feel like my funeral is close, I can see the light-“ Pickle was abruptly cut off by knife clasping a hand over his mouth, urging him to shut up about a tragedy such as his death over a piercing.
“Ice pack, take it, you’ll be fine I swear. It’s just swollen, it will probably start swelling more tomorrow but it should heal in a few days. I wouldn’t kill you, okay?” Knife smiled reassuringly at him, hoping to comfort the other.
Any time he smiled, he felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Even though Knife wasn’t that used to affection himself, his attempts of caring were effective. He didn't even know how much it effected Pickle, chances are it was him being oblivious to his actions. Every single touch sent shivers through Pickle’s spine, he enjoyed Knife’s company and anything slightly intimate drove him crazy. That’s why he loves him so much, he’s one of the only ones that can calm him down.
Pickle let out a sigh of relief, the pain gradually subsided with the aid of the ice pack.
“See, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” Knife smirked, grabbing the safety pin again and getting the jewellery ready.
Pickle chuckled, “No pain, no gain I guess...”
Knife moved the safety pin towards Pickle, catching him off guard.
"You ready? You can take your time, I don't mind." Knife questioned, waiting for an answer patiently.
Pickle inhaled, taking a quick deep breath before exhaling. "Just get it done and over with... It's not that bad, I'll be fine."
That was half true. As much as he wanted to do it, the feeling of sharp metal going through his lip made him queasy. He hated to admit it, but things like needles freak him the fuck out.
Knife shrugged, holding Pickle's head in place with his firm grip so there was a lack of movement. He didn't have any clamps on him because he lost them when he pierced Microphone's anti-eyebrow, so that was all he could do. It wasn't too uncomfortable at least, Pickle could manage.
He alligned the safety pin with his lip, ensuring it was the correct placement before he pierced the next snakebite. Afterall, he didn't want Pickle to actually end up in a hospital for hours for a damaged nerve. The point scratched Pickle's lip in the process, his face slowly twisting into a grimace in response. Even just one touch of the object made his skin crawl, it was like nails on a chalkboard.
"Are you seriously alright?" Knife had a worried expression, head slightly tilted to the side in confusion.
"It's nothing, keep going." He fidgeted with his hands as he waited for the next spike of pain to penetrate his lip.
Knife hesitated a little before he repositioned the safety pin, murmuring incoherent strings of sentences with haste. He counted down quietly, Pickle immediately shut his eyes and prayed it wouldn't feel so horrid he would throw up everywhere. After he reached zero, he quickly pierced his lip and Pickle audibly gasped. Less of a gasp, it sounded more like a whimper, which wasn't intentional at all. But, at least he was done. The labret stud was inside his lip, and despite how much it swelled it was finally over.
"After you're done healing I'll replace the bars with rings, please clean your piercings otherwise it might get infected. I didn't clean a few of mine and they healed just fine, but everyones different. Plus, you're a spaz and you'll probably try something stupid then Soap will have to scold you while cleaning pus from under your bottom lip." Knife threw a bottle of saline solution at Pickle, accidentally hitting him in the face.
"What was that for!? You could've just passed it over to me?" He crossed his arms, pouting. "My headache is back now, thanks a lot..."
"Sorry, it's a habit. You could've caught it though." Knife apologised, sort of.
"How can I catch it when it's flying towards my face at 100mph?"
"It wasn't that bad, you'll be fine man."
"You really are a jerk..." Pickle sniggered, flicking Knife's forehead. Knife groaned, pushing Pickle over with a smirk.
With that, they pretty much started brawling on Pickle's loud mattress. It wasn't that violent, not mosh pit level, yet still more aggressive than a normal play fight. However, Knife tried his best to avoid Pickle's face so he wouldn't be left suffering in immense pain.
Yet, Pickle fell face first onto the floor with a forceful shove.
"Fuck... you're such an asshole!"
"You started it."
"No I didn't, you did! You threw a bottle at me, idiot!"
"And you flicked me, you dickslap."
Suddenly, Pickle's door clicked open. The room fell silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop.
"Can you please quiet down? I'm trying to get some sleep for a change..."
It was paper.
Knife rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, we weren't even that loud."
"You woke me from my 2 minutes of sleep, you clearly were. I've been dealing with so much work it's driving me crazy, just let me rest and stop being so noisy, quit the bickering, and don't scream." He slammed the door shut, Knife flinching as a result. Paper wasn't that furious usually, last time he was that angry he left the hotel for a grand total of 3 days because he punched Lightbulb right in the face.
Pickle scoffed, pushing himself off the floor. "What a buzzkill..."
"Exactly. But, does your lip hurt really bad now it uh... collided with the floor...?" Knife scratched the back of his neck, his eyes looking to the side and not straight at Pickle.
"I'm fine Mr.KnifeGuy, nothing to worry about." Pickle teased, Knife's face flushing out of embarrassment when reminded of what he said back in season 2.
"I hate you so much right now." Pickle laughed harder at that, his attempts at containing his laughter failed countless times.
"You love me really." He ruffled Knife's hair, placing a soft and gentle kiss on his cheek. Knife turned a shade of pink, his mouth just somewhat agape. The other giggled at his reaction, sitting down next to him on the bed.
"You wanna sleep in my room tonight? I'm so bored, we can play games again too." Pickle offered, gesturing at his playstation infront of them. "Soap is busy cleaning as per usual, Microphone won't answer me, Nickel is with obese boyfriend Baseball so he told me to spin around 3 times touch my toes and get out, and Bomb is... tweaking out."
"I don't see why not, just make sure to keep in mind I might fall asleep. I'm tired, fatigued even." Knife agreed to his offer, Pickle grinning at his approval. He cupped his face and kissed a scar below his left eye.
Later on, they fell asleep around 3am. Knife rested his head on Pickle's shoulder and eventually drifted off, leaning against him. A few minutes after, the dull
dialogue and repetitive fights of the game they were playing exhausted Pickle. The controller slipped out of his hands, so him and Knife basically slept on top of eachother for the whole entire night like the stupid idiots they were.