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He's dreaming about that guy again. Joko knows he isn't real - he's never seen this dude in his life, but somehow he just keeps showing up.
Messy blonde hair that falls in front his eyes, long fish tail with emerald-colored scales that shimmer in the sun, dressed in casual and breezy clothing a thousand times cooler than anything Joko's ever worn - something about this mysterious dream figure entrances him.
He never does get his name. He tries, always tries to get his attention somehow, but it never works.
They're in what appears to be the literal middle of nowhere - an ethereal plane that could never exist in real life, more like a void than an actual location. And yet, the fish skates around as if there's solid ground under him, doing tricks off invisible walls.
Joko just watches and admires him as he moves.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Joko asks from where he's sitting on the computer. "I've got Netflix pulled up, I could place an order."
Mason doesn't look up from where he's sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. He grumbles something that sounds vaguely affirmative (the one advantage of their cramped studio apartment), and Joko rolls his eyes as he picks out a couple films without bothering to ask Mason what he wants.
He hovers his cursor over the order button before clicking, and that's that.
Not even an hour goes by before Joko hears the doorbell chime, snapping him out of his thoughts. There's no way this was the delivery, right? No one can move that damn fast.
He grumbles as he gets up to open the door, and is met face to face with the boy from his fucking dreams.
What.
He shakes his head, blinks, rubs his eyes, assuming he must be seeing things. Maybe he's still asleep. (He pinches himself. Ow.)
"...Are you okay?" The man asks, looking at him like he's grown a second head. "Do you have brain damage?"
Joko just gawks at him in stunned silence.
"Sorry," the blonde replies, shaking his head. His tail flicks awkwardly behind him. "Do I like, know you from somewhere? You look really familiar."
"Um…" Joko starts to reply, but his thoughts get tangled up in his head and he can't seem to sort out his words. Finally he settles on "Maybe?"
He can feel Mason glaring at him and yelps in surprise when he practically spawns behind him.
The deliveryman just laughs awkwardly and hands the envelope containing the DVD to Mason before turning his attention back to Joko. "Here, step outside for a sec and we can chat, okay?"
Joko turns to look at Mason, but he's already wandered off, leaving him to fend for himself. "Uh, yeah, alright!" He replies, following the all-too-familiar stranger out into the chilly air.
"Cooper," the other finally introduces himself, stretching like a cat with a loud yawn. "And yeah, we do know each other."
He sticks his tongue out at Joko and laughs. "You think I don't notice you watching me skate? You should see the look on your face when you're like that. What's your name, anyways?"
"...Joko. It's Joko." Joko's sure he has a dumbfounded look on his face right now - he can see a confused purple shade slowly creeping up his arms.
"Oh man, you look ridiculous like that." Cooper's laughing even harder now. "I bet you're wondering how I got here so fast, huh? It's allll thanks to the subspace highway."
"The what?"
"Subspace highway? It's like…" Cooper makes a weird gesture with his hands. "You can travel way faster through the liminal space than in the physical plane, you know? Fuckin' convenient as hell."
"You're so cool," Joko blurts out before he realizes he's staring.
"Hah, thanks?" Cooper snorts, grinning at him. "I really gotta get going though."
"Wait!" Joko says, instinctively reaching for Cooper's arm. "Uh, do you maybe wanna, like, hang out later?"
Cooper raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. "You askin' me out, dude?"
"No! Not like that!" Joko responds quickly. "I just mean- I dunno, like-"
"Relax, I'm messin' with ya," Cooper says. "Sure. I get off work in a couple hours… Mind if I swing by around 8?" He digs around in his bag for something. "Or I can just give you my number," he hums absentmindedly.
"8 is fine, yeah!" Joko quickly replies, almost stumbling over his own voice. "That works."
Cooper doesn't forget his promise, skating over to Joko's place again as soon as he gets off from work. He knocks harshly against the door with his tail, snickering at his own antics.
Joko swings the door open, blinking at him like an idiot before he remembers. "Oh! Hey!" He says cheerfully, awkwardly giving Cooper a little wave.
"Hey," Cooper grins. "So, where we goin'?"
"I dunno yet!" Joko replies, laughing nervously. "I didn't think about that. We could just go for a walk wherever the hell."
"Well, I'm new around here," Cooper shrugs. "So I dunno where anything is yet. Maybe you could show me around?"
"Uh, yeah, okay! Sure!" Joko nods. He grabs Cooper's hand without thinking twice about it and heads off in the direction of town.
A charm attached to the bag he has slung over his shoulder catches Cooper's eye, and he reaches for it. "Dude, what's this?" It's a plush toy of some kind. "Looks like somethin' for kids."
"You don't know what a Pikachu is?" Joko raises an eyebrow. "You know, like, from Pokémon?"
"I'm just playin'," Cooper snorts, looking back up at Joko. "You're a total dweeb, man," he says, but his tone is clearly light-hearted. His tail swishes behind him.
It doesn't take long for them to end up in the center of Spawn City, though it's much quieter than usual. Cooper glances around curiously before hauling himself up on a nearby ledge.
"Interesting place," he comments, stretching with a loud yawn. "More interesting than where I'm from, that's for sure."
"Where are you from, anyways?" Joko asks.
Cooper shakes his head. "Nah, dude, we just met. You gotta be like, level 5 trust before you unlock that information." He's grinning at him with a smug look on his face.
Joko just rolls his eyes at him and shoves his shoulder gently. "Weirdo." He looks up in surprise as a droplet of water hits his head. He glances around, trying to figure out the source.
He doesn't see anything… But then it starts pouring, as if on cue.
He looks back to Cooper, and he can feel his face go hot watching the water run over the other man's skin. The scales on his tail shimmer with the raindrops' reflection.
Joko shakes his head before he's caught staring. Luckily, it doesn't seem like Cooper noticed - he just looks annoyed about the rain.
"Dude, fuck offfff," he whines irritably, looking up at the sky, using one hand to shield his face.
Joko only just now notices that he's started shivering, and has kind of pulled his tail around himself.
"...Are you like, cold-blooded or something?" Joko tilts his head a little.
"Shut up," Cooper grumbles in response, which Joko takes as a 'yes'.
The fish stands, unzipping his bag and pulling out a skateboard that's far too big to actually fit in that tiny space. He sets it down on the wet ground and gestures at an open door nearby.
He stands on the board, offering Joko his hand.
"Are you crazy?" Joko says, gawking at him. "I'm not-"
Cooper rolls his eyes and grabs his hand, pulling him up onto the board with him. They're in closer proximity than Joko would like, and he fidgets awkwardly in place.
He instinctively clings onto Cooper when the board starts moving.
"Big baby," Cooper teases softly. "Hold on tight."
The world goes black as they cross through the door… And into an unfamiliar house on the other side.
Cooper grins and offers Joko his hand once again. "Welcome to Casa Coopierre," he says in a goofy voice. "Home sweet home." His tail twitches with amusement.
A loud crack of thunder shakes the walls of the house, and Cooper flinches.
"Scared of storms?" It's Joko's turn to make a teasing remark.
"No way, dude!" Cooper scoffs. "I dunno what you're talking about."
Joko just shakes his head and laughs.
"Whatever, anyways, doesn't look like it'll let up any time soon," Cooper continues. "I don't mind if you wanna crash here for the night…"
"Eh-?!" Joko stammers, the noise coming out more as a startled squeak than anything.
"Pfft, don't worry about it." Cooper shushes him with his tail. "Tell me about yourself, man. Or that roommate of yours, what's up with him?"
Joko can feel a pang of jealousy tingling up his spine at the mention of his roommate, and he's not sure why - he just met this guy, and Mason hasn't even spoken to him. He brushes it aside.
"Mason? We met in college. We're not- It's not like that, if you mean-" He's struggling to get his words out once again.
"If I mean what? Like, if I mean you're gay?" Cooper snorts.
"No- Not t- Like, I mean…"
"Oh, like if you're gay with your roommate. No, I didn't mean that, I was just curious about your life. Though, now that you mention it," Cooper's tail twitches with mischief, "your guys' apartment does only have one mattress in it, what's the deal with that?"
"We just can't afford another one," Joko retorts quickly. "Why are we talking about him if you want to know about me?"
"Just a conversation starter," Cooper shrugs. "You want some tea?"
"You like tea?" Joko raises an eyebrow.
Cooper turns away from him to dig around in the kitchen cabinets. "I'm full of surprises," he says simply. "Green tea? Chai? Chamomile? Raspberry, maybe? What's your type?"
"Uh…" Joko does not know jack shit about tea! He's trying to come up with a response that doesn't make him sound like an uncultured moron, which okay, he is, but that's embarrassing!
"Too slow, you're getting chamomile," Cooper uses his tail to close the cabinet behind him and sets two teabags down on the counter as he goes to start boiling the water.
"Did I even get a choice to begin with?" Joko chuckles.
"Maybe," Cooper purrs with amusement. "Maybe not."
He pours the boiling water into two mugs, and puts a teabag in each before carefully carrying them over to the table Joko's at. He gently sets one of the mugs down on the table before sitting down on the other side, taking a sip of his tea happily.
(He's still shivering a bit from the rain.)
"Ugh, okay, sorry, hold on," he says, standing again. "I'm gonna go change into some dry clothes, give me a sec."
"All good," Joko says, sipping his own mug. It's pretty good, he thinks.
A few moments pass before he hears Cooper's voice again.
"I'm back," he says casually.
Joko looks up and is met with the absolute sight that is Cooper wearing a t-shirt that's a little too big for him, tiny shorts, and thighhighs.
The way the top of the socks squeeze so that little sliver of thigh puffs out makes all of the neurons in Joko's dumb little head fire at once, and he nearly chokes on his drink. He tries to take a deep breath to calm himself so he doesn't go bright pink.
"What?" Cooper laughs, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothin'-" Joko responds as soon as he finds his voice again, coughing and looking away as quickly as possible. Damn this fish.
"Weirdo," Cooper whacks at him with his tail, leaning forward just a little bit, getting up in his face. Mischief glimmers in his eyes as he watches Joko squirm nervously. "You done with your tea?"
"Uh," Joko manages after a moment of his brain being nonfunctional, "uh, yeah! Yeah. Sorry."
"Cool," Cooper takes the mug from him and carries it into his little kitchen to set it down in the sink. "I'm tired as hell, so I'm gonna go to bed," he says. "You can join me if you want. I'm not gonna make you sleep on the couch."
At first he actually does try to sleep on the couch, but it's uncomfortable as all hell and it doesn't take long for him to abandon that plan.
The room is dark except for a dim lamp on the bedside table beside Cooper, who's sitting in bed… reading? Joko didn't take him for much of a reading guy.
Cooper sets the book down and glances up at him with a dumb grin. "You get lonely?"
"It was cold," Joko mumbles in response, looking down at his feet.
"It's warm over here," Cooper laughs, and reaches forward to pull Joko down into the soft bed with him.
Joko can see a shade of pink creeping up his arms, one that's impossible for him to hide.
Cooper just stares at him with his stupid fucking smug smile, and Joko's not sure what comes over him, but he leans in, and suddenly they're kissing. He can feel sparks tingle up his spine, and his hand grips at Cooper's waist, and all he can think about is whether Cooper feels that sensation too.
It's the first thing out of his mouth when they separate.
"You feel that?" He asks, desperately hoping he doesn't sound like a moron. But Cooper just gives a small nod, looking at him with sparkling eyes that could melt a hole straight through Joko's heart.
And then they're kissing again, more passionately this time. Sparks still flying everywhere, like there's an electrical current passing between them.
Joko almost unconsciously starts to remove his shirt, but stops when he notices Cooper rolling over onto his side with a loud huff and a yawn.
…Right, whoops. They've just met, after all. Moving a bit fast there, guy, he can hear Mason's voice scolding him in the back of his head.
Instead he awkwardly drapes his arms around Cooper's waist, pulling him towards him so his back presses against his torso. He lets out a quiet sigh against Cooper's shoulder.
"You sure are clingy," Cooper comments. His tail is curling around Joko's leg.
"And you're bitchy," Joko retorts, "but you don't hear me pointing it out."
He laughs softly as he feels sleep starting to pull him under, and he closes his eyes, holding Cooper close to him as he drifts off into an unusually dreamless sleep.