It’s not your own dimension, and there’s no reason for you to go back.
But you do. Over, and over, and over again, you return.
At first you tricked yourself into thinking that it was because there was another dimensional traveler there, someone who seemed familiar with the concept of hopping from dimension to dimension. You fall prey to his stories, mixture of science and magic like a child falls prey to stories of fantasy and grandeur, and when you voice your skepticism he answers will a sort of calm, collect, the slight of S A S S and a subtle dare to not believe him, the go ahead to question his stories and tales with the unspoken promise he won’t change them, won’t take back the details and won’t apologize, because the details aren’t just details, they’re not malleable, they’re facts, things he’s seen, things he knows, and god damn, you eat that shit up. He’s stubborn and sarcastic and impatient and downright R U D E sometimes and though your annoyance and anger have flared towards him more than once over more than a few topics at the end of the day you go back to your home dimension and find him occupying most of your thoughts, find yourself going over his stories, his explanations of magic and science combined, and if it weren’t for the fact you both have other things to do, you both have work and sleep and things to take care off (( And the fact your body needs time to recover from the strain being in other dimensions sets upon it )), you’d hop back into the dds and hunt him down just to give one more “and another thing!” or perhaps scrounge up the smallest questions about everything he’s said, just for a chance to see him again, just a change to hear him talk, see a smirk, see rage, see annoyance, impatience, curiosity, every emotion at every little button you press and prod.
You’re laying in bed late one night, recalling the argument you’d had earlier with the stupid blonde man, thinking of his stupid face and his stupid stories and his stupid comments, and you realize you might have a very big issue.
So the very next morning you cancel your meetings, see your brother off to school, and throw yourself back into Edward’s dimension. Yesterdays argument is still fresh enough to gain you a hostile look when you approach, and you’d like to snap, you’d like to say something sarcastic, but instead of doing any of that or allowing him time to do the same, you grab him by the front of the shirt and slam your lips against his, far from graceful.
You only have the courage to hold it for a split second, and when you pull away his face is red, and you’re quite certain that yours is as well, and even though the two of you are no longer connected the feeling lingers for a second as you both fall silent.
He starts to sputter out his confusion and you cut him off.
❝ I have feelings about you. For you. ❞
But you don’t specify. Mostly because you’re not sure W H A T feelings. Just feelings. Just the fact you think about him constantly. Just the fact you hopped an entire dimension just to kiss his stupid face and the fact you fucked even that up because, dammit, you wished it would’ve been more gentle, and that this wouldn’t seem like something spurred by annoyance or mere lust, and your embarrassment towards your failure flares and with no goodbye or explanation you’re gone, back to your own dimension, where you lock yourself in your room for the rest of the day to wallow.
You go to work the next day. And the next, and the next– It’s two weeks before you finally dare to touch the DDS again, before you finally dare to face the consequences of your actions, because you’re not the type to just kiss someone and run away, not forever at least.
So you go back. You wait for Ed, even though you know he won’t finish work for a few hours. Truth be told you stick out like a sore thumb and for once, you’re not too content with that, and the stares people give you feel off putting (( they stare at you with confusion, fear– You are rather alien in this world, you find, and for once it doesn’t feel empowering )).
This time, when you see him, he doesn’t look angry. Not until he notices you, of course– And then it’s anger and confusion and a “where the hell did you go?!”, “you can’t just kiss someone and then disappear like that!”s, and though guilt does ebb its way into your mind you don’t back yourself away or lower your head, and you don’t snap back or explain yourself because there’s nothing to explain. You shouldn’t have done it.
You’re glad he doesn’t pretend the kiss didn’t happen, though.
It gives you some weird form of hope, if you could call it that. It’d be bad enough that you smashed your lips against his and then disappeared for two weeks in the first place, but if he were straight on top of it you’d simply have to go home and D I E this time.
You wait until he finishes venting his anger at your stupidity, and then dare to speak.
❝ I meant what I said. About having feelings about you. ❞
❝ …About or for. ❞
You blink. ❝ For you. ❞
He stands there, awkward.
❝ So why’d you disappear? ❞
You shrug. ❝ I’m not good at this stuff. ❞
But that’s obvious. Real damn obvious. It’s obvious in the silence, as well. Perhaps neither of you are good at this. He stands there, thinking, and you stand there, feeling s h a m e, wanting to disappear off to your own dimension again as you avert your gaze and stare at the nearest wall, following the pattern of the wallpaper.
❝ Do you have feelings about me, too? ❞
It’s your own question, but it startles you. You didn’t expect to actually ask it. You didn’t expect to be kind of afraid of the answer.
It’s not that you get one right away, anyways, though– Ed just stares at you for a long moment with an expression your mind (( which is perhaps a bit frantic at the moment, you will admit )) can’t read.
He sighs, and you flinch.
❝ Lean down a bit. ❞
Your confused expression is enough. He blushes.
❝ I can’t kiss you if you’re all the way up there. ❞
Oh. Oh. Oh. OH. O H.
❝ You want to kiss me? ❞
❝ Kaiba– ❞ he’s getting annoyed, and that’s okay, he’s cute when he’s annoyed and you’d push his buttons further if it weren’t for the pounding of your heart, so for once you listen to his request without pushing further or being a little shit about it, leaning down enough so that when he rises to the tips of his toes he can press his lips against yours and, god, you know you’ve been holding in your affection but perhaps it was more than you realized before the moment the kiss lingers beyond a simple peck on the lips you reach out and wrap your arms around him just for the sake of being able to hold onto him, and you’re pleasantly surprised when his arms go around your neck and your mind begins to jitter from a sort of giddiness you haven’t felt in a damn long time.
The kiss is mutually broken, but neither of you move too far away, content to stay close.
Hah. Hahahahah. Hahah. You’re smiling. You both are.
His smile is so fucking cute.
❝ Kiss me one more time, ❞ the blond says, and though your first instinct is to do as he says not because you are obedient or anything of the sort but because it’s Ed and he’s asking you kiss him again-- But you suppress the urge and your smile turns perhaps a bit snarky, more of a smirk, and you whisper quietly--
