Crossed Lines
A birthday fic for @cinensis because he is awesome and deserving of good things on his great day. And I’m bringing together the best of both worlds!
---
It had been what some might call an astronomical anomaly: a strange combination of gravity fields and heavenly alignments and stray, confused energies, tangling and turning and taking entities that should have been in one place and moving them elsewhere. To a normal mortal living their day-to-day lives, it may not feel like anything was out of place, but for beings and guardians who exist within the realm of such an event, it was...a very bizarre day.
Bizarre, because at some point when the storm was at its apex, Genos the Sun God opened his eyes into inky darkness. Not the emptiness of space, but another kind of solitude, and it felt like an entire world was on top of him. Water. He was under a great ocean, at its very deepest. And…
Genos?
At the sound of his name, he turned, and the shadows were broken by colorful lights, glowing and blinking. Between them, particles danced, suspended, and the creature with too-familiar eyes was coming towards him, floating through the water, fin swaying through the depths.
“Saitama?”
He approached him immediately, hands moving to touch his face, and Saitama flinched. He looked so different...at first he thought that he might pull away, but after a moment, he reached forward as well, touching the jewelry and tattoos around his eyes. His hands were webbed and even despite the slickness of scales he knew him. He would always know him. Is this really you?
“I think...I believe that I am Genos from another time. Another plane of existence, coexisting with the Genos of your space.”
Saitama just stared.
“Mostly, yes.”
He nodded slowly, and then his mouth curved up in a way that must have been a smile. I’m not going to say that I get it, but...I’m always happy to see you.
Genos smiled too, softly running his finger along the glowing orb on Saitama’s forehead, smooth and warm. Saitama took his other hand as his eyes closed, bubbles escaping from the gills on his neck. A content sigh.
“I feel the same.”
---
“Dude, what happened to your legs?”
“I am an underwater research cyborg, Sensei. They help me to propel through the water for an extensive period of time, and they have been made to withstand great amounts of pressure, and...um...Sensei?”
Saitama had walked behind Genos and grabbed his ponytail, running it through his fingers. “Your hair is really long,” he mused.
Genos reached back to remove his hair tie, careful to keep it grasped in his hand. He still had no idea how exactly he had wound up on the moon, but he wasn’t about to try any tests as to when the gravity would affect him and when it would not. For now, he seemed to be able to sit on the large moonrock while Saitama wandered around him, inspecting him thoroughly.
“It’s different. I like it.”
As Saitama returned to stand in front of him, Genos touched his robes, fingering the beautiful, light fabric before finally resting his palms on his waist. He had always wondered what Saitama would look like, as a human, and now that he was here - well, a version of him anyway - it was interesting, but...his Saitama was perfect just the way he was.
When he glanced up, he realized that Saitama’s eyes were full of tears. “Sensei,” he said, gathering him close, rubbing his back gently. “Please forgive me. I know I may not appear as you are used to seeing me, but…”
“Shut up, idiot.” He still stroked Genos’s hair, drying his eyes against the strands. “I don’t care about that. I just don’t get to see you enough.”
Genos squeezed him tight. Some things seemed to be consistent no matter where he was.
---
“You were a fish, Saitama.”
“...what?! How could I be a fish? How the heck would that work?”
Genos...you glowed so bright. And you were warmer than anything I’ve ever felt.
“I can be warm too, Sensei...”
Together again, the universe was righted, and despite the strange circumstances of the day, the love shared by each remained the same, an unending spark in a sea of stars and worlds.
