Come Break Me Down
Title: Come Break Me Down
Author: keepthexfaith
Pairing: WilliamxTravis, if you squint
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not real, obviously. A figment of my imagination. Original fic by miss-bilvy, title belongs to The Kill - 30STM
Authors Notes: Sequel to black and gold - miss-bilvy
Read that or it won't make sense.
William the fish and Travis the fish were getting along like a house on fire. Or, well, more like a fish in water, but they seemed happy and that was more than enough for William. They swam around with each other contently, not together but just in each other's space, and it was incredibly peaceful to watch. Sometimes he swore that he saw them swimming along next to each other, but then again that could just be William hoping.
The problem was, the fish had each other. William had found an empty glass vase and washed it out, put rocks in the bottom and cleaned it out thoroughly for them, but with no job still it looked just as empty and unlived in as his own apartment did. He would feel bad for them, feel guilty for not improving their home, but they had each other, and it just reminded William all the more of his incredibly empty place.
That was why, two weeks later, William was back in the pet store, a handful of change rattling in his pocket as he looked around. He had come on the same day, at the same time, but after twenty minutes or so of patiently waiting by the puppies he didn't think he was going to achieve his purpose of coming to the pet store at all. He let out a sigh, and touched the glass as he watched the puppies fight.
"Must be pretty happy in there." William murmured under his breath, shaking his head a little.
"Who's that?"
William jumped as he heard a voice behind him and turned to see Travis standing behind him with a grin on his face. Despite the fact that he had come at the same time, same day on the off chance that Travis might have been there too, he was still incredibly shocked to see him standing there, once again making conversation.
"I...I..well," William said, opening and closing his mouth as he thought for a moment. Travis just laughed and waved a hand lightly, moving to stand next to William and look in at the tiny dogs.
"Chill, yo. I do it with my little man all the time," he grinned, fishing out his phone and flipping it open to show William his background picture, one of him and a small white puppy. "Check that shit out. He's the best, forreal."
William smiled after a moment, and looked at Travis before blurting out after a small silence. "I do."
Travis blinked at him (loljknotreallyhedoesn'thaveanyeyelids) for a moment before he just shook his head.
"Huh?"
William blushed slightly and gave a small, sheepish shrug, lowering his eyes and rubbing a hand against his upper arm lightly.
"Before. You said..you said, you don't need a fish to talk to someone. I do."
Travis looked at him thoughtfully, not replying for a long while, and William started silently cursing himself, mind already forming excuses to leave, when Travis just chuckled and rest a hand on William's shoulder lightly, the first human contact William had had in a long time, honestly.
"Let's get coffee, you an' me. How 'bout it?"
William hadn't smiled that wide in a long time.
Several coffee meet ups, a few random run-ins and two job hunts (one of which had been successful - William was now working at the 7/11 two blocks away from his house, and one day Travis even agreed to meet him from work.
He was facing the items in aisle seven when Travis came into the store, walked up behind him and covered his eyes.
"Hey. Guess who, shorty!" he said with a teasing grin, draping an arm around William's shoulders and picking up one of the items off the shelf. "What's a pretty little thing like you doin' in a place like here?"
William just pushed at Travis chest lightly, nudging his side and taking the box of cereal out of his hands, placing it back on the shelf.
"I finish in...five minutes," he smiled, looking over at him, "But you already knew that, right?" Travis just grinned widely and nodded, looking at the shelf and chuckling softly.
"Damn, Bill. You got this shit lookin' better than ever. They'll never let you go if you keep this shit up, you know that?" Travis seemed to have made it his new mission to personally rid William of all his self esteem issues over the last few weeks, and though William still felt his cheeks colour slightly whenever Travis started singing his praises, but he was notably more confident around the other man. He started conversations, smiled, hugged back, initiated hugs. William thought that Travis was doing a pretty great job.
Travis insisted on driving William the couple of blocks back to his apartment despite William's protests of 'it's only a ten minute walk' and '36 really isn't that cold', and walked him all the way up to the door. William fumbled around for his keys, looking oddly nervous and even a little uncomfortable, as he searched around in his bag for them. The two seemed stuck in an awkward silence, Travis rubbing the back of his neck lightly as he watched William and after a moment he chuckled and took hold of the slightly shorter man's hands.
"Bill, you needa relax, okay? How 'bout you ask me in for some coffee and we chill out on your couch, watch some movies, play some video games. You down?"
William just smiled at him, squeezed Travis' hands lightly and gave a small nod, pulling back one hand to locate his keys again, "I think that'd be nice."
Travis chuckled and kept hold of one of William's hands, watching as he finally found his keys and unlocked the door. He took the lead, though it was an unfamiliar place to him, and looked around as he led William inside and shut the door behind him. As the other man peered around the hallway, William just rubbed his hand over his upper arm quickly, clicking his tongue.
"I forgot to pay my heating bill last week, only remembered yesterday. So it's, y'know, cold and stuff until that goes through. Sorry."
Travis just turned to look at William at that, chuckled lightly and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Guess we'll have to make heat another way, huh Bill?" He smirked as William blushed, squeezed his shoulder and William didn't pull away. He leaned in and pressed a kiss, almost chaste, to his lips, and William returned it after a moment.
"Let's get that coffee," Travis said as he pulled away before he became too tempted to push things further. He let William do the leading this time, the other man making quiet comments about the lack of pictures in his rather empty apartment.
"And William and Travie are over there-"
"Travie?" Travis raised an eyebrow, looking at William and smirking. "You named your fish after me and you?"
William gave a small little shrug, glancing nervously at the tank and brushing his fingers over the back of his neck as his eyes moved back to Travis, mentally cursing himself for letting that one out. Now his only real friend, the only one that didn't have gills and eat fish flakes, was probably going to think he was some kind of stalker and there would be no more random coffee trips, hunting for things for his fish tank, hanging out, kisses. They'd only just started the kisses but that didn't mean William liked them any less.
"You're an odd one, Bill," Travis chuckled, rest a hand on his shoulder and William's face fell. His teeth dug into his lip lightly and he pushed a hand through his hair before shrugging, eyes dropping to the floor.
"Are you freaked?"
"I should be. I really, really should be," Travis wrapped the arm around William's shoulders then, and his lips met William's temple, brushing over the skin so light that it was barely noticeable, and William looked up quickly.
"But?"
"But I'm not." Travis smiled, so William smiled. Travis looked at the fish tank, so William looked at the fish tank, and when Travis approached the fish tank William trailed along after him quietly.
"They look pretty happy together," Travis commented, voice oddly quiet as he tugged William closer into his side, tipped his head lightly to rest just on top of the other mans.
"Yeah, they do."
Author: keepthexfaith
Pairing: WilliamxTravis, if you squint
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not real, obviously. A figment of my imagination. Original fic by miss-bilvy, title belongs to The Kill - 30STM
Authors Notes: Sequel to black and gold - miss-bilvy
Read that or it won't make sense.
William the fish and Travis the fish were getting along like a house on fire. Or, well, more like a fish in water, but they seemed happy and that was more than enough for William. They swam around with each other contently, not together but just in each other's space, and it was incredibly peaceful to watch. Sometimes he swore that he saw them swimming along next to each other, but then again that could just be William hoping.
The problem was, the fish had each other. William had found an empty glass vase and washed it out, put rocks in the bottom and cleaned it out thoroughly for them, but with no job still it looked just as empty and unlived in as his own apartment did. He would feel bad for them, feel guilty for not improving their home, but they had each other, and it just reminded William all the more of his incredibly empty place.
That was why, two weeks later, William was back in the pet store, a handful of change rattling in his pocket as he looked around. He had come on the same day, at the same time, but after twenty minutes or so of patiently waiting by the puppies he didn't think he was going to achieve his purpose of coming to the pet store at all. He let out a sigh, and touched the glass as he watched the puppies fight.
"Must be pretty happy in there." William murmured under his breath, shaking his head a little.
"Who's that?"
William jumped as he heard a voice behind him and turned to see Travis standing behind him with a grin on his face. Despite the fact that he had come at the same time, same day on the off chance that Travis might have been there too, he was still incredibly shocked to see him standing there, once again making conversation.
"I...I..well," William said, opening and closing his mouth as he thought for a moment. Travis just laughed and waved a hand lightly, moving to stand next to William and look in at the tiny dogs.
"Chill, yo. I do it with my little man all the time," he grinned, fishing out his phone and flipping it open to show William his background picture, one of him and a small white puppy. "Check that shit out. He's the best, forreal."
William smiled after a moment, and looked at Travis before blurting out after a small silence. "I do."
Travis blinked at him (loljknotreallyhedoesn'thaveanyeyelids) for a moment before he just shook his head.
"Huh?"
William blushed slightly and gave a small, sheepish shrug, lowering his eyes and rubbing a hand against his upper arm lightly.
"Before. You said..you said, you don't need a fish to talk to someone. I do."
Travis looked at him thoughtfully, not replying for a long while, and William started silently cursing himself, mind already forming excuses to leave, when Travis just chuckled and rest a hand on William's shoulder lightly, the first human contact William had had in a long time, honestly.
"Let's get coffee, you an' me. How 'bout it?"
William hadn't smiled that wide in a long time.
Several coffee meet ups, a few random run-ins and two job hunts (one of which had been successful - William was now working at the 7/11 two blocks away from his house, and one day Travis even agreed to meet him from work.
He was facing the items in aisle seven when Travis came into the store, walked up behind him and covered his eyes.
"Hey. Guess who, shorty!" he said with a teasing grin, draping an arm around William's shoulders and picking up one of the items off the shelf. "What's a pretty little thing like you doin' in a place like here?"
William just pushed at Travis chest lightly, nudging his side and taking the box of cereal out of his hands, placing it back on the shelf.
"I finish in...five minutes," he smiled, looking over at him, "But you already knew that, right?" Travis just grinned widely and nodded, looking at the shelf and chuckling softly.
"Damn, Bill. You got this shit lookin' better than ever. They'll never let you go if you keep this shit up, you know that?" Travis seemed to have made it his new mission to personally rid William of all his self esteem issues over the last few weeks, and though William still felt his cheeks colour slightly whenever Travis started singing his praises, but he was notably more confident around the other man. He started conversations, smiled, hugged back, initiated hugs. William thought that Travis was doing a pretty great job.
Travis insisted on driving William the couple of blocks back to his apartment despite William's protests of 'it's only a ten minute walk' and '36 really isn't that cold', and walked him all the way up to the door. William fumbled around for his keys, looking oddly nervous and even a little uncomfortable, as he searched around in his bag for them. The two seemed stuck in an awkward silence, Travis rubbing the back of his neck lightly as he watched William and after a moment he chuckled and took hold of the slightly shorter man's hands.
"Bill, you needa relax, okay? How 'bout you ask me in for some coffee and we chill out on your couch, watch some movies, play some video games. You down?"
William just smiled at him, squeezed Travis' hands lightly and gave a small nod, pulling back one hand to locate his keys again, "I think that'd be nice."
Travis chuckled and kept hold of one of William's hands, watching as he finally found his keys and unlocked the door. He took the lead, though it was an unfamiliar place to him, and looked around as he led William inside and shut the door behind him. As the other man peered around the hallway, William just rubbed his hand over his upper arm quickly, clicking his tongue.
"I forgot to pay my heating bill last week, only remembered yesterday. So it's, y'know, cold and stuff until that goes through. Sorry."
Travis just turned to look at William at that, chuckled lightly and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Guess we'll have to make heat another way, huh Bill?" He smirked as William blushed, squeezed his shoulder and William didn't pull away. He leaned in and pressed a kiss, almost chaste, to his lips, and William returned it after a moment.
"Let's get that coffee," Travis said as he pulled away before he became too tempted to push things further. He let William do the leading this time, the other man making quiet comments about the lack of pictures in his rather empty apartment.
"And William and Travie are over there-"
"Travie?" Travis raised an eyebrow, looking at William and smirking. "You named your fish after me and you?"
William gave a small little shrug, glancing nervously at the tank and brushing his fingers over the back of his neck as his eyes moved back to Travis, mentally cursing himself for letting that one out. Now his only real friend, the only one that didn't have gills and eat fish flakes, was probably going to think he was some kind of stalker and there would be no more random coffee trips, hunting for things for his fish tank, hanging out, kisses. They'd only just started the kisses but that didn't mean William liked them any less.
"You're an odd one, Bill," Travis chuckled, rest a hand on his shoulder and William's face fell. His teeth dug into his lip lightly and he pushed a hand through his hair before shrugging, eyes dropping to the floor.
"Are you freaked?"
"I should be. I really, really should be," Travis wrapped the arm around William's shoulders then, and his lips met William's temple, brushing over the skin so light that it was barely noticeable, and William looked up quickly.
"But?"
"But I'm not." Travis smiled, so William smiled. Travis looked at the fish tank, so William looked at the fish tank, and when Travis approached the fish tank William trailed along after him quietly.
"They look pretty happy together," Travis commented, voice oddly quiet as he tugged William closer into his side, tipped his head lightly to rest just on top of the other mans.
"Yeah, they do."