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Dot Barrett was the main character.
And this was not a romance.
This was a tale of heroism and excitement and action! None of that cheesy romance stuff!
Well, maybe a little bit.
Every hero needed a beautiful love interest, of course, and Lemon was very cute. Her falling for his charm and strength would be inevitable. He could imagine her, dainty and fragile, looking up at him with those big eyes when he rescues her or while fighting for her honor. She’d thank him and ask how she could ever repay him, and he’d tell her that he was only doing what was right. She would then confess her undying love for him and they’d kiss and ride off into the sunset together, hand in hand. They'd be the perfect couple, the envy of their town, and live happily ever after.
But anyways! Like he said, this was not a romance, so back to the main story!
In stories like his, there was always a rival. Dot always thought Mash was his rival from the moment they first met. He was so strong and cool. Even his mushroom hair had Lemon girls swooning! But once Mash finished saving the world and everything, it was hard to call someone a rival when they decide to become a pâtissier instead of, y’know, doing other hero stuff. There was no point in calling someone a rival if you couldn’t continue to battle and grow stronger together!
No, once he decided that he and Mash were better off as friends, Dot found himself a new rival.
Lance Crown
Well, truthfully, Lance has always been his rival. He just wasn’t as big of a rival as Mash until now.
Originally, they were only roommates and then roommates that were rivals. But after saving the world and fighting to save each other, Dot wouldn’t mind admitting that they were friends too. Besides, who doesn’t love a rivals to friends arch? Or rivals and friends? Or even rival friends? Both of them constantly battling it out, tension always rising, but knowing that neither would allow anyone else to best them besides the other. They had their strengths and weaknesses, but worked hard together to be better everyday.
Of course, Dot won in terms of magic and power. He was born with an Ira Kreuz, after all. Lance may be impressive with his double lines, but Dot knew he was cool too. That gravity magic of his was a neat little parlor trick and all, but he'd never be able to blow everyone away like he could! With a bang and a boom and a blast, who wouldn’t be impressed by his abilities?
Dot was enough of a man to admit that Lance won in terms of looks, though. He originally also hated him for his looks. Handsome guys like him always had fangirls, and Lance had a big following at Easton and even at other schools. It made him sick seeing all the girls swooning over Lance like that. He may be able to admit that Lance was better looking, but he wasn't that much better looking.
Especially with his perfectly tousled blue hair.
And those beautiful, angry blue eyes.
And that cool, stoic demeanor.
And his pretty elegant hands.
And-
Wait, what?
Um.
Where was he going with this?
Anyways!
As Dot was saying, Lance was handsome, but he wasn’t, like, Ryoh Grantz handsome. He'd probably be more attractive without that giant stick up his ass and if he learned to, y'know, not be an asshole all the time. His personality was trash and Dot could say that because they were friends.
But it's also why shit like this kept happening to him.
“Ow! What the heck?” Dot snapped. He turned to glare at Lance, rubbing at the back of his head. “That hurt!”
“Yeah, that’s the point,” hissed Lance. “Now, pay attention. I'm not letting you borrow my notes again.”
Dot clicked his tongue. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He turned away, arms crossed.
Yeah, absolute trash personality.
If only his fanclub knew.
Still, Dot knew Lance wasn’t as bad as he seemed and was a softy at heart. He loved his little sister dearly (maybe a little too much?) and he cared deeply for his friends, just as much as Dot did. He always grumbled about how he had to keep borrowing his notes, but Dot knew that if he really had an issue with it, he would’ve stopped giving them to him long ago. He was the first to remind him that he needed to rest and not overwork, and like now, he always waited for him after class, so they could walk back to their dorm room together.
And of course, Lance was willing to die for him when they faced off against Doom.
That had been a shock to him, but what was even more shocking was that Dot was willing to do the same.
Then again, he was the main character, after all! He couldn’t let his friend die in vain!
Even so, it was odd to think that they hated each other at first. But somehow, between all the shouting and snarky remarks, the two of them became friends. They stuck together at first because they were roommates, but now, it was just because they could.
“Dot, do you want them or not?”
“Huh?”
A stack of papers was thrust into his face and he stepped back, narrowly avoiding being smacked. He scowled, eyes narrowing into a glare as they met Lance’s own.
“If you don’t want my notes, fine, but if we fail, it’s on you.”
“I’ll take ‘em! I’ll take ‘em!” he grumbled, grabbing the papers before Lance could take them back.
Dot watched him march off to his side of the room, pulling out the rest of his notes and setting them out on his desk.
“Then, hurry up already. We have a lot to go over.”
Dot quickly dragged his desk chair over to where Lance was, throwing his own paper down haphazardly and quickly scribbled down what he missed while he was busy daydreaming in class. He could feel Lance watching him intently, and he felt his heart beating a little quicker, palms sweating with each passing second.
Huh? That’s weird.
Dot had no time to consider it, though, and did his best to hurry through Lance’s pages of notes. Why did he have to write so much? It’s not like they’d need to know everything. It was tempting to tell Lance this, but he thought twice about it when he pictured those blue eyes staring down at him, intense and stern. He could perfectly see the way his lips were downturned and there was that persistent furrow of his brow. It would be so easy to reach over and-
Wait a minute.
Uhhh.
Right! Back to the notes!
“There! Done!” he shouted, pushing the papers back over to Lance. “So what do we need to do now?”
Lance rolled his eyes. “If you were paying attention, you’d know we have a potions exam coming up,” he explained. “We’re to be given a potion at random that we have to make. Here’s a list of all of the possible options, so you better know how to make all of them because I will not be carrying you in this exam.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just start showing me what it is I need to know.”
Dot couldn’t make out what Lance was mumbling, but he smiled brightly to himself as they began reviewing the material together.
Yeah, a real softy.
They worked down the list together, slowly making their way through every potion. Dot was never good at these kinds of things, so he was grateful he had Lance helping him. He broke down each potion for him, making sure Dot knew what made up each one and how to properly make them without blowing each other up. Dot always thought he was a more hands on learner, but ever since he started studying with Lance, he had to admit that this method was helping him out a lot too. They managed to get about halfway before Dot’s rumbling stomach interrupted them and they decided to wander down to the dining hall to get dinner.
“Man, I must’ve been using a lot of brain power because I am starving!” Dot exclaimed as he sat down. “I cannot wait to dig in!”
Lance rolled his eyes and sat down next to him, bumping their shoulders. Dot began eating first, excitedly shoveling food into his mouth, while Lance ate his meal carefully.
“Do you always have to eat like that?”
Dot paused mid-bite to see Lance looking down at him. “What? I’m hungry,” he shrugged.
Lance sighed. “Why do I even bother with you?” he muttered, returning to his own food.
“Well, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to sit with me. I’m sure your little fanclub would enjoy your company.”
Dot watched Lance scan the room, frowning severely before giving Dot a pointed look when he caught sight of his fanclub. They were whispering and giggling amongst themselves, glancing constantly in his direction, and Dot couldn’t stop that familiar feeling of jealousy from spreading through him once more.
“See? Don’t wanna disappoint your fans now, do you, Lance?” he teased.
Lance said nothing in response, but he didn’t make any move to leave, either, and they carried on eating in silence. Dot finished his dinner first and decided to bide his time by looking for Lemon. She was sitting with Love, the two of them laughing and smiling about something, and he sighed to himself.
Maybe one day…
Lemon must have felt him staring because suddenly, her gaze turned in his direction and he sat up straighter. She smiled and gave him a wave, which he hurriedly returned, watching as she turned her attention back to Love. Dot could feel his heart skip a beat and cheeks warming at the brief interaction. She was just so perfect!
“What’s wrong with you?”
Dot nearly screamed at the sound of Lance’s voice, his warm breath tickling his ear. He whipped around and would have nearly headbutt him, if it weren’t for his reflexes. When had he gotten so close? It was then Dot noticed how little space was between him and Lance. They were seated next to each other, shoulders and knees bumping. If the dining hall had been busy, he’d chalk it up to that, but there weren’t many students at this time since they were having a later dinner. There was no real need for them to be pressed up against each other like this and yet…
“Hey! I asked you a question!”
“Um, nothing!” Dot yelped, pulling away. His heart was beating wilder than before. “You done eating yet?”
Lance eyed him curiously, but only looked down at his empty plate. “Obviously.”
“Cool. We should go back to studying then!”
Again, Lance shot him an odd look, but didn’t comment. He only moved to return his dirty plate and Dot hurried to do the same. They walked back to their room in silence as always, but Dot couldn’t help but notice how his heart hadn’t calmed down from earlier and how warm he still felt. He knew seeing Lemon always left him feeling all giddy and excited, but usually, he was able to calm down by now. Maybe it wasn’t Lemon that was causing it, he thought. Maybe the school was just warmer than usual.
“Hey, Lance,” Dot called out, “is it just me or is it hot in here?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
Lance hadn’t even given him a second glance and continued walking while Dot did his best to keep up. He still thought it was curious why he was still so hot, but maybe he was getting sick. He did stay up kind of late last night. And going out in the rain without a coat the other day may have done something too. He’s sure he’ll figure it out sooner or later, Dot thought. But that was a problem for future Dot to deal with now.
When they got back to their room, Dot decided he needed to change out of his robes and into something lighter. He settled on a T-shirt and some shorts, and turned around to see Lance had also changed into a T-shirt and gray sweats of his own. He was already seated at his desk and was boredly watching Dot.
“Are you done yet?”
Dot rolled his eyes and walked over. He sat back down next to Lance, shooting him a glare, but he paid him no mind, only turning his attention back to the potions and scooting his chair closer, so they could both see. Once again, he couldn’t help but notice how they pressed up against each other, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh. He felt himself shiver and his heart caught in his throat at the proximity. He had to wonder if this is how they always sat, though, because Lance didn’t seem to mind one bit. Instead, he carried on with their studying as if Dot wasn’t even there to begin with.
It’s not like Dot wanted to be distracted. In fact, he was trying very hard not to be. He was doing everything in his power to stay focused on the task at hand, like the hero that he was, facing off against a tough opponent. But it was hard not to notice how warm Lance was and how loudly his heart pounded in his ears. It was hard to focus on the words on the page when Lance’s delicate earring kept twinkling out of the corner of his eye. And it was even harder to focus when his nose caught the scent of something lovely.
Without thinking, Dot began searching for the source of it. Their room did house two teenage boys, after all, so it wasn’t exactly all sunshine and daisies. They did their best to keep it clean, but most of the time, their room smelled of stale sweat and dirty laundry. Lemon was quite shocked when she stopped by one day and saw his sandwich growing mold. (He could’ve sworn it was from last night, not last week!) It would be hard for either of them to try and bring a girl over since they were always around each other, so he knew it couldn’t be perfume or anything like that. Neither of them were the cologne type either. It was perplexing to say the least and his eyes kept scanning the room, trying to find the source of it.
“What are you doing?”
Dot froze. He chuckled sheepishly when he saw Lance glare at him out of the corner of his eye. There was that frown again.
“Um, nothing…”
Lance clicked his tongue. “You keep getting distracted. What is it?”
“Nothing,” Dot mumbled. “It's just…do you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
“I don’t know, but something smells really nice,” Dot shrugged. “It's, like, kinda…floral, but also zesty. But also, peaches and creamy? I don’t know what it is, but it’s really, really nice and I like it a lot.”
Lance looked away and Dot thought that was the end of it. Of course, he was just imagining things! Or maybe it was something of Anna’s and Lance was feeling jealous now. He made a note to himself to tease him about it later, turning his attention back to studying before Lance got too frustrated with him.
“Gardenias.”
“What?”
“Gardenias,” Lance repeated. “It’s my laundry detergent.”
“Your laundry detergent? Is it new?”
“No. It’s what I’ve always used.”
“Oh, really?” Dot mused. “Huh. Guess I never noticed before.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Sure. Now are we going to study or not?”
“Oh, right! Studying!”
Dot flashed Lance a thumbs up to which Lance did nothing. Instead, he directed his attention on studying, but the moment he turned away, Dot lost himself to his own thoughts again.
That was Lance? Lance was what smelled so good? It couldn’t be! How has he never noticed before? They lived together for goodness sake! He definitely would’ve remembered Lance’s clothes smelling like that before!
Right?
Dot’s thoughts were racing as he tried to process this newfound information. It wasn’t just the fact that Lance smelled nice, but it was the fact that he thought Lance smelled nice. That shouldn’t have been an important distinction and yet, it was. He’s never noticed it before, so why now? Why was he only noticing now how much he liked how Lance smelled?
Then again, Dot’s recent reactions to Lance have been…interesting, he noticed. Like he said, he knew Lance was attractive. That wasn’t weird. Anyone with eyes could see that Lance was attractive. What was weird was how often he caught himself staring at him. What was weird was how much he thought about wanting to reach over and touch his face, especially when he was frowning and scowling. It was rare to see Lance smiling, but Dot has witnessed it and could confirm that he was far more attractive smiling than when he was brooding.
Not only that, he was still warm from earlier. His heart hadn’t slowed down one bit and he was starting to think he wasn’t sick. No, Dot realized it had only started when Lance was around him. And not just near him, but next to him like this. As he noticed earlier, they were close, but not this close. When did Lance and him become comfortable enough to be snuggled up like this? And not just in the comfort of their own room, but out in public for everyone to see too! They had the whole dining hall to choose from and yet, Lance sat right next to him, huddled close as they ate their dinner.
Sure, they were friends and sure, they nearly died for each other, but this? This wasn’t just friendship, this was more than that! This was-
Oh.
Oh no.
Did he…like Lance?
No. Absolutely not. There’s no way!
The hero always ends up with the girl and Dot has always liked girls. There’s no way he liked Lance! Not like that !
Right?
Right?!
“Okay, what is going on with you?”
Dot jumped at the sound of something slamming down on the desk and turned to see Lance glaring at him. He knew he should’ve been worried, but a small part of his mind couldn’t help but notice how his eyes shone when he got passionate like this.
Oh, my god, he really does like Lance!
Dot gulped, heart racing even more somehow. “W-what do you mean?” he managed to stutter.
“I mean everything! You’ve been acting weird today and I mean more than usual!” snapped Lance, throwing his hands up. “You’ve been spacing out a lot, which I normally wouldn’t care about if it weren’t for the fact that we got paired up for this potions exam and I do not need you blowing both of us up. So what is going on, Dot? What is going on?!”
“Uhh, nothing?”
Dot’s eyes were darting every which way, unable to meet Lance’s harsh gaze.
Lance scoffed. “Nothing?”
“Well, maybe not nothing,” he confessed sheepishly.
“Is this about a girl?”
“Yeah! A girl! Right!” Dot exclaimed, latching onto the opportunity. He could see Lance still doubted him, though, and decided to take a leap of faith. “But also, maybe not a girl…”
“Maybe not a girl?”
“Yeah…maybe…a guy…”
Dot watched Lance’s reaction carefully, prepared to be met with disgust and judgment. However, all he got was a bored stare.
“Okay. And?”
“And…you’re okay with that?”
Lance sighed. “Dot, I literally do not care about who you have a crush on,” he said. “What I care about is that we don’t fail this exam, so if that’s all, let’s get through this list, okay?”
“Oh, okay. Cool.”
Dot nodded enthusiastically, feeling more relieved now. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to completely focus just yet, so he continued staring at Lance, trying to come up with how to continue their conversation. Luckily, Lance noticed before he needed to and sighed, reaching up to rub at his temples.
“What now, Dot?” he groaned, addressing his friend once more.
“Okay, but like, what if…the guy was someone we knew?”
Lance’s head whipped around at this and his eyes narrowed, trying to figure out if Dot was joking or not.
“...are you trying to tell me you have a crush on Mash?” he asked cautiously.
“What? No!” Dot exclaimed, shaking his head furiously. “Of course not! Absolutely not Mash!”
Lance nodded carefully. “Finn?”
“Definitely not Finn! And just in case, not his brother, either!”
Dot caught Lance letting out a small sigh before he gave another careful nod.
“Okay, so then who? Just spit it out, so we can both move on.”
Dot took a deep breath.
Okay, here he goes! All or nothing!
“IthinkIhaveacrushonyou!”
“What?”
“I said I think I have a crush on you!” he repeated, still shouting. He took another deep breath and did his best to calm down. “I like you.”
Lance stared at him, brow furrowed. He didn't say a single word, but he didn't look happy, and Dot felt his heart drop. The brief moment of confidence he had was quickly crushed.
“Um, so yeah, now that that’s out in the open, let’s get back to studying, right?” he chuckled.
He bumped their shoulders together, but still, nothing. Dot knew he wasn't getting out of this battle unscathed and he sighed.
“Look, Lance, I’m sorry. I know you don’t like me like that and honestly, I didn’t know I liked you like that, either. But you’re my friend and I think you’re super cool, so yeah.”
Lance couldn't meet his eyes and was now staring at the walls. Dot knew he was taking a huge risk and it seems he failed today. He knew he couldn’t win them all, but it still stung.
“Anyways, don’t worry about it!” he reassured, forcing himself to smile. “You can just ignore all that and we can both move on! Just like how I did with Lemon! I knew she never liked me anyways, so I can do the same with you. So don’t worry about me!”
Dot gave another thumbs up to further emphasize his point, but all he got was silence. Not knowing what else to do, he figured he could go back to studying. There wasn't much else he could do and it seemed like Lance didn't want anything else to do with him, either. So gathering his things, Dot began to move back over to his side of the room.
What Dot or his story couldn't have anticipated was Lance grabbing his shoulders and stopping him. What he couldn't predict was Lance scowling at him before smashing their faces together. What he never could've seen coming was Lance being the one to kiss him first.
Their lips met in a forceful clash of teeth and it was clear Lance had no clue what he was doing. His lips moved awkwardly as he tried to find the right angle, tongue darting out, but not quite sure. Dot wasn’t much help either since he was still frozen, trying to register what was going on. It was, in all honesty, an awful kiss, a painfully awful kiss, but it didn't matter to either of them.
Lance pulled away when he realized Dot still hadn't reacted. He was frowning even more now, if that was even possible.
“Well, say something!” he snapped. “Don’t just stare at me like that!”
“You…kissed me? Why?”
Lance scoffed. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. His cheeks were bright red and Dot could see now how nervous he was. “I…I like you too.”
“Oh.” Dot nodded mutely before the words registered for him. “Oh! You like me? Really?”
Lance groaned. “I knew this was a mistake,” he muttered.
He let go of Dot's shoulders and tried to pull away. He was in the midst of running towards the door when Dot realized what was happening and chased after him, grabbing his hand.
“No, no, no! Just give me a second!” he hurriedly said. “I'm happy! I'm really happy! It’s just- since when?”
Lance looked down at his feet, fidgeting beneath Dot's curious gaze. His ears were red now and Dot couldn't help but think how winsome he looked.
“Since…Doom. Since we fought Doom,” he confessed. Lance glanced at him shyly. “When we went up against him, I realized I really wanted to keep you safe. And then, you did the same for me. So I did some reflecting and…yeah…”
Dot's heart clenched and it felt fit to burst. He gave Lance's hand a squeeze and gently tugged him closer, so he was standing before him.
“Me too,” he said. “Me too. When I thought you died, I…I got so mad. I didn’t think losing you would hurt so much and now, I know why.”
Dot smiled softly and was surprised to see Lance do the same. Just as he thought, he was definitely more attractive when he smiled. Or maybe it was because Dot knew how he felt about him now.
“So…what now?” he asked carefully. “Are we dating?”
“Um, if you want,” answered Lance awkwardly. “I’m okay with it.”
Dot beamed. “Cool. Me too.”
Lance nodded, but it was obvious he was new to this. It’s not like Dot had any experience either, but he had his stories and it was honestly cute how awkward Lance was now, his usual confidence gone. Not even a minute into their relationship and Dot found himself even more smitten with his boyfriend.
His boyfriend!
Lance cleared his throat. “We should get back to studying now,” he said, gesturing to his desk. “For the exam.”
“Or…we could make out,” Dot slyly suggested. He stepped closer, delighting in how Lance's jaw dropped. “You’re a terrible kisser, y’know?”
Immediately, Lance dropped his hand and shoved him away. “Shut up!” he growled. “It was my first kiss, okay?”
Dot laughed and quickly went to tug Lance back. “Hey, it was my first kiss too, y'know,” he said between the giggles. He carefully slid their hands back together and this time, Lance didn't pull away. “We can take it slow. Maybe…we could just hold hands while we study.”
Lance looked at him, then down at their hands. “And how are you going to write like this?”
Dot shrugged. “I'll just copy your notes later,” he explained. “You'll let me borrow them, right?”
“Yeah,” sighed Lance. He rolled his eyes, but Dot could see there was no real annoyance behind them. If anything, he looked amused and it made him grin even more. “Yeah, you can borrow them.”
Dot let Lance lead them back to his desk. They sat down and this time, it felt right being so close to him, pressed against each other's side like puzzle pieces. It was odd to think that just a few hours ago, Dot pictured himself with someone like Lemon and now, he could only see Lance.
Then again, his story was still a work in progress and he definitely didn’t mind this change.
Dot Barrett was the main character.
And this was only the beginning of his romance.