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Querl knew it was inevitable.
Really, it would have only been a matter of time before Lyle grew aware of the way Querl had been avoiding him as of late. The fact that Lyle was an incredibly observant person aside, it would not take a genius to take note of how he refused to be alone in a room with the other scientist unless absolutely necessary.
Querl wasn’t exactly subtle, either, in the way he would only give him short answers when they were forced to talk, keeping all small talk out of their conversation entirely.
Truth be told, it wasn’t even something he was doing on a conscious level.
Being around Lyle triggered some sort of strange, illogical response in him. His heart would race, his palms would grow slick with sweat, and breathing became just a little bit more difficult.
Talking with the earthling would cause an overwhelming swelling feeling to well up in his chest, clogging his throat and stealing his words away, leaving him to respond in only clipped answers lest he make a stuttering fool of himself.
His eyes were inexplicably drawn to the other man whenever they were in close proximity to each other.
He could stare into those warm, enticing brown eyes for hours as the artificial light of the lab made them sparkle just so, flecks of gold noticeable in their depths if you knew where to look.
The smile lines at the corners of his eyes, the dimples on his cheeks, his crooked front tooth, the way his wavey hair fluttered up into the air as he blew a stray strand away whenever it inevitably fell into his face, the way he would stick his tongue out of the corner of his mouth and tilt his head to the side when he concentrated.
Everything about him was intoxicating.
Being around Lyle made him feel vulnerable in a way he never had before and it was…terrifying, to be frank. It was scarier than any monster or foe he had ever had to face in his time as a legionnaire.
Querl couldn’t quite understand the strange feeling either. Its origin and meaning both eluded him like the answer to an unsolvable formula that he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around.
So, he did what he knew how to do best when something wasn’t working out for him. He abandoned it. Abandoned it so fast he would give Jenni a run for her money. He avoided it like it was a millennium old plague come to haunt him.
That, unfortunately led to where he was now, staring up at Lyle’s angry, pinched expression as the other stood in front of his chair with his arms crossed.
“Remind me again what it is you need in my lab, Norg.” Querl said, trying to keep his voice as monotone as it usually was despite the way his heart stuttered and jumped in his chest.
“This is our lab, we’ve been over this a million times or more. Don’t try to detract from the issue at hand, though. You’ve been ignoring me, Brainy.” Lyle said, tilting his head back to stare at him down the length of his nose.
“I simply have nothing to say to you.” Querl responded.
Lies, lies, lies.
He could talk to Lyle for hours if given the opportunity. The man had similar, if not equal, smarts to his own and Querl marveled at the wonderful ways the human’s mind worked. He would love to pick his brain until he knew every single one of his thoughts inside and out.
“And please refrain from referring to me with that horrid nickname.” He tacked on before he can think better of it.
“Refusing to talk to me and running out of the room every time I enter is way different from having nothing to say, and you know it. Even when we have things to discuss, you send someone else to say it or send me a holo. A holo! Even when we’re in the same room! Especially when we’re in the same sproking room!” Lyle exclaimed, throwing his hands around wildly as emphasis.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Querl said, mouth as dry as a desert planet. This time he spoke the truth, he really didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to explain to the other man the reasoning behind his behavior. He truly didn’t.
“I want you to talk to me! I want you to tell me what I did wrong!” Lyle yelled and Querl startled at the fact that there were tears beginning to well up in his angry eyes, giving them a glossy appearance. “We got so close after you came back from being missing. I thought we were good friends, but I guess I was wrong because you can’t even bring yourself to look in my direction!”
“I-” Querl’s words caught in his throat and he found himself unable to form any. Lyle scoffed after a few painful seconds passed in complete silence, eyes red and glassy from the effort it took to hold in his tears as he turned away to walk out of the lab.
“I don’t know what I expected. I’ll go talk to Jasmine about moving me to a temporary lab while we figure something long term out.” He said bitterly, voice shaking.
Querl watched him go helplessly, throat thick and heart thumping behind his ribs. A sense of panic overcame him as Lyle disappeared through the door.
He should want this, right? If Lyle moved out of the lab he would no longer have to make an effort to avoid him. He could more effectively ignore whatever it was that he felt when he was around him. He could pretend he never existed.
But, for some reason, that single notion was the most dreadful thought in the world to him.
Querl was on his feet and out the door before another thought could even form in his mind. The halls were empty as he stumbled to a stop in the doorway, hand gripping the frame as he looked in both directions desperately. He didn’t know what it was, but something in his gut just told him to go left, and so he did.
“Lyle, wait-!” He exclaimed, reaching a hand out to the empty space in front of him.
To his shock and wonder Lyle materialized right in front of him, his glistening eyes wide and surprised. Querl’s fingers were mere inches away from Lyle’s chest.
Despite his fear that this was a horrible, awful idea, he reached down to snatch Lyle’s hand and pressed it to the left side of his chest, right over his rapidly beating heart. Lyle looked down at where Querl’s shaky hands held his own against the thundering heartbeat and then back up at Querl’s eyes, mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed.
“Querl, what are you-” Lyle started, voice still watery
“This is what I feel when I’m with you. And I’m powerless to stop it.” Querl cut him off, voice shaking with his nerves. “I’ve never felt weak, Lyle Norg, not until I met you.”
“What are you trying to say right now?” He asked hesitantly, maybe even hopefully.
“I am saying that you’ve done the unthinkable.” Querl said, and then he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the words that would next leave his mouth. “I think that, perhaps, you have made me fall in love.”
Lyle’s eyes blew open so wide they looked as though they may pop from their sockets. His fingers curled against Querl’s chest, bunching up the fabric in his hold. Querl avoided his eyes, cold sweat rolling down the back of his neck. He took tiny, measured breaths as the anxiety of the situation attempted to strangle him where he stood.
He was, himself, shocked by the admittance. Love? He didn’t know such things, or at least, he didn’t think he did. But when he thought about it, really thought about it, it made sense. This strange, unidentifiable feeling deep down in his heart, it was love, wasn’t it? Love and infatuation, an unmatched adoration for the brilliant man before him.
A light chuckle reached his ears and he looked up, heart sinking with dread at the sound as he prepared to be mocked for his utterly foolish confession. Instead, he was met with a shocking sight.
Lyle was looking at him with tears rolling down his face in earnest now. Despite this, though, he had a wide, bright smile on his face and those watery eyes were full of an emotion that Querl now recognized as love. Love that was directed at Querl. Lyle’s lopsided, tear stained smile was the most radiant and beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.
“You are such a sproking idiot.” Lyle said, voice cracking at the end. He sniffled and pulled Querl into a hug by the hand holding his front. His next words, muffled partially by the way his face was buried into the crook of Querl’s neck and whispered almost too low for him to hear, made his heart skip a beat. “I think, maybe, I love you too.”
Slowly, he hugged the other scientist back, his ears flushed deeply. He leaned his head against the side of Lyle’s, his heart still fluttering in his chest.
“I-I don’t know what to do with these feelings.” He further admitted.
“Obviously,” Lyle scoffed wetly into his shoulder, chuckling a little.
“What does this make us now?” Querl asked, holding onto the other a little bit tighter in anticipation of his answer.
He didn’t know what kind of response he wanted. Boyfriends, partners, lovers; all of these words, they all sounded a little too daunting at that moment.
He just barely figured out what that nebulous feeling was, it all felt like it was moving far too fast. Lyle pulled back from his semi-desperate hold, his hand coming up to cup Querl’s cheek as he searched his eyes.
“It doesn’t have to make us anything yet,” Lyle said, “We can figure out what to do with these feelings together, take it one step at a time. Experiment with it, if you will.”
Querl leaned into the gentle touch, his own hand coming up to hold Lyle’s wrist.
“I think I would like that.”