Travis POV:
Travis stretched his arms out as far as he could as he walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet, looking for the pancake mix. "Hey, Sal?" Travis asked, looking back at Sal who was sitting on the couch.
"Yeah?" Sal didn't turn his head to look but showed that he was paying semi-attention—though his attention was mostly on the crime show blaring on the TV.
"Do you have pancake mix?" Travis closed the cabinet he had previously looked in, waiting for a response. "Uhh, yeah it's in the cabinet above the microwave."
"Gotcha."
Sal POV:
Sal yawned heavily as he switched channels on the TV, listening to Travis cook in the background. He'd never actually had somebody cook for him, and the thought of it warmed his cheeks.
Sal tried to recall the last time someone had put in the effort to cook a meal for him but only dragged as far back to his mom—before the incident.
He didn't get emotional about her anymore, memories of her faded to the picnic, the dog, and his face.
"Sal," Sal would recall her voice, smooth and gentle as she'd call him into the kitchen. Her voice lulled him out of his room, almost involuntarily, and to the dining room table. He'd sit down and she'd place a large plate with pink roses imprinted on the rims down in front of him.
"Here's your pancakes, Sal." She'd say again as he looked down at the plate, and two fluffy, light, and deliciously airy pancakes sat in front of him. Syrup would ooze down the sides and over the top, and a single square of butter would melt slowly and dispute a beyond-heavenly smell.
Sal soon realized that his imagination of recalled memories happened to sync with reality, as he blinked and viewed the large plate with pink roses imprinted on the rims in front of him.
Travis sat adjacent to him, not paying much attention to Sal or his surroundings—his attention span was only wide enough for the mindless TV show.
Sal stared at the pancakes, and almost instantly a melancholy feeling surged through his chest—an ache in a way. He felt a burn seize his nose, or what was left of it, and tears prick the corners of his eyes.
He wasn't one to cry over pancakes, but it seemed the revival of hiraeth—a foreign feeling he wasn't used to feeling, maybe shoving the allowance of grief or mourning so far away that a simple pancake, a simple remembrance of his mother was enough to break him.
"Sal?" Travis mumbled, forcing Sal to look upright. "Are you crying?" Sal cocked an eyebrow but suddenly felt the warmth of tears oozing behind his mask against the plastic and his cheeks.
"Shit, dude—I didn't even notice. Sorry—" Sal unbuckled the bottom of his mask and used his sleeve to wipe his face. "What's wrong?"
"I dunno, I guess I just haven't had anybody cook for me in a while," Sal said, laughing it off casually but the pain still rang in his throat and echoed through a voice crack.
Travis had a nonchalant look on his face, dismissal against Sal's words. "I have a feeling that's not all."
Sal shrugged and leaned against the couch. "Where'd you even find this plate, dude?" Sal asked, tracing his finger over the rim.
"It was on the upper shelf where the plates were, I assumed I'd use those instead of the paper plates." Travis nodded towards the cupboard, as to point.
Sal stayed quiet and lifted his mask once more, but this time to take a bite of the pancake—which was now only slightly warm, but it didn't bother Sal much.
"Damn," Sal said with a mouthful of pancake. "This is fucking delicious." Sal laughed through a half-hearted smile, causing Travis to be taken aback slightly.
"It's box-mix, dude." Travis laughed at Sal's seemingly over-dramatic response, watching as Sal nearly completely froze and looked at Travis.
"Well, dude, I haven't had anybody cook for me in years! This shit is delicious."
"You're not being serious are you, right?"
"Being so serious, Travis. The last time somebody cooked for me it was my mom before my face got all mangled."
Travis held his breath, knowing the topic Sal was entering could be like walking on eggshells. Sal didn't notice the taboo of mentioning his mom, as he assumed everyone was just as numb to it as he was.
"Did your dad just give up on raising you?" Travis asked, diverting the subject slightly away and more towards Sal's over-alcoholic father.
Sal pondered for a moment—he'd never taken into consideration that his father had just stopped putting in effort.
"I mean, I guess so. He got like 3 jobs at once, nearly lived at the bar, and came home to work more online."
Travis nodded, trying to find similarities between Sal's dad and his own. "My dad's the same, kinda. He's always working at the church, or making me work at the church."
"What all do you do there?"
"I just babysit. Wednesdays I coach the church basketball team, and Sundays I teach class."
Sal nodded. "I couldn't ever imagine going to church." He didn't mean it in a way that he despised Christianity, just more of an 'untouched land' type of way. "I wish I didn't have to, I hate it."
"How come?"
"I like being a Christian..or whatever, but just being forced to go every Wednesday, and every weekend, and most of the time after school..it's a secondary home that I do not like."
Sal nodded, taking another bite of the pancakes. "Hey, after this you wanna go for a walk?" Sal asked, setting down the fork on the side of the plate.
"Sure, I don't mind. Where to though?"
"Behind the apartments, there's some forest area, we can walk back there."
Travis nodded, finishing eating and picking up both his and Sal's plates—their hands slightly grazing against each other. It was a small interaction, but both their faces went a dusty rose.
(Time skip—they are going to get romantical)
Mixed POV, you'll see why:
Sal led Travis through the forest, it wasn't too crowded but Sal was usually more familiar with the surroundings.
"Is there any specific destination?" Travis asked, stepping over some thorns. "Nah, but there's a clearing up here somewhere."
There were a few minutes of silence, except for the quiet crunching of leaves. Sal stumbled over a log, Travis reaching out to catch him by his hand. "Be careful, Sal."
"Thanks, Trav," Sal mumbled, rolling his eyes jokingly. Sal still held onto Travis' hand, using him for balance. "I usually come out here with Larry a whole bunch."
"Sounds fun."
"Can be, he comes out here to paint."
"Are you two still mad at each other?" Travis asked, holding Sal's hand as Sal stood on top of another log, this time balancing himself. "Somewhat, he still messages me about Lisa, so he can't be too mad."
"He for sure hates my guts now."
"So what?"
"Well, it's Larry. Your best friend? I'd much rather you spend time with him."
"Well, maybe I don't want to."
Travis looked away ashamedly, his cheeks burning red. "You should."
"I like you Travis, I like being around you."
Travis breathed in sharply through his nose, his face practically on fire. "Sal, stop, you don't mean that."
Sal paused, turning towards Travis. "I do, though."
"You don't, I know it. After we turn in the math project you'll ditch me, at least that's what needs to happen."
"I could have ditched you already? Travis, you aren't somebody I dislike anymore. I never hated you, and I never will—despite what Larry has said or ever will say about you."
Sal paused for a moment, before placing his arms around Travis, resting his head on his chest. Travis froze, his face nearing melting point.
"You're lucky you have a mask to hide your face-" Travis blurted, looking away.
Sal looked up, snickering to himself. He had let go by now, but Travis' red cheeks never faltered. Travis glanced back towards Sal, and a silence settled between both of them.
The entire world seemed to go completely quiet as they stared at each other, Sal leaning slightly close, but barely. And after a moment, Travis closed the gap and planted a kiss on Sal's prosthetic.
Travis' eyes went wide and he jolted back, covering his mouth. "Fuck—I'm, I'm so sorry" Travis felt every bone in his body writhe in regret and embarrassment, he turned away as he silently wished God would strike him down right then and there.
Sal stood there in shock but put his emotions aside for the time being. By the time Sal had returned to the current situation, Travis' eyes had already welt with tears.
Sal placed a hand on Travis' shoulder. "Hey, it's okay."
"No, it's not- God, I don't know why I even did that. I just—I got too caught up in the moment." Travis said frantically, looking like he was on the verge of losing his mind. "Travis, Travis," Sal said, trying to get his attention.
It wasn't working as Travis only became more distressed. Embarrassment, shock, and disappointment in himself ate away at his mental state, resulting in an overly frantic Travis.
"Dammit-" Sal mumbled before quickly unbuckling his mask and cupping Travis' cheek with one hand and covering his eyes with the other. Travis was caught off guard, and before he could continue on his rant of how sorry he was, Sal leaned in and pressed his lips against Travis's, silencing him with a tender, and soft kiss.
Sal wasn't sure how to go about kissing somebody, as to the fact part of his face was missing. So, he mostly improvised.
Travis was stunned, completely frozen in place. His thoughts had come to a full halt, gallons of emotions pouring through him. Travis squeezed his eyes shut, even if his eyes were already being covered by Sal's hand.
Travis shakily placed a hand on Sal's waist, leaning into the kiss slightly. Like Sal, he wasn't too sure how to react to somebody kissing him.
Eventually, they parted, and Sal took a shaky breath, stunned by his actions. "Am I allowed to look now?" Travis asked, placing a hand over Sal's.
"No, keep your eyes closed," Sal said, leaning down to pick up the mask that had fallen and buckle it back around his face.
"Okay, you're good." Travis nodded and opened his eyes, his cheeks still dusted with red and pink. "Trav, you still have tears," Sal said, reaching a thumb up to wipe away the tears.
"Sorry,"
"Don't be, it's fine."
"Can we go see that clearing you were talking about now?" Travis asked, turning to look at the woods, desperately needing a distraction.
"Yeah, of course."
A/N: sorry for not making this a well enough slow burn, ik I haven't been getting chapters out fast enough so I'm fast forwarding this a bit to get more progress. Love y'all 😚🫶