irl.

Considering all the chaos over text earlier and how the pair had acted towards eachother and their actions... It'd almost make sense to assume that the pair sitting on a bench in Pinpoint park were doing fine and that the air between them was nothing but chill and laughter.

However that's not exactly true..

During the debates and insult wars it was fine. However... Both of the boys felt slightly awkward. Their feelings for eachother. They'd gotten to the point where they felt bad for not telling the other how they feel everytime they're alone together.

Honestly this was part of the reason Ajit had invited Magnus to hang out today. They hadn't seen eachother in person for a few days and he wanted to get his feelings off his chest before the sleepover tomorrow.

Unfortunately he'd forgotten to account for how scared he was of confessing...

He didn't want to ruin this friendship they have between them, Ajit has found for a while now Magnus is the only one he can talk to about his past who is actually able to understand.

They've both been sitting on this bench for a while now... It's been quiet for a while now too, Magnus is texting his sister while muttering things quietly under his breath such as, "Your book is under your bed Emily just where you put it before falling asleep last night.." While Ajit stares down at his hands holding his phone in his lap and reminisces...

Back then when he'd first met Magnus, he never would've assumed they'd ever be close..? Back then Ajit was an apprentice phantom thief trying to complete the mark of Phantom thief Storm as a gift for the one who had raised him, and Magnus was a vigilante attempting to put a stop to all Bakugan related crimes...

That night when they'd met, Magnus had mistaken who Ajit was, he never found out Ajit's name until later, probably when he was on TV at the first Bakugan Battle League, Magnus had battled Ajit and although he lost the battle thanks to Pharol's invisibility ability he successfully managed to stop him from stealing the lightbulb and had discovered that Ajit had a golden Bakugan.

Both had returned the next day. Ajit succeeding in stealing the light this time Then Magnus tried to battle Ajit again, this time he managed to find a strategy around the invisibility and the two had a battle which reminded Ajit of his first ever battle against Dan Kouzo. It got his heart racing with excitement as he tried to figure out what to do in order to win and defeat this guy. Then it was interrupted by the security force. Magnus had told him to escape then, telling him they'll continue their battle another time when they won't get interrupted.

The memories of that battle alongside all the others he'd taken part in were the reason Ajit had realised he prefers to be a Brawler than to be a thief.

It was ages until the next time the two met. That time was only a short one... Magnus had showed up with Dan on the boat where they'd gotten taken to after losing in the Battle League. Apparently he'd helped Dan to find Drago although he claimed not to be their friend and just to be the enemy of Haavik's side allying with them to defeat the bad guys. Ajit had thought it was funny how Magnus and Dan argued and taunted eachother back then and how Magnus claimed not to be Dan's friend when Dan was so quick to say they were friends. Magnus had taken over his battle against Storm so Ajit and Dan could save the brawlers and Bakugan from the places they were being kept in.

He never saw Magnus again in that meeting, though according to what he's heard, Magnus fell in the ocean somehow and ended up being in just the right place to save Dan from drowning when he fell in too. Then he'd spent the remainder of that time gathering up all the Bakugan from the bottom of the ocean floor.

The next time they met...

Well. It was complicated really... Dan had gotten mind controlled by Haavik, after assuming he was sleepwalking Ajit had tried to help Dan but Dan had shoved him away...

"I'm not sleepwalking. I'm wide awake!" Those were the words he'd said, the words Dan had said. Those words still put a shiver down Ajit's spine whenever he remembers them. It had hurt more than Ajit could ever express, to have the person closest to him shove him away yet again... Although he didn't remember the first time he knew his parents had given him up not wanting anything to do with him. Storm had abandoned him after he decided he'd rather be a Brawler instead of a Phantom thief. At that moment he felt nothing other than fear, fear that Dan had decided to leave him too. The words Dan had spoken after that were almost as bad... "Why you ask? Because it's fun, that's why!"

Ajit was shaken by those words, he probably would've had a larger reaction than he did if the other members of the Awesome Brawlers hadn't shown up and started trying to stop Dan, in the process they all discovered Dan was being controlled by Haavik. In one side of him that'd calmed Ajit's nerves that Dan genuinely hated him but on the other side Ajit was filled by a stronger worry that Dan might never be broken free of the way he was being controlled. Nothing more than a battling puppet for the rest of his life...

That was when he'd shown up. Magnus. He battled Dan and broke him out of his mind control temporarily... It was at that moment when Ajit felt hope again, bringing him out of the dark pit of despair and fear he'd been in. He now knew Dan could be saved.. Dan wasn't lost forever. It was discovering that which had calmed his nerves and it was all thanks to Magnus.

They met again not too long after, on Ajit's birthday, this meeting was the most casual they'd ever had.. Ajit running into Magnus at the shops and then after discovering what he was doing, going after him and helping him follow Haavik.. While at first Magnus had been less than pleased to see Ajit, he was quick to accept Ajit wasn't going to leave and was going to help him however much he wished otherwise.

They both followed Haavik around to different places such as the libary, a fountain and a magic show. While following him they talked, it started off as an attempt to blend in and just passing in things they'd noticed to eachother but it turned into actual conversation.. The two actually ended up getting along and joking about the time they'd first met, complementing eachother on their skills and abilities... Magnus agreed that he'd still be happy and willing to battle Ajit anytime, "Although, this stuff with Haavik comes first..."

It wasn't too long after that when Haavik spotted them and started a battle. Partway through it had seemed like the team of Magnus and Ajit were winning, however that wasn't the case.. Ajit's Bakugan, Pharol and Auxillator, stood in the way of one of Haavik's attacks in a successful attempt to protect Nillious; leading to both Ajit's Bakugan getting knocked out of the battle...

Only seconds later Haavik casually suggested something that clearly terrified both boys.. "Now how should we end this show.. I know! Why don't we... Erase you and everything else here! How's that sound?"

A death threat in the most strange way they'd ever heard.

Both of them thought they were done for. They probably would've been if a book hadn't fell out of Haavik's cape reminding him of a cartoon he wanted to watch. Then after Haavik ran away the two stood there, Ajit confused and Magnus enraged while the drome was put down around them.. The two spoke some more as they were headed in the same direction, although now Magnus was talking somewhat reluctantly, his anger making him want to remain silent. Somehow though just before they parted ways Ajit convinced Magnus to exchange phone numbers with him.

Ajit's still not sure how he managed to convince him to do that..

It wasn't until about a week later when Magnus texted. For the first time..

"Hey this better be Ajit or I am going to kill him the next time I see him for giving me the wrong number."

The text was a suprise but it made Ajit laugh at twenty past midnight. At first Magnus barely replied to Ajit's texts at least not until three hours after they were first sent. Ajit couldn't tell if he left the messages that long on purpose or he just hadn't checked his phone. He quickly learnt not to bother trying to figure it out.

The two talked about almost everything, they could understand eachother well as they'd both been taken in from bad lives on the streets by a criminal/organisation.. Their understanding of eachother gave them both a friend to talk to whenever things got bad as well as just someone to chill with.

Occasionally they met up at night and talked in person down the beach... This one night Ajit noticed Magnus seemed really stressed and decided to ask what's wrong.. "Hey.. Magnus..?"

The other boy looked up from where he'd been fiddling with a pebble, "Hm? What..?"

"Well it's just... You seem kinda..." Ajit tried, cutting off before taking a breath and trying again "Are you alright..? You seem down.."

For a minute Magnus looked like he was going to deny it, tell Ajit he's fine but then his face fell. "..No... Not really..." He admitted in a mutter, avoiding eye contact.

"You um, wanna talk about it..?" Ajit asked, trying not to press too hard on the matter, knowing it could very much be a sensitive one...

The elder paused for a moment before replying, "I suppose so. It could be harmful to keep it to myself for much longer." Ajit nodded, understanding, keeping things to yourself did often do more harm than good, he knew that personally. "Today marks eight years since I ran away."

Ajit nearly gasped but kept it to himself. Despite all their conversations Magnus had never told him about his past more than he lived on the streets with his sister who fell ill and then he joined AAAnimus in order to earn money to get her treatment. He had no idea of how Magnus had ended up on the streets and now it seemed Magnus finally was trusting him enough to tell him...

"When Emily was born, our Mum passed away, I'm not really sure what the term for it is but she was sick in the pregnancy and died right after giving birth... I was only three, yet I remember understanding the situation immediately. Although what I didn't understand was the effect it'd have on him. My father."

"As a way to cope with the grief he started drinking. He spent all his money on alcohol. I had to look after Emily even back then. I didn't mind looking after her but I hated him. The alcohol led him to start doing things like hitting us. I tried to protect Emily from him and mostly it worked, but still.. I wasn't always able to... We were stuck in that situation for three years. Then when I was six and Emily was three I decided we should run. Get out of there. We ran all the way three towns over to here, Los Volmos. We've been here ever since."

Magnus went silent for a moment, his head was turned away so Ajit wasn't sure whether or not he was crying. Then Magnus spoke again "Today should be a good reminder, that we were able to get out of that place, however, whenever I think of it I can't help being reminded of both the bad times back then and the difficult times on the streets..." He sighed, "Damn. I can't believe I'm actually telling you this. I didn't think I'd ever tell anyone."

Ajit gave a slight smile understanding the feeling. "But it helps, talking to someone, right.?"

"Yeah. I suppose it does. Still, sorry I info-dumped on you like that."

"Don't worry about it! It's nice to know you trust me, and besides I'm the one who asked!" Ajit gave a small giggle at that end part.

Magnus's lip twitched up into a small smile, "Yeah, I suppose you were."

Slowly Ajit reached his hand out and took Magnus's in it. "Then I guess we can say the info-dumping was my fault!"

After a month or so Magnus went away to train with his Bakugan in some other place: Country, city or town, he wouldn't say. The two didn't see eachother in person for ages until they ran into eachother the day the group chat was first created.

The two had been hanging out a lot recently and the feelings Ajit had for the other had become all the more apparent to him..

He knew he had to tell him soon or he'd definitely regret it. He felt like he was keeping a huge secret from the older and he didn't want that. But he was terrified, however much he knew that Magnus was unlikely to stop being his friend or leave him if he didn't feel the same way, Ajit was still scared of it and of making things awkward and-

"Hey Ajit?"

Magnus.

"Uhh yeah? Whatsup?"

The dark haired boy had put his phone away in his hoodie pocket and was now leaning back on the bench next to Ajit. "Oh, nothing really. You just zoned out for a second there..." He paused before adding "I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere else? We've been here at Pinpoint park since about eight this morning." He asked.

Ajit nodded, although they had been moving around Pinpoint from different benches to trees to the playground to grassy areas and even to the sight of the great collision.. Staying in the park for that long really almost made it feel boring...

"Great. Anywhere you want to go?" Magnus checked, Ajit thought for a moment, there wasn't really but.. He did need to talk to Magnus, preferably not somewhere crowded and he could tell Magnus hadn't thought up any ideas.

"Well we could go back to my place and sit on the roof..?" The younger suggested. Magnus met his eyes and nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

As the pair walked through the park on their way back to Ajit's house they didn't talk too much, only occasionally one would break their silence to ask something or warn the other about almost running into someone.

Upon reaching the house and climbing up onto the roof they both sat down next to eachother. For a moment it was quiet, their hair blowing in the light breeze. But then...

"Alright Ajit, talk to me, what's on your mind?" Magnus looked Ajit directly in the eyes, "You've been weirdly quiet today.. Are you feeling okay? It's not the nightmares is it..?" He placed his hand on Ajit's shoulder worried and attempting to comfort the younger of the pair.

"No.. It's not the nightmares.." The gold streaked boy replied, fidgeting nervously with the sweat band on his wrist, a while ago he'd been getting constant nightmares, the fear of people abandoning him again messing with his mind in the shape of night terrors. He hadn't wanted to worry anyone by telling them about his nightmares but both Dan and Magnus had ended up finding out and/or being told. The two had both helped him through it and now the nightmares were a lot rarer...

"That's good..."

"Hm? You sound so unsure, like you want me to be having nightmares!" Ajit joked, nudging Magnus in the side gently with a wink.

Magnus let out a chuckle, "No, I wouldn't ever want you to have nightmares," His face fell serious, "But if it's not the nightmares that means there's something else bothering you, that's what I'm worried about."

"Ah- Oh-.." Ajit grew flustered and his face flushed red at the other's suprisingly sweet words. Quickly he turned to look away at the ground far below them. "It's nothing really worth worrying about... I just.. There's something I need to tell someone but I'm just, unsure.." He admitted, his mouth running ahead of his thoughts, blurting that out before he'd had a chance to think it through.

There was no response from Magnus and eventually curiousity beat his nerves and he turned to look at the older.. Feeling Ajit's eyes on him the ravenette finally remembered to speak, "Why are you unsure?" He questioned. The way he spoke would sound blunt to most but Ajit could sense that he was saying it in a caring way.

"Well," Ajit began, once again speaking without much thought, "It's kinda an awkward thing to say and.. While I know they won't leave me because of this... And while I have no real reason to be, I'm just scared..." He nearly looked away again but stopped at the last second, he needed to see the other's response, not just hear it.

"I... Ugh god. So this conversation is staying between us right..?" Magnus waited for Ajit to nod before continuing, "I thought so. Good. I know this is probably unexpected but.. I have the same problem."

Ajit let out a gasp, then slapped his palm over his mouth in attempts to get himself to shut up. "I knew it'd be unexpected." Magnus raised his eyebrows at the gasp Ajit had tried to cover up, "It sucks. It's just, you know there's no risk but... At the same time a part of you is just irrationally scared, right? Ugh.." Magnus trailed off.

The two sat in silence for a while after that, silently thinking things over. Until finally Ajit spoke up again. "It's not just the fear of telling them and them hating you because of it, it's also the fear of what'd happen after..."

"Yeah, I get that too."

"...Magnus, what if the person I was talking about was you?" Ajit asked, his mouth running ahead of his brain yet again causing this moment of bravery.

Magnus was silent for a minute before finally replying, "Then yeah, neither of us had any reason to be worried about the other leaving them..." He replied slowly, meeting Ajit's eyes.

Ajit nearly forgot to breathe, did that mean- Okay hold on, beat to confirm before jumping to conclusions besides there's still the second fear...

He took a deep breath in then spoke.

"Magnus I, I have feelings for you but I'm not sure what comes next, even if you do feel the same, I'm scared to be in relationships but I have these feelings for you I just don't understand what I'm supposed to do..."

Finally getting those words out felt like a huge relief to Ajit. So he wasn't as worried when Magnus opened his mouth to speak in return.

"Ajit I feel the same way, I also don't feel ready to be in relationships, likely for similar reasons to you... For now I think we should just stay open to eachother about our feelings and just stay without labels or anything until we both feel comfortable with them. Only if you agree with that idea though."

He spoke in a way most would mistake for confidence, but Ajit knew him better than that, he could tell the other was nervous, just as much so as him. However both knew things would be okay, they can take their time together..

"Sounds like a plan.!" Ajit nodded and grinned, Magnus smiled back. "Right, then I guess this is the beginning of... Whatever this is."

They both laughed.