TW: Strong language

A/N: I wrote this while listening to Patrick Wolf's The Magic Position album if you want a soundtrack! More specifically, the songs Get Lost and Enchanted! (This is the song above)

Xephos had forgotten how liberating just running could be. It had been a damn long time since he'd done it, even longer since he'd felt so free in fact, and he made a mental note to thank Honeydew for the idea when he got his breath back. They were gallivanting through a meadow a few minutes away from YogLabs and the freeing experience made a nice change from all the responsibility Xephos had when it came to the facility. He hadn't come on the excursion lightly, unwilling at first to drop his duties for an afternoon even though there was nothing past regular testing going on, but Honeydew was his weak spot and knew just what buttons to press to get Xephos to give in to his whims.

He was happy, though, even if the sunshine was beating down on him and warming him just a little too much through his coat. Honeydew ran off ahead as Xephos slowed to catch his breath, the warm breeze shaking the trees around the meadow, along with the long grass at his feet.

"Come on, Xeph!" Honeydew called, waving his hand over his shoulder. Xephos let out a bark of laughter and started jogging, finally breaking out into an ungainly run to catch up. He wondered where on earth the dwarf got his energy from sometimes, how Honeydew could seemingly just keep running and running, making tracks where he flattened down the grass ahead of Xephos.

Running at full pelt with boots on wasn't easy, Xephos found. Even though the ground was dry, he felt himself slipping before he had chance to stop himself and regain his balance. He landed, face first, in a patch of daisies and other wildflowers, slamming hard into the ground and lying there in shock for a second.

"Xeph?" Honeydew span around on the spot, practically screeching to a halt. He raised an eyebrow, then let out a small giggle which turned into a full on peel of joyful, unabashed laughter as Xephos turned over on the ground, dry grass sticking up out of his hair in awkward tufts. "I can't believe you fucking fell over!" Honeydew was still laughing, almost doubled over as he took a few steps towards Xephos, dropping down to sit on the grass once he was close enough.

"Oh, shut up!" Xephos said, but his tone was amiable, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He closed his eyes to the burning sun and bright blue of the sky, cloudless and idyllic.

"Only you would be able to fall over nothing at all," Honeydew pointed out. Idly, he pulled a couple of wildflowers from the ground, making a hole in one of the stems with a fingernail. He threaded the other flower's stem through the small hole, holding it up to admire his handiwork as he plucked another flower from the ground and started to add on to the string.

"Shut up," Xephos said again as he sat up, moving to peel his jacket from his body, folding it with almost military precision and placing it down on the grass next to him. He raised a hand and carded it through his hair, shaking the dried grass from his locks as he watched Honeydew observantly. "What are you doing?"

"Making you a flower crown," he said, as if it were the most ordinary thing to be doing in such a situation. "I was always friends with more girls when I was a wee babby dwarf," Honeydew offered as way of explanation, still picking flowers from between tufts of grass and adding onto the crown he was making.

"Hm," was all the response Xephos could muster up. He felt like the sun was baking him, but it was a pleasant warmth now he had his jacket off. He pulled a couple of flowers from the ground himself, leaning over to stick them into the wild growth that was Honeydew's beard as the dwarf continued to thread the stems of flowers together. Xephos hadn't been expecting the crown to look anything like a semblance of one if he told the truth, what with Honeydew's bulky, anything-but-dexterous hands working on it, but he was pleasantly surprised when the other man closed the circlet together and held it up.

"C'mere, you bugger." Honeydew pulled himself onto his feet, carefully holding onto the crown lightly. He placed it on top of Xephos' hair, a little wild from his trip and fall, and grinned broadly, running a hand through his beard where there weren't flowers poking into it. "Much better."

Xephos wasn't usually one for showing affection and didn't do so easily, but he did loop his arm around Honeydew's waist and pull the dwarf close, to which Honeydew responded by slinging an arm over Xephos' shoulders and smiling fondly as he kissed the top of Xephos' head.

"Does it suit me?" Xephos asked, tilting his head just a little so he could lock eyes with Honeydew.

"I think so," Honeydew said with a strong nod and another kiss to the top of Xephos' head.

Silence fell over the glade, save for the birds chirping and the breeze ruffling the leaves. Xephos had always felt at home with Honeydew, had made the argument a couple of times that where ever the dwarf went was his home in fact, but never moreso than in that moment, with a comfortable silence between them and the flat expanse of grass beneath them. YogLabs could wait a few hours, Xephos decided, as he tugged Honeydew closer still and kissed him gently.

Credit to perplexed on Ao3