TW: Slight Angst, Soul Bond

Honeydew had been underground in YogLabs for months. He couldn't remember the last time that he saw sunlight, let alone civilisation. The only people he saw down here were Xephos, Lalna and some of the other scientists, although, recently he hadn't been seeing Lalna as often. A few month ago, Lalna and Xephos had an argument and fell out. Since then, Honeydew had only seen his friend twice. He had no clue what the argument was about, but Xephos wouldn't say a word about it to him which meant it was most definitely serious.

As well as this, Honeydew hadn't been aloud anywhere near a mirror in about the same period of time. The mirror in his quarters had been taken down, as well as all of the ones in the bathroom, even the women's loos. When Honeydew found this out, he was honestly ready to go crazy. This whole thing was completely and utterly ridiculous. He decided that he wanted some answers.

It was about 5AM but Honeydew did not care. Xephos had gone to bed an hour ago, so when Honeydew barged into his quarters, he was fast asleep. This certainly stopped Honeydew in his tracks. Xephos looked so adorable when he was asleep. All of the tension, worry and reserve in his face was gone and was instead replaced by complete calm and relaxation. He just looked so at peace. Honeydew simply couldn't take the spaceman from this bliss. However, as he turned to go, he glanced in the mirror on the wall by the bathroom. He was shocked at what he saw.

His face looked vaguely the same, or at least, the main features did. He had the same eyes and the same beard, and the same freckle on his cheek, but his skin looked odd. From beneath it, he could see metal plates and wiring and chips.

"What is this? What has happened to me?" Honeydew questioned in a shaky voice. He was scared. This was not him, this was so e other being.

Honeydew turned to Xephos who was just waking up due to Honeydew's loud questioning.
"Morning, Honeydew. Whats with the shouting?" Xephos mumbled, confused.

Honeydew stared incredulously at his friend. He waved his hands around his face. "Xephos! What is this?" he shouted.

Instantly Xephos was awake. "That is your face?"

"But what am I? I'm not even human!"

"Of couse you are, Honeydew. Nothing has changed," Xephos replied, getting out of bed. Honeydew tried not to stare at his tight Pixelmon underwear but failed miserably. He forced himself to look at Xephos, but there was no point. Xephos couldn't bring himself to look at Honeydew's face.

Honeydew grabbed Xephos by the collar on his t-shirt and screamed at him. "What is this?!"
"Look, Honeydew, I will not apologise for what I did."

"You did this?" Honeydew yelled in outrage. Xephos nodded but did not say a anything more. "Say something." Xephos did not. He closed his eyes before lifting them to meet Honeydew's angry expression. He warily trained his eyes on the dwarf's hand that was raising in the air. He was right to. The next next second, he was lying on the marble floor with a throbbing red cheek. Xephos brought his hands up to his face and through his fingers he could see Honeydew's face. He looked mad.

"Why did you do this to me?"

"You were about to die. I couldn't let that happen. We were out on a - a walk and it was nice but then a, erm, hydra or a dragon or something came out of nowhere but it was different and none of our weapons worked and it could breathe fire and I didn't think it would do anything but then I saw that it had hit you and... You were dying... I could't let that happen... I couldn't let you leave me..."

"Why do I not remember?"

"The things you went through... There was no way I could force you to remember that again."

"So you were fine with me becoming some monster, you were fine with me forgetting and you were fine with lying to me just so that I could live and you could be happy?" As Honeydew continued on, his voice raised higher and higher until he was, yet again, practically screaming. Xephos nodded and the other man noticed the tears in his eyes. He ignored them.

"Do you know how selfish that is?"

Xephos looked down and tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Do you know? Because I don't think you do? No, you have absolutely no idea..." Xephos said nothing. "Answer me!"

With a small shake of the head and a look at Xephos' eyes, Honeydew realised something.
"You are not telling me the whole truth... Tell me why you saved me," Honeydew said with a softer voice.

"I... I saved you because..."

"Because what?"

"It was because I... I love you..." Honeydew watched as Xephos slowly lifted his head and let the love and care show through.

Honeydew only looked on in disgust. "You loved me?"

Xephos shied away and nodded. "Please don't say you're homophobic..."

"Thats not it. If you... Loved me, why would you put me through this?"

"I couldn't live without you."

"Of course you could." Honeydew sighed. He had been in love with Xephos for as long as he could remember, and if this had been any other situation, he would have jumped at the chance. This time, however, what Xephos had done was unforgivable.

"No, you don't understand... My species, we have soulmates. Sometimes they come from different planets or species... Thats why I am a spaceman, I was searching for mine... And I found him."

"That does nothing to explain what you did."

"Look, is it not obvious enough? You are my soulmate. I would die without you!"

Honeydew just rolled his eyes. He was shocked but would not let this show. "Stop over-exaggerating, Xephos." And with that, Honeydew turned and left the room.

For the next months, Xephos sunk into a deep depression. He was right when he said that he would have died without Honeydew. A soul mate feels all of the pain that their other half feels, though, them not being bonded, Xephos would only die when Honeydew did. Despite that, being apart from his mate made his heart hurt. The pain that Xephos was undergoing was unlike no other. In the end, Lalna had to come and help Xephos get back up on his feet. He stayed with him and, together, conducted experiments, looked after the animals and finally fixed the coffee machine. Even so, Xephos was just an empty shell of the spaceman he used to be.

On the other side of the mirror, Honeydew was happy. He decided to go back topside and work with Sips after his boyfriend, Sjin, had left to become a farmer at Mahogany Meadows. Together, they made the best dirt in the land, as well as other products, such as stone and podzol. However, after Nilesy moved in with his good friend, Panda, it was lonely.

With Xephos, it was fun, although, he would not admit it. Honeydew was still angry at Xephos for what he did to him. It meant that he had to wear a mask so that no one knew of his face. Rythian had made it for him as an exact replica of his old face. He had nothing against Honeydew or Sips. In return, Sips and Honeydew made some custom dirt for Zoey's... Mushrooms? Even if the rebel force was locked away, they still needed looking after, at least in Zoey's eyes.

Everyone in Tektopia knew that YogLabs was no more. There were no more Jaffa Cakes or crazy, hamster-related products. Now everything was formal and boring. People went to Blackrock Keep for spells and potions or Mahogany Meadows for food or to Caber Town for holiday destinations. No one bothered going for a tour of YogLabs because they were no more. No one wanted to invest in a dead company.

One day, as Honeydew left the compound to visit the farm shop, he reached into his pocket hoping to find his pig whistle. "God damn," he muttered annoyed. "I really should go and find that... But its at... There." He hadn't mentioned YogLabs in months and he was certainly not about to start now. Just because he couldn't say it, however, didn't stop his thoughts from drifting over to his old home. The robots, the animals, all the crazy scientists and the experiments, and the thing that mattered most to him - Xephos. "Stop. Don't think about that selfish... Idiot." Even in this state of hatred, he could not muster enough courage - or fear, to call his ex-friend anything more than this.

Honeydew walked onwards with clenched fists before his mind drifted off to happier memories. He idly wandered along the gravel path that lead around the entire land with his head in the clouds. He thought about that day last week when he nearly fell in the pool boy interview chamber and Sips had saved him or that time when he nearly burnt the compound down after baking a cake... Oh, good memories.

The dwarf was yanked out of his thoughts as he felt himself falling through the air for just a second before he caught himself on the hard, stony ground. Looking up, he frowned. This wasn't the farm shop... This was... YogLabs.

Now, Xephos had been caught up in his own thoughts when he heard a thump and a familiar yelp of pain. The spaceman's head whipped around and he gasped has his jaw dropped. On the ground behind him was his best friend, his soul mate, the one he had been waiting for for his entire life.

"H-Honeydew... Friend... What are you doing here?"

"No reason," the dwarf growled out between his teeth. "Definitely not to see you in any case."

Xephos' happy demeanour dropped. "Oh," he murmured. "Right." He bowed his head, trying to hide the almost instant tears that spring to his blue eyes.

At that, Honeydew turned and stormed away, trying desperately not to think of how dapper Xephos had looked in his new outfit or how adorably hopeful he had looked when he saw Honeydew. He wanted to see the spaceman as he gave him a kiss; he wanted to see him in the throws of pleasure; he wanted to see him - no! He gave another low growl.

He could hear Lalna trying to call him back - "Please, Honeydew! Xephos will die!" - but ignored him. His anger was too strong to allow him to turn back. He wasn't particularly angry at Xephos at this moment in time; his anger was more at himself for thinking those thoughts.

This would not do... Not at all. That would be giving in - dwarfs from Khaz Modan never gave in, lest of all to some kind of silly spaceman who thought he could claim him as his own. That was a ridiculous notion.

Forgetting about getting some eggs and milk, Honeydew practically ran back to the compound he shared with Sips. Though it took about an hour or so, he made it. He ignored Sips' questioning gaze and stormed straight through to the bedrooms. He flopped onto his orange bed and pulled his hands over his head.

There was no way he could be falling for the liar who went by the name of Xephos. Absolutely no way.

But he was. And he hated himself for it.

Weeks after the incident between Xephos and Honeydew, the two were both invited to the Sjindig at Mahogany Meadows. While Xephos flew on a jet with Lalna, Honeydew arrived by boat. However, when Xephos arrived, Honeydew hadn't yet. He really wanted to see him, even if he couldn't be with him; in any case, it would ease his worry to see that the dwarf was okay. Sad, Xephos ignored everyone and went to sit by the coast for a bit.

"Where did I go wrong? What really made him hate me? Is he homophobic, or does Honeydew really just... Not want to be with me?" He asked these questions out loud, questioning the cool evening breeze that ran over his face.

"Y'know, it's none of those things."

In a flash, the spaceman was on his feet. "H-Honeydew? What are you d-doing here?" he asked, taking a step back.

With a slight smile, Honeydew replied, "I came to see you."

Xephos took another step back. "Me? Why would you come and see me?"

"Xeph, you're my best friend. Of corse I would come and see you. I missed you, Xephos, honestly, I did!"

A smile made it's way onto Xephos' face. "Oh." Not realising how close he was to the edge if the land, he took one last nervous step backwards. The ground beneath him crumbled under his weight and he could feel himself slipping, almost falling into the water below. The next thing he knew, Honeydew had his arms wrapped around the other man, pulling him securely onto the island.

Letting out a sob, Honeydew buried his face into his spaceman's shoulder. "I'm so sorry... Xephos... I - I never should have said those things to you... Xephos, please... I... I lo-"

"Shh, Honeydew, it's fine..."

"N-no... I need to say it..."

"Say what?" Xephos pulled back to look at the dwarves tear-stained face.

"Xephos... I... I love... You!"

Xephos' face broke out into a huge grin before pulling the shorter man into a kiss.

"I love you too."

The spaceman leaned down to give the dwarf a kiss. It started off as a slow, graceful kiss, but Honeydew quickly morphed it into something much more. Their tongues tangled together, twisting and turning like an elegant dance while their teeth clashed around them. Letting the shorter man lead the kiss, Xephos soon found himself on the dark green grassy carpet with Honeydew sitting atop him.

It was at that point that Sjin found them. "Well. I suppose you two have made up." He turned away at a glare from both of them. "Okay..." He then walked off towards the rest if the group. "Don't worry! Honeydew hasn't killed Xeph or anything!" he yelled ti the rest of the party-goers.

Honeydew turned back to Xephos. "Y'know, I don't think I ever really hated you." At a questioning gaze, he elaborated. "That entire time, I think I was in love with you. I was just... Scared of giving in to my emotions."

Xephos smiled. "It's fine. We're fine."

Credit to kjeikedog on Ao3