Prompt: If I don't, then...will I ever? | 2,234 words

Character Name Pronunciations:
Ásgeir - ice gear
Ezio - eh zee oh

Ezio looked out over the edge of the cliff. The sun was setting, a lemon drop surrounded by a red ring of cinnamon. The clouds were cotton candy stranded in a marmalade sky. The waves below crashed onto licorice rocks, scattering sugar bubbles over them. It dripped with so much more color than Ezio had ever seen before. Of course, he had seen sunsets before, but never one this saturated and bright. Even after living a few months without the mask, his eyes still weren't used to how much color this world offered him.

Out of his peripheral vision, Ezio noticed Ásgeir come up behind him and sit next to him. He studied the sunset for several moments, his eyes poring over every detail. Ezio stopped staring at him and looked back towards the sunset.

"You're still not used to this," Ásgeir mumbled.

Ezio looked over at his friend again, surprised that he had said anything.

"How are you used to it?" Ezio asked.

"Haven't I told you?" Ásgeir retorted, an edge to his voice.

Ezio shrunk back, but replied, "No. Ever since I asked you about the scar on your face and you didn't answer, I haven't asked you anything about your life."

"Oh." Ásgeir's voice went quiet again. "Well...I've taken off my mask before this whole journey."

Ezio nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"The first time was at home," Ásgeir began, "in Alpha. I was supposed to be working or studying or something, but I was tired of how that country was treating me like a robot. So I took off my mask, but Alpha already took care of that problem. The world was still as gray and brown as it was before...until I looked out of the window.

"I think if I had looked at the sky any longer, I would've gone blind - or at the very least, everything would've looked blue for a while. Eventually, however, I got too scared of being caught, so I shut the curtains and put my mask back on, no matter how much it pained me. That was when I decided I had to leave that place.

"That night, I packed up as much as I could. While everyone was asleep, I snuck to the border. The armed guards were waiting for me, but I used my polarity to send them flying. While they were busy, I used my limited technology to try and hack into the wall or lockpick it or something. That didn't work, and I had to do something about those guards before they got to me again, so..."

"You killed them," Ezio finished.

Ásgeir nodded.

"It was all in the newsscreens the next morning," Ezio continued. "That's why the human guards were replaced with androids and robots, ones that weren't as magnetic as armor. That way, we weren't losing precious human soldiers."

Ásgeir looked down. Ezio stared at his face, noticing how he looked regretful. Suddenly, Ásgeir put his hand on his communication glove. A robotic voice rang out from it.

"I used a guard's communication glove to open the wall," the voice said. "I took it from his cold, dead hands and I left that hell country for good."

The two were silent for a while, looking back at the sunset. The sky was slowly shifting from orange into shades of blue. The clouds became purple taffy.

"You still haven't told me how you got that scar," Ezio whispered, as if he would disturb the peace if he spoke any louder.

Ásgeir sighed through his nose and put his hand on the communication glove again.

"There was a band of Alphian soldiers out for my blood once I had left," the robotic voice answered. "They tracked me through all the wilderness of Gamma with their technology, so me not wearing my mask to avoid being known as an Alphian was useless. They finally cornered me in a glen, surrounded by trees and a river. When one went towards me, I slammed them into a tree. When the next one came up, I pushed them away. I ended up using polarity to keep two of them away from me and one face-down in the river. However, I didn't know that there was another one hiding in a tree. Bullets were shot into a circle around me, making me let go of the two living soldiers in fear.

"One immediately came after me. He was too quick for me to stop him. He had a serrated knife with him. He used it to cut me across the face. I used polarity to get him as far away as I could, but there was still another soldier along with the sniper left. I resorted to using the magnetic chains in order to hit the soldiers on the ground from a distance. I broke as many limbs of theirs as I could, then got my axe out and cut down the tree where the sniper was in one sweep. They were too busy reloading to even notice. Then I left them all to die in the forest. Their bodies probably haven't been found, even after all these years."

"Y-You killed a lot of people," Ezio stammered.

Ásgeir took his hand off of his glove. "I did what I had to."

Ezio gulped, then stared down at the ground.

"I regret it, though," Ásgeir continued in a quiet voice. "Not escaping, but having to resort to murder. I never wanted to kill anyone."

Ezio was silent. This was the most he had ever heard Ásgeir talk, even with the communication glove. His closest friend had just confessed to how he had killed so many people to get to where he was today.

And now, Ezio realized, he should confess something too.

"I l-lied to you," he suddenly admitted.

Ásgeir blinked a few times. "What are you talking about?"

"I lied to you," Ezio repeated. "About why I left Alpha. I told you it was just because I hated how it treated us like animals fighting over mates or robots with only a few purposes in life, but I was lying."

Looking over slightly, Ezio noticed how Ásgeir's eyes were wide in shock. For the first time, Ásgeir actually seemed to show emotion. He had always seemed so cruel and heartless - he was closed off to everyone. Now, it truly seemed that he cared.

Taking in a deep breath, Ezio took hold of his communication glove and tossed it across the grass. Ásgeir peered over Ezio's shoulder to see where it landed. He looked as if he couldn't be any more shocked. Ezio looked up at Ásgeir with the most serious face he could muster.

No more robotic voices. No more secrets. No more Alpha. He was going to tell Ásgeir everything, from the heart.

"I'm gay," Ezio confessed. "I left Alpha because I'm gay."

Ásgeir stared straight into Ezio's eyes, but didn't say anything.

"I was so afraid of getting killed," Ezio continued. "I know what happens to anyone outside of the norm in Alpha. The government doesn't show any shame in murdering them. They use their dead bodies as examples to us. They call it 'weeding out the weak.' I couldn't handle that anymore. I hacked into the robots and the wall and I left as soon as I could. All because I like boys."

Ásgeir was still silent. All the two of them could hear was the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below. The sun was drowning in the waves, nearly sunken below the blueberry sea by now.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier," Ezio said. "I was just too afraid. I'm always so afraid-"

Ásgeir enveloped Ezio with his arms, pulling him into a hug. Ezio gasped. He had never received any physical affection from Ásgeir - or anyone, really.

"I'm sorry." Ásgeir sounded choked up.

"What for?" Ezio asked.

"For making you scared to tell me that," Ásgeir answered.

Ásgeir hugged him tighter.

"I never want to scare you," Ásgeir continued. "I never want to hurt you. I don't want to scare or hurt anyone ever again!"

Ezio could finally breathe again once Ásgeir let go of him. However, Ásgeir now gripped Ezio's arms.

"We're going to go apologize, okay?" Ásgeir said.

"To who?" Ezio inquired, completely confused and still in shock that his friend was showing emotion.

"To The Catalyst," Ásgeir answered. "They've been trying to do something good and we've been doing the same thing that Alpha did to us. We're not going to hurt anyone anymore. We're going to change the world."

"Does that mean we're joining with them?" Ezio questioned.

"As long as they accept us." Ásgeir smiled.

A genuine smile from Ásgeir. Ezio never thought he'd see the day.

After Ásgeir let go of Ezio's arms, he turned back to the ocean. The sky was nearly completely dark now. They were going to need to find a place to sleep. Ásgeir stood up, making Ezio think they were going to leave. However, Ásgeir took out his mask that hung on his belt and tossed it to the ground. Before Ezio could say anything, Ásgeir stomped on the mask with his foot, crushing it. He smashed it a few more times, leaving it in several pieces. He then pulled off his communication glove and tore it in two, the wired fabric seeming as fragile as a butterfly's wings in his hands. After ripping it up a few more times, he tossed it to the ground too. He turned to Ezio, who was already getting up and getting out his mask. While Ezio tried to break his mask, Ásgeir picked up Ezio's discarded glove and tore it into shreds. He looked at Ezio's work, stomped the pieces once more for good measure, then picked up every last bit of the mess and threw it into the ocean.

"No more Alpha," Ásgeir concluded. He turned to Ezio and smiled again, though this one was more subtle. Ezio smiled as well, feeling happier than ever. Ásgeir's smile melted away into expressionlessness, as it always did. However, Ásgeir didn't start walking away like Ezio expected. Instead, he lingered there. Ezio grew an expression of concern, but before he could say anything, Ásgeir stepped a bit closer. He grabbed the sides of Ezio's face with the gentlest of hands, then planted a kiss to his forehead. Ezio felt his face heat up. It was over all too soon, as Ásgeir quickly turned away and started heading towards the forest. Ezio stood there, frozen, as Ásgeir got further and further away.

Finally Ezio got his bearings and shouted, "Wait!" Ásgeir turned and stared at Ezio as the latter began running towards him. Having gotten too excited, Ezio jumped into Ásgeir, tackling him to the ground. Surprised, Ásgeir wrapped his arms around Ezio. He laughed, a sound Ezio had never heard come from him before. Amidst all this joy, Ezio couldn't help but laugh as well. Ásgeir sat up, pulling Ezio with him. He let go of Ezio so the both of them could stand up, but Ezio stayed on the ground with him. Ásgeir looked at him curiously.

Suddenly, Ezio burst into tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ásgeir inquired, worry filling his voice.

"I'm just so h-happy," Ezio sobbed. "Because...Because I love you, Ásgeir. I don't care if y-you or other people think you're cruel or heartless, because I don't think that. I don't care if they can't f-forgive you or if you can't forgive yourself, because I forgive you and I know you can ch-change. I don't care if this isn't what love is supposed to be, o-or what love is supposed to feel like, or how love is to supposed to be expressed, because damn it all the emotions you make me feel can't be mistaken for anything else! You've been m-my only friend and the only person I've cared about throughout my whole life, and I would do a-anything for you. If that isn't love, then I don't know what is!

"I j-just hope," Ezio finished, "that you can love me too."

Ásgeir looked overwhelmed, but he also seemed...sympathetic. He reached out a hand and wiped away one of Ezio's tears with his finger. He stared at the tears on Ezio's face as if they were killing him. Ezio's heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach, dreading Ásgeir's response to him.

In the next moment, Ásgeir's lips were on his.

When Ásgeir pulled away, he mumbled, "Maybe this is love."

Ezio stared at Ásgeir with eyes as wide as saucers. His heart was beating a mile a minute, his face was beet-red, and so many thoughts were going through his head. He couldn't even begin to think of a response.

"So...you love me too?" Ezio asked. "Or is this not-"

Ásgeir kissed him again, silencing him.

When Ásgeir pulled away this time, he chuckled and replied, "Sometimes you need to learn when to shut up."

Ezio stared into Ásgeir's eyes. He then hugged him, nuzzling his head into his chest. Ásgeir rubbed his back, hugging him as well.

"I don't ever want to let go," Ezio said, his voice muffled.

"You won't have to," Ásgeir replied. "We'll stay here."

And so they did, falling asleep on the grass with love in their hearts, joy in their veins, and a plan on their minds.