TW: None. WE NEED MORE OF THIS COME ON MAGIC POLICE, DON'T STARVE, GTA5... WTF WHERE"S ALL THE LALJIN?!?!

Title: ~Lightbulb~

Sjin poked his head through the doorway to Lalna’s work space. His messy blonde friend was sat at a table, probably only pretending to work.

"Lalna?" Sjin called, knocking on the opened door.

"Mm?"

Sjin stepped into the room, attempting to look over Lalna’s shoulder at the table in front of him. “There’s, uh— One of the lightbulbs upstairs. It’s—it’s broken.”

Lalna hunched over more. “How broken?”

"It’s just not turning on and all the other ones are." Sjin tiptoed over to Lalna’s back. The "master scientist" was busy reading a spellbook. Either that, or he was just staring at it for no good reason.

"So it’s burnt out, then," Lalna mumbled, turning around and covering the book with his forearm. "You need to change it."

"Oh, I need to?” Sjin twiddled his fingers as he stared into his companion’s sleepy eyes.

Lalna scowled. “I’m busy. Lightbulbs are in a chest somewhere, probably. Go look.” He shooed Sjin away and turned back to his book.”

"Isn’t that dangerous?" Sjin asked, grabbing Lalna’s shoulders. "I could get electrocuted, or, or the lightbulb could shatter and glass will get everywhere and I could cut my—"

Before he could finish, Lalna threw off his rubber gloves and tossed them over his shoulder. “Problem solved.”

"Lalna, please change the lightbulb." Sjin took a second to stare at the gloves, and he realized just how dainty Lalna’s hands were.

Lalna groaned and slammed his head onto the book. “Why do you need me to do it?”

"Because I just— I don’t feel like it." Sjin shrugged and gently placed the gloves on Lalna’s shoulder.

"If I do it, what will you do for me?" Lalna lifted his head and glared at Sjin.

Sjin looked down and thought hard for a moment. “I’ll… I’ll write you a poem, out of gratitude.”

Lalna held back a snicker, but couldn’t contain his smile. “Ok, ok, fine.” He stood up and let Sjin direct him to the broken bulb before rummaging through a bunch of crowded chests in search of a replacement.

"Make sure it’s a 60 watt one!" Sjin called as he watched his partner dig through their miscellaneous supplies.

Finally, Lalna straightened himself back up and held the new lightbulb up in victory. Standing on his toes, he unscrewed the old bulb, waggled it in Sjin’s face until he threw it away, and screwed the new one in. 

"There, see," Lalna gloated with his hands on his hips, "not a struggle at all."

Sjin clapped.

"So, where’s my prize? My poem or whatever." Lalna stood close and pressed his chest against Sjin’s, as if to intimidate him.

Sjin just poked the other’s shoulder and laughed. “I need to sit down and write it first, I need to concentrate.” He kissed Lalna’s forehead softly and scampered off. “I’ll tell you when I’m done!” He yelled behind him before running into his room.

"It better be good!" Lalna called back, going back to his spellbook. But he already knew anything by Sjin would be the best thing he ever read.

~~

TW: Moonquest. Song is on the side/above

Title: ~Strap Yourself Into The Rocket~

Honeydew’s gloved hand closed clumsily around the door handle. He probably should have done more training in the space suit before it was time to wear it for real, but it was too late now. They wouldn’t have another launch window like this for weeks at the soonest.

This was his chance. He squinted at the ground between his feet. Down past the deepest dwarf tunnels and hidden caves and secrets of the world, and out past foreign lands on the other side of the cube, the moon was glowing a welcome for him to come visit. And he intended to go say hi.

He leaned his weight down on the handle. It was sticking again. They maybe should have done something about that, but better for the door to stick than to open too easily and throw him out into space, right? He muttered a curse into his beard and gave the handle another shove, and it surrendered to his superior musclepower.

The door swung inward silently. Duncan must have oiled the joints again to get rid of that creak Honeydew had been complaining about. Honeydew smiled, closing the door behind him, and set his helmet down beside the pilot’s chair. The instruments were lit up and waiting his input. He just had to strap himself in and enter the launch command and he’d be on his way.

A crackle of static announced one of his friends getting ready to say something over the radio. “How’s it going up there?” Xephos asked, “Are you ready for launch?”

Honeydew fumbled his radio off his belt and struggled with it for a moment, then replied, “Check Houston. We are prepared for takeoff and things are go.” He grinned as Xephos sighed. He could almost hear the hand lifting to cover Xephos’ eyes.

Xephos cleared his throat. “So. Um. What with you going up into space and everything… Think you could give us a wave and smile? Look good for the cameras? Good promotional material for J.A.F.F.A.? Say goodbye to your friends?”

Honeydew, just about to sink into his seat, paused. It was going to be a while before he saw either of them again wasn’t it? And he was making history here! This was a special moment. He flipped his radio on more smoothly the second time. “I think I uh… forgot something down at mission control. I’ll be right there. Wait up for me.”

Honeydew barely heard Xephos’ groan as he swung the door open and started down the ladder. “Honeydew! God, you know we have a limited launch window here! What, did you forget your mid-flight jaffas or something? We packed extra you know, you don’t have to get more.”

"Can never have enough jaffas." Honeydew mumbled to himself, not bothering to get the radio off his belt again. The jog from the launch platform to mission control wasn’t as bad now as it had been when they were hauling supplies back and forth to build them both.

Xephos was standing by his console, arms folded over his chest. Duncan was leaned back in his chair, feet propped up beside his own console, with a pile of electronics on his lap that looked like someone had eviscerated an RC helicopter. He gave a small wave without looking up from attacking it with a pair of pliers.

"So what is it you can’t live without, then?" Xephos was scowling, and Honeydew scowled back. It was simply unfair how tall the man was, and without a proper beard to boot. Still, needs must. Honeydew snagged a chair and slammed it down in front of Xephos, who took a startled step back as Honeydew climbed onto it. But not far enough back that Honeydew couldn’t reach out and grab him by the shirt collar.

Xephos’ yelp was interrupted by Honeydew’s lips hitting his own. Honeydew held the kiss for a long moment, waiting for Xephos to unfreeze and respond, but it was only once he started to pull back that long arms closed around his back. Xephos’ head sank onto Honeydew’s shoulder and a warm breath tickled against his ear.

"Stay safe, friend."

Honeydew gave Xephos a couple pats on the back. He wanted to offer some words of reassurance, but every time he opened his mouth there weren’t any words inside. After a few attempts, he managed a “Right.”

"Right." he repeated, more firmly, as Xephos unwrapped from him and stepped back with an amused smile. "Right." he said again, just because it felt good.

Honeydew swung around to Duncan, who appeared to still be too engrossed in his project to see whatever was going on at the other end of the room. Honeydew left the chair by Xephos, he didn’t need it this time. Duncan didn’t have a good beard either, damn it. Why was he surrounded with bald weirdos?

Honeydew unstrapped his glove from the sleeve and dropped in on Duncan’s lap, which finally got the man to look up with surprise and the beginnings of a pout. “Honeydew, what? I was working on that.”

Honeydew sank his fingers into soft blond hair and hauled Duncan into a kiss.

He took his hand away as Duncan started to flail in surprise, and Duncan sat back with wide eyes, reaching up and touching his lips as if they’d just appeared on him from nowhere. “What did you do that for?” He waved a hand dismissively as Honeydew opened his mouth to answer. “No no, I guess it’s rather obvious isn’t it? I just wasn’t- I wasn’t expecting it.” Duncan’s eyes flicked past Honeydew’s head. His confusion melted away, and after a moment, he nodded. “Okay then.”

Wait, what had Xephos done behind his back? Honeydew didn’t have much time to ponder the question, as Duncan leaned forward and returned the kiss. He had the softest lips of anyone Honeydew had ever kissed, but it was its own kind of pleasant, and Honeydew pulled away reluctantly.

"Right." he said, picking his glove up, and backing away in what hopefully was the direction of the door. "I’ll just… I’ll be up in the rocket then."

Xephos and Duncan were sharing a look, and when Honeydew’s back hit the door frame, he turned and sprinted out of the building with a parting, “Need to catch the launch window!”