OHHHHHHKKKAYYY!!

It's been a second! I greatly apologize, I've made the incredibly smart decision to try and work on five different oneshots at once! To my absolute shock, it was remarkably faster to frickin' pick one and stick to it-

I wrote this kinda all over the place, then Frankenstein-monster stitched it together, so let's all just hope this is actually cohesive!

Oh, and I used a prompt! It was "A often has their hands on B. 'Ah, sorry, this is for science'. B leans in close one day, waits, then kisses A. 'For science'."

Didn't turn out exactly like that, but I'd say it's close!

No warnings that I can think of!

WC: ~1800

Enjoy!

"Tango, Tango!" Zed called as Tango stepped into Zed's lab. Zedaph rushed to greet him, wearing a white lab coat with the sleeves rolled up. He wore white gloves and lab goggles that were propped up above his eyes. Tango eyed him up and down, because dang, he looks good in that coat, before quickly snapping his gaze to meet excited lavender eyes.

"Hey, Zed!" he replied. "What did you call me here for?"

"I'm conducting an experiment!" he said cheerfully. "Relating to Netherborns versus Overworldians versus Endspawned. Grian and Xisuma both volunteered to help out with Endspawned- Watchers and Voidwalkers have different genetic makeup, after all! And I can take data from myself for the Overworldian portion of the test."

"So you want me to be your lab rat?" Tango joked. Zedaph giggled.

"Sort of!" he agreed. "You don't have to, of course. But it'll be quick and painless- this time, anyways!" Tango barked a laugh.

"I mean, sure!" he agreed. "I'll participate in your voluntary science fair project." Zedaph lit up.

"Awesome!" he said. "Let me lead the way."

Zed sat Tango down at a simple desk, taking a seat right next to him. His right hand held a pen that was posed, ready to write on a clipboard, while his left hand stayed rested on the table.

Zed held out that hand to Tango, glancing at him expectantly. Tango looked down at Zed's outstretched hand, then back at him, gears slowly turning in his mind.

"Most of these tests require physical contact," Zedaph explained.

"Oh," Tango mumbled, undoubtedly sounding stupid. He gingerly placed his hand in Zedaph's, a warm blush crawling across his face.

Tango wasn't used to this feeling. At all. No one else could fluster him by just touching his hand. But then again, no one was anywhere close to as endearing and cute and perfect as Zed.

"Your hands are warm," Zedaph remarked, drawing Tango out of his thoughts.

"I guess they are," Tango agreed with a small laugh. "My temperature is generally higher than anyone else's." Zed nodded slowly, the curls on his head bouncing with the movement.

"Your pulse also goes pretty quick," he added.

Yeah, Tango thought dryly. I wonder why.

Tango chose not to say anything to Zed's innocent misunderstanding of the reasoning behind his rapid-fire heartbeat.

Zed continued to scribble things down, idly chatting with Tango as he did it. He never let go of Tango's hand, instead starting to rub circles on the back of Tango's palm with soft fingers.

It's just for science, became a mantra in Tango's head, repeated over and over again to try and grasp some control over his emotions. It didn't really work, as by the end of it, Tango was a mess. A half Netherborn, half puddle disaster.

"Thank you so much for doing this," Zed said with a smile. He let go of Tango's hand, making him immediately miss Zed's touch. "Do you mind coming back a couple more times? For consistency in the results?" Tango gave him a thumbs up.

"Of course!" he agreed. "Just message me and I'll be here."

He chose not to mention that his enthusiasm was more about Zed holding his hand, and less about the actual results of the tests.

The cycle went on for about a week. At around the same time every day, Tango would head to Zedaph's lab, let the scientist hold his hand for ten minutes while they chatted, and then both would be on their merry ways. Embarrassingly enough, Tango never got less flustered over the incredibly simple gesture.

In fact, just thinking about that same gesture made him nearly waltz straight into the Boatem Hole.

"Woah!" Tango shouted as the ground stopped being under his feet. He stumbled back, and a hand fisted into the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards, sending him tumbling away from the danger.

"Are you crazy??" Impulse cried, standing over Tango. "Dude!!"

"Sorry!" Tango laughed. "I wasn't internally present!!"

"Evidently!" Impulse snickered. "What brings you to Boatem?" He held out a hand and Tango took it, letting the other redstoner pull him up.

"I... uh..." Tango glanced around. "I think I was supposed to be heading to the Big Eyes place."

"Wait, seriously?" Impulse blinked as he spoke. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Feelin' fine!" Tango assured him. "Just..." and his gaze drifted to his own hands. "Distracted."

"Distracted, huh?" Impulse echoed, a dangerous smile creeping onto his face. "By what? The atoms on the floor?" Tango rolled his eyes.

"Don't even start," he warned him. As per usual, Impulse paid absolutely no mind to his semi-empty threats.

"Let me guess," he said. "Zed did something, and now you're overthinking it."

"I- fine," Tango grumbled. "Maybe you're right." Impulse continued to smile stupidly.

"He likes you," he offered. "As I've told you before. Many many times." Tango lightheartedly punched him. "Ow!" Impulse laughed while clutching his shoulder.

"You have absolutely no proof for that!" Tango cried. "Zed would be ashamed in your conclusion-drawing skills!" Impulse raised an eyebrow.

"'No proof'?" he echoed. "Tango, dude. He treats you a little differently than anyone else. It's because he likes you, a lot." his tone had softened into something a lot more genuine and real. "This isn't even about me giving you a hard time at this point. If you're not ready, then so be it, but I can tell that you're not alone in wanting more."

Tango, despite his better judgement, considered it. He really considered it. Impulse was right about most everything pretty much always, so would this, realistically, be any different?

"I'll think about it," Tango found himself saying with a small sigh. Impulse raised an eyebrow. "Really! I'll really think about it!" Tango rushed to his defense.

And it was true. He did think about it.

Bonus points, as he couldn't seem to stop thinking about it either.

Not too long after his talk with Impulse, Tango landed in Zedaph's base. He walked into the familiar room of the lab, expecting to see Zed waiting there. Instead, he found Grian seated with his hand on the table, lilac wings neatly folded. Zed was there too, writing away on that clipboard.

Being real with himself, Tango entirely expected a spike of jealousy. It was stupid, sure, but he'd pretty much accepted it. However, no jealousy hit him, because Zed wasn't even holding Grian's hand, rather glancing at it, then looking back at his writing.

Confusion surged through, because is this just a different test? or has Grian just asked not to be touched? but then again, Grian certainly didn't mind physical contact, so where did that leave him?

'He treats you just a little differently than anyone else,' Impulse's voice rang in his head. 'It's because he likes you. A lot.'

"Hello, Tango," Grian's jokingly mysterious voice sliced through his thoughts.

"Hello, Grian," Tango replied in the same exaggerated tone.

"We're almost done, Tango," Zed said, only now placing his hand on Grian's. It remained there for maybe a second or two before getting retracted.

I could be overanalyzing this, Tango noted. I could be looking way too into this. Maybe Impulse's words just boosted my ego and now I'm guessing that people have crushes on me when they don't.

"I'll leave you two be, then!" Tango said.

"Come back in like... two minutes?" Zed said with a shrug.

"That's his way of saying hurry up, or I'm gonna miss you too much," Grian remarked unhelpfully. Zed scoffed while Tango laughed.

The latter left with a small wave, and the moment he was out of sight, he slumped against the wall and tried to break down everything that had been said to him and everything he'd noticed within the past week.

He'd barely even started to internally lay out his thoughts- a chart, that was what he needed, a paper chart- when two feet in front of him altered him of someone's presence.

"Earth to Tango?" Grian said with a small giggle. "You here?"

"Uh, yep!" Tango managed, trying to reboot his brain into cohesive thought mode. "My turn to be the guinea pig, I assume?" Grian laughed again.

"Yep!"

Tango stood up, walked towards the room, and opened the door.

For probably the seventh or eighth time, Tango found himself seated in Zedaph's lab, letting the other hold his hand for science. But this time, Impulse's words rang in his head, dragging his thoughts away from the situation at hand.

Because while all this could have been harmless, just for the science, the experiment, the results, was it really?

Sure, he did this with Xisuma and Grian as well, but... Tango had seen it for himself. It wasn't the same.

He took it all in. Zedaph. The gentle scratching of pencil on paper. A soft hand holding his own. The silence, as if both of them were afraid to even breathe.

"Hey, Zed?" and the words were tumbling out of his mouth before he could think about them, consider them even a little bit.

"Yeah?" Zedaph replied.

All of his thoughts blinked out into nothingness as, on some cursed impulse, he leaned in and connected his lips to Zed's. The scientist's breath hitched, and when Tango broke away after half a second, he could see Zed's eyes go wide.

"For science," Tango murmured with a small smile. Zed's shaking hand went up to hover over his lips, his face flushing red.

A moment passed, and during that time, Tango feared he'd made the wrong judgment and misinterpreted the signs. That was, until Zed stood up and placed both hands on Tango's shoulders, leaning down and kissing him again.

Tango couldn't count the seconds that slipped by in such a passionate embrace. Hell, he wasn't even sure if his brain was fully conscious and functioning, or if it'd just gone into overdrive due to the overwhelming flood of feelings practically bursting out of his chest.

They broke apart, both gasping for breath. Somewhere in that mess, Zed had pulled Tango up and out of his chair, instead pressing him to the wall. Tango's hands had found their way around Zed's waist, while Zed's hands were tangled in his hair, and it was all so impossibly perfect.

"Still for science?" Zed joked after countless seconds of both of them struggling to both catch their breath and find words to express everything they both felt. Apparently, Zed had found those words before him, though his voice remained quiet to hold the mood. Tango smirked.

"Only science going on here is chemistry," he replied evenly, matching the other's volume. Zed giggled.

"I suppose so," he agreed, leaning his forehead against Tango's. Tango drew him impossibly closer, taking in the feeling of warmth and overwhelming euphoria.

Sometimes, science had its perks.

Remember how I said I Frankenstein-monster-ed this together? Yeah. You know what was the last thing I had to write of this?

The interaction with Impulse-

There is a 90% chance that none of this oneshot actually made sense but I'm flying with it because proofreading is for the weak! /j

-Storm