Work Text:
“I don’t understand what’s so appealing about this.”
Marc looked up from the manga he had been reading, “What?! Why not?!”
Nathaniel grimaced as he laid on his back on the bed next to his boyfriend, holding his own manga above his face, “It’s just… sports. Hitting a ball.”
Marc pouted as he sat up, “It’s so much more! The characters as they interact with their teammates-”
“About sports.”
“The twists and turns!”
“About sports.”
Marc huffed, crossing his arms. "You just haven't reached the best parts yet."
"If I can last that long," Nathaniel mumbled. "Sorry, sorry, I'll read. What about you?"
Marc glanced back over to his own discarded manga, "It's kind of dumb. Like, the main character could so easily have everything she wanted if she could just talk to her crush normally. Her mess ups are so overblown, it’s more embarrassing than comedic.”
Nathaniel wilted, mumbling, “I thought it was a good way to lead up to her development in later chapters.”
They sat there in silence for a moment.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try reading each other's favorite manga," Marc sighed, crawling over to lay next to Nathaniel, “I guess we can’t force each other to like our interests.”
Nathaniel hummed, slipping his hand into his boyfriend’s, wrapping their fingers together, “That’s not necessarily bad. It’s not like we have to like all the same things.” He leaned his head over, laying on Marc’s shoulder. “Besides. I might not like the manga itself but I like when I get to listen to you ramble about it.”
Marc furrowed his brows, “Really? But the action kind of dies when it’s verbally explained.”
“Your pure enthusiasm makes up for it,” Nathaniel elaborated, with a slight giggle. “You’re so cute when you’re explaining the games, even if I don’t really understand them.”
Marc squeaked, cheeks quickly turning bright red. Before long, he melted into a soft smile, “You think?”
“Anything you do is cute,” Nathaniel said, like it was an undeniable truth.
Marc snickered, gently bumping their shoulders together, “Right back at you.”
They exchanged their mangas back to their original owners before starting to reread them like they had a million times before. The silence as they did so wasn’t stifling in any way. In fact, it was actually more comfortable than what they were trying before. Often, one would tap the other and show them a panel and explain a little fun fact they knew about it, his boyfriend listening attentively.
Even if they had different tastes in manga, they would always be interested in hearing everything their lover had to say about it.