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Thomas had been dating Flux for a few weeks now, and it had been going great.
Between work and errands and other vampirish stuff, it was a slight struggle to visit each other more often. Yet, as they always did, they made it work. They were always eager to make time for each other, no matter how busy.
Most peculiar, however, was that Flux was... surprisingly clingy when they were together.
Don’t get him wrong—he loved all the attention he was getting. Flux had always been a little possessive of his time, even before the dating and kissing part started, but lately it had become almost impossible to leave the apartment in the mornings after they spent the night together.
Like right now.
The smell of coffee hung faintly in the kitchen, the blinds blocking every inch of sunlight possible. Thomas stood at the counter, mug in hand, and a vampire clinging to his back like a very cold, very affectionate backpack.
“Flux.”
Flux’s reply came out muffled against his shoulder blades. “What?”
“What?”
“I need you to let go.”
Unsurprisingly, that only made Flux’s arms tighten around his waist.
“Flux, please.”
“But you’re finally awake,” Flux groaned, burying his face between Thomas’s shoulder blades.“The night is so dull.”
“You’re the one who insists on staying with me in the night,” Thomas pointed out, chuckling. “Don’t you have a coffin to sleep in?”
Flux rolled his eyes, the motion brushing against Thomas’s back. “That’s just a stupid myth.”
“Oh, but needing me to invite you in every evening isn’t?”
“Ugh. I don’t make these dumbass rules, I just have to follow them.”
In the past, Thomas might’ve been able to pry Flux off easily. But ever since the vampire thing, that balance of power had… shifted.
“Don’t you have your own job to get to?” Thomas tried, twisting slightly to look over his shoulder.
“It can wait,” Flux said without hesitation.
“Can it?” Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Do vampires even need jobs?”
Flux shrugged against his back. “Too suspicious to quit now, right?”
Thomas snorted. “You love ordering people around though.”
Flux tilted his head up with a lazy smirk. “Yeah. I do.”
“So can I be free now, or…?”
Flux sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
When he finally let go, Thomas could breathe again. He turned around and caught Flux’s hand, pressing a quick kiss to the back of it.
“Thank you, darling.”
At that word, Flux’s face went red fast enough to rival a sunrise—an ironic metaphor, given the circumstances. He yanked his hand back.
“You disgust me.”
“You like it,” Thomas teased, leaning in to peck his cheek.
Flux shoved him toward the door. “Okay, okay, I like it or whatever. Let’s just get out of here.”
Once Flux finally left (after another ten minutes of “just one more kiss”), Thomas stayed behind in the now-empty kitchen. The silence felt strange after so much teasing and laughter. His coffee had gone cold.
They were good together. Really good, actually.
Which was exactly the problem.
For all the cuddling, the flirting, the little moments that made his chest ache, they’d never actually gone on a real date. Not once.
Sure, they’ve hung out many times before, one-on-one, no one else around. But, they never made anything official about it before. No planned romantic lighting, premeditated plans, or fancy clothing. Just them two, as it always was.
Thomas wanted to do something special with Flux, something meaningful, something they could look back on as a first real date. Not just every single ‘togethering’ they had that could pass off as friends by the skin of its teeth.
What he couldn’t figure out exactly was exactly how to bring it up, and more importantly, what to do. Especially considering Flux’s newfound vampirism, a simple date over a meal simply wasn’t going to cut in. And a movie night would just be the norm for them.
He tried the internet, as all people do when all hope is lost. But after twenty minutes of scrolling “cute vampire date ideas” and finding nothing but blood puns, Halloween couple costumes, and one too many suspicious websites, he decided there was only one option left.
Call in reinforcements.
“You all might be wondering why I have called you all here today,” Thomas announced to the Conspirators, all present, except for Fluixon.
They were sitting together in a booth of a small diner down the street. Somewhere a little gross, a little dingy, unsuspecting.
“Don’t worry, we already know,” Snowbird interrupted, nodding his head with closed eyes. “You want our blessings to propose to Flux.”
“What? No, not yet,” Thomas scoffed. “I want to ask Flux on a date.”
The group fell to silence, all staring at Thomas. A few raised their eyebrows, a couple jaws dropped.
Gotoga raised an eyebrow. “Have you not done that already?”
“Uh—no.”
“…Are you joking?” Seraphim asked, a bewildered look on her face.
“Haven’t you been on like… a billion dates?” NewKids added, baffled.
“No? Those were just—hangouts,” Thomas coughed. “I just want to take him on a proper date.”
Snowbird gaped. “How have you not?”
“I don’t know!” Thomas threw his hands in the air. “We’ve just been… busy.”
“‘Busy?’” Rotation repeated, exasperated. “Busy, how? Busy hugging and kissing and—?”
“Stop it,” Thomas groaned into his hands. “Are you guys going to help me or what?”
“Dude, he’s your boyfriend,” Gotoga sighed. “Just ask him!”
“Okay, in truth, the asking isn’t the actual problem,” Thomas admitted, shrinking in his seat. “I don’t know where to take him.”
The conspirators all groaned in unison, facepalming and sighing.
Seraphim shook her head in disappointment. “You are a terrible boyfriend.”
“Hey!”
NewKids pinched the bridge of his nose. “No ‘cause what does Flux actually see in him?”
“He’s hopeless,” Snowbird tutted.
Thomas rolled his eyes. “I’m not hearing ideas, guys.”
“Dude, just do a candlelit dinner. Classic,” Rotation sighed. “You literally can’t go wrong with that.”
Thomas fought the urge to point out how exactly wrong of an idea it was. With Flux not really eating much normal food anymore, whenever they would have meals together, it’d just be Thomas eating with Flux in front of him.
It wasn’t the worst time in the world as they enjoyed each other’s company enough alone, but certainly wasn’t the kind of awesome first date in mind.
“No,” Thomas replied instead. “We’d just be talking with our mouths full the whole time or something.”
“Isn’t that like all your movie dates?” Seraphim pointed out.
Correction: it used to be like all their movie dates.
“Yeah, well, I want something slightly more… romantic?” Thomas tried, shrugging slightly.
“A picnic?” Gotoga attempted, which would have been a good idea if not for the obvious food factor and worse, the blazing sun outside.
“No,” Thomas responded instantly. “Flux… hates the outdoors.”
NewKids snorted. “No wonder he’s so pale.”
Well, yeah, that and the vampire thing, Thomas thought.
“What are you thinking of then?” Seraphim sighed.
“I don’t know,” Thomas put his head in his hands. “Just—something that we can do together.”
Everyone paused for a moment, seeming to finally give Thomas some actual sincere thought.
“Well, I heard there’s a carnival coming into town next week,” Snowbird offered at last. “Plenty of romantic opportunities for you two or whatever.”
Thomas considered it for a second. Carnivals could be quite loud and extra, but Flux did always appreciate a good show. There would be plenty of games for them to play with each other, and of course, compete. But most especially, the carnival frequently took place in the late evenings and stretched out into the night, meaning it was perfectly safe without the sun.
“Didn’t he just say no outdoors—?” NewKids started but was immediately interrupted by Thomas.
“Yes, that’s perfect!” Thomas slammed his hands down on the table. “Snowbird, you’re officially the most useful one.”
“Dude, you’re the most useless one, needing all five of our asses to come up with one date idea.” Rotation retorted, crossing his arms.
Thomas stood up, ignoring Rotation. “Thank you, all of you, this meal’s on me, alright?”
They all cheered, although he did get some warranted side-eyes, but Thomas didn’t really care all that much. As he left, he thought about how he would ask Flux about it tonight.
When Thomas finally arrived home that night, the apartment was dim except for the faint glow of the lamp by the couch.
Flux was exactly where he expected him to be. His legs were stretched across the armrest, a book open in one hand, and the other hand draped dramatically over his face like he was in mourning.
“You’re late,” Flux said, immediately sitting up.
Thomas smiled, setting his keys on the counter. “Yeah, traffic was a nightmare. And I had… some planning to do.”
Flux finally turned his head, raising an eyebrow. “Planning? For what? Another thrilling workday?”
Thomas hesitated. Suddenly, the confidence he’d had at the diner vanished completely.
“Something like that,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Flux smirked, sitting up a little straighter. “You’re acting weird. We’re not going back to our scheming days, are we?”
“No, unfortunately not,” Thomas responded with a slight laugh, but heat still rose to his cheeks. “I have—uh—something to ask you.”
Flux tilted his head. “Is this about your blood again? Because I already told you—”
“No, not at all,” Thomas interrupted quickly. “Uh—maybe stand up for this?”
A laugh escaped Flux, but he got up anyway. “Wow, you’re really hyping this up.”
“Just want to do this properly.”
Flux stood in front of him, taking Thomas’s hands in his own and leaning in with a grin.
“So, what is it?”
“Alright so, uhm…” Thomas cleared his throat. “What do you think about going… on a date?”
Flux blinked. “A… date?”
“Yeah, you know… like two people. Together. Alone. Somewhere romantic.”
“I know what a date is,” Flux cut in.“I’m just confused… haven’t we already been on dates? Why are you asking me like this?”
Thomas turned away slightly embarrassed. “I mean, we have—sort of—but they’ve never been official dates, you know? We always kind of did them as ‘friends’ before.”
Flux snorted. “You think making out after I sucked the blood out of you had ‘friends’ vibes?”
“Yeah—no,” Thomas laughed. “You know what I mean. I want to do something with the label on it. As…”
“Boyfriends,” Flux finished the sentence for him, smirking.
“Right,” Thomas nodded. “Before, I just didn’t think you could’ve liked me back.”
“Why not? I thought I was pretty obvious,”
“If you were, why didn’t you say anything?”
Flux blushed, glancing away.. “I didn’t consider it either.”
Thomas laughed softly, cupping Flux’s face and turning him back toward him. “Thinking about it, it’s honestly kind of embarrassing how long it took us to get here.”
“Well, we’re here now…”Flux said with a grin, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips.
Thomas smiled into it, pulling him a little closer—short, sweet, easy.
Flux laughed as he stepped back. “Is this clear enough for you, yet?”
“Plenty clear.” Thomas chuckled. “Sooo, the answer to that date?”
“That depends. Where are we going?”
“There’s a carnival next week,” Thomas replied. “At night. No sun, I checked.”
Flux hummed thoughtfully. “Games, crowds, lights, screaming children…”
“There won’t be any children by the time we’re around,” Thomas countered. “Most people will have left by then. No crowds, short lines.”
“Wow, you really thought of everything, huh?” Flux teased.
“You know I always do.”
“It’s so great to have such a thoughtful boyfriend.”
“Is that a yes?”
Flux pretended to think for a brief moment, then he grinned mischievously.
“I don’t know, might take some convincing…”
“You’re so clingy.”
“Hey, we can finally do all the stuff we’ve been wanting for years.” Flux bonked his head against Thomas’s. “It’s called ‘taking advantage.’”
“I’m not complaining.” Thomas grinned as leaned in for another kiss.
That was definitely a yes.
The carnival lights painted everything in shades of gold and red, the air sticky with sugar and laughter. It was the kind of night that buzzed—loud, warm, and alive.
Thomas spotted Flux right away.
He stood near the entrance, leaning against the chain-linked fence like he owned the place, arms crossed loosely over his chest.
His outfit wasn’t fancy, fit for the casualties of a carnival, but it was put together. He had dark jeans on, a fitted black shirt, and a silver chain catching the light at his throat, layered with a couple more that clinked when he moved. The wind brushed through his hair and for a second, he looked almost unreal, like something meant to belong to the night.
Thomas his heart doing that stupid flutter thing as he approached like he was a teenage girl in a damn high school movie.
Flux looked up. His mouth opened, but for once, words didn’t follow. He just blinked, eyes trailing from Thomas’s jacket to the rings on his fingers to the half-smirk Thomas was trying very hard not to show.
Thomas grinned, slowing his walk just enough to make him squirm.
“What?” Thomas said, voice amused. “Cat got your tongue?”
Flux’s lips twitched. “This date thing might have been the best idea you’ve ever had.”
He laughed in response. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It is one.” Flux straightened up, adjusting the strap of the small bag slung over his shoulder. “You clean up dangerously well, you know.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
Flux raised a brow. “You were thinking about me?”
“Don’t start,” Thomas said, shaking his head, but he was smiling.
Flux smirked. “You’re the one making it easy.”
He stepped closer, close enough that Thomas could catch the faint scent of whatever cologne he’d chosen—something dark, subtle, unfairly nice.
“Ready?” Thomas asked, pretending his pulse wasn’t acting up.
“More than.” Flux linked their arms like it was second nature, tugging him toward the gate. “Let’s go raise some hell, pretty boy.”
Thomas laughed under his breath, letting himself be pulled along. The night stretched ahead of them in neon and noise, but he really paid only one thing any mind—just the thrill of Flux’s hand against his sleeve and the way the lights looked on his skin.
They immediately ran through games, seeing as sharing some snacks or a drink would be mostly useless. Yet somehow, they still found ways to make them go catastrophically wrong.
One of the first games they picked was bowling. It wasn’t an actual bowling alley, just a tiny shitty makeshift one out of plastic, but it looked decent enough. They thought it would be cute and good fun to have some friendly (or romantic…?) competition to see who could knock the most pins down, as they typically did.
Thomas bowled first, scoring an incredible strike.
“There’s no beating that,” Thomas grinned, swapping places with Flux.
“Whatever you say,” Flux responded, giving Thomas his own mischievous grin in return.
Flux rolled the ball once. They could barely even see it go down the stupid wooden lane and within milliseconds, the poor, pathetic, plastic pins exploded everywhere into little pieces.
The attendant in the back just stared. Thomas and Flux as well, too stunned to speak.
“Uh,” Thomas said slowly, “maybe we should—”
“Run?” Flux finished.
“Yeah.”
They took off laughing, dodging between stalls as the poor attendant chased after them, holding the last remaining, untouched pin.
Eventually, they ducked behind some bushes just as they passed a corner, holding a hand over each other’s mouths to muffle them. Soon, the attendant passed them and gave up. The two burst out laughing once more.
“God, that takes me back to high school,” Thomas said finally, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
“Don’t say that, it makes you sound so old,” Flux reprimanded, but he was also still giggling. “Let’s go find another game to ruin.”
Thomas took his hand in his. “But of course.”
They wandered around for a bit, avoiding food stalls and definitely a certain area with a particular bowling game setup. Soon, they made their way towards the next game of their choosing, a classic ring toss lined with bottles glinting under the carnival lights. Flux eyed the prizes with a predatory grin.
“You wanna see who’d win this one now?” Thomas asked, already picking up one of the rings.
Flux hummed, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Actually… I have a better idea.”
After a quick and careful scan of the area, Flux ducked between two stalls. Before Thomas could react, Flux’s form shimmered and a small black bat shot up into the air.
“What the—?” Thomas began to exclaim, but instantly covered his own mouth. He lowered his voice into a hiss. “You never told me you could do that!”
“Recent discovery,” Flux’s voice came out of the small creature, higher pitched than usual but Thomas could still hear the smugness in his tone. “I was saving it for this.”
“It’s a surprise alright,” Thomas said, as hushed as he could.
“Go on, throw one!”
“Alright, alright…”
Thomas went back to the game and as nonchalantly as he could, started throwing rings towards the bottles. Barely noticeably, a flash of black darted between Thomas and the attendant, the rings suddenly aligned perfectly around each bottle neck.
Thomas clapped and laughed, pretending to admire his own skill. “Wow! What do I win for this?”
The attendant looked at him and gaped. She quickly realised she didn’t care enough to question it and pointed at the giant stuffed beaver hanging in the middle of the wall behind her.
“Thank you, ma’am, have a good night.”
As soon as the beaver was safely in his arms, Flux flew down and perched on Thomas’s shoulder like he was a damn bird and not a bat.
“Too easy.” Flux laughed softly against his ear.
“Would’ve been really helpful for the heists during senior year, not gonna lie.”
“Psssh, we didn’t even need it to get away with anything back then.”
“True, true…”
Thomas adjusted the plush in his arms, still laughing, the sounds of the carnival crowd rising again around them. The lights flickered off the bottles behind the booth as he started walking away, Flux still on his shoulder. He was about to say something else when—
“Hey Thomas!”
He turned toward the voice. Saparata stood a few stalls ahead, waving.
“Howdy.” Thomas greeted back, then glanced around awkwardly. “Are you here by yourself?”
“Oh, no, I’m with some others but noticed you and thought I should say hi,” Saps laughed. “Are you here by yourself?”
“No, I’m on a date… with Flux,” Thomas said,flushing slightly. Suddenly, he felt self-conscious about Flux on his shoulder—and talking about him, as if he wasn’t literally there right now.
“Aw, sweet! Still glad you guys finally figured your dumb selves out,” Saps chuckled. “Where is he then, by the way?”
“Oh, he went to the bathroom.” Excuses surrounding Flux were all too easy for Thomas now.
“Looks like you already found a replacement for him though.” Saps teased, pointing at the bat on Thomas’s shoulder. “How’d you get a bat to do that? It’s so cute.”
“Right?” Thomas laughed, knowing already how embarrassed Flux was going to be about this. “I don’t know, it just likes me a lot I guess.”
“Lucky!” Saps joked, stepping back now. “Well, I’ll see you guys around later then, maybe?”
“Yeah, see you, Saps.”
With that, Thomas waved goodbye, and Saparata dispersed in the crowd and lights. Soon, the bat flew off his shoulder, and returned Fluixon from the shadows. He was dusting himself off and had a slight tint of pink on his face.
“Don’t even start.”
“Wasn’t going to,” Thomas grinned.
“Give me that damn plush,” Flux said, holding his arms out.
Thomas didn’t hesitate to hand it to him, laughing. “You deserve it more than me.”
Flux squeezed his arms around it. “I like this thing a lot. It reminds me of your dumb face.”
“I don’t know whether to be honoured or offended.”
“Both. Let’s keep exploring.”
Flux moved the animal to hold it on one side, despite the struggle with its size, so that he could keep holding Thomas’s hand with the other. As they walked deeper into the carnival, the areas were getting less and less crowded, and the sounds began to quieten.
Suddenly, Flux halted in his steps.
“Oh my god, is that a photo booth?”
And lo and behold, it was.
A small white box covered in polaroid photos, a curtain over the entrance, and somehow, no line. But as quickly as Flux’s expression brightened, it faded away again.
“Damn it, I hate this no-photo rule.” Flux grumbled, trying to joke, but his hold on Thomas’s hand tightened. “I want to show off my cute boyfriend I can’t even take a picture with.”
“You mean me?” Thomas teased in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Since when am I the cute one?”
“Since always,” Flux smiled slightly weaker than usual. “Whatever, let’s just move on.”
Thomas frowned but continued on forward in silence. He thought for a moment, before he spotted something in the distance.
He pointed towards a booth near the ferris wheel. “How about that artist? They draw portraits.”
Flux’s eyes lit up, and Thomas had never felt warmer than from witnessing that look. Thomas hoped to god that the artist would be able to capture that.
“You’re a genius.”
“That’s why you love me.”
The sketch came out perfect—messy lines, soft shading, the two of them laughing under the lights. There was warmth in their eyes, brighter than any photo could’ve been.
Flux held it like it was treasure. Thomas thought Flux’s smile was the real treasure.
Eventually, they left the carnival, making their way to the edges of a grassy cliff, looking over the city. They sat down there to catch their breath, tossing all their collectables off to the side and basking in the cool breeze, in each other’s presence.
Dawn was creeping in—streaks of pale gold starting to pierce the navy sky. Flux’s smile faltered.
“Ugh. Stupid-ass vampirism,” he muttered. “Can’t even enjoy a sunrise with you. We should go before I start sizzling.”
“Wait,” Thomas grabbed Flux’s hand before he could run off. He took a moment, rummaging in his bag.
Flux frowned. “What are you doing?”
Soon, Thomas pulled out a large black umbrella and popped it open.
“Surprise.”
Flux blinked. “Did you pull that out of your ass?”
Thomas grinned. “Prepared boyfriend privileges.”
Flux laughed despite himself and moved towards him. They sat there beside each other, squished together as best they could under the umbrella. Sunlight spilled through the edges of the fabric, just enough to paint gold on Thomas’s face.
“See?” Thomas said softly. “Now we can watch it together.”
Flux smiled, even brighter than before, a brightness better than the sun could offer Thomas. Flux wasn’t even really looking at the damn sunrise either, his gaze softening with something else. Adoration.
“Thomas,” Flux said slowly, carefully, feeling the name so familiar on his tongue. “I love you.”
Thomas’s heart stuttered. Despite having been together a few weeks, vulnerability was still something more difficult for the both of them to come by.
He blushed, feeling the weight of Flux’s gaze all too heavy, all too genuine. But, Thomas didn’t hesitate as he responded.
“I love you too, Flux.”
Carefully, avoiding stepping out of the shadow of the umbrella, Flux leaned in close, closing the gap between them. Thomas brought his other hand to Flux’s shoulder to steady himself, but kissed him back just as fervently.
Safe to say, it was the perfect date Thomas, and Flux, had hoped for. They forgot why they had brought the umbrella out in the first place.