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"After this," Ren groaned, "no more hiking."
Goro elbowed him in the side as they waited in line for the gondola. "Hiking is fun, and it definitely isn't as strenuous as hunting Shadows, so quit complaining."
"But all we've been doing on this leg of the trip is hiking!"
"You've killed god. Hiking should be the easiest thing in the world for you."
"My legs still hurt from hiking yesterday," he whined, pressing his forehead against Goro's shoulder. "At least killing god didn't give me knee pain!"
Goro had seen Ren jump out of a window, do unnecessary backflips for the sake of doing backflips, and had most recently watched him - not even ten minutes ago - do perfect vertical splits with virtually no effort whatsoever. That was not going to stop Ren from complaining about hiking.
"You're the more athletic out of the two of us," he grumbled, slightly bitter at the lack. "You go on runs with Sakamoto and do gymnastics with Sumire."
"You're one to talk, Mr. It's-Bouldering-Not-Rock-Climbing." Each word was punctuated with a poke in the chest.
"Bouldering involves shorter climbs and a lack of safety ropes. The general idea is that if you fall, it's a small enough distance that you're able to recover quickly. It's strength training rather than a thrill risk, although some do it for the adrenaline."
Ren watched him intently as he went further in depth about the differences. Goro could probably read the dictionary cover to cover and he'd still be just as enraptured at the sound of his rival's voice. Goro would always dismiss compliments, always sure that people were making things up to get in his good graces - or even worse, that they were pitying him. Ren wanted to shower him with praise, wanted to spoil him rotten at every chance he got, but he knew that he shouldn't overwhelm him. This trip was a compromise of sorts - a way for them to both become more accustomed to each other.
On any other day, having the gondola to themselves might have been romantic. Ren might have cuddled in close, and Goro would have rolled his eyes and called him clingy and hugged him back and they would watch the landscape unfold the higher they climbed. It would have been a beautiful sight, something breathtaking and heartstopping and Ren would have said something cheesy about it looking like something out of a movie and he'd harp on how sweet it had been for Goro to pick somewhere so lovely (where he would begin to complain again when they started hiking).
If it had just been the rain, it might have been fine. Rain wasn't still or despondent or eerie.
The fog was thick, swallowing up everything in the distance, nothing but grey as far as their eyes could see.
"Wow," Ren whistled as they stepped off the gondola and out into the open, masking his unease like it was second nature to him. "What a view."
Fog was...well, it was fog. Clouds that happened to drift a little too close to the ground. And it was vast and open and, frankly, unsettling. So of course he was going to laugh it off, just a little bit.
"Shut up." Goro frowned, his brows pinching together. "Although I'm inclined to agree that this is rather disappointing. If we see a man with his head shaped like a pyramid, we should leave."
Ren looked horrified. "Did you just make a video game reference? You?!"
"Why is that surprising?"
"Babe, you're stunning, but you dress like a library grandpa and the only video game you've played that isn't 8-ball or solitaire is Featherman Seeker."
"I play games!" Goro protested.
"Name one."
Goro buried his face in his scarf, grumbling under his breath unintelligibly. Ren nuzzled their noses together, giving his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips. Sometimes he couldn't believe that he was in a relationship with Goro after all that had happened, but he was, which meant that he could kiss the detective as many times as he wanted. Goro always froze up when he did it, also not quite believing it, his face turning a brilliant shade of red.
It was all so new, something that still needed getting used to. It was more so the excitement of it all. Goro was a bit more cautious about all of it, but that was just how he was and Ren didn't take any of his hesitancy as something that he was doing wrong. His partner would adapt in his own time, on his own terms, and Ren was willing to wait as long as he needed to. It was a surprise Goro had rushed into this relationship, but after everything that had happened, neither of them wanted to waste any more time. That didn't mean that he was anywhere adjusted to dealing with Ren, rival or not.
It wasn't a secret that Ren was the more...ridiculous of the two, as Goro liked to say. And it was always meant to be said in jest, a light-hearted jab, but Ren didn't want to be a burden. So he steeled himself and pressed on. If his hand found Goro's, that was simply because he wanted to hold his hand.
If he weren't so nervous, it might have been a beautiful place. Even with the drab weather, everything was lush, green, and absolutely stunning. But the fog clung to everything and anything, threatening to claim them.
Ren was good with heights. Heights was where he thrived. But this looked like he could take one step off the ledge and not tumble safely down but instead disappear in the middle of freefall.
There was no sky. There was no sky and he was scared, waiting for the inevitable, waiting to be pulled into that endless expanse of nothing.
"You alright?" Goro asked, shocking him back to the present.
"Yeah," he managed to croak, not bothering to stop. "Little tired."
Ren focused on the trees. He focused on his breathing and keeping his face neutral, if not a little glum at the weather. He focused on his pretty boyfriend whose hair was getting a little damp from the moisture, and Ren focused on Goro's voice and how he kept pointing out different things as they pressed on, how angry Goro would get later at the way his hair would frizz and how horrible it would look. His boyfriend didn't look any way hindered by the weather, just upset that it hadn't been a clearer day.
He'll think you're dumb, a voice in the back of his mind whispered. Childish. He'll hate you for getting upset over something so stupid.
"I believe we might be lost," Goro said after some time of aimless walking, sighing in defeat. It wasn't so often that he would admit such a thing but Ren could see the tiredness on his face, the way his muscles were pulled in annoyance.
He's looking at you. He can tell you're weak. What kind of person gets upset at a bit of bad weather?
Ren perked up. If he could find a way back to the trail, ignoring the ice-cold pangs in his chest, then maybe he could salvage this trek up the mountain. Maybe he could show Goro that he wasn't some useless tagalong who couldn't pull his own weight.
"I- I think I know where we are." He did not. "This way."
"Wha- Ren!" He practically threw Goro in the direction he wanted to go in by their interlocked hands.
The last thing that Ren wanted to do was plunge even deeper into the gaping maw of nothingness that was currently swallowing up the path ahead of them, but he'd be damned if he looked stupid in front of his boyfriend, so he pressed on. Goro's hand was firm in his grasp, giving him the strength he needed. All he had to do was go, keep moving forward until they got back to the trail. All he had to do was keep going, away from the fog, away from the sky, away from here-
"Ren!" Goro's hand violently yanked him back. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
His heart was beating out of his chest. His hands were shaking. Just a few steps in front of him was the crumbling edge of a cliff, obscured by fog, hidden by the thick foliage. A second later and-
"What's going on with you? You've been silent for hours now and now suddenly you just bolt?! You could have died!"
"I'm sorry," he croaked, letting himself be pulled away from the edge.
"Don't be sorry - tell me what's wrong!"
He didn't mean to flinch. He was just...exhausted. spread thin. Goro seemed to realize his mistake, awkwardly pulling him into a hug.
"I just want to know you're okay. You scared me."
There wasn't any way around this.
"What do you know about the Hanged Man case?"
Goro frowned as he pulled away. "It was a police officer, wasn't it? What does that have to do with anything?"
Ren nodded, fiddling with the edge of his jacket. "There was that, and there was a kidnapping case that was related. Victims only disappeared on foggy nights. Whole town grew paranoid, especially after a lot of us got sick from a weird bout of it around the same time. I was little at the time so a lot of what the adults told me was hammered in. Don't stay out too late or you'll be the next one hanging from those wires. A few people started using it as a threat to scare children into behaving. The case was resolved by the end of the year and no one really mentions it now. But Inaba's old, and there's a shrine right in the middle of the shopping district. The people there are superstitious and we hadn't seen anything like that before so we took it seriously. We still have a curfew on foggy nights. We still lock our doors and shut our windows and make it so the fog doesn't seep in. And I know it's stupid, I know it can't hurt me - it's just fog - but it makes me anxious anyway."
"Oh, Ren." Goro took his hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "You should have just told me you were uncomfortable."
"It's stupid."
"It's not. If you weren't feeling well- did you think I would have made fun of you?"
"That's your favourite hobby, isn't it?" He flashed Goro a wide, trademark Joker-ish sort of grin and was met with a glare in return.
"You know I don't mean it, though?" Goro asked, an uncharacteristically hurt look flashing across his face. "Ren-"
"I just-" He blew out a huff. "I don't want you to see me as weak. I've done all these crazy things over the past year - it's just fog. I shouldn't be so scared of fog. I just wanted to prove I could handle myself, that I knew what I was doing. I- I don't want to mess up with you."
"Who cares about that?!" Ren had never seen Goro look so worried before, his face stricken with concern, and whatever remark he had instantly died. "I was worried you were going to fall, you idiot! You didn't have to impress me!"
A gloved hand cradled his face. It wasn't familiar leather but rather knitted wool, but it made Ren blush just the same.
"Look at me, you fool." His voice was soft, a tenderness that Ren had never heard from him before. "I consider you to be many things. I am...not a good person in the slightest, but you know that I never mean it when I say something insulting toward you. You are so many beautiful things. I have believed myself to be better than you for the longest time because I refused to see the good things in you, or because I simply refused to see how those traits could be something great. But I have never seen you as weak. Even when I assumed you were at your lowest, when I thought I- when I thought that I would lose you, I never saw weakness. I saw things I once thought were unnecessary, that were foolish, and I realize now how wrong I was. But even then, I did not see you as weak. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met, and even if you weren't, you are allowed to be scared. You never have to prove yourself to me. I know you're a worthy opponent who will always rise to the challenge. And when you stumble, don't you ever think for a second that I would be so shallow that I would hold such a thing over you."
There wasn't a lot that could leave Ren speechless like this. He desperately floundered for something to say, coming up empty, and all he could do was gawk.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Goro blushed, avoiding looking at him. "Stop staring!"
"If you say so." Ren lurched forward and kissed him, a startled gasp escaping Goro as he stumbled, catching the thief and pulling him closer. He tasted like petrichor and the tea that they'd had at breakfast and for the first time since they had exited the gondola, he felt happy. He felt safe. To Ren, it was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, something he couldn't get enough of. It made him feel safe, forgetting all about the fog surrounding him, if only for a moment.
"If we're speaking clearly," Goro said, clearly his throat. He was flushed a lovely red, and Ren knew it wasn't only from the cold.
"I am absolutely terrified I'm going to fall over the edge of this cliff right now," he said, and Ren burst out laughing, taking a few steps forward and wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close and peppering his face with kisses. Goro pushed him away the same way Morgana did when he was fed up with being given affection. "I'm not nervous while bouldering, and I've done a few difficult courses before, but looking at it like this, right down into just- just-"
"The void?"
"The void," Goro spat, and Ren laughed again. "That is truly haunting. Never in all my life have I ever been so uncomfortable with fog!"
"Now you know how I feel."
Goro held him close, squeezing him so tight it hurt, Ren grinning just out of sight.
"I'm cold and wet and we should have cut our losses when we saw how much it was supposed to rain today," he admitted. "I should have said something before about my discomfort, should have been more attentive to the fact that you were uncomfortable, but I just kept talking and trying to interest you with my stupid little facts about bugs."
"You're fine, Goro. More than fine. You're allowed to not be perfect all the time."
"But I want to be perfect!"
"And I love you for it," he assured gently. "But I'm not going to up and leave just because something doesn't go right. I didn't tell you about the fog before. How could you have known?"
"I'll have you know," he said haughtily, letting out an annoyed huff. "I am a famous detective."
"Was a famous detective. Sorry, honey, but you're a has-been."
"And I'm damn proud of it...you know, you're allowed to not be perfect either, especially if you're doing it for my sake."
"But I want to be perfect," Ren echoed with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, Goro huffing in annoyance.
"Insufferable hypocrite."
"You love me."
Goro chuckled. "I do."
"Wanna go back to the hotel and watch shitty movies on pay-per-view?"
"Let's find someone who actually knows how to get back to the trail. And only if we get snacks on the way back," he said, scoffing, "or else someone will be pestering me for food later."
"A romantic night in with nice warm blankets and all the chocolate we can eat," he promised.
Goro smiled, something shining in his eyes. "Sounds lovely."