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The sun began to rise, signaling to the sleepy denizens of Bandle City that morning is upon them. Light filtered through every open curtain, letting those unfortunate enough to be in the path of the sun's rays know that the day has started. One of those affected by the sudden intrusion of light was Ziggs, who wasn't prepared to be woken up in this way. He kept his eyes steadfastly shut in the futile attempt to prolong his slumber. Try as he might, he was slowly waking up - at least the bed was still comfortable. While not fully conscious yet, he begins to take in his surroundings. He notices a slight musty aroma, as well as his pillow seeming rather firm. Strange, perhaps Rumble hasn't washed his bedsheets in a while; he wouldn't put it past the other yordle to hop right into bed after a day of work. Perhaps if he flipped his pillow-

Ziggs' eyes popped wide open when he felt his fist clenching fur. His suspicions about his bizarre sleeping arrangement were confirmed when he saw the lower part of the best friend's torso immediately in front of him. Panic grips him as he doesn't want Rumble finding him like this. He opens both of his fists and pulls them away slowly until he's able to push them against the bed to give himself leverage to move his head. He's nearly pulled himself away when Rumble's alarm clock goes off. The sound nearly gives him a heart attack as he's still too close to his friend for his comfort. He reaches to turn the alarm clock off when a blue-furred hand shoots out and instantly finds the off button. Ziggs has no time to react as Rumble is now awake.

"Mmpgh..." Rumble rubs his eyes with the balls of his hands. "Sorry... forgot... was... on..." He yawns. "There's no going back to sleep now..." He pushes himself into an upright position, head in his hands. "Oh man, I could've sworn I turned it off. Did it wake you up too?" Rumble peaks at Ziggs who just now realized that he hadn't moved since the alarm clock went off.

"Uh..." The tan-furred yordle shifted back to his part of the bed in an effort to distance himself from Rumble. The shock running through his body was dying down, and in its place was the feeling of being painfully erect. He was oblivious to the fact the entire time both of them were waking up and didn't want his friend to notice now. He angled the lower half of his body so that it was out of Rumble's view.

Rumble yawned again before leaning his head against the wall, eyes closed. "You seem to be more awake than I am right now, you go have a shower. I still need time to wake up." Ziggs felt like that was his best escape and slid off the foot of the bed. He grabbed some clothes and hurriedly made his way to the washroom.

~~~

The warm water cascading over the yordle's body did little to calm him down. His hand was fumbling over his turgid length, eager for release. He leans his other hand against the shower wall as he passionately humps into his hand. Rumble's scent was still freshly implanted into his mind as well as the image of the tented blanket past his friend's abdomen. Ziggs saw that Rumble was hard as well, but he wasn't sure if he even noticed in his sleep deprived state. He imagined what it would be like if he could've freed it from its clothed prison, but he'd never get the opportunity to find out. His thrusts slow down until he feels his cock expel his seed, splattering against the wall. He pants, catching his breath; it was probably the hardest he's ever jerked himself before.

Ziggs slides against the adjacent shower wall until he's sitting down, his erection slowly flagging. Oh how he wished he could tell Rumble how he felt! He didn't always feel this way, however. Back in the day they were merely inseparable best friends. They always got into trouble, causing mayhem and chaos. Well, organized chaos - they got tired of getting yelled at by their parents so they made sure to have fun away from the other city folk. Ziggs remembers those days fondly as they had the time of their lives. Things only changed when he took on a full time teaching position at the Yordle Academy. He remembers the first time he got homesick, how much he missed his friend. He spent the night reflecting and came to the conclusion that it felt more than just being away from a friend. Rumble had been there for a good portion of his life, through thick and thin, through ups and downs, through every weather pattern Mother Nature threw their way. Ziggs could always count on the confident blue-furred yordle, though perhaps he was a little too cocksure for his own good. Nevertheless, being away from him made Ziggs realize that they had something special, like a piece of his heart didn't made the trip with him and was stuck back home. It was an empty feeling that he couldn't fill no matter how much he tried.

That's why he always loved the summer break. Every year he'd come back home and get to have fun with his friend, showing each other everything they came up with over the past year. The only thing he couldn't do was say what was exactly on his mind, as he was afraid of losing the friendship he valued so dearly. Rumble knew he liked him, what's the point of being friends if he didn't? But Ziggs so desperately wanted to say more, that he liked Rumble than more than just a friend. Every year it was the same thing: he'd feel the courage build up inside of him, he'd get ready to say it, and then proceed to get nervous until he had to go home again. Rinse and repeat. This year though, his feelings were stronger than ever now. At that moment he made up his mind.

This year had to be the year.

Ziggs pulled himself up and cleaned every trace of himself from the shower walls. He then turned the water off and stepped onto the floor mat to dry himself off. The towel he chose was his favourite of the ones Rumble had in his linen closet. One day the yordle was asked by his parents to wash them by hand as a punishment for something (only time remembers), but as he took out his frustrations on the fabric he ended up stretching the material out. It made the towel softer, but since it still performed its intended task it was never thrown out. The way it caressed every nook and cranny of Ziggs body felt too good.

He had just finished clothing himself and was in the middle of brushing his teeth when he heard a knock at the door. He spit the toothpaste out, gargling with water to get rid of all the residue, and smiled nice and wide in the mirror to make sure his teeth were pearly white. Opening the door revealed Rumble still wearing nothing but his briefs as well as a towel draped over his shoulder.

"Took ya long enough." Rumble teased. Ziggs was doing everything in his power not to stare at his nearly naked body. "Thought ya fell asleep in there."

"Heh, just about." He faked a yawn to maintain the story.

"Anyway, I had a thought about what we could do today." Rumble motioned the tan-furred yordle to a side room where it looked like a mini laboratory was set up. There was a workbench, an area for mixing chemicals, a table with schematics...

"Hold up, what's all this?"

"Well, I was thinking we could have a little one vs. one. You show me what you've researched, and I'll show you the improvements I made to Tristy." He opens a cabinet above the workbench. "Behold." There were all sorts of different chemicals, all labeled, and all glowing a different colour. "These weren't cheap, lemme tell ya. Don't let them go to waste."

Ziggs eyes the blueprints beside him. He notices the date: last February. He brought over a copy of his work as he was eager to test his significantly more refined bombs out against Rumble's mech suit. He remembered that they were smaller than his older bombs so they were easier to throw, but they had a nasty habit of arcing over what he wanted to hit and therefore missing completely. He remedied that this year with a lighter case while moving back to their original size.

"Alright, you get to work while I go freshen up." Rumble patted his buddy's shoulder. "I wanna see what you're capable of." Ziggs nodded. He needed something to get his mind off his friend and this was the perfect distraction.

~~~

It was rather exciting to the tan-furred yordle. The Academy rules stated that all equipment testing must be done in the training room against training dummies as damage to any other room or any individual residing in the school was strictly prohibited. Not only was he practicing against another living being, but it's also against someone who has their own ideas ready to be put to the test. There were no safety concerns or data needing to be recorded - just pure, unadulterated chaos, exactly the way the yordle liked it.

The two friends faced off in a grassy meadow, away from the rest of the city. The land was adjacent to part of the magical forest as well as a cliff facing the ocean which provides ample reasoning for curious onlookers to stay away as their safety wasn't guaranteed. Clad head to toe in his armour, Ziggs eyed his opponent who was perched atop his mech. The suit looked polished, though he couldn't be sure if it was due to actually cleaning it regularly or if something was applied to the metal.

"So, how are we starting this thing?" Rumble asks while flipping a couple switches. "Is someone gonna-"

"GO!" Ziggs launches a bomb at Rumble's face. The other yordle barely has enough time to activate his Scrap Shield, watching the explosive detonate inches from himself. Ziggs was taken aback; Rumble always had a good reaction time, but his actions always had a delay as the different pieces of the mech talked to each other. This time there's still a delay, but it's significantly shorter than what he was anticipating. Rumble smirked when the shield was lowered.

"Like it? I put a loooooooot of work into it." He patted the front of the mech. "There ended up being a bunch of redundant cables that slowed down machine communication, so I removed them. Now Tristy's much more efficient." He leaned back in his driver's seat. "Still think you can take me on?"

"Hell yeah I do!" Ziggs hurls another bomb at the mech, this time aiming for its legs. He's confident that there'd be some structural damage, but when the smoke clears the leg looks completely untouched, save for a chemical residue where the bomb hit.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Rumble gloated. "She's completely coated. You're not gonna win this fight by brute forcing me down with bombs."

Ziggs huffed; he's fine with a challenge. And besides, thinking on the fly is what got him where he is today. That's all fine and dandy. What's bothering him is that his bombs are leaving some kind of gunk behind, he's never seen that before and is currently trying to think of why. 'It's like the explosions aren't hot enough and not all of the chemicals are burning properly'. He thinks to himself. While annoyed, there may be a way he could work that to his advantage. How he'd achieve that, he has no clue.

"My turn". Rumble thrusts a lever forward and shoots a harpoon out of the chest of his mech. Ziggs nimbly dodges out of the way and then scrambles to his feet as the next one comes his way. He thinks he can get the upper hand now until he notices the mech propelling itself over to him, landing right in front of the yordle. He gasps when he sees the arm with the mace swing at him, landing just shy of his leg. The other arm fires up the flamethrower, causing Ziggs to flee in the opposite direction. He barrages the mech with some more bombs only for more residue to stick to the outer casing, ultimately doing nothing. He stops himself suddenly as he's now facing the edge of the cliff. He's cornered in and about to lose the duel if he doesn't think of something. Then an idea hits him.

He turns to face Rumble, who's propelling towards him again. Ziggs backs up as far as he can without stepping off the edge and quickly lights a fuse behind his back. "Well, you've certainly ironed out a lot of the bugs in that thing."

"Yeah, I don't think I'm ever gonna lose now." Rumble sneered. "Ready to give up."

"Oh, this is far from over." Ziggs grins as wide as his mouth lets him. Rumble smirks at the reply.

"You're at least putting up a far better challenge than I thought you would." His arrogance dies down a bit when he notices a ticking sound coming from somewhere. "What the hell is that?" He mumbles to himself.

Zigg's Satchel Charge finally detonates and launches the bomb yordle over the mech. Rumble, caught off guard, tries to launch more harpoons but misses the marks both times. Ziggs lands on his feet and begins running away from Rumble, knowing that he'd be chased. He throws a minefield behind him to buy him some time.

Rumble walks through the minefield, feeling the slowing effects he's come to expect from it. What he wasn't anticipating was that any bomb he did step on exploded like a water balloon, coating the feet of his mech with more chemical residue. "Aw gross, what the hell is this stuff?" He gets annoyed enough to propel himself off the ground and right towards where Ziggs was running to. He can feel his mech get pelted with even more bombs, not slowing him down in the slightest, just fueling his irritation. He speeds up ahead of the running yordle, turning around to face him when he gets right in from of him.

"Gah!" Ziggs shrieks and slows himself down enough so that he's not within Rumble's reach. Rumble slowly advances, forcing his flamethrower ahead to try and get Ziggs.

"Alright, I dunno what all this stuff on Tristy is, but you're helping me clean it all up!" Rumble seemed to be nearing the peak of his frustration.

"I will, after I win this fight." Ziggs teased his friend, which only spurred Rumble on further. He's just about to launch another round of harpoons when he feels his controls start to get hot.

"Oh no, no no no no, not now! Ah!" He rips his hand away from the control levers. "Damn it, that's hot!" He waves his hand in an attempt to cool it down. All of a sudden the mech disappears in a cloud of grey smoke as Rumble is launched into the air. He lands a few meters away from Ziggs, utterly in shock of what just happened. He scrambles to his feet and checks himself over before seeing that the smoke was clearing. Tristy was knocked to the ground, every spot with the chemical gunk was now smouldering. "No!" He screams as he runs over to his mech and tries to start it again.

Ziggs pads his way over to Rumble who now has his suit back on its feet. "You okay?" He asks genuinely.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just..." Rumble reading the main display while flipping a bunch of switches and pressing a multitude of buttons. "Preliminary scan results... movement controls operational... Ah! Weapon controls are shot!" He covers his face with his hands. "All that work for nothing. Damn it!" He takes a deep breath before hopping back off the mech. He grabs Ziggs with both hands, a surprised expression upon the blue-furred yordle's face. "You have to tell me what just happened."

"Oh that's easy, I figured it out right after we started. I'd have to show you in person though, because you, my friend," He pokes Rumble in the nose, "got gypped."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Rumble clearly took offense to that statement.

"Come on. Your house, let's go." He says as he pushes Rumble back into his mech.

~~~

"So, lemme get this straight: These chemicals aren't what they're labeled as?" Rumble scratches his head. "They came like that though."

"And I believe you. Hell, I didn't even notice it at first." Ziggs takes a test tube containing a golden coloured solution. "This is supposed to be Phosphorus HexBenzoate." He dips his finger into the liquid and then puts it in his mouth. "For one, it doesn't even taste right." He holds out the test tube in front of Rumble.

"Uh, I'm gonna take your word on it." He sticks his hands up as if to block himself off from the chemical.

"No no, have a look." Ziggs points to the test tube. "Normally there's supposed to be small particulates floating around in the solution. In my haste, I completely missed that. This is something else entirely."

"Hold up, your bombs still worked though."

"For the most part. Whatever this chemical is, it doesn't have the properties needed for a complete explosion. That's what that residue was. The chemical dissolved into the explosive compound, but not fully."

"But it still exploded?"

"Obviously it's a close substitute, but it's not exact. The chemical not dissolving fully wouldn't have been an issue, however, it wasn't exploding when it should've. Whatever this is has a much higher explosion point than Phosphorus HexBenzoate, meaning that it takes more energy to explode. At least, much more than my fuses could produce."

Rumble thinks about it for a second before tilting his head back and sighing. "So you got me to overheat and that caused the explosion."

"Righto! I knew it was the one problem you can't fix, so I just had to get you to overwork your mech."

"Well shit, I had no idea this could be that complicated. Maybe I should've paid attention in class."

"Oh pfft, you'd never learn this here. Took me getting to the Academy before I got to use any of the fun chemicals. It's not something you'd find in Bandle, so don't feel bad. Its volatile nature comes from being in contact with hex crystals for a lengthy period of time, so I doubt anyone besides a trader would ever get their mitts on a sample." He grabs a beaker full of a neon pink liquid. "This is the easiest way to tell if you got the right chemical." He carefully pours the contents of the test tube into the beaker.

Rumble sees this and panics, collapsing into a ball facing away from his friend. He breathes heavily for a moment before realizing that he's still in one piece. Slowly he gets back up and places his hand on the table as he's still a bit shaky. "Wait, nothing happened."

"Exactly." Ziggs put the test tube and beaker back in the cabinet. "You'd know you have the right chemical as this entire room would've been blown up when I mixed it."

"Well warn me before you do that!" Rumble shouted exasperatedly. Just then Ziggs gave him a hug, which caught him off guard.

"Hey, you don't need to go to all this trouble for me. I know what I'm looking for, I can handle myself." Rumble returned the embrace.

"Yeah, alright. I'll stick to what I know." He lets go of Ziggs. "Alright, change outta that armour, I wanna show you something."

~~~

Rumble had taken Ziggs to the magical forest on the outskirts of the city. His mental map helped him remember the area since he came here often in his youth, but he couldn't quite remember where the path led. The only way to find out was to continue travelling, but all the uphill walking was starting to tire him out. Rumble remained resolute, however, as he kept pace the entire way up, wherever 'up' is.

"Yo Rumble." Ziggs called out. "Are we almost there yet? I haven't worked my legs like this in years and they're really getting sore!"

"Almost there! I promise." He replied in a sing-song voice. Ziggs was beginning to wonder if whatever Rumble wanted to show him was worth all the pain in his legs.

Surprisingly to the tan-furred yordle, it was only a short amount of time before they exited the forest and came upon a clearing. Up ahead he could see that the path ends... And that's when it hits him. It's the escarpment on the outskirts of town: it has a gentle slope up to the top on one side, but a treacherous, instant decline on the other. Ziggs' heart beats a little faster as the memories come flooding back, giving him enough energy to push his way to the top of the hill.

"Oh man, I haven't been up here in ages!" Ziggs reminisced. It was the one spot the two of them came to when they wanted to find peace away from the rest of the townsfolk. "I completely forgot about this place."

"Figured you'd appreciate it." Rumble sits down on the grass, feet dangling over the edge. Ziggs follows suit, casually looking down at the drop as he does. The height never bothered him as a child and it certainly doesn't now. "I still come up here when I wanna be by myself. I know I live alone these days, but the peace and quiet up here can't be beat."

"I hear ya. I sometimes go to the top of my apartment complex when I wanna be by myself. I get weird looks at times, but it helps." Ziggs was idly swinging his legs back and forth when he dislodged a rock with his foot and watched it fall to the ground below. This reminded him of something Rumble did years ago which still makes him smile to this day. "Hey, remember when we skipped school on picture day?" He snickered.

"Oh don't remind me." Rumble pinches the bridge of his nose. "I don't know how you talked me into it; you had your picture taken but I still needed mine done." Ziggs was full on laughing at this point.

"Yeah, and you almost forgot about it, so you jumped over the edge and tumbled all the way down."

"I don't understand why my parents were so upset over a picture. Seriously, my grad picture looks so much better, I don't know why it mattered." Rumble scowled. "You know, I remember you getting in trouble from being up here too."

"Well if you remember that, then you'd remember I came up here looking for you because your parents asked me if I knew where you went." Ziggs pointed out.

"Yeah, well, my parents weren't expecting me to be home an hour later. You went home after seven."

"Yeah, they were none too pleased." Ziggs looks out at the city; the view was honestly breathtaking. Without having to move his head in the slightest he's able to see every part of the city, from the port where the ships come in, to the residential section where all of Bandle's inhabitants live, to the edge of the city closest to the Sablestone Mountains, to the newer part of the city currently in development. It was a picturesque scene, something that one might find on a postcard if they ever decided to stop by.

It had grown silent between the two friends for a couple minutes, so Ziggs decided it would be a good idea to talk about the developments in Rumble's life over the past year. His mind was still on the events of this morning, so he figured that if he was able to build up his confidence through conversation then it wouldn't be so difficult to explain how he truly felt. That was the hope, at least.

It took him a few seconds, but he thinks he knows a good starting point. "So, did you ever ask out Tristana like you said you would?"

"That, uh, didn't actually go as I had hoped it would." He runs his hand through his hair. Ziggs cringed when he heard that. On one hand that gives him a chance, but on the other hand he knew how nerve wracked Rumble was about asking her out. The experience probably crushed him.

"Hey, I'm sorry to hear that." He rubs Rumble's closest shoulder. "I'm gonna hazard a guess and say she's with Teemo then."

"See, I thought that too, but it turns out she's not. She just spends most of her time with the Megling Commandos so she doesn't really have the time to hang out with anyone. I don't really mind it since they do protect the city."

Ziggs smirked. "Do people really attack Bandle all that often? I mean, as far as settlements go, we're pretty isolated. We're sandwiched between a mountain range and a giant body of water."

"You forget pirates exist. Bilgewater constantly wreaks havoc on our trading ships, though the number of incidents has dropped steadily over the years." Rumble chuckled as he remembered something. "You gotta see it when the Commandos board a ship and toss all the pirates overboard."

Ziggs giggled. "Not gonna lie, that sounds pretty awesome."

"So how about you?" Rumble inquired. "Are you seeing anyone?" Ziggs froze, he hadn't thought that was going to be asked that. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his system as he was incredibly nervous.

"Ah, well, I don't really h-have time since I teach every day. Pretty busy, ya know?"

"Ah, fair enough. You do work yourself pretty hard."

"It's worth it! I work my ass off for two-thirds of the year, which means I get to spend four whole months back home whereas other yordles barely get a month to relax." Ziggs could feel his breathing hasten. "It's honestly the best part of my year and what I always look forward to. I get to come home, meet up with my parents, visit friends, like you."

"Yeah, I get that." Rumble stares wistfully over the cityscape. "It can get pretty boring when you're not here." His view dips to the edge of the city before shutting his eyes. He takes a deep breath before sitting completely upright, a stoic expression on his face. "Ziggs, I can't hide it any longer. It's taken me some time to realize this, but... I love you." Ziggs was at a loss for words. Not only was he beaten to the punch for expressing his feelings, but he wasn't expecting Rumble to be harbouring the same emotions that he was. "I thought that Tristana rejecting me would've been the end of the world, but it didn't feel like that at all, and I couldn't explain why. I took some time off work to try and figure out why, and I ended up coming to the conclusion that, while I wasn't really respected or even liked by a lot of other people, you've always been there for me. You've always been patient with me, you've helped me with all the crazy projects we worked on when we were younger, you've told me things that I needed to hear, whether or not I wanted to hear them... You've helped me become a better person, and without you I'd probably be a recluse that hates everyone." He turned to his friend, only to see him frozen in stunned silence, mouth slightly agape. "Um, you're allowed to talk, you know..." Ziggs rapidly blinked a few times before forcibly exhaling, not even realizing that he was holding his breath at all.

"Wait, do you really mean all this?"

"Yeah, I mean, the feelings were always there, I just didn't think abo-oh shit!" Rumble was cut off mid-sentence as Ziggs tackled him to the ground. The tan-furred yordle erupted into a chorus of laughter, punctuated by the tears of joy running down his cheek. Now it was Rumble's turn to be caught off guard; he was expecting either acceptance or rejection, but not laughing.

Ziggs clutched his friend close to his chest. "Oh Rumble, I'm so happy! I've felt this way for so long and I had no idea how to tell you."

"You have? How come you never mentioned anything before?"

"Well to be honest, I was kinda scared it would ruin our friendship." He hugged Rumble just a little bit tighter. "I've heard over and over of someone professing their love to their friend, only for them to not feel the same way, and then it gets tense between them, and then they stop being friends. And I really didn't want that to happen to us." Rumble pushed at the sides of Ziggs torso as a signal that he wanted to see his face.

"Why do you think that would happen to us?"

"I don't know." Ziggs sighed while looking away. "It's just... the fear was always there."

"Well, hey." Rumble's hand guided Ziggs' chin until they were face to face again. "Lemme prove to you that nothing will ever happen between us." Rumble then gently pressed his lips to his friend's, and while Ziggs was startled at first, he quickly accepted the embrace. While their lovemaking was rather sloppy (as they had both never done this before) there was a definite passion felt between them, like a fire that ignited their souls. It just felt right.

It wasn't much longer before Ziggs broke off the kiss and instead booped Rumble's nose with his own. "I really liked that. I wish we did it sooner."

Rumble chuckled. "I don't think you can really rush these kinda things. Besides, it made it all the more satisfying now." He shifted himself back into a sitting position with Ziggs doing the same. He migrated his hands over to Ziggs and meshed his fingers with the other yordle's.

"I think this is the best I've ever felt." Ziggs fully clasped his hands with Rumble's.

"There was something else I wanted to surprise you with. Hold on a sec." The blue-furred yordle stood up as to get better access to his front pocket. He pulls out a slip of paper and motions for Ziggs, who has since also stood up, to read it.

Ziggs takes the piece of paper and unfolds it. Ziggs gasps when he first notices the letterhead for Bandle City's Sangrasso restaurant. "This is the most expensive restaurant in the city. Rumble, did you make reservations here?"

"Why don't you read on and find out?" He delivered with a coy smile. As Ziggs continues reading, he sees that it is indeed a reservation. This, however, is not the most shocking part. The part that really gets Ziggs is the date listed on the paper: today at 8:00 pm.

"You scheduled it for tonight?!" Ziggs exclaimed, dumbstruck. "Rumble, I don't know what to say. How were you even able to get the reservation for tonight? You didn't even know I was coming home."

"Well, I had made the reservation later in the month, but with you getting here yesterday I got really anxious and wanted to push it up as far as they could. They ended up having a spot today, so I agreed to take it." He places his hands around Ziggs' waist. "You don't have to say anything, but I would be honoured if you came with me as my boyfriend." Ziggs was so ecstatic that he wrapped his arms as tight as he could around the other yordle, scrunching the paper in the process. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

~~~

Before the day turned into night, the two yordles took it upon themselves to go out and get some nicer clothes as neither of them really had anything appropriate to wear. They visited their resident tailor, Gustav, who had them fitted in tuxedos for the evening. Rumble was thrilled with how they looked, but Ziggs disagreed with that sentiment when it came to himself. He became increasingly uncomfortable the closer they got to the restaurant, with Rumble noticing Ziggs fidgeting with his bow tie.

"Stop." The blue-furred yordle sighed. He walked up to his boyfriend and swatted his hands away before adjusting the bow tie.

"Gah, this is just way too formal for me." Ziggs whispered in a neurotic tone.

"Isn't your title the 'Dean of Demolitions'? Don't you have to dress appropriately for that?"

"What the Academy requires I wear is far from what one would call 'professional'. I make things go boom. You can't do that when you're restricted in a suit and tie."

Rumble pulls on the ends of the bow tie to ensure that it holds. "Well I think this makes you look handsome." He gives the other yordle a quick kiss on the forehead. "Just relax, this is one night being fancy and then we go back to wearing our normal clothes." He grabs onto Ziggs' hand before walking inside.

They saunter up to the maître d', who's currently scribbling something down in his book. He looks up to see the two approaching yordles. "Reservation for two?" He inquires.

"It'll be under 'Finnegan'." Rumble replies. The grey-furred yordle searches the page he's on with a pen in his hand until he finds the name and scratches it out. He then grabs two menus from the stand and, with a warm smile, motions for the other two to follow him.

Ziggs and Rumble are seated at their table and are then given time to look over their menus. "Well this place look really nice." Rumble mentions as he looks around the room to the ornate statues along the walls. "It feels great to get out and try something new every once in a while." He says while opening his menu. His mood changes when he sees the cost of each food item. "Yeesh, with these prices, this is definitely a 'once in a while' thing."

"I don't think I recognize anything on this menu." Ziggs mutters as he leafs through the pages. "There isn't even a section for sandwiches."

"You thought of burgers too, didn't you?" Rumble chuckled. "Well, I guess this is our chance to try something new."

"Man, I was gonna order something alcoholic, but they put wine in everything."

"Do you know what you want?" Before Ziggs has a chance to answer, the waiter comes back and asks them if they're ready to order. He starts with Rumble who just points to one of the options. "I'm not even gonna attempt to pronounce that." He remarks. He then asks Ziggs, who orders a steak with sautéed mushrooms and onions. When asked if they'd like to peruse at the wine list, they look at each other and agree to stick with water. The waiter then takes their menus and walks back to the kitchen.

"You know," Ziggs starts, "I don't think I ever asked you why you built that garage to work on your mech suit."

"Oh man, I've always wanted to, but my parents said no. I was lucky enough to work in the basement. I dunno why the previous owners needed a room quite that large, but it was perfect for me to work in."

"How big exactly is your basement?"

"I think I measured it to be... fifteen feet high?" He rubs his chin while thinking about it.

"Holy shit..." Ziggs chortles. "Believe me when I say that that's excessive, even for humans."

"Right? I dunno what kind of wild parties they had to require that much room, but working down there made my parents happy. I mean, they weren't thrilled that I was making a lot of noise, but they were able to keep an eye on me and know I wasn't getting into trouble, which helped them sleep easier at night. Plus I had ample room to move around in Tristy."

"So, why the garage then?"

"Well, the basement itself was more than enough room for me to test all of the suit's functions, but you know I can't just walk through the house with it; Tristy's way too big for the stairs going to the upper hallway. So, I used the stairway around back that leads outside. Only problem was that I was constantly making adjustments that kept making the suit bigger-" He holds out his hands to show an approximation of its width. "While the stairs stayed the same size." He shrinks the distance between his hands by half. "Also, they're wooden and rotting, so I was like 'forget this' and got the garage built. Now all I have to do is walk in and out of it, no more stairs."

"Thinking about fixing the stairs? It sounds kinda dangerous to leave them in that state."

"Eh." The blue-furred yordle shrugged his shoulders. "I never use that stairwell anymore, so it's not high on my to-do list. Maybe someday." The two of them continued talking for a little while longer before their food arrived. By then, both of them had built up an appetite and dug right in.

"Oh wow, this is great!" Ziggs exclaimed while chewing a piece of his steak. "Easily worth the price."

"For $35, this better be the best chicken breast I've ever eaten." Rumble snarked while cutting a piece off. The chicken itself was wrapped in prosciutto with mozzarella covered on top, marinated in some kind of booze, Rumble presumes. Taking a bite, he notices how juicy the chicken is and how the flavours interact with each other, being savoury while not overly salty or sweet either. He smiled. "Definitely worth."

"Hey, check it out." Ziggs holds up a slice of an oddly blue-coloured mushroom with his fork. "Ever seen this before?"

"Nah, that's weird. Maybe a mutation or something."

"Maybe." Ziggs uses his fork and knife to try and put the mushroom pieces back together. When he does, he notices a distinct yellow polka-dot pattern along the cap. "Weird. Never seen this before."

"How's it taste?" Ziggs stabs the entire mushroom with his fork onto a piece of steak before chewing and swallowing it. He chases it with water and was about to speak, before suddenly grimacing. Rumble couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Ziggs' face. "Did it go bad or something?"

"I dunno man... It just had this weirdly sweet aftertaste. I'd let you try if I had another one."

"Haha, I believe you, don't worry." Rumble chuckled. "I hope it doesn't take away from the rest of your meal."

The two of them continued chatting during their meal until they finished and were ready for the bill. Rumble said he'd pay for the both of them, an act that made Ziggs blush profusely (Rumble mentioned on the way home that it looked adorable).

Once home they immediately headed for Rumble's room, barely entering it before taking their clothes off. They both stripped completely naked and embraced each other in a kiss, one both of them clearly wanted as both of their dicks were at full mast. They migrated onto the bed, where they began pressing their bodies against each other. Eventually they broke off the kiss and cuddled against each other, reveling in the passion they both shared.

"I'm really happy I have you." Rumble sounded positively ebullient as he wrapped his arm around his boyfriend. "I had a lot of fun tonight."

"I did too." Ziggs said as he nuzzled against Rumble's torso. "I think we oughta get some sleep." He attempted to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah, I'm pretty beat." Rumble reaches over to flick the switch on the lamp, turning off the remaining light in the house. "G'night Ziggs, I love you."

"I love you too, Rumble."