"Well you're just making it really fucking hard," Richie said with a faint laugh, because apparently no matter what his mood or what the situation was, he had it in him to flirt with Eddie. It was just in his bones at this point. Something, something, boner joke.
There were always going to be stumbles backward. Eddie didn't have to constantly be brave or not have anything to regret about his youth or the way he'd grown up, the way he'd never stood up to his mother or his wife. Richie had shit that he wasn't proud of either. He'd denied himself any kind of real happiness for a long time, had learned to make everything a joke-- especially his feelings. Had a slew of other shit he tried keeping buried. But it was -- it was just kind of fine. So long as they were trying. At least, that was what he figured.
"It was fucking stupid," he agreed, reaching behind himself and feeling around on the bed, hopefully to find his glasses. "But whatever. Sometimes that happens. I do stupid shit all day long and you still put up with me so -- don't worry about it?" Which seemed a bit flip, but that was how Richie was. He didn't like dwelling on shit that made him feel bad, and he wasn't -- would absolutely never drag Eddie through the mud for making mistakes. It'd happened, and now it was over. They could get on with their lives. Easy, breezy, beautiful: Covergirl. He found his glasses and plopped them onto his face, lenses smudged but his vision improving so greatly it didn't even matter.
And yeah, okay, Richie probably needed to brush his teeth, but he was taking that given slack because he deserved it. And because if Eddie stopped straddling him to make him get up and move Richie would, at risk of sounding dramatic, absolutely fucking die. The kiss good. Not overly demanding, not yet. Just firm and a little claiming and Richie hoped maybe a little reassuring. He didn't really know how much one could put into a kiss, but it felt worth a go. And then, of course, there was the need to breathe -- and if Richie was breathing, he was talking. "Fuck me. Jesus fucking christ, those shorts though."