tl;dr: sounds fucking gay is more like it
Maybe Zelos’s quiet words shouldn’t have come as such a shock to Malba. Maybe they didn’t come as a shock. After all, it was no real secret that the boy was attached to him for gods only knew whatever reason, for better or worse—most definitely worse for Zelos, anyway. Still, even if Malba was aware of the fact that the boy, angel, alien—his friend—relied on him to navigate the self-destructive darkness of his own mind and the unfamiliarity of the foreign world he had literally plummeted into, he…
It was wrong how much Malba wanted it to be true, wrong to want to believe he could possibly be the one to save Zelos—to continue supporting his damaged, beautiful fucking brat who deserved the world and more. It was dangerously naïve, really, how desperately he wanted it to end in something other than pain, tears, or flames. It was dangerous and wrong and he—he couldn’t stop himself from hoping, all the fucking same. God did he want it. He wanted it to be true.
“Y-yeah?” Malba whispered in response, his vibrant reds almost timidly taking in Zelos’s honest face, that shaky little smile. He stared for a long moment, lips parted, eyes a little watery, before abruptly tipping in close, resting his head back against the boy’s shoulder. “… I wanted to… wanted to right from the start, you know. Just wanted to see you… see you not look so fucking lost. Sounds weird, right?”