Dave's emotions are a storm he doesn't know how to contain.
The shadow of a shared moment, a glimpse of vulnerability he never intended to show, still lingers in the air. Heinz stands before him, wearing that perfect mix of longing and melancholy. He doesn't say a word—just watches him, with an intensity that cuts straight through him. And that's when Dave feels it: the carefully built wall of certainty he had so meticulously constructed starting to crack.
"Heinz…" He tries to speak, to break the spell, to reestablish the distance between them—but the words get stuck somewhere in his throat.
Heinz gazes at him with a calm that's almost cruel, as if he's patiently waiting for Dave to realize something on his own, to admit a desire he's been too afraid to face. Dave wants to step back, but something holds him there—a desperate need to understand, to find out if this pull he feels is more than just confusion.
"You don't have to say anything," Heinz murmurs, his voice soft, almost painful. "But you know I'm not just another option. You know this isn't just some accident of circumstance, no matter how hard you try to deny it."
Dave swallows hard, trying to ignore the way his pulse pounds in his ears, the urge dragging him toward irrational surrender. But every step closer to Heinz feels like a step further from the reason he's here in the first place: Axel. And yet, the thought of Axel now feels distant, like he's become an abstract version of what should be, rather than what is.
"This doesn't change anything," Dave mutters, as if saying it out loud will make it true. "What just happened… it doesn't mean anything."
Heinz gives a faint smile, tinged with unmistakable sadness. He takes a step closer, eyes never leaving Dave's, challenging him without a single word.
"Funny, isn't it?" he replies, voice somewhere between a tease and something far more sincere. "You can face monsters, cross dimensions, stare death in the eye—and that's all fine. But one second of real vulnerability… that terrifies you. Admitting that here, with me, you could have something different. Something you've maybe always wanted but never dared to reach for."
The words cut through Dave like a blade. Each syllable digs deeper, stirring that unbearable discomfort—the creeping realization of how little he knows himself. In this twisted dimension, his identity feels fractured, his goals blurred, and even the concept of home seems to slip through his fingers. And what if Heinz is right? What if this—he—is offering something Dave has never let himself imagine, something Axel, even in his own world, has never given him?
Dave shakes his head, as if the motion alone could drive the thought away.
"You have no idea what you're talking about. You don't know what it means to be me. This… you… you're just a distraction. I'm not going to fall for some fantasy that has no place in my life."
But even to his own ears, the words sound hollow. His defiance doesn't have the sharp edge it used to, like the strength behind his denial has been eroded by the undeniable truth: a part of him wants Heinz in a way that terrifies him.
Heinz doesn't look surprised—just resigned, almost compassionate.
"Maybe you just want to believe that. It's easier than admitting that someone else could matter to you… as much as Axel," he murmurs, every word lashing against Dave's defenses. "But you know that's not true."
Dave steps back, as if putting physical space between them might shield him from the truth Heinz just laid bare. But every movement feels like it draws him closer to the thing he's been avoiding. His world has always been a careful balance of contradictions, of warring instincts—and now, for the first time, it feels like his own heart has become the battlefield. Axel has always been his purpose, the one constant shadow guiding him forward. But Heinz—this stranger who shouldn't have any power over him—has somehow shaken the very foundation of who he is.
For a moment, the thought slides through his mind, uninvited but impossible to ignore: What if I just give in? What if, just for one night, he lets go of everything else, surrenders to this reckless pull and sees where it leads? Maybe that would be enough to quiet the storm, to refocus himself on the goal of getting home.
"Are you staying… or leaving?" Heinz asks softly, his voice carrying the full weight of Dave's confusion without judgment, only understanding.
Dave looks into his eyes as if searching for answers hidden there. Every part of him screams that he should go, that distance is the only logical choice—but something keeps him rooted in place, something deeper, stronger than reason.
And then, without thinking, he lets instinct take control. In a single motion, he closes the distance between them, pulling Heinz into a tense, breathless embrace, filled with all the restrained need that's been building since they first crossed paths. Their lips meet, and in that kiss, Dave feels something like release, like for one impossible instant, every doubt and fear melts in the heat between them.
But unlike that first kiss, this one is deeper—more raw, more desperate, more real. They lose themselves in it, caught somewhere between hunger and denial, love and doubt, consumed by something neither of them fully understands or dares to name.
Yet when they finally break apart, reality crashes back down around Dave like a tidal wave. He's tangled in contradictions, unable to define what he really feels, much less what to do with it. But one thing is clear now: whatever this is between him and Heinz, it's awakened something he won't be able to forget. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it's just a distraction from what matters. But deep down, even if he never says it out loud, Heinz has given him something he never thought possible before—a glimpse of an alternative to his obsession with Axel. An alternative that terrifies him just as much as it tempts him.
Dave steps back, desire and caution flickering in his eyes. That same dangerous thought coils through his mind again: What if I just let go? What if, for one night, he gives in, lets himself forget everything else, falls headfirst into this dangerous attraction, and finds out where it leads? Maybe that would be enough to steady him again—to remind him of why he's here, why he needs to get home.
To Axel.