A/N: June is a nonbinary character, and they are referred to using they/them pronouns.

“Camp and tragedy are antitheses. There is seriousness in Camp… but there is never, never tragedy.”

 — Susan Sontag, “Notes on Camp”

The two never established any dressing protocol, though they intended to beat each other in style every time they hung out. Agni, lavishly decorated with lace, soft like a painting. June, adorned with silver, sharp like a photograph. The two’s fashion choices, more often than not, were respected, yet scorned, by the other. They joked from time to time that they broke up for this sole reason. Though it nonetheless seemed to be half the reason they got together to fuck these days. 

“I like your outfit,” June remarked, eyeing Agni up and down. He wore a white shirt, ruffled along the collar and the sleeves, and unbuttoned one more button than it really should have been, exposing a neck decorated with layered pearl chokers and necklaces. It would have been a histrionically awful shirt, if not for the pattern of the ruffles imitating that of an Iris Van Herpen design. He sported dress shoes and brown trousers, his shirt half-tucked in at the high—waist beltline.  

Agni stood at the opposite end of the door, the distance between them emanating a palpable emptiness. Still, he grinned, lifting up the takeout he brought to eye level—a plastic bag stamped with overlapping red “thank you”’s—with flair, hitting different poses as if he were modelling a purse. “You too.” 

June hummed in confirmation, looking down at their sweater. It was black but nearly sheer and ripped and shredded across the body. Safety pins and charms adorned it, chains criss-crossing along their chest. A simple silver-lock necklace wrapped around their neck. Multiple belts adorned their waist and stacks of silver rings were placed meticulously on their long, thin fingers. Black ribbons decorated their ankle socks. 

The clothing was both a shield and an invite—come undress me. I dare you. I bet you can’t.

June motioned Agni to come in. 

Agni knew exactly where to sit: the left side of June’s beaten up brown couch, where he’d always settled. June’s cozy apartment glowed with purple light. 

“You’ve decorated,” Agni said, looking at the fairy lights draped over the back wall window. The lights were stuffed into empty orange pill bottles. Another one of June’s depraved DIY projects. “Nice.”

“Why, thank you.”

“How have you been?” June, meanwhile, poured out two glasses of wine. They passed one to Agni before settling down on the far right side of the couch.

Swallowing, Agni picked up his wineglass, taking a large sip. “Saw my sister today.” 

“Is she getting better?” 

“Yeah, the symptoms are definitely going away. I just wish I could’ve stayed longer.”

“But it was good to see her?”

Agni smiled, and it said everything that it needed to. 

“Ah. I’m glad.” 

While Agni downed the rest of the wine, they took the time to revel in the silence, which felt like a newfound joy in their reborn relationship. June reached under the coffee table and pulled out a large wooden box.

Agni furrowed his eyebrows. “What is that?”

“Well. We’re two insufferable switches and we don’t know how to make up our minds, and I thought the idea of competition might make us more horny. Because we’re depraved.” Opening the box revealed a deck of cards and a set of neatly placed-together poker chips. “Texas hold’em. Whoever wins gets to be in charge tonight.”

“Sexually?”

“Sexually.”

Agni stared June straight in the eyes. “Okay, you’re on. I’m gonna win, though.”

June, accustomed to such bravado, shot back a ‘we’ll see’ glance and took out the box’s contents. “Just promise to not go all in immediately. Let’s at least try to make this fun.”

“That’s what she said.” 

June looked straight at Agni in pure judgement. Without a change in expression, they pressed their middle and pointer fingers against their lips, sticking their tongue out and flicking it up and down between their fingers. Agni laughed, the ruffles on his shirt sleeves bouncing in unison with his shoulders. 

It had been that back and forth from before the breakup. That push and pull. That banter. 

“Okay. I’ll be big blind, you be little blind. Check.” June put two white chips between them. 

“Call.” Agni put two in as well. 

Check, check. Agni raised conservatively and won when the two revealed their cards: two pair, high card. June, fueled by revenge, raised higher the next round, with their bluffing tactics effectively making Agni fold. Grinning, June took the chips in the middle and brought them to their side of the couch. 

“Raise fifty. Someone’s in a good mood,” Agni remarked. 

June grinned, mordantly. “Bro. You’re missing out on all the times when it hurts real bad.” Staring up at their pill string lights, June absent-mindedly placed in a couple more chips. “Fun fact, but you make me feel good.” They tugged on the chain around their neck, before bringing their arms across their chest, hiding its holes. 

Agni, meanwhile, fondled his chips, turning them over in his palms. “You do too.”

The two of them hesitated, but it was not a hesitation marked by the thought of ‘you mean nothing to me.’ It was more so a ‘you can’t mean this much to me. Not anymore.’

“All in,” Agni finally said, pushing his chips to the center. June cocked their head. “What? You said give it a few rounds. It’s been a few.”

June fondled with the two cards they had, contemplating whether their hand was strong enough to beat out such a confident wager. They didn’t take long to also push their chips in, almost as if they could read Agni’s mind. The two flipped their cards over, and June’s hand won over Agni’s by a landslide.

Agni sighed in defeat, though more so for dramatic effect than any disappointment. He flung his cards down and put his hands up. “Alright, you win.”

Slowly, June leaned across the couch, their silver jewelry jingling with their movement. Fuzzy from wine, Agni soaked up their image, letting June part his collar. June grinned, sitting back down more quickly than they had leaned forward. They brought all the chips into their arms, pulling them towards their side of the couch. “I win.” 

June took no time to leap forward again and pin Agni down by the wrists. They were a tangle of fabric and skin, June on top of Agni, planting kisses along his neck. 

It wasn’t long until the two began to undress.