𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒

edric set to twiddling the antenna on the thing, staring at the output as if it meant anything to him, if only so soon couldn’t accuse him of not trying. “oh, national piss radio. could think of better things to do. like slamming my hand in the car door on the way in,” he deadpanned. if he found his fun in trying to get a rise out of ed, he was setting himself a difficult task. good for him. he imagined he was doing soon a rare favour in giving him an opportunity to exercise his meagre share of braincells. a sharp clearing of his throat was his reaction to the sudden laughter, and a pointed tilt of his head the opposite direction. “well, no one’s ever trained you not to bark before. and you’re like…really clingy. i don’t mean that in a good way.” 

            ‘‘  there.  i  knew  you  could  do  it.  ’’  tongue  is  stuck  out  upon  hearing  the  grumbles  of  their  lover  ,  squeezing  his  hand  when  the  warmth  of  soon’s  palm  returns  to  wrap  around  their  own.  a  glare  ——  very  unexpected  ,  nox  knows  ——  is  thrown  at  him  then  ,  opting  out  on  punching  soon  and  instead  saving  it  for  later.  ‘‘  i  won’t  do  it  now.  you’ll  never  know  when  i’ll  do  it.  it’s  gonna  happen  when  you  least  expect  it  ,  when  you’ve  long  forgotten  about  this  moment.  hope  to  keep  you  on  your  toes  forever.  ’’  useless  ,  meaningless  threats  spit  right  from  their  mouth  ,  aware  they  mean  nothing  to  soon.  none  of  them  ever  do.  ‘‘  i’ve  done  so  as  a  kid.  you’re  …  telling  me  you’ve  never  done  so  ?  or  are  you  doubting  the  quality  of  the  swings  ?  we’ll  be  fine.  ’’  they  tug  him  towards  one  of  the  food  trucks  ,  the  italian  one  ,  leaning  into  his  side.  ‘‘  you  got  the  money  ,  my  dear  ?  ’’

clem knew two things in that moment. one; zezra wasn’t in, probably at some study session for some incomprehensible exam. and two; that the pet alien wasn’t his problem. he was originally intending to ignore the summons for both of their sakes, but the call of his name was the equivalent of practically begging the devil to come in. eventually he rose from the couch, clutching his personal notebook to his chest and heading very deliberately to the bottom of the stairs. “who thought it was a good idea to let you in there again in the first place?” he muttered under his breath, then raised his voice. politely. “allen, for the last time, if you drop something down the drain, we aren’t going to be able to find it in the sewers. it just doesn’t work like that.” 

“zezra?” the name was called down the stairwell from the top floor, allen’s hands clutching the banister as he leaned over it. there was an awful lot of nonchalance to the yell for the current situation on hand. a game night had been planned with TUCKER and allen, who had extensively studied ‘hosting’ after hearing the word, had gotten the insight to make something called appetizers. but he was sure that there wasn’t supposed to be flames inside the stove. a glance back confirmed that they were just getting bigger and there was no automatic system kicking on to put them out like he had at home. a little more desperate now, allen voiced louder, “clem? zdzis? flo? i need some help at the upstairs kitchen.”

           ‘‘  good  point  ,  mr.  sin  …  good  point.  ’’  they  wave  their  finger  ,  a  brief  i’ll  give  you  that  look  thrown  in  the  other’s  direction.  perhaps  they’re  predictable  like  that  ,  but  nox  would’ve  definitely  tripped  over  their  shoelaces  had  soon  not  stopped  them.  to  be  difficult  ,  nox  moves  their  feet  ,  giggling  while  giving  soon  a  hard  time  to  tie  them  up  before  settling.  ‘‘  and  can  i  know  what  that  call  is  about  ?  ’’  head  is  tilted  ,  hand  reaching  out  and  fingers  wiggling  ,  waiting  for  the  other  to  take  it.  ‘‘  after  we  eat  ,  wanna  do  that  thing  on  the  swing  where  i  sit  in  your  lap  and  we’re  facing  each  other  and  when  we  go  backwards  i’ll  be  swinging  my  feet  forward  and  when  we  go  forward  you  swing  your  feet  forward  ?  ’’

            nox  nods  ,  zero  hesitation  found  when  they  hum  their  words.  ‘’  that’s  right  …  this  was  all  …  part  of  my  masterplan  …  ’’  while  soon  finds  himself  deep  in  his  own  thoughts  for  a  minute  ,  they  take  this  chance  to  run  a  gentle  hand  through  his  hair  ,  sighing  to  themself  and  half-hiding  their  face  in  his  neck.  there’s  no  place  like  being  close  to  their  lover.  ‘’  i’m  very  aware  that  you  do.  you  can  wait  a  little  longer  for  that  ,  right  ?  the  day’s  not  over  yet.  ’’  soon  sure  makes  quite  the  adventure  of  their  little  walk  towards  the  park  ,  slingering  them  from  left  to  right  and  having  nox  quickly  climb  down  his  back  ,  lower  lip  jutted  out  in  a  pout.  ‘’  you’re  a  shitty  piggy  back  rider  today.  a  two-star-review.  also  ——  ’’  they  turn  to  face  soon  ,  walking  backwards  and  reaching  for  his  hand  to  hold  ,  ‘’  ——  you  make  it  sound  like  i’d  hate  to  have  another  cat.  oh  god  ,  pause.  forget  what  i  said.  please  forget  it.  don’t  pull  out  your  notes  app.  ’’

                ‘‘  hm.  ’’  is  soon  just  asking  for  nox  to  tighten  their  arms  around  his  neck  until  he  couldn’t  breathe  anymore  ?  right  here  ,  in  the  middle  of  the  street  ?  ‘‘  shut  up.  you’re  merely  being  used  to  transport  me.  don’t  ever  think  we’re  doing  this  because  i’m  weak.  ’’  the  risk  of  a  spank  is  soon  nearly  losing  his  balance  ,  nox  yelping  right  next  to  their  boyfriend’s  ear  ,  holding  on  for  dear  life.  ‘‘  you  …  don’t  tell  me  you  just  compared  the  creepy  guy  next  door  who  could  possibly  kidnap  me  to  a  stray  cat  who  ,  at  most  ,  leaves  a  little  scratch  down  your  hand.  ’’  nox’s  hand  reacher  for  soon’s  cheek  ,  pinching  it  ——  not  in  the  way  you  might  think.  it’s  a  rough  squeeze  ,  a  huff  rolling  over  their  lips.  ‘‘  you’re  lucky  i  love  you.  ’’

               ‘‘  i  know  ,  i  know  ,  i  know.  ’’  a  poor  attempt  to  cut  soon’s  sentence  off  ,  trying  to  prevent  him  from  saying  anything  else  ,  anything  worse  and  explicit  while  they’re  walking  outside  like  this  ——  where  other  people  can  hear  them.  though  ,  it’s  not  like  it’s  prevented  them  from  acting  out  of  line  before.  nox  finds  themself  slouching  down  soon’s  back  ,  groaning.  ‘‘  i’ve  got  plenty  ,  actually  !  you’re  horrible  ,  have  some  faith  in  my  upper-body  strength  and  me.  be  a  good  boyfriend  ——  behave.  ’’  shameless  as  they  are  ,  all  previous  thoughts  thrown  out  of  the  window  ,  nox  reaches  behind  to  smack  one  side  of  soon’s  ass  cheeks.  taking  note  of  the  way  soon  is  after  their  lips  ,  they  make  sure  the  next  kiss  is  pressed  on  the  corner  of  his  lips.  ‘‘  no  ,  your  pace  was  insane.  i  think  you’re  more  scared  of  him  than  i  am  ,  actually.  you  were  gonna  push  me  in  his  direction  ,  use  me  as  bait  ——  i  knew  you  were  going  to  run  away.  ’’

                their  boyfriend  is  acting  like  a  madman  (  and  not  in  the  way  he  usually  does  so  already  )  ,  causing  nox  to  hold  his  arm  closer  to  their  body  ,  some  uneasy  feeling  settling  in  their  chest  ,  before  the  tempo  changes  and  they’re  nearly  yanked  back  by  him.  ‘’  could’ve  guessed  so  ,  ’’  being  holed  up  inside  for  long  enough  just  does  something  to  you  ——  there’s  only  so  much  you  can  do  together  when  staying  inside  and  that’s  quite  the  statement  ,  coming  from  them  and  the  type  of  couple  they  are.  ‘’  aw  …  you  need  to  release  some  of  that  energy  …  ’’  before  they’re  able  to  reach  out  and  pinch  soon’s  cheek  ,  their  steps  are  halted  soon  bending  forward  ,  ready  for  nox  to  jump  on  their  back.  the  silliest  grin  appears.  ‘’  cute.  ’’  climbing  on  his  back  is  something  they  can  do  with  their  eyes  closed  by  now.  ‘’  yeah  ,  that’s  fine.  i  wanna  be  outside  too  ,  with  you.  ’’  when  settled  on  his  back  ,  there’s  a  kiss  pressed  on  the  other’s  cheek  for  a  good  measure.

            shoelaces  still  left  untied  ,  they  stumble  behind  him  like  some  lost  dog  only  following  what  is  known  and  familiar  to  them.  ‘’  hey  ?  hey  soon  ?  can  you  tell  me  where  we’re  going  ?  can  you  do  that  for  me  ?  ’’  not  to  mention  his  pace  is  faster  than  what  nox  is  used  to  ,  leaving  them  to  reach  for  his  elbow  and  tug  at  it  ,  frown  settling  on  their  face.  ‘’  why  disturb  my  nap  like  that  ?  do  you  think  i’d  actually  let  you  get  away  with  it  ?  ’’  they  would  and  the  other  is  probably  very  aware  of  it.  nox  hooks  an  arm  through  soon’s  ,  looking  up  and  blinking  rapidly  in  an  attempt  to  get  rid  of  the  sleepiness  lingering  still.  ‘’  i  could  go  for  some  pizza  right  now.  pleaseeeee  ,  where  are  we  going  ?  can’t  we  eat  there  ?  ’’

dusk had settled in around the town by the time soon was hauling nox out of the apartment and down the street. for an extensive amount of time now, the two had been cooped up in there; soon had spent even more time stuck inside the building since it was the same one that housed offices for the company he was employed at (a pity move from raven, really). now, a full 40 hour work week was well out of soon’s wheelhouse, but the short week he’d had so far was stifling. his strides across the pavement were long in a move to put distance between them and those four walls. and, unlike some other strolls, soon had a destination in mind. “are you hungry? did you eat already or do you want to grab something on the way?” leave it to soon to ask these questions after the fact. he had gotten out of work and barely been in the door long enough for nox to get their shoes on before departing again.

noticing that, as usual, aeggie wasn’t going to rise to his tormenting, kuri made a sour face. it was the paradox that he had to live with, their immunity to his general personality being the sole reason they could love him for his scarce redeeming qualities. “do you really mean that?” his eyes narrowed, but his lips twitched to hide a smile. “that sounds quite inappropriate, jelly. you shouldn’t say things like that in public.” it was easier, suddenly, to keep scowling when he laid eyes on that godless yellow. “no. if anything, yellow is more of an assault on the eyes. what’d you call this? scrambled egg? i don’t know what could be less stimulating.” he motioned to another colour a little further down, taking aeggie’s wrist gently. “could you compromise on a turquoise? it’s not my favourite, obviously, but if you still say you’d need sunglasses in the house then you’re just being dramatic.”