/ / special !

introducing...

ethan milhorn as the outsider. 

 intro | wanted connections | character updates

     THE NERVES START TO DISSIPATE as ethan starts to speak, giving her something else to focus on so she doesn’t spiral about the two of them. “don’t say i never did anything for you,” she teases as she folds the pizza in half, taking a bite of it. there’s a part of her that feels guilty for joking when one of their coworker was in the hospital and others were having to deal with their issues, and if wasn’t just ethan, she probably wouldn’t feel as comfortable doing so. but this is ethan, and even when she’s feeling butterflies in her stomach as her eyes meet his, she’s still feels somewhat at ease. which given the recent events, sera honestly doesn’t think of a time where she’s felt like this. she nods at his statement, agreeing with him. “should have been a part of the interview, honestly,” she says as she swallows another bite of pizza. but her smile fades a little after ethan starts to speak. sera gets the impression that these thoughts have been on ethan’s mind since the party, and she reaches out to touch his arm instinctively, wanting to give him some sort of comfort, friend or fake girlfriend label not even on her mind in the moment. she just knows she wants to make him feel better. “are you?” she questions softly before setting her slice of pizza down. “do you want to talk about it?” sera just chalks it up to everyone being on high alert now, but even if it’s more than that, she wants him to know she’s there to talk to him about it. 

calm washes over them. moments turn longer and longer the moment ethan’s arm wraps around them and, unsurprisingly, all tension seems to leave marty’s body — it’s a tension that they don’t even know they have ( nor do they know they ought to release it ), so the slumping of their shoulders and the quiet exhale that escapes them comes unexpected. even then, it’s welcomed, a thing even the beers they’ve gone through have not been able to achieve, a relief that they want to hold on to and never let go. marty rests her head on ethan’s shoulder with a sigh and closes their eyes for a few heartbeats. for a moment, the small movements of the boat become completely unnoticeable, the water splashing underneath no longer heard — it’s just her, ethan and the comfort that he offers. marty draws a deep breath through their nose, exhaling just as slowly after. the little bubble they’ve created around them bursts with their shaky laughter, head shaking slightly at ethan’s joke. it’s a good one, they won’t deny it. “you sure? i mean, we don’t know what the government might be up to. they could be dropping icebergs in random rivers hoping to sink a floating casino.”

marty’s glad ethan doesn’t force the topic to walk the plank, offer it another chance only if it gets talked about. they wonder if it’s the last they’ll have to bring it up or if ethan is just being ethan and waiting for a better moment ( and a better spot ) to circle back to it. at that moment, it doesn’t really matter. “right,” marty says as she looks at ethan, head nodding slightly. it’s then they become a little bit aware of how buzzed they are — the calmness of the previous moment paired with the slight nod is a combo that makes it seem like the boat is spinning right as it goes down the river, just like when she sometimes lies down and swears the room spins like a record that keeps being played and played and played. “you really got yourself in the middle of a situation worthy of a movie screen, huh.” that’s all marty says, looking at ethan with a playful smirk on their lips. if he asks, they won’t remember what he just shared with them, not the details anyway — just that he and sera are fake dating because of eric. that about covers it, right? “well… have you talked to her about it?” it’s a question that comes free of any judgement or any comment about how the situation itself was a very tough line to walk from the get-go. that’s not what marty does. “‘cause, like… i can’t see this ending well if you’re on one page and she’s on another one, y’know?” marty might know a thing or two about hiding feelings.

ethan feels marty relax, and he feels a warmth in his chest. he’s glad he can provide them some comfort right now, glad that he’s met them and that they’re his best friend. if you’d told thirteen year old ethan that the kid who lived next door to him back then would one day be the person he cares about most, he’d have been extremely confused. but he’s so glad that that is the case. when marty rests their head on his shoulder, ethan leans his head against theirs and soaks up the silence. he isn’t a loud person; no one would say that he’s ever felt the need to fill a silence. but there is something beautiful about being able to sit with marty in the quiet night, and not feel the need to say anything at all. ethan knows, deep down, that no matter what happens to them, things will be okay. as long as he has marty tsui by his side, how could they not be? he laughs at her reply to his joke as he sits back up. “if the government is after us too, we’re really fucked.” he says, laughing at the situation to keep from getting truly upset by it. 

he groans at their analysis. “i didn’t mean to!” ethan insists, although it was definitely his own fault. he very easily could have told sera that he wouldn’t pose as her fake boyfriend, or he could have asked her to come clean about things already. or he could have told her how he was beginning to feel about her. either way, ethan wasn’t a victim here. he was just an idiot. “...no,” ethan admits to them, sigh escaping as he glances out at the water. “i know that she’s nice, and we’re friends, but...what if that’s all we are to her?” he wouldn’t normally be this candid, but it’s marty. they’ve seen him break down over way, way less. and yes, he’s grown more confident over the last year, but that doesn’t mean that anxiety or negative thoughts just disappear completely. “i mean, that would be fine. i wouldn’t be mad at her. just...what if i said something, and...” and she laughed. or she thought it was weird that he liked her. or she pointed out that she was out of his league.

ETHAN DID NOT LOOK HAPPY TO SEE HIM. eric had spent so much of his shift ignoring ethan that it hadn’t really occurred to him that ethan could be ignoring him as well, but the intensity in which the other guy looks at him as he apologies has eric a little rattled. he’s used to being a well-liked guy, one with a thick skin that doesn’t often know when insults are meant to be actually insulting. but he’s fucked up with ethan, and he knows it, which makes him a little more self-conscious than normal. 

but that stony looks ethan gives him doesn’t last long—in fact, if eric didn’t know any better, he’d think he’s surprised him.   “ you ? ”   he laughs, because that’s not how eric remembers it. did ethan even raise his voice, after eric ruined his stupid little hat ?   he doesn’t think so.   “ nah, man, you were fine. seriously. ”   eric can still remember what blair had told eric about ethan :   he’s a nice guy. a goody-goody, blair had actually said, which made eric snort at the time, but he’s starting to get the sense of what she actually meant. the last thing he wants to do is MORE work at the store, but he gets the sense that ethan offering for him to help is some kind of meeting in the middle, to smooth things over between the two of them. it’d be easier if ethan just told him he forgives him and they could move on, but…

“ yeah, sure. ”   he tries to sound enthusiastic about it, but the words come out mumbled. eric disposes of the records in his hands by leaning them on top of others, focusing on ethan opening the boxes. the air in the store still felt a little too tense for his liking, too awkward, but for once eric is at a loss on what to say or do. so he just stands there, hands stuffed in his pockets, waiting to be given directions. or something.

maybe ethan hadn’t been as bad as eric, but he also hadn’t been as drunk as eric. he had been angry - a fair reaction, all things considering - but that wasn’t an emotion he was super used to feeling. he wasn’t apologizing for his own behavior, though, only acknowledging that maybe he could have handled things a bit better. ethan shrugged at eric’s reply, glad that at least eric wasn’t upset with him over everything.

– SHE CAN TELL BY THE TIGHTNESS IN ETHAN’S FEATURES that her humor isn’t totally appreciated right now, but she also can’t seem to stop herself. it’s like a gut instinct, a reflect to try and lighten the mood, because if she can’t express herself normally, she doesn’t know what else she’ll do. so, ethan’s just going to have to put up with the distasteful jokes. it’s either that or tend to her while she crumbles. “ well, if we got all banged up, maybe they’d let me share a hospital room with him. i could keep an eye on things, make sure no one comes back to finish the job, ” she adds wryly. no one else seems to be talking about this possibility. 

blair snorts. she loves this. “ well, no shit. he’s still, like … pathetically in love with her. of course it sucks for him to see her move on, ” blair explains. this only adds to her ‘getting attached is stupid and dangerous’ mantra, because clearly being suddenly dumped by sera was doing a number on eric. “ did you guys throw any punches ? ” she asks. 

ethan’s answer is quick, defensive, and blair smirks, ever-so-slightly. she shrugs her shoulders, “ just asking, since eric didn’t seem to think so. and they dated for a while, they obviously have a lot of history, regardless of what she says to you. ” she glances over at ethan for a prolonged moment, trying to gauge his reaction. then she sighs. “ just be careful, okay ? she’s clearly got baggage, ” join the club, “ i don’t wanna see you get hurt over it. ” who’s gonna clean the kitchen if ethan has a depressive episode ?

ethan’s lips purse as blair keeps it up. he’s gotten a lot more comfortable around her since they moved in together, but he’s not comfortable enough yet to tell her to shut up. he can’t see that going well for either of them honestly. so, he deals with the jokes, as much as they make the knot of anxiety in his chest tighten. particularly this one, with the pressing reminder that there are definitely more people out there who want them dead. he lets out a shaky sigh at that, one hand leaving the wheel to rub at the back of his neck. “i’m sure the hospital has some security guards or something,” ethan offers, although he’s not stupid enough to believe that they would do anything to help them, really. “plus, if we’re in a wreck, i doubt you’d be physically capable of helping keep kem safe.” 

he knows. he knows eric is still in love with sera, that’s why the three of them are stuck in this awful, awkward place. if eric wasn’t, then ethan and sera never would have started fake dating to begin with - and then ethan wouldn’t have probably ever really even become close with sera. which would have been unfortunate, honestly. but still - all of that doesn’t make things easier for ethan. “i know that,” ethan sighed, eyes on the road. “but he needs to let it go already.” for everyone’s sake. at blair’s question, ethan snorts. “no, we didn’t. he threw my hat in the water, though.” 

they haven’t been close friends for a very long time, but ethan’s at least somewhat sure that blair wouldn’t want to intentionally hurt him. not seriously, at least. for a laugh, maybe a little, but she wouldn’t want him spiraling. probably. but even still, her words only echo the doubt at the back of his mind - they amplify it, and make it much easier to listen to. 

what if sera did decide to go back to eric? it wasn’t like she liked ethan. it wasn’t like she owed him anything. at any time, she could decide to call it off and get back with eric, and where would that leave him? because it wasn’t like he was allowed to be hurt by that. they weren’t dating, no matter how much it felt like it sometimes. so if sera got back together with eric, ethan would have to pretend like it was fine, like it didn’t bother him. he’d have to deal with the pity from his co-workers, the smugness from eric, and he’d have to go back to being just friends with sera. probably not even close friends anymore, because it would be weird for them to hang out a lot if they were supposed to be exes. the whole thing made ethan’s head hurt, the more he thought about it. 

.

Her stomach turned - Of course, Sera, his girlfriend, who was actually really nice, and made her feel a little bit bad about her crush, even though it wasn’t like she was doing anything besides being friendly, and even though she would never actually make a move on Ethan. She wasn’t that kind of person. But she tried to seem cool about it, externally, though she was already kicking herself for asking the question at all. 

“Oh. Well, some other time, then. Or.. Something.” She said, trying not to sound too disappointed. “I’ll have to make some extra so everyone can try them.” She added,  stopping herself from saying so he could try them, not wanting to come across as too overeager. 

he gave lilah a small smile, glad that she understood. he didn’t like letting his friends down; it was honestly still sort of new to even have people who asked him to hang out with them outside of work. but, spending time baking when there were so many other things to do just seemed unproductive, and honestly, he wasn’t sure how appropriate it seemed to goof off and bake cookies and have fun when things were so fucked for so many of his friends. he didn’t blame lilah for wanting to, but ethan just wasn’t in the right headspace for it. 

     SHE HOPES THIS ISN’T WEIRD. she had debated it for awhile in her room, but honestly, ethan is one of the few people that she wants to be around right now. she’s not even thinking about how it’s going to look; she just wants to be around a friend, even if sera had butterflies in her stomach walking up to his apartment. sera only smiles as he thanks her, thinking it’s no big deal at all. “i’m not sold on the sausage yet, but i can tough it out this time,” she teases, and despite all the chaos going on, she likes how she can feel slightly normal around him and not like she has to walk around on eggshells. she mutters a thanks of her own, and at least he also has diet coke here because she frankly needs one right now. “it’s a little stressful to be honest,” sera admits, reaching for a slice of her own ( she knows ethan well enough to know the two of them would be going back and forth on first dibs. ) “it’s a lot to take in, and work is… weird. i don’t really know what i feel,” she rambles, not even taking bite of her pizza yet as she looks over to him. “how are you?”

ethan doesn’t find it weird, having her here. they are friends after all - regardless of anything else that might or might not be going on, they’re friends. ethan may not have known her well when he agreed to fake date her, but after hanging out and working on their hats, marathoning trashy reality shows together, and talking about their mutual love for music during shifts, ethan can definitely say he likes spending time with her. somewhere in between of all of that and their dancing on the boat, he began to develop a crush on her, but now wasn’t the time to think about stuff like that. there was way, way too much going on with them and everyone else. 

location :   high volume

featuring :   @outsldcr​

CHASE HAD WARNED HIM WHO HE’D BE WORKING WITH TODAY, so eric’s arrival to high volume has the feel of a dog skulking home with his tail between his legs. there are parts of the hoedown throwdown night that eric doesn’t remember, and some of that is his conversation with ethan. what he does remember is throwing his hat overboard, and making a complete ass of himself. mix that in with the unidentifiable guilt he felt in knowing someone had died from the fire he helped cause—something that didn’t concern ethan, but also added to the weight of eric knowing he acted like a dumbass the entire night—and you’ll get a twenty-three year old that’s so non-confrontational, he almost considered calling out of work just to not face the guy. if he didn’t have to pay rent in a few days, he would’ve.

thankfully jennifer’s around for most of the morning, so eric’s able to keep his distance on the other side of the shop, with no reason to talk to the other guy. it’s not until she leaves and there’s a lull in the shop that his guilt tugs eric forward, hovering nearby the space ethan’s working until he finally clears his throat.   “ so, listen, ”   he starts, suddenly very focused on the handful of records he’s sorting in his hand  ( not a real task, but one he made up to not look ethan in the eye ) .   “ i’m, uh, sorry for the other night. it’s not often i can’t handle my liquor, but… it was a pretty weird night, ”   eric coughs out an awkward laugh. it kills him to apologize, but it also lifts a small weight off his shoulder.   “ i shouldn’t have bothered you, so. i’m sorry. ”

with everything going on with kem and james still being on the loose, ethan had been too focused on everything else to look at who he was working with today. if he had, he probably would have tried to ask someone to switch with him. maybe he should let jennifer know that he and eric couldn’t work together - or maybe that would backfire and she would get upset that he was complaining, and then he’d no longer be one of the few she actually seemed to like. 

he’d spent all morning hanging around her as much as he could without it being obvious. jennifer was a pretty decent boss - different than jerry, but ethan liked the structure. he had waved her off with a smile and a promise to make sure the boxes in the back got unpacked as she left, dreading having to spend the rest of the time alone with eric. 

but ethan was professional, responsible, and level-headed for the most part. he was also a people pleasure who craved validation from authority figures, so instead of trying to interact with eric at all, he was silently working on getting the tape off of the boxes that he’d lugged out front. ethan was so engrossed in the task that he hadn’t realized eric was standing in front of him until he began speaking. ethan thought it would be something bitter or rude, something to start another argument, but it was an...apology? he stared at eric in confusion for a minute, waiting to see if there was going to be some sort of backhanded remark thrown in. but it seemed genuine, which was really throwing ethan off. 

– LOWER LIP STICKS OUT IN A SLIGHT POUT, but she knows this is an argument that she’s not winning. doesn’t mean she won’t complain, though. “ well, let’s just hope that he doesn’t bleed out while you’re going a perfectly reasonable speed, ” blair huffs dramatically. of course, all the news is that kem is perfectly stable, which ethan could remind her, but that’s not really the point. still, there’s nothing like talking about high volume’s latest (?) love triangle to get your mind off your human pincushion of a friend laying in the hospital. 

“ ooh ! ” eyes light up. she’s never heard ethan had such an aggressive reaction to anyone before, and blair’s sure it can’t be unfounded. “ really ? what’d he do to you ? i mean, he seems like a nice enough guy to me … ” she shrugs, trailing off, practically daring ethan to contradict her, by all means. 

she examines her nails, chipped dark polish, feeling ethan’s eyes on her. she manages not to grin, demeanor casual. “ well, you, mostly. and sera, ” she adds. “ do you think they’re really over ? ” 

ethan’s shoulders tense even more, if that were possible. he knew blair’s humor could be dark, and that she was being childish because that was just sort of who she was when she didn’t get her way, but he did not appreciate those jokes right now. they’d all been told that kem was stable, but that didn’t make ethan any less worried about him. “he’ll be glad to see us there in one piece,” ethan replied with a frown, feeling a tad touchier than usual. probably a combination of him still being a bit upset from his argument with eric, and being worried sick about kem and everyone’s safety. 

ethan shrugged in response, not entirely wanting to rehash his fight with eric with blair. “he’s mad that sera and i are together.” that was as simple as ethan could make it. in reality, ethan hadn’t really known either of them when they’d broken up - he hadn’t gotten to know sera until they were working together at high volume, and while he’d been aware of eric as a person, he hadn’t talked to him much until ethan and sera had started fake dating. but pretty much all of ethan’s interactions with eric up until this point had been pretty petty, so he couldn’t say he really thought eric was a nice guy. at least not to ethan.

“ethan,” marty mimicks. what’s going on? marty huffs, a mixture of amusement and exhaustion seeping through in tandem. now, that’s a question that’s best left for situations where they’re not at some boat party. honestly, if it were up to marty, it would be a question never asked and, for sure, never answered. but this is ethan — ethan who’s always there, ethan who might judge a little but never to the point of making marty feel like shirt for it, ethan who listens and who’s the voice of reason far more times than marty is able to actually listen. still, marty has to think about whether or not to actually answer — it’s not because of him, rather the fact that they’re the ones scared of what might come after if they decide to just… talk, open doors that they don’t want to open only to find themself unable to close them back up. “just… y’know — wedding stuff.” vague but possibly the one reason that has many others attached to it. “there’s a murderer on the loose.” not that they care what happens to them but it’s a party where their friends are at, too. “pretty sure the last movie i saw that had a boat in it was the titanic so that doesn’t bode well.” it’s a feeble attempt at a joke. “and there’s not enough shrimp or beer in this fucking place to make me forget all about it.” 

after those last words, marty welcomes the change of topic even if they’re almost a hundred percent sure it won’t stick, not for long. marty furrows her eyebrows at ethan’s words: which makes everything harder. they almost ask what the fuck he’s on about, lips parted and ready to speak — but ethan beats them to it and all they can do is look at him. marty doesn’t know what she expects to hear but it’s certainly not that. even their semi-buzzed ( they might be downplaying it. for sure ) mind takes only a few seconds to process it. “wha —” marty shakes their head, side to side, a movement that’s barely there, eyes all over the place, all around. then, they look at ethan again. “you guys are fakin’ it,” marty repeats, a tinsy bit slurred, as if giving ethan a moment to say sike! — but that doesn’t happen. so, instead, they chuckle. now, that’s a twist. “why the hell are you guys fakin’ it?”

ethan listened to marty, eyes softening with concern as they admitted to the several things that were bothering them currently. he got it - well, he hadn’t had all of those same experiences, but he understood that his best friend was hurting and had every reason to be feeling like that. he just wished he could help them. marty probably had no clue how much she had done for him over the last few months with his confidence. they’d been there for him every step of the way, and he just wished he could be there for them too. he leaned closer, hesitantly wrapping an arm around them. if he couldn’t take away their anger and sadness entirely, maybe he could help to shoulder a little bit of it for a moment. “i know it’s kind of cold out, but i don’t think we get many icebergs around here,” he replied to their joke, offering marty a small smile. 

@outsldcr​​ location : high volume

Lilah didn’t necessarily have a crush on Ethan  - at least, this is what she was telling herself. He was just.. Nice to her, and cute, and in a band, so it made sense to give him an extra glance every now and then. It was entirely normal, and it wouldn’t have mattered if she did like him, because he had a girlfriend anyway - and Sera was really nice, too. 

But still. There was something about him, and every shift they had together she got a little giddy about. There was no harm, she thought, in just, like, asking him to hang out, right? As friends. Obviously.

“Hey,” She said, with a smile, leaning on the counter. “So, like, later, or tomorrow, or something, I was thinking of making cookies for Kem, to take to him in the hospital. And I thought maybe.. If you wanted.. You could come over, and help, or just hang out, or something?”

although ethan didn’t know her super well yet, he thought lilah was nice. he liked working shifts with her - they could usually find something to talk about. most importantly, she wasn’t deeply connected to any of the drama going on in his life at the moment, beyond just being the daughter of his boss. she’d started working here after jerry’s death, and she wasn’t tied to eric or sera in any way, so anything they talked about wasn’t tinted with sadness or anxiety or anything like that. it was just a really nice change of pace. 

he’d noticed she was usually pretty excited to see him when they worked together too, although ethan didn’t know if that was something specific to him or if lilah was just naturally that energetic. frankly, he wasn’t trying to read anything in to it.

STARTER FOR @outsldcr​

     “JUST SO YOU KNOW,” sera says as she sets down the pizza box onto the table, “i tried to think of something clever to make it sound like i was legit a delivery person.” she had actually just knocked politely like she always does when she gets to ethan’s apartment. she doesn’t even know how she would have sounded like some pizza deliverer, but she’s just hoping that maybe it’ll lighten the mood after the hoedown throwdown and its aftermath. “i brought your favorite, but i did ask them to split it, so i hope you don’t mind hawaiian.” sera knows there’s probably a lot they need to talk about, or even just to vent, but she figures it could wait at least a little while.

STARTER FOR ETHAN. ( @outsldcr​​ )

– “DUDE, STEP ON THE GAS,” BLAIR WHINES, SHOES UP ON THE DASH. “ i think ‘our friend just got skewered like a kabob’ is valid enough reason to exceed the speed limit. i wanna get there before he gets better and they take him off of all the fun, loopy drugs. ” she glances over at ethan with a slightly lazy grin. it’s only half defense mechanism – sure, she’s pissed, but blair would way rather find a way to avoid feeling something than to get all weepy over the latest stab wound. the slower ethan drives, the more time there is to think about stuff. 

she bounces her fingertips along the dash like a teeny, running gazelle, then she looks over at ethan again with a slightly inquisitive smirk. she’d forgotten about in the chaos, but she actually has the perfect distraction up her sleeve.

“ oh, ” she perks up, “ guess who i talked to on the boat ? ” leering smile as she leans over to turn down the radio, typical sadboy mixtape playing over the speakers. she’s grown strangely fond of it, though, been stealing and wearing his radiohead tees with pride since she moved in. “ your buddy eric. ”  

ethan could argue about the speed or about blair’s shoes on the dash, not both things. he wasn’t in the mood to bicker the whole way there, his emotions were heightened enough. after all, kem had been stabbed less than 24 hours ago. ethan was tense at the best of times, but right now? he was stressed as fuck. “i’m not getting us into an accident on the way there,” he replied, hands at ten and two exactly like they were supposed to be. ethan grimaced, his fists clenching and unclenching subconsciously as he drove at the speed limit towards the hospital. 

frankly, things with eric weren’t his focus right now. kem was, and max and christian as well. sera, marty, jamie, blair even - but not eric, so much. he was still pissed off about their argument, and about him throwing ethan’s hat in the water, but he was trying not to let it get to him. after all, eric was drunk and there were a lot of other things that ethan should be caring about right now. 

status : closed for @outsldcr​​​ setting : blethan’s garage

❝ CAN I GET A DRUMROLL, PLEASE ? ❞ comes trip’s grand entrance into the garage, notably early to the time rehearsal was set to begin. from the skip in his step to the wide spread of his arms, excitement seems to pour out of him in waves, only intensifying as his eyes lock onto ethan’s. where had once been a dam built between trip’s energy and ethan’s anxiety remains only splinters, swept away by glee and a flood of bouncing strides made directly into ethan’s space. reaching over, trip drums his palms against the arm of a nearby couch, hellbent on building some suspense before— ❝ i booked us a gig ! ❞ he announces finally, forcing himself to stay put as he awaits the inevitable outpouring of gratitude and matching excitement. 

runaway yesterday hadn’t had band practice all week. after everything that had happened on the ship, it just didn’t make sense to focus on music. not with kem being in the hospital, james still on the loose, and things looking pretty grim for them all. that didn’t mean that ethan hadn’t been writing though - in fact, he was working on a song now. it was probably the last thing that should be worrying about, but after dancing with sera and making sure she was okay after the explosion, she’d been lingering around the back of his mind all week. the lyrics had begun writing themselves that night, not committed to paper until the next day, and even now not perfect. he was tweaking them, rearranging some stuff still. it wasn’t anywhere close to being ready to show anyone - and honestly, ethan wasn’t sure he wanted to show anyone. that was a big, scary thing to do, showing his emotions like that. 

they scoff at ethan’s words. “yeah, well,” marty starts with a sigh, shrugging lightly. there’s a sort of grimace on their lips as they look out to the river and then at the next shrimp in their hand, “there’s nothing typical—” it’s the start of a comment laced with bitterness, one punctuated by marty throwing yet another piece of shrimp into the river. maybe that can be the… second cousin or something “ — about our lives right now, is there, milhorn.” there’s murder, there’s court dates on their plate and yet, maybe selfishly so, the only thing marty can focus on is her own misfortune of having had watched their father be a dad to someone else, even if it had only been for a few hours. marty wishes she could disconnect from it all without having to fill their heads with any and everything else, focus on something that’s actually important. right there and then, ethan gives marty something else to focus on other than herself — him. and as far as marty’s concerned, at that moment, that’s as good as it’s going to get in terms of topics to focus on instead. they look at ethan, watching as he talked about him and sera. “ethan milhorn saying dancing was his favourite part of the night…” marty starts, letting the words hang between them with a weak smirk, “you really like her, huh.”

some might get frustrated by the sharpness of marty’s words, but ethan’s just concerned. he’s not used to seeing them upset like this. while they’ve both had their moments of vulnerability during the evolution of their friendship, ethan’s not used to taking marty’s barbs or soothing their hostility. he’s seen them cry, he’s seen them punch men twice their size, but he’s never seen them just quiet. sad. angry. like this. and it worries him, a bit. “marty,” he nudges them slightly, knocking his knee against theirs. “what’s going on?” frankly, it could be any number of things - something new with their stepdad, their bio dad’s wedding, the fact that james was on the loose, something going on with someone they were seeing, a combination of some or all of those things, all of which were valid. ethan didn’t know what was causing these feelings right now specifically, so he had no idea how he could help his best friend. all he knew was that he hated seeing her like this. 

“yeah, but i gave up being safe and responsible ages ago. you’ve still got time to save yourself,” jamie remarks cheekily. ethan’s words make him wonder briefly if the party was just getting too loud for his tastes, of if there are other things going on that would make him want to seek out some quiet. it’s funny to him that no matter what kind of batshit life-endangering situations they’re all in, the tangled webs of their inner lives keep spinning all the constant drama behind the scenes. he gives ethan an acknowledging smile in return, not wanting to pry into whatever’s stressing him out. maybe jamie’s stupid choices can even serve as a helpful distraction. win-win. “define ‘stupid,’” he replies, well aware that his current plans are well within the realm of any reasonable person’s definition of the word. “just looking for– you know, the whole reason we came here. i’m not gonna wait around like an idiot for him to show up.”