♔ ᵈᵒᶰ'ᵗ ˢᵗᵒᵖ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵘˢᶤᶜ ˑ

“It’s like my heart is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic…” the redhead whispered absentmindedly, unaware of the own moving of her mouth as she stood next to the stranger. Sweat trickled along her forehead, locks latching to the salty beads as she exhaled. Another, good, solid 30 seconds passed, and she still hadn’t realise she inadvertently initiated a conversation with him.

@piirouetting

And those thirty seconds were some of the longest he’s ever sat through. He’s no stranger to the concept of talking to oneself ( and anyone who knew him knows that for a fact ), but he just can’t help but cast her a sideways glance, teetering on either side of the thin line between leaving her be, and answering something that likely hadn’t been directed at him in the first place. Perhaps if her statement had been something a little less ... concerning, he might have opted to keep to himself, but that simply wasn’t the case. A heart caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic? YIKES!

                                                         @piirouetting​ dropped a heart

          Perhaps he had been staring too much at the man’s form. He couldn’t help it, being an artist on the side of his photography, he always had an eye for studying builds of different peoples. When he caught those bright sea-foam green eyes staring at him, a squeak had emitted from his rosy lips. IDIOT, DORK … He had to have made himself look completely out of place, completely ODD. Ducking under his bangs, Jabby buried his nose under his turtleneck. GET AWAY – GET AWAY, NOW . 

           ❝ I’m so sorry ! ❞ His voice cracked, the embarrassment rising further as the tips of his ears were dyed crimson. ❝ I-I didn’t mean to stare you just … ❞ How could he explain himself without sounding like a complete CREEP ? Clutching onto the large camera resting against his ribs, the photographer squeaked out.  ❝ You just caught my eye while I was looking around — I’M SORRY . ❞

UH OH. When he’d caught sight of the camera pointed in his direction, and subsequently made eye contact with its owner, he hadn’t expected a reaction like that one. He just didn’t see the issue; He certainly wasn’t camera shy. He had his picture taken all the time! Though, he supposes candid pictures are a different story ... 

    ❝  Eh — ?!  I- It’s okay, really!! Please don’t worry about it, I’m not upset … ! ❞

Far from it, actually. If anything, he’s flattered that someone thought he’d be a good subject for a photo, even MORE so given that his status had nothing to do with it this time. They didn’t seem like they recognized him, which was fine by him. 

❝  I am a grown man with an education and I STILL can’t make my own mac n’ cheese.❞

               ❝  I wish you would have told me before ...❞ 

He supposes he can’t exactly BLAME her ——— He tends to form bonds with people quickly, but he knows it isn’t necessarily the same for everyone else. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to share her birth date with him back then. He should just be grateful he’s being told at all, if anything. 

❝  I would’ve really liked to get you a present! ... I mean, if you’d let me, I’d still like to? I’m sorry it’s so late, but I really didn’t know—! ❞  Of course he hadn’t, he’d had no control over that! Relax, Percy. It’s not like she’s upset, he never FORGOT. He’d just never known it in the first place. 

♔┆┆ It’s not often that his dog acts so out of line like this. He likes to think he’s trained Mae very well, in fact! ... Which is why he’d been gripping her leash just a bit too loosely, and she’d been able to get away from him. He’d assumed she’d spotted a bird, or a squirrel, or maybe another dog, but he quickly realizes that isn’t the case. Uh oh. Oh NO.  

There’s no way he can catch up in time to stop her from jumping up on them, which is EXACTLY what she’s about to do ( he knows it, and that she’s no small dog, for sure ), but that doesn’t stop him from trying. A frantic, wheezy call in their direction is all he can manage as Mae gets ready to launch her slobbery, affectionate assault, and he can only wonder what on earth has her so excited. 

          ❝  w- WATCH OUT!! Watch out for———!! ❞

mmmMMMM THA T YOU ONL Y ME ANT W EEELLLL

W O W

“It is! It’s just one HUGE misunderstanding. We’re practically strangers! Let’s just, uh–forget about all of this!”

“ er——— Right, exactly! Consider it forgotten?? Very forgotten. ” 

“ Oh, Etsuko … ” 

He’s a little embarrassed, honestly, but it certainly doesn’t stop him from hugging her back. How do his friends ALWAYS seem to know when he needs one of these? It’s a mystery, but he’s content to embrace her anyways. His friends always give the best hugs.

“I MAY have said I wanted to kiss you, but it was a joke.”

“ OH. ”

             OH.