#hatesdogs

@hatesdogs sent ✏️ for some incorrect quote edits

"Smash, you say?"  You bet he's a little smug about it, but mostly pleased and a tad bit blushing. It's not easy to get Kitty to confess anything true without adding a snarky comment at the end of it.  "And you never told me before?"

perhaps sam should have seen this outcome coming. kitty rarely plays along with his jokes, especially if it involves calling him cute or - GOD FORBID - small. still, he's used to this sort of reaction enough not to really react himself. he lets kitty do his angry cat act, simply watching him with interest as the man climbs onto him.

Ah. The pink guy.

Hartley remembered him - hard to forget that shade of pink. Not that they'd ever met - they shared just enough of the same suppliers whenever she was in Korea to have glimpsed the pink haired man, but a solid sense of self-preservation has kept her from asking about him, or what he did for work. Lord knows she doesn't need the questions coming back at her.

But tonight -- maybe there's something in the air. She sidles up next to him, a very obviously coy smile on her lips, and decides to open with something innocuous.

@hatesdogs sent:

ㅤstartled not only by the gift presented but by the words which accompany it as well, byan balks at the helmet as they take it into their hands. it's... adorable. having taken no steps to conceal how much they envy kitty's pink, cat-eared bike helmet, it's no wonder that he's taken notice of their appreciation for it. what does come as a surprise, however, is the fact that he would go to the trouble of getting them one of their own — and one that has been customized to some extent, at that.

kitty is selfish. it's something byan is very aware of and even appreciates about him, because they can relate. because there's an honesty in it. in a way, it validates their own 'i'm out for me and only me' mentality. yet here they are, the selfish kitty presenting them with a gift on their birthday, one which he has to know that they'll absolutely love, and they... aren't really sure of how to react to such a thing, let alone to what it might mean.

unfortunately for them, while they don't know how to react, their body sure seems to. alarmed by the sudden and entirely unexpected sensation of a certain stinging in the corners of their eyes and the embarrassed flush of their cheeks which quickly follows, the teen's head promptly lowers under the guise of getting a closer look at one of the kuromi decals. a painted, glittering nail traces over the image, and byan tries to swallow the small lump that's formed in their throat.

it's so stupid, getting emotional over a fucking helmet. it doesn't mean anything, he probably just felt obligated to get them something after sol told him it was their birthday. (they know that's not the case; kitty doesn't do obligations. that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to will back their stupid fucking tears though.) biting at the inside of their lip, byan flips the visor open and feels the padding inside with a couple fingers, all in the name of trying to buy as many seconds of silence to collect themself as possible.

ㅤㅤ" knew i should'a told 'im not t' say anythin', "ㅤthey finally mumble with a faux nonchalance, though they're unable to do so without a quiet sniff that they hope kitty won't think much of. he of all people can't see them cry, they'll be too mortified to ever show their face again if he does. they'd never live it down. snapping the visor shut again, clearing their throat and still looking pointedly down and the pretty purple sheen of the helmet clasped between their hands, the soft beginnings of a smirk tugs at the corner of byan's mouth despite themself.