• adrian chase wanting to bond with his bestfriend
You walked into your apartment to find Adrian already there, sitting upside-down on your couch like a bat whose legs were too long.
He lifted his head. well, technically lowered it. since he was upside down. when you shut the door. “There you are!” he huffed. “I’ve been waiting forever. Like at least… seventeen minutes.”
“Adrian….why are you upside down?”
“It helps the blood go to my brain,” he said as he flopped upright curls sticking out in about six different directions “so I can better contemplate my emotional suffering.”
You blinked “Your what?”
He pointed at his face dramatically. “Do you not see how upset I am? I’m clearly one tragic sigh away from joining a Victorian fainting couch.”
He did look unusually sulky. lower lip pushed out, arms crossed, knee bobbing in a restless little circle.
“What happened?” you asked genuinely concerned.
“You left training early today” he accused “and I didn’t get my usual serotonin boost from our post fight ritual of standing around, insulting each other’s form, and pretending we’re not winded.”
“…That’s your serotonin?”
“YES” he whined flopping back against the cushions. “And now I’m emotionally imbalanced.” He looked at you with big wounded eyes. Puppy eyes. Weaponized puppy eyes.
You sighed. “Okay…what do you need to… rebalance?”
Adrian hesitated, then pointed between the two of you dramatically.“We need to make out.”
You choked. “What….Adrian—”
“FOR BONDING PURPOSES” he clarified loudly, hands raised as if he were conducting an orchestra. “Not because I like you or think your face is extremely kissable or whatever. It’s science. Like wolves! Wolves do… affectionate pack things.”
“…Wolves don’t make out, Adrian.”
He waved that off. “Details.”
You stared. He stared back. He was already pouting again. like a disgruntled raccoon denied access to a trash can.
“Please?” he added voice cracking with truly unnecessary emotional theater. “I’m fragile right now.”
You snorted. “Fine. ONE bonding moment.”
You barely finished the sentence before Adrian perked up so fast it looked painful.
“REALLY? Oh my god, okay, wait i should moisturize. No, we don’t have time…come here—”
And then he was kissing you.
A little too enthusiastically.
A little too Adrianly.
He pulled back after a moment, eyes wide. “Wow. That was… that was invigorating. I feel like my soul just did a backflip.”
“Feel better?”
He nodded so hard his glasses nearly fell off. “Yep. Absolutely. Emotionally stabilized. Ten out of ten. Would bond again.”
“Adrian…”
“What?” He blinked innocently “It’s for the good of the team.”
You raised an eyebrow “So we need to keep doing it?”
“For consistency” he said, already leaning forward again “You can’t argue with science.”
