The Bartolomeo Guy.

That kind of surprised him but he was so respectful with your boundaries

at first he had to physically stop himself from slinging his arm around your shoulders while you two walked together

he would wait for you to make the first move like the gentle man he is

the day you held his pinky with yours made him almost cry

he didn't even realize it at first

he was just going about his day and then like after 7 minutes he finally realized

not because he wasnt paying attention though

he is just so used to being surrounded by physical contact it didn't seem out of the ordinary for him

but after that he slowly started to get more touchy with you

he will grab you pinky to start and then after a bit he will start grabbing more of your fingers until he finally can grab your whole hand in his

he will always look for any sign of discomfort or nervousness in you

the second he sees any alarms ringing in your head he will back off without a second thought

he will try again later but in that moment your comfort is more important than anything to him

if you do any kind of contact with him he is over the moon

no matter how small it could be

he also doesn't make it obvious as to not embarrass you

but in his head he counts every single moment as a win

when you're comfortable with cuddling this man is all up in your personal space let me tell you

he enjoys being the big spoon no matter what kind of build you have

it just boosts his ego a bit

he is quite literally draping himself over you

you dont need a blanket when you have this 5'9 hunk of a man laying on you

did i mention he likes laying on you?

well he does

usually when you're doing literally anything else and you're not paying attention to him

he is basically like a cat ngl

he enjoys it even more when you lay on him

he likes the weight on top of him it comforts him and eases his muscles after working out or coming home from his job

another thing about this man that you need to be warned about

he is a big smoocher

smooches you any chance he can get

he will also not hesitate either

as long as you give him the green light he is all up in your business

even if it takes you a while to get used to and comfortable with

he is patient for those who he loves

and he loves you

pre RE3

warnings: fluffy, this is literally right before re3 so there are in-fact zombies but none actually appear in here

On the rare occasion where both of you are free on the same day, he wants to make the most out of it, even if you do nothing all day

With that being said, this man wanna stay in bed and cuddle you all damn day

He is used to waking up at least a couple hours earlier than you to get his gear together for the day.

He would wake you up right before he leaves for the day to say his goodbyes and I love yous and then giving you a kiss on your head as your still mostly asleep self responds

So on days where he doesn't need to report to the U.B.C.S. is the days he cherishes most

His internal body alarm still wakes him up at his usual time until he realizes that he doesn't need to leave your side today

He will pull your sleeping body closer to him and snuggle his face in the top of your head and go back to sleep in about 2.8 seconds

When you finally wake up, he can almost hear your eyelids open and wakes up himself.

He wraps himself around you even more to the point he might as well lay on top of you

(which he in fact does later)

If you have to go to the bathroom, you better be able to hold it in because this man will not let go until he is ready

and when he is ready it usually 45 min to an hour

You can try and persuade him, but just know a lot of it will go in one ear and out the other

when you finally get up to go to the bathroom he usually gets up while your in there and stands by the door waiting for you to finish

most of the day is consumed by him lounging with you and staying by your side all day

imagine you guys are laying in bed while you watch tv or something its really just there for background noise

this man is fully on top of you

like not even kidding

this man is laying his full body weight on top of you

he loves how comfy you feel all while also feeling like hes protecting you from the world

(bonus points if youre plus sized, i am a firm believer he loves them big booty bitches like me :3)

you guys will be talking while he lays his head on your chest, occasionally picking his head up to look at you or sneak in a quick smooch

he loves to hear your heartbeat and feel your chest move up and down while you breathe

its small but it makes him so happy that your safe from the T-Virus and are in fact still alive and with him

He doesn't speak much about his job to not scare you so he will just listen to anything you want to talk about

When there is a pause in you guys conversing, he pretends to fall asleep to get a laugh out of you

like im talking he will relax his whole body to go limp and fake snore really obnoxiously

when you start to laugh he pretends to wake up acting like you woke him up and asks you what's so funny before going back to 'sleep' continuing his snoring

he will do this several times

at one point when hes falling back 'asleep' his hand will accidently graze your sides making your body stiffen slightly

now listen, he aint dumb and he wont just brush it off

he now knows for a fact that you are ticklish there

so he will plan attack

after a couple times of doing his thing of waking up and going back to sleep, he will strike his move while doing his snoring

you have to beg with tears in your eyes and stomach feeling like youre getting abs for him to stop before he does

He just thinks youre so precious and do basically anything to see your smile and the side that you only let him see

also while he lays on you, if youre eating a snack, he will grab your wrist and pull it down to his face to take a bite

no matter how much you try and keep it away from him, he always finds a way to share your food with him

he also is a huge bed hog

mf will starfish and expect you to figure it out

(I currently have something cookin)

A sound that could only be described as nails scraping something had woken you up. You slowly stir awake at the sound. You didn’t make any moment to see if you were just hearing things. After a moment of silence, you heard it again. You crack your eyes open and take a glance around your room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just your new room with a stack of boxes in the corner you had yet to break down. Everything was fine. The scraping noises came from somewhere in your room though. It would stop for a few seconds and start again only to repeat. You look towards your window and through your curtains, you can see a silhouette of some kind. A jolt of fear ran through your body as you sat up from your bed. You look around for any sort of protection for yourself and eventually land on a hockey stick you got for decoration. ‘Better than nothing I guess’. You grabbed it and slowly and quietly made your way over to the window. You had just hoped it was an animal. With a yank of the curtain and your hockey stick ready to attack whatever was behind the window, you find yourself staring face to face with a raccoon. The poor creature’s paw was caught in between the brick wall of your apartment complex and the fire escape structure. You let out a sigh of relief and propped your hockey stick against the wall.

“Hang on little fella, I got you.” You mumbled mainly to yourself as you unlocked the window.

You crawled out of the window and onto the fire escape watching the smaller sized raccoon hang just above the top of your window. ‘How long has he been here for?’ You reached above your head with one hand and did your best to hold him so his weight wasn’t being supported by his arm. Even with his squirming, you managed to relieve the pain in his paw. With a little movement, you got his paw free.

“There you go little guy, you’re set free.”

You pet down all of his ruffled fur. You set him down on the fire escape floor and crawled back into the window in the safety of your own room. As you were smiling to yourself about the little raccoon you felt something run past your legs. You looked down at the ground and saw the raccoon you had just saved running to your kitchen.

“Wait I didn’t say you could come in!” You ran to the kitchen to try and grab him.

By the time you made it into your kitchen, the little gremlin had already begun to dig into your cereal that was on the counter. You groaned before stepping towards him. He saw you getting closer to him, took the flap of the cereal box in his mouth, and ran back toward your room, leaving a trail of cereal behind him. ‘This little brat’ you thought as you turned on your heels and stepped back to your room, following the trail he left. The cereal trail led to your bed. The box was too thick to fit under your bed but somehow the fat animal did? You shook your head and grabbed your phone from your nightstand. ‘Monday, 4:29 pm’. You hastily unlocked your phone and dialed Nero’s number, not knowing what else to do. Calling animal control was never an option you liked so you would get your best friend to do it for you. As the phone rang and rang you could see little paws reaching from under your bed towards the cereal box before returning from where they came when full of cereal. You couldn’t help but snicker at the little animal’s actions. The sound of Nero’s ridiculous voicemail greeting pulled you back from your thoughts. ‘If he didn’t answer, Kyrie should’. With that, you started calling Kyrie’s number. While you were waiting for her to pick up, you kicked the box away from your bed to see if you could lure the raccoon out. You let out a sigh when Kyrie didn’t pick up either. You set your phone down and got on your knees next to your bed. You lay flat on the floor and reached your arm under the frame of your bed, trying to reach for the little rascal himself. Suddenly your phone buzzed, signaling you had got a text message. You looked up to where your phone buzzed. That was all the distraction needed for the little rodent to run out from under your bed to your bathroom.

“Get back here you little shit!” You were quick to get up off the floor and race after him, grabbing your phone in the process.

Once you were fully in your bathroom, you wasted no time slamming the door closed so he wouldn’t make another break for it. You see him skittering and sliding all over inside your bathtub. The sight made you giggle a bit.

“Got yourself stuck, didn’t ya? Should of thought about it before running in here.”

You sit on the toilet which is next to the bathtub he was in. You looked at the message you received and it was from Kyrie.

‘At dinner with Nero’s dad! Talk later! Love you!’ Read her message.

You put your phone down on the sink and looked at the critter in your bathtub, still trying to figure a way out.

“What am I going to do with a troublemaker like you?”

A knock on the bathroom wall snapped you out of your gaze towards the little fellow.

“Wonderer? Is everything alright over there?”

You fell off of the toilet in fear, hitting your head on the sink as Poet’s voice came from the other side of your bathroom wall. You remembered how you started talking due to the thin walls and felt bad, realizing he probably heard everything that unfolded since you woke up probably about 20 minutes ago. As last night’s memories flooded back into your mind you calm down. The loud bang of hitting your head alarmed Poet even more.

“Wonderer?”

“Yeah I’m fine, I apologize for the noise, just trying to coral a little pest that snuck his way in” You explained, looking back at the raccoon when you said ‘pest’. You got up from the floor, holding your head as you decide to sit back down on the toilet.

“A pest? What do you mean by that? Like an actual pest?” His voice was full of concern, far different than the usual smooth tone he talked to you in yesterday.

“Well, kind of?” You were unsure of your own answer. “Long story short, I helped a raccoon get free from being caught and now he is acting like he owns the place” You let out a breathy laugh, realizing how ridiculous the situation sounded out loud.

“A Raccoon huh?” You can practically hear his smirk in his voice

“I’m serious! This little fucker just ran in, stole my food and now he can't escape my bathtub!”

You hear him let out a chuckle at your argument. Your face grew red in embarrassment. It was a pretty silly situation and actually verbalizing it was even more stupid somehow.

“Alright, alright, I believe you. So, what are you going to name it? I mean you saved him and now it owns you. So there is no use in trying to get rid of him”

You sighed and realized that he was probably right. If the raccoon was so set on staying in your house when he had countless chances to jump back out your window, there was no getting away from him. You just had to keep him a secret from the landlord. You didn’t want the pet fees and you also weren’t entirely sure that owning a pet raccoon was legal.

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll think of something”

“If I may suggest, how about Rascal? I mean he stirred up so much trouble for you already.” you thought about Poet’s suggestion for a moment. It was a good name but you already named a stray cat from your neighborhood Rascal back in 7th grade.

You weren’t good at giving animals names, it always had to be either food-related or something from a fandom you liked at that moment. The raccoon suffered enough to be named after a minor video game character.

“Garbage can?” You threw it out as a suggestion, only half serious about it.

“Well aren’t we stereotypical, for all you know he could have been living well as a bougie raccoon” Poet joked with you

After a few minutes of going back and forth on names, Poet finally gave one that sounded good for the little dude

“How about Barley?”

It really had a nice ring to it. And considering the cereal he had stolen from you was Frosted Wheat Stacks, it suited him nicely.

“That’s actually a really good one” You glance down at the now-calm raccoon “How about it, Barely?”

You didn’t know why you thought he might respond to you. He just looked at you with wide eyes, not a thought going on in between them as he licked his chomps, obviously still daydreaming about food. You chuckled and patted his head gently.

“Barley it is”

“Well I hope that Barley can adjust to his new life now that he doesn’t have to scavenge for food anymore”

“Who is stereotyping now?” You threw his earlier sarcasm right back at him with a laugh.

“I apologize to you, Barley. You probably grew up as a prince to a royal family of raccoons.”

Poet’s comment made you laugh a little harder than before. It truly was going to be an adjustment for the two of you. You picked up little Barley and placed him on the outside of the tub to where he can now run free around your bathroom. The first thing he did when he was out of the tub was to open the bathroom cupboard in search of food only to find toilet paper and menstruation pads. Still, he sniffed around the cupboard.

“Oh my gods, I’m going to have to get child locks to put on all my cabinets to make sure he doesn’t gain 15 pounds overnight while I sleep.” You thought about a fat raccoon waddling down your hallway to the kitchen, making a loud thud every time he jumped down from an elevated surface

“That may be smart seeing as he isn’t like normal animals. He has hands to get away with more crimes.” Poet chimed in.

You can’t help but smile at everything. Not just Barley but your new friendship with Poet. You didn’t know his name, what he looked like, or anything personal. But that didn’t seem like a bad dynamic. It was just nice to have someone to talk to when Nero and Kyrie were busy. And speaking of, the Devil himself must have heard your thoughts too clearly. Nero was now returning your call.

“Well, Poet, thank you for helping sort out the whole mess with Barley, I must go now. My best friend is finally calling me back after a couple of hours.” You stood up from the toilet and finally stretched your sore muscles.

“Am I not your friend?” Poet decided to tease you a little before you left

“I did not say that. I do consider you a friend”

“I’m just teasing you, Wonderer. Have a good conversation and farewell for now. If you ever want to talk anymore just knock, you know where.” Poet knocked on the wall twice as he did previously. It was like your way of signing off or greeting each other. You leaned over the tub and did the same, knocking twice on the wall.

You grabbed your phone from the sink and opened the bathroom door. Barley ran right out and made a beeline to the cereal box that was still on the floor, immediately beginning to eat. You called Nero back after missing his call. He almost immediately answered.

“What the hell happened? Did you die in the hour we didn’t answer your first call?” Nero sounded almost worried. Almost.

“What? No. I was just talking to someone about something.” You put your phone on speaker and close your window.

“That’s not at all vague” He was being sarcastic. Gods how you wanted to punch him in the throat sometimes “Tell me what happened”

“Well, I was talking to my neighbor about something that happened within the first 5 minutes of me waking up. And before you ask what that something was, it’s better if I show you”

You switched the audio call to FaceTime. Nero had accepted the call and you immediately noticed that he was in his friend, Nico’s, van. ‘He may have just gotten done with dinner with his old man.’

“Alright, spill the beans chief, what happened”

In response to his question, you turned your camera around to use your rear camera and pointed your phone at your new furry friend.

“What the fuck! There’s no way in hell you actually have a raccoon in your house!”

Kyrie went over to where Nero was sitting in the back of Nico’s van and asked him what was going on. Nero gave his phone to his girlfriend to show her.

“What? A raccoon? How did you manage that?” Kyrie asked, her voice full of surprise and admiration upon seeing Barley.

“You need to let us come over and see it in person” Nero chimed in turning his phone back to himself.

“I mean I suppose you can-”

Nero cut you off from finishing your sentence to yell at Nico your apartment complex name. How he got that information, you don’t know. He probably tracked your Life360 that Kyrie insisted you both have to keep an eye on each other.

“We’ll be there in about 20 minutes, stay right there”

Before you could get another word in you were met with a black screen as the call ended. ‘Wow so much for a good conversation.’ You sighed and looked around your room. While you waited for the two to arrive, you decided to make a makeshift bed for Barley until you went out later on this week when you got paid to get supplies for him. You grabbed one of the boxes from the corner of your room and a box cutter. You cut the sides down low enough to where he can actually step into it without having to jump and potentially get stuck again like he did in the bathroom. Once you added some spare blankets to it, it looked kind of cozy. Barley had decided he had enough cereal and decided to check out what you were doing. He seemed interested in the bed you made. You sat next to it and encouraged him to go in it. Barley did step into it, sniffing around the blankets. You smiled at him as he sat in his new little bed. Barley suddenly stood up and walked over to your bed. Your eyes followed him as he did so. The raccoon jumped up on your bed and laid down on it. You squint your eyes at him and look back at the bed you made for him. The blanket had a wet spot on it. The realization dawned on you that he just used the perfectly good bed you spent like 5 minutes making, as his own toilet.

“Dude, what the hell? Now that was personal and uncalled for.”

You grabbed your phone and cashapped him $30. The message for the transfer was ‘buy a pet toilet’. You got up from the floor and took the blanket to the laundry room, putting it in the washer with laundry soap and starting it immediately. You returned to your room and took the base of the ‘bed’ to the trash can. You didn’t think the recycling company wanted any rodent piss on their box.

With Nero and Kyrie coming over, you wanted to clean anything so you could at least be a good host but considering you had just moved in yesterday, there was nothing to clean besides Barley’s own breakfast. You look back at the critter on your bead before bending over and picking up his mess. Once that was cleaned up, a piece of tape with Sharpie written on it, saying “Barley’s”, was placed onto the cereal box. You placed it on the counter before looking into the cupboards to find something for yourself to eat. When you had finally picked something out to eat, your phone started to ring. You looked at the source of the noise and saw Nero calling you. You had answered his call and before you could get a word out he interrupted you.

“Number and floor”

“Well hello to you too”

“Yes hi, now answer the damn question boy”

“Floor 3 apartment 16”

Without a thank you or anything he just hung up on you. ‘Love you too man’. You had fixed yourself a bowl of ramen and right as you finished you heard a knock at your door. It was Kyrie knocking you knew that for sure. Having known Nero for as long as you have you know his style of knocking. Loud and annoying. You made your way from across the kitchen, through your smaller living room to your door. You opened it after unlocking the locks on it to reveal your best friends.

“Alright let me see this thing”

Nero wasted no time in shoving the door open even wider and started searching for your little pet. He was carrying cat litter and a plastic cat box. He at least got your message which was good. You turn back to Kyrie who was still standing out in the complex’s hallway, waiting to be invited in unlike Nero. With a step to the side, you let Kyrie in. She gave you a small thank you while you close the door. She had a Tupperware container in her hands which she placed down on the counter in you kitchen. Kyrie then moved to give you a hug to greet you. You graciously accepted her embrace, hugging her tight to signify that you missed her since you least met up in person.

“You can place your bags anywhere, I don’t mind” You offer her in which she was greatful for.

“No fucking way man!” A yell came from your bedroom.

Kyrie and yourself gave each other a glace knowing that he found Barley. Kyrie took her shoulder off her shoulder and placed it on the kitchen counter right as the white haired male comes running out of your room with Barley in his arms. Barley was struggling to get out of his grip while Nero held him tight to his chest.

“Honey, put him down before you hurt him.” Kyrie told her boyfriend in a more stern voice like a mother.

Nero relutantly listened to her. He placed the raccoon on your sofa and folded his arms like a little child. Barley ran straight to you and climbed up your leg, holding onto the waist of your pants like his life depended on it. You let him do so as he pleased.

“Well…” You started as you stretched your arms out to Nero “Where my hug at” You cringed at your line, sounding like a highschool boy. Nero definitely had the same reaction as you did.

“Because of that, you’re not getting one from me”

“Valid” You responded before laughing. Kyrie and Nero joined in on the laughter.

After the laughter had settled, the three of you sat down on your sofa and talked about anything and everything. Barley was checking the rest of your apartment out.

“Yeah my old man is actually not that bad of a person, he just needed to be there for his kid. And he sent me home with something he made!” Nero was just explaining how the meeting with his dad went

“He did, but I’m not a fan of sweats and Nero is just going to eat it all in like half an hour if left unattended so I brought some for you in a seperate tupperware.”

“Awe Kyrie you’re so sweet, what is it?” Your gaze moved to look at the container on your counter.

“He called it his ‘Berried Delight’ or something, I don’t remember” Nero shrugged before looking back at you with wide eyes “Oh! I forgot to tell you that my uncle Dante is coming back into town this weekend, so I was thinking he could go get drinks with us Friday night!”

The way Nero can switch between topics so fast gave you whiplash sometimes but you still loved him

“That would be fun, I miss that old man.” You thought about all the times he was there for you growing up whether it be taking you and Nero out to an arcade and getting sent home with a load of sugar in your system or him comforting you at your junior prom when your ex-boyfriend dumped you for wearing a tux instead of a dress, calling you a transphobic slur. He was the best role model you had growing up.

“Nero, I think we better head home, it’s getting kind of late” Kyrie suggested with a yawn, causing a chain reaction to make yourself and Nero yawn as well.

Nero nodded in agreement and stood up from the couch. He helped Kyrie get up and grabbed her bag for her. With a hug and a goodbye, you closed the door behind them. You were so glad they stopped by even if it was just to see your new pet which was passed out on the bed currently. You went back into your kitchen to put up the dessert they had brought you. But before you did a little taste wouldn’t hurt. You grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer. Barley suddenly appeared on your counter, watching your every move. He hasn’t been here for 24 hours yet but he somehow knows when you’re getting food even when he is sleeping so hard you thought he might be road kill for a second. You remove the lid from the container and scoop out a small piece, plopping it on the lid for Barley. You take out another piece for yourself and lift it into your mouth. ‘It’s not bad. Just tastes very overpriced.’ You look at Barley, whos enjoying his piece of the dessert, and think back to what Poet said earlier. Barley is continuing his bougy lifestyle even here in your home. You smiled at the thought of Barley’s upbringing as a fancy and rich family of raccoons that only stole from the fancier side of town, thinking that all the peasant raccoons had to get food from their dumpster. You had noticed that Barley got a lot of the cream from his dessert onto his fur around his face.

“Well little dude, I think you need a bath. Considering I just rescued you from the outside, who knows what kind of diseases you may carry.” You were only joking with the raccoon but still you wanted to clean him from any dirt he had from being outside as a trash thief.

You take the lid that goes to the container and put it in the sink. Not wanting rodent saliva all over your food, you decided to just cover it in tinfoil. After placing the foil onto the container and putting it in the fridge, you pick up the fluffy gremlin and walk into the bathroom. You place him in the bathtub once more and he starts to freak out, remembering his earlier trials of trying to escape from it. You didn’t have any pet soap so you hoped the dish soap would be good enough. If it can clean ducks from oil but not your pans, it should work fine. You put the stopper into the tub and started filling it with semi-warm water. Barley just looked at you with an ‘I will hurt you in your sleep’ type of look. He obviously hated the water. You’ll have to remember that for when he gets in trouble later. You left to go to the kitchen to grab the dish soap and when you came back, the little rodent was all wet somehow, and your floors were also wet. The little brat tried to escape.

“Nuh-uh, you can’t leave until you’re clean, the water looks filthy already.” The water in question was already turning brown from the dirt hidden under his fur.

After turning off the bath water, you put a small amount of soap into your hand and start scrubbing Barley. He looks miserable but you know it is just an act to get out of the bath. After moments of struggle to get him to stay in one spot, you finally got him all lathered in soap.

“See that wasn’t so bad” you cooed at your now clean boy with a baby voice

You use a cup to scoop some water in it to rinse him off. You were 100% right in giving him a bath, the water was filthy. After you take the stopper from the tub out you grab a towel and scoop him in your arms to dry him off. He only squirmed in your arms for a moment before calming down. You dry him off and by the time you put him down on the ground, his fur was fluffed out, making him look twice as big as he was. He can survive a little bit of poofiness as long as he was clean. Barley hopped his way back to your bed and laid down on his usual spot. ‘that wasnt a bad idea at all’. Going to bed even though you hadn’t been up for that long sounded nice right now. You cleaned up Barley’s mess in the bathroom before going to lay on your bed the best you could with Barley taking up a good chunk of the space.

“You’re so spoiled already” you mumble at him while getting set in your bed.

There you stood in the middle of your new empty room, surrounded by boxes of your stuff. After the first semester of college, you couldn’t physically live with your parents anymore. You love them to death, but living there at your grown age wasn’t ideal. Regardless, you were happy to start a new chapter in your life. And it’s closer to your work and school campus so you can easily walk there and not spend money on Uber or taxis. You take a deep breath and sigh, finally deciding it is now time to start unpacking. You grabbed the box that was closest to you and sat down on the ground with it. Upon opening it you discovered it was your LED lights and posters for your bedroom. It might be a good idea to start with your room anyway.

After several hours of unpacking and rebuilding your furniture, you decided now was a good time to stop for a bit to eat. You look at your phone and see it is 7:30 pm. Realizing you had neglected even starting to unpack your kitchen essentials, you grabbed your phone and started looking at what might be good to order. After deciding what to eat, you went to take a shower while your food was being delivered. Being covered in sweat and dust from moving wasn’t ideal. But it is part of it all. You grabbed a towel from the dresser you had spent at least an hour building along with a change of clothes. You turn music on from your phone and start the shower, undressing as you wait for the water to heat up. When you finally jump in, Linger by The Cranberries comes on in your playlist. It was such a good song you couldn’t help but sing it as you washed yourself.

Unbeknownst to you, your next-door neighbor was currently doing his nightly skincare routine. He heard you singing through the thin walls dividing your bathrooms. He smiled as he enjoyed the sound of your voice. You really had good vocals. Usually, he would be irritated that he heard any of his neighbors through the walls. Whether it be arguments, crying kids, couples having sex, or a 30-year-old man screaming at his Fortnite match, he’s heard it all and had his fair share of complaints to the landlord. He would usually ignore it and just listen to music through his headphones but when it goes till like 4 in the morning when he was supposed to be asleep hours ago thats what would get him so worked up and complain about them. But hearing your voice soothed him for some strange reason, he didn’t even know why. He sat on the toilet seat to listen to you sing your heart out even after he finished his skincare. Soon he heard your shower turn off and the music had stopped as well. He figured you were done for the night. He got up and left the bathroom.

By the time you got done drying your hair, your food had arrived at your doorstep. You made haste to your front door to collect your food. You didn’t know if anyone would try and steal your food but it was better safe than sorry since you didn’t know anyone in the complex yet. You lock your door and head to your room. After getting comfy in your bed, you turned on some YouTube and turned on an iceberg video just for some background noise. You were finally in a peaceful setting. No parents yapping in the background, no siblings knocking on your door every 5 minutes, nothing. You smiled to yourself as you ate your food, half paying attention to the video in the background. 

Suddenly your phone started to ring. You let out an audible groan and looked at who was calling you. ‘Dumb bitch’ read the caller id. It was your best friend Nero. You answer the FaceTime call with a deadpan face. When the video connected, You could only see his nose, eyes, and parts of his forehead. 

“Hey asshole- ew don’t look at me that way” Nero grimaced jokingly.

“I wouldn’t if you would at least text me when you’re going to call, I’m in the middle of eating” You held your to-go box up to the camera.

“That looks good, give me a bite”

You rolled your eyes at the white-haired man on the screen and took a spoonful of your food to hold up to the camera. He pretended to take a bite and then let out a belch. 

“S’cuse me” He said in a high-pitched voice and big eyes, pretending to be oh-so innocent. He practically was the living embodiment of the :3 face currently. After you gave him an ‘ew’ in response to his burp he then spoke in his normal voice. “Oh! The reason why I called you is cause Kyrie and I wanted to congratulate you on your new apartment. We want to take you out for drinks this weekend with my other friend. And who knows you two might click” He wiggled his eyebrows at you in a teasing manner.

You stuck your tongue out at him before realizing that he's not showing his whole face off like usual. He was slightly full of himself and no matter what, during your Facetime calls, he would always show his whole head, no matter the angle.

“Nero, what did you do?”

“Huh, what do you mean? What makes you think I did anything?” You can see the panic in his eyes. Being his best friend since you were kids meant knowing everything about him and his mannerisms. He was a bad liar if you knew him well enough.

“Show me your whole head asshole”

“How the fuck did you catch on so easily” He mumbled to himself as he pulled the camera away from his face, revealing his longer hair was now nothing but a buzzcut “I was feeling kinda silly and wanted to do something, I think it looks good”

“Does Kyrie know?” You knew the two of them lived together but Kyrie was usually working in the orphanage and you had no clue how long his hair had been that way

“Nope, but I know she is gonna love it”

“Nero?”

“Yeah?”

“She’s going to kill you”

“I know”

You laughed and shook your head. Kyrie wasn’t that big of a fan of things changing. You knew she would love him anyway but still, there will be many questions from her.

“It looks good, Nero. You’re ready for the military! Bros about to go to boot camp!” You joke around with him. 

“Hey asshole, when I called I thought I was going to have your support! You know how I always support you when you dye your hair? Yeah, that support! Or how you were literally in tears when you came out to me when we were 16? Ring any bells?”

“Okay but look that last one was different, It was an important thing in my life and a buzzcut should never be compared to being trans you transphobic asshole”

“Oh great you’re pulling that card again” he threw his hands up in defeat “You know I love you, little bro” He set his phone down to make a heart with his hands and to show off his ‘innocent’ face once more

“Yeah yeah yeah, I’m sure you do.” you laughed at his ridiculousness “Anyway tell me about this guy you’re planning on bringing this weekend”

And just like that, his face turned from cutesy and innocent to smug. God, how you wanted to smack it off his face so bad.

“Oh, now you’re begging to know about him? Dirty boy now aren’t you”

“I should’ve never asked” You put your hand on your face to hide the embarrassment

“Okay okay, I’m just fucking around with ya, now time to get serious. He’s kinda quiet, he loves books but hates booktok, let me tell you, he will rant on and on about it” You let out a snort at that. Booktok is its own special kind of place, it always scared you. “He mainly reads poetry so you know he either gets all the bitches or none of them. And in my personal knowledge, he gets none and I’ve known him since high school. Oh and I almost forgot the best part, he’s emo and I know that's your type!”

“Nero!” You yelled out almost offended. You place your hand on your chest and clutch your imaginary pearls. “You know me too well” Your face quickly relaxes as you raise your eyebrows at him

“Yeah I know I do, a little too much for comfort but you know” You hear a door closing in the background and Nero looking up from the phone. You assumed that Kyrie was home from work.

“Hey, I’m going to get off the phone, Kyrie is home and I promised to help her with dinner. Nico, Kyrie, and I will pick you up after work so make sure to bring some nice clothes to work on Friday. We may be going to a bar but I want you to look nice so you can meet the cutting board of your dreams.”

“Nero that was unnecessary but whatever, I’ll catch you later. Bye asshole, have a goodnight Kyrie!” You speak your farewell to Kyrie a little louder so she can hear it from Nero’s phone

“You too sweetie! I’ll see you this weekend” You hear her respond from across their shared room

“You know, I can’t help but to think you like my girlfriend more than you like me” He says in an almost exasperated voice. 

“I do, bye faggot” you say hanging up the phone.

You get a text from him shortly after you hang up the phone. You open it and its just an image of him kissing Kyrie while flipping off the camera. You laughed to yourself and sent the middle finger emoji right back at him. The two of you always played around like that. You show your love by being mean. Everyone knew that. If you were nice to someone that means you secretly hated them. You look once more at the clock and see that it’s 9 pm already. You could stay up and miss another day of class tomorrow or you can sleep and go. Your professor knew that you are moving and would be missing a couple of of days of class. And if you do stay up you could always unpack even more of your stuff. You decide that the latter choice would be more worth it in the long run. Besides you can miss a couple of days of school. You weren’t failing and the professor always posts his classes online anyway. 

As soon as you were finished eating, you set some music on your TV and grabbed a box of your bathroom assortments. You started by putting all of your soap in appropriate places. You place your toothbrush, toothpaste, and hairbrush in the medicine cabinet. You pick up a small bag and unzip it. It was your viles of testosterone. You smiled at the little bottles and placed them in the medicine cabinet as well. You remember when you first started T. It was only a couple of months ago but it was still a great memory. You went over to Nero’s to take your first dose. You may have been out as trans since you were 16 but your parents were never supportive so you couldn't start T. You had bought it and kept your supply at Nero’s. He was always proud of you and was your biggest supporter throughout the years. Even Kyrie didn’t mind. In your second year of being out as trans, she threw you a little party. Nero got a cake that read “Congrats! It’s a boy” and wore blue face paint. You laughed to yourself at the memory. You loved those two dearly and you had no clue how you would have made it this far without them. 

As you were laying down your bath mats, Cherry Waves by Deftones started playing from your TV. You nodded your head along to the beat as you started to fold some towels. Before you knew it you started to sing along

“The waves suck you in and you drowned” Your voice rang out, surprising you in the process. Your voice had recently begun to crack due to the hrt but you hit the note with ease

“If like you, should sink down beneath. I’ll swim down, would you? You?”

The song was bittersweet but tranquil at the same time. The way it sounds disturbs you but brings you peace. It’s relaxing and exciting all in one. Deftones was a really good band but no other songs they or anyone else have made will come close to Cherry Waves.

“You hang the anchors over my neck. I liked it at first but the more you laughed the crazier it came.”

You took a deep breath and hoped and prayed your T voice would let you hit those notes once more. 

“The Waves suck you in then you drown”

“If like, you’d”

“If like, you-”

You cut yourself off hearing another voice join in the song. You were sure as hell it wasn’t Chino Moreno. Besides the voice was coming from your bathroom and the music was in your bedroom.

“Just stay down with me” The deeper voice continued “I’ll swim down with you, is that what you want?” 

The voice had stopped seeming as if he’d no longer heard your voice singing with him. There was a long pause between the two of you. You hadn’t any clue what to say or if you should say anything. Maybe I was hearing stuff? Going crazy finally? Your thoughts were silenced as the voice spoke up once again.

“I apologize for ruining your moment, I just heard your wonderful voice singing one of my favorite songs and I just couldn’t help myself”

Huh, at least he has manners. 

“Oh! No, it’s actually quite alright, it is a really good song, I was just caught off guard” You responded looking at the shower wall, assuming that is where he was speaking from.

“Guessing these walls” he paused to knock twice on the wall before continuing “Aren’t as thick as you thought?”

You let out a small chuckle and moved over to the shower wall to copy his knocking.

“Nope. Can’t complain though, I’ve never met anyone with the same passion for Cherry Waves as I do”

You hear him give a hum in agreement. You feel yourself smile before shaking your head.

“I do apologize if I disturbed you” You gave him an apology, feeling bad that he may have been either trying to sleep or doing something important

“Oh no do not worry, I was just catching up on some reading. I did enjoy the little break though, my eyes were starting to skip over lines.”

“You read? What kind of books do you like?” You sit down on the edge of the shower’s tub, more interested in him than what you were doing previously

“I read almost anything, I do have to say that I enjoy poetry most out of anything. It just speaks to me differently than anything else.”

You nod your head in agreement even though he can’t see it. So he likes poetry? That seems like it would suit him just by his voice alone. Without thinking, you spoke your thoughts by pure mistake.

“You do have a good voice to read poetry” Right when you realize you said that you clasp your hands over your mouth.

You can hear him chuckle from the other side of the wall.

“I can recite one if you would like to hear?”

You mentally kick yourself in the face before answering him

“Of course, I don’t read often but I would love to hear some from you”

He clears his throat before speaking

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand  And Eternity in an hour.”

You were right, his voice is perfect for reading. You can’t help but feel relaxed as he spoke. The way each word fell off his lips soothed you.

“Was that Blake?”

“And here I thought you didn’t read much?” He responded to your question “But yes, Little Wanderer, that was indeed Blake”

You felt your face heat up just a tinge when he called you that.

“Just because I don’t read doesn’t mean I live under a rock.” you argued back jokingly

“You are very right about that, I apologize for underestimating you.”

You smile to yourself before realizing that it is getting kind of late. You didn’t want to disturb the poet any longer.

“Well it’s getting kind of late, I need to finish unpacking my things before I go to bed. And I truly don’t want to keep bugging you all night”

“You’re not bugging me at all. And you’re right, I think I should head to bed soon. Have a good night, Wanderer”

“You too, Poet. I enjoyed your company”

“I quite enjoyed yours too, I am usually not a very talkative person but you make it seem so easy.”

He knocked on the shower wall before it fell silent, signaling he had left for bed. You took a deep breath and sat there for a moment, thinking about him. He really was nice to talk to and it didn't make you that nervous seeing as you couldn’t see him. You don’t know a lot of people to talk to due to your own social anxiety.

Manic and reckless are two of many words describing Dante’s driving. Or just Dante himself. His lifestyle was all just reckless. He drove around on his motorcycle like he owned the place or didn’t have a license. In his mind, the first part was true; in everyone’s mind, the second half was true. It was truly a wonder how he hadn’t killed anyone yet. He has injured himself multiple times riding around but never his backpack. And you sure as hell weren’t going to be the first.

You clung onto his waist tightly from behind as he wanted to go for a joy ride with you. You made a mental note to decline to ride with Dante and go with Lady the next time. When Dante hit a particularly deep pothole in the road, it sent you both airborne and off the motorcycle by a couple of inches causing you to scream. Dante chuckled at your scream and decided to rev his bike loudly and go even faster.

“Dante! Slow down! I am not dying to your stupid ass driving!” You would yell over his shoulder for him to hear through the wind and his helmet which he kindly let you wear. 

He sighed and decided to slow down,  looking for a place to park. Dante suddenly got an idea and now the city wasn’t such a great place to park anymore. With another rev to his bike, the two of you started going faster once more. Before you can scold him once more, he hits a curb sending the two of you off the road. The dirt and rocks underneath the tires of his bike made for a really uncomfortable and bumpy ride. 

There was one instance where you thought Dante was going to hit a deer but right at the last second, he made a sharp turn to avoid the poor animal. The sharp turn almost caused you to fall off his motorcycle. Dante had luckily grabbed your arm with one of his hands, keeping you hanging onto him.

Finally, the rough ride was over. Dante finally made a halt on top of a hill outside of the city. But in normal Dante fashion, he gripped the breaks making the stop abrupt. He kicked his kickstand and tilted his beloved Cavaliere to sit on the stand. Dante threw one leg over the bike to be able to turn his body towards you. 

“Dante I swear to Sparda” You had started to say, sliding off the bike to land on your back into the tall grass below your feet. “You need to start driving better or you will be on your little rides alone.”

“Awe did somebody not have fun? And here I thought I was a pretty good driver. You wound me” Dante gave a fake hurt voice paired with his stupid little pouty face that you love so much.

You gave him a groan loud enough to hear through the helmet you had yet to take off, too busy trying to keep your heart in your chest with how much it was beating. Dante stood up from sitting to stretch his muscles. Dante then fell to lay on top of you.

“Baby c’mon, you didn’t die. You’re safe and in the arms of your skilled driver and totally awesome boyfriend” The white-haired man said, wrapping his arms around you to trap you in his hold and tapping his head against your helmet. 

Dante then moved one of his hands to click the side of your helmet causing the visor to flip up, revealing your eyes glaring right at him. He raised an eyebrow and attempted to move the visor back down to avoid your gaze. 

“You’re no fun. As much as I love it when you’re mad at me, I can’t stand seeing your eyes burning a hole in my sense of humor.” 

With that, you tilted your head away and started wiggling your arms out of his grasp. Once you were mostly free, you removed the helmet from your head. 

“Awe there you are my little killjoy” Dante teased you even more causing you to blush and push his head away. “I’m sorry you can’t handle how fast I drive baby, but Cavaliere needs to go fast and so do I”

Dante laid his head on your chest to listen to your heartbeat which was now somewhat calmed down from its previous racing state

.“You’re so dumb, Dante” You ran your hands through his white hair causing the overgrown man baby to cuddle into your chest even further. 

“But you love me” Dante says before perking up to look at you in the eyes. “I have an idea! What if I taught you to ride? You think it will be a more pleasurable experience for you?”

You gave the manner a thought before shrugging your shoulders. You gave him a brief ‘maybe’ before pulling his head back down to lie on your chest.

“Great! You can practice on the rider if you get what I’m referring to” 

You couldn’t see his face but you already knew he had a smug look and wiggled his damn eyebrows. You gave him a light bash at the back of his head causing him to suck air through his teeth. Before he can protest anymore you pull his head back by his hair and smash your lips into his.

“I love you asshole” You pull away for a second to breathe and speak your mind before pulling him into a kiss once more. “But you get on my nerves”

Dante was surprised that you had decided to kiss him. He knows you love him but even he knows he can be a handful. In the typical Dante fashion, he decided to speak up with a comeback.

“There is one particular nerve I am hoping to hit” He gave you a cheesy ass grin. Oh if only you could wipe the smug look off his face.

“I wish I kept my mouth shut. You simply are too much at times” You pushed his head away causing him to groan, already missing the feeling of your lips. “Always knowing how to ruin a moment. But I guess it wouldn’t be you if you didn’t open that big mouth of yours”

“I know something else I can do with this big mouth of mine”

“Dante?”

“Love of my life?”