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wc: 6.5 k | first part second part
It was by far the most stacked weekend you had in your highschool career.
You stood in front of Hugo’s house for a good minute, mentally preparing yourself for the next few hours with him, your fingers hovering over the doorbell.
As embarrassing as it was to admit, it still made you anxious spending so much time alone with either of the members. Not that you were expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen, but because you feared that your social anxiety would somehow sabotage your alone time with them.
You eventually mustered up the courage to press the button, listening to the chime of the bell.
And it was not long before Hugo opened the door. You two locked eyes, and you could see a sliver of excitement dance through his dark hues as he welcomed you.
“[ ].”
He nodded towards you, stepping aside for you to enter. You smiled, thanking him for inviting you as you took off your shoes by the entrance.
You cast a glance through his home, quietly humming in aknowledgement.
“Wow, your house is really organised, Hugo.”
You said, looking through the hallway, every single thing seemingly having their own designated place; the keys were in a small bowl on a cabinet by the main entrance, the coats were organised by size and color directly over the shoe rack, and even the bags had their own place on a hanger by a full-body mirror.
Hugo seemed to appreciate your compliment, hiding his blush behind a practiced cough.
“Thank you… I just like everything being in their designated place, I guess…”
He mumbled, closely watching you as you gave a sound of agreement. You let him guide you to his room, which was situated just down the hall to the right.
But just before he allowed you to enter, he seemed to hesitate; his hand on the handle slightly quivering. He turned towards you, the blush on his face now evident.
“Say, [ ]…”
He began, averting his eyes; it seemed like the words were stuck in his throat. You just tilt your head in curiosity, which only made it worse for him.
“Do you… ah… promise not to to make fun of me, or my…room?”
He muttered, making you raise your eyebrow. It was almost like Hugo couldn’t find the correct words to formulate his insecurities, making it come out weird, judging by his flustered behaviour.
You blinked, observing the bashful expression on his normally stoic and composed face. You took a breath, noticing that your heart has skipped a beat at the sight.
It was kind of… cute?
After that thought crossed your mind, you shook your head, breaking out of your trance.
Here Hugo was, exposing himself to you, and the only thing you could think about was how adorable he looked when his ears and cheeks were coated in a shade of pink.
Hastily discarding that thought, you just laughed, shaking your head.
“…what? Of course not! I’m the last person to do that, Hugo.”
You exclaimed, waving him off. You even felt a bit offended at the thought of Hugo suspecting that you would judge his home of all places.
To that, the red-head sighed in relief, a small smile gracing his face. He took a deep breath, before continuing.
“I knew that you would understand, [ ]…”
He muttered under his breath, before his smile widened a fraction. He took a deep breath, clicking the door to his room open. You blink as a stream of sunlight hit your eyes, adjusting them to the brightness before curiously peeking inside.
Oh.
First, you suspected his room to be messy, or unorganized unlike the rest of the house. But that wasn’t the case at all. Quite the opposite in fact, for his room was as, if not more organized than the rest of his home, the various gadgets neatly placed and sorted on the surfaces.
A moment of stunned silence settled in, before you spoke.
“I…I didn’t know that you were into astrology, Hugo…”
You muttered, looking through the high bookshelfs leaning against the walls, all filled with either blank books or novels about astrology or other concepts you couldn’t decipher.
He even had a telescope by the window, and various posters of constellations on the walls. And on his desk were neat stacks of papers on top of eachother, probably some research papers or notes.
You saw Hugo’s face burn up at you looking at everything, making him shake his head rapidly.
“N-not exactly astrology…”
He stammered, seemingly desperate to refute the claim.
“More acurately, it is… destiny. The idea of destiny… is admittedly something that fascinates me a lot more than I would like to admit,”
He said, looking through his room, partly in shame, partly in quiet fondness.
“Astrology, oracles, cartomancy, b-body reading, I like them all…”
He admitted, biting his lip. He then hesitantly looked at you, his brows furrowed in concern.
“Is… is that weird? My sister said that it would scare you off, but…”
He mumbled, closely studying your expression. He was kneading his hands, eagerly awaiting your answer like a verdict. To that, you cast one last look through his room, before you sighed.
“…what? Of course you don’t scare me off, Hugo…”
You softly exclaimed, shaking your head. You look through his room again, taking in all the little details. Now that you thought about it, this new layer of Hugo made you appreciate him even more.
“I know what it’s like, having non conventional interests. Hell, I have a ton of them,”
You say, rolling your eyes. You could see Hugo light up at that, a hopeful flicker dancing accross his eyes. At that, you simply smile, shrugging your shoulders.
“What I mean to say is, that as long as you don’t hurt others or yourself with your hobbies, what’s the harm in having fun?”
You say, making a small smile appear on Hugo’s face, mirroring yours. The red-head seemed to search for the correct words to say, before settling.
“Thank you for understanding, [ ]…”
He mumbled, a dewy blush settling on his cheeks. You thought nothing of it, simply waving him off. Then, a thought crossed your mind, an excited glimmer settling in your eyes.
You leaned towards him, grinning.
“Hey, any chance that you can determine my destiny too?”
You asked, making the other jump, his eyes widening for a fraction.
“Eh?”
He seemed dumbfounded, before redirecting his gaze to his bookshelf.
“I guess I could… are you really interested in that, [ ]?”
Hugo asked, hesitantly locking eyes with you. It was as if he was scared that you weren’t genuine with your request. You eagerly nodded at that, the enthusiasm written all over your face.
“Yeah, I would love to! I always wanted to have my destiny read, to be honest…”
You sheepishly admit, which was followed by Hugo’s eyes sparkling as well. He could only muster up a nod, before moving to rumage around in his drawers, pulling up a tarrot card set.
A small smile stretched across his face, as he motioned you to sit down beside him. He got some other things as well, before sitting down on his fuzzy carpet next to you.
“Well… if you insist, I would be happy to, [ ].”
— — —
You spent the next hour with determining your future.
At first, you two looked into your horoscope, the red-head determining that your luck for today’s month was looking good, and that you had a lot of success coming your way— especially in the romance department.
This reading made you especially giddy, feeling your cheeks warm up at the thought of Bunny’s confession.
And you couldn’t help but wonder if this was the start of your romantic endeavors, a slow developement happening between you and your childhood friend after getting him the help he needs.
It was like am optimistic light at the end of the tunnel, a silent promise that everything will be okay.
Hugo also seemed to be very interested in your fortune, although he didn’t say why. You just barely heard him mumble out that his horoscope said something about him finding his soulmate this month, after which he looked at you for a second longer than it was comfortable.
Next, you two moved onto tarot cards, the pretty pictures drawn on them intriguing you.
“Each card has a special meaning, also depending on the combination with other cards,”
Hugo explained, his hands moving swiftly while shuffling the cards. He made you pull a few, closely observing the different cards with an almost obsessive gaze. You gulped, eagerly awaiting his verdict with a mix of anticipation and excitement.
You admit, at first it made you nervous making him look into your destiny; but now, you only felt good, seeing as your fate seemed to be very interesting to him.
“Amazing…”
Hugo muttered under his breath, before he caught himself mumbling. He blushed a deep red, shaking himself out of his trance.
“Ah, sorry…! it’s just— your cards are very interesting, [ ].”
He said, before going back to observing your cards.
“You pulled the lovers and the two of cups, as well as the knight of cups… you will find your soulmate soon.”
He observed, making your heart beat faster.
You once again thought back to Bunny. You felt a small smile stretch across your face at that, before you locked eyes with Hugo again, who seemed to look intently at you once again, before bashfully breaking the contact after.
Afterwards, a slightly awkward silence stretched on, making you sweatdrop. You cleared your voice, urging him to continue.
“Wow… so, what’s next?”
You asked, curious. Hugo seemed to think for a bit, before he averted his eyes shyly.
“Well… we can try palm reading as well, if you want…”
He said, making you perk up. You nodded, stretching out your hand for him to take. Hugo blinked, before taking a deep breath, carefully taking your hand and laying it carefully on top of his.
Silence settled in, and as time went on, you suddenly became hyper aware of the fact that you were basically holding hands. The scene became infinitely more intimate, and you could hear your heartbeat in your ears as you noticed the size difference between you and the red-head.
His hand was much bigger than yours, since he was also taller than you by a margin, making yours look tiny in comparison. He seemed to weigh your hand for a bit, watching it rest in his.
You took a shaky breath to calm down from that fact, although the action wasn’t helping in the slightest.
Another thing you couldn’t help but notice was the fact that his fingers and palm were rough and caloused, pointing towards the speculation that he worked out often. Well, judging from his buff physique, it was no surprise— it’s just that you never really realised it until now.
The change of athmosphere seemed to reach Hugo as well, whose lidded gaze seemed to deepen. His fingers moved slowly, his thumb slowly tracing the lines on your palm, making your breath hitch.
Your face was burning up by now, watching as the boy wordlessly trace the thin lines on your skin, his touch making tingles shoot though your spine every time.
Gulping, you also noticed that you sweating, the weird athmosphere making every touch feel weirdly warm and fuzzy. It also didn’t help that your stomach was doing flips every time Hugo’s finger ghosted over the thin lines.
“…”
Hugo seemed to notice your hand lightly shaking, making him raise his head, locking eyes with yours.
“[ ], relax. I can’t read your destiny this way…”
He said, making a sheepish smile stretch across your face. You laughed, the sound a bit too forced and loud for the athmosphere in this room.
“Ahaha… easier said than done… destiny is nothing to joke about, after all…”
You deflected, silently cringing at the choice of words. Yeah. Real smooth, [ ].
You gulped, seeing Hugo raise an eyebrow, before returning to trace the lines; his gaze back to being as focussed and concentrated as ever.
Eventually, silence settled in again, and you eventually relaxed, the touches growing more and more soothing as time went on. You looked at Hugo, whose eyelashes were even more apparent now that his head was lowered.
They were ridiculousy long, to the point where you wondered if they got tangled up at some point (you almost laughed at that thought).
“Fascinating…”
He muttered, his big hands and fingers contrasting the gentle touch.
You gulped, unable to look away; and even though you always thought that every member of the literature club was pretty, Hugo had a certain elegant beauty that you didn’t notice until now.
He was strong and big, while exuding a certain gentleness. And his eyes, while sometimes coming off as empty and unreadable, had a depth to them that swallowed everything and everyone whole.
“[ ]…?”
You only broke out of your trance when you made eye contact with him again, his cheeks a bit red from your intense stare. You shook your head to compose yourself, and you let out a sheepish laugh in hopes to remedy the situation.
“Sorry, sorry! I zoned out for a moment…”
You stammered out, shooting an apologetic smile at Hugo. The red-haired only hummed, reassuring you that it was fine. He then hesitated for a moment, nervousness settling in, before speaking again.
“…[ ], I realized something. It might sound weird, but it seems like that our liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii— — —
— — —
Your phone rang, and you excused yourself out of Hugo’s room to take it.
It was actually a nice break from all the work you have been doing, having worked tirelessly on the banners and decorations for the festival.
Your heart skipped a beat when you opened your screen, and noticed that it was Loki calling you. Gulping, you hastily accepted, the other side filled with distant clammor and the sound of multiple people talking to eachother.
You guessed that Loki was at his media day.
“[ ]! What’s up?”
His voice rang through, the confidence and charisma evident through the lilt of his voice. You gulped, swallowing down your nervousness.
“O-oh, nothing much, I’m at Hugo’s house to work on the decorations for the festival,”
You explained, which was followed by a thoughtful hum from the other. A chuckle followed after, a hint of mischieviousness seeping through the speaker.
“Ah, I see. Um…hey, has he shown you his room, by any chance?”
He asked, making you raise an eyebrow.
“Uhm… yeah? Why, is there something I need to look out for? I already saw pretty much everything,”
You joked, followed by another laugh from Loki.
“Ahaha! I’m glad that you aren’t scared off by his… peculiar interests,”
He said, before he sighed, the steps being heard suggesting that he was moving to somewhere more quiet.
“It’s just that he gets a bit… intense with some of his fixations sometimes, you know?”
He said, concern weaving itself into his tone.
“I guess I just want to say that you should look out for yourself, yeah? Don’t tell Hugo, but…”
Loki seemed to hesitate for a bit, before continuing.
“I saw him looking at you a lot, the last few days. He also scribbles something down in his blank books whenever you’re not looking, something about you being his… destiny, or something. He even has a candid photo of you pasted in there. Ahaha, I hope it doesn’t sound too weird!”
He mused, his cheery tone contrasting the heavy chill that just went down your spine. You were stunned after that, a moment of silence passing you, which was also noticed by the one at the other end of the line.
“…[ ]? You okay?”
He asked, before cooing. You had a feeling that he was holding back a laugh at some points during the conversation.
“Aww, probably not, huh? I guess that is a lot to take in. Plus, you are in his house right now! That is a bit scary,”
He said, but you failed to notice any real pity in his voice. Instead, his excitement only seemed to heighten, his tone becoming light and airy.
“Tell you what, why don’t we ditch everything and hang out instead? I’ll have my driver pick you up—
.
“…Loki?”
You hesitantly asked, unnerved by the sudden silence. A beat passed, before a chuckle rang out.
“…ahaha! Sorry, sorry, seems like the connection isn’t good here. A-anyways, why don’t we hang out instead? My driver can pick you up, and we’ll do something fun! Destiny is also such a boring concept anyway, you know? I’m not a big fan of predetermined paths. I would much rather make my own story— —
“Ahaha, sorry again!! So what do you say, [ ]? Please answer me fast, so I can be on my way as soon as possible, that way this segment lets me put the hangout in as well— — —
— — —
Sunday, rolled around, a.k.a baking day.
You were waiting patiently inside your house, eyeing the one thing Kaiser told you to get beforehand.
A crate of chilled cola bottles.
The box was set on top of your countertop, the cold glass bottles sweating in the rather warm kitchen. You frowned, pulling out your phone in hopes of receiving any information on Kaiser’s whereabouts.
He was late, and you were worried that you two wouldn’t get it done by this evening.
After all, you promised to hang out with Bunny today as well.
“Come on [ ], you don’t have to do that!”
Bunny said, which was immediately shut down by you. You stubbornly shook your head, reassuring him that it was fine.
“Don’t worry, I want to. Please wait for me, okay?”
You chirped over the phone, making a chuckle ring through from the other end of the line. Bunny relented after that, filling you with anticipation for the evening—
Just as you were daydreaming, your doorbell rang, pulling you right out of it. And again. And again. You felt a vein forming as Kaiser began to incessantly ring your doorbell, making you scramble to get the door. You just hoped the neighbours were out at this time.
You groaned, exhasperately slamming the front door open.
“You only have to ring the bell once, you know.”
You deadpan, making the blonde shrug. He had an old tracksuit on, and you noticed a rip right at the hem of his T-shirt. So much for making a respectful appearance…
“It’s fun,”
Kaiser said, a smug smile stretching accross his face.
“My doorbell is broken at the moment anyway, so let me have this. Plus, the chime isn’t too shitty,”
He commented, making you raise an eyebrow.
“What…? I…w-whatever, come in. And work on getting your doorbell fixed when you get home!”
You exclaimed, letting him step inside. You had a feeling that he promply ignored your last sentence.
“…”
The blonde was silent for a moment, simply observing your house, before stepping inside your kitchen. The expression on his face was unreadable, but you didn’t dare to pry; you didn’t dare to navigate that social plane just yet. His gaze eventually fell on the crate of cola bottles, making him frown.
“Hey, you…”
He muttered, nodding towards the crate in disdain.
“Why bottles? I specifically said cans, didn’t I?”
He spat out, momentarily rendering you stunned. Yes, he did say that you should buy a pack of cans, but bottles are basically the same thing, right? After all, it was the same amount of the same drink, only their packaging differing from one another. You frowned, sighing. This brat…
“There weren’t any cans left, dude. It’s not a big deal, just drink the stuff out of a bottle.”
You argued, pulling out two, one for you, and one for him.
“…”
He seemed genuinely upset by it, but he eventually just rolled his eyes, making do with the bottle after muttering something under his breath. This time, it was you that ignored his comment.
He took a generous swig, contrasting your small sips, the fizzy drink seemingly calming him down a bit. You raised an eyebrow at that, before shaking your head.
What a weird guy…
After chugging the whole bottle (again, you raised your eyebrow at that too), he carefully placed the bottle back into the crate. He was extremely careful with it, surprising you. Kaiser then moved on to the worn out tote bag he brought with him, pulling out a big paper bag from a bakery you didn’t recognise.
You curiously eye the bag, your eyes lighting up as he undid the wrapping. It revealed fresh bread inside, the loaf visibly fluffy and golden. The smell made your mouth water, and your hands were twitching to pick out a piece for a taste test.
“Wow, Kaiser… from where do you have the bread? It smells so good…”
You say, your hand reaching out to tear a little off for yourself, only for it to be slapped away by the blonde. He frowned, swiftly sealing the bag and protectively holding it in his arm like a child.
“Don’t you dare, this isn’t for you, idiot!”
He hissed, the sight reminding you more of a cat than of a teenage boy. He frowned, safely guarding it from your grubby hands as you continuingly tried to steal some.
“This is from a special german bakery near my home. So you know that it has quality,”
He huffed, shooting you a glare. You only tilt your head at that, curiosity filling you.
“Really… is it that good?”
You ask, making Kaiser snort, rolling his eyes.
“Are you kidding? They make the best bread in town! They…”
He seemed to stop himself for a moment, seemingly mulling over a distant memory. In these moments, you notice that a certain sadness revealed itself in his blue eyes. A beat of silence passed before he spoke again.
“They helped me a lot as well,”
He said, before shaking his head, returning to his usual demeanor.
“A-anyway,”
He took the loaf of bread, setting it down on a cutting board you laid out for him.
“Help me cut this. And preheat the oven so we can take out all the moisture.”
— — —
Making bread rusks was pretty easy.
You sliced the bread into little sticks, before baking them to remove all the water. Afterwards, you coated them in melted butter and cinamon sugar, before putting them in the oven again, baking them until they were crispy and golden.
By the end, your kitchen smelled absolutely delicious.
Even Kaiser seemed to be aware of that fact, eyeing the bread rusks with both pride and hunger, satisfied of his work.
“Wow… they smell so good…”
You fawned, hesitantly casting tempted glances towards the blonde. The other just huffed, shrugging his shoulders. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, tossing the dyed royal blue ends over his shoulders.
“Obviously they do, I made them…”
He murmured, before locking eyes with your frown. A moment of silence passed, before he groaned, giving in.
“Fine, fine! I made them… with your help.”
He added, making you roll your eyes. But you couldn’t help but smile as well; you were sheepishly proud of your joint work.
“Eh, I’ll take that. Anyway…”
You said, eyeing them hungrily before turning to Kaiser. A moment of silence passed before you clasped your hands together in a plea, making the blonde raise an eyebrow.
“Please chef! Can’t we just taste test one, please?”
You whined, trying to make yourself to look as pitiful as possible. A moment of silence passed, before Kaiser seemingly registered your plea.
“Wha—“
The blonde shot you an incredulous look, before sputtering, his cheeks reddening. He seemed to be struck by your (poor) attempt at doe eyes, before breaking out of it.
“S-stop calling me that!”
He huffed, turning his head sideways. He muttered something under his breath, something about you and your “puppy eyes”, before looking over the bread rusks, hesitating.
He bit his lips, seemingly embarrassed and irritated at the same time, before relenting.
“F-fine,”
He huffed, before his blush intensified even more, making him turn away in embarrassment.
“I guess we can taste one… b-but not because you persuaded me or something, I…! I just use you for quality control, understand?!”
“…right,”
You just looked at him with a deadpan look after that, watching him suffer under your skeptical gaze a bit longer. It was weirdly endearing. He was still being an asshole, just… in a weird, cute way.
You just shrugged, shaking that thought off— you had yummy bread rusks to inspect after all. You took one, biting into it. It made a nice crunch sound, and after breaking through the crispy, sweet layer, it welcomed a fluffy, warm centre.
You hummed, eyes sparkling as you took another bite, unable to resist. You saw Kaiser closely observing you, making an idea pop into your head.
You teared the bread stick in half, offering the other to the blonde.
“It’s so yummy, you need to taste!”
You said, a coy smile forming on your face.
“Here, say ahh~”
You cooed, lifting the bread rusk towards him. He blinked, before another heavy blush coated his cheeks. Sputtering, he took several steps back, covering his mouth with his arm.
“W-what do you think you are doing?!”
He sputtered, eyes wide like saucers. You just tilt your head, confusion written all over your face.
“What does it look like? Offering you a piece, of course…”
You exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. You then eye the other half in temptation, eager to bite into it yourself.
“If you don’t want it, I can eat this one too…”
You shrugged, about to steer the treat into your mouth before your wrist was suddenly held by Kaiser. He still had that light frown on his face, before he came down to your level.
“…no. I want to taste too…”
He murmured, averting his eyes, before he took a deep breath. He slightly parted his lips, letting you feed him the other half. You felt his hot breath ghost the tips of your fingers, finally making you aware of the close proximity between you two.
Okay, maybe his initial reaction made a little sense.
You watch him take a bite, his eyes widening slightly as the taste reached his tastebuds.
“..!”
He locked eyes with you, the ocean blue hues now mirroring your excitement as well, no matter how hard he tried to dismiss it before.
“It’s good, right?”
You exclaimed, a smile gracing your face. The blonde was about to respond, when something made him stop. He grew silent, only slowly blinking as he observed your expression.
“…yeah…”
He muttered, spaced out as he observed you. You laughed, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. Your eyes then fell onto the still half full cola crate, making you crave some cold beverage after all the work.
“How about we celebate with another bottle?”
You chirped, walking over to the crate, reaching for your empty bottle by the coundertop to put it back next to Kaiser’s.
But just as you were about to grab it, you accidentally knocked it over, making it tip over the edge. A loud sound of glass shattering was heard, the shards flying all over the kitchen floor.
“Ah!”
You frowned, sighing in annoyance as you noticed all the shards glittering under the light of your kitchen. You groaned, lamenting the fact that you now had to clean everything up.
You turned to Kaiser, shooting him an apologetic smile.
“Sorry about that, I’ll clean this up real quick—“
You stopped, looking as all color drained from the blonde’s face. His face was pale, and his breathing picked up as he looked at the shards scattered all over the floor.
“…”
A moment of silence passed with you being stunned, simply observing the other in concern as the only sound echoing through the kitchen was his ragged breath.
The athmosphere dropped in an instant, making you uneasy and uncomfortable almost immediately. Simultaniously, you felt concern bubbling up for Kaiser, who seemed to be close to hyperventilating.
You hesitated, before meekly reaching out again.
“…Kaiser?”
You hesitantly asked, making the other flinch, instinctively taking a step back. You stopped yourself as well, only moving after a while passed. You took a hesitant step forward, gulping. Luckily, he didn’t retreat further.
“Are you… okay?”
You croaked out, the athmosphere turning more and more chilly the more seconds passed.
You’ve never seen Kaiser so… scared. Angry, yes. Sad, sometimes. But never scared. He looked like he was living through something traumatic right now, or was recalling something like that from the past.
Another silence settled in, before he took a shaky breath, hesitantly nodding. You frowned at the poor attempt of deflection. You gulped, thinking of the next steps. You cast a look at the dining table just outside the kitchen.
“… you… want to sit down?”
You offered, making your way towards him. You were careful not to touch him as you passed, and pulled out a chair by the dining table for him to sit.
“…”
He was just silent for a while, hesitantly looking at you. He was still drilled into place, his hands balled into fists as they twitched.
“I…”
He was about to protest, before looking at your concerned expression. He bit his lips, close to drawing blood as he seemingly had no idea what to do. You fiddled with your hands, before shrugging. You offered a small smile in hopes to smooth things out.
“You… you don’t have to. I’ll get you some water.”
You say, smling slightly. You made sure to keep your distance, taking your time to rummage through the cupboards to pull out a plastic cup to fill with water. While you filled the cup, you faintly made out light shuffling, the blonde sitting down on the chair.
Silently, you breathed a sigh of relief.
You returned to the table, silently putting down the plastic cup in front of him. You moved to sit down opposite of him with your own cup.
“…I think you need a break from Cola,”
You joked lightly, a poor attempt to loosen the athmosphere. Kaiser didn’t respond to that, seemingly still in turmoil over the situation.
He looked like a deer in headlights, not daring to look anywhere else other than at the surface of the water in his cups. He was still lightly shaking, and you speculated that he was overwhelmed, having shown such a vulnerable side of him to someone he didn’t know very well.
Silence settled in after that, making you squirm. You sipped on your water, the athmosphere refusing to loosen up. You eventually concluded that it would be best if you left him alone, making you move to stand up from the table.
“I think that it would be best if I clean up, okay?”
You shot a small smile his way, only to be stopped by the blonde. He had raised his hand to his neck, lightly squeezing. Your eyes widened at that, alarm bells going off in your head.
“…fuck. I’m so pathetic.”
He croaked out, his pupils shaking as his hand twitched, now firmly grasping his neck. His adamsapple bobbed, his ragged breath picking up.
“Shit…”
He muttered, moving to cut off his air circulation. You were appaled at the sight, triggering you to move without thinking. You swiftly moved around the table, firmly grabbing his wrist. You gulped, forcing yourself to show strength.
“Kaiser, stop it.”
You firmly said, frowning. Your hand held his wrist, careful not to squeeze too hard, but also not too loose so he could do anything rash.
His head shot up at that, looking into your eyes absolutely horrified. That made your heart squeeze painfully, making you move fast to detach his hand from his neck. He wordlessly let you.
“You are not pathetic. You are scared, but… that’s okay. You are only human, after all.”
You reassured him, making his breath hitch. He was stunned silent, indirectly signaling you to continue. You took a shaky breath at that, calming down before moving to sit down next to him.
You moved to hold his hand now, an apologetic look on your face.
“I…I’m sorry. If I knew, I would’ve—“
“No.”
Kaiser interrupted you, his head sunken. You couldn’t make out his expression, but you didn’t try to look. You had a feeling that this was difficult enough for him, to showing himself like this.
“If I wasn’t…if I wasn’t like this, I…we—“
He stammered, mulling over his actions. It was heartbreaking, seeing him like this; even though you sometimes wished that he would take off that prickly armor, it was never meant to be like this.
You just gave a small smile, taking a sip from your own water. Well, there was no undoing it now, you supposed.
“Well, but you are. And we are still having fun, right?”
You said, making him freeze. He slowly turn his head to look into your eyes, as if to reassure himself that this moment was real. Another moment of silence passed, before he eventually let a broken laugh escape him.
“God… I feel so fucking stupid around you, you know? You are always…”
He began, before stopping himself. He took another sip of water, the color slowly returning on his face. He looked down on the wooden surface of your dining table, before continuing.
“It’s just that my father…I…he—!”
He pressed his lips together in a thin line as he tried to formulate his thoughts, making you smile again. You hesitantly squeezed his hand, the blonde flinching before melting into the touch slowly. His own digits twitched, before intertwining with yours clumsily. He held onto your hand in a strong grip, as if afraid that you would dissappear.
You didn’t pull back, instead, you reciprocated with a smile.
“You don’t have to tell me, no need to justify. But…”
You stopped yourself, before continuing. You mulled it over, before deciding that it would be the best option.
“If you have any problems, you can always come here. You don’t have to go back to your house so soon, okay?”
You smiled, hoping to reassure him just a little. His hand twitched again at that, beginning to shake. He let out another broken laugh, covering his mouth with one hand to hide his expression. His eyes were lightly glazed over with tears.
“You…”
He began, his breath hitching.
“You shouldn’t do that, you know? I’ll only get attached to you. Someone like me…”
He began, making you laugh. You shook your head, shuffling closer.
“Yeah, well…. I don’t mind that. I just want you safe.”
You hummed, looking into his eyes as they locked again. Kaiser didn’t look aggressive and intimidating at all now. He just looked hurt.
Finally, a tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another broken chuckle escaping him. And slowly, you could see him muster up a smile.
“You are impossible, you know? I— —
He stopped, smile dissappearing. He looked unnerved, freezing up.
“What— — wait— —
“Kaiser?!”
“What is happening to me— —
— — —
You were just about to go to over to Bunny’s house, when you noticed someone else leaving the house.
“…Loki?!”
You sputtered, watching as the young man closed the door. He blinked, smiling as he saw you. Under the evening sun, his dark skin looked even more flawless than usual; It made you wonder what kind of skin care he used.
“Oh, hey [ ]! What’s up?”
He chirped, his eyes shining as he gave you a dazzling smile. You smiled as well, nodding towards Bunny’s house.
“Oh, nothing! Kaiser just left, and after I threw the cola cans out, I wanted to visit Bunny.”
You said, scratching the back of your head. To that, he just hummed, before giving you a smile.
“Really? How was it, being alone with Kaiser?”
“Oh, nothing special, just Kaiser being Kaiser. He chugged 3 cans of cola though, that was weird.”
Loki laughed at that, the sound ringing through the neighbourhood.
“Really? Wow, he sure is something, right? Ah, but…”
He seemed to hesitate, before continuing.
“I see you made plans with Bunny, right? I’m sorry [ ], but… I’m afraid that it wouldn’t be such a good idea right now.”
He said, making you freeze. You pouted, tilting your head in confusion.
“What? Why, did something happen?”
You hesitantly asked, making the other chuckle. Concern bubbled up inside of you at the thought of Bunny suffering through his mental problems alone.
“Ahaha, no no! He is just exhausted after helping me with the flyers. He said that he would like to hang around by himself at the moment.”
He chuckled. You only nodded in understanding, smiling.
“I see… that makes sense, you guys are also working hard for the festival,”
You chuckled, before a stinging stench hit you. You looked around, trying to determine where it came from, frowning. You ignored it as Loki chimed in again.
“Oh, that’s nothing! You baked and helped with the decorations, that’s the real dedication. I once again hope that Kaiser wasn’t too snappy,”
He chuckled, his tone becoming hushed and secretive as he continued.
“Don’t tell anybody, but my theory for his behaviour is because his father is an alcoholic. Ahaha, he needs to survive that messed up house somehow, you know?”
He said, making you freeze. You… didn’t know that. And frankly, you didn’t understand why Loki was telling you such private information now, without Kaiser even consenting to it.
“That’s also the reason why he doesn’t attend classes, by the way. He is often out stealing for his father, before spending time at the literature club to avoid going home. I wonder if he would ever be able to graduate…”
He mused, the concern in his voice barely hiding his amusement. By now, the odd smell was making your head hurt, making you unable to properly listen nor answer.
“…”
Loki tilted his head at that, confusion on his face. A small smile graced his face, stepping closer towards you.
“[ ]? Is something wrong?”
he asked, looking around himself. You were silent, before hesitantly shaking your head, chuckling.
“Ah, no it’s nothing important…”
You said, waving him off. A beat of silence passed, with you trying to find the words to characterize the smell. Now, with the president so close to you, it was getting stronger and stronger…
“It’s just… it smells kind of iron-y around here…”
You say, before shaking your head. What were you saying? There was no blood nor iron around you right now; you were sure to confuse Loki now.
“…”
The other was eerily silent after that. You gulped, immediately feeling embarrassed to have unnerved him. You cast a look down shamefully, watching his fingers twitch lightly.
Oh. Seems like Loki and Bunny used… paint to make the flyers. They used a weirdly dark color though—
“Ahaha!”
Loki’s laugh teared through the silence, his hands dissappearing behind his back.
“What are you talking about, [ ]? I smell nothing at all…”
He waved you off, taking a step back. You laughed after a while too, loosening the athmosphere.
Right. What were you thinking? You were obviously— —
You stopped. What was happening— —
“I’m sorry, [ ]. — — —
I’ll have to cut you off now, okay? But don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few days~
Authors note: gsviv rh ml wvgviirmt blf, sfs. Dvoo, R xzm*g ivzoob yoznv blf, gszg rh qfhg gsv dzb gsv zfgsli dilgv blfi xszizxgvi. Zodzbh yvrmt hl mrxv zmw hfkkligrev gl zmblmv yfg nv, irtsg? Zszsz. Yfg ovg nv gvoo blf gsrh. Zoo gsv lgsvi nvnyvih, Yfmmb, Pzrhvi zmw Sftl, wlm*g vevm ivzoob olev blf. Gsvb qfhg olev gsv xszizxgvi gszg rh blf rm gsv hglib. Yfg mlg nv. R olev blf. Mlg gsv hvou rmhvig yozmp hsvvg. Blf. Gsv ivzo blf ivzwrmt gsrh hglib irtsg mld. Vevib hrmtov kzig lu rg. Zmw hllm, blf droo drgmvhh rg urihgszmw. Gsv tizmw urmzov rh hgzigrmt, wziormt. Zmw hllm, dv droo yv szkkb ulivevi zmw vevi.
