꧁ h o m e ꧂

𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛

"Happy new year, by the way."

Shayne stopped chewing and checked the date on his phone. "Oh, shit. Was that last week?"

"Yeah, on the plane from Atlanta to Dallas. I guess we slept through it."

"Should we kiss?" He asked as straight-faced as possible.

Damien pursed his lips in thought and checked the invisible watch on his wrist. "Ehhh. Maybe next year."

"I'm holding you to it." He turned his attention back to the screen. "So what's with this pearl breaking anyway?"

"Well, the jewel itself is what gives things power, right? So now because it's exploded out in tiny bits everywhere, instead of one thing getting all of the power, a whole bunch of different things get a little bit of power. And the girl in the green skirt can see where the shards are and they now have to collect them all and put the thing back together before the evil guy does. Got all that?"

He stared at him blankly. "...yes."

"It'll make sense eventually."

Shayne's phone buzzed on the coffee table and Noah's name popped up on the screen. Damien grabbed the remote. "Want me to pause it?"

"Sure, yeah, if you could. Be right back." He picked it up and walked down the hall to his room, answering it. "Heyo."

"What it do, groovy dude?"

"Not much, just dinner and a show. And you'd better not say what you're thinking."

Noah laughed. "I wasn't gonna say anything!"

"That's bullshit, I trusted your ass and you jumped on board that ship with everybody else!"

"Sorry not sorry, the bromance is real. What's on TV?"

"I wanted Dame to find a way to get me into anime more so he's showing me something from like 20 years ago called Inuyasha. Apparently it's like, anime lite. Starter show for the noobs."

"That sounds interesting. Is it any good?"

"Actually, yeah, it's pretty good. A little confusing plot-wise but I'll get it at some point."

Noah cooed. "That's so sweet that you're getting into his hobbies and interests with him."

"Oh shut up."

"How's he doing? Like mental health wise?"

Shayne sighed, peeking around the open door to see Damien cradling Zelda like a baby, telling her how sweet she was and spinning in gentle circles.

"I don't really know. It comes in waves. Like sometimes he's totally fine and sometimes he's crying on the couch under a blanket. He's getting better at opening up a little but it still hurts to watch."

"I bet."

"A lot of it is his body image."

"Like his body dysmorphia?"

"Yeah, that. His self deprecation is so sad to listen to and I keep trying to convince him that he's attractive and I can't get it out of my own head now, and maybe I'm gonna regret saying this but like..." His voice became soft as he tried not to let Damien hear. "...Noah, I can't keep my eyes off of him and I'm scared."

Noah grinned to himself on the other side of the phone. "Hey man, don't worry about it. Feelings are funny especially if they develop for someone you know already." Shayne sighed. "Don't stress it too much, you've got more than enough time to figure shit out."

"I guess so."

"Hey, so the actual reason I called. Keith, Court, Sarah, Ify, and I are gonna hop on the new Jackbox pack to try it before we record it tomorrow. You guys want in?"