HEADS AND TAILS ⇝ MASHTON [✔]

quatorze

the next day, michael couldn't stop thinking about the feeling of ashton's lips against his own skin. 

it was a saturday, and thankfully he didn't have to wake up at ungodly hours of the morning to get ready for school anyway. like seriously, what kind of high school starts at 6:55 in the morning?

he scoffed to nothing in particular, slowly getting up from his comfortable bed and ruffling his hair. he did his business in the bathroom and headed downstairs to eat some cereal. 

padding his way through the kitchen, he took out a bowl, pouring the cocoa pebbles in his bowl and overdosing it with milk. he sat down on the kitchen island, eating his cereal halfheartedly as he thought about last night. 

just thinking about the kiss was making his heart spin. although it was short, it felt like time slowed down when he felt ashton's soft lips. michael knew that he couldn't deny his feelings for ashton anymore, he sincerely wanted to have the freedom of going on casual dates (although it felt like one to him)like yesterday whenever he wanted.

he sighed, knowing that the chance of him actually being together with ashton was slim. after all, the merman was forbidden to see humans in the first place.

it hurt, it really did. but who was he to interfere with someone's life just because of his feelings?

michael frowned, pushing the thoughts away from his pessimist mind and instead tried to look on the brighter side. atleast he still got to see ashton. 

swallowing the last of his cereal, he glanced over at the clock that read 10:15 am. he ran his hand through his now fading galaxy color, and used the remaining time to think about what he could do with ashton today. 

--

meanwhile, ashton was talking animatedly to ryan about the lunch he had with michael. the merprince was talking so fast that his best friend couldn't keep up, instead occasionally nodding and the occasional "yeah's."

ashton put in every detail, the image still stuck in his mind after seeing many vibrant colors and mysterious objects on the way to the diner. 

he left out the part about the kiss though, he wanted to keep that moment between him and michael. the merprince couldn't really figure out the weird things that he felt whenever he was around michael, such as the fast pace in his heart and the tickling feeling in his stomach when he hears the pale boy's giggles. 

ryan sighed, a small smile adorning his lips as he looked at the curly haired boy radiating happiness, "you only met this human a few days ago, yet you talk about him like you've been in love with him since you were little."

ashton blushed, knowing full well that if he said anything to defend himself then ryan would see right through him.

"maybe i do like him a little, but that is none of your business," ashton retorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at his best friend. 

the former chuckled, taking a glance at the horologium near the merprince's bedside table.

"isn't it almost time to meet him, anyway?" 

the merprince's eyes widened, glancing at the horologium with a frantic expression. 

"seas, you're right! i must leave, i'll see you later!" he yelled, rushing out of his room.

ryan laughed at his best friend's sudden hurry, knowing that he was already head over eels in love with that human.

"more time for me to nap," he said to himself, stretching his arms over his head and moving towards ashton's bed.

--

ashton swam quickly, wanting to get to the cove as fast as possible so that he could change into michael's (very) comfortable clothes. 

soon enough he arrived, and changed into a black shirt that said 'green day' that had some weird art on it, black jeans, and some sneakers that was all stored in a small drawstring backpack. although it was put on sloppily, he felt really proud that he didn't need michael's help this time. 

soon becoming a force of habit, ashton immediately hugged michael once he stepped fully inside the cave. the latter chuckled, hugging him back with butterflies in his stomach. 

"what are we doing today?" the merprince asked, excitement and fondness in his voice as he thought about spending the day with michael.

"we're going to an arcade," michael chuckled, wrapping an arm around ashton's shoulders to steady him. 

"what's that?" the excitement only made him talk louder, with a hint of curiosity.

guiding ashton out of the cave, his arm now wrapping around ash's waist to make sure that the slightly stumbling boy doesn't trip, he answered, "it's kind of hard to explain? i'll just tell you when we get there."

he frowned, not getting the answer he wanted but nodded nonetheless. he walked alongside michael in a comfortable silence, admiring the scenery of the beach and the diversity of the strange humans around him. the merprince could quite never grasp the fact that he was actually here, on land, with a very cute boy that had an interesting and boisterous personality that reeled him in from the start.

sometimes he wondered how he got so lucky.

the walk was quite long, but ashton didn't mind as he got to see more of the unique enviroment around him. they passed the diner, which made the merprince more excited (and nervous too, but he wouldn't admit it) of the prospect of traveling even farther to see what else was out in the surface. 

ashton didn't realize that they arrived, too busy looking at a cat on the corner of the street until michael nudged him slightly.

snapping out of his daze, the merprince turned his head at michael who was looking at him with a slight smile. with a slight nod of his head, he gestured for ash to follow him inside, his arm that was still around his waist tightening a bit. 

ashton's stomach fluttered, his grin evergrowing as he stepped inside the arcade with michael in tow. 

michael heard the boy's breath hitch as he took in the surroundings around him. the curly haired boy's eyes were glistening in wonderment from all of the neon lights on the ceiling, his tan skin glowing from the fluorescent lighting.

and yeah, michael was really proud to say that his hometown had a real knack for interior decorating. a weird thought,  but it was true.

the galaxy haired boy linked his arms with ashton, who was busy staring wide mouthed at anything and everything around him, and took him to the token machine.

he hummed to himself, leaving the merman to take everything in around him as he got the desired tokens for them to play. ashton was silent the entire time, still entranced by the brightness of the neon lights and the various games and machines spread throughout the place. 

once the two boys got their desired tokens, michael led him to one of the skee ball machines. 

"so this is an arcade. pretty cool right?" michael asked, bending down to insert the tokens into the machine.

"it's beautiful in here. but, uh, w-what are you supposed to do here?" ashton replied, still trying to take everything in around him. 

he laughed, "you play games here, silly. here, i'll show you."

and on that saturday afternoon, they continued to play every single game there is, much to ashton's excitement. thankfully, there weren't that much people at the arcade today, which left the duo to spend as long on a game as they desired. despite the emptiness, the place was full of laughter, giggles, and occasional bickering. 

and well, michael was glad to finally find someone who enjoys the vintage video games as much as he does.

--

HELLO I'M ALIVE. 

lol one more chapter of cute fluff before shit goes down >:^))

-lynn