"I'm done."
Ethan's head shot up, startled, and he spun around in his chair. He went to stand, but his spinning chair was still, well, spinning, and caught his side. He wobbled and had to take a few strangely placed steps to keep his balance as he held his arms out. When he was done wobbling, he stood up straight with a blush and awkward smile.
"U-uh... hi-" he cut himself off and started. The guy was clean now, free of blood and dirt. And damn, he looked good. He was well built, lean but toned. His hair was fluffy and green and his eyes were a startling blue. He shook his head a little and felt his face heat up enough that he felt like he was on fire. "U-uh..."
"Hi," the guy said, sounding awkward but confident. A strange mix, but Ethan couldn't help but let a small smile flit across his lips. He moved closer to the guy, so they weren't separated by an entire bedroom, and held his hand out.
"I, uh...wait. Weren't you, like, severely bleeding and bruised and shit?" he questioned, coming closer to look at the pretty guy. First, he grabbed his arms, looking them both over in suspicion. He was sure the man had had a long slice down his arm...
Then he lifted both his gaze and his hands to the guys face. He gripped his chin lightly, fingers brushing over stubble as he moved from side to side. He raised his hands to the other guys blue eyes and brushed his fingers over his eyelids, as to check for bruising or coverup.
After finding nothing he stepped back and crossed his arms with a sigh. He gave a wary glance at the stranger he'd invited into his home. "You're not some weird dude that gets horny off pain right? Or some serial killer or murderer using the guise of some wounded dude to find your victims?" he asked, keeping his voice surprisingly strong.
The guy blinked and shook his head with a chuckle. "Oh, no, no, no. I'm not t'hat... I've just. Hah. You wouldn't believe me if I told yeh," he said with another shake of his head. Ethan couldn't help but blink at him though.
"You're Scottish?" he asked with a surprised voice. He frowned a little when the guy's facial expression seemed to shift to one of surprise, and not the good kind, and a bit of anger.
"Scottish?! I'm fockin' Irish, not Scottish!" Green hair snapped and Ethan couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"Well sorry, Mister Irishman. All the accents sound the same to me," he said with another roll of his eyes and a cheeky smile. The Irishman's face quickly relaxed into an almost annoyed, but also fond, smile.
"I'll let ya off t'his time. But next time, it's a battle ta the death!" he said, loudly and teasingly. Ethan playfully scowled back and they stared each other in the eye for a good thirty seconds. That is before they both started to laugh at their antics.
Ethan then slid himself between green hair and the door, moving out into the hallway. He headed towards the kitchen, wanting to get a glass of water or something else to satisfy his dry throat.
He could hear the other guy following him, feel his crystal gaze on his back. But he didn't acknowledge it, instead, he entered the kitchen and opened the cup cupboard, reaching for a glass.
"Want anything?" he asked, shooting a small glance to the man now standing in his kitchen doorway, looking nervous. He smiled softly and turned to the sink, filling his own cup with water. Then he leaned against the counter with a raised brow.
"Well? You gonna answer or are you just going to stand there all day, Mister Irishman?" he asked with the slight tilt of his head. The guy shook his head as his eyes flitted around the room. It was as if he was looking for something, checking. His gaze would constantly jump back to Ethan though as if he was paranoid Ethan would jump him or something.
"You going to stand in the doorway all day or are you going to come in?" he asked again with another tilt of his head. He watched the guy smile and cautiously walk in, step by step. Soon he was next to Ethan, eyeing the kitchen knives with a strange look.
Ethan stepped between the Irishman and the knives, subtly, and smiled a little, again looking the man up and down for any signs of makeup. He could find none. He took a sip of his water and looked back up at the guys face.
"...how long were you out there? Why didn't you just go home?"
The guys seemed to freeze up at the question. His feet shifted slightly like he didn't want to admit something. Like he was nervous about the reaction it would get. Ethan gave him a soft smile in hopes it would get the other to relax.
"I don't have a home 'round here ta go ta. I dunno how long I was out t'here..." was the mumbled response he got after a while. Ethan's eyes widened a little as he turned to look the guy head on.
"Wh-what?" he croaked. This beautiful man doesn't have a home? I'm guessing the 'round here' part means he left his home in Ireland for something he didn't get here. Or maybe he was kicked out? Maybe I'm over thinking things... perhaps he just meant he doesn't have a home this side of town?
"What do you mean you don't have a home around here?" he asked, eyes wide as his mind filled with thoughts of this man.
"I mean just t'hat. No home. Not in this city, not on this continent. No-" the guy cut himself off and looked down. Ethan was sure he was going to say something else, but he didn't want to push it. He had only met the guy an hour or so before.
Even if it did feel like he'd somehow known him for longer.
Ethan's thoughts were cut off by a loud rumbling, and he blushed a little. He couldn't help but clutch at his rumbling stomach in embarrassment. He sent a light glare over to the Irishman as said man started chuckling at him, his blue eyes flashing in amusement.
"Sh-shut up! I'm hungry is all..." he blushed darkly as he made his way over to the fridge, turning his back on his guest, "You want anything to eat?"
...
Anti didn't know why he let the guy's soft hands run across his arms and face, checking for wounds. Or why he played around with him, teasing like he would with Dark and the others... He didn't know why he didn't feel actual anger when the guy thought he was Scottish, unlike every other person on the planet who would dare say Scottish over Irish.
He didn't know why his stomach seemed to rebel against him every time blue hair looked at him, or why he couldn't help but smile when the other did. But he wanted to figure it out... and make it stop.
He heard a fairly loud grumbling in the room, coming from blue hairs stomach. He tried to stifle his laughter, but the small giggles were barely contained. And by blue hairs reaction, they were quite obvious.
He quickly contained himself as his eyes strayed to the knives on the counter, again. They'd be so useful... he shook his head a little as blue hair turned away, from both him and the knives, and towards the... big white block thing.
He felt himself gravitate towards the knives. He could kill him now, use his apartment... perhaps killing him would stop his reactions to the other male? Maybe it was a spell? He wouldn't be surprised... it's not like he hadn't been bewitched before. Though, this didn't feel like a traditional spell...
He wasn't sure if he was pulled from his thoughts or sucked deeper as his fingers wrapped around the handle of one of the blades. He was about to pull it out, to turn around and attack, to kill. But he stopped. The butterflies in his stomach grew in intensity as if they had multiplied.
His face felt tingly, as if the soft hands were back on his face, gentle and kind. His heart seemed to speed up and his hands began to sweat. He swallowed thickly as his hand slipped off the handle and he stepped back. His hands came up to his head and he tried to steady his breathing.
It had only been a few seconds. It must've been, for blue hair was still bent over, head in the opening of the giant block. He swallowed again and his eyes trailed over what he could see. His mouth went dry and his heart started beating faster again. He looked away, quickly, and cleared his throat.
"U-uhm... could I have that glass of water?" he asked. Blue hairs head came up quickly, body turning as if he was about to turn toward him. Instead, he hit his head on a shelf in the white block. Blues hands came up to the back of his head and Anti rushed forward, hands out.
An overwhelming fear for this man, even though he knew nothing could be very wrong. A bump at most. He just... his heart was screaming at him, make sure he's alright. So his hands were soon on his back, pulling him gently away and lifting him. His hands were running through the soft blue hair, checking for bumps.
He swallowed again, unaware of how big his eyes were, how panicked he looked. He only calmed when he heard soft laughter beneath him. He looked down, confused, to the big eyes looking up at him from his chest.
"What?" he asked, but he only received the shake of a head. Then Blue hair was pulling away, and his arms felt empty. His fingers were twitching, wanting to run through the blue hair once more. He smiled awkwardly, "Sorry..." he mumbled.
"It's alright, just wasn't expecting that is all," blue hair responded before turning towards the kitchen sink and filling another glass with water, "So, do you uh- do you work?" he asked as he turned and handed Anti a glass. He couldn't help but marvel at the clear, clean water. He even lifted the glass to the light so he could look through it, and it worked! Though the image on the other side was fairly warped.
He pulled it down at the chuckles on the other side of the room with a blush. He quickly drank the glass and set it down on the counter, "S-sorry," he said with a slight stutter, "I'm, uh, not used to clear water, heh,"
He flinched a little as blue hairs eyes widened, but froze completely when small arms were wrapped around his waist, head nuzzled into his chest, "I'm sorry," could be heard, muffled as it was, from his chest.
He shook his head, before remembering he couldn't be seen from his chest, and he sighed a little, "'What are yeh doin'?"
"I'm hugging you."
"...why?"
"Cause you looked like you needed one."
"And how did you come up with that theory?"
"Because you were standing there all cute and wide-eyed and innocent."
"...I what?"
Blue hairs face pulled back and he looked up with wide eyes. Both their faces were red, blue hairs from saying it and Anti's for being called cute.
"S-sorry, heh... I m-meant, uh..."
"You really think I'm cute?" Anti cut off his trailed off 'try to fix it' sentence with a soft voice. He knew the guy was really only calling his image 'cute', but it was close to his actual appearance... and a tingly warmth crawled through his abdomen as he thought about it. It wasn't bad though, it was... comforting, pleasant. Strange too, but not bad.
Blue hairs head nodded slowly, face as red as a firetruck, and he tried to pull away slowly. Anti blushed harder as well and he averted his gaze a bit. But as he did so, his arms, which had wrapped around blue hairs middle at some point, tightened and kept him from moving away.
"...I'm Ethan," blue hair said suddenly, breaking the silence that had consumed them. Anti's eyes trailed over to his face, surprised. Why is he telling me his name?, "Uh, sorry. I just... realized we hadn't introduced ourselves yet. A-and since I was thinking about inviting you to stay here till you could find a place of your own-"
"You want me to stay?!" Anti's eyes were wide as he looked down at the shorter man. He knew he needed to get going, that he did, in fact, have a home. And that Dark and the others would be expecting him back sooner or later... then again... they wouldn't be overly worried if I didn't show up for a few days...
"U-uh, well... yes? I mean, only if you want to, of course! I wouldn't force you to! B-but, well... you don't have a home, and I would enjoy the company. S-so it's a win-win... right?" 'Ethan' swallowed nervously and Anti nodded his head. It made sense...
He smiled and brought Ethan closer, hugging him in thanks. Then he pulled away and smiled wider.
"Why don't we get something to eat?" he asked, "I mean, your box looked pretty empty..." Ethan smiled at him as well. Anti found he enjoyed that smile, it was as bright as the sun, and it filled him with those strange happy butterflies.
"Yeah, just let me grab my keys and jacket and we'll head out," blue hair said with a nod. Then he disappeared from the room, only to return moments later with his jacket, dangling a set of keys off his finger, "Ready to go?"
Anti nodded his head and the two left the apartment. As they were walking, Anti couldn't help but look around. They'd been through here maybe an hour before, hour and a half at most, but at that point, he was very out of it. So now he was putting it all to memory, so he could find his way back alone if the need arose.
As they walked through an alley, Ethan had called it a shortcut, blue hair paused and looked at him with a confused smile.
"Hey, I told you my name. But I don't think you told me yours. And I don't just wanna be calling you 'green hair' and 'blue eyes' for the rest of our lives," Anti froze, not only because Ethan had said the rest of OUR LIVES, but for the fact that he asked for a name.
Anti's name was... well it wasn't normal. His birth 'name', S4-3N, left a sour taste in his mouth. He hadn't used that name since he was five, and he never wished to have it used again. Ever. And what he went by now, 'Anti'... it wasn't a very human sounding name.
He swallowed and shook his head, subtly clenching his fingers in a panic as he tried to come up with a name. Think Anti, think! Then he took a slow deep breath and smiled as he turned to face Ethan a little more. His voice was steady as he spoke.
"I'm Jack."