Anti sighed as he closed the bathroom door behind him, letting his 'Jack' guise fall. There wasn't much of that to fall left though. He'd held it up for too long, and trying to keep it stable as Ethan bandaged him and got really close to him, it was surprisingly more difficult than he'd thought. Dark was always better at this...
He ran a hand through his hair and moved over to the mirror, examining himself. The hole in his side was bandaged, quite expertly. His fluffy, yet faded, green hair was pushed up and slightly sweaty. His eyes were a bright blue and an emerald green. His skin was pale, and dead looking. The tips of his nails looked like red-brown, as if blood was stuck beneath them.
He groaned as he felt something akin to disgust flare up in his chest. He hated this, he'd always felt something bad for his actual appearance, though he hated using mirages to change it. Constantly, he would imagine what life would be like, what he would look like if he hadn't been in that stupid lab. If they hadn't tore him apart atom by atom, only to put him back together again.
But now... Now this Ethan guy was... it was as if he was intensifying each and every emotion. Which seemed to include the bad ones. Guilt especially. And disgust. He let out a frustrated noise and turned away from the mirror. He looked down, there was something in his pocket...
The dog.
Anti smiled ruefully as he pulled it out of his pants pocket. Ethan had spent more than a whole dollar on this toy, and for him! He sat down heavily on the toilet seat, looking down at the small toy that fit perfectly in his hand. I don't deserve this... I don't deserve any of it! I-I'm a bad person- I'm not even a person! I-I'm someone's fucked up science experiment!
He froze when he felt something drip onto his leg. He looked up first, thinking maybe there was a leak in the roof or something. Then, he looked around him, confused. Another drip, this time on his arm, the one right under his chin. He clutched the dog in one hand and shakily lifted the other to his face.
It was wet.
He made a choked sound and pulled his hand away quickly, looking down at it. It was covered in water... he scrambled up off his seat and to the mirror, looking into his own mismatched eyes. They were filled with water. He brought some of it from his fingers to his lips. It was salty.
He took in a shuddering breath, before collapsing as something inside him seemed to break. A rush of emotion came forth and more and more choked sounds began to emit from his mouth, echoing around the small bathroom. More wetness trailed down his cheeks, dripping into his lap.
"Jack? Are you alright in there?" He almost froze, lifting his head weakly to look at the door, "Jack? I'm coming in, okay?" and then the door handle was turning. He quickly pulled up his 'Jack' version, and for the first time, while wearing a mirage, he started to feel a little better, knowing he looked less monstrous. But there was still a waterfall coming from his eyes.
"Jack?! What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" he heard Ethan's voice, saw his blue hair and kind, worried eyes, before lowering his head again. His shoulders shook with the force of his choked noises. Soon enough, he could feels Ethan's arms around him, pulling him closer.
He just shook his head, unable to speak. Ethan was rocking him gently, rubbing circles on his back and shushing him. Telling him everything was okay. But it wasn't. It wasn't okay, because already he was getting attached and he didn't know how or why and everything was changing and he needed to get back to the house but he didn't really want to anymore!
Once he'd calmed down, Ethan was still rocking him. He was practically laying on the other chest, sniffling. He was glad his guise stayed mostly up. All but his eyes, but he quickly changed that. He looked up at Ethan, blushing a little.
"U-uh, thank you..." he mumbled, shifting away from the other. He ran a hand through his hair, swallowing. Then, he wiped at his eyes. The water had stopped coming from his eyes now. But it was still all over his face. As well as some snot. It was disgusting, in his opinion. He grabbed some clean toilet paper and wiped his face clean.
"So, wanna tell me what you were crying about?" He shook his head. Crying, that's what it was called? I'll have to look it up later... he thought to himself, rubbing at his arms. A sudden chill had crawled up his spine.
"It's nothing, kid" he mumbled, standing up, "Come on, let's go get the couch set up for me, yeah?" he said quietly, pulling Ethan up and letting him leave the bathroom first. He was about to go too, when he stopped and turned around. He grabbed the dog, which had somehow managed to stay on the toilet seat, and stuffed it into his pocket.
...
Ethan was worried about Jack. He'd acted like such a big wound was nothing. He'd bolted to the bathroom before bursting into tears over what he claimed was nothing, then went... almost emotionless. He really was worried. And that surprised him, because he'd just met the guy earlier that day.
He sighed as he waited for the green haired man to come from the bathroom. It didn't take long, and soon they were silently, yet efficiently, turning the couch into a makeshift bed for the night. Or at least till they could get Jack an actual bed and clear the guest room.
During their making of the bed, Ethan called in some pizza. He was happy to know Jack liked pineapples and ham, and laughed at the story of his friend, Mark, who refused to touch it. Once Jack started on his friends, it seemed as if he couldn't stop to Ethan.
He described Mark as an 'average height, not short' but well built male. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and Jack described him with a fond sort of smile. Mark was apparently a guy with a dark and dirty sense of humor, and Jack seemed to admire him.
Another friend of his, Felix, who was also 'average', yet taller than him. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and had a Swedish accent. Jack said he had a crude sense of humor that tended to get him, and others, into trouble. Jack kept calling him the 'Swedish meatball'.
He also talked about Felix's 'girlfriend', Marzia. Says she was from Italy, and that Felix had left them for her. Though, they still managed to keep in touch. He didn't say much on her after that. He almost seemed jealous, but of what, Ethan didn't know.
His quietness was soon replaced though, as he animatedly started talking about some musical genius friend of his named Nate. And their 'strategizer', Matthew. Ethan wasn't sure why they needed a strategizer, but he found it cool all the same.
He also mentioned another guy. Said no one knew his name, but they all called him 'Cry'. Said he was the mysterious member, no one knew anything about him. Felix was the only one Cry seemed close too, and he was no longer there.
He seemed to truly admire and look up to these people.
But, his eyes almost told a different story all together. As he talked about Nate and Matthew, his eyes were calm, but almost devoid of emotion, as if he didn't truly know them. Cry was similar, with confusion mixed in. Felix... When Jack mentioned Felix his eyes seemed to well up a bit, in pain and jealousy and confusion.
And Mark. His eyes at Mark's name, at the beginning were filled with a kind of brotherly fondness. But, that quickly changed to a look of anger and pain. Ethan couldn't help but wonder why.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and he stood with a smile, "Pizza's here!" he shouted loudly, rushing to the door. He quickly payed the delivery man, and brought the pizza back to the couch. Jack's bed was finished by this point, and Jack himself had managed to curl up into the blankets while Ethan got the pizza.
Jack smiled up at him, and reached his hands out making little grabby motions and laughing. Ethan smiled and sat next to him opening the pizza box. He took out a piece before turning the box towards Jack, so he could take a slice.
They sat and quietly enjoyed their Hawaiian pizza.
...
The next morning, Ethan had nearly completely forgotten about Jack. So he was fairly surprised to wake up snuggled against another person. On his couch.
He may or may not have freaked out a bit.
Especially when said person started laughing. He recognized the laugh though, and sat up with a pout.
"It's not funny, Jack! I nearly had a heart attack!"
"It's totally funny! You should have seen your face! It went all scrunched up in confusion for a second before your eyes widened and you went all red!"
"I- I- I did not go all red! I'm not red!"
"Yes you are! You look like a blue haired tomato!"
"No I don't!"
"You do, and it's adorable-" Jack trailed off and swallowed, and now they were both blushing, and blushing hard. "I- I-"
"I'm not adorable!"
Jack seemed to blush harder and he nodded, flinching back slightly. Ethan frowned, realizing he'd raised his voice. Had he scared the other man? Or is it just to early to be super loud around him? He smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he said sitting up. Jack shook his head, eyes wtill wide.
"No, no! You didn't startle me! I just- it's early..." Jack trailed off and Ethan rolled his eyes a bit before crawling from the couch. Once he was standing on the ground he placed his hands on his back and stretched, groaning. His back cracked a bit and he smiled, his hands dropping to his sides and his shoulders slouching as a dumb smile came to his face.
"That felt good..." he mumbled softly, before turning to look at Jack. The green haired man was staring at him in confusion, but he brushed it off, it's not like this guy wouldn't know what yawns were. Everyone had them... well, everyone but psychopaths and sociopaths. But that's only cause they lack he basic sense of empathy, and the more you yawn, the more empathetic you are.
He decided to stop thinking about yawns and their random facts and head, and start on breakfast.
"Anything in particular you want?" he asked, turning to look at Jack. Jack blinked and crawled out of the couch-bed. His head tilted and his faded hair flopped over to the left. Ethan couldn't help but smile a bit as he watched.
"Want? For what?"
"Food, dummy. It's time for breakfast..." he trailed off and poked his head through the nearby doorway to check the clock in his kitchen, "Actually, it's more like lunch-time!" he said with a chuckle. Glad it's my day off today... he thought to himself.
Jack's eyes widened in surprise and he nodded, saying "Whatever ya wanna make is okay."