"Exactly. One. Opposites attract. Two. Maybe I could be your meaning? Be your life line you lost oh so long ago, that highwire excitement you're missing. And because we're already close friends there won't be awkward small talk and I mean people ask all the TIME if I'm dating you with the way I steal your clothes and give you kisses. I don't do that for anyone else. And we're both smartly dumb in different ways so we match up that way,and you're just so handsome and kind. And I'm already easy to love. Aren't I? Since you already know me really well, and we cuddle all the time so there's no ice to break in that sense. Just cute dates and counting the stars. Now then are you gonna keep doubting me or do I get to cuddle you and give you little kisses?" She huffed as she crossed her arms and looked at him,hitting pause on the show.
Menek was about to hold up a finger, but quieted when she continued talking. The way his heart made his shirt twitch with each beat kept him sort of tethered within his own jail of a mind, always internally questioning the what if..’s and but this..’s.
But something about the song lyrics kept pushing back out of the bars. Something about the way she talked so sure of herself and matter-of-factly. It made him want so bad to be impulsive and to just live in the moment, not worry about anything in the long run.
So he simply nodded, unable to hide the bright red tint to his face. “Okay, all good points, all good points. I mean, I didn’t need convincing on that part, really. I’ll … I’ll take it.”
He sighed, smile creeping slowly onto his face as he shook his head.
“You’re such a stupid charmer and I loathe it,” he said, voice seeped in sarcasm. “So… what does this mean? I’ve never really done this whole ‘together’ thing.”
"Oh hush you love the way I flirt. Well. We start off easy. Holding hands,cuddling, remembering my favorite food and you surprise me with it one day when I come back after a show. Flirt with the idea of romance, entertain it. And see if things get more serious." She kissed his cheek and pulled him into her arms. "Get over here icicle. Let me warm you up."
“Alright, sounds doable,” he replied, getting situated with his head resting on her shoulder. He looked almost like a puppy, just trying his best to curl up next to her.
“I never understand how warm you are,” he mumbled, voice muffled by his own shirt. “But now that the invitation’s open, I am absolutely going to leech off of you for warmth. Not that I didn’t do that before but now I know it’s more on the table. In that case, thank you kindly.”
"Yeah yeah you're welcome." She pulled herself into his lap and wrapped both of them up in a huge fluffy blanket before hitting play on the movie. Her heart,even though she had been playing it casual,was having a drum solo in her chest and with his hand sort of draped over that area, his wrist touching where her heart is, there is no doubt that he could feel it. So she just hid in his neck and took a few deep breaths , taking him in and enjoying his company. "Also I am not always warm. I'm always cold and when I am warm you steal it from me. Dumbie." She peppered his cheek on little butterfly kisses though with a smile.
“You kidding?” Menek muttered, letting out a faint laugh as he tucked his other hand into a fold of the blanket. “A metal grate in a snowstorm has a higher temperature than me. Honestly, you feel like an oven at any given time.”
His eyes flickered back up to the TV, but it was clear his true attention was elsewhere. His own heart beat fast normally, to the point where he could feel it, and he always knew human hearts were different. Even so, now that he could feel Ev’s heart following suit, it was somewhat comforting to see the symmetry. He was never alone in his existential struggle, and Ev just solidified that fact.
((I already love these two sooooo much))
Evelyn couldn't stop giving him kisses. She really wanted to land her lips on his but didn't feel like pressuring him. Eventually she laid out on his chest and snuggled in,her arms around his waist under his shirt before she ended up taking off his shirt and snuggling in closer,a happy soft smile on her face as she put her head right over his heart. Then she did a strange thing. After a few moments she started to tap out a beat on his leg,very softly, over and over again. And this wasn't a drum beat either, one could tell.
((Dude same— the banter is phenomenal))
Even though the night was cold, with the late winter breeze blowing shamelessly through a cracked-open window, Menek was as content as ever. Even with his shirt tossed off to the side, the pale light from the TV making him look about as tan as a piece of paper.
His skin wasn’t like that of a human. It not only looked different but felt that way, too. It wasn’t cold like ice was cold— it was cold like a wall in an abandoned house. And, while he joked about himself feeling like a corpse, it was far from that. It was almost like someone had put him in the fridge for just a little too long. Honestly, that was the best Menek could describe it.
So he spent generally the most amount of time worrying about it he was comfortable enough, but every time Ev kissed him it felt like nothing could ever be wrong with the world. He had never understood when people described that in movies, but for now, it felt oddly real.
And then, his attention was snagged on her little morse-code-like tapping. After a few moments of memorization, he moved his free hand to tap on her side, trying his best to follow the beat she set up. Because, why not?
"Do you know what I'm tapping out?" She asked as the beat lowered in time to his heartbeat, all pressed up against him. She had grabbed a second blanket from under the couch and after fluffing it out, spread it on top of her. Her heart had stopped it's mini drum solo as she relaxed. (Also because I'm a cheesehead their first kiss is gonna be at sunrise.)
(that’s totally cheese but i’m here for it)
“My.. heartbeat?” he asked, head tilting slightly to the side. His voice was softer than normal— quieter, for sure, but with a rasp of contentedness he very rarely had.
Menek was one of those people that, if he focused, he could actually feel and/or see his heart causing his chest to twitch. And, although it had calmed down from that previous hammering, he could still tell.
Although, perhaps that was just his mind being all sappy, and the fact that he thought that was romantic. After all, Evelyn was a musician, so tapping to his heart like a bpm was adorable in his eyes.
"Correct!" She kissed his cheek and kept drumming. "Hey wanna risk your life tomorrow? We can watch the sunrise in the morning." Her attention was as far away from the show as possible, her eyes completely fixated on him, studying his features.
“You’re such a cheese ball,” he said, unable to keep from smiling. It was calmer though, quite the equanimous grin that suited his melodic voice well. As Ev talked, he could feel her words reverberating throughout her chest, and it brought that odd sense of comfort.
“Also, hell yeah. I’ve seen a sunrise once before,” he continued, laughing softly. “Like… a few hundred years ago. I had scars for days. But who cares? Might as well try it again.”
"Maybe so but this is all new to you so. I wanna give you the best. Cheese and all. Now then you have to keep me awake, or wake me up at 5 am and deal with my grumpy sleepy cuddly ass so we can actually catch the sunrise." She said with a grin, then jumping at a loud sound that sounded from the show. She relaxed though once she realized it was the show and hid her face in his neck,where she continued her barrage of kisses.
“Why, thank you,” he said, feeling goosebumps along the lengths of his back as she nuzzled into his neck. “That’s truly appreciated. And I would totally make you coffee but I know you hate it. Which is kinda lame, ‘cuz coffee is half of what keeps me sane. You’re the other half.”
Menek wrapped his arms around her again, still having that relatively dopey grin across his face. It took a lot to get him to a point like this— all soft words and goofy smiles— but Evelyn seemed to have no trouble with it.
“But hey, if you wanna sleep, go ahead. I can carry you to the roof and die while you’re unconscious,” he continued, squinting at his words as he heard them out of context.
"Nooo I don't want my baby to die." She said all pouty, the nickname slipping off of her lips as she pressed herself tight to him. "And coffee is NASTY. Can't tell me otherwise. But energy drinks? Especially Bang? That's an addiction." She yawned. "Promise to wake me up? And that I can sleep on your icicle ass?" She said softly, burying her face into him.
“I hate energy drinks, so I guess we’re even,” he replied, wrinkling his nose. “Bang is like drinking straight creatine infused with caffeine.”
He bobbed his head lightly, soon having his cheek rest atop Ev’s head. “But okay, okay, I’ll wake you up. And you’re staying on this couch if you fall asleep. I’d carry you to your bed but there’s no way I could watch AHS by myself again. Just ‘cuz I am a stereotypical monster doesn’t mean I’m not scared of other ones.”
"Just…turn it off. Come to bed with me." She began to dose off and soon was asleep. Her whole body relaxed against his chest, becoming more dead weight then anything but her warmth spread all over him, a soft smile on her face as she shuffled around a bit more before finally passing out.
“You’re high if you think I can sleep right now,” he cooed quietly. “It’s like… noon for me. And I can never take naps, you know that. Or else I can’t chill with you in the daytime. But— alright. If you insist.”
He very carefully reached for the remote, watching as the TV flickered off and all light that was left was the moon through the window. Keke wrapped Ev up in all the blankets, trying his best to walk steadily to her room and set her cautiously on her bed.
He shuffled to his own room for just a moment, picking up his favorite book he had been reading for the fourth time, and heading back over to crawl onto Ev’s bed with her. Luckily, he could read pretty well in the dark, so he just laid there, reading, enjoying the company.
She dreamed of happy things, only waking up when he left but falling back asleep when she was in his arms again. She felt safe here, which was weird. Really, she always had. In almost no time 4:30 rolled around and it'd take a half hour to get Evelyn to wake up and bother to get out of bed, as she lay there peacefully in the moonlight, it softly accenting all the little features of her face.
“Eeeeeeeeeeevvvv,” Menek hummed, glancing from the clock back to the sleeping lump of blankets. “Hey, Sunny. Time to go get burnt to a crisp, wanna join?”
He set his book down on the bedside table, smiling sweetly to himself as his eyes danced over Ev’s face. He held up a hand tentatively, resting it on her shoulder and rocking her lightly. “Wake up. You promised me a sunrise, you gorgeous dipshit.”
He could see his heart making his chest do those little twitches again, as he felt the urge to give her one of those little kisses she always gave him. Instead he thought better of it, slipping off the bed to go grab his shirt from the couch again. He walked back in, glancing up to her speaker system.
“Heeey,” he sang, tugging his shirt back on. “If you don’t wake up, I’m blasting you outta bed with your own punk playlist.~”
"I'm not getting up without kisses…" She grumbled out as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest with a pout. "And food. I want food you ass."
Menek narrowed his eyes, hopping around to Ev’s side of the bed and leaning over to meet her eyes.
“You forget I can do this—,” he began, but his words were cut off as he slipped his hands blow her, picking her up to cradle in his arms. The blankets were still wrapped around her, but Keke didn’t mind the extra warmth, considering the morning was extremely cold. He leaned down, smiling as he kissed her forehead. “Deal with that— I’ll give you more kisses after I make you breakfast— but I’m not your slave, so you’re helping me.”
He walked out of her room, sitting her down on one of the kitchen stools as he began fumbling around in the fridge.
“What do you want? I can make really whatever, but we are still out of the jelly.”
She sat there in the blankets and put her head on the counter. "I want sleeeeep…why do I do these things to myseeeelf…just. Gimme some cereal." She grumbled out as she tucked the blankets under her, glowering at her now boyfriend.
“Hey, we don’t gotta wait for sunrise if you don’t want to. But it was your idea, and you told me to wake you up, so here we are.”
Menek took hold of the milk in the fridge, shutting the door as he spun around and set it on the table. He waltzed over to the far cabinet, getting on his tip toes to reach the box.
“Uhh, what kinda cereal do you want? We have.. Cinnamon Toast Crunch and the literal last dregs of Lucky Charms. We… we so need to go grocery shopping.”
"Cinnamon toast crunch please." She said softly, as she laid her head on the counter and closed her eyes. "You are way too awake for this morning." (I expected him to be a bit more nervous? I dunno. Since this is his first ever relationship really and what not)
