#also KNOW i laughed OUT LOUD in the coffee shop today after typing the messenger's little dialogue

[grabtherain]

Zach Stone's Last Laugh Pt. 3

It had been a few days before either young adult found the courage to text the other, not that they were worried of texting too soon, but more worried about the awkwardness that was the two of them. While Genesis waited for either of them to grow some balls... she decided to watch a different showing of 'What'- you know what you do when you wanna relive the best moments. Thankfully, they released a version of 'What.' onto Netflix that she could watch five times a day for the rest of the week. She tended to hyperfixate sometimes.

"Popcorn. Blanket and-" Genesis jumped at the sound of her phone dinging from the couch, interrupting her listing off of 'essentials' she needed for her third viewing today. She grumbled incoherently under her breath as she made her way to her phone and grabbed it off the soft cushions of the love seat. Her phone automatically unlocked with the view of her face and she tapped into the message notification. "Hey Genesis, I'm in the city again today and was wondering if you wanted to meet up for that coffee." She read out loud in utter confusion- her face even scrunched as she continued to ignore the name of the messenger. "Who the-" Zach Stone idiot. "Holy shit!" She yelled as she almost dropped her phone from how stupid she felt. Gathering herself as quickly as she could since she knew her read receipts were on- she typed up a response she believed wasn't too eager but showed enough interest.

Genesis: 'Hey Zach! Yeah sure, my schedules all free today so I'm totally down to meet.'

As she reread the message she had sent, Genesis felt the need to facepalm herself, realizing she didn't bring up any location.

Genesis: 'There's a little coffee shop in the mid city know about. Want me to send the address?'

If Genesis was any younger, she would be worried about double texting- but even back then she didn't mind it. Hell that's how her brain worked most of the time. In short spirts, one after the other. Like these sentences.

Either way, she quickly tossed her phone down back on the couch so she could get back to what she was doing previously. Totally ignoring the fact that she might have to get ready to meet Zach, she didn't want to totally jinx the situation by putting too much thought into it- so with her text sent, she settled down into her maroon love seat and clicked play.

She was about 20 minutes into the show when it seemed that everyone in her contacts wanted to say hi. Harini was now texting her about how the meeting with Zach went, and it felt odd reading 'Bo Burnham' and knowing his real name was Zach. It wasn't unusual for her to meet people with stage names, though less common in Hollywood, she never got quite use to it when meeting music artist and now Zach. Peaking up around 10 minutes later, there was Zach on her flat screen TV, pretending to jerk off. DING. Quickly glancing down, it seemed that the same Zach decided to respond to her messages at the exact same time as well. She puffed air into her upper lip in total restraint, "You're a 24 year old professional actor Yiles- this isn't." She burst into laughter at her own self talk, covering her mouth as she doubled over. If anyone were to be watching her right now, somehow in her house, they would be thinking she was the crazy one. She was crying as she panted out, typing out the ironic situation to Harini- knowing the other would respond about how immature Genesis was. She could care less a this very moment. "Lord-" She giggled as she shakily wiped her tears, also tapping onto Zach's contact so she could tearfully read the message.

Zach: 'Sure. I can meet you before my next show tonight. See you at 2:30?'

Genesis: 'See you then!'

She was surprised she didn't have any spelling errors, since she at the same time was doing breathing exercises out of her nose. "Get a grip Gene." She groaned out loud as she stood up, playfully glaring at her TV like it was the reason she had terrible humor. "I'll get you back some day." She laughed softly again as she then strutted up the stairs and to her bedroom to get ready. As Genesis made her way up, she clicked her phone on to check the time- noting that she only had 4 hours to get ready, in her mind not enough time.

"Don't worry Genesis, you've got this."

Zach on the other hand, did not have this.

This had probably been the worst morning he had had, in a while. Besides the fact that he had another terrible panic attack after the show last night, he had found out that Amy- his girlfriend, wanted to breakup their long distance relationship. Amy was the only thing that kept him going these days, besides his dreams of fame coming true, she kept him from total insanity.

"What are you talking about Amy!? I think about you everyday, you can't just assume that I don't love you anymore..." Zach yelled into his cell phone that was held against his ear. He had locked himself into his hotel room when Amy's caller ID popped up onto his phone, considering the fact they haven't been able to call the last few nights. "Is this really about me or did you-" he paused, scared of his own words, "find someone else?" It was an old fear he had, that had kind of dissipated the longer they stayed together, but Zach would always be Zach.

"Oh shut up Zach! You've been saying that to me even before I left to work in Washington. When in reality, you have been looking at other girls since before I left for college." Amy said sternly back, since she never yelled, but it was even more deadly and scary. Confusion ran across Zach's face.

"What the hell are you-"

"You think I didn't watch the videos you made during the summer before college? Zach. Netflix made a whole documentary out of it!" Zach stayed silent, and it seemed that Amy took it as an opportunity to keep going. "Labeling me as the back up option for Christy... ignoring me when other girls were around, and now you're meeting famous actresses after your show-"

"Actresses?" Zach questioned the accusation, before slowly connecting the dots in his totally clouded brain. "Are you talking about Genesis Yiles? Amy, we met to talk strictly business." He explained simply, in the back of his mind thinking about how 'Amy simply didn't get how being famous worked'. Thoughts he had pushed down for years.

"That's the only thing you picked out of that entire thing Zach? Really? You have no excuse for anything else?" Amy was giving him the opportunity to explain the harsh words he used against her, words that simply objectified her in his own world, and made her seem like just another factor in him becoming famous. He didn't take the chance...he didn't know how. "This is why I'm breaking up with you." She whispered after a few moments of total silence from the other end of the line, "I wish you the best of luck Zach Stone." She finished choked sobs as she hung up. She sobbed into the heels of her palms, her roommate beside her gently rubbing her back in reassurance.

Zach on the other hand was alone, just like he was when he started this journey of fame. Though people always had surrounded him, seemingly with love and kindness, in Zach's mind he was lonely. Kind words meant nothing to him in the past if they hadn't been caught on camera, and now kind words meant nothing if you weren't a fan or agent. He was never able to fully change, only realize that fame wasn't what he thought. It was terrifying, made him shiver, and cry sometimes- but it still gave him the attention he believed he deserved all along. He had built his whole career off shock value, the people he met, and most importantly- his own self doubt, so he couldn't understand why Amy had to be so selfish. Yeah that's what she was, selfish. Not him. Her.

Zach now had to look through his closest for clothes that said, 'hey gorgeous actress, I am single.' At least that's what his brain told him to wear, in reality he didn't want to even go out anymore, but this was for economic gain. If Genesis could get him into a movie with her or even allow him to write jokes about her, then he could grow in popularity in seconds. "Snap out of it Zach." It was small trigger in his mind that slowly made his eyes open to the real situation. He was meeting another human to get coffee and talk work, he needed to remember who she was.

That night that they had met, Zach though not in the best mood, had a strong feeling that him and Genesis could be good friends. Not just business friends as she, he assumed, suggested without putting too much thought into- but more like actual friends. Something he needed. She could tell he was practically dying on stage, it would be safe to assume that the women could also tell that Zach at the time wasn't very enthusiastic about a random meet up- and he found that refreshing. Someone who could not only read his emotions but accommodate to them seemed perfect to befriend. "Think casual but you," He mumbled to himself as he pulled out black jeans and a plain maroon t-shirt. Sighing, he set the clothes on his hotel bed and gripped his unlocked phone tightly in his hand, looking down at it with curiosity. "Is it weird to google her-" he thought out loud and practically slapped himself at how bad that sounded. However, he would open safari and look up the young stars name anyway. He knew the basics of who she was and all the amazing films Genesis had acted in, what he didn't know was the things she was doing outside of film. Donating and advocating for women and different bodies specifically, he found it cool that she stuck within things she would most likely experience daily with her work- noticing how she didn't talk over voices but instead...amplify them. Scrolling through her twitter, it was pretty simple while her instagram contained the usual winter photo and aesthetic undertones. She was a mix of everything, he didn't know if he could technically write any good jokes about her- "stop!" He yelled inside his own head, realizing he was dipping back into that mindset he snapped out of a couple minutes ago.

"God, I need to stop being weird and just get dressed." He whispered as he placed his phone on the bedside dresser, he slipped his old clothes off and got the new ones on. Plain and simple like he was. A pop of color, which psychologist might point out to be Zach's true self- but Zach would say was to make sure he didn't look too unapproachable.

With that he sat around for another hour before being able to walk to the coffee shop Genesis had sent him, pushing away the nerves that bundled inside him as he closed his hotel room door. Of course after hearing the door click, Zach would rummage his pockets to make sure he had his key and his wallet- thanking God (or cheez-its) that they were in his back pocket. He guessed he had worked on auto-pilot, grabbing his wallet and stuffing it in his back pocket as he hurriedly had left the room. With such reassurance, he was able to calmly walk to his destination, the cold brisk air that filled New York City making his cheeks red and his nose even redder. Zach was sure at some point he would get wind burn, but he would never bring it up to anyone living here because being pestered about it would annoy him to death. The other person would think they are so funny when in reality they are suffering from state form of patriotism that made them ignorant to the world around them. His head would raise in resistance to the wind to glance at the store signs, his eyes squinting to focus in on them to make sure he wasn't passing by the small shop. "There it is." He thought as he quickly made his way to the door, one hand that was deeply tucked into his coat- coming out to grip the long handle and pull the door open easily. Hearing that sweet bell jingle instantly locked him in on the mom and pop style shop, grinning as he allowed the door close behind him.

"Welcome in! Sit anywhere you'd like young man." One of the baristas behind the counter called out, Zach could tell they had been working there for a long time- noting the worn down expression on their face. Zach simply nodded in acknowledgment and looked around the shop for the dark haired women he was meeting.

"Zach-" He heard a short, whisper call out from behind him- causing him to snap his head in that direction. It caught sight of Genesis, wearing a simple black turtle neck, long sleeve- paired with black jeans that fit nicer than Zach's own. He grinned in admiration as he stayed in his place, his body reacting to the call out in a small wave he would other wise be embarrassed of, but Genesis wave back and giggle after- made it seem worth it.

[mystiictexts-blog]

MC as a Barista

I thought of this while in star bucks one day. What if MC worked at a coffee shop part time before meeting the RFA and continued to work there after joining and one of the members walked in and ordered a drink without realizing it was MC. So she obviously recognized  them from chat so she wrote a little message on their cups, only for them to realize it after they left. ? 

I apologize if this is kind OOC? Feed back is appreciated!

Yoosung

Stands there for awhile before heading to the counter

MC smiles brightly at him as she recognized him.

Orders a Venti Hot chocolate

MC nods and says “Coming right up, can I get your name for the order?”

a small giggle escaped her as she nodded and walked away with his cup before writing down a special note for him.

“ It was nice to see you in person, Superman Yoosung! ^3^. Since I made you this drink...you got to return the favor remember? - MC ❤ ”

He thinks she’s cute but he can’t fall for the barista right? He’s already talking to MC via messenger!

They exchange thank you’s and he walks out.

Notices the little note on the side of his cup as he got to the bus stop to head to the University.

NON STOP SMILES FOR THE REST OF THE DAY

sends a text message to MC

“MC!!! Why didn’t you tell me you worked there?!! I can’t bring myself to throw this cup away now! It’s just a reminder that we are really under the same sky!”

Zen

Walks in, obviously thinks the barista is cute

MC smiles as friendly as she could. She didn’t want to make it obvious.

His ego get’s the best of him

“I bet you’re a fan, You want a autograph? How about a Selca with me?”

She nods and takes out her phone real quickly. Takes the photo

he’s now grinning. she’s so cute ~

Orders a grande Tea.

MC nods as she turned to start his order.

Writes

“You were right, you are more handsome in person. Also I managed to get your fan club to come to the party ~ Hopefully I can get my hands on you too, Zenny ~ MC  ❤ “

After they exchange thank you’s he flashed her a playful smirk and winked.

Quickly she logged onto the messenger to leave the selca they took together with the caption

“...I ran into my favorite actor today hehe ~ ! “

[ photo attachment of her and Zen together ]

As Zen left he took a drink only to see the note in the corner of his eye

turning the cup. He read it

CUE HIM SPITTING OUT HIS HOT DRINK

debates to turn back or not

hears his messenger go off

reads what MC says and laughs as he seen her sign off real fast.

decides to send a text message to her

“You know I will be coming over here every day now to see my princess ~ “

Jaehee

She decided to go to a different cafe today

walks into MC’s work place.

Looks at the beverage board for a few minutes

MC standing there with a huge grin on her face

tries so hard to not say her name out loud.

as Jaehee walks up to the counter she orders

1 for her boss. A espresso with 2 shots for him

1 for her. A Venti coffee for her. ( 3 creams 4 sugars )

MC Nodded as she asked which cup is her drink.

Quickly writes a small note on her cup

“You can do this Jaehee! Remember I am here for you if you ever need support ~ Cheer up! - MC  ❤  “

and writes another note on Jumin’s cup

“...you better be nice to Jaehee today, She’s human too. - MC”

As she put the cup in the cup holders she smiled towards Jaehee

“...I hope you have a nice day, Miss. Jaehee ~”

That’s when Jaehee smiled and nodded, walking out she went back to the car. Passing one cup to Jumin.

a small pause

“Assistant Kang?”

Oh no... he doesn’t like it does he??

“...MC wrote some strange note on my cup”

looks at it. Gasps lightly as she noticed there was writing on her cup as well.

Smiles brightly as they drove past the cafe

NOW SHE CAN’T STOP SMILING

ALL DAY ALL SMILES. HAPPY BAEHEE

and a confused Jumin

Jumin

RARELY goes to a cafe on his own.

ASSISTANT KANG HELP

walks in on his own, instantly regrets it.

how does one order a drink? do they walk up?

do they come to him?

MC can’t help but suppress the giggling and smiling she’s doing

C & R Director is in her coffee shop looking so lost.

Decides to walk up to him with a pen and paper in hand

“...Excuse me J---Sir?”

a commoner walking up to him? so he was right they walk up to you

“...you seem out of place. You need help?”

a flash smile touched his lips before walking up to the counter with her

Asks which drink is the best.

“...you seem like the type of man who’d enjoy a regular type of drink. I can make you a grande french vanilla?”

nods as he paid and left a reasonable tip

LET’S JUST SAY HE LIKED THE HELP

AND MAYBE HER FACE

AND THAT NO-ONE TOOK TIME TO HELP

he’s waiting for his cup on the other side so she took liberty to write a small note

“...I cannot help but think you’re so cute while all flustered. Please say hello to Elizabeth 3rd for me. I hope you have a good day at work. - MC ❤ “

After she was done she passed it over to him

“Have a nice day, Mr. Jumin, sir ~ “

turns around and nods before walking to his car.

As he got in he noticed the small note on the side

reading it he couldn’t help but chuckle

“...Driver Kim. I want to come to this exact place every day at the same time.”

Luciel / 707 / defender of justice ....[Saeyoung]

Already knew she worked there. But since he was rare to post selca’s in chat

he decided to have fun with this.

Walks in and decides to grab a smoothie for the day.

RIGHT SOMETHING HEALTHY FOR ONCE

What Saeyoung forgot is that he recently posted a photo of himself in chat

MC knew who he was. Seven knew who she was

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

“...what’s your healthiest smoothie?”

“...I’d have to say the orange mango smoothie. It hits the taste buds”

“...okay can I get a hot chocolate”

707 that little shit

“can I get a name for this order?”

“Tom”

MC snorts as she nods, grabbing his cup she wrote a small note

“using your friend’s name huh? well it was nice to see you in person, God seven! now go save the earth!  ~ 606 ❤ “

they exchange thank you’s and good byes before he walked away

he looked down at his cup and couldn’t help but laugh.

“my 606 ~ “

[dustingrayves]

adiungo

Pairing: addcest [MMDE + them trying to get LP to join] WC: 2222 Rating: K AU: college au Category: fluff Notes: happy birthday to @rainsonata​!!!!!! i hope you have a great one friend 💖💖

Masi groans deeply, running his hands through his hair and tugging at the long strands softly. They’re a bit greasy, and look more orange than white in the light of his only lamp.

The sun is long gone, its warm rays replaced by the darkness and a pleasant, cool breeze slipping into his dorm room through the open window.

His desk is littered with open textbooks and notebooks with neatly written notes that he copies down, fingers starting to glide over his laptop’s keyboard again. He works manually, not really comprehending the words as he types them out, even if he reads through them to make sure there are no grammatical errors he’d get chewed out on.

The assignment is due at nine AM, and now he curses his past self for not doing it earlier. It’s English, though, and he has about as much motivation to dedicate his time to English as he has to sports. Which is, to say, none.

He keeps unlocking his phone so he can reply to Esper, walls of hearts met with more walls of hearts as they go back and forth. He’s thankful for the small talk; he probably wouldn’t have enough nerves to finish this thing.

No later than he’s saving the doc, fingers lingering over the control and s buttons, is there knocking on the door, loud and insistent, knowing very well he’s still up.

Masi pushes his chair away from the table and stands up, rubbing at his eyes after he pushes his glasses up. He puts them back into place before he opens the door, to properly see the person standing in the hallway.

His heart skips a beat — or two —  when his eyes settle on the man.

“Lusa,” he mutters, unable to hide the confusion in his voice. What’s he doing here?

The kickboxer smiles a little sheepishly. His hair is sticking up on one side, a clear testament saying he probably just woke up from a nap, probably after his training. He’s only wearing a tanktop and a pair of sweats.

Masi’s cheeks dust with pink and he tears his eyes away.

“I came to borrow the notes like we agreed,” Lusa says.

“Oh! Right.” Masi blinks; he’d almost completely forgotten about the deal they’d agreed on earlier. He retreats back into the dorm and digs through the pile of notes on his table, grabbing the two notebooks to give them to the other. “Here.”

Lusa takes them with a grateful smile, flashing his brilliant teeth.

Masi’s breath hitches a little.

“Thanks. I’ll give them back tomorrow. Or, y’know, later today,” Lusa laughs softly, looking at the clock mounted on the wall, and Masi can’t help a smile.

Lusa leaves with the notebooks and Masi is left alone with just the soft hum of the crickets from outside.

Now, done with the assignment, Masi flicks the light off and clambers into the bed, already looking forward to the morning.

He’ll have to get the essay printed and delivered, but, much more importantly, Lusa is going to take him for the morning coffee. The slight absurdity of the predicament they are in never ceases to amaze him.

They started off as nothing more than a pair working on a presentation for their applied physics class, and now, barely two and a half months later, they could even be considered best friends. Sometimes they snuck around the dorms to work together overnight, sometimes they exchanged notes, and sometimes they just went out for a coffee together. It had been a real surprise when Lusa told him he loves coffee — the guy certainly doesn’t look it, looks more of a protein shake kinda guy, but life is full of surprises, Masi supposes.

Masi walks back over to the table, double checks to make sure he actually saved the document by re-saving it a bunch of time, and then he copies it to a USB drive. With that done, he’s free to shut the laptop down and put it, along with some of the books and notebooks, into his backpack for the next day. The rest he puts away, each to its own designated spot on the shelf above the table, organized by subject.

Only then he’s satisfied enough to finally retreat to his bed, exchanging his t-shirt and pants for a pajama set. The mattress feels soft and the blanket so comfortable that he’s asleep in mere minutes, even despite his still marathoning brain.

Barely five hours later, the very same insistent knocking awakens him. The first rays of sunlight creep in through the window, creating stretched out shadows on the tidy floor. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Masi patters his way to the door and opens it to reveal Lusa, smiling way too cheerily for such an early hour of the day.

“Nice pajamas! Did I wake you up?” Lusa asks, not sounding apologetic in the slightest as he points to the pajama set Masi is wearing.

Masi looks down at himself. He’s wearing his favorite pajamas; the ones with paw prints that are so comfortable that it overweights the sure embarrassment of being seen in them by literally anyone aside from Esper, who owns a matching pair. Except…

“Give me a minute!” he squeaks out indignantly, slamming the door closed.

He scurried to get the pajamas off and some presentable clothes on, feeling heat blooming in his cheeks. Lusa’s mirthful laugh is audible even through the door, and the flush coloring Masi’s cheeks is about thrice as bad by the time he finally reopens the door, dressed in his usual dress shirt, pants and knit vest combo and holding his travel mug in one hand as he locks his dorm room.

“Aw, those pajamas were cute,” Lusa jests, very obviously enjoying Masi’s embarrassment. He startles, as if noticing something. “You really like cats, don’t you?”  His tone is lighthearted and jovial — almost as if he isn’t making fun of Masi at all. Masi follows his line of sight down to the mug he’s holding.

The cat head printed on it is pushed against Masi’s chest in an attempt to hide it. “Stop making fun of me!” he grumbles.

Lusa raises his hands and waves them a little, finally looking a tad bit sorry. “I wasn’t making fun of you! I love cats too!”

“You… do?”

“Yeah!”

Masi thinks back to Esper’s dorm room, where he secretly keeps a cat, and thinks that maybe they could introduce Lusa to the aptly named Paranoia. Hopefully she won’t be too scared.

“Okay, let’s go, Ara will kill me if we come in during the morning rush,” Lusa laughs, twisting on his heel and leading the way down the hall to the elevator.

“You know Ara?” Masi asks, slightly surprised, while he catches up, shoes squeaking just a tad bit on the floor.

“Oh boy do I… Her girlfriend is in the kickboxing course with me. I’m sure I know more about her kinks than I do about my own.” The last sentence is said with a vaguely wry tone. Masi wonders just how much he’d been told.

“I… see...” Masi mutters, face scrunching up a little as the elevator dings happily and they step in. He’d known Ara for long enough to know that both her and Elesis simply love talking about each other. A day without being told how sweet Elesis’ kisses are over coffee is a day when Masi wonders whether Ara is sick.

Though, to be fair, he also can’t resist to tell her about Esper and everything he does. They’re both just idiots in love, it’s okay.

Masi looks sideways, catching the way Lusa’s bangs bounce as he shifts. His eyes trail away again. Yes, very in love indeed.

They arrive at the ground level and Lusa leads the way again, just as chipper as each morning. Masi doesn’t know how he does it; he can’t even act alive until he’s downed his mandatory cup of coffee. Probably has to do with those energy smoothies he’d learned Lusa actually drinks.

His phone buzzes in his pocket and Masi fishes for it, unlocking it to find a new message from Esper, the messenger still open from last night.

‘have fun ;) ill see you in class later’

Despite it being a fairly normal message, Masi can feel heat filling his chest and cheeks alike. Esper had been doing this for a while, ever since him and Lusa started hanging around the shelter helping out. Actually, he should’ve figured the guy likes cats, working in a shelter, but somehow it never clicked in Masi’s brain.

Students did crazier things for credit and a nice line in their resumes.

Masi uses the rim of his mug to push his bangs out of his face as he types up a reply, thanking Esper, only to be met with the usual ‘yup~ np np’.

Putting away his phone when he gets a sticker of a cat doing a winky face and a peace sign, he catches Lusa not-so-subtly peeking over at him. The bulkier boy twists away to face forward again when he gets discovered.

Masi can swear he sees pink dusting his cheeks. His fingers itch to tell Esper, but he just curls them tighter around the mug and use his now free hand to actually push away the fringe out of his face from where it had fallen back right away.

“Ah, can you hold this for me?” he pipes up when the bangs relentlessly refuse to cooperate with him, holding up his mug.

Lusa takes the lilac plastic and watches almost enraptured as Masi undoes his ponytail to remake it, gathering the flowy locks tightly and wrapping the tie around them with deft fingers. They spill over his shoulders in a neat tail again and Lusa feels the impulse to reach out and touch it to make sure it’s as soft as he thinks it is.

“Thanks,” Masi says, taking the mug back from Lusa’s lax fingers and offering a small smile.

They walk to the coffee shop in silence after that, but somehow it isn’t uncomfortable in the slightest. Only as they’re entering the shop and Masi can feel his phone vibrating in his pocket with a new message from Esper — probably a meme at this point — does he pipe up.

“Hey, have you ever been in Esper’s dorm?” he asks, pulling Lusa’s attention as he holds the door open. Masi slips inside, accompanied by the chiming bell overhead.

“Hm?” Lusa hums, following, “No, why?”

Masi’s fingers curl around his phone. He looks away. “Well… I don’t think he told you, since it’s a secret, but Esper has a cat in his dorm. She’s super nice, uh… You could come visit her sometime?”

He isn’t quite sure why that proposal sounds so weird on his tongue or why he can’t move his eyes from the window and all the people passing by in their morning rush. He feels a little bad for putting more meaning behind it in his mind.

“Would Esper be okay with that?” Lusa asks in reply, leading the way to the counter, where Ara stands, keeping an eye on the small oven in the corner. The sweet smell of croissants fills the air.

Masi bites back the ‘it’d been Esper’s idea in the first place’ that sits at the tip of his tongue. Thinking of the three of them spending time together doing nothing but playing with Paranoia or playing those rpg games Lusa loves so much… is nice. It’s really nice; all they’d wanted for some time now.

“Yeah,” he says instead. “Ask him if you’re worried.”

Lusa seems to mull it over as they wait for Ara to acknowledge them, doing her best not to drop the tray with fresh, steaming croissants as she places it onto the counter to cool. “Nah, I’ll take your word for it. I’d love to. It feels weirdly like cheating hanging out with one of you alone anyhow.”

The way he says it is nonchalant, just a remark he probably doesn’t think much of, but Masi’s heartbeat picks up nonetheless and he bites down on his bottom lip. It hadn’t been cheating, not for the longest time. Not since Esper let it slip that Lusa looks hot after a workout. Not since Masi admitted he likes the way his chest feels lighter around Lusa. Not since they laughed together over Paranoia’s hungry meowing at each other’s stupidity for worrying so much.

“Esper’s gonna be happy,” Masi says quietly, unable to force back a smile stretching his lips. “Maybe we can make it a surprise. He’s always happy when you’re around.”

Lusa laughs, the sound finally getting Ara’s attention. “What about you? Are you happy with me? Or am I just pulling you along unwillingly?” Lusa elbows him teasingly, his eyes crinkled at the corners despite that.

Masi’s cheeks heat up when he thinks how he’d been looking forward to this. “No!” he blurts out, “I like being with you.”

There seems to be a knowing glint in both Lusa and Ara’s eyes after that. Masi hides his blush with his now filled mug, feeling like he had just spilled some age old secret.

Lusa laughs at him.

He doesn’t get angry.