✧ — peach iced tea.

[boba]

this post is so clean

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[transmit]

[ why does it feel like his life is over the second he stops the car.

he gulps. ]

We're almost to where I wanted to go…

[ no they're further away from it now than where they started ]

[oversea]

[ that's fine.

thorns is now attempting to climb into the passenger seat from the back while the car is still moving. ]

[transmit]

[ well

that's one way to get him to stop. he slams to the curb, gaze snapping towards thorns with an intensity that's half-crazed with worry. ]

Are you out of your mind?! You're sick! You could've gotten hurt! Did you get hurt?!

[ like if there's any of thorns he can steady from the distance of the front seat he will, ]

[oversea]

[ this, too, is fine.

thorns allows elysium to freak out, and it's only when he stops talking long enough to breathe normally that thorns just leans over to kiss him on the cheek. yes, he almost killed himself for this. ]

You think this is guilt?

[ thorns may not have the best grasp of his feelings but he does think he'd know the difference between pity and this. ]

[transmit]

[ he is so scandalised a hand goes up to his cheek. what. only he's allowed to do that.

… ]

Do you think, maybe, we should go to relationship counselling.

[ fucking help. this is a terrible joke.

but where do they even begin. explodes. the way they aren't even in a relationship just like how they aren't married. how can elysium navigate every other relationship in his life and those of others but not the one with thorns????? ]

[oversea]

We're not even in a relationship...

[ he will just say it.

thorns settles back into the seat, pulling his feet onto it so he can peer at elysium. he is not sure where to go from here. they're both still sick and they're on the side of some random street, and it's some ungodly hour at night. what are they doing. ]

So.

[transmit]

A friendship is a relationship, too…

[ ha

haha.



this, too, is sc*en's fault. he would go back to plotting his demise as a means of stabilisation, but there's something more important than that for once. he laughs, a little shrill. ]

But we can always be in one. If you want. That kind of so?

[oversea]

[ this is so deeply embarrassing he's going to die.

thorns tries to think of a response that is intelligent? and makes sense? but instead he just manages to spit out, ]

You don't want to keep dating other people?

[ wasn't the last two attempts so much fun...,,,, ]

[transmit]

[ the forced distance of the car is honestly doing wonders for them. on one hand, thorns feels frustratingly far away; on the other, what would he even do with himself if he were closer? the answer is obvious! nothing good.

here's where he'd admit the reasons for his serial dating if it weren't so goddamn embarrassing. time to gloss over it. ]

Not really…

[ alhaitham has been taken care of… the other guy, meanwhile… ]

We don't have to date right now if you aren't ready. But I'm still taking this as permission going forward. Are you fine with that?

[ what permission. ]

[oversea]

[ there's a pause, because what he just said sounds so ominous even though it shouldn't be? ]

Permission for what?

[ he wants clarification before commenting on the dating thing. ]

[transmit]

[ stop scrutinising him and his word choice.

he squirms in place. ]

You know. [ looks away. he doesn't know, that's why he's asking dumbass. ] Permission to flirt…

[oversea]

[ the way neither of them know how to handle this situation.

permission... to flirt... god, elysium really has been flirting all day, hasn't he... ]

What made you realize? About me?

[ thorns has been so good at being secretive... he thinks. ]

[transmit]

[ the difference is that it can be lawful flirting now. wow. even if he can't figure what exactly that is, yet… truly like what he hasn't been flirting all day.

also, do they really have to do this? have this conversation in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night? ]

You seemed like you were getting kind of jealous of the people I was seeing…

[ … ]

We avoid our problems in a similar way.

[oversea]

[ they do, which is unfortunate because that way is not good.

hy are they still out here. ]

We should head back. We can talk when we get home.

[ before they get hit with their second cop of the day. ]

[transmit]

[ it's probably like past midnight at this point their asses need to SLEEP!!

but elysium just turns back to the wheel and puffs his cheeks out. ]

No, I need to take you to see someone…

[ but then his hand pauses before he starts up the engine. ]

Huh? Where are we?

[ how did this happen. (he made this happen.) ]

[oversea]

[ who is someone.... kitten??? the way none of this fixes that specific misunderstanding. ]

How should I know? You're the one who drove us here.

[ thorns does not even know where they were going. ]

[transmit]

[ why would they be seeing his non-existent ex thorns please

he picks up his phone. it does not power on. hm. this is such a cursed night thorns might've been onto something about their relationship equivalent of feng shui not being feng shui. the vibes are eternally bad. ]

Can you pull up G**gle maps for me?

[oversea]

[ thorns wonders how elysium did that with his mouth

he pulls out his phone. the battery is not much better but it will presumably get the job done. thorns had it over. ]

Where are we going?

[transmit]

[ this is how they find out they're in a black mirror simulation ]

Someone who can check up on you. I let them know we were coming…

[ an hour ago… he has not said anything since, but he gives thorns the address. they are probably about to d*e considering the time they're showing up, but it will be less painful than what they're going through now?

even if… he's kind of happy about it… every so often, he tucks his chin in and smiles to himself. explodes. ]

[oversea]

I don't need to be checked up on...

[ it's muttered, but he won't argue further, mainly because he is not driving so there isn't much he can do besides try to crash the car for real.

...

he shyly grabs onto the bottom of elysium's shirt. ]

[transmit]

[ the way they aren't even dating

but the smile is impossible to hold back once thorns starts hanging onto him. was his roommate always this cute…? yes.

anyway. this is how they end up at the house of one (1) angry looking kal'tist. do not ask how he knows the dean of medicine personally enough to show up at her doorstep at 2am. some things are better not to think about.

she just opens the door and waits for him to explain. ]

We got held up by traffic, you see…… then we got pulled over for suspicious activity. Does it look like we're the kind of people who'd be up to no good? I drove straight from the hospital but still ended up—

[ she looks so ready to kill him but she just sighs and steps to the side. the vibe of someone who wants to get over this so fast. ]

[oversea]

[ thorns follows along but he is clearly deeply confused and also double clearly confused about why they are here.

he steps closer to elysium, but it's not to be cute it's only so he can whisper to him, ]

Do you owe her money or something?

[transmit]

One, I don't owe her money. Two, even if I did, what would that have to do with you?

[ he pulls back, squinting at thorns in disbelief. then realisation hits, mouth forming an 'o'. ]

Oh. I guess she could harvest your organs.

[ kal'tist, visibly unimpressed with the direction of the conversation, cuts in sharply. if they don't do this now, she's kicking them out of both her house and the school. okay.

she is standing in front of a chair impatiently waiting for thorns to sit. she has various instruments next to her including a syringe… and a bottle for urine… if thorns asks if it's necessary, she answers yes. sc*en being involved explains everything. but shouldn't she be more fussy over elysium? all thorns had was a part of the supposed cure.

hm. ]

[oversea]

[ hmmm.

thorns will just sit down in the chair, looking between her and elysium. ]

If you take my organs can I look at them first?

[ he is... intrigued by the idea.

this is not the reaction one should have. ]

[transmit]

[ he would not be alive to look at his organs if that were the case, so no. this also shouldn't be the response to that reaction but here they are.

elysium tries to be subtle about his fretting but ends up hovering a short distance away. at this point, kal'tist's already performed an overview of his external condition and moves on to draw blood. ]

He's fragile. Remember to be careful with him.

[ she pretends she does not hear him. if she were petty, she'd pretend to struggle to find thorns' veins but she does not. once again, it is 2am. ]