Chapter Text
Ace hadn't shown up for a long time. Daivik was getting annoyed. He prepared Ace's lattes less and less until he was sure he wasn't coming by. At this point Daivik was practicing an extra detailed piece for him, as a fuck you for staying away for so long.
Maybe it wasn't so bad. Daivik was still grappling with he thoughts of his rival being the brother of his best friend. However he missed being able to serve latte with fun, less generic pictures. He missed seeing what stupid things he would do. He missed seeing him calm. He missed seeing him in his own thoughts. He missed those eyes.
Daivik was about to throw himself out the window. He just missed making fun of him. Missed the name-calling and having a free way to let out his frustrations, right? The coffee shop became boring again. The same old routine over and over. Apparently he now also had to deal with all the Karens and all the customers, that act like they have never ordered something in their life. Without his outlet of calling Ace names and having fun withy he art, the 3-4 hours of sleep quickly caught up with him.
Daivik didn't have to keep this up for long, as the play started. The play this time was Dear Evan Hansen, a musical Daivik was quite fond of luckily. He, of course, got the lead role of Evan Hansen. It would be hard work, so he was glad he took those extra hours at work. It meant he could go for 6 hours of sleep at night. When Daivik wasn't at work, he was practicing for the play. When he wasn't practicing he was studying. And when he wasn't studying he was doing club activities. He might be getting more sleep, but he was doing so much more. He was still very tired. Thankfully the makeup team this semester was incredible.
Daivik was practicing singing 'Waving through the window', when his door burst open and in came his best friend. Daivik nearly jumped out of his skin as Onyx ran at him, trying to tackle him to the bed. Daivik jumped out of the way and crouched down to catch his breath.
"I hate you so much dude- Knock next time-" Daivik breathed out.
"Aw come on, you love me. And you love when i barge in here to steal you." Onyx smirked. "Why practice in your tiny room?"
"The theater is taken and i didn't want to take up a classroom that anyone could burst into. Or walk past and hear my practicing."
"Well! Then come to my place. I'll help you practice like normal, and you can have the space to move around. You can even be as loud as you need to be!" Onyx said this with a surprising amount of excitement. Daivik's heart sank. He wasn't prepared to be in a place like Onyx's home. The worst part was that Ace might be there. Would Ace hear him practicing? What would he think?
"Besides, I need to be back home soon, but it's so boring. And the best way to avoid your parents is dragging a friend with you home and say you're working on a project together!" Onyx grinned. Daivik really hated that grin right now.
Daivik took a deep breath. "Fine. Sure. A little more space could be good."
Daivik wanted to run as they approached the house. No, house wasn't enough. This place was too big. This place is exactly what his parents had warned him about. The exact place his parents said he would never belong. He was warned that he would never get along with these types of people, that they would laugh in his face and shove him out of their way. Yet he looked at Onyx. Why did Onyx want to be near him? He clutched his bag tightly.
Daivik stayed close to Onyx as they entered the large house. Daivik couldn't imagine if Onyx suddenly disappeared and he got lost. Daivik, once again, struggled putting on an act. He wanted to be fine. He was just visiting his best friend's house. He shouldn't be terrified. Yet his heart was hammering in his chest. He was terrified to meet the parents. Would they be like the people his parents warned him about? Would they be like Ace? Would they be worse?
They made their way through the house. Daivik saw what looked like a servant of some kind. A maid? On their way to Onyx's room. Of course they hired servants. They made it pretty far, and Daivik was starting to be hopeful that they wouldn't bump into Ace. That was the exact moment they bumped into him.
Ace looked horrible. Well, as horrible as he could look. It was weird not seeing him walking around confidently. He looked like he was ready to sleep for a long time.
Onyx grinned. "Prince charming just wake up from a nap?" Ace scoffed at this and wiped at his mouth. Daivik tried so hard to straighten up and put on his usual easy smile.
"You couldn't have given a warning that you were bringing company?" Ace looked about done with everything. This should have brought Daivik some joy, like it normally did. Too bad Daivik felt way too poor to breathe today.
"Thought you'd enjoy some extra ginger company!" Onyx grinned.
"You're not even a natural ginger." Onyx's dramatic gasp at his brother's deadpanned response brought Daivik back. This was Daivik's cue.
"Damn, went straight for the throat huh… You really did just wake up." It came out so much weaker than he had hoped. Why couldn't he just pull himself together? He managed to smirk, however he was unsure of how convincing it was. Maybe Ace was too tired to notice?
Luckily Ace took this as a sign to keep going wherever he was going, in this labyrinth of a house. Onyx joked a bit about his brother as they continued to their room.
This was going to be a very long day.