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As the lift ascended from the trial grounds, the reduced group wallowed in their dark thoughts. They rode in silence and stole fugitive glances at one another, seemingly afraid to break the fragile atmosphere stifling them in the rattling elevator.
The ghostly scream rang in their ears, haunting them while the charred remains of Eva smouldered beneath, her ashes mingling in the air they breathed.
Damon stood stiffly amongst the sniffling, his puffy face set in a permanent scowl- as though offended by the existence of others within his vicinity. His eyes, red and swollen, glared daggers at everyone and everything, making him as unapproachable as ever.
When the lift had finally shuddered to a halt inside the Tree of Ignorance, Damon marched out swiftly, weaving through his classmates- no, these strangers towards the towering hall doors.
"D-Damon!" Diana called out weakly.
With the single uttered name, the spell broke upon the gathered Ultimates.
"Oi, Soybean! Where the fuck do you think you're going?"
Wenona intervened. "No, let him go. He's one of the last people we should be with-"
"What the hell? Did you see what happened down there, if he wasn't there we would've been dead!"
"He's right, excluding people is what got us into this mess. Commonly, historical figures that brought-"
Damon blocked out the sudden incessant chatter, striding out of the Tree Room and heading directly for the dormitories. His footsteps were sure, but he felt his stomach twist painfully, and the reappearance of Diana's voice so soon after her stupid announcement only grated against his frayed nerves.
The noise followed him as he thundered down the hallways, passing each nameplate without sparing a look. If he saw her name, her plate that would likely collect dust until the next kill happened, he would probably spew across the ugly carpet.
Upon reaching his dorm, Damon all but shoved the door open, stumbling into his dreary room. Had there been some source of light, or actual books over the endless props that crowded his space, it might have felt less suffocating.
However, Damon was too busy panting, drawing great gulps of air into his spasming lungs, to bother over the discomfort of his assigned room.
He grabbed the discarded chair behind his door and jammed it beneath the handle. As he did so, he saw the faint layer of grime coating his hands, probably what had blown away from the raging fire.
Damon could feel the heat of flames crawling up his back, burning away his flesh and bones, as it had done to Eva. He saw how her hair had lit up, like a crude fire trick. Her blood-curdling screams when she had no choice but to face death because of her selfish desperation.
All he did was watch.
All he could do was cry.
He stripped off his cardigan, discarding it on the bed as he ran to the bathroom. He lurched over the toilet rim and emptied his insides into the lemon-scented water. The fragrance stung his nostrils and made his eyes water again, or was it the memory of Eva's blood staining the tsunami of mathematical supplies? Turning the metallic colour a shocking pink during her futile climb, hoping against Tozu's cruelty that maybe, just maybe , she would be allowed to survive.
Fool.
Yet, was he not also guilty of foolishness? He had trusted someone, relied on someone, in a place encouraging discord and betrayal. That naivety had killed Wolfgang, leaving him floating in the murky waters as the others mourned the loss of their leading light and pathetic with their shared, shredded morale.
He wretched into the ceramic bowl until the dry heaving pained his throat. He slumped away from the seat, feeling too fatigued to flush the nauseating fumes away.
Damon propped himself against the smooth surface of the bathtub, his limbs splayed awkwardly across the tiled floor.
He felt the tears streaming down his face, the snot clogging his nose, but all he could think was how similar he must look to Eva, wanting to explain, to justify her hate. In the solitude of his room, he let himself give way to grief of the death of the only person he vowed to trust. He wept quietly, alone in his suffering as his head fell back and let the waves of misery crash into him, dousing the scathing heat of agony with its cooling touch.
When there was a soft knocking on his door, Damon had no inkling of how long he had lain in the bathroom, tired and whimpering
"Damon? Are you in here? -It's me, Kai."
He remained silent as he heard him knock again.
"Dude, I've looked everywhere else. I know you're in here...l think."
Damon fixed his gaze on the open bathroom door. Kai would leave after he realised Damon wouldn't let him in.
...Except he didn't.
"If you don't open this door, I'll come in myself."
Oh, and didn't that make Damon clench his teeth. He still refused to answer the insistent man outside his room.
"Fine then, be difficult!" Then the sound of the door now twisting followed.
Kai must have finally found the door was jammed.
"Damon?" Was his voice rising?
Damon believed he would hear the soft pitter-patter of Kai's feet fading away, but he was sorely mistaken. Instead, he heard the thumping as something- someone colliding with the door.
He was greeted a moment later by the clattering of a fallen chair and hurried footfalls entering his room.
"Damon!" Kai called out, almost frantic. "Damon, where the hell are you-“
Kai started when he stopped at the entrance of the bathroom.
Damon eased himself up at the intrusion and leaned heavily against the wall as he glared at him, frowning.
Kai schooled his expression into something akin to annoyance, and began blabbering, "Dude, what is your problem? You can't just run off and disappear like that!"
Damon huffed as he tried standing upright, before swaying and falling back. Kai reached out a hand, perhaps to steady him, and Damon whacked him away.
"Ow! What-"
"Leave." He could tell there was a tremor as he spoke, but his tone was icy as he backed up to the bath.
Kai cradled his arm for a moment, before letting them hang at his sides, his mouth surprisingly shut in a determined frown.
"No, Damon. After that? No fucking way am I leaving you alone. Come on, we're going to my room."
"Did you go deaf? I said no." Damon inched around Kai, almost escaping out the bathroom door.
"Wait!" He felt a hand enclose his wrist, tugging him back.
He turned around sharply. "Let go," he snapped.
Kai's lip trembled, but he kept a firm grip. "You're coming with me," and with that, he pulled Damon along as he walked out of his room to his own.
Surprised by his bravery, Damon followed dumbly behind, but once they were walking down the hall he ducked his head, hiding his face from view.
Kai nudged his dorm door open with his shoulder, dragging his unwilling hostage inside before the door shut softly.
"There! That wasn't hard, was it?"
Damon refused to talk. Just because this delusional influencer with a saviour complex was able to barge into his personal space and order him around didn't mean he was- in any way- attached to him.
He had learnt his lesson.
"Hey, so.."
"What?"
"Eh?" Kai had finally let go of Damon, leaving them standing in the middle of the room.
"Feel accomplished now you've brought his poor guy away from the bathroom. Do you feel high and mighty now?" He could feel his pulse rising, eager to unleash his pent-up aggression somewhere.
"I-"
Damon couldn't hear him over the blood thundering in his ears.
"Newsflash! You achieved nothing, did nothing and will never be anything except an isolated moron chasing validation from strangers because he cannot fathom how to function without feeding a parasocial relationship."
Kai paled, his face contorted into a pained, angry expression.
"What the fuck?"
"You heard me. Look at you, acting like nothing happened! Did you forget we watched someone die? Or were you too busy finding a way to film it and post it for views?"
"You think I'm that shallow?" Kai demanded.
"Yes!" Barked Damon, striding forward to back Kai into a corner. "You were stammering in the elevator like a child, and now? You come storming into my room without a care in the world."
He reached upward, pulling down the fairy lights and canopy fabric above them in his blind rage, causing Kai to cower. His whimpering startled Damon back into reality, he looked down at the flickering lights on the floor and sheer pink shielding them.
He glanced back at Kai, and he grimaced. He felt the overwhelming regret of losing his temper smash into him and shuffled back.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to lose my temper."
" Sorry ? Are you insane?" Shreiked Kai, pressing himself to the wall, further away from Damon. He had begun to tear up and wouldn't take his eyes off Damon.
... Great .
"I was mad." The point sounded incredibly weak, even to his own ears.
"Mad? Yeah, we all are, but do you see any of us blowing up like a goddamn bomb?" Kai rightfully accused. "All I did was try to bring you here! Why did I even defend you to the others? You're basically proving them right with the way you act."
Damon froze.
Kai didn't move from his defensive stance. "Seriously, do you have to be such an ass?"
The debater opened his mouth to retort, but his tongue sat heavily, aware of his lack of argument. He stared at the fairy lights on the floor.
He knelt down and picked up a wire, making Kai jump.
"H-Hey! What're you-"
"Your lights," Damon grunted.
"Huh?" Kai replied eloquently.
Damon stepped beside Kai, reaching up to tack the wiring at the top again. "I'm fixing them."
"O-Oh. O...kay?" Kai continued unsurely.
Damon reached for another light and hung it up, but as he pulled on it, the light suddenly died
He stood there, shaking. 'Crap.'
He heard muffled laughter at his side and turned to see Kai nervously giggling at his forlorn face. Seeing Damon caught him laughing, he looked away and quietly spoke.
"Uh, the goat left some spare lights in the wardrobe." He chanced a glance. "Do...you want to help hang them?"
'No, I don't know, maybe. '
"Sure."
Kai retrieved a small box of nondescript lights from the depth of his cupboard, setting them on his plush covers. As he and Damon pulled them out of their packaging, they spent a good amount of time unravelling the tangled mass that was stuffed inside.
"Who sorted this?" Exclaimed Kai, his arms wrapped liberally in fairy lights. Damon couldn't help but snort at the scene, and cleared his throat when Kai whipped his head up to face him. "You cannot be laughing at my pain." Despite his words, he was grinning.
"Didn't you do that to me?"
Kai waved his tied arms, "Uh uh uh! Details!"
A soft chuckle escaped Damon through his best efforts, making Kai beam with unbridled pride.
"I made you smile!"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Aww, are you embarrassed?" Damon sighed and pushed Kai onto the bed. "Oof."
Sitting beside him, the debater started untangling the mess he had made. His hands brushed against Kai's palms, warming the tips of his ears. "Hold still."
Kai's cheeks were pink as he mumbled, averting his gaze to the floor. "Yeah, yeah."
Soon enough, they were replacing the old lights with the new ones. They climbed onto the bed, stretching up to reach the pinnacle of the bed canopy, retying the other fabric too.
"Pass over the other one."
"Ouch- watch your foot!"
"We did it!" Kai shouted, falling back gleefully as the last light strand hung into place. "Great job to us."
Damon teetered backwards. "Woah, watch it!"
"Lie down then." The mattress dipped dramatically again, and Damon fell down. Twisting his body, he screwed his eyes shut as he fell. "Ack!"
Damon hit his head on something strangely firm. He heard a squeak, and rubbing his forehead as he groaned, he lifted himself up and cracked an eye open.
'Oh .'
He has fallen on top of Kai: beneath him, he had propped himself on his elbows. Damon was straddling his hips, his arms slotted in the gaps of Kai's lifted arms. Mollified, Damon stayed still, hovering above, while Kai twittered oddly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, i-it's getting pretty late. We should head to sleep."
"Of course." Damon chambered away and practically jumped off the bed. Before he could leave the room, Kai stopped him.
"Dude, you're still sleeping here, remember?"
Maybe he shouldn't leave. He...didn't think he would be the safest alone in his dorm anymore.
"I forgot."
Kai gave a confused look, then shrugged and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later, he returned, and not long later the two of them were tucked under the warm covers.
A strange silence engulfed them while they stared at the ceiling, the weight from before reappearing, as well as a different, more anxious one.
"So..." Kai began, "How are you holding up now?"
Damon looked at him, his earlier annoyance dissipated and left him raw. "What's done is done," he tactfully answered.
He saw Kai fixed him with a look in his peripheral but thankfully didn't press. Damon wasn't sure if he wanted to ever talk about it, although he knew tonight he definitely didn't want to.
Rather than digging for details, Kai simply said, "You don't have to lie y'know. I won't judge."
Damon sighed as he turned to his side, finding Kai had already mimicked his position. His chest constricted as he stared blankly at the face in front, noting the subtle curves and his thick eyelashes.
Suddenly, a warm hand enveloped his, bringing it up between their faces. Kai grinned cheekily and flushed a deep red.
"Is this okay?"
Damon's face heated too, and he pressed his lips together.
"Yes."
Emboldened by his response, Kai brought Damon to him gently, giving him time to pull away if he wanted. Yet, Damon was weirdly lax after their redesigning, and let himself be guided into Kai's space. He tucked himself under his chin, resting against the influencer's rising chest, his hand balled into the soft sweater.
Kai slumped, one hand wrapped around his waist and another cupped his neck, bringing him further into the welcoming warmth. Their legs tangled together, and Damon was lulled to sleep by the steady heartbeat contently pounding beside him.