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Nox decidedly did not like living with Chase.
In fact, the world couldn't have invented a more insufferable roommate. Should it have been left up to him, Nox would have never been Chase's roommate in the first place. It just… it wasn't his style to live in a shoebox up in the tower. His siblings had surely made themselves fine homes, but he wanted to live somewhere more open (he'd never been a fan of small spaces, after all). Chase's nightstand just happened to be the next best option, albeit an insufferable one within itself.
When Nox lived on the nightstand, he was greeted with a giant, short idiot any time he dared to look up. A sight for sore eyes, Nox had to say- wait, wait- no, it made his eyes sore. It was easy- wait, it was hard on the eyes? How did that expression go, again?
Regardless, Nox would never choose to be by Chase if he didn't absolutely have to–which happened to be the case on that day.
Chase laid stretched out in his bed tapping away at his phone. A blanket was draped over his legs, and on top of that sat Nox. Which, mind you, he would never do if he didn't absolutely have to. But he did have to that day , quite evident by the bag of chocolates sitting by Chase. Once chocolate was brought into the equation, how could Nox possibly go elsewhere? Quite the simple train of thought, he'd say.
Justification aside, there Nox sat, eating chocolates and watching intently as Chase clicked buttons on his phone. The day long since passed, dusk had urged the townsfolk off their feet and into bed. Only darkness sat between the boys then, minus the subtle reflections in Nox’s eyes and the glare of blue light shining from Chase’s phone.
Suddenly, a bright flash consumed Nox’s vision.
He cringed away, covering his eyes with both arms in surprise. He hunched in on himself, as if hiding from the blinding light. It lasted only a second, as the light went away faster than Nox could even process what it was that blinded him.
“What was that?” he asked, face still scrunched up from the light. Had anyone been looking closely, they'd have seen what looked akin to a chick hatching from its egg–eyes pinched nearly closed and a slight wobble as though reorienting to another world entirely. Nox’s eyes still felt a slight sting as they settled back into the comfortable darkness from before.
Nox was offered only a chuckle in response. Right, he had an insufferable roommate. “I asked you what that was,” Nox scowled, shooting a glare at Chase. His face obscured in darkness, only the reflective glow of his eyes shone through the black of night. The sight might've even been scary… assuming he wasn't a few inches tall, or perhaps if Chase had even bothered to look up, that is. Instead, Nox only heard the quiet sound of fingers tapping against a phone screen. He was completely and utterly snubbed.
Nox was, for lack of better term, flabbergasted. He paid his chocolate no mind, for he was too dumbfounded that Chase could just- just ignore him like that! Piqued, Nox abandoned his chocolate and began walking across Chase's leg. He walked across the human because in no world would Nox be so blatantly disregarded! He'd sit by the human's face and make him pay attention if he had to.
He made his way past Chase's legs and started past stomach when the human chuckled once more. As Chase laughed, it knocked Nox off balance, that is to say he fell flat on his face. The blonde let out another chuckle, and what followed was yet another flash of light. Nox buried his face into Chase's shirt to avoid the bright glare. It was fruitless, for even with his eyes squeezed shut and face buried in- uh- n-nevermind that part- even with his eyes squeezed shut, the world seemed to light up around him.
When the flash dimmed once more, Nox pulled himself to his feet. Consumed by frustration, he ran the rest of the way to Chase’s face. He stood on the boy's chest and began trying to push the phone out of his hands. Despite pressing all his body weight into it, he couldn't move the phone an inch–and more importantly, Chase’s gaze didn't leave the screen for a moment. Just infuriating!
Nox climbed over Chase's arm to look at the screen. What could possibly be so interesting!?
As he stared at the human’s phone, the little key saw Deacon’s contact name at the top of the screen. Beneath that, he saw the most unbearable text chain he'd seen in his life.
Hey Deacon
Hey
Hey
Hey
Look
Beneath the nagging string of messages from Chase, there was a photo of Nox. He was pictured sitting on Chase's legs with chocolate stuffed into his mouth. The rest of the background was shrouded in darkness, only the little spot where Nox sat being illuminated. He was staring directly into the light, looking embarrassingly similar to a deer in headlights. His blank stare matched with the glint of his moonstone eyes made for a photo that portrayed him as… stupid . Had it not been a photo of himself, Nox would have said there wasn't a gear turning in that head, nor a semblance of a thought being formed. At the bottom of the photo, it was captioned with ‘ the beast of avarice relishes in its unquenchable hoard of gluttony’
Nox narrowed his eyes. He read the following texts below it.
Dude it's 2 a.m.
Come on Deacon I had to google at least like 3 of those words
Go to bed.
Ur “study break” should have been over 3 hours ago
Put down the romance novel and u go to bed, Dorkin
Following that message was yet another image sent by Chase… Nox bristled at the sight, because it was another photo of him. Yet again, the key was doused in light, but in this photo he was laying flat on his face against Chase’s stomach. The caption read ‘the beast of avarice has been vanquished!! Extol the heavens for our lands have been freed of its turmoil!’.
Deacon simply wrote ‘ Lol.’ in response.
Nox was indignant, for how could this inveterate brat continue being so- so– so insufferable !? He whipped around to glare at Chase, who continued to smirk at the fuming key.
Nox shook, visibly struggling to form words. The late hours of the night left him too exhausted to muster his usual insults and monologues of retaliation. Instead, fueled by a fit of what could be interpreted as either rage or pettiness, he attacked Chase's hand. Latching onto the human's fingers, Nox pulled and bit at Chase–which he was very much not above doing. Chase chuckled and pointed his phone at Nox. Another flash of white light washed over him.
As Chase pulled his phone away, Nox raised his head to look at the screen. There, Chase typed a caption for the newest image of Nox attacking his hand.
‘THE BEAST HAS REAWAKENED! ITS WRATH IS UNRELENTING! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!’
This stupid jerk-!!! Nox prepared to protest, but put his outrage aside when he saw a typing bubble pop up from Deacon.
Lol. Go to bed Chase.
Bruh who uses punctuation in texts
You're gonna be so tired tomorrow if you don't sleep now, dude.
This is why ur Dorkin
Or maybe I call u nofunhateshappinescon
When Chase got no response following that message, he shut off his phone and leaned further back against his bed. Without the light from his phone, the room neared pitch black. Nox could just barely make out the outline of Chase’s head in the dark.
“What was that?” Nox asked. He'd never bothered to hide his distaste for Chase in the past, but now he put a conscious effort into making sure it was audible.
Chase continued not responding, only chuckling once more. A giant finger rested itself on Nox’s head and playfully ruffled his hair. “Wh- okay, hey-!” Nox began swatting at the finger, when the hand scooped him up entirely. He kicked awkwardly, the black of night obscuring his vision. He couldn't see, but he could feel. His dulled senses felt the hand wrap around him and- and- and stroke his back or whatever that idiot was doing!
Nox pushed at the fingers before they fell limp next to Chase's face. He was being cradled in the hands of that stupid jerk.
The stupid jerk chuckled once more. his eyes had begun to droop, but he continued staring at the little key curled up in his palms. Albeit his affectionate gaze was met by an aggrieved glare, Chase continued to smile.
“Why did you-!”
“You're cute…”
Just as Nox started to protest, Chase had already closed his eyes.
“Chase!”
“...”
“Chase!”
Nox blue screened. “You idiot…” he buried his face into Chase's hand as he curled up against its warmth.
“I'm only staying here because I have to…”
The night lulled Nox asleep before he could come up with an excuse for why he couldn't just leave the human's hands.