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You're being awfully... fussy, Rhaast muses as Kayn fiddles with his hair in the mirror for the fourth time in as many minutes. Nervous?
“As if.” Kayn scoffs as he sweeps his bangs back – but no, that looks stupid, like he has a massive forehead... “Shieda Kayn doesn't get nervous.”
Ah, so the pile of clothes on your bed was just spring cleaning then, obviously.
Kayn flicks a look at the pile of rejects before sneering at his own half-smug reflection. “Obviously.”
Because it would be awfully silly if you were nervous-
“-which I'm not.”
-of course... because you've known them how long now?
“You know damn well.” Kayn rolls his eyes and gives up, dragging his hands through his hair to shake it back into its usual mess. “But it's different now.”
Because the day of corporate consumerism – which, if I recall, you sneer at – told you so?
“No-” He feels the scoff in the back of his head, and, well... fair. “Okay maybe, but not just because it's corporate consumerism bullshit day-” He makes a series of agitated gestures in the air, attempting to convey the everything involved with this whole feelings thing. “-you know, it's different when you're friends with someone, and then you're... more.”
Almost fucking?
“Ugh.” Of course a millennia old demon would boil everything down to the body he doesn't have. “It's more than that.”
Right... can't forget the panic about your hair.
“You're the worst.”
Now is that any way to treat the person who's going to help you pick out the right pair of pants?
“Oh yeah?” Kayn laughs as he turns back to the pile of clothes on the bed, picking up a pair of cargo shorts that he's pretty sure are Sett's. “You don't even have legs.”
And you don't have taste, between the two of us I'd say I'm at an advantage.
“Oh yeah? Fine.” He drops the cargo shorts and kicks them under the bed, throwing his hands out to the side. “Enlighten me, oh wise one, about the clothes I should wear today-”
His hands jerk forward without his input, snatching up something from the bottom of the pile and something else from under his pillow. Something unfortunately stylish.
“Well damn.”
You're welcome.
So yeah, now he's looking good, as usual.
But that still doesn't help with the whole... rest of it.
I still don't see why you're spiraling over this, Rhaast grumbles, prodding at the edges of his brain to fling their history into Kayn's psyche. You lived with them for years. They've seen you squirt cheese from a can straight into your mouth while laying on the couch.
“Don't remind me,” Kayn groans, scrubbing a hand down his face as he peruses the aisle full of horrifically cheesy stuffed bears and overpriced chocolate. “Or them... especially them.”
Ah yes, let me just ring them up now- Rhaast snickers, trilling a shrill beat inside his brain, Hello, Tala? Hi, it's Rhaast – yes, I know I'm glorious, thank you for reminding me... speaking of reminding, do you remember that time Kayn stole your underwear for a week because he hadn't done laundry? No? Oops-
“Shut up- ” Kayn growls, fully aware of how insane he looks talking to himself in the middle of the grocery store. “That was one time-”
And then you kept them-
“I hadn't washed them yet!”
And then you sniffed-
“I swear to god I'll kill us-” he thunks the heel of his palm against the side of his head “-don't think I won't do it-”
Not before you get your precious Tala his ridiculous teddy bear, Rhaast teases, effectively redirecting him to the hopeless task at hand, Wouldn't want him to think you've forgotten him, hmm?
“I swear to god, tomorrow I'm getting an exorcism.”
Good luck stepping into the church without bursting into flames.
So now he's got this giant sparkly lavender bear that kinda matches his pretty-sure-they're-together-girlfriend's hair. Mostly. And it's sparkly, which totally also counts, and it really did remind him of Tala, which should get him extra points and all.
Not that he needs them because he's obviously winning the day like so hard right now, but yanno... if he needed the points he'd have them.
...whatever you need to tell yourself.
“Shut up, Rhaast.”
Careful or all these mental gymnastics are going to make your brain smoke.
“You're the one who always says I need to have plans-”
Ha! I am absolutely not.
Okay fine, so maybe that's Yone, but still... he's trying here. For once he'd prefer not to fuck this whole thing up.
There's nothing to fuck up, you emotional cripple. Rhaast squirms with glee between his ears as he pulls up a montage of Kayn's sweatiest moments. Him and Tala at the beach and that cute wrap that got all clingy when it was wet... that time they went out and got boba together as bros - definitely not as bros- and then the whole conversation two weeks ago when they'd gotten to hang out again for the first time since Kayn had gotten back from touring, when they'd agreed they should do things together more often -under the stars in front of a moonlit lake, you hopeless - which really could have meant anything, but he's pretty sure it meant like together together, because there was hand-holding involved -and yours was sweating like the pig you are- and, despite being an up-and-coming rockstar, he doesn't actually have much experience with that kind of thing because he's been -working shitty gigs and sharing a cheap apartment and drowning in your pathetic crush- ...yeah, pretty much that. So... what are you going to do about it now?
Well, for starters he's got this giant bear, and some flowers, and approximately half a plan.
Approximately half a clue...
But if he's good at anything, it's winging it.
Unfortunately, his half plan and all the rest of his brain cells fall right out of his head when Tala answers the door.
On the bright side, the bear does indeed match the shade of their hair... on the not so bright side, they look so good he'd inhaled to say hi, promptly choked on his spit, and is now in the process of hacking up a lung all over them.
And they say romance is dead.
“Are you okay?!” Tala's hands flutter nervously over him, patting him on the back as he wheezes all the dignity out of his body. “Did you inhale a bug or something?”
Unfortunately, this brings them close enough to catch a whiff of their shampoo – the one Kayn used to occasionally huff in the shower on days when Tala wasn't home to catch him, and the one that he'd missed enough to buy to keep in his own shower, despite using men's 14-in-1 engine degreaser on his own hair.
The rest of his tenuous grasp on the situation slips through his fingers.
“Or something-” he chokes out with a grunt, then clears his throat and drags a hand through his hair, willing his effortlessly cool persona to slide back into place. “Maybe you just took my breath away.”
That was awful.
But does it matter if it works? Because Tala's cheeks are pink underneath the disbelieving squint, and it's so worth earning the laugh that's probably mostly at his expense.
“Well, come in before you eat any more.”
He does as he's told, awkwardly shuffling sideways through the door with the massive teddy bear before toeing off his shoes and craning his neck around it.
“Wow, candles and everything.” He aims a teasing grin their way, waggling his eyebrows. “Really went all out on the romance, huh?”
Tala sniffs at him, arching one right back. “You're going to make fun of me for candles while you're holding that?”
Ah, right.
“It uh... made me think of you?” Kayn offers it out with a sheepish smile, “Cause it's cute and all, and so are you... and I know you have a bunch already, and it's kinda big, but I figured... since it's Valentine's Day and all, and we're, yanno...”
I take it back, please exorcise me so I don't have to witness this.
“It is cute,” Tala agrees, mercifully sparing him from finishing the rest of whatever that rambling sentence was becoming. “Thanks, Kayn.”
“Yeah, you're welcome.”
And then he just stands there, like an idiot, rocking on his heels as they hold the bear and smile at him.
Didn't think this far ahead?
To be honest, he's not sure he's had a single coherent thought all day – let alone about what to do after completing his quest to win the day or whatever. He can't even remember what they were going to do today – he knows they'd agreed not to go out until later in the week because everyone in the world was going to be packing every restaurant in the city... but he's also pretty sure that agreeing not to do something isn't the same as agreeing to do something else.
Astute observation.
“So uh...” he rolls his shoulders and looks around the place – Tala had cleaned since the last time he was here, which might mean something and might not, “Wanna, uh... do...” he trails off with a nebulous hand motion and a shrug.
Shieda Kayn, communication king.
“Take out and a movie?” Tala offers with a grin. “Unless you've learned to cook in the last week...”
Kayn slumps in relief, nodding. “Yeah no – I'll order it... awful cheesy romance?”
“Is there any other way to celebrate the day of mandatory love?”
Later, when they're curled up together on the couch, three romcoms deep with a ridiculous amount of takeout around them, Kayn decides that there isn't anywhere else he'd rather be. Just him, his definitely-girlfriend, and the gigantic large teddy bear stealing half of his cuddles – and he wouldn't have it any other way.