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“1x? Where are youuuu?” you call out in a singsong voice, “I’m back! And I bought your favorite snack!” you wave around the bag of dehydrated limes as if you could lure him out of whatever dark corner he’s in. The shared house is oddly quiet. Normally he’s making a ruckus– grumbling about Shedletsky while sharpening his swords, barking orders at his minions to enact his latest plan to destroy Robloxia, or simply fussing over his crown on the couch while the TV plays garbage noise in the background.
Well, might as well put away groceries until she comes back. Soaps go into the bathroom, detergent in the laundry room, limes get haphazardly thrown onto her bed. You turn your attention to the kitchen, carrying two bags of food for the next few weeks. Your grocery budget would probably be smaller if it weren’t for her. You know she doesn’t need to eat or perform any other bodily functions, but the smile on her face after taking a bite of a home-cooked meal makes the cost worth it.
Your first step into the kitchen is met with the sight of 1x1x1x1 hunched over the dining room table, face almost pressed onto the table. Their white hair cascades over their face, obscuring whatever they’re doing. You stare from beyond the kitchen counter, trying to discern what’s so interesting about the wooden table before you spot them fiddling with a piece of paper. They turn it in their hands, flipping it over and folding creases into the small square.
“Origami?” Her head snaps up, eyes fixated on yours. “I never would’ve thought you’d be into that,” you tease as a smug grin tugs at your lips. She puffs a strand of hair from her face, ignoring your smirk. She resumes her folding quietly, focus turned back to the paper. Oh well. You’re used to being the chatty one anyway. Your crush roomie isn’t normally one for conversation, unless it’s about her interests (or enemies).
“So what are you making? A crane?” you question him while you put away various boxes of dried goods. It’s barely perceptible, but you’re sure he just glared at you.
“Not a crane,” his harsh voice grates out, “Too complicated. It’s a pig.” He sits back in the chair, presenting the little piggie between his fingers. So cute! It’s green with white floral patterns, and quite neat. He must’ve been practicing for a while. How did you never notice?
“No way! Can you teach me?” You bound over eagerly, forgetting about the groceries and settling down in the chair beside it. It lets out a small groan, but doesn’t say anything more. That’s how you know they’re willing to indulge you. With an excited grin you pull them into a hug, nuzzling into their cheek. It pushes you off, but you can hear the small puff of affection they breathe out.
That’s how you spend the rest of your evening. 1x1x1x1 shows off her massive collection of origami paper and animals while you painstakingly attempt to copy her folds. It doesn’t help that she’s not that great of a teacher, her instructions being too vague or simply ‘fold like this three times’. It takes a horribly long and embarrassing half an hour, but you finally manage to make your first frog! You watch with childish amusement as it hops around on the table with each press of your finger, missing how 1x4’s gaze softens on you.
“Can you show me more?” you ask eagerly, still pressing on the frog’s back to make it jump. His zipper mouth pulls into a grin, and he leaves and comes back with an armful of origami paper in his arms and the bag of dried limes in his mouth.
They sit beside you, munching on limes and giving instructions for you to make a new creation in your hands. When you don’t understand a particular instruction, they place their hands over yours, folding the paper with practiced precision. It feels so wonderful to discover a new shared hobby with 1x1x1x1! Your pulse races a tad faster, heat rushing to your cheeks. You hope they don’t notice.
“This is for you,” their low voice grates, and they hand over a paper heart. How did you not notice them folding it? Well, you were pretty focused on your ring to be fair. You take the origami heart with a gracious smile.
“Thanks! I-”
“Open it.”
Open it?
You unfold the heart, and the very thing inside makes you trip over your pulse.
‘I love you’.
You stumble over your words too much to actually say anything, so you present the ring you’ve been working on. She smirks, presenting her left hand.
Of course.
With shaky hands, you slide the ring onto her digit. It fits perfectly.
The two of you spend the rest of the evening together, dinner plans forgotten in favor of spending time with your roomie new partner, sharing a new love of origami together.