Chapter Text
Damon can’t sleep.
His hair was tousled, his pillows were all over the place, his shirt was ridden up, and the sound of people having a party right below him—he assumed so, at least—was driving him mad.
He grumbled to himself. Maybe he should file a complaint to his landlord, or something, but he doesn’t like her. The first time they met, she somehow managed to guess first try where he was from. How she did it, he still doesn’t know. He was convinced it was a lucky guess, or perhaps he needed to cover his accent up more.
Besides, he knew the guy below him. They met when he was delivering a package for Damon that was supposedly sent to the wrong floor. He was way too lively, way too… enthusiastic. Too many ‘bros’ and ‘dudes’ for Damon, like he knew him personally. He officially declared to himself that he wouldn’t try to converse with his downstairs neighbour after that meeting was done.
He lazily lolled his head to the side, squinting, and somewhat managing to make out what the digital clock read in the dark.
Two in the morning.
His downstairs neighbour was actually insane.
Now, usually, when he couldn’t sleep, he would get up and decide to do debate prep until he fell asleep at his desk. What other way could he spend his time? However, this time, he actually wanted to get some rest. Two straight days of non stop studying was getting to him.
He remembered his parents used to make him chamomile tea when he couldn’t sleep. Now, with the fact that he’s so far from them, he wondered if he could actually remember how to make it.
With great reluctance, Damon sat up from his bed, and felt around for his phone. He immediately turned the brightness down, going to his messages, and clicking on the family groupchat. His mom texted the chat the recipe before, he remembered.
He skimmed through past messages as he started to stand up, slowly making his way to the kitchen. The party was still going on, much to his disappointment.
The kitchen wasn’t half bad, surprisingly. It was clean, fairly sized, had plenty of storage, and the transition to the pantry and dining area was seamless. The last point may seem odd, but Damon liked that. Eva’s apartment didn’t have a very smooth flow to her dining room, and that pissed him off. Immensely.
He propped his phone up on a paper towel roll, eyes flitting over the message his mom sent. Boil water, place the fresh chamomile petals into a tea infuser, place it in a large cup, steep it for about five minutes, and Damon’s own extra step, add a sprig of specifically apple mint.
Once he took a sip, he sighed, a wave of nostalgia washing over him. It still tasted like how he always remembered in his childhood. Sweet, but not too bitter either. He leaned against the window sill, tilting his head to the side, admiring the view down below.
Then, there was pink hair moving out of the corner of his eye.
Pink?
Damon turned his attention to the pink hair, eyebrows furrowing. He, surprisingly, never noticed the window opposite his. He never saw his neighbour either, actually. His neighbour had pink hair?
Said neighbour came into full view. Black hoodie, pink hair with black roots, phone in one hand while using his thumb to scroll, the other holding a cup of coffee and occasionally taking sips. Seemed like he was in the same situation that he was, in a way, Damon reckoned.
For whatever reason, his eyes lingered on his neighbour, taking in his appearance. He was, objectively, pretty. Maybe around his age and height. Slightly taller, and that made him frown.
How has he never met this guy before? His neighbour? Actually, he could figure out why. He went out of his way to avoid talking to anybody in his apartment building—besides Eva—all the time. Purposefully ignoring the knocks on his door at times, declining invitations from Diana, he even bought a sign that said ‘do not disturb’ to put up on his door.
Then, his neighbour looked up, and met his gaze.
He blinked. Once, twice, thrice. Yellow eyes, too? Then, he waved a little too enthusiastically, with a small smile on his face. Damon’s lips parted, his grip on his cup tightening. Should he wave back? Smile? Ignore him and go to sleep? Open the window and ask him who the hell he was? No. No, that would be such a horrible first meeting.
Maybe it was the deprivation of proper rest catching up to him, but he decided to give a small wave back, despite how much his brain was screaming at him to ignore the other. His neighbour giggled—Damon assumed—and soon went out of frame.
God. Maybe he should go to sleep. He was feeling drowsy at this point, anyway. Eva had connections through Diana, right? She told him that Diana was bringing her out more often. Branching out. Perhaps she knew who his neighbour was.
He took one last sip of the chamomile tea, finishing it up, and washing the cup. Snatching his phone up, he trudged his way back to his bedroom. Once he hit the bed, he was fast asleep.
Damon fell asleep with his phone in his hand.
Great.
His eyes instinctively went over to check the time on the digital clock: nine in the morning. Around seven hours of sleep. That’s not that bad, though his parents would probably lightly scold him. He sat up, and ruffled his hair, reminding himself to text Eva about his unknown neighbour.
Damon: Hey.
Damon: Do you know who lives beside me? Specifically the person on the left.
Damon watched the chat bubble under Eva’s name appear, then disappear, then reappear again. Maybe she was checking with Diana, or something.
Eva: Yes.
Eva: Kai Monteago.
Eva: He’s super close with Diana. I’ve met him a few times.
Oh. Eva seemed to know that his neighbour—whom he now knew his name was Kai—but she didn’t tell him? And no way she assumed that he already knew the guy. He would’ve texted her about it.
Eva: Why? Interested?
Damon: Just tell me.
Eva: Well, when he was first moving in, Diana and I helped him move his stuff in. He asked about his new roommates, and I told him to not disturb you.
Eva: I’m surprised he took that to heart, though.
Damon stared at his screen for a moment. Huh. Why would she be surprised? His index finger tapped against the side of his phone, so many questions running throughout his head now.
Eva: Again, why are you so curious about him? Did you guys meet, or something?
Meet isn’t the word I would use, he thought.
Damon: I was making tea at night to help me sleep. I saw him through my kitchen window. We didn’t even talk, just waved at each other awkwardly.
Eva: Call me.
Damon: What? I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.
There was an incoming call from Eva. She didn’t even like calling. Damon sighed, begrudgingly accepting it and pressing his phone to his ear.
“Can I get ready while we call, at least?” He sighed, standing up and walking over to the bathroom. There was shuffling on the other end of the line, then an ‘mhm’ from Eva.
“You know,” Eva started. “I’m kind of surprised that you guys didn’t even see each other. Until last night. Not even once?”
Damon put her on speaker mode as he placed his phone on his sink, it leaning against the wall. “No. Not once.”
Eva snorted. “Well. Makes sense. You always avoid people.”
“Can you get to the reason why you called me?”
She hummed, the sound of her fingers clacking against, he assumed, her table. Sounded wooden. “He’s a popular influencer on the internet. Do you… not recognise him?”
“No.” he reached for his toothbrush, squeezing toothpaste on it, and then washing it under water. Eva uh huh’d from the other end, clearly interested. “I’m not surprised. You’re not active on social media, anyway.”
Damon leaned over and spit the toothpaste foam out, washing his mouth afterwards before replying. “What does he post, anyway? He seems like those… lifestyle, caramel macchiato, performative nonsense.”
“Who taught you that?” Eva laughed. The sound of, presumably, Diana’s voice could be heard in the background. Didn’t Diana live on his floor? “Give me a moment. I’ll send you the link to his profile.”
He paused, nose scrunching. His roommate’s profile? Why would he want that? Not to mention, he doesn’t even know the guy personally. He didn’t even get his name from him himself. “…Why?”
“You’re going to get it eventually, right?” Eva nonchalantly replied, much to Damon’s frustration. “Diana, Jett, and Cassidy are planning a birthday party in about two weeks. Everyone’s going to be invited.”
Damon blinked, checking the calendar on his fridge. Twentieth October. So, third November? “Whose birthday is it?”
“Kai’s.”
“Oh.”
“Are you going?” The door clicked behind him, walking to the kitchen. Damon subconsciously twirled his wrist as Eva continued. “Look, I know you’re not exactly a big fan of meeting new people, but it’s important to branch out. Connections.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line, stilling as his hands reached for a cup. A sense of—rather unwanted—nostalgia washed over him as soon as she said that. “I didn’t know you started branching out.”
“The people I met here,” Eva hesitated. “Nice. They don’t ridicule me. They make an effort to actually know me. They’re… good people to surround myself with.”
Damon’s eyes slightly widened, fingers fidgeting with the handle. “Good people.” He reiterated, the words unfamiliar on his tongue. “I haven’t heard you say that before.”
Glass clinked against glass. Damon assumed it was Eva stirring tea. “I want to have real friends, Damon.“
Damon sucked in a breath. Friends were never his top priority. After all, when did he ever have time for such trivial matters, anyway? The only ‘friends’ he had were Toshiko, Eva, Ulysses, and somewhat Desmond. Hell, he doesn’t even talk to three out of four of the listed people on a daily basis. Though, hearing the words come out of Eva’s mouth made it hit harder than it should’ve.
“I get it.” He finally said after too much hesitation. Does he really, though? Reconsidering his words, he hurriedly corrected himself. “I think I do.”
“Well, that means you surely wouldn’t mind if I told you to go to the party, then?” Damon could practically hear Eva’s smirk through the screen. He regretted saying anything. Considering how deep he has gotten himself in, by just asking for Kai’s name, he might as well.
His jaw clenched, rubbing his temple. “Fine. Okay. I’ll go.”
Eva laughed, and his phone pinged with a message in the middle of that. He’ll check that later. “Okay, great. I’ll let Diana know. Check your phone, by the way. Talk to you later.”
She hung up after that. With a noise of confusion, Damon opened the notification. From Eva, of course, but what surprised (pissed him off) him were the contents of the message.
Eva: https://eg.instagram.com/K_monte…
Eva: Here’s his profile. Use it however you’d like. Reminder, there’s most likely going to be alcoholic beverages at the party.
Eva: Just a heads up.
Damon reacted with the dislike emoji the second message.
Damon: During the party I will spike your drink and no one would know it was me.
Eva: Everybody would know. Trust me.
He doesn’t even want to remember the last time he drank. Sloppy, emotional, way too touchy, all sappy and shit, which are things he absolutely isn’t when he’s sober. Eva had so much dirt on him, it was in his best favour to just keep doing what she said. Who knows? Maybe the complex had a group chat he wasn’t in. Not that it mattered to him.
Grumbling, and as much as he didn’t want to snoop into a strangers life, he opened the link Eva sent him. Scratch that, Kai’s life was fully on display for everyone to see. That wouldn’t count as snooping. Just taking a look, is all.
And wow, his intuition was wrong for once, as much as he hated to admit it.
The more he scrolled through his page, the more he felt like he actually knew the guy. Selfies, food, life updates when there’s more than a four day gap inbetween posts, promotions. While he hasn’t dabbled in checking out social media profiles that are absolutely stacked like Kai’s, he could say, Kai seriously loved to interact with his followers like they were his friends.
That made Damon’s eyebrows furrow.
Parasocial relationships. Yuck. He didn’t want to think about it too much, or it’ll ruin his entire day and piss him off. Seriously. A not too fond memory of one of his debates slipped in, and by then, he made haste to finish making his coffee.
He stood by the window sill again. His dad used to sit with him before bed and they’d count stars, kind of like an equivalent to counting sheep? It helped him sleep better, he knew that, so in a way, yes.
Pink hair caught his attention again.
This time, Kai was talking to his phone, exaggerated expressions and all. Seemed like a phone call, but his hands were free, and who props their phone up when their hands were free?
With some logical reasoning, and too much thinking, Damon deduced that he was most likely doing a live stream.
No wonder Kai looked so animated. For some reason, that irritated him. It was like he was putting up a facade, and as much as his parents claimed that he was a sweet, sweet boy, he always hated people like that. It’s not authentic. Even if it was authentic, it would still piss him off.
It was there when Damon realised this was about a guy he had never spoken a word to before. Oh well. Mistakes. It’s human. Everybody does them.
Kai crooked his head up, and their eyes met yet again. The same smile crossed his face, and he waved again. Damon didn’t even know what he was doing when he lifted his hand up and waved back.
What was with him?
Maybe that small talk with Eva really knocked some social sense into him. Realised some stuff that he refused to acknowledge before. That made him rub his temples again, desperately just wanting this morning to go okay. Not even well. Not fine. Okay.
He didn’t even realise Kai had already moved out of sight. Too busy wallowing in his own misery. Damon groaned, and as he did, he spilled some coffee over his shirt. Mind you, a shirt that he held very dear to him, due to how his parents gifted him this.
His morning was actually horrible.
Whatever. He was going to shower after this, anyway. Just fuck him.