Chapter Text
Seiji hated buses. That was a fact.
“Dude- are you okay?” Nick was staring at him with a goofy smile on his face as Seiji stared deeply at a stain on the headrest in front of him. He hoped it was ketchup.
“I’m fine, Nicholas. I just don’t understand why we had to take the bus to your family’s house instead of a car.” Seiji said this as the bus creaked very loudly and the driver cursed loudly at a driver in front of him, holding up the finger.
“It’s just more fun, I don’t know,” Nick said. “Plus, we’re almost here. You’ll be fine, princess.” Seiji exhaled at this remark, but rolled his eyes all the same.
——
As the two boys rolled their suitcases up Nick’s front steps, Seiji looked around at the place that Nick had called home for as long as he said he could remember. It wasn’t too shabby, but it was nothing compared to Seiji’s estate. A brick compared to a wall.
Nick fumbled with his keys for a moment, but the second he got his keys out of his pocket, the door opened to a little girl who looked almost exactly like Nick. Same messy hair (just in a small bob instead of a horrendous undercut), same caramel-colored brown eyes, and same smile that looked like you knew her forever.
“Who’s THAT guy?” She pointed at Seiji with a confused look. Nick laughed VERY hard before getting some breath back to answer her question.
“THAT guy is my roommate, Seiji. Seiji, this is Emmy, and Emmy, this is Seiji.
“Hello, Emmy.” Seiji was still in shock about this mini-Nicholas.
She squinted up at him- and although he was at least a foot and a half taller than her, it didn’t feel like it. She was intimidating. “Why does he talk like a text-to-speech option?”
Nick didn’t get the chance to burst out laughing before another voice echoed through the house.
“Nicky, is that your friend? Let him in! It’s cold out there and I don’t want him to freeze!” This was presumably Nicholas’s mother. They walked inside and Seiji was immediately greeted by an amazing smell. Apparently he was smiling, because Nicholas looked over and smiled too.
“That’s my mom’s finest. It’s box pasta, but she makes it like a gourmet chef would.” He paused to take off his shoes, and Seiji did the same. They went to the kitchen, where the aroma got even stronger and better. Nick’s mom turned around.
“Hello! You must be Seiji. Nicky told me you were pretty, but he didn’t say THIS handsome!” She wiped her hands on a dish towel. Seiji nodded and could feel his face warming a bit as Nicholas protested her statement.
“Sit down, boys! The pasta is just about finished.” She smiled the same way Nicholas and Emmy did. He walked over to the well-worn kitchen table, where Emmy had already sat down at, and was staring at him very deeply. She smiled, and they started eating.
——
The food was amazing. Seiji had never had box pasta (a statement he made that made everyone shocked), but it was somehow the second greatest food he’d ever had. Other than a triple hot fudge chocolate sundae with extra toppings. Nothing could beat that. After eating, Nicholas helped carry their suitcases up to his room. It was a small room, but it looked like Nicholas’s personality, if that made sense. It had famous fencers on the wall, articles of Robert Coste, some other sports stars who Seiji didn’t know, and a small desk in the corner with a light that had apparently seen better days. The room was also painted firehouse red- Nick’s favorite color.
“This is where we’ll be sleeping this week. I need to blow up the air mattress for you, but then it should be good. We have some extra blankets you can use, too.”
“Great. I should be good for this week. Where is your bathroom located?” Seiji asked this question with a slightly different tone in his voice. Maybe it was from being called handsome, but maybe it was the fact that prior, Nick had called him pretty.
“I guess I’ll just give you the house tour!” Nick grinned and pulled Seiji along.