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Valentine’s Day is a useless holiday. A particularly disgusting one at that. Every which way Damon turned, people were snuggled up and spouting stupid quotes to one another. It was tooth-rottingly sweet in the worst way possible. It was cheesy— too cheesy. At least for Damon, who wasn’t one for outright affection anyhow. Or any affection in general. Or anyone in general.
Long story short, today was not his day.
People all around him were blathering about insignificant dribble, ‘he said, she said’ and the like. Valentine’s Day allowed drama to circulate with confessions and breakups alike– Damon could earnestly say he wanted no part. He’d wanted to skip today, at least he’d only have to worry about the somewhat-telligible muffles through his dormitory walls. He was a star student, one absence wouldn’t have completely tarnished his record; However, Damon was nothing if not a perfectionist. His career, his title meant the world to him. Each and every day was a step towards his future as a prodigy.
So what if he found himself painstakingly trying to tune out everybody else around him whilst in the middle of the longest lecture of his life? This would all be worth it one day.
Well, trying to tune everyone out was a bit of a hyperbole; Currently he’s only trying to ignore the annoying loser beside him. He was—as per usual— dead set on grabbing Damon’s attention. There wasn’t a second Damon remembered about this class that didn’t involve this parasite. Kai Monteago was nothing short of bothersome. Ever since Damon started intentionally ignoring him, it seemed to evolve from occasional to incessant. It's not even as if he wanted anything half the time. 90% of their interactions would be Kai talking his head off about some people he’s never met. Damon would try his hardest to listen to the professor, but it was usually a losing battle on his part. So, nowadays, Damon chooses to ignore him if he actually wants credit for the communications class.
After he whispered his name for the 30th time, Damon sucked in his exasperation through his teeth. He turned to his left and tried to keep the following interaction as succinct as he could.
“ What do you want. “ Damon hissed at the other, whom looked as sheepish as they come.
“ Do you have a pen? “
“ You didn’t bring anything to write with to school? “
Kai sounded like he was about to defend himself, but Damon already decided that he was wasting too much time in this conversation. He pulled out his pencil case, and subsequently an embarrassingly nice pen. He hands it over about as annoyed-looking as he can.
“ I want it back. Don’t bite on it. “ He’d made note of Kai’s frankly disgusting habit of chewing on pen caps.
“ …Dude, how much was this pen? “
Kai seemed to be in awe, studying it like it was the most interesting thing since sliced bread. Damon was confused, until he remembered people like Kai don’t take priority in academics. In fact, he bets the only thing Kai worries about in the morning is how good he looks. Honestly, Damon’s surprised that someone as vain as Kai could make it this far.
“ Why? Have you never seen a nice pen before? “ He asked sarcastically, which led Kai to hold a hand to his chest and gasp as if offended. Because he's stupid.
“ Are you calling me broke?!“ Gasping at the mere notion and Damon swears he sees tears.
“ I’m calling you irresponsible. Every student should have good pens, pencils, paper. I have nice things so I don't walk into class unprepared like you.“ Damon states matter-of-factly. Kai stares into his soul until a snicker erupts from him. Damon's face blood boils, and Kai only starts to giggle. He opens his mouth, though Damon already knew what words would escape it.
“ You’re such a nerd, it's honestly ridiculous. “
Damon prepares to defend himself, but Kai continues.
“ I mean it, seriously. You’re always worried about school. Like, I don’t think I've ever seen you do anything that doesn’t relate to academics. I knew you were like this back in high school, but now? You don’t go to any school events unless they have something to do with nerd stuff, you rarely show your face at games, and I’ve never seen you at a party. Do you even live outside of school? “
“ Why do you care? I don’t need philosophy from you and your 2.8 G.P.A. I rather work hard now and have it pay off later. “ Damon rebutted, feeling satisfied when Kai paused to twirl the pen in his hand in thought.
“ First of all, you're a dick. Second, I care, because I don’t want you to get burnt out! Or like,, not have any worthwhile college memories! Have some fun once in a while! “
Damon rolls his eyes and rebutts once more.
“ And how do you think I should go about doing that—“ Damon started, as Kai cut him off once more, quite annoyingly.
“ Go out with me. “
Damon’s matter-of-fact attitude came to a grand halt as he felt the whole world pause. All he could do was stare. He’s mad how easily such stupid words are able to stop his mind in its tracks. From Kai, of all people.
“ …Excuse me? “ Damon coughed out. Kai seemed to mentally backtrack and waved his hands frantically, waving away the asinine thoughts Damon began to foster.
“ I meant like.. platonically or whatever, just to get you out! Hooooly shit, I totally forgot it was Valentine’s Day and everything! “ Kai nervously chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.
A pretty shade of pink, almost rivaling his hair, had occupied his face. Damon looked away, no ground to mock him. After an uncomfortable silence, Kai decided to continue.
“ Yeah, so we should go out, like to a movie. “
“ Why me? Don’t you have actual friends you could be ‘going out’ with? “
“ I do, but I want to go with you. “
Damon could feel his heart jump. What the hell is wrong with him today? Is he starting to lose his mind to the mid-tier flirting of this idiot? He internally swears himself.
“ It’s some sort of scary movie. I've been meaning to watch it anyways since people have been asking me about my opinions on it sooo– “ Kai smiles “ You'd be helping me ‘cause like, who goes to a scary movie alone? “
Damon should've said no. Kai was the reason why he couldn't tell you a damn thing about this class. However, he didn’t have anything else to do today. In fact, he’d thoroughly done anything he’d been missing so he was able to leave campus early today. He looked at Kai, weighing the pros and cons in his mind again. Kai looked back at him with a smile. Damon sighed.
“ What time? “
“ What, really?! “ Kai gawked.
“ Do you want me to come or not? “
“ 9 tonight, Damie. “ Kai teased. Damon’s annoyed groan would come shortly before the classes’ end. Kai sprung up and waved Damon goodbye, happy as a clam despite definitely not hearing a single word of that lecture. Damon groaned again, for a different reason involving the same person.
The blond male shrugged his bag on his shoulder and began to leave, completely and definitely unexcited.
————
‘Damie’ wasn’t too enthused. It was cold. Mid-Early February meant that it was going to warm up far later than it should and the groundhog didn't show in his favor this year. It was a particularly chilly night and his not-a-date-what-are-you-talking-about had kept him waiting for about 30 minutes. He sat outside the movie theater, wrapped in a jade scarf and his brown jacket exercising the virtue of patience.
Eventually, the pink-haired man of the hour made his fashionably late debut at a record-breaking 27 minutes overdue. Not counting the 5 minutes Damon was here in advance. Amazing.
He had on a scarf, similar to Damon’s, but his was shorter and red. He’d worn a white sweater shirt, a pair of designer pants, and his usual seizure of jewelry. Damon was nowhere near as fashionable, but he can only imagine how much more comfortable he is. In his head, he can't help but fixate on the notion that Kai can spend 80 days finding a cute outfit to wear while leaving Damon to freeze to death.
Kai walked up to Damon, who was heavily tempted to just leave.
“ Hi Damie. “
“ A bit late, you think? “ Damon tried to sound more annoyed than aggravated, for some reason or another he was a bit upset. Kai chuckled nervously.
“ You probably left the dorms early, it’s a mess down there. A bunch of boys kept trying to sneak their girlfriends into the dorm, my whole hall was locked down for like 20 minutes! They’re so strict here! “ Kai grumbled and Damon rolled his eyes while he listened.
“ I’m sure your horrible punctuality doesn’t have anything to do with it. It's a miracle how you haven't been dropped by now. “ Damon jabbed as he began to walk towards the theater alongside Kai.
“ I’m never that late! You’re just way too early to everything. Someone could tell you to be there by 7:00 and you’d show up at 6:30 and be mad if they aren’t ready yet. “ Kai used a hefty amount of gestures when he talked, Damon’s were shoved in his pockets. They stood in the ticket line.
“ It’s better to be early than late. “ Damon claimed and Kai hummed in response with a playful ‘Is it though?’.
“ You think it’s better to keep somebody waiting for 30 minutes? “ Damon hit back and that made Kai’s head turn.
“ …Are you mad at me? “ Kai looked over at Damon to try to see if he looked upset.
“ No, I don’t care. “
“ Oh, I believe you. “ Kai responded in a tone that made it sound like he didn’t. “ Well, in any case– Sorry I kept you waiting for so long. C..can I make it up to you? “ He smiled at him like Damon was gonna bite his nose off. Damon fought back a smirk.
“ Let me leave? “ Damon said, fully intending to stay.
“ How about I buy your ticket? “
“ You weren't going to already? You asked me out! “
Kai dodged the question and just giggled. He engaged Damon in chatter and gossip whilst in queue and Damon would chime in with his two-sense regularly. It was a strange feeling, talking to Kai. As he was, Damon wasn't used to talking to people so casually like this. Maybe it was a hallmark of his influencer persona– his abundance of cordial demeanor. After 15 minutes of small talk, the two men found themselves at the top of the line.
Kai went about buying their tickets and Damon had the priority of picking seats. He didn't want to be near anyone, which,, actually seem like it was going to be a problem at all. Seeing the seat selection screen, the showing for this thing was barren, he could make out about 7 people altogether with booked seats. His hand gravitated towards the upper-middle row, so they could get the best view. He seized their seats and Kai'd bought them some popcorn. The apathetic ticket man gave them their tickets and pointed them off to the respective theater. When he'd saw the seats they'd picked, Damon would bet his life he looked up at them. No, at Damon, and gave a smirk.
…
“ Damn, this thing is empty! “ Kai mused aloud. Damon's previous observation was proved correct, not only by Captain Obvious, but by the staggering amount of people– which was none at all.
They sat down and Damon was left wondering how they got so lucky. Or, maybe it wasn't lucky at all. Maybe this simply wasn't a good movie. He ate a piece of popcorn and glanced over at his fake-date. Kai was doing his influencer rounds and taking pictures for his story, Damon presumed.
“ Damon, come take a picture with me! “ Kai chirped as he scooted over in his seat, now closer to Damon. Damon sat up more quickly than intended and Kai was left in his seat looking at Damon like he was out of his mind.
“ Absolutely not. “
“ What? Why? “ Kai whined.
“ Do you not realize how famous you are? I don't wanna be involved with whatever your rabid followers will have to say when they see us together. The guy at the ticket booth already thinks we're up to something. “
Kai sighed.
“ I won't post it then. “
Damon couldn't wrap his head around what Kai was getting at. Why would he want one of him? Damon began to mutter something about hating pictures cause of how he looked in them, but Kai wasn't accepting his lackluster excuse and honestly Damon wouldn't either.
Kai stood up, walked toward him– giving him plenty of time to escape– and pulled Damon in beside him. They were connected by each other’s hip and Kai’s decorated hand sat at the left of Damon’s waist. Damon steels himself. Kai had his right arm raised ready to take the picture. He flashed a smile and Damon simply tried to look as if his mind wasn't currently melting before his eyes.
“ See, you look fine! “ Kai says as he flashes the screen to the other, but Damon can't even say he saw. He feels dizzy from the moment that took place just seconds ago. Casually touching him like that, he must be out of his mind. Damon reassures himself with the fact that Kai is clearly out of his mind and he's completely justified in feeling like he might be having heart palpitations.
As if on cue, the endless stream of advertisements concluded and the theater lights dimmed. Damon looked over at Kai, already looking like he wanted to leave, and honestly it was something Damon could get behind at the moment. He picked up a piece of popcorn from the bucket situated between their seats and popped one in his mouth. The movie started and Damon hoped it'd at least be mediocre so he could zone out for an hour or so.
…
30 minutes in and Damon thinks he's figured out why nobody was at this movie at this hour. This movie was disturbing in a raw sense, not with excessive gore or jumpscares, but with the weaponization of paranoia. Damon wouldn't consider himself easy to scare, but this thing was making his skin crawl. He was genuinely impressed from an objective standpoint. He could only imagine what Kai would do if he came by himself.
Speaking of.
Kai’s hands were dug into Damon's forearm, squeezing him like he was going anywhere anytime soon. It started with their hands grazing against each other at the very start (which Damon responded by keeping his left hand in his seat), then around the ten minute mark he grabbed his shoulder, and now he's holding onto his arm like Damon will genuinely walk out on him at any second. Damon can't decide on how he feels about their inherent position. If he couldn't tell how obviously scared shitless Kai was right now, he would've pulled away. Probably.
“ I'm never taking another movie recommendation again.. never taking another one again… “ He mumbled as his eyes stayed fixed on the screen. Damon could only hope he didn't if his audience was this cruel.
“ How long is this movie? “ Damon spoke up and the way Kai jumped at his voice made him feel like he might not come out of this theater in one piece.
“ What… i don't know, it has to be almost over already. “
Damon doesn't know what state of delusion Kai is in that what he just said is anything close to being true.
“ It's been 30 minutes. “
“ You're joking. “
“ I'm not. “
He slumped in his chair as Damon turned back towards the movie. Kai’s elbow sat itself on Damon’s right armrest.
“ I don't understand how you're so fine with this weird shit. I don't even know what's going on. “
“ The girl is locked in the school. That's all that's really happened so far. You'd know what was going on if you paid attention. “
“ I can't be expected to watch this! Did you see how that thing turned at us, Damon? “ His voice crawled to a whisper, as if there was a possibility in the world that it could hear. “ And we're here all alone, god, what if– “
Damon was already rolling his eyes into his skull at Kai’s babbling. He couldn't understand how somebody could be so dense as to even consider watching a movie as a difficult task. Kai has always been easy to freak out; Damon subconsciously acknowledges, ridiculously so, comically even. Matter of fact, he could have a wealth of content just based on how easy he is to scare. Maybe that's why they were both sitting there, Scared and Indifferent, respectively. Damon looked over at him, deciding to bother him a little.
“ I found it strange actually, there were booked seats for this showing. “
“ …Shut up. “ Kai mumbled, he scooched in closer to the blond as he continued.
“ No, really. There weren't many, but there were definitely others. About 7 or 8. “
“ Damon. “
“ I was just saying. The– “ He added, mere seconds before a loud shrill scream erupted from the screen.
At first he thought it was Kai, then he tried to figure out if it was himself. Realizing neither occurred thanks to Damon's coincidental distraction, he was able to sit back a little more comfortably. Kai managed to suppress a scream in favor of digging his entire body into the back of his theater chair in response. He could barely see Kai under the dim lights of the theater but from the brief flashes he could see his eyes wide. He held Damon tighter.
“ I think we should leave. “ Kai said in a whisper that sounded more like a plea than a suggestion.
Before Damon could respond, another jumpscare followed suit. Describing it only did it so much justice, for as lame as it really was. Luckily it had the perfect victims. The first scare managed to not get Damon and barely got past Kai. The second got a scream out of both of them, a good one at that.
Convinced of his imminent death, Kai managed to use some unprecedented amount of force to drag Damon practically into his seat to cling onto him. If someone were to stumble upon the scene of Kai holding Damon like his last sanction of food on earth while he clutched his chest to still his heart, surely it'd be something to bemuse. Laugh over. Unfortunately, Damon wasn't keen on giving them the potential satisfaction.
“ Put– me down! What the hell are you doing? “ Damon wriggled as Kai babbled incoherently about how much he hated this movie. After about a minute, he gave in with a huff. Though he really did worry about what this looked like.
Now squished on the right of Kai’s seat, he sat there more focused on Kai Monteago than the movie itself. He held Damon like a stuffed animal and he didn't even seem to realize it. His eyes were glued to the movie screen. Against his arm, he could feel Kai’s heartbeat slow back down to a calm pace as they sat together silently. Looking between his tear-streaked face and the movie, Damon silently forfeited caring about this moment more than he needed to.
For now, he'd comfort this crybaby.