Ultraviolet

Chapter 10

May 29, 33 AE

Thankfully, Jordan wasn't exaggerating when he said his couch was huge.

In fact, Jordan's entire apartment was massive, and Mack bet his own apartment could fit comfortably in Jordan's living room. As such, the large cream couch looked moderate in size relative to everything else.

"Sorry," Jordan mumbled from beside him, his voice slightly rough. "It's a little much, yeah?"

Maybe a little, Mack thought. The place was beautiful, of course, but almost too much so, as if the unit was meant for a real estate advertisement instead of an actual home. For one, almost everything was white or nearly white, from the pristine walls to the snowy rug spread across immaculate wood floors. Even the kitchen, which was open to the living room, looked like a museum with its excessive use of marble, accented every so often with a hint of sparkling copper.

"Well," Mack began, grinning. "You do need a fancy museum like this to house such a fine work of art like yourself."

Jordan stared at him for a moment, wide-eyed, before burying his face in his hands. "Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that."

"What can I say?" Mack said with a practiced wink. "I've got a talented tongue."

Mack laughed; Jordan kept his face hidden with his hands.

Once Mack got his pick-up lines out of his system and Jordan's blush faded, they continued on with their date. After their emotional day, the only thing either of them wanted to do was lie down and watch a comedy that required absolutely no thought and pulled as little on the heartstrings as possible. And that's exactly what they did.

While Jordan excused himself to touch bases with his manager, Mack chose a movie. It took a while for Mack to realize that the vast collection of disc cases were actually all video games, and it took even longer for him to figure out how to work Jordan's TV. Thankfully, Mack had unintentionally activated a voice control option at some point, and his desperate request to "play a movie, please and thank you" conjured up a list of Jordan's digital library. From there, Mack figured things out decently quickly, and he sat on the bed-like couch in quiet triumph.

When Jordan emerged from his bedroom a few minutes later, Mack initially looked at him to see how he was holding up, then to brag about figuring out technology all by himself. What he hadn't expected was to do a double take over the sight of Jordan wearing glasses.

They were silver wire frame glasses with large oval lenses, and they gave Jordan a sophisticated retro look. He looked so good, in fact, that Mack hardly noticed that Jordan changed into loungewear. But while his fuzzy gray sweatpants and hoodie set looked especially cozy, Mack's attention quickly returned back to Jordan's face.

Mack really liked glasses.

Jordan hesitated at the edge of the living room for a few seconds, then frowned. "How long are you going to keep staring?"

"Huh?" Mack asked, having heard but not understanding a word Jordan just said.

Jordan's frown deepened, but only on one side. "If we're watching a movie, I need to be able to see it."

"Right. Of course." Mack had to blink a few times to finally see Jordan's self-consciousness. "Sorry, I just really like glasses."

Jordan raised an eyebrow skeptically, but at least his frown disappeared. "You don't have to say that to make me feel better."

"I'm serious, I really do," Mack assured, and he didn't bother hiding the once-over he did of Jordan. "That's a really good look on you."

Jordan didn't blush, but he did avert his eyes to the TV. "So what'd you end up picking?"