𓈊 A Poppy By Any Other Name

Cutscene II: Plastic Is Worth Diamonds When It's Easter

DISCLAIMER: "Cutscenes" have no direct correlation with the current plot of the story, and do not take place directly after the last scene of the Act before it.

Another note, the "setting" takes place in is a little bit ahead of where the story is currently, just because I want each cutscene to be from a different perspective, if that makes any sense at all. It basically takes place in Joel's apartment, after the kitchen is re-done (you'll understand that in a few chapters) and Grian's (or, former spare bedroom) is cleaned up a bit, (another thing you'll understand in a few chapters).

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Grian stirred underneath his red comforter, refusing to open his eyes despite the morning sunlight peering through the small space between the curtains to hit his face. He could hear the faint sound of ruffling plastic and paper from beyond his bedroom door. Too curious for his own good, he gave in to the fact that he was, in fact, awake, and threw the covers off of himself before getting up and padding over to the door. He paused a moment, forgetting that he'd stayed the night in Joel's apartment.

His little bedroom was nothing special at the moment, being, for the most part, an empty room with Joel's old, bright red desk lamp next to a mattress on the floor, which had a caseless pillow and Grian's red comforter he'd brought from his bedroom at the Shadowlady-Solidarity household.

Walking out into the small hallway, Grian stopped to yawn as he closed his bedroom door. Joel's bedroom, which was just across the hall, was wide open, though Joel wasn't inside. Grian shrugged and walked out into the living room, where Joel was fumbling with a mint green weeved basket. A similar hot pink one sat next to him on the sofa.

In each basket was a different book, a box of chocolates, and a few other little gifts sitting in colorful paper grass, wrapped up in a plastic bag with a ribbon.

"What's this?" Grian asked, startling Joel. "Oh, sorry-"

"No, it's alright, bud," Joel said, smiling, as he stopped fiddling with the basket in his lap. "I got you an Easter basket." He glanced over at the pink basket. "I didn't have much extra cash to get anything super special, but, uh... I got something, which is better than nothing, so..."

Grian blinked, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Huh?"

Joel hesitated a moment before chuckling and patting the spot on the other side of him, signaling for Grian to sit next to him. Once he did, Joel handed the pink basket to the blonde, saying, "It was the closest thing to red, so I got this basket for you. And I know you've been eyeing that book of Shakespeare's sonnets, so I figured that would be a fun treat for you."

Taking the basket and looking between it and Joel, Grian looked utterly speechless. Not only was there a box of chocolates and the book, but there were also a couple small Cadbury chocolate bars, a bag of Maltesers, and a algebra calculator. "You... got this for me?" the younger finally asked, sounding close to tears with his eyes fixed on the assortment of gifts.

Joel snickered. "Of course, I did," he answered. "I mean, it's Easter. You have to get something on Easter, right?"

"What?" Grian looked up at Joel now. "Easter?"

"Yeah." Joel paused, sudden realization dawning on him. "Oh. You... never celebrated Easter before... have you?" He sighed when Grian shook his head. "That mother of yours had something wrong with her head to not celebrate Easter with gift baskets and chocolates and egg hunts-" He stopped to gasp, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Oh, you're going to love the egg hunt."

"Egg hunt? Why on Earth would you hunt for eggs?" Grian questioned incredulously. "That's ridiculous."

Joel snorted. "You'll understand in a bit," he said before motioning to Grian's basket. "You can open it, you know."

Grian's eyes lit up. "Really?!" he exclaimed, earning another chuckle from Joel.

"Yes, you goof."

Not waiting a second more, Grian tore open the plastic packaging and taking the book out first. The book was pretty thin aside from the cover, which was-

"Leatherback?" Grian gasped, flipping the book over in his hands to examine the leather, which was bound with golden-yellow thread. "I'm- I'm speechless," he breathed as he ran his hand over the cover. He opened it and flipped through the pages a bit. "Joel, this is..." Looking up, the blonde looked close to tears. "Thank you. Thank you so much, I- I don't even know what to say..." He set the book down to take a look at the calculator. "How did you know I needed one of these?"

Joel's smile softened as he reached over to give Grian's shoulder a light squeeze. "Call it a best friend intuition," he said with a wink, making Grian laugh. "I heard you complaining about not having a proper calculator, so I went and got one for you. It's not really the most traditional Easter gift, but..."

"I love it," Grian said before wrapping his arms around Joel. "Thank you." He whispered another small "thank you so much," sniffling a bit as he did so.

Joel gasped. "Wait, are you crying?"

"No," Grian denied, though the small sob he let out contradicted his words. "I just- I got something in my eye. Dust sediment, or something."

Snorting, Joel rubbing circles into Grian's back. "I think you mean sentiment," the brunette joked. "Softie."

"I am not!"

"Oh, you so are."

Grian huffed and pulled away, crossing his arms over his chest. He, quite surprisingly, didn't look much like he was crying aside from his wet, puffy eyes. "You're so rude," he grumbled half-heartedly. "How do you have a girlfriend?"

Joel snickered again. "Because I'm just that awesome." He smiled when Grian did.

"I love you, Joel," Grian mumbled quietly, taking Joel a bit off-guard, though his heart melted nonetheless.

"I love you, too, Grian."