Life is never really nice (and neither is the author)

6-how to *not* get laid

Ajax's P.o.V.

We ended up talking the whole evening. And it was like, I don't know, finding my platonic soulmate / bestie / nemesis.
It was confusing, but it didn't feel like she was testing me or anything.

I think at some point I must have passed out because of all the shots I had.
When I regained conciousness, my sight was blurry, however I could still see that I wasn't in the same place as before.
I was laying on a bed with yellow and purple sheets, in a very elegant room.
Muffled sounds could be heard from outside the door.

I tried to get up, failing and falling face on the floor.
My nose hurt.
Standing up would have been quite hard and no smart person could decide to do that instead of just laying in pain, I guess I cannot be considered very clever.

I accidentally caused some things to fall, producing a lot of noise.
That's when I heard footsteps coming closer and closer.
The door opened, and I saw Yae enter with a worried face.
When she noticed me, her expression relaxed.

"What the FUCK did you do?"

I started sweating "Sorry, I swear, nothing was broken"

"Yeah, I know"

She hummed.
Her eyes layed on me, still on the ground, for a split second, then she started walking back and forth in the room, as if thinking about something that needed a lot of concentration.

"You should go back home, find a nice book to read, try to feel better, and after that, text Aether. Maybe it'll help"

As confused as I was, I thanked her and went straight(not excactly) to the nearest bookshop.
When I passed the door, I saw a familiar figure in the middle of the fantasy section, next to many piles of books that could fall any second.
I called out for him, but he didn't seem to have given a fuck about that.
When I shook his shoulder, however, he gasped and looked at me.

"Hiiii" I smiled.
He didn't want to see me again, I knew I should have thought about that sooner.

"Oh, hello. I have to admit it feels quite odd to find such a person in this kind of place....to what do I owe the pleasure?" Fake as hell.

"You're an expert with books, right?" I chose to ignore what he had just said " can you help me find a relaxing book? Also easy to read for someone who isn't exactly a bookworm, if possible..."

"What genre is your favourite?"

"Uh, I dunno, action? Or maybe romance but not too much..."

"Ooooh, I know. There is this great author, we call her MXTX, she has wrote three book series so far, they are very interesting, and they help learning Chinese tradition and myths!"

"Okay, then....I'll try this one!" I said pointing at a book with a water blue-ish cover.

"You can't, dumbass, that's not a volume 1" he mocked.

"Then give me it and stop treating me like a child" I cried, really annoyed.

"Pffft sure"

I kind of felt stupid being bullied by a kid, but I guess I tried to fight him in his own lair, hence he was much more at ease than me.
However, I didn't hate that, it wasn't so bad to hang out with him.

Once I had gotten the book, I came back to my apartment and started reading right away.
Soon, or after what felt like a few minutes, I was in love with the book.
Too bad I had only eleven pages left to enjoy.

I wanted to go back and take a couple more volumes, but it turned out to be quite late, and the bookshop should have been already closed at that time.
I chose to play some videogames, then remembered that I hadn't had lunch, nor dinner, and I was really hungry.
As if it wasn't obvious enough, I wasn't the best at cooking or wanting to even try, which means I took some junk food on the bed and kept playing.

I didn't remember when I fell asleep, only that I woke up late, started panicking, then realizing it was Sunday, so no normal work for me.
What I didn't expect, though, was to find notifications from three different contacts, whose names I could not see, for my sight was still kinda blurry.

The first text was from an unknown number.
It said: "a little birdie told me you started reading *****, nice books, I wish I was the one who published them. tell me about any Aether news you might have xo"

Yae....

I just tried to reply politely, then moved on to the next message.
The contact was Aether, but the last message sent by him was just "?".
I opened the chat and saw that I had been the first to text.

Chat P.o.V.

Hey

You're Aether, right?

I'm your coworker, Ajax

        I was wondering if we could hang out one of these days

Just to get to know each other

Sure

I'm free this Sunday afternoon and Wednesday too I believe

Is it okay if I bring my sister too?

?

Ajax's P.o.V.

I was confused. I didn't remember contacting Aether at all, but nothing seemed wrong so I just confirmed that I had nothing planned for the rest of the day, then texted the blonde back.
I ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower. I decided to wear casual clothes, a big comfy hoodie, large t-shirt and jeans.

When I first saw them together, it was like looking at a person's image reflected on a mirror, but the more I looked, the more I noticed they had many small little details that made them completely different.

I blushed hard.
I raised my hand to greet them, and we began a friendly conversation while heading to the small cinema we wanted to see an old Charlie Chaplin film in.
In the afternoon, I really enjoyed their company, and talking it became pretty obvious that their personalities were opposites for the most, both sweet and kind, but one more shy and introvert, the other touchy and outgoing.
Which made me feel even more confused about who I actually had a crush on.
That, if I did.

<oh. ok>