There's Always A Plot Twist | Wattys 2023 ✓

27| The Cocoon

A wise man once said that beauty belongs in the eye of the beholder, but of course hindsight is twenty-twenty right. Nowadays flaws can be temporarily erased and the perception of that beauty can be so easily manipulated.

The creation of makeup quiet literally changed the face of the planet and for better or worse its here to stay.

Whilst the pair wait for Lain's freshly bleached hair to dry, Riley applies the concealer he bought to cover up the worst of his bruises. At first she simply observed his pitiful attempt in painful silence until her immediate intervention was needed.

Riley snatches up a beauty blender and uses it thin out the concealer that he splattered underneath his eye. "Less is always more."

"As long as I don't have to listen to my grandma drilling me, I honestly don't care what you do to my face."

Riley giggles softly, her breathing becoming shallow as she focuses on the task at hand. "No I get it, my mom's the same."

Lain looks up at Riley, trying his best not to move but unashamedly peering up at her whilst she unconsciously avoids eye contact. "Oh yeah."

"I was one of those kids that use to bring three injury slips home from school every day. My mother used to get pretty annoyed with me, for good reason of course but at the time I hated her for it."

"Three?" Lain echoes, his shoulders jumping up and down as he chuckles quietly. "You were casually just the biggest danger to yourself huh?"

Riley straightens her posture, pulling up her black ribbed vest, exposing her bra and skin to the elements. "I still have a scar going up my ribs, its faint now but you can still see it. This was the one that got me grounded for a month."

Without warning Lain places his palm on her side, the tips of his fingers partially reaching her back, gently tracing the feint line where her bronze skin looks topaz with his thumb.

At first his chilly hands are a shock to her system but the sensation soon sends welcomed shivers up her arms. Riley feels her body reactively becoming warmer as his hand gradually lowers to her waist, lingering there for a comfortable amount of time.

"I don't know if she can be totally mad about it, it looks cool to me." he remarks, seemingly unaware of the effect he has on her as he innocently pulls away.

Riley drops her vest and goes back to applying concealer on his face, pressing her lips together tightly as she finishes the final touches. "But its nice, her neuroticism shows she cares in her own, potentially fucked up, way."

"I guess that's one way of looking at it."

They return to effortless silence but Riley's mind can't help but wonder onto Arlo's words. As much as she hates to admit it, the man is right, she doesn't know who Lain Adler truly is.

Today she has an imagine of him in her mind but the day before this, his imagine appeared differently to her.

The more she learns of him, the darker the shades of red in his pallet appear to her, the deeper the shades of blue blend in, both clashing and muddying the exciting ambers he originally showed up as.

Riley leans her back against the countertop after discarding the beauty blender. "Show me something real." she utters, the words summoning themselves from her mouth.

At first it appears he doesn't know what to say to that, or at least doesn't know what part of him he wants to share with her, but then he proceeds to carefully pulls his shirt over his head, revealing an interesting looking infinity shaped tattoo on the left side of his chest.

"Is that a snake?" she asks, gingerly tracing the design with her index finger.

"Its a dragon eating its own tail."

"What does it mean?"

Lain licks his rosy lips, peering down at the tattoo himself. "Eternal suffering...I know, pretty bleak."

"Tell me about it."

"Do you really want to know or were you agreeing with me?" he inquires, throwing his shirt onto the counter.

"I want to know." she replies, keeping her tone soft when she answers. "Why eternal suffering?"

"I was born with a weak heart and my mom, well, she spent years doing anything and everything to try and fix me. I think it drove her crazy, knowing that at any moment my heart could just give out."

"Naturally."

There it is again, that bitter smile, his fangs looking sharper than ever. Whatever resentment he still holds onto, it must run deep and have layers to it, layers that Riley is afraid she'll never quite unearth.

Lain takes Riley's hand and places it over his heart, seemingly not surprised once Riley's eyes widen when she feels how quickly it beats against her hand.

Even in a sitting position, his resting heartbeat feels as if he just spent the last ten minutes running and ever so often it loses its tempo, coming in a beat too fast or slow. "That feels crazy."

"I was in an out of hospitals so much that Isaak and Jonas used to joke that I spent half my life in there, only, it stopped being funny after a few years."

"Yeah...I can see why."

Lain flinches when he sees pity written on her face, feeling somewhat disgusted and relieved with her ability to lower his walls. "I lied before...about the tattoo...that's not why I got it."

"Oh?"

"I don't know why I do it."

"Do what?"

"Start with the lie..." Lain flutters his long eyelashes, pulling himself back from the memories popping up in his minds eyes that work against him. "Its a reminder to just live the life I have now instead of spending it chasing more time. The serpent that chases his own tail is a fool."

"Or an optimist." she offers with a tiny, hopeful, smile.

"What's the difference?"

Riley presses her lips together once more, wondering if she bit more than she could chew when asking for something real.

The feeling of regret soon passes once she thinks back to all the times she's had to go through the small talk phase of each of her past situation-ships, swiftly deciding that she'd rather connect on a deeper level than go through that again.

After all, how many times can a girl answer what their favourite colour is?

Riley opens her mouth to say more but decides now isn't the time, instead, choosing to check his hair to see if its dry. "Looks like my job is done here. Its still a bit damp in places but nothing too serious."

"You're a life saver."

When the doorbell rings, the pair lock eyes like stray cats being caught in an alleyway behind a pizzeria. "Is that your grandparents? Aren't they like an hour early?"

"Of course they are, okay, shit, new plan."

"New plan? Can't I just say hi and leave?" she asks.

Lain starts getting undressed, stripping down to just his boxers, before rushing into his closet and pulling out an off-white woolly turtlenecked jumper and a pair of ripped jeans. "Did I forget to mention my grandparents a very...traditional?"

Riley frowns, crossing her arms across her body. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It means we'd have to try to sneak you out, but if they saw you then that would be even worse than our only other option."

"Which is?"

Lain finishes getting dressed by zipping up his fly, appearing visibly flustered by their arrival with rosy cheeks, turning redder than a spring tomato. "Have dinner with me...and my family."

Riley responds is a gravely tone, staring directly into Lain's eyes as he smiles nervously back at her. "I beg your German pardon?"