happier than ever

new book smell

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

♡

punz is so whipped.

it's probably just because it has been so long since he's had a crush, but he's fallen too fast and too hard and he knows it. hey, at least he's self-aware.

if punz deep dives into the corners of his dark mind and really thinks about it, he thinks that his sudden attachment actually makes a lot of sense, all things considered.

punz has always been in second place - to his mom's death, to his dad's alcohol, to his friends' relationships. he's used to fighting for the chance to feel special and having to grapple for any moment where he can be the one with the attention. for once, he feels like he's winning.

he feels like he's in foolish's first place spot and he doesn't even have to fight for it. he was welcomed in with open arms and the brunette let him stay there despite his clinginess and his tendency to miss messages or fall asleep before saying goodnight.

punz comes to the stilling realisation that he's too far gone as he stands beside foolish in a bookstore bigger than his house, just staring at the colourful spines and taking in the woody smell of the building as the brunette pulls out book after book, looking over them just to eventually put them right back away again.

punz has never been in a bookstore before, and he had never planned to end up in one, but here he is, wasting his weekend on books just for an excuse to hang around with the tall brunette that looks far too athletic to be a bookworm. stereotypes.

to make it even worse, punz is actually pretending to be interested. he thinks that foolish can tell he isn't, but he still asks questions about the books and comments on the ones he thinks look cool or sound interesting, though he quickly learns that his idea of 'interesting literature' doesn't line up with foolish's.

if he was forced to read, he would want something quick and bloody. foolish, on the other hand, made a direct beeline to the romance section and he's been caught up here ever since.

punz has also been fighting off the urge for a cigarette for far too long now. he has almost conditioned himself to need to smoke as soon as he is outside, especially if he is walking, so the journey here was treacherous with foolish beside him.

he refuses to smoke in foolish's presence, out of the sheer fear that it might put the brunette off. he knows it isn't a pretty habit, and he doesn't want to mess up his chance at something good just because he got roped up in addiction like his father.

"does this look good?" foolish asks, holding a book out towards punz. the blond looks down at it, taking in the dark purple cover and inconspicuous title at the top. he nods. "you have to read the blurb, punz. don't judge a book by its cover."

the blond takes the book with a short breath of amused air, turning it over in his hand and tracking over the words. if he's being completely honest in his observation, the book seems... raunchy. he doesn't want to say it, because it will make him look like some airhead sex fiend that knows nothing about romance and good literature, but the blurb sounds like an advert for a porno.

he nods, passing it back to foolish and saying, "it sounds good," just to be polite. he sort of hopes that foolish will take it and decide that three books are enough so that they can pay and leave. punz has been trying to work up the courage to invite the brunette to head off to a café with him after, instead of only attending the bookstore like they had originally planned.