For you (Xiaother Winter Special)

Week 3

Aether needed to think about this strategically. How do you become friends with someone? Okay, well, the first step is to talk to them. He was unsure as to whether Xiao ignoring him when he did talk counted as talking yet he still ticked the box in his head as he plopped down onto his bed after his warm shower, face down. The next step, have a conversation. Find out what they like. In all honesty, all of their conversations had been mainly one-sided. At least he knows that he doesn't like reading and he likes art. That should be enough evidence to check that off. Okay, now you have to hang out with them. If you're not that close yet, get their number and talk some more. Nope. Ae had not achieved that. Yet.

The blonde had never struggled to become friends with anyone before. He'd always been the one that everyone liked, the one that had the most friends in Kindergarten, the one that dated the most people in middle school and the one that had been asked out the most. He thought this must mean he was pretty likeable at least. It was puzzling how the one person he's interested in doesn't seem to reciprocate it.

Whack!

His twin, Lumine, had snuck up behind him and struck his back with a pillow. They both fought each other and tumbled about on the massive King-sized bed while grunting and shouting obscenities that were drowned out by the thick blankets and rumble of the bed. Finally, they both sat up on the mattress. The nice, neat-looking and pretty girl that had come into the room now looked like she hadn't brushed her hair in a week and had never met an iron before. The same could be said with Aether.

"So, how's life?" her voice was normal and bubbly like they hadn't just been fighting each other for the past 5 minutes.

"Great. Until I got tackled by a wolf. Wonder who that sounds like?" he scoffed sarcastically. She rolled her eyes in return.

"I never see you around the school anymore. You're always with those 'popular kids'. Bleugh. I don't even know why you're more popular than me, I'm the better twin! You're just a failed copy-and-paste experiment. How's your girlfriend by the way?"

"You talk too much. Calm down. And I don't even know if she's really my girlfriend." Lumine seemed interested now.

"Oo, care to explain some more?"

"Clean up my bed and then I will." She quickly scrambled for the thrown pillows and messy blankets and then arranged them all together. It wasn't exactly like it was before, but it was at least neat. She pretended to wipe sweat off her forehead and then sat down with her legs crossed in the middle of the bed facing Aether.

"So?"

"Hm..1000 mora." His twin gave him the 'You're joking right?' look but he responded with the 'I'm not joking.' look and a smirk. She begrudgingly handed over the money.

"Actually, one thousand five hun-

"AETHER."

There was a long silence. "..one thou-

"AE. THER."

"Okay, okay, gosh. Well, I've been doing some thinking and I told Tao that I only see her as a best friend. She told me that we could always fake date but we never really got to elaborate on it."

"I'm assuming that she feels the same way as you do then?"

"How would you know that?"

"You'd have to be weirdly desperate to agree to fake date someone that you still love. Even more if you suggested it and I don't think she's that type of person."

"Okay Ms Know It All. At least I have a love life."

"You have no right to judge my love life! I'm..trying!"