Empathy or Lack Thereof

Lack Thereof

Tw: Sex, mentions of racism, fucked up religious norms
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When Charlie and Mariana met, they clicked because of their charisma. Slime flirted with Mariana and he flirted back, he and a couple of other men at the party were flirting and getting a bit too touchy with each other. All the others they were with later denied that or blamed it on the alcohol, but Slime and Mariana didn't.

That became their little inside joke whenever they saw each other. It wasn't often they'd see each other, but it was usually at parties or other social events. And they remained a little too 'friendly' with each other the whole time. It was very casual, Slime and Mariana mutually decided they liked their relationship how it was. At parties, Slime would watch Mariana 'snuggle up' to other men and Slime would do the same. No jealousy or emotional closeness, just two men having fun with each other fresh out of college. Or rather, Mariana and all their friends were fresh out of college. Slime never went to school, but he was around their age and easily blended in despite that, so he eventually became a part of their group.

But Charlie had been struggling with a lot of demons fresh out of his parent's house. He was desperate for intimacy and social acceptance and after a pretty rough racially motivated cyberbullying incident, he was even worse. And that's how he found himself at the nearest house one of his friends was staying at. And it just so happened to be Mariana's house.

"Slime? (What's wrong, my love)?" He asked, holding Charlie up when the hybrid all but fell into his arms. Charlie looked like a wreck.

"I- fuck, I can't breathe." Charlie gasped, hands grabbing Mariana's shirt. He was shaking too hard to stand, he would've collapsed if it wasn't for Mariana holding him.

"Come in, come in." Mariana urged. Charlie managed to find his strength for a moment, coming in as Mariana closed the door. "My roommate is seeing her family for the week, you can take her bed if you want to stay."

He nodded, sniffling wetly as he sat on the couch, hugging himself. Concern written across Mariana's pretty face, he sat down on the couch with Charlie. The hybrid clung to his chest quickly, and a new rush of tears and sobs escaped him.

"What's wrong, my slime?" Mariana asked softly. Charlie grabbed his shirt harshly, trying to gather himself.

"Humans are so cruel." Charlie forced out, his throat ached from crying. Mariana processed the words for a moment rubbing his back.

"Yes, we can be," Mariana said. He kissed Charlie's forehead. "It's best to ignore them."

"That's hard to do when they spam your phone with racist shit and insults." Charlie sobbed.

Mariana held him closer, and the firm pressure calmed Charlie down more. He placed a kiss on Mariana's lips, and the taller man kissed back, still rubbing his back comfortingly. And slowly, Charlie stopped crying.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to throw all that on you," Charlie said, throat dry.

"No, it's ok."

"Ugh... I feel gross. Can I take a shower?" Charlie asked.

"Mhm. Down the hallway, first door on the left." Mariana said.

Charlie got up and went to the bathroom to get changed. It took a while of fiddling with the shower to get it to turn on, but then he undressed and hopped in. It felt great to get clean again after his face was messy with tears.

After a warm shower, he dried off and realized that he had no clothes. Blushing, he looked around for something to wear. Eventually, he decided to suck it up and ask Mariana for some of his clothes. It wasn't like Mariana hadn't seen him naked before. He got a GOOD look when he was blowing out Slime's back the second time they met.