nightsinger

06 - exploration

WHEN ANGELINE TEXTS and invites Iris over for game night with their friends, she knows it's impossible to say no. She'd been replying to texts late and declining calls in exchange for dealing with Jameson: his need to meet with his pod, his obsession with human food, and his complaints that the couch makes his body ache in the morning. It's all become strangely normal. Waking up to Jameson getting out of the shower and seeing his shirt damp towards back is a sight that she's being well-accustomed to. It's not domestic, but maybe it's a few shades off of a new normal.

So now, as Iris leans back on the carpet and swirls the glass of wine in her hand, all she can think about is how someone of the sea survives in a land that is entirely too dry.

"You've been so weird," Angeline says, slightly tipsy. To her right, Dylan grimaces and catches the beer bottle before it slips from her hand, his auburn hair sticking up in all different kinds of directions. "And I miss you. You don't randomly stop by anymore and interrupt my evening meetings."

Across the table, Kento Higashi keeps his gaze on the television before he tilts his head back against the cushions, long legs splayed before him. Iris sees him take a swig out of his own soju concoction and laughs, feeling more free than she has in weeks. "She's moved on from us," Kento mourns, saluting to nobody. "Long live the college friend group. It was good while it lasted."

Iris groans. "You're so dramatic," she says, pointing to Angeline. "Don't forget how supportive we were when you started dating Dylan and he couldn't even look us in the eye during dinner. You were gone every single day, and I didn't complain once."

"I told you he was shy!" Angeline shouts, throwing her hands up. "His muteness wasn't that hot but his face was. And look, now we're all friends."

Dylan grumbles. "I didn't talk because you rapped every sentence you spoke," he says, filling Angeline's shot glass with water while she downs it without realizing. "And your friends were scary."

"I asked you to play soccer with me and then you asked me how," Kento deadpans. "You said you had to memorize your equations."

"I had an exam!" Dylan protests, throwing his girlfriend a fond look as she falls to his side and giggles. "It was worth twenty percent of my grade!"

"You stared at the ball like it was a free response question. There's only one thing to do with it, and you failed."

"Your instructions were unclear."

"Dude." Kento covers his face with his hands. "Just kick the ball! It's really not that hard."

"Stop it!" Angeline interjects, laughing. "He has delicate feet. And he really likes it when I kiss him on his—"

Iris claps a hand on her mouth and muffles her next words, exchanging a look of pure horror with Kento while Dylan takes another shot and looks strangely at the monopoly board. "Please don't taint us with details about your sex life," Iris begs. She loves her friends. She loves these nights and feeling wired with alcohol and happy enough to play monopoly with Dylan, who puts way too much thought into every move. "I don't need to know whose hands go where or whose mouth goes on another body part."

"Ditto," Kento says. He turns lax and turns to Iris, eyes like liquid. Once in their junior year of college, she had kissed him because they were bored and more than drunk and looking for someone to hang around at a party. It wasn't very good: the kiss had too much teeth and not enough movement, but it was more than enough to determine that she and Kento wouldn't be going any further. Iris had been grappling to piece together what had happened on that yacht and who'd brought her back to shore. Kento was new and handsome, with eyes that sparkled like gemstones. She thinks she liked how they reminded her of the water.