This is Euphoria

-3-

"Adventure of a Lifetime" Coldplay
Turn your magic on, to me she'd say
Everything you want's a dream away
We are legends, every day
That's what she told me

-❀-
Athena

I stumble into my room and begin tearing off my clothes before the door is even properly shut.

I imagine that Kai is too lost in his impeding thoughts to even apprehend the action.

I shuffle through the unreasonably crammed drawers in spirits of finding a particular item of clothing.

I find the worn out adidas shirt deep in the space beneath an array of varying apparel.

I clutch onto it after pulling it over my head and smile at the composed image in my mind of my brother wearing it.

I stole it so much that he eventually gave up and ceded seeking it back.

It's been a while since we spoke, but I really wish we did more often. I know he's busy with his internship, but still, a stupid call every now and again would suffice.

I sigh at the hand of missing him terribly but I carry on tying back my hair. Now that my hair is out of my face, I feel much more productive. I ignore the frizzed pieces that stray forward and scavenge a pair of socks.

The black shirt is more like a nightgown on me, which reaches down to just above my knees.

I kick the outfit I donned today into my unorganized closet and switch off the bedroom light.

When I rejoin Kai back in the kitchen, he looks stiff and most definitely out of his element.

"You need to loosen up," I observe his body language noting just how uncomfortable he looks.

"What kind of alcohol do you have?" he inquires, straight to the point then.

"Subtle. I have -," being as though the cabinets are completely barren aside from the cheap alcohol I own, it isn't hard to locate, "Vodka or Wine."

"Give me the strong stuff," his voice sounds defeated.

I bring forward the vodka and situate it in front of him. I reach for a glass but instead of abiding, Kai takes a swig directly from the bottle.

"How did you know?" he breaks off the alliance between his lips and the bottle long enough to wonder.

"You may as well have 'love sick fool' tattooed across your chest," I say.

The words instantly loom askew and I want to kick myself. Way to be empathetic.

The words dawdle in the atmosphere gawkily until he nods just delicately enough to be noticeable and belts down another slug while keeping a fixated line of vision.

"How long were you together?" I initiate in longing to dial down the strain in the room.

When he lodges the cruet of vodka down, I advance across the island to seize to booze.

Kai looks at me disoriented but softens when I guide the taste to my own tongue.

"3 years," he seethes out, but not in a malicious way, more in a drained timbre.