CONSTANT HEADACHE ; EZRA MILLER

six: his second favourite superhero

the next time Chelsea returned to the cafe on the corner of ivy street, she wore her hair down.

she was sat in her usual seat at the beloved cafe, the same book she'd been reading for a week in her hands. the familiar smell of coffee and fresh air mixing together that she loved so much was circulating the cafe and she was more content than she had been for the entire week.

her visit to the cafe followed schedule, the all too familiar boy took his usual seat soon enough. this time he had a smirk of satisfactory—or perhaps victory—planted on his face. he had noticed her hair, but chose not to comment on it, and for that, Chelsea was grateful. she didn't feel like listening to his victory speech on how he though her hair looked.

though, as five minutes passed without Ezra throwing some snarky comment at her, she grew worried at what that meant, and rightfully so, because that was his longest record without doing so, after all.

"hey, is everything okay?" her words came out sounding much more considerate tone than she had anticipated. anyone that had see the two interact, even in the slightest, knew that she had questioned him for nothing other than reassurance that he hadn't died right in the cafe without her realising, something that seemed very likely when it came to the boy who never shut up.

when Chelsea set her eyes on the particularly quiet boy who sat crossed legged at the table next to her, she rose her eyebrows, stunned at his hyper demeanour; his hands tapping the table at an even pace, something she hadn't heard over the various sounds ricochetting off the walls of the more busy than usual cafe today.

"hello?" she spoke once again, "so you've spaced off?"

growing tired of the boys strange ways, something she should have been used to by now, Chelsea slammed her open fist down on the table, miscalculating her strength and accidentally making a much louder noise than expected, scaring herself and the man at the next table.

"what's your problem?" she kept pushing when she finally caught the boys attention.

the boy, who Chelsea noticed was dressed in a Joy Division shirt that hung over his slim frame, took the chance to showcase a lopsided grin and locked eyes with Chelsea for the first time today, "nothing."

Chelsea lowered down in her seat, an action of defeat. a sigh escaped the girls lips before she simply stated a half-assed, "whatever."

five more minutes passed before the boy got up from his usual spot to order what Chelsea presumed would be a coffee, his usual. why he waited ten minutes to order something, she Chelsea had no idea. sometimes she was convinced that he only visited the cafe to annoy her, almost as if it was his duty to do so.

soon enough, the cafe didn't seem so loud anymore, almost as if the silence Chelsea endured from the boy was loud enough to block out any noise, no matter how loud. Chelsea dwelled in her boredom as the boy drunk his coffee without a single noise acted in such contrast to how he usually did around her.

Chelsea had suddenly had an idea that made her sit up straight in her seat, a 'eureka!' moment having landed upon her.

she eyed the boy deviously, raising her cup to her lips. an annoying slurping noise erupted from the cup, not loud enough to catch the attention of the very person she was seeking to get it from.

she upped her game, tapping the table at a purposely uneven pace, something she thought might have ticked off the boy; she was right.

"oh my fucking—" he broke out of his trance, something Chelsea though he might never do.

"ha!" she shouted out in victory, "i knew you wouldn't be able to handle it!"

"alright, whatever, calm down." the boy who'd finally broken his silence couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth form a small smile, "you're so annoying."

"you, the King Of Annoying just called me annoying?" Chelsea countered, pretending to look surprised.

"excuse me, who just dedicated almost ten minutes to annoying me?"

Chelsea crossed her arms, "excuse me, who just spent almost half an hour sitting complete silence?"

"oh, you missed my voice." he put a had on his chest, knowing his fake satisfactory would only further annoy the girl in front of him, causing him real satisfactory. he could read this girl like a book, he thought.

or, well, a comic.

"you wish! you are the epitome of annoying. how does your mother handle you?" Chelsea truly wondered this, knowing how hard it was to put up with the stupid boy for less than an hour. "i hope your mother is okay, you must annoy her to death." she spoke in what was only slightly fake pity.

"my mum sure is a superhero, you know." the boy spoke proudly with a childish grin on his face.

"oh, really now?" she spoke, expecting some speech on how she must be a superhero to have given birth to someone like him, what else should she have expected at this point?

"yeah, she has the power to put up with my shit." Ezra laughed, but Chelsea could tell that he really did cherish his mother, it was a sight that truly allowed the corners of her moth to curl at the edges, the sight of this boy who could complain about anything in the entire world talking highly of his mother—or, well, his own version of that, at the very least—gave Chelsea a true reason to smile in delight.

"aw, mama's boy. so that's who your favourite superhero is?" Chelsea joked, covering up her smile with her coffee mug.

"no, The Flash is my favourite. she comes in second place." he spoke with a straight face.

"honestly, what did i expect from you?" Chelsea asked no one in particular, who smile replaced with a snarl at the reminder of obsession that brought them to meet for the very first time, not too long ago.

"i bet you never expected me to be so good looking up close, or so smart and funny and—"

Chelsea sighed, suddenly needing a ten hour nap. "i liked it better when you weren't speaking."