My Other Half // PRIVATE with Crocs

"Yeah," Nikolas said softly, then looked up at the open space upstairs where a line of doors were—bedrooms with attached bathrooms. The house had originally been remodeled to hold multiple residents, a place of safety for those that felt unsafe. Nikolas owned it now, and he and Tess were the only residents. He rubbed the back of his neck before dropping his hand and gaze with a sigh. "I need some damn coffee," he muttered, then pushed off of the railing and headed into the kitchen, which was open to the living room they were currently in.

Nikolas ignored Markus, making a beeline for the already brewed and hot coffee. Pure black, just how he liked it. It poured some into a mug for himself, then stared Markus dead in the eye with a deadpan face as he downed half of the mug in one go, Adams Apple bobbing with each swallow. It took a few seconds after he finished before his face screwed up and he set the mug down. "Damn that's hot." He shook his head and licked his lips to get the last drops of the liquid, head tilting slightly as he did so.

"Years of immunity," Nikolas stated matter-of-factly, choosing to ignore how Markus called him a doofus. Things were still slightly strange between them, but that was to be expected. Of course, they were both ignoring the fact that had been previously revealed to them after gym. That was also to be expected. So Nikolas decided to be the good host as he turned to Markus. "Make yourself at home, however long you plan on staying. I'm gonna head up for a bit to dye my hair again."

Nikolas waved his hand dismissively. "Place is open to anyone at any time, so no. You're free to do whatever." With that, he offered a two-finger salute to Markus and went upstairs, taking them two at a time. His bedroom was at the end of the line of doors, and he was going to use his attached bathroom to dye his hair so he didn't make a mess in any of the other rooms. He was slightly worried Markus might try to get back at Nikolas while he was gone, but he shook his head and told himself to trust Markus.

Tessa shook her head adamantly, visibly judging Markus for his choice. "Buffalo wings are best. Nice mix of spice and chicken, and it's just–" She held up her hands, all fingers pressed together on each hand, and kissed her fingertips, "Mmmm. So good. Gumbo can go suck it."

Meanwhile, Nikolas was drying off his freshly dyed hair, the silver stark against the short black roots. He usually did that to give his hair the time to grow the roots out some more for his favored look, making it less necessary to redye frequently. He threw on a pair of black sweatpants and a sweatshirt that was a dark blue at the bottom and faded into black at the top, hand-painted stars and constellations sprinkled all over it.

Tessa sighed like a mother attempting to lecture her child and said child failing to understand what she was trying to say. Her mouth opened to argue with him once again, but the familiar thumping of footsteps distracted her. She looked over at the staircase just in time to see Nikolas reach the bottom, head shaking to ruffle his hair a bit—he had brushed it, but he always preferred it messy over neat—the silver strands falling into his similarly colored eyes.

"I didn't have the time to redye it for a while," Nikolas said as he walked into the kitchen, lingering behind Markus for a bit and flicking his eyes down to briefly study the glow the sun cast in those brown eyes. "Too much shit happening at once," he finally finished, looking away to raise an unimpressed brow at Tessa, who was still sitting on the counter and failing to hide the smirk behind her knee.

Tessa had to cover her mouth to keep her silent laughter from being seen by Markus. Nikolas did see it and glared at her, then unconsciously ran his fingers through his hair some before answering Markus. "Yeah, it's my natural hair color." He glanced over at Markus and tilted his head, blinking in slight confusion at him commenting on the natural color.

Nikolas studied Markus for a few silent moments, his eyes darting around the boy's face, before he blinked and shrugged, striding past him to grab something to snack on. He didn't know what to think of Markus's attentions. One moment of the day, they were at each other's throats. Now, Markus seemed to be paying attention to Nikolas more than usual. It was confusing, to say the least.

He went over to the fridge and examined it, tongue caught between his teeth as he thought about what he wanted to eat. He was likely just going to grab ice cream, but he was still sorting through his racing thoughts, so this gave him a chance to do just that.

Tessa rose a brow, dropping her knee so both of her legs were dangling off of the side of the counter. "Lily? D'ya have a girlfriend, Markie Poo?" she cooed with a smirk, using her old teasing nickname for him. She had a slight twinge of panic that Markus would truly have a girlfriend and not want to be with Nikolas—and thus crushing her dreams—but from the way her ex foster brother had reacted to the simplest of things her other ex foster brother had done, she figured her dreams were safe.

Nikolas snickered at their exchange, grabbing an unopened tub of strawberry icecream and shutting the freezer door. Tessa, without needing to look, grabbed a spoon and handed it to him as he walked by, his hand already out and ready to take the utensil from her. He smiled softly to himself and hummed a song he and Tess had written together, moving to lean against a wall near Markus without really thinking much about it. Tessa, meanwhile, was contemplating the meaning behind 'just friends' with how Markus had said it. No darkened cheeks, no trying to avoid the subject. Markus and Nikolas dreams are safe. Ew, that sounds gross. No dreams. No dreams.

Tessa indeed caught it without a problem, frowning slightly as she looked at the phone. "Yes, this is a coyote." She rose a brow at Markus. "I might be a city gal, but aren't those things supposed to stay outside of people's homes?" Nikolas looked up and tilted his head in question, and she turned the phone so he could see as well. "It's injured," he commented.

"Don't blame her," Nikolas said with a shrug, "I took in the local parasite." Tessa scoffed and set Markus' phone down so she could jump off the counter and attack Nikolas. He simply rose an unimpressed brow and flicked her nose when she came close, causing her to pause and blink in slight confusion. "Did you just…?"
"Yes."
She blinked again, then shook her head and looked to Markus. "I'd tell her to be careful. It might be injured, but it's still feral. In fact, they're usually more aggressive when hurt. They're more vulnerable, so they want to protect themselves even more." She said 'they', but Nikolas knew she was mostly talking out of experience.

"I can imagine," Tessa said, grabbing Markus' phone and handing it back to him, "Sounds like a great girl. I'd love to meet her sometime." Nikolas rolled his eyes with a sigh, closing the tub of ice cream and pushing off of the wall to put the tub back into the freezer. "Tess, are you planning on transferring to our school or just skip it altogether? I know how much you hate it, so this is the only time I'm going to bring it up." He silently looked to Markus with a slight pleading in his eyes. He wouldn't pester Tess, but maybe Markus could get away with it.

Tessa huffed and crossed her arms as she leaned against the counter, crossing one foot over the opposite ankle. "Stop making that face. You know I can't say no to that face." She really, really hated school and its restricted confines, but imagining her and Markus getting into trouble had a smiling unbiddenly coming to her lips. She bit down to suppress it, keeping her stern look as she shook her head no.