#pls hush bb I 100% HAD to respond bc the muse was so strong you got a same day response thats double the length babe!!

[indulgnces]

I’d recognize that laugh anywhere. A telling comment, meaning she wasn’t going to squirm her way out of this one unnoticed, but also a comment that flooded her with so much warmth, Jenny couldn’t help but finally turn to look at him, immediately recognizing his features despite half his face being obscured. It was a warmth that only spread as he slid over her favorite drink, even more still as her eyes caught on his smile. And that was part of the problem: the questions that warmth prompted. Would she have felt the same way prior to their last encounter, or is she only feeling this way because they had sex and some part of her is now attributing more meaning to it than the situation called for? Did the situation call for meaning? People had one night stands all the time, so it doesn’t have to mean anything. She should be able to let this go. But then again, Jenny wasn’t people. She didn’t do that with just anyone, but she did with Theo, her roommate, her friend. So what the hell did that mean for her? And more importantly, for him? Even more importantly — did she want it to mean something for him?

She didn’t have answers for any of it. She desperately wanted answers. She’d only get answers if she talked to him and dealt with this.

And she wasn’t ready to do that. To deal with this. Confront these feelings and what they were and weren't, what they could possibly mean and not mean. At least, not right now.

“No, this is enough.” Her eyes dropped to the drink in her hand, mind racing. “I’m, uh, supposed to meet someone in a few. Sav, my roommate — my new roommate, you don’t know her I don’t think, we live together now, after I moved out from our old place, obviously — she’s waiting for me to do a TikTok together outside." Lies, lies, lies. "Something about spooky vampire aesthetic thirst traps and all that. She needs a second person in it, so I told her I'd help her out, and she's waiting on me." Did her voice have a frantic edge to it, or was she just imagining that? "Just had to get a drink for the video. It's like a thirst trap and one of those like drinking games kinda videos, where the purpose is to look hot and also get drunk. So, I should go!” Such a coward.

She turned her back towards him to leave, but found herself pausing before she fully walked away. She couldn’t deal with this right now, but she also couldn’t leave things like this. Jenny missed Theo too much to let her jumbled up rollercoaster of emotions about him allow her to brush him off, especially when he was actually trying. She really, really didn’t want him to stop trying. “Do me a favor though?" The words were out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying, quieter and more hesitant than her previous frenzied ones had been, her body turned halfway to look back at him across the bar. "Recognize me again the next time you see me?”

theo could have played it off. he could've simply went with it, given her an out because he knew how keyed up she could get. but that just wasn't theo. he missed her. they were friends before they'd been anything else. sure, their recent missed connections were just as much theo's fault as they were his own, but it sort of felt like the universe was giving them an opportunity here. so, instead of moving on to the nearest partygoer, he propped his elbows on the bartop and quirked a brow at her. then he realized the expression was probably obscured by the mask he was wearing and cleared his throat instead. "i'd recognize that laugh anywhere."

he paused to snag a bottle of her preferred drink from behind the bar and poured her a glass, sliding it across to her. a peace offering. "don't act so surprised, jenny. you know i make a mean cocktail." among other things. his small but genuine smile was still visible beneath the mask as he drummed his fingers against the bar. "anything i can do for you?" that was vague on purpose. if she wanted, she could ask for an alternative drink and he could play bartender dutifully. or they could open up the floor to talk -really- for the first time since everything had gone down. maybe it was time.