Brett beamed at that. "Alright, yeah, let's do that!" There was a certain innocence behind his voice, but innocence was something he didn't have. Brett noticed the adorkable smile on Eden's face. "I don't think I've ever seen someone pull a really cute gesture like that" He pointed to his mouth and tried making the same smile Eden had done. "I like it~" He said staring at Eden's face for a moment longer than it was necessary. Brett tended to be open about everything, knowing no limits. Although it was a good thing to be honest and while he never kept anything buried or hidden, it could also get him into trouble. Sometimes people didn't like to hear the truth, he had learned that the hard way but didn't seem to change in that aspect.
Eden's eyes widened in shock at first, and his face and ears went bright red all too soon. "L-Let's just get you to the apartment," he stammered, ducking his head to hide his face as he began to lead the way to the apartment down the hall. He hated how easy it was to fluster him, but he guessed it was just what he got for being himself. And the fact that Brett was both adorable and hot certainly didn't help, especially when he acted all innocent like that, but he was just trying his best not to break at this point
Brett nodded eagerly. "Okay, yeah" He followed Eden to the apartment. He wondered why Eden had ducked his head, did he say something wrong? Brett felt something for Eden, he just didn't know what it was yet. Maybe he liked him because he was the only nice human being he had encountered? Or maybe he liked him liked him. For example, how his heart had fluttered when Eden had held him, genuinely concerned. If Eden was genuinely concerned did that mean he cared? He wanted to ask but felt like it was a silly question and he didn't want to bother the other male.
It was a short walk to the end of the hall where Eden's apartment was, and he fished his keys out of his pocket before unlocking the door and pushing it open. "Well, home sweet home I guess," he said, smiling sheepishly as they walked inside. The walls looked like they had just been repaired, and most of them were just the same brick and mortar of the building itself, covered by cheap white wallpaper. It was sparsely finished, with the only furniture being a small couch in front of a small flatscreen and a recliner off to the side. There were some nicely colored flowers here and there, which helped to balance things out a bit, but overall it resembled some sort of grandma who lived in the country's house
Brett frowned when he saw the poorly decorated room. "And then you said I was going to mess your apartment up but I guess you already did that huh?" He really didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "But you said you were in the process of decorating? When can we start?" He said looking around, not liking the bright white wallpaper, after all. He was used to being at the bottom of the ocean, where it was dark. He walked around, inspecting the few items that were in the room. It wasn't too bad, he sat on one of the cushions, almost yelping when he sunk a bit. He didn't know what the thing he had sat on was but he liked it, it was comfortable. He remembered seeing one at the Colburn's house but they were all fancy to point where Brett thought they looked uncomfortable to sit in.
Eden had looked down in shame when Brett said his apartment looked terrible, but he wasn't going to deny it. He rubbed at the back of his neck idly as he looked off to the side. "Uh…we could start now, I guess?" he said slowly, still looking a bit down. He knew his apartment looked shitty since he was barely home. Hell, the place looked barely lived in, as he never had to clean and the only things he really owned were the trinkets in his room
Brett noticed the mood drop from Eden. "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, it's just a little plain….it could use a little more love" he said getting up from the couch and hugging Eden, in an attempt to comfort him. He had seen the gesture given to the kid of the Colburn's when he cried or felt down, it seemed to help.
Eden's eyes widened a little when Brett hugged him. He was used to getting hugs from people when he was saving them, or when they were congratulating him shallowly or thanking him. But it had been so long since he had gotten a real, genuine hug from someone, and he found himself all but melting into the hug. "Thanks…" he mumbled softly, gently relaxing into Brett's arms
Brett smiled gently, noting when Eden relaxed. He squished him a bit in the hug before letting go. "No problem! You looked like you could of used a hug. Now, what color should we paint the walls?" He said, staring at Eden's face, mesmerized. It's almost like he was in love already.
Eden was a little thrown for a loop at the sudden change in topics, and he pursed his lips in thought for a minute. "What about blue? And maybe we could paint some of it with an ocean mural or something," he said with a small smile, rubbing at the back of his neck again out of habit
(Dude I'm sorry if I'm rushing a little with my character. I'm just feeling so stressed right now and I can't get everything I need to get done and my mom is constantly pounding on me to do shit and I just can't. I might be off for a while to fucking appease her anger)
(it's alright man, take your time. your mental health is more important)
(gosh I got so caught up in my junk that I forgot to answer. I'm so sorry my dude)
Brett smiled, the thought of having the walls being painted blue like his home was something he liked. "Blue sounds nice…the ocean mural sounds nice too!" Brett didn't know what else to say, he felt an intruder in the poor guy's home and didn't want to annoy him further. "Umm so if I am being a burden at any point just tell me because I can easily find someplace else to go…" He said that but the only thing that came to mind was the nice warm and cool ocean which had once been his home.
(it's alright man, don't feel rushed or anything)
"No, no, it's fine," Eden assured him with a soft smile. "It's actually…really nice to have visitors. It gets lonely when I'm here alone, honestly…" he admitted, looking off to the side shyly as he ran a hand through his fluffy hair. He really did enjoy the company, that much was true. If anything, he was worried Brett wasn't going to like him after staying with him for a day or two. He wasn't very exciting, especially to a siren, and he didn't know the first thing about interior decorating without googling it
(Alrighty then)
Brett smiled, feeling reassured. He didn't like it very much when people rejected him so he wanted to make sure from the beginning if he belonged or not so that he could make his leave without getting his feelings hurt. "Well I can keep you company, you seem really nice and I like you soooo I think I'll stay here. Though, I'll probably have to go down to the ocean sooner or later…." The thought of getting caught while walking to the ocean set him on edge. Maybe he could go more than twenty-four hours without a soak. He might as well try. "Maybe we can ask someone who knows more stuff about decorating. I like the thought of a blue ocean but maybe something more homey? Something that makes you feel warm inside. Blue is nice but it kinda makes me feel cold" he said shifting his weight onto his other leg. His hip was starting to hurt, he wasn't used to walking around or standing too much, let alone running.
“Maybe an ocean with a sunset? That way the warm colors balance everything out a little,” Eden suggested with a small smile. He was happy to make Brett feel more at home with these sorts of things. He didn’t even really live at home anyways, so it didn’t matter to him
(Sorry for short responses, stuck on mobile)
(You're fine dude, I won't grill ya on that because I'm also typing from my phone and it's a pain)
Brett brightened up to that. "A sun set would look really pretty…but where would we put it?" He asked as he looked around the room, wondering whereit would look best. He suddenly froze and slowly looked up to the cieling. Maybe there? Or maybe that would look too weird. "What if its on the top wall? Or myabe in the front wall when we come in?" He said consisering the fact that there had to be a focal point of some sort. The more he tried to think and concentrate, the more foggy his head got. He tried shaking it away but it's like it was stuck no matter what he did. He looked over at Eden, considering the thought of asking him for water but held back on it. The crippling headache was back and was putting him through even more pain.
“I was thinking the wall opposite the door, actually. That way you can see it right as the focal point of the room,” Eden said, smiling warmly as he now turned to look at Brett. But his smile quickly fell, and he slowly walked closer to Brett. “Brett? Brett, are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked quickly, eyes wide as he slowly began to slip into “rescue mode,” concern for Brett’s health quickly pushing all thought of painting out of his mind
Brett nodded when Eden suggested the wall opposite the door to be the focal point, but he seemed out of it. He flinched when Eden spoke, it's like he hadn't heard him the first time. "Oh! N-no, my head hurts a little" he said, but that was clearly a lie since he tried to put on a smile but it came out strained. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Brett wasn't good at lying and it was easy to tell when he wasn't telling the truth. "But I think I'll be okay! I've just never gone this long without water…" He trailed off and stayed quiet. After a few more seconds of standing, he quickly sat down on the couch to keep himself from passing out. The last thing he needed was for Eden to throw him in a pool of some sort when all he wanted was to die.
“Shit, hold on, I’ll get you something to drink and then I’ll draw a bath so you can get in there. Does it matter if it’s regular water or not?” Eden asked, eyes wide as he crouched by Brett’s side, scared that the siren might die like this. He wouldn’t be able to get over himself if Brett was hurt, or worse, killed, when he could have done something to help him
Brett looked at how worried Eden was. "N-no Eden…I'll um be fine…" He wasnt sure if he wanted to tell Eden that he wanted to die. Wouldn't he think it was weird? Or even worse, pathetic. "It doesn't matter what kind of water it is I just don't want to…" he said softly as his voice trailed off, a bit of fear behind his voice. "Umm the truth is I don't see why I should stay…I could live forever as long as I'm in water but this is the only way to kill a siren" he wasn't sure if he was getting his point across but decided not to say anymore.
Eden seemed not to understand at first, but slowly, his expression softened. “Brett…” he said softly, sitting beside him now. “You shouldn’t be hurting yourself like this. I understand you come from a bad situation, but you can’t kill yourself, not like this. I know you feel bad right now, but trust me, it’ll get better. And right now, you need to get better with some water. And when you feel better we can talk more, and I can help you. Can you do that for me?” he asked softly
Brett looked and felt really guilty, he flushed red out of embarrassment. "I-I know but I'm the last of my kind, there's nothing for me at the sea if I return and I can't just stay here…they'll find me" he said, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeves, he seemed anxious for some reason. Hearing that Eden would help him gave Brett a bit of hope. How could he turn down someone who was offering to do him some good? He nodded slowly, of course, he still didn't want to but he couldn't find it in him to say no. That was his weakness, he was too shy to say no to anything. "Okay" he said meekly.
“Let’s get you feeling better, okay?” Eden said again softly, and he ran a hand gently through Brett’s hair before getting up to go get the water. He filled a large cup full of water before gently handing it to him. “Do you want your bath hot or cold?” he asked, sitting next to him briefly now as he continued to run a hand gently through Brett’s hair
Brett stared at Eden sadly when he ran his hand through his hair. "Okay…" Once Eden was back he grabbed the water hesitantly and drank a few gulps, it was enough to relieve the pain in his head. "Thank you" Brett smiled, feeling better already. He looked up at Eden with wide eyes when he mentioned hot or cold water. "You get to choose the temperature of your water??" Brett thought about this, still in shock. "Hot water. I've never felt what that's like to be in water of that temperature, only warm" Even though Brett was saying this he still felt awkward about the whole 'I want to die' situation. He quickly chugged the water to calm the anxiety he felt coming on.
"Alright, hot bath it is," Eden said softly, smiling a bit now that Brett had drank the water and visibly looked better than before. He walked off to the bathroom, turning the hot water on in the tub and plugging it as it began to fill before then arranging a few towels neatly, one on the floor to soak up any water from getting out, and two on the door handle for Brett to use to dry off. He returned shortly, sitting beside Brett again. "It'll be ready in a few minutes," he said softly, wrapping an arm gently around him now
Brett watched Eden go, a few seconds later he could hear the water being turned on. He came to the sudden realization that Eden was going to see the part of him that wasn't human aka his half mermaid body. His eyes grew wide, Brett wasn't sure if he was ready for that. Would he even fit those things they called tubs?? Brett followed Eden with his eyes as he came back and sat down beside him. "T-Thank you…" He blushed slightly when Eden made the friendly gesture. In return, Brett hugged Eden in a full embrace. "Is it really okay? I might make your bathroom a mess…"
