“Jesus Christ, do you seriously need both of those paints? They look exactly the same, one’s just called Hooker’s Green and the other’s called Grass Emerald.”

“They’re different!” Mira rolled her eyes dramatically. “Just because the printed colour looks similar doesn’t mean the paint is exactly the same. Look,” she twisted the caps off them, “Hooker’s Green is bluer.”

“They literally look the exact same.”

“There’s also the factor that they’re different colours when dry!”

“Literally the same colour.”

Hotly, Mira elbowed him. He smirked and dodged her attacks, swirling around carefully in the small aisles of Mira’s favourite indie art store. She’s been everywhere today. First she was cold and shy, then she was quiet and loving, now she’s excited and heated. Deimos would never admit to her that he was worried about her health from the dark eye circles under her eyes, but he absolutely was. Maybe tonight he’ll sleep with her just to watch over and ensure she gets enough sleep.

“Why are you so rude,” Mira said sarcastically, bending down to grab a few purples and silvers. Deimos held out the basket and she plopped them in.

“I’m not. I’m just being reasonable,” he remarked back.

“Put that sass back in your pocket.”

Deimos chuckled. He followed Mira into her favourite aisle, the pen and pencils aisle, and Mira had fun testing out the various pens that were on sale. Deimos joined her, drawing over her scribbles just to spite her. They snickered and Mira plopped some erasable ones into the basket. Deimos was ordered to grab some charcoal sticks in the neighbouring aisle and when he came back, Mira was on her tippy toes reaching for some black markers on the top shelf. Before coming in to save her short ass, Deimos paused and took in the sight. It was instinctive.

Mira looked like a girl. Deimos found himself staring just like a few hours ago when she walked out of her room. She looked so cute in her grey dress. It was tight at her chest, loose at her waist and short enough to give Deimos a heart attack. As she reached, the dress hiked up her legs and showed off the curves of her body. It’s not every day he sees the curve of Mira’s butt, it’s always hiding underneath long baggy sweaters. Furthermore, it’s not every day he sees Mira’s honey thighs. With the dress hiked up high, the boy was offered more and more skin he’d ever bargain for as well as the inclusion of adorable thigh highs.

Slowly, Deimos swallowed his thirstiness down for her and walked over calmly.

“Need help?” He asked jokingly, hoping Mira didn’t noticed how high-pitched and nervous his voice was.

Hotly, she glared at him. “I can do it myself.”

“Let me help you,” he sneered, already calmly reaching over for the markers.

“Fight me!” She hissed, hopping for them now. Deimos cracked a smile and chuckled when he grabbed them and plopped them in Mira’s hands. She was salty and pouted for a bit as she tested them out. Deimos smirked and couldn’t help himself from kissing the side of her head. It just…felt natural to kiss her. He wondered if Mira just saw it as another platonic way of showing affection when in reality he can’t help himself. He likes her too goddamn much to keep his hands off her. Sometimes it just slips out of the cracks of this wall he’s hastily trying to keep up between them. It just spills and overwhelms him how much he cares for her. How much she makes him feel. God, sometimes he just wants to sit down and catch his breath.

“So from the prevailing patterns I’m witnessing, are you starting a new project or something?” Deimos asked when they walked over to the little tape section.

“Yeah,” she murmured, looking at the various masking tapes. “Annual exhibition with a few distant friends.”

“Is there a theme?”

“Muse,” Mira said immediately. “We’re supposed to draw one subject and feature him or her in many pieces.” She looked up at him, uneasiness in her eyes.

“What?” He said without thinking. He sounded way ruder than he wanted to.

Mira shook her head. “No, it’s nothing. I…just don’t know who’d be my muse.”

“What about me?” He joked. Her big brown eyes looked at him, a wash of emotion over them he couldn’t exactly pinpoint. Was it curiosity? Hostility?

Mira shrugged. “If it comes to it, are you willing?”

Deimos paused. He’s gone through Mira’s sketchbooks before, seen her work in progress and finished. Her work is sensual, stylistic. She loves playing with bright colours but juxtaposes that with such dark underlying themes. Her figures are erotic, steely-eyed and cold. Her figures are usually naked, colours unnatural to their skin tone, ghosting over their bare bodies. Would he…would he need to model for her? Would he need to take off his clothes and reveal the rawest parts of his body? Would he stand in front of her, naked and exposed, and would Mira…

Mira would stare at every inch of his skin and soak in the details. Her eyes would rake down his figure, burning his skin, and immortalize that moment with just a pencil and paper. God, just thinking of the intensity of that stare on him made him shiver.

“Sure, I guess,” he said finally. He swallowed thickly, trying not to think about it too much. Mira smiled at him shyly and wrapped her arm around his.

“Thanks, buddy,” she laughed.

Buddy.

Deimos tried to not hate the word. She only uses that word when she’s nervous and uncomfortable.

After a long debate of Mira wanting to buy or not to buy more lino for some prints she wanted to do, the two individuals made their way back up to the front to pay. Mira was pouting because Deimos won their little debate on not buying more lino since she already had a bunch at home.

“What a sore loser,” he snickered, wrapping an arm around her.

“You’re such a dick,” she hissed. She wiggled his loving touches off of her and walked a little bit quicker.

“You can buy it another day,” he pointed out.

Mira stuck her tongue out and stomped away. However, spectacularly, she ended up bumping straight into an innocent bystander. Deimos barked a laugh.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” She yelped in surprise. The tall male turned around and looked down at her, shaking his head.

“No, it’s ok-” He paused and suddenly his eyes lit up. “Mira?!”

Mira stared up at him and her jaw dropped. “Gabriel!?”

Deimos strolled up beside Mira and stared at the pale, strawberry blonde male. It was like he walked into a female-oriented romantic comedy. Mira and Gabriel immediately held hands and squealed in delight at the sight of each other. Mira hopped around, acting cute and shit with him. Admittedly, Gabriel was cute with circle-rimmed glasses and voluminous, long hair. Usually, if a guy grows out his hair, it looks terrible because it’s so flat and greasy, but he pulls it so well with such wonderful curls and the casually-pushed-out-of-face style of his hairdo. His smile was brilliant and he grabbed Mira’s face with such vigor Deimos thought he was going to kiss her.

“Holy shit, it’s been forever!” He laughed, squishing her face playfully.

Mira laughed and suddenly jumped on him, pulling him into a crushing hug. “Oh my god, has it!”

They laughed and giggled and hugged each other tightly.

“When did you move back?! Are you living here!?” Mira asked excitedly.

“Yeah! After I graduated, I moved back here with a few buddies.”

“Holy fuck, dude! That’s rad as hell! Wait, do you go to the university!?”

“No, I’ll be attending next year though!”

“Fucking yes! Dude, it’s been so long, look at you! You’re so hot now!”

“What about you!? You cut off your hair and you’re so adorable,” he laughed. He ruffled her head and bent down suddenly to kiss her right on the forehead, overwhelmingly happy. Mira giggled and hugged him again, kissing his cheeks in the process. Gabriel snickered, face red and smile bursting with delight. Anyone could see that they loved each other, romantically or platonically. Anyone could see that they suited each other.

Deimos was blown away by how…how intimate they were. The loving stares, the blinding smiles, the hugs and the kisses. He didn’t know what to do. It felt like he shouldn’t even be here. He felt like a third wheel on a date. He felt like Pluto while Mira and Gabriel were the Sun and Earth. (Also, Mira has never kissed Deimos on the cheek. But she can with Gabriel…)

Gabriel and Mira chatted a little bit more, Mira running her fingers through Gabriel’s hair, complimenting him on how beautiful he looked, before glancing over at Deimos suddenly.

“Oh, shit, Deimos,” she chuckled. “Hey, this is Gabriel! He went to my high school-” She paused and with one little quirk of her eyebrow and downcast of her eyes, a wave of uneasiness washed over her expression. “-A-another art student.”

“What a surprise,” Deimos said bluntly, trying to hide the fact he’d caught her millisecond of weakness. Gabriel’s attention directed to him and immediately he felt uneasy. Meeting new people was never his strong point. Especially since Mira and Gabriel seemed to be on a completely different plane of existence from him.

“Hi, I’m Gabriel,” he said politely with a grand smile and an outstretched hand.

Deimos took it and shook gently. “Deimos,” he replied calmly.

Up close, Gabriel was really killing the androgynous look. He had slender hands and fingers, a soft face and porcelain skin. If it weren’t for the flat chest and broad shoulders, Deimos might have thought he was a girl. But, then again if he was looking at Gabriel from far away, he probably would believe he was a girl. Kind of like the opposite of Mira. Mira, the small skater boy. Gabriel, the tall slender model (even though Deimos was taller).

With a playful smirk, Gabriel glanced at Mira. “Are you two a thing?”

Mira exchanged looks with Deimos and blushed red. “N-No!” She laughed nervously. “Just close friends.” Gabriel’s gaze fell upon Deimos, awaiting a rebuttal. He was silent, knowing it was going to come off that he was an asshole when in reality all what Deimos wanted in the world was make out with Mira.

“Are you dating anyone?” Mira asked harshly, poking his side.

“Nope, had some flings here and there, but no one in particular,” Gabriel shrugged. “You?”

“Same thing,” she shrugged.

“You dating anyone, Deimos?” Gabriel asked calmly. Mira met Deimos’ gaze, curious.

He shook his head. “No,” he mumbled. “I have no time, I’m babysitting her.”

Gabriel laughed. “She’s a riot.”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Mira crossed her arms.

“You’re a riot,” he replied, smirking. Mira elbowed him and he laughed and kissed the top of her head. “God, I missed you.”

“You should visit my place sometime, I ended up living with Raven and the others,” she asked happily.

“You and Raven in a home together?” Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. Mira’s jaw dropped and she shoved him playfully.

“We’re not like that anymore,” she laughed. Deimos was relieved she could joke around about such a touchy subject. “But seriously, come over sometime! Sophie and Annie miss you a lot.”

Gabriel flashed a teasing smile. “I think they miss Dave more than me,” he snickered. He bopped her nose. “You on the other hand, probably missed me the most.”

Mira crossed her arms and smirked. “Dickhead,” she teased. “Always jumping to conclusions.”

“I’m right, aren’t I?” He pulled her into another swirling hug.

“That’s not the point,” she laughed, wiggling her way out of his grasp. She glanced at Deimos and held out her arms. “Save me,” she groaned out dramatically.

Deimos just stared at them. Gabriel snickered and bit at Mira’s ears, the girl giggling and wiggling harder out of his arms. Gabriel buried his face into the crook of her shoulder laughing and kissed the side of her head.

Emotions bubbled up inside of him. Emotions that felt too strong to be comfortable. It scared him. He didn’t want to admit them. He didn’t want to think of them.

Jealousy.

Eventually, Mira and Gabriel’s antics calmed down, and they traded numbers for future reference. They shared a few laughs as all three of them walked up to the front to pay and gave one more hug before Gabriel headed out for the day. Just as Deimos thought he could finally relax, Gabriel yanked him suddenly and wrapped an arm around him.

“Word of advice,” he said calmly. Mira looked at Gabriel, shocked. Deimos stilled underneath his touch. “Don’t date this rascal, she’s insane.” He patted his back and headed for the door, waving goodbye. “I’d know because I’ve done it!” He laughed and exited the store.

Hotly, Deimos whipped his head in Mira’s direction.

“You dated him?” He asked incredulously, shocked at himself for how angry he sounded. Mira blinked up at him, surprised. It sort of pulled him out of whatever angry mood he was in.

Nervously, Mira rubbed her neck and glanced at the cashier in the front. She grabbed her things and quickly headed out, Deimos following behind. After a few long steps away from the store, she swirled around and looked at him.

“Yeah, I dated him,” she admitted. She had a mixed expression that Deimos couldn’t understand.

“Sorry,” he blurted out. “I sounded way too angry back there.”

Mira blinked up at him in surprise. “Oh,” she sputtered out. “No, don’t worry, it’s all good. I should have introduced Gabriel as my…ex-boyfriend.”

Deimos bit his lip and stared at her. “Can I…learn a little bit about him?”

Her eyes widened. “Y-Yeah, of course!” She nodded vigorously.