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Damon doubts his self control every day he's stuck in this mess. All he said during the class trial was that people would die given their circumstances, not that he wanted any of them to die.
Well, at least, not yet. He's getting particularly close to snapping though because, for some reason, he continues to get stuck with an idiot whose hair dye is also bleaching his brain. Maybe he's growing out his roots so he can salvage the gray matter still left in that empty skull of his.
They're practically joined at the hip now because they were paired to investigate as soon as they exited the trial grounds by lottery. The others seemed to feel bad for Kai, but it didn't outweigh their own desire to avoid Damon, it seems.
Because he's the thrifted version of Wolfgang to everyone else. Idiots.
Today, Damon tries to shove them apart again, but they come back together like magnets. "Hey, you totally ditched me just now!"
"And I did it on purpose," Damon hisses through clenched teeth, continuing to speed past him in the hall, "For an influencer, you lack the awareness that I'm out of your target audience."
Kai groans as he jogs to catch up. "I know! I just wanted to be with you until I ditched so that I'm not first on someone's hit list!"
Damon stops, then turns. He can feel his eye threatening to twitch out of its socket, so he takes a deep breath to calm down enough to properly articulate his words.
"If all I am is an alibi, then go find another one," His words draw out in long, weighted pauses, "A murder doesn't happen without a motive. You were going to leave anyway, so do it, Monteago."
Damon can feel the heavy fall of his breath and the adrenaline-riddled pulse pounding in his ears as he watches the other boy stand there, eyes wide. The ache in his neck from constantly craning it slightly upward to accommodate the inch of height between them is now more apparent, and he scratches at it to ease his bubbling anger.
He takes a few more seconds to breathe away his lingering emotions, and then fixes his tie. Unfortunately, Kai doesn't speak up until he's about to free himself of the magnet lodged in his hip and grabs his shoulder softly, slightly shaking.
"Uh," He starts, looking down as his cheeks bloom into pink embarrassment, "I didn't mean to upset you, dude. I'll stay if you'll let me."
He's accustomed with the tactics that Kai uses to try and buy him over. Damon uses them all the time, and all he can do is laugh as the ultimate debater. Speaking is only half of what Kai has to do; Damon's whole career is focused around it. For an influencer, he didn't even think to offer up an apology. Doesn't he know he's doing him a huge favor by giving him the safety through the company that he had wanted?
Now he knows that Kai is inferior to him. "Do you really think that I would fall for something like that?"
Damon wouldn't be surprised if this wide-eyed version of Kai was actually his default expression, what with how much he's been pulling that face. He finds himself smiling, grabbing the ringed hand on his shoulder and gingerly resting it back by Kai’s side. He's not going to let him find an excuse to cover up his fumble. Damon wins.
"I'll let you stay as my alibi. I'm more than sure that you're aware of my temporary social standing."
Wordlessly, too shocked to argue, Kai nods and they fall into step with each other. The magnets connecting them fuse together, almost hip to hip in the narrow space. Such a weak attraction, Damon thinks, but it's fine because Kai gives him the ego boost that he's needed for a while.
Today is a free day. Wolfgang said something earlier, apparently, and Damon is back to being treated like a dangerous object when all he's ever done is tell the truth.
Kai is also here. Honestly, once he gets the respect of his classmates, he's going to be a Machiavellian leader. They clearly want to make the deep seated grudge against the both of them clear, especially if they're keeping arrangements the same even when there's nothing to do.
They sit in the dining hall, separated by the table with their respective cups of coffee. Damon's is black, and Kai had spouted something about his nitpick for organic ingredients before they took their spots.
"I expected you to enjoy your day off with someone else," Damon says to break the silence, looking up at the other from his mug.
Kai sighs, ruffling his hair. "Maybe later. I've already got Damon cooties, so it's not the worst thing in the world, I guess."
"I don't think it's hard to say that they made you," Damon replies.
"Is it really that hard to believe that I came here on my own?"
He certainly has guts if he's going to lie like that. Damon gives him a look that is met with the same wide-eyed surprise he's accustomed to, and he takes another sip of bitter coffee.
"I'm telling the truth here! They're not… mean enough to do that to me, but I'm taking one for the team to check up on you," Kai spouts, waving his free hand in wild gestures, "You know, make sure you're not planning something… or whatever."
He rolls his eyes. "I told the truth and was met with distrust from the rest of you. I have more than enough reason to do the same."
"Ugh, no. Not the kind of thing I want to talk about over coffee, you know."
"You can't be in suspension of disbelief forever," Damon hums, setting down his half-finished cup.
Kai waves both hands around now, slightly jostling the coffee he's holding in his left. "That's not it! Why can't we just have a normal conversation? People would like you if you weren't so... rude."
"I'm just honest and direct, as a compelling argument should be. Small talk doesn't interest me, so why should I indulge in it, especially with you?"
An accessorized hand runs through pink hair. "Ugh, well, don't think of this as a debate. It's evidence collection now. You know, to learn more about your subject and find the right approach to talk to them?"
"Saying the same thing but phrasing it differently won't get me to comply."
"Dude, it's called trying to change your point of view."
Damon huffs through his nose, crossing his arms at the stubbornness. "I don't want to partake in any more small talk after this."
Kai grins, and this is probably the first time it's ever been directed at him. He understands why he's such a successful influencer now, with such white teeth, and sinks further into the cushion of his chair at the thought of it. He feels the magnet in his hip tingle after he does so, and he scratches at it so it can leave him alone. Damon is getting distracted, thinking of Kai as anything but a fake, idiotic, emotion driven nuisance.
"It's not that hard, you know. We can start off easy, maybe with interests or stuff you like?"
His mind draws a blank when he tries to focus his attention back to himself, so all he says is, "Reading, I suppose."
"Cool," This must be Kai's area of expertise, because he just gives an easy smile and visibly relaxes in his chair, "I like coffee, so I'm glad that it's not exclusively the instant stuff over here."
"You fretted over it earlier," Damon points out, grabbing his mug and pointing a pinky at Kai's laidback figure, "I didn't think you'd care that much."
Damon receives a laugh that makes him sit back up, feeling too unnatural in a conversation like this. Talking without a purpose feels much longer than it should be.
"I don't know... I can try different kinds when I'm with others, but I only ever make my favorite at home. Honestly, I don't know how you drink instant coffee without adding milk, or something."
Damon looks away, feeling like he’s lost. "Well, I could care less. As long as it keeps me awake, I won't pick and choose."
With the motive out, Damon is stuck banging on Kai’s door.
"Monteago," He tries his best to conceal his frustration, but he doesn't think it's working when the words come out of his clenched jaw, "open the door."
"No way. You’re definitely planning something right now!" is Kai’s muffled reply.
Damon pinches the bridge of his nose. Maybe he'll actually consider it.
"No, only someone idiotic would do that. Don’t tell me that I’ve heard through word of mouth better than when you listened to the announcement in person?"
He hears a groan from the other side of the door, and then what sounds like bed sheets rustling. "I'm not coming out."
"Do you want to be the prime suspect in the next class trial?" He yells, shutting his eyes, and breathes a sigh through his nose to calm down while taking a step back from the door.
The influencer doesn't respond, and his knuckles begin to turn white from how hard he's digging his nails into his palm. This alibi is going to make him look like a joke in front of the others.
"Fine, I'm leaving you here." Damon doesn’t tell him that he'll be the first to call him out if he tries anything, and turns his back to the door.
"Hey, wait!" He shouldn't listen, but he does. "Be my bodyguard? Like, could you wait outside my door and tell me if something goes wrong, maybe?
He runs his hand—devoid of any jewelry—through his hair. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Please, help a guy out, Damon!"
"And what have you done for me, exactly?"
There’s a pause. "…Well, I guess I'm, like, your only friend in this place."
"I’d barely consider us acquaintances," Damon scoffs, "Besides, if you really considered me a friend, you would open this door and stop being stubborn."
He leans against the door after a few more minutes of silence. Nobody talks for a while, and he has a feeling that Kai isn't stupid enough to pick up that he hasn't actually left yet. Damon should have ripped the magnet out of his right hip when he had the chance, knowing that attachment in a killing game is only going to end in tragedy.
Still, Damon stays. And stays. And stays.
And then, he stumbles unceremoniously when the door unlocks and there's nothing to support his body weight. He yelps, feeling gravity pull him closer to the floor, but the back of his head never meets the carpet floor.
He falls into Kai’s arms easily, enveloped in the soft, pillowy fabric of his green sweater. "Uh, hey, don't call me an idiot when you lean against open doors!"
Damon can't reply, too busy focusing on how he's flushed, how his face feels hot but it also travels all the way up to the tips of his ears. He also thinks about just how long it's been since he's ever received a touch that was even remotely intimate. This shouldn't even count, he thinks. He blames the magnets, the ones that somehow hold a stronger attraction with each coming day. But it's still a hug, right? When was the last time he's ever gotten one?
He scrambles to find his footing, but he eventually manages to yank himself out of Kai’s grasp and clear his throat. Damon looks away, clearly and utterly defeated. He refuses to say anything in the heat of embarrassment, so Kai starts it for him. Out of the corner of his eye, he can vaguely make out the blush that paints his face, and it starts to resemble his hair as he’s rocking on his heels.
Kai says something after the lasting minutes of awkwardness become too much to handle. "So, like, again, who… leans against a door to a room that you know I was in?"
He wants to hide his face in his hands, but Damon forces himself to make eye contact, just out of the corners. "You had me convinced that you were never coming out, Monteago. You… You didn't even say anything. I wonder, who does that ?"
"I thought you left!"
He can't tell if he's really lying. He thought that all of his assumptions had been right, but maybe he had given Kai too much credit. He shouldn't flush an even darker shade of pink when he admits the ‘truth’ and refuses to look in his direction. Maybe he really is that stupid.
Neither of them offer an apology, too similar to admit anything related to defeat in a straightforward manner. Damon likes to think that he's the one who deserves it this time, and they stand in the doorway to Kai’s room, flustered and stubborn. Lucky for him, Kai is easier at improvising his social skills, so the debater doesn't have to think up an excuse with his poorly functioning brain.
"Hey, let's just forget this ever happened, okay?" He holds up his accessorized hands, trying to search for some semblance of attention from Damon with vague gestures, "I'll let you stay in my room so nobody can do anything, since they know we're partners. Like… like you said earlier?"
He looks at him, crossed arms and flushed cheeks and narrowed eyes and all. Damon guesses that this is the closest he'll ever get to Kai accepting defeat, and he takes a step inside.
"Fine," Damon starts cautiously, mumbling out the words slowly so he doesn't embarrass himself any further, "I suppose that… since you admit that I was right, I'll come in until they announce the investigation period."
"And what about you, Damon?" Wolfgang questions him in the trial room, all because he failed to keep his word, "Where were the two of you?"
"I was standing outside Monteago’s dorm room because he remained adamant on being alone for a while," He replies smoothly.
Wolfgang puffs his chest out. "I recall Eva saying that when she was with Eloise, neither of them saw anyone in the hallway."
"I went inside as well after about twenty minutes. He got more scared being alone, I suppose," Damon turns to Kai, tapping a finger against his bicep to distract himself from his reddening face.
"And you can confirm this, Monteago?"
Kai turns similarly red. "Um, yes."
"You're awfully red. Perhaps I don't always need to step in to have a relationship bloom." He can hear the smug smile in Toshiko’s words.
Damon thinks back to the soft bedding in Kai’s room, sitting on the edge hip to hip with touching thighs. His blush darkens, catching the attention of some of the others. And then he remembers being gripped by both shoulders with long, accessorized hands and the sound of Kai’s necklaces clinking together. Being shaken half to death over Kai's insistence on not telling anyone to ruin his image is not the least bit romantic.
"No," Damon shoots her down, grimacing at the thought, "I never want to be paired up with him again."