The little things

It had been about a year since Malachi and Jensine had started dating. And to this day, it still felt a little odd for Malachi to genuinely enjoy the company of someone who wasn’t related to him. To actually want another to spend time with, or travel with, or just do silly things with. He was not used to these kind of thoughts or feelings, but he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed them.

It was definitely a joy being with Jensine. Wether they were just sitting by each other, or actually out doing something. Her presence never felt overbearing, or uncomfortable. It was a lot more pleasant than he could’ve ever anticipated.

“It sounds like you two are really getting along then.” Grigori said with a cheeky smile, looking like he wanted to start teasing him. Though it was a relief when he didn’t. “Well I’m happy for you Mal. I’ll be honest; I was really wondering about how you two were getting on. Since you’re both so, eh… not-people-friendly.”

Normally Malachi would’ve taken more offense at that kind of jab, but in this instance… he actually agreed with his twin. Neither him nor Jensine liked people, so frankly, he was actually wondering how it would go himself.

Currently he was in town with his brother, sitting in the seating area of a cafe, and far from any other prying ears. It had been a while since they had seen each other, and as such, Grigori had extended an invitation to hang out. Well… more like he sent Virus to do so for him, which was a bit awkward, but he understood that Grigori couldn’t really do it himself, so it was fine. And on any other occasion, Malachi might’ve put it off for a day or two in favor of Planet Destroying, or seeing Jensine, but then… there was something he wanted to ask Grigori about. So instead, he came over right away.

Though admittedly, he was struggling a bit to ask. It was due to a combination of both not wanting to share feelings, and wishing he could figure it out for himself; since there was always a possibility of Grigori teasing him over it. But in this case, he couldn’t figure it out, so some advice was needed. So he had to suck it up for now, and just get his annoying twins opinion on the matter.

As the pair paid up, they began walking through town with Grigori’s home being the destination. It was fairly quiet as Grigori was finishing up a muffin, and Malachi still had a fair amount of his drink left. He was trying to figure out just how to ask this question, when he found his brother- as usual- speaking before he could. “Hey, have you two kissed yet?”

Malachi couldn’t help but choke on his drink to hearing that; blushing a vibrant blue shade as he quickly shot a glare at his brother.

“It’s just an honest question! Geez…” Grigori defended, smiling that cheeky smile of his. “It’s been a year right? Besides, you both aren’t very touchy, so I’m just curious!”

“You’re the worst…” Malachi hissed, turning away from the other. “Gah… once, ok? We both mutually decided it wasn’t our thing…”

—————————————————————————————————————————

“So, um… do we, just…” Jensine tried, looking down at the ground and fiddling with the chains around her spine. Her face was a vibrant blue shade, and nerves were very evident on her face. She couldn’t seem to look her partner in the eye, and seemed to be looking anywhere and everywhere else.

Although, Malachi wouldn’t judge her for it. After all, he was doing the exact same thing.

Thing is, they had seen couples around them kiss before, and it always seemed like they really enjoyed it. And they also couldn’t help but admit they were a little curious about it… even if it felt like WAY too much contact. Still, they had mutually agreed to try it just the once, so that made it a bit better, knowing it was something they chose to do. That they didn’t have to worry about it being unwanted or such.

Malachi wished he knew what to do to help calm her down, but since he was just as nervous, he was more hyper focused on that. “I… guess so…?”

“O-ok, um…” Slowly, the Ghost Girl came closer to him, and gently took hold of his hands in hers. No doubt, needing to do so to ground herself a bit. Both thankful for words they’d finally gotten comfortable with hand holding. “Then… I guess…”

Neither of them said another word to this, and instead, opted to simply close their eyes and lean in instead. Certain that seeing if coming would make them both too uncomfortable. Though, Malachi did curse the fact that Jensine was taller than him on the inside mildly, since they had to maneuver around that fact a little… normally he’d never care about something that stupid, but in this instance, he couldn’t help but notice…

Finally, Malachi was snapped right out of his scattered thoughts, when they finally made contact. Though as quickly as it came, it just as quickly disappeared. As after a mere second of two, the pair departed, and created a much needed space gap between them. Each one left reeling in some sense as they EASILY knew that it was too much contact for them. “Nope!” He couldn’t help but get out; pulling his hair up front and starting to run his fingers through it.

“Yep! T-too much contact! Much too much!” Jensine hurried out as well; her hands covering her mouth as her eyes were left wide and stunned. Her face was so blue it was almost comical.

After a moment of two of shared inner panic, the pair finally were able to make eye contact again. And once they noticed just how flustered the other was… they shared a short laugh over it.

“Ah… so I take it, kissing is too much, yes?” Jensine asked softly, smiling that cute shy smile of hers.

Malachi shook his head faintly, giving a playful smirk right back. “Yeah… not my thing.”

“Mine either~”

“Well now we know~”

“Heheh~ yeah…~” The pair shared one more laugh, before at last they calmed down. Jensine, now coming over and gently taking hold of his hand, saying warmly. “Well, why don’t we go do something more fun now? How about… we go visit a new planet? And, destroy it~?”

Grinning now, tail wagging just a bit, Malachi nodded. “Sounds fun! Let’s go~”

—————————————————————————————————————————

“Why am I surprised you guys ended that with planet destroying?” Grigori chuckled with a shake of his head, giving his twin such a silly look. “Still, I guess I’m not all surprised you guys weren’t into it. Neither of you are touchy people after all.”

“Meh…” Malachi shrugged softly to this, turning away from his twin. He could feel his face burning as he remembered that day. They’d both later agreed that- sure, the kiss was nice- but that it just wasn’t for them. Frankly, he felt relieved she wasn’t super into it either. He could’ve, “managed” if she was, but the fact she wasn’t just kept things simple. “Anyways- why didn’t we just portal to your place? We didn’t need to walk and talk about this stuff.”

“Well one; I’d rather walk. It’s a gorgeous day.” Grigori joked, before laughing out. “And two; I know you’re gonna book it after I get home! So I’m just trying to drag this chat out a little!”

“You’re the worst…”

“Anywayyyys. I have a more, forward question for you~”

“More forward than asking if Jensine and I kissed?”

The red one laughed again, trying to hide his sly grin as he continued. “Fair. But nah, this is probably a harder question. Does Jensine ever do anything you don’t like?”

“… the hell kind of question is that?” Malachi couldn’t help but snap back coldly at that question. Seriously- what made his dumb brother think Jensine was actively doing things he hated? He knew Grigori was fond of her to a point, so why would he ask something like that?

Grigori seemed to get the hint, and hurriedly back-tracked. “Tha-that came out wrong. I mean… is there something she does that you wished she didn’t? Like- example-“ Looking playfully annoyed now, the Red one continued. “I don’t like how Virus won’t ask for help when his arm needs maintenance. He doesn’t like people messing with his prosthetics- which I understand that it’s a trust thing and all- but how is he supposed to fix his hand, with one hand?!”

Malachi had to fight to surprise his laughter to that mental image; now fully understanding the question. In truth, there was only one thing Jensine did that he really wished she’d be more careful about.

Thing is… his girlfriend was a very overpowered individual. The problem with that, however, was the fact that she would occasionally overexert that power to the point of collapse. Now, she was getting better at not doing that, but god was it a shock when she collapsed out of no where the first time…

—————————————————————————————————————————

Malachi gave the faintest of smiles when he saw that ghostly blue portal open up right beside him, signaling that Jensine was finally coming to see him. It had been a little while since he’d seen her, so he was certainly pleased to find her finally stopping by.

… not that he’d admit that out loud or anything.

As she stepped through, Malachi could easily see that his partner wasn’t in peak condition. Now, the occasional cuts of bruises were nothing unusual; people whose planet was about to be destroyed usually didn’t go down without a fight after all. No, what surprised him most was the look she wore. Being exhausted was evident- also common- but this seemed to be at a different level than usual. Her eyes were hardly kept open, and it looked like her legs could give out at any moment.

It seemed pointless to even ask this, but… “Are you, ok…?”

Jensine turned to him, not moving or speaking in that moment. Just, staring… until her eyes finally closed, and the inevitable happened; she collapsed right then and there! Head popping right off, curled up mildly, leaving Malachi to just… stare really.

Did she just… pass out?! What the heck happened to her?!

… he’d have to put that aside for now. Now, he needed to get her somewhere she could rest.

Thankfully it wasn’t hard to move her; she was a lot lighter than one would think. Perhaps, due to the bone wings, or the lack of a torso. Regardless, getting her moved wasn’t hard, and they were now completely alone in his personal room within the Library. Now all he had to do was wait for her to wake up.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed by. He’d been reading a book to distract himself from the situation, and the position he was currently in. After all, whilst Jensine’s body rested comfortably on the bed, he currently had her head resting in his lap; his free hand running through her hair. He had to read as he did this, otherwise he would definitely focus too much on the “contact” aspect of this situation.

Still… he’d push through it. Jensine clearly needed a little grounding comfort after whatever she’d just gone through… besides, he knew he… weirdly, enjoyed resting in her lap, as she played with his hair, so… it, wouldn’t hurt to return the favor…

At last, he could feel his partners head starting to shift, signaling she was finally waking up. Putting his book down, he met her gaze, watching as her face turned bright blue to noticing their position. “… am I… is my head… in your lap…?”

‘Fuck- don’t word it like that…’ Malachi cursed internally, now feeling his face grow hot as well. Of course, that had to be the first thing she said… “Yes. It is… your body is on the bed nearby, if you were wondering.”

“… oh. Wha-… what, happened…?”

Wow. That question was more upsetting than the first. Malachi couldn’t help but get out in a slightly harsh tone. “You randomly passed out- is what happened!!”

Jensine blinked a few times, looking only slightly startled by this. Her body, suddenly sitting itself up and getting up shortly after. Starting to walk over to collect its head. “… oh. I’m, sorry for the trouble, Malachi. I guess, I must’ve used too much magic…”

That one sentence sent the Blue Eye into a, bizarre state of feeling. The realization hitting him as he too stood up, and avoided the others hands so he could look the girl REALLY deep in the eyes. “YOU did this to yourself?!”

Jensine- while her face only looked mildly startled in an attempt to stay calm- her body was betraying her attempts. It was making panicked motions; no doubt due to just how close they were in the moment. “… n-not on purpose, b-but I… uhm…”

Oh no, Malachi was going to nip this in the bud right here and now. He was NOT going to let her put such a strain on herself! “PLEASE take better care of yourself!”

The Ghost Girl’s face turned a whole new shade of blue to hearing that, looking startled that just came out of him. Flustered, as if unsure of what to make of what was going on.

Until finally: “… ok. I’ll try. Sorry to worry you like this…”

—————————————————————————————————————————

“Oh dang… I can see why that would get frustrating…” Grigori hummed thoughtfully, looking at his feet as he held his chin. “Like… I doubt it’s on purpose, and I’m sure there would be instances where she’d have no choice, but still…”

Yeah, Malachi had heard all of her reasoning by this point. And while he could understand that sometimes, it just couldn’t be helped, that didn’t mean he wanted it to keep happening. There were times she’d get so overwhelmed that she couldn’t move for days on end.

That was why he made those crystals for her.

After she’d collapsed again after their talk, he decided to do what he could to alleviate some of that stress off of her. He’d spent days in his personal work shop after that, embedding them with all sorts of spells. That way, she wouldn’t over use her own magic as much. Seeing her collapsing less and just looking healthier in general, definitely made it more than worth it in the end.

“Heh… I’m proud of you, MalMal~” Grigori started teasing, playfully patting his brothers head. “You ended up being a good boyfriend~!”

“… remove your hand, before I cut it off…” Malachi hissed, leaning away from the others touch and trying to prevent it from happening again. The Red one just laughed though, turning on his heels as he walked up to the door.

Huh… he didn’t realize they’d made it to the house yet. He’d almost forgotten about the question he’d had for Grigori.

Quickly, he followed Grigori inside- barely registering that Virus was in the living room watching tv. Making sure his twin had his attention on him, before hurrying out. “Stop distracting me! I had a question!”

Grigori blinked to this- even Virus had turned to look their way to that sudden outburst- before speaking up. “Well… what’s up Mal?”

Ugh… he hated asking for advice on this. He should know what to do, he shouldn’t need advice at all! But this was different, he guessed… Jensine was usually so direct, but now… “… Jensine’s… been acting, off, lately. And she hasn’t… won’t, tell me the problem. I wanted… advice… on what to do about it…”