HE'S GOT A BOX AWKWARDLY BALANCED IN HIS ARMS, alien script decorating the upper edge ( kyle's never been so glad to know that he's the only one who can read it *with the ring's help ). inside is an eclectic collection of books, and what looks like a cobbled together magnifying glass, through which text shimmers, translation caught in flux without context and a reader to hold the device. " hey. I, um, realized you don't... have a ring to do the translation lifting for you, so I might've borrowed some tech and a couple favors. "
EVERY TIME JASON THINKS he’s got kyle all figured out, the guy somehow manages to delicately upend every observation and note jason has made. he isn’t sure why it’s so surprising when kyle does something specifically for him, nor does he care to examine it too closely— but it catches him off guard every damn time. kyle is sweet, he’s great, he’s. . . well, sometimes it’s as overwhelming as it is exhilarating.
he peers into the box, brows arched upward curiously as he studies the spines. they have him transfixed for a moment, eyes pouring over the script, a familiar giddiness welling up in him at the prospect of discovery. when jason looks back at kyle, it’s with wide eyes and a barely concealed smile.
“ you’re really outdoing yourself here, rayner. “ he teases. “ outdoing me too— i mean, come on man, have some CONSIDERATION. how the hell am i supposed to compete with this? like, i WAS gonna make good on those cannolis i told you about a while back, but now. . . “ he trails off, shaking his head as he gives a very theatrical, full bodied sigh. then, he's whisking the box out of kyle’s grasp.
“ so now that you’ve sufficiently buttered me up, “ jason begins, after wasting as much time as possible situating the box on his beat up coffee table, aligning their edges like it was the most vital thing in the world for them to match up perfectly. it gives jason the space he needs to collect his bravado; he knows that's not what kyle likes about him. or, at least, jason hopes it's not. and for that matter, he hopes kyle actually likes him. but it's more for his own sake than it is performance for the other man. “ are we gonna have some kinda slumber party to get these things translated or what? “
↳ @lifebleeds : unprompted.