[ sometimes it felt as though if she took her eyes off him, he’d slip away for another short eternity—not that it was too unnerving a task, though. with the way the sunlight curled with the expressions and shadows on his face, even a jaded and solemn smile as he could muster it just looked a certain kind of beautiful. even to the point of not noticing the stir of the whisk falling limp—then much faster to compensate (though that only brings more problems, like an unnoticed amount spilling onto the table, into her hair, no focus to notice it).
it did make her happy, even if just for a moment of selfish intent; but it did seem plain she was the only one in that stance right away. ]
english is a hard language to learn, don’t beat yourself up about it. [ and she turns her attention back to the heating stove, pouring the (mostly) stirred eggs into the pan impatiently awaiting them. ] m’sure it meant a lot to him that you were even willing to stretch to such a length just—just for learnin’ purposes, y’know? it shows good character.
and hey! you’re not an unattractive guy or anything, even if you are skinny as a rake. [ flips her hair over her shoulder and waves a spatula in his direction. ] i feel like, sometimes, you’re still under the impression you come off as th’same jackass teenager you were when we first met. but you’ve actually got a nicer, more mature vibe now. and stronger. so none of those self-deprecating jokes at my table, alright?
also—go put some bread in the toaster while i do the eggs, ‘kay?
[ he does notice how she spills the upon the table and even clings to her wavy hair, but before he can say anything leaf’s already spun in the flurry of her own words. she’s raining down lines of comfort and compliments in a way he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to, leaving him at a loss of how he’s supposed to respond.
honestly, what was he supposed to say when she gives words of encouragement that he knows are genuine? or how she sprinkles in little compliments here and there that are supposed to soothe his self-esteem that only tanks? the only train of that that glides along is ‘you don’t deserve this’, ‘you don’t deserve this’, knotting up and making a mess inside his mind especially with how his heart reacts to it.
he does go over to the bread though to take two slices, dropping them with ease into the toaster. carefully he presses down the lever so the bread can further sink to start toasting, only to lean back against the counter once that was out of the way with his arms crossed over his chest. ]
it’s not self-deprecation jokes if it’s true. you don’t have say nice things to just be nice to me, you know. [ he turns his head to the side to hide the little bit of pink that clings to his cheeks, eyes on the floor as he says- ] also, you got egg in your hair.