open to : females .
muse : gaku , a 21 yr old graffiti artist who skates + questions life too much , test muse .
based on : x .
he wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s a naturally grumpy guy .. he’s just a little too serious , a little too black & white for his own good , his mother would argue . but he never did care about what she had to say in regards to his worth , hence why he was coming down with an armful of spray paint stained clothes in the middle of the night , a mask still placed strategically over his mouth to keep the chemicals from being breathed in ( & to maintain his secret identity , of course ) .
he’d planned on an easy night : to come home , stick the laundry in with as little human interaction as possible before running back upstairs to crawl in bed & order chinese take out . but the sound of a sniffle & the smell of a familiar , fruity ( & arguably pervasive in his humble opinion ) scent lingering in the air causes him to stop mid - track , & he wishes for a good ten seconds that he didn’t have a heart .
it takes a little while of listening in to the soft sobs for him to finally crack , making his appearance known from behind the laundry room door by knocking on the frame of the opened door whilst clearing his throat . “ hi , um .. “ you sound too gruff , he internally argues , resulting in yet another clearing of his throat , trying to sound as approachable as possible as he finally tugs the mask away from his mouth , allowing it to crease around his throat . “ are you okay ?? well , clearly you’re not , but .. “ - sayitsayitsayit . “ wanna .. talk about it ?? “
WEEPING IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM , OF all places . she has plenty of other things to worry about , but yumi takes a second to bemoan the cliche . what next ? she’ll be sobbing in the rain , or something else just as humiliating . it’s ridiculous . she’s far too old to be torn up about a rude stranger , but after a long day at work , being yelled at by a customer was too much to bear . it’s her own fault , really . she knows better than to get distracted . but she’d been day dreaming about her next project , and the orders had gotten fumbled , and here she is--- wailing into a pair of jeans .
it takes a moment to notice the voice , distracted as she is , but she looks up at long last to find her neighbor hovering nearby . oh god , she thinks , not gaku . every time she sees him from now on , he’s sure to remember this ridiculous scene she’s making . her own fault , again . why hadn’t she gone upstairs ? she wipes her eyes , forces on a trembling smile . ❛ you’re sweet to ask , but i--- ❜ would really rather die than acknowledge this interaction . she can’t say that , though . ❛ i just had a tough day at work . it’s fine . ❜
