@fvllxaway booped the ♥ for a starter!
— OVER the past few months, the elevator had simultaneously become Comet’s mortal enemy and best friend. First, let’s list off the reasons why he hates that godforsaken hunk of metal and wires, shall we?. One) tight spaces. Need any more be said? Two) it led way to the outside world that he was forced to step foot into on a weekly basis now, and fuck, did it make him an absolute nervous wreck. Three) it squealed on its way down and he swore that if it got any higher, his ears would start to bleed. The reasons he did like it? Well, there was really only one reason, and that was the cute boy that shared the same apartment complex as him. Almost every week that Comet went out, they shared a ride either going up or down, and he would often find himself huddled up in the corner and staring down at his feet because he was too damn shy to speak up and make conversation. Every once in awhile, the attractive stranger would say something to him, like compliment him on his shirt, attempt to talk about the weather...or that one time when he had painted a cat nose and whiskers on his face the night before and forgot about it only to end up on the elevator with it smeared all over his cheeks and up his temples and the other pointed it out to save him from further embarrassment.
It was reasons like that, among many others, that Comet avoided making human contact at any and all costs. For example, he had recently submitted more artwork to the local art exhibit in the hopes that something of his would sell to help pay for next month’s rent, but had opted not to show up just in case someone would try to talk to him. Surely the only words he would be able to get out would be minimal at best, and stuttered out in the attempts to sound composed and mature. Eye contact would be a chore, and he would claim home of every dark corner and secluded bench he could locate. Comet, now sipping hot tea in his apartment and looking out the window as life quite literally passed him by, hummed in content at the peace and quiet, and the reassurance that he wouldn’t have to deal with strangers’ judgmental glances and whispered comments. Or so, he had convinced himself to believe, anyways. A sudden knock at his door (which was admittedly completely out of the ordinary) made him jump out of his skin and almost slosh his tea all over his shirt, his heart skipping like flat stones across a calm river’s surface. The shock was so sudden that it took him a few minutes to register that it had even happened until he heard it again, the confirmation that it was, in fact, real, giving him the extra push he needed to set his tea steadily on the windowsill and slowly pad over to the door. Hesitantly, and repeating every lesson that his mother had ever taught him about human communication over and over in his head, he unlocked the door and gradually opened it just enough to reveal his presence. Who stood before him, however, almost made him want to slam the door shut and seal it up tight, never to walk outside his apartment ever again. Of course, it would be just his luck to have the cute elevator guy knocking at his door. “ Um...h-hello...? “ he whispered, barely audible and struggling to keep his eyes trained on the other. Be still his beating heart.