Saturday, Apartment, Morning

The morning after couldn't be more refreshing for the duo as the Sun's warming light flowed through the window and coincidentally flashed Michael right in his eyes. The piercing glow of the morning caused the man to stir, wincing his eyes and turning his head in an attempt to avoid the burning glow to no avail. Having no choice, he rubbed his eyes with one hand and cautiously opened them as if he were afraid to lose his sight to the burning celestial body.

The first thing he saw once he was awake was none other than the sleeping professor herself, nestled against him with her cheek resting on his chest; a symbol that proved that last night's events truly did happen. She had a soft look of satisfaction on her face; after how things went last night, how couldn't she be satisfied? That moment wouldn't last long as she began to stir as well, shifting herself from side to side as her eyes slowly opened. Ash connecting with emerald, both Aiko's and Michael's lips curled into a smile at the same time as she let out a small hum.

"Morning...big guy…" Were the first words to come out of her mouth. Michael exhaled humorously out of his nose as he brushed some hair out of his face.

"Hey there…" Aiko crawled up the man's frame and kissed his jaw before moving away from him, sitting up and pushing her messy bangs out of her face. Michael followed her lead and slipped out of the bed, bending backwards slightly to pop his spine.

Turning her eyes to the stretching man, Aiko smirked as she was tying her hair back into it's trademark messy bun. "Definitely a big guy." She remarked as she got out of the bed and walked across the room to grab the panties that she had discarded.

"Gee thanks…" Michael sighed, walking over to his drawers to throw on a pair of boxers and sweatpants. As he was pulling on his underwear Aiko casually walked up to him, scanning his ass with a smile.

"I'm planning on making breakfast; anything you wa-AIEE!" His sentence was immediately cut off by a swift hand meeting with his boxer-covered behind with a slap. Michael looked back at her with a squint as he reached back and rubbed his stinging cheek whilst Aiko laughed as she fixed her skirt.

"Nice scream..!" She giggled. Her slapping his butt was different from Kyu...somehow. Maybe it was because he had grown to enjoy Aiko's company, or maybe because this was the first time she's done this as opposed to Kyu's constant badgering of his behind.

"Mmmh…" He whined, pulling up his sweats and moving to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Once he had finished freshening up, Michael moved to the kitchen and started prepping breakfast. As he was frying up some eggs, Aiko had finally gotten her clothes from last night on and walked into the kitchen, finding Michael making breakfast.

"It took me forever to find my bra. How'd it end up across the room?" She giggled as she walked over to the shirtless man.

"Gee...I wonder how..." He acted confused, recalling the events of last night. "Must've been the wind or something." He answered, looking to find Aiko staring at him.

"Yeah, sure okay. And I'm sure the 'wind' enjoyed feeling me up too." She'd comment while slowly dragging her hand down his back, pressing her nails gently against his flesh.

Michael arched his back at the ticklish sensation, making Aiko smile at his reaction. Looking to the woman, Michael continued his question from earlier before she slapped his ass. "Sooo do you want some breakfast?" He asked as he flipped his eggs over with a satisfying sizzle. Aiko thought for a moment, pursing her lips as she came up with her answer.

"Hmmm...nahh. I promised my friend Beli that I was gonna take one of her yoga classes this morning so I'll grab something back at my place." She spoke.

"Oh Beli..? She's a great instructor." Although Michael had little interaction with Beli, the times that he did have with her were rather pleasant and enjoyable.

"I know right..? She's great, but she needs to talk louder." She expressed herself as Michael dumped his eggs onto a plate. They continued to talk for a few more minutes as the man continued making his breakfast, which included a slice of toast and some sliced fruit. As Aiko talked, Michael gave her an apple to get something into her stomach. Their conversation would eventually move back to last night however.

"Last night was pretty nice." Aiko would comment, Michael nodding in agreement.

"I can definitely agree with you there." Michael smiled as a quip came to mind. "Heh...if you wanna do it again, you can always ask me."

Aiko chuckled, taking his humorous remark seriously. "I wouldn't mind; I can give you some tips next time too." She offered.

"You have my number." Michael shrugged. Aiko giggled, leaning up and pecking him on the lips.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now I've got to get going or Beli'll get annoyed; take care!" Michael returned the kiss before Aiko stepped out of his range. Putting on her boots, she slipped out of his apartment and right as the door clicked shut Kyu emerged right on time for the day's activities. Michael winced at the bright flashing on his semi-sleepy eyes, reaching up to rub them once again. He didn't have time to speak before she cut in with a deep inhale as if trying to find a specific scent.

"Ahhhh, I love the smell of a lost virginity in the morning." She cooed as she looked to Michael who was shaking his head.

"I'm not gonna repeat myself Kyu; a broken record is something I elect to not be." He proclaimed as he took a bite of his eggs before waving the utensil at her, resting his elbows on the counter as the love-fairy floated to sit beside his plate. Poking the top of his head, Kyu walked her hand down his cranium as she giggled.

"I know, I know. But now we know that you've FOR SURE lost your virginity; I could hardly recognize you for a second by the way. And with such a looker too; I'm impressed!" She playfully added.

"I doubt I look that different… Though I do think that the disheveled hair is a look you'll have to get used to looking at." He chuckled, sticking his fork into his mouth before looking up at Kyu.

"Ooooh look at the confidence on this man!" Her cheering followed a giggle. "So how'd it go? Other than you know, AMAZING." She wanted to hear all of the juicy details of the date since she wasn't observing him like she usually did.

Michael shrugged at her, unsure of what she'd want to hear. "I don't know what you would expect from me getting a woman into bed." Kyu groaned, rolling her eyes as she crossed her legs.

"C'mon man, anything! How'd she feel? Where her moans as hot as the one she teased you with that one time? Was she a top or a bottom?" Her questions kept flowing like a broken faucet until Michael stopped her by grabbing a diced apple and shoving it into her mouth.

"Relax. We kissed on the ferris wheel at the carnival...one thing led to another and the next thing I knew I tossed her bra across the bedroom and we had our time." Michael broke down the night as simply as he could, but that wasn't enough for Kyu as she chewed the apple with mild annoyance.

"There's definitely more than that, man." She huffed once she swallowed the apple, narrowing her eyes at the man who was slowly developing a smug grin.

"Then I guess you would just need to find out for yourself, huh?" His sarcastic remark was met with a look of contemplation as Kyu tapped her chin, a smirk of her own growing on her face.

"Hmm...I have been getting a little jealous of all these women you've been talking to lately…" She started.

"Kyu…" Michael blinked as she continued to speak

"And I mean, you do have a ways to go. It'd be a shame to see a sex-machine like yourself being with just these girls." She was building up to something that Michael was slowly adding up in his head.

"Are you really gonna mix up business with pleasure?" He asked.

"Yep! Fuck it, I want in on the magic too!" She proclaimed.

Michael wasn't as taken aback as he thought he was going to be at Kyu's proclamation of tasting him, and he wasn't sure whether to be confident or a little afraid at what the sex-fairy was capable of under the sheets.

"Well...I suppose I'll have to take you out on a date one of these days then, huh?" Pushing the thought of being in bed with the fairy to the side for the moment, he took his now empty plate and placed it in the sink before washing his hands.

"Yep! It'll be a perfect way to test you and give you some pointers." She answered as Michael moved away from the sink and moved towards his bedroom. After working up a sweat from last night he could use a nice cleaning.

"Testing me you say? It's not gonna be just that, is it?" Michael asked as he fished out a fresh towel and started making his way to the shower.

"Hmmm...maybe. But don't think I'll just let you fuck me. You're gonna have to earn it, mister." She responded with an uppity tone that was dipped in sarcasm, making Michael chuckle at her voice.

"Whatever floats your boat, Kyu." Was Michael's response before entering the bathroom, wanting to wash himself off and refresh his body for the day ahead.

The refreshing cascade of soap and warm water helped pull the man from the slightly groggy condition that he was in moments before; he could feel the soreness from the prior day's exercising but that was something his body had grown accustomed to for years at this point. Warm water was enough to loosen him up and help him relax, but the real ticket that was his jumper-cable for the day was a quick blast of water on its coldest setting. The waterfall of ice was eventually stopped with the intention of wanting to continue on with the day.

After drying his body off, Michael slipped on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Kyu had gotten used to seeing him sweating profusely whilst Haric was pushing his muscles to the absolute limit, so seeing Michael not in that situation today brought a smile to her face.

"Heading out to find some tail to bring home?" She jokingly nudged Michael's shoulder as he hung his camera around his neck with an exhale from his nose.

"Tempting idea but I think I'm just gonna do some walking today." He sounded more relaxed after that shower. Looking over his shoulder at the fairy, he moved his arm and nudged her back with his elbow. "Feel like coming along for some nature photography? The trail's amazing this time of the year." He offered.

Kyu was hesitant to say the least as she tended to live more of a 'watch porn, eat junk food' kind of life, but hearing Michael ask if she wanted to come along made her reconsider staying in his apartment. "Ehh fine. But I wouldn't get my hopes up with actually walking; I've got wings so I'm gonna use 'em." She spoke.

Michael shrugged before he tied his golden locks back into a messy bun. "You fly everywhere as it is. No need to remind me." He spoke, inwardly cheering to himself knowing that he wouldn't be subjected to the loud screeches of pornography when he came home later.

Saturday, Hiking Trail, Afternoon

Tranquil was the primary definition of the Hiking Trail; normally in the mornings the trees that surrounded the path would be hidden between a layer of mist, but the trip to get there took a little longer than expected so the early morning clouds had already disappeared. It didn't bother Michael as he was following the stone steps that led himself and Kyu uphill.

With camera in hand and the Sun's light piercing the canopy above, Michael was enjoying the silence of the woods when he had the chance. The only downside of having Kyu along was that she had the tendency to talk from time to time but it was a worthwhile con instead of loud porn blasting in his room in the morning.

"So Kyu...how long do you plan on keeping me as your client..?" Michael asked as he snapped a picture of a brilliant blue bird perched in one of the trees.

The fairy was immediate to answer; his journey had just begun so it was too soon to be thinking about her leaving him now. "I'll leave when I think that you're ready to be on your own. Don't get too cocky just because you got into the pants of one girl; granted she was a hottie." She mumbled with a hint of jealousy; Kyu clearly wanted to see what Aiko looked like underneath that blouse and skirt.

Michael chuckled "Heh, I can't wait to see what else you have to teach me 'master'." He lifted a hand and made an air-quote with his fingers.

"Keep talking buddy, you'll learn soon enough." Kyu fired back, poking the top of his head. Right as she said that, her eyes picked up on the sight of a certain tan-skinned woman jogging her way up the steps behind the pair.

"Heyyy..! That curvy lady from the gym's out of her natural habitat for once." Kyu jokingly announced. Confused as to what the fairy was talking about, Michael looked over his shoulder and spotted Kyanna bouncing up each stone step with ease. Her eyes were focused straight ahead as the earbuds she wore blasted music for her to breathe in tandem with.

"Her name's Kyanna, Kyu." Michael was only looking over his shoulder, so he turned his head back to face the woods or else he'd risk injuring himself. He could hear her heavy, controlled breaths as she drew closer to him so the man made the decision to turn around and face the woman.

Her eyes spotted Michael, to which she slowed her jogging to a walk as she stopped. "Hey dude..!" She cheerfully exclaimed, pulling an earbud out so she could hear him clearer.

Lifting a hand, he gave her a quick wave along with a smile. "Sup, Kyanna. Didn't think I'd catch you out here in the afternoon." He stated, getting a nod from the woman as she wiped a wave of sweat from her brow, whipping her arm down.

"Cardio is something I never skip..! And this place is perfect for that..!" She said between pants, lifting a foot up to tap the stone steps that led the trail further uphill. Michael could only imagine what Haric would make him do if he decided to take him here.

Speaking of which, Kyanna noticed that his exercising partner-in crime wasn't with him. "You didn't sneak out of a workout again, did you dude?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Michael shook his head, "Nope, it's just a rest day for me. I figured I'd come out here and take some pictures of the trees and animals while I can." He lifted up his camera, tilting it from side to side to ensure that he wasn't lying.

"Cool..! You take photos as a hobby then?" She asked as she stepped closer to get a better look at the camera. Kyu floated back and held the nostrils of her nose shut and made a gagging sound.

"Blegh! She needs to shower..!" She spoke as she hovered a few feet away from the two. Michael didn't mind it since he's experienced similar smells from the gym.

"Yeah it's a hobby, but it helps with my work as well." He began to explain. "Since I work in the art business I need to get as many referential pictures as I can." He spoke.

"You work in art? That's cool..!" She smiled. "I've heard from some people that come to the salon that freelance is a bit of a killer." Her tone showed slight concern for the man as he understood what she meant. "And I guess that means you stay up late working, right?" She asked.

Michael let his camera hang by the strap as he leaned against the railing of the trail. "Sometimes I stay up late, but not all the time. I stay up late maybe...two...three times out of the week?" He looked up, attempting to confirm if that was really the amount of times he stayed up late.

"Really..?!" She sounded more surprised than he had anticipated, making him blink and straighten up when she stepped forward again, moving so close that her chest was mere inches from his own. He could see that her eyes were scanning his visage for something specific.

"Uhhh...can I help you..?" He jokingly asked; the scrutinizing gaze Kyanna was giving him slowly faded as she backed away, realizing just how close she was to him. She found what she was looking for though. "Did I have something on my face..?" He asked.

"I haven't seen them before, but you have bags under your eyes...you need to sleep more if you keep coming to the gym so early. You'll be running yourself mad." She was a mother, so that instinct was kicking in a little bit as she told him.

"It's okay, I've been going to the gym that early for a while now." He said to try and soften the fact that he stayed up late and woke up early.

"That doesn't make things better dude..! Work or not, everyone should get at least eight hours of sleep..!" She stated sternly. Michael was taken a little aback by how much she cared about how long he slept; he barely knew her outside of the gym yet she still wanted what was better for him.

"You seem to be rather invested in my wellbeing." Michael pointed out. Kyanna nodded her head, acting as if she had known him for years.

"Well yeah..! We're pretty much friends, right?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Hmm yeah." Michael nodded. "It would be weird for me to have your number and not be friends right?"

Kyanna giggled at his question, crossing her arms under her chest. "Yep! And I wouldn't have given you my phone number if I didn't like you."

"Like me in what way? My personality?" He asked with an arch of his eyebrow.

"Yeah! You're super nice and alittle flirty." She mentioned to him.

"Glad that being flirty isn't bad; I can't help it. It's kind of a habit at this point to point out things that I like." Michael shrugged.

"That's fine..! Flirty's fine with me." Speaking of personality types, there was a question that Kyanna was curious about. "Hey Michael I've been a little curious about this; is there a personality that you don't like?"

He tapped his chin as he processed the question. Michael was generally very accepting and tolerated different people so that was a difficult question to answer. "I don't know if there is one I dislike." He answered.

Kyanna tilted her head, taken slightly aback by his answer. "Really..? What about people that are generally just jerks or assholes?" She asked. Michael didn't expect for her to use such language, but there wasn't a better word to describe someone harsh like calling them an asshole.

"Don't get me wrong, people can definitely be nasty." He started. "But I don't know what's going on in their head. Now if someone's being an ass just to be an ass? Those are the kind of people I don't like."

His response got another chuckle from Kyanna, "Then I'm sure you don't have to worry about that kind of thing with me..!" She joked.

Michael couldn't agree more, Kyanna was the most upbeat person he's met aside from obviously Haric. But despite knowing that, he still wanted to tease her a little. "Hmm I dunno; seeing you tell that red-head off is making me think otherwise." He joked.

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" She asked, arching an eyebrow in response to his teasing, a smirk curling her lips up part way.

"It simply means that I wanna get to know you a little more." He answered.

"Is that your way of asking a girl out?" She asked.

Michael let out an affirming hum, along with a singular nod of his head. "Is that fine with you?"

Kyanna's arched eyebrow slowly dropped and she adopted that same excitable smile that she's always worn. "Yeah, okay. Sounds like it'll be fun! Where do we plan on going?" She was already so eager to go, not even knowing where Michael intended to take her.

"Hmm since it is gonna be getting hotter for the next few days...how about the water park?" His suggestion was met with a pumped nod from Kyanna, clearly excited to get the date going.

"Sounds great to me!" She grinned, but that smile faltered slightly as she remembered her prior obligations. "Uhm soooo do you think we'll be able to go tomorrow? I was planning on taking Philip to the beach once I got home." She politely asked. "I'm really sorry..!"

Michael was saddened by her response, but understood that family comes first. "No, don't be sorry..! Everyone's got priorities." He said. He knew well that having a child was a big responsibility since his brother has a child.

"I'll get a baby-sitter for tomorrow so I guarantee I'll be able to go!" Her tone picked back up as their plans were solidified for the next day.

"I look forward to it..!" Michael returned her excited smile with a grin of his own.

Stepping back from the blond man, Kyanna plugged her ear back up with her earbud. "I've gotta get back on my run! I'll see you tomorrow!" She held her fist to the man. Michael raised his fist to her's and bumped them together. "See ya man!" She waved before continuing her run up the trail. Despite being left, Michael still watched Kyanna's toned, yet curvaceous body bounce as she ran up the stone steps.

"Enjoying the view, playa?" Kyu teased.

"Shush it." Michael's cheeks turned red when he was called out by the fairy, looking down to fiddle with his camera before walking in the opposite direction of where Kyanna was going.

"Where are we headed now? Gonna go home to deposit that in the spankbank?" Kyu asked.

"We're going home, but not because of that you dork." Michael looked at her and poked her nose, making her float a small ways away to get away from his hands.

"You say that, but let's be honest here Michael." She shrugged her shoulders as she followed him back to his apartment. The time had certainly passed by as the Sun was already more than halfway through the sky; it was still time for him to get back to work.

Saturday, Apartment, Evening

Michael was quick to start working, having formed a habit to work as much as he could with the time that he had in the evening. This was the time when he would normally spend his time relaxing, but after a day of being outside he needed to occupy his time with something productive.

Kyu didn't share the work-like sentiment that her client did, and so took to her regular spot on his bed and flicked on the television to see what juicy content was airing this evening. Being a creature of lust, it was normal for the love-fairy to entertain herself in this way, and as long as it didn't hinder his progress with its loud volume, Michael didn't care either. Although he worked with his headphones in for most of the time, he was more conscious than ever to ensure Kyu kept the volume low, so he wore the headset with only one cup covering his ear.

As he dragged his stylus across his monitor, Michael's emerald hues shifted slowly from the work he had pulled up towards the phone that sat a few inches away from him, remembering what Kyanna told him earlier..

"Maybe I should set a timer so I get a decent sleep tonight…" He muttered to himself as he reached for his phone.

The screen provided additional illumination alongside his monitor, desk lamp and the television behind him. As it started up the first thing Michael's eyes fell upon was the contacts list of the Huniebee; a reminder of the progress he's made with women of different types. Dragging his thumb up the screen, he scrolled through the various names that occupied his list; some of them were family members, others were friends he hadn't spoken to in years, and then there were the women that he had met in the past week. Out of the several girls he had met, one of them stood out to him tonight; the picture of a blue haired girl donning a pair of black-armed glasses.

Michael didn't know what possessed him but he elected to tap Nikki's profile and pull up the text window, the typing-bar blinking in time with the clock. Tapping his thumbs against the screen, he sent her the simplest message he could to start it off.

[Hey] With the message now sent, Michael exited the messenger and set up a timer for two hours; a time that was commonplace with the man. With the timer set, he turned off the screen to his phone and sat it back on his desk with a small thump and back to work he went. He didn't pay much attention to anything else for the moment as his headphones worked their magic as much as they could. His concentration would cease with the sudden lighting up of his phone with a text message being the perpetrator behind its activation.

[uhmm who is this? i've never seen this number before] It made sense for Nikki to respond to him with that question, with the only interaction they had was some conversation at the bar in a booming haven for nightlife. Taking his phone, Michael typed out his response to her question, reminding her of who he was.

[It's the blonde guy from the nightclub a few days ago? The one that carried your wasted friend back home.] Memories of the night swarmed back to him like moths to a lamp, reminding him of the cold shoulder that he had gotten from Nikki before eventually warming up to him.

[oh right. you saved my number?] She seemed confused about him texting her; she was used to texting Audrey and her boss for a change of hours every now and again.

[You typed your number into my phone, so I don't see why I didn't save it.] He had a point; Nikki wanted to give him her number for critiquing purposes, but that wasn't the main reason why he was texting her now. As Michael looked at the dots that signified that Nikki was typing, they disappeared before reappearing again, repeating this cycle several times before a message was finally sent through.

[guess i forgot i did that. what's up?] Michael was curious as to why it took a noticeable amount of time for Nikki to send him such a short text, but he didn't convey his thoughts to text as he tapped his response instead.

[Just started working and saw your number and figured I'd say hey] His response was genuine enough; he enjoyed the talk they had at the nightclub so why not continue some of their conversation?

[hey then] was her only response back to him. Michael looked at the message confused, wondering how to reply to such a dry response such as that.

"Kinda set myself up for that one huh..?" He asked himself. The response made sense; explaining that he texted her to say 'hey' was no different than approaching a girl at the bar to say the same thing. It didn't take long however for another response from Nikki to pop back up in the chat logs.

[so you said youre working rn?] She texted back, hydrating her dry response and pushing the conversation along.

[Yep. Hadn't worked all day so I gotta get something done tonight] The texting between them became a little more frequent to the point where Michael held his phone in his right hand and drew with his dominant left, but talking with Nikki was taking more of his time than he had thought. He didn't mind chatting with the lady, but he probably should've thought this through as they talked into the was when an idea came to mind so he could have his hands free.

Saturday, Apartment, Night

[Do you mind if I called you?] He wanted both of his hands available just in case he had to do something on his canvas or the like; now all he needed to do was wait. There was a brief pause between when he asked that and when her chat bubble popped up to reveal her answer. Michael tilted his head at what took her so long to answer, but her response reflected his hopes.

[sure] That was all Michael needed to hear. There was one thing that he needed to do before calling her though. Taking off his headphones, he turned to the porno-watching pink-head.

"Could you turn that down Kyu? I'm gonna be calling someone in a bit." His request was met with a thumbs up from the fairy without taking her eyes off of the screen.

"Don't want the lady to hear what kind of shit you're into?" She jokingly spoke as she turned the volume down to a tolerable level. Michael looked at the television for a moment before shaking his head.

"If you really think I'm into gangbangs then you're crazier than I thought you were." Michael chided.

"Hey-I don't like watching just the same guy and girl going at it! I'd rather see either one girl and a bunch of guys or a guy and a bunch of girls!" Kyu reasoned.

"Is that why you chose to be a matchmaker then?" His question was swift as Kyu looked at him and threw up a playful middle finger.

"Please, as if you wouldn't take a job working around your fetish twenty-four seven." Michael could argue with her about that specific point for hours, but he had other things that needed to be done.

"Yeah yeah; as long as you're happy with it I suppose." Michael's voice faded as he turned back to his workplace now that the volume was sufficiently lowered.

Returning to his phone, Michael tapped the small phone icon that was beside Nikki's profile picture and waited. Sure enough, Nikki picked it up and that same voice from the nightclub had returned.

"Hey..." Her voice was as nonchalant as he remembered, but that didn't stop him from grinning once he heard her

"Good evening to you too, Nikki." He said a more cheerful tone in comparison to the calm yet stiff voice. Michael sandwiched the phone between his ear and shoulder, allowing him to draw with both of his hands free now.

"So why'd you want to call me..?" Nikki was quick to ask once Michael had made himself known, but he was still fine with answering her.

"Well I didn't wanna stop talking to you. Did I call at a bad time..?" He asked.

"I wouldn't say you're bothering me..too much…" She spoke back. Within the audio of her phone Michael could hear the sounds of buttons being pressed in rapid succession.

"Are you typing up a report or something? Sounds like you're gonna break your keyboard in two." Michael would comment.

The buttons were still being pressed as Nikki continued to talk. "Nah, I'm playing something right now and you called right as the boss level started. Doesn't matter that much; I'm still beating this boss's ass." She said as the sounds of gaming continued to echo through his speaker.

"Oooh, and might I ask what game it is?" His interest was piqued at the mention of games; despite having not much time for it, Michael was big into video games when he was a child.

Nikki spoke through the digital violence and button pressing that was happening around her, "It's called Warriors from the Abyss. Doubt you've heard of it; it's an old game." Her tone made it sound as if she was confident in her statement, and she wasn't wrong that the game was old.

Michael blinked his eyes as the title wrung bells in his head of times when he didn't have to worry about things like money. "Really..?! I haven't played that in ages…" He said longingly as nostalgic memories flooded his mind.

He couldn't see it, but Nikki blinked in surprise that someone recognized the name of a game that was more than twenty-years old! "You've played this before..?"

"Yeah! My brother and I played that all the time when we were kids..!" Michael's passion for the game didn't go unnoticed as Nikki started getting into the conversation as well.

"No way..! Most people haven't even heard of this game…" She sounded a little let down by that fact, but now found a little solace in Michael's enjoyment of the game.

"That's a shame. There's so many new games coming out all the time that nobody has the time to enjoy the classics." Michael spoke.

"I know right? It's like everytime I talk to someone about games they always mention these FPS games and shit like that." She ranted. Her mild irritation was emphasized by the increased pressing of buttons that clicked in his ear.

"If I had the time I'd play more but I've just had a ton of work to do as of late; sucks since I wanted to get back and beat some old games that are still on my computer." Michael stated as he continued his work.

"Oh right, you said you were working didn't you..?" Nikki asked.

"Mhmm." He hummed. "Wanna see what I'm working on?" His offer was sudden and for a moment the clicking had stopped.

"You'd show me what you're working on even though you barely know me..?" She asked with a tone of disbelief.

"I wouldn't mind showing you, I show my friend all the time, just gimme a sec." Taking his ear away from the phone, he turned on his camera to share his video. Nikki did the same, her face showing up in the top right corner of his phone. Waving his free hand, he changed the phone's camera to reveal the sketch that he had developed over the past hour. Michael couldn't see it, but he could hear the marvel in her voice as she analyzed the details of the canvas.

"Woah...it's so detailed. And this is just a sketch..?" She asked, sounding as if she was witnessing the creation of an entirely new universe.

"Yeah. I still gotta rough out some more stuff but I'm almost to the lineart-phase. Fun." Michael spoke with a hint of mockery towards the task.

"That looks so good...and you trust me enough to show that to me..? Aren't you like...I dunno...scared I'd take your idea..?" She questioned.

"What? No I don't think that at all; you seem like a trustworthy girl when I met you." Michael responded, keeping the camera on the canvas as he continued to work with purely his left hand.

All Nikki did was sit and watch him draw. As much as she wanted to concentrate on what he was doing, the fresh words in her head coaxed her to respond. "Trustworthy..? Haven't heard someone call me that before…"

She didn't see it, but Michael cocked an eyebrow at her statement, and judging by the tone of her voice, she wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Well, you stayed at the club didn't you? Even though your friend had that outburst saying 'bye'?" Michael questioned.

Nikki was used to Audrey's explosive farewells at this point to the point where she was numb to her berations and various screeches. "So? I could've left any time that I wanted…"

"And yet you stayed." Michael continued. "You even helped her back to her place. I'd be happy to have a pretty trustworthy and dependable friend like that."

He could hear Nikki huff sarcastically at his words. "At least someone's grateful…" Her words were more of a murmur; just barely audible enough for him to hear. Things fell silent once again after that. It wasn't because Michael had nothing left to say to carry the conversation, but he wanted to let his words sink in a little bit before speaking. The silence wasn't awkward, at least to him, but for Nikki it was beyond pain.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Nikki felt the need to say something to catch the man's attention so she just went with whatever was on her mind. "Hey, is it fine if I ask you something?" Michael perked up when she droned, reminding him that they were on a phone call.

"Oh-Sorry, got in the zone for a second...Sure; what's your question..?" Michael was all ears, signified by ceasing the movements of his pen for the moment, giving Nikki his full attention.

"So I've been thinking, and be honest, why'd you come up to me initially?" She asked.

"Honestly..? You looked like you weren't having a good time so I thought I'd help you loosen up...with some encouragement from my friend." Michael couldn't help but mention Haric since he was the main reason why he met Nikki in the first place.

"So your friend told you to come up to me? Cause that's what I'm hearing…" She was starting to sound a little let down which signalled Mikey to think fast to recover the situation.

"No..! I wanted to come up to you, but I'm just not used to approaching people so my friend literally put me next to you as a kick in my butt." He quickly clarified, not wanting Nikki to feel as if Mikey was forced to talk to her. Taking a second to recollect himself, Michael added a little something else to make Nikki's mood swing from negative to positive. Time to take another risk!

"And I-I would be lying if I didn't think you were cute standing there…" He winced in anticipation of Nikki's response.

"Oh...wow…" She was caught off guard by that additional statement, a warm pink fading onto her cheeks. "I don't think anyone's ever said that to me before…" She mentioned.

Michael shook his head in disbelief, there was no way that she wasn't given a compliment from a guy that tried to approach her before! "Really..? I thought you would've been approached by tons of guys that complimented you."

"Yyyeah I don't think that'd be the case since I'm...you know...introverted?" Nikki being an introvert made sense with how she acted when they were at the club, and even now with how she spoke in a cold and cautious manner; she wasn't really well-versed in social situations like this.

"Mhm, I get you one-hundred percent." Michael agreed, having fully stopped working at this point to focus on talking with the blue-haired girl that was on the other side of the screen.

"You're an introvert too, I'm guessing..? How're you so good at talking with people then..?" She asked with a hint of jealousy towards Michael's seemingly natural affinity to being social.

"I wing it most of the time and hope it works." He answered, leaning back in his seat. Flipping the camera back around, Nikki was granted the sight of the blonde man that had a pair of black headphones resting on his head. "Even though my friend has the tendency of pulling me out to different events more often than not, I just say whatever comes to my head." He explained.

"You wing it..? Lucky for you then. Mostly when someone approaches me I ignore them or tell them to screw off." She shared, making Michael's lips curl into a small grin.

"Like you tried to do with me?" He asked. It was faint, but Michael could see a small blush of embarrassment grace the girl's pale visage.

"Kind of…" She looked away as she sat back in her own chair, lifting a hand to try and hide the blush on her face before muttering under her breath. "Sorry…" It was barely audible to him, but he smiled regardless, even going so far as to chuckle.

"That's cute…" He teased. Nikki's eyes darted to look at her camera and he could've sworn that he saw a bigger blush show up on the woman's face as he uttered those words. Michael didn't bother holding back his laughter, coming to enjoy the reactions the introverted blue-haired lady showed him.

Their conversation carried on into the night; topics bouncing from the wonders of video games to the different events and situations their social-hungry friends pulled them into. Eventually their conversations moved slowly towards art, and Michael began giving Nikki tips on drawing and how to improve; he even guided her with a pencil and paper of his own. Like most good things however, it ended once Michael's eyes gazed at the clock.

"Oh-Jesus the time..!" Michael was startled by the sight of the time; it was already so early into the morning. Nikki knew based on his reaction what was coming next, so she spoke up.

"It's pretty late huh?" She said, scribbling her pencil up and down on her sheet of loose-leaf until it took on the shape of an abstract object.

"Yeah it is…" Michael's answer was evident of what was coming next. "I'd love to keep talking with you Nikki, but I have to get some sleep while I can." He sounded as if he didn't want to hurt the girl, but she knew what the time was and shared the same sleepy sentiment.

"Me too...I feel I'm gonna pass out." She said before letting out a soft yawn, setting her pencil down to stretch herself out.

"Okay then; If you want we can talk like this again later." Michael offered.

"Oh yeah, definitely…" She spoke, the excitement mixed with sleepiness encouraged Michael to finish things quick before they fell asleep without hanging up.

"Okay then; sleep well Nikki..!" Michael waved his hand into the camera. Nikki replied with another yawn as she spoke.

"Night…" She yawned before they hung up.

Michael sighed, standing up from his seat and stretching his compressed spine out as Kyu turned off the tv.

"Sounds like you had a good talk." Kyu commented, floating off of his bed as Michael removed his glasses and drawing glove, moving to the soft sanctuary of his mattress.

"Yep...Better than I thought." Michael said as he looked to Kyu.

"Would you mind ducking out..? I wanna get to bed…" Kyu looked at him with crossed arms and a cheeky smile on her face.

"Awww, you don't want me to tuck you in after a hard-days work?" She joked.

"Please...I'll tuck YOU in if you don't leave…" He threatened, only to be met with a chuckle by the love-fairy.

"Impatient hm? You gotta take me out on some dates first before I let you taste this fairy." She said.

Michael scoffed at her reply, rolling his eyes. "Ugh, I said tuck; not fuck-Nevermind. I'm going to bed…" He said before marching to the side of his bed whilst shedding his shirt, not caring anymore. The love-fairy relented, being so gracious as to turn off his desk lamp before leaving.

"Alright, get some rest man. You deserve it." She told him. Waving her hand, she disappeared in a puff of light before leaving Michael in darkness.

"Mmh...That fairy is something else…" Michael would murmur as he stripped out of the rest of his afternoon clothes and slipped under his covers. His eyelids were failing him as he slowly drifted to sleep, awaiting what tomorrow had to offer.

Author's Note: Hey there again! Welcome to the end of the chapter! So I forgot to tell you all this, but I took a small break from writing to recharge because I was pretty much working on this story at some point during each day. But I'm back at it!

As always, feel free to let me know how you're liking the story so far! Make sure to have yourselves a good rest of your day!