The two had spent the rest of the day together. Ethan loved it, being able to spend time with another person, not over the internet. He really enjoyed showing the Irishman around town too, his reactions to many things were... well, it was as if he'd never seen something like it before.

And coffee, Jack couldn't seem to get enough of it. And Ethan was happy to provide as much as he could with his limited amount of money. He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Jack's eyes go wide over a little plush dog he found at the mall.

"You want it?" he asked, smiling lightly. Jack's eyes traveled up to his face. His face was filled with confusion. Ethan pointed to the dog, lifting it into his hands and holding it out to Jack, "You want the dog? We can get it if you'd like."

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that! You've already bought me enough already!" Ethan chuckled, still holding out the dog to the other man.

"Come on, it's not any more expensive than you're coffee."

"Bu-but, I really don't need the dog. It's not needed, so it's not worth buying," Jack's voice sounded more like he was repeating something than actually stating his thoughts. Ethan just shook his head and kept the dog in his hands.

"Let's go pay, then. We've got everything we need from this place anyways," he said, very purposefully not putting the dog back. Jack obviously liked it. And it also seemed the guy hadn't gotten much of what he wanted, or liked, during his lifetime.

"Aren't you going to put the dog back?"

"Nope."

...

Anti was taken by the small dog toy immediately. It was small and soft, and very cute. But he knew he couldn't have it, so he stared at it for a few moments, imagining what it would be like to have the pleasure of being able to get whatever one wanted.

And then Ethan was talking to him, asking him if he wanted the dog. And of course he did, but he wouldn't. Ethan had already bought him two of those coffee things. He wasn't risking asking for a third thing.

"Come on, it's not any more expensive than you're coffee."

"Bu-but, I really don't need the dog. It's not needed, so it's not worth buying," Anti repeated what he'd been told by Dark for as long as he could remember. Get the necessities. We don't get what we want, it's not worth it. It'll be too much, and we'll end up getting less of what we need.

"Let's go pay, then. We've got everything we need from this place anyways," blue hair said, tucking the dog into a space in the cart that held food and drink. Anti blinked a few times, before opening his mouth in confusion.

"Aren't you going to put the dog back?"

"Nope," Anti frowned and trailed Ethan like a confused puppy.

"But it's money..." he trailed off, hoping Ethan would come to his senses. He knew Ethan didn't have much money to be spending. He should be focused on buying the needs for himself, not the little things Jack wanted.

"I know, but it's literally a buck fifty. It's not much since it's only the one. Besides, you want it, right? So, I'm being nice and giving you something you want." Ethan said as they made their way to the cash register. The cashier looked at them strangely, especially since Anti kept complaining about Ethan really not needing to buy the dog. It's just a toy, he doesn't need it. It's okay, he can leave it. And Ethan was just shaking his head fondly!

When Ethan had paid for everything, including the dog, he turned to him with a smile. He had the dog held in his hand, now outstretched to Anti.

"Go on, it's yours now," he said, his voice sweet. And not the silky sweet that Dark tended to use on his various victims, nor the overly sweet voice liars use when they try to make something sound better than it is. No, this was kind, honest.

It made him blush as he reached for the dog and shakily brought it closer to himself. He smiled a little, no one's ever done something like that for me...

"You two are a cute couple," the cashier said with a smile. Anti's head tilted in confusion at the final word, and he noticed from the corner of his eye that Ethan was blushing hard.

"Oh, no, no. We're not- we aren't- no. He's just a friend- I" Anti decided to cut off Ethan's blubbering. A couple is when to people do out together, right? Well, we're two people, and we're out together... Why is he saying no?

"Why are you saying no?" Anti said suddenly, blushing as he did so because he hadn't meant to say it out loud. Yet, anyways, "We're going out together, aren't we?" he tilted his head a little as Ethan's head shook a bit.

"Oh, Jack... you have so much to learn, you little potato," Ethan said, laughing awkwardly afterward. Then, Ethan flashed a small smile to the cashier, grabbed Anti's hand, and pulled him from the store.

"Why did you say we weren't together? We are, aren't we?"

"Jack, by saying we were a cute couple, the cashier thought we were together, together." Anti's face remained blank. He was confused, weren't they together? They'd been in there together, walking around together, "They thought we were a couple. Like, dating."

Anti's eyes widened, he knew that word and knew it was definitely not what he was doing with Ethan. Maybe he did want- no, he didn't need to. That would just cause unnecessary complications. He barely knew the man. He was going to kill him! ...Probably... Maybe...

"O-oh," he said, blushing. He saw Ethan nod his head, a blush lighting up his face too. It's kinda cute- NO. No more distractions! You're going to stay and toy with this guy a few extra days, kill him, and go back to the house.

He subtly nodded to himself at his plan. He could do that. He just... had to keep himself from getting attached. Just because he's the first being to treat him the way he was treating him... it didn't mean he could get attached.

He smiled a little to himself, though, noticing Ethan was still holding his hand. He didn't mention it though, and instead, he gave it a small squeeze before he saw something glittering in a store window and pulled Ethan behind him.

In his mini-rush to get to the store window, he missed the other guy walking towards them. Or, he did, until said guy ended up ramming into his side, hard. Anti was knocked to the ground, Ethan toppling on top of him.

The stranger looked at the pair, disgusted, noting their entwined hands.

"Faggots," he said, with a roll of his eyes before walking off. Ethan rolled his eyes in response, flipping the bird towards the guy. Anti tried to get up but ended up gritting his teeth and flopping back down. In all the excitement, he'd forgotten about his side area.

"Ghaaahhhh, fock..." he mumbled, slipping his hand under his shirt. The hole that'd been there earlier had closed up majorly, but he could still slip his fingers into it. When he pulled his hand away, his fingers were covered in blood. He was pretty sure the guy's elbow had pierced the area, so to speak.

"Oh holy mother of shit," Anti looked up, wiping his hand on the inside of his shirt so it wouldn't be seen. Ethan's face was pale, and his hands were immediately on his side, "Did he stab you or something?! Jeezums, you've got a hole in your side!"

"...Yeah, no. He didn't stab me, he just irritated the wound is all. Must've bumped it with his shoulder or something," he said, giving Ethan a look that said he was fine. Though he didn't remove the others hands.

"So you're telling me you've had a hole in your side this entire time?! How could you not tell me? How are you not screaming in pain? Cause lemme tell ya, if that was me, I would not be moving, my gods," Ethan spoke fast, his eyes widening a little. Anti figured this was his way of calming down a little, though he didn't understand what he was freaking out about. It was just a little hole...

"Yes... sure, that's what I'm telling you. It's better now though, it was much bigger when we were at ho- at your place," he said monotonously. He cursed himself for almost calling it 'home'. It wasn't home, it could never be home, because he didn't, and would never, have a home. It wasn't supposed to be a part of his life, and it never would be.

"WHAT?!"

...

Jack was pouting and crossing his arms on the couch. Ethan couldn't help but find it adorable as he walked in with some gauze and medicine. He had some liquid disinfectant stuff for the wound too.

"Okay, now you're going to sit still while I patch this up. And don't give me that 'I can heal quickly, it'll be fine by morning' bullshit. Even if I did believe you, which, quite frankly, I don't, I still wouldn't let you even think about going to bed with an open wound."

He could practically feel Jack rolling his eyes at him. He didn't care, and instead, he handed the puppy toy to him, before taking the cap off the disinfectant, "This might hurt a little," he explained.

He then began to pour the medicine across the wound, which was a small hole in Jack's side that was about the size of a quarter. He couldn't help but wonder how, or where, Jack got it.

"I was in a fight, the guy was powerful. What'd you expect?" Ethan blinked up at Jack.

"How did you-"

"You looked curious, and you were staring at it."

"...oh." Ethan blushed lightly, before focusing back on his task of fixing the other male pouting like a child on his couch. He shook his head and continued trying to clean the fucking hole in Jacks side, like holy fuck why is he not freaking out?!

When he finished, Ethan pulled back with a sigh. He looked at his work and smiled proudly to himself. That looks pretty good! I think I did a good job at the bandages... He looked up at Jack's face still smiling. The green haired man was blushing lightly, staring at him with wide eyes.

"What?" he asked, confused by the look he was receiving.

"D-do you have any idea how close you were?!" Ethan chuckled, Jack's voice was coming out like a little squeak and it was adorable. He shook his head as Jack started moving his hands close together and moving them around where Ethan's head was all the while squeaking and making other confused yet cute noises.

"You're adorable."

"...w-what?" Shit. I said that out loud.

"U-uh, I mean-"

"You think I'm adorable?!" Jack's face was as red as a balloon, his voice was... confused, squeaky, and surprised. Ethan chuckled some more and nodded his head, he shifted closer to Jack and patted his floofy green hair.

"Yup. Adorable," Jack looked at him with wide eyes, but... it was almost as if his skin was... moving? All of a sudden Jack went really, really pale, "Are you alright-"

"I- I have to go to the bathroom," Jack's voice stuttered, and he practically launched himself from the couch to the bathroom door.

"Be careful! You could make your wound bigger!" Ethan called after Jack, staying at his spot on the couch. He didn't think much of it, It's probably just his wound bothering him a bit, or maybe he just REALLY has to go...