Marhinki: Contact

Chapter Three

Mari woke up to light filtering through the window above the couch. She smiled, cuddling further into her pillow and pulling her blanket around her—feeling well rested for once. But she only enjoyed her sleepy euphoria for about 10 seconds before she remembered the events of the past few days. She blinked a few times, the peaceful calm in her stomach being replaced with a deep pit of stress. She groaned, sitting up a little and realized she was alone. Sohinki must've gotten up before her, and just as she was thinking that, she heard him whistling from the kitchen, probably making breakfast. She leaned over towards the coffee table to grab her phone, which was now charging-Sohinki must've plugged it in for her. She grabbed her phone and sighed. She didn't know what she did to deserve a friend like him; he was just so completely good and sweet. It almost annoyed her because she didn't know how she could ever pay him back for being such an awesome friend. She checked the time, "10:23". D*mn, she'd slept late, no wonder she felt so well rested. Sohinki then attempted to sing along to the music he'd been listening to and Mari smiled and sat up, slowly walking towards the kitchen so he wouldn't hear her. She leaned against the doorway and watched him singing and dancing around the kitchen.

"Hot d*mn," she said, grinning. He jumped, almost dropping the pan he was holding, but recovered quickly and cleared his throat. Mari couldn't stop herself from doubling over, laughing.

"G-good morning," he said, running a hand through his hair, trying to salvage whatever dignity he had left. "Scrambled eggs?" He held out the pan towards her, his voice breaking slightly. Her stomach growled and she smiled.

"Oh my god yes." She answered eagerly, still smiling. "But I doubt they'll be better than that concert I just got to see." He blushed and laughed, embarrassed.

"I'm thinking of leaving my Youtube career to be a professional singer, actually." He laughed, serving eggs up onto two plates.

"Yeah, I think you missed your calling with video games," she replied, "Opera Singer is right up your alley."

"Oh, is that right?" He said, bringing the plates over to his dining table. He pulled out a chair for her and she walked over and sat.

"Mhmm," She answered, smiling brightly at him. He handed her a fork and gave her coffee and they sat down to eat. She'd forgotten how good he was at cooking—even freaking scrambled eggs. She knew they were almost impossible to mess up but he made them seem like a stupid gourmet meal. Everything he did was just so nice, and she never really noticed it that much until now. She started eating the eggs quickly.

"Woah, slow down there, you'll get sick," Sohinki laughed, sipping his coffee.

"But it's SO good," Mari groaned, sitting back. But she did slow down, figuring he was probably right. "How do you know how to cook so well? Every time I try I practically burn my house down." She reached for her coffee and pulled her legs up onto her chair, sitting criss-crossed.

"I don't know," he shrugged, and then smiled at her, "I mean, it's true art, mastery, you'd have to be an expert like me to understand." He took a bite and looked at her smugly. Mari rolled her eyes.

"Oh, really?" She asked.

"It takes years of practice." He answered, and laughed a little, "But maybe tomorrow I can attempt to show you how to make the best chocolate chip pancakes in the world."

"Are you sure I'd be able to handle that?" She asked, her voice filled with sarcasm.

"I mean I can try," he replied, "no promises though." They laughed and there was a moment of silence when Sohinki took another swig of coffee. Mari realized that he had essentially just invited her to stay another night. Not that she didn't love being at his house, but she felt bad about staying—she didn't want to be annoying. But she felt awkward asking him about it. She decided it was too much to think about and tried to push anything that wasn't happening at that moment out of her mind. They talked more and finished up breakfast.

A couple hours later, they'd both gotten dressed and ready for the day because they had to go into the office. Wes had called Sohinki, saying Lasercorn couldn't make it in today but would probably be back tomorrow. Sohinki wasn't worried, or at least he had convinced Mari he wasn't, but Mari was unable to contain how worried she was.

"I just don't fucking get it," She murmured, while trying to braid her hair. Sohinki sighed and shrugged and Mari gave up with her hair and just threw it into a ponytail. She sighed and sat down on the couch, rubbing her temples. Sohinki plopped down next to her.

"Hey," he said, bumping his shoulder against hers, "everything's gonna be okay, alright?" She looked at him, annoyed.

"Sohinki, you don't know that! Ugh, why the f*ck are you so calm?" She said exasperatedly, crossing her arms and leaning back into the couch.

"'Cause getting worked up about it doesn't help anything." He answered, patting her knee. She rolled her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest, annoyed at how he'd suddenly become so "all-knowing" and philosophical.

"Being calm doesn't either." She snapped, moving her knee away from his hand. She irritatedly looked away for a second and noticed the blanket she'd used last night was on the ground. She picked it up and sighed, immediately feeling guilty for snapping at him. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed…nothing's going right. I couldn't even get my damn hair right," She laughed, not really caring but wanting to lighten up the situation. "I just want things to be back to normal." She sighed, resting her chin on her hand. He looked at her, trying to smile but feeling troubled.

"You know, you can go back home," he said carefully, wanting to say everything just the right way, "I mean you can stay as long as you need, but I don't want you to feel obligated to stay. You can go back and have everything go back to normal with Peter—"

"No, no Sohinki," she interrupted quickly, "that's not what I meant. I just mean with Lasercorn and…I don't really know what else I meant. I just want things to feel less stressful I guess." She paused, looking at her hands. She took a deep breath and looked up at him, "But no, I don't wanna leave at all. I just really like being here with you." He smiled at her and she returned it.

"Well then, you're welcome for as long as you want." Just then he looked down and saw his phone on the table. "Shit, we gotta go, we're late!" They stood up quickly and ran out to his car, laughing. They knew that being late wasn't a huge deal, but

they were supposed to be there five minutes ago.

When they finally got there, they encountered a somewhat pissy Jovenshire. Sohinki quickly looked at Mari and they exchanged a look of "oops".

"Where've you guys been? We were supposed to start GTS like twenty minutes ago." Joven asked, pushing his glasses up.

"Sorry Joven, we just got stuck in traffic." Sohinki answered, taking off his jacket and sitting down at his computer.

"Sorry Jovie." Mari said, logging on to her computer and putting her bag down. Joven stood by the door still for a second, and Mari could practically see the gears turning in his head as he thought. She looked at him, eyebrows raised. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said walking towards his desk. Sohinki raised an eyebrow, knowing he wouldn't just stop there. He stopped walking then and turned back towards them. "Okay it's just—" Sohinki groaned, annoyed. Joven ignored him. "It's just why did you come together?" Mari blinked, she hadn't thought about that seeming weird. There was a brief pause and Sohinki looked at Mari, unsure of how much she wanted to let other people know.

"Oh, Peter's car wasn't working so he took mine to work," Mari covered quickly, trying to sound convincing. "So I just asked Sohinki to give me a ride since we were going to the same place and all." Sohinki smiled at her and she smiled back and Joven just looked back and forth between them.

"Well, oookay. " He said sounding dissatisfied but sitting down. Sohinki rolled his eyes and Mari giggled a little. They could tell Joven was suspicious but they were saved by Wes walking in the door, carrying a plastic bag.

"So you guys finally showed up," Wes said plopping down into his chair and logging onto his computer.

"Well, look who's talking! Where were you?" Mari retorted playfully, leaning over her desk and resting her chin on her hand. Wes looked at her and grinned.

"So I take it you don't want the food I brought you guys?" He said, lifting the plastic bag. Mari instantly perked up and went over to Wes. He opened up the bag and showed her what he had brought.

"Yes! Fries," Mari said happily and Wes grinned at her, handing them to her. She thanked him and went back over to her desk and curled up in her chair.

"Sohinki?" Wes asked, offering him some food.

"No thanks, we—um, I just ate." Sohinki said, trying to sound normal and nonchalant and quickly put his headphones on to avoid further conversation. "Lets get started."

"Someone's eager to start," said Wes, but let it go, putting his own headphones on. Joven looked at Sohinki, still suspicious.

"How're you liking your pink cars, Jovie?" Mari asked, trying to distract him and get started on the GTS episode.

"They're growing on me. I AM THE PINK PANTHER!" Joven yelled, getting into his car and driving around. The rest of them all groaned together.

"Please let this not become a thing." Wes said.

"Make this a thing!" Joven said to the camera, "Start #Jovenisthepinkpanther!"

"Oh god," Mari laughed.

"No one start that." Sohinki said, pointing his finger at the camera. Wes leaned into the back of Sohinki's camera frame and mimicked his serious pointing. They messed around on GTA for a while and eventually finished filming. They all got up and grabbed their things and decided to go out to lunch. As they were walking out to Joven's car, Mari searched through her purse.

"You've been looking in there for like an hour Mari," Wes said curiously. She finally stopped and zipped it up, pouting.

"I left my wallet at Soh—home." She said, crossing her arms and hoping that she covered herself. She got a weird look from Joven but Sohinki looked at her and smiled.

"Hey it's fine, I can spot you." He offered. She immediately perked up.

"No, are you sure?" She asked, not wanting to take more from him but was seriously hungry. He nodded and shrugged, he didn't think it was a big deal. "Thanks Sohinki, I'll pay you back!" She gave him a quick hug before she got into the backseat of Joven's car. After a moment Sohinki sat next to her, seeming somewhat out of it. Joven and Wes looked at them and then at each other. Eventually Wes shrugged and they both got in the car. They decided to go to a nearby Taco Bell, just because it was convenient and quick. The entire drive there Sohinki and Mari tried to kick each other in the backseat while Wes watched, half-amused, half-annoyed. If he hadn't noticed that something was going on with them before, Wes totally saw it now. It confused him, just because he could tell that it seemed a bit too friendly. Especially since he knew Mari was with Peter and Sohinki had been with someone else not too long ago… But he decided to not overthink it, and told himself that Mari and Sohinki always act this way—they're just playing around as friends. Still, he couldn't totally convince himself. And he could tell that Joven was annoyed from the way his ears were red and how he was gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly. But they headed out to lunch, and got back to the office without major issues.

When Sohinki and Mari finally made it back to his house, it was around 7 at night. They walked in the house, laughing over the fact that some guy had parked in front of Sohinki's house and he'd had essentially drive over his entire lawn to get into the driveway.

"Excuse me, let me just park my big-ass truck right in front of your driveway, 'cause I'm a douche." Mari said in a deep voice, flexing her muscles. Sohinki laughed and they walked into the house. Sohinki went to get a glass of water.

"Do you want anything to eat?" He asked her, calling from the kitchen.

"I'm fine!" She answered, she knew they were going to get dinner soon. She went over to the couch and plopped down, plugging her phone into the outlet next to it. It had been dead for about three hours, so she'd been disconnected form social media for too long. Immediately when it turned back on she got a notification. "SIX MISSED CALLS FROM: Peter". She groaned and put her phone face down on the coffee table. She hadn't thought about him all day and now stress was bubbling up again in her stomach. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands.

"Wait Mari, remember when Joven—" Sohinki started, walking out of the kitchen. He stopped, looking at the way she was sitting. He went over and sat next to her. There was a brief pause because he didn't know what to do. Finally he gently put his arm around her waist. "Are you alright?" He asked sweetly, his voice so sincere it made Mari want to hug him. But she just shook her head a little and leaned her head on his shoulder. He felt dumb for asking, but he just wanted her to feel better. He stroked the back of her head a little and her hair was really soft. He sighed and pulled her a little closer. She looked up at him and they looked at each other for a few moments before Mari awkwardly bit her lip and looked down. She buried her face in his chest, wanting everything to just be okay. He rubbed her back gently in circular motions. He hated that she was upset but he loved that she was here with him. He wanted to hold her tighter, to get rid of all her pain, to gently lift her chin up and tuck her hair behind her ear… He sighed again and pulled away from her, standing up. He walked a few feet away from the couch, scratching the back of his head. This wasn't right. He wasn't being the friend he needed to be for her. But he couldn't help it. She was making him feel…weird. Granted, he'd noticed it before but never this much. Everything about her was pulling him in and he loved it—but he knew it was wrong, especially when she was so vulnerable.

"Um…is everything okay?" Mari asked, looking at him. She was worried, and was trying to figure out what she did wrong to make him leave. "Did I do something—"

"No. No you didn't I promise…it's just I…" Sohinki started, not sure what to say next. He shook his head and exhaled heavily, turning away from her. He couldn't put what he was feeling into words, every time he tried it sounded too jumbled or cheesy in his head.

"Just what?" Mari asked softly, sitting on the edge of the couch. She was concerned now, she didn't know if she'd done something to upset him or hurt him or if he was just not okay. "I'm sorry."

"Please don't say that." Sohinki groaned, rubbing his forehead. He felt especially guilty now that he saw that he was upsetting Mari. She didn't need more stress and he was creating it. "Look, I'm just really tired and still… still worried about Lasercorn. And I just thought about it randomly and I wonder if he's okay…" He rambled on a little bit, making it up as he went, hoping he was being convincing.

"Oh." Mari said, completely unconvinced—she could tell he was lying from the way the he got really fidgety. But even though she didn't think that Lasercorn was really Sohinki's issue, it made her feel anxious about the situation anyway. "Yeah, I'm worried about him too." She looked down at her hands in her lap and tried to keep herself together. Everything was just going so wrong. There was a long silence as Mari thought about Lasercorn and Sohinki tried to figure out what to do next.

"Hey Mari?" Sohinki said gently, wanting to diffuse the situation.

"Yeah?" She answered, looking up at him, her eyes red.

"I think we're really tired from the last couple of days and should just go to sleep." She looked down at her hands again and nodded slowly but looked uneasy about it. He could tell something was wrong so he walked back over to her and sat on the coffee table in front of her. "What is it?" He asked softly.

"It's just…" She refused to meet his gaze because she felt embarrassed. "It's just I've been having recurring nightmares recently and I don't really wanna go to bed…like last night was fine 'cause you were there but…" He blinked and it took him a moment to figure out that she was asking him to fall asleep with her again. He knew she meant it completely platonically but it made him uncomfortable because he didn't know if it would feel completely platonic to him… But nonetheless, he knew that she needed him so he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Alright," he sighed, "well you don't have to be alone, I can fall asleep with you out here." Nodding to the couch. Mari then bit her lip and scratched the back of her head.

"I was wondering…" She started, looking up at him slowly, "if maybe we could sleep in your bed?" Sohinki looked up at her, surprised. What? He thought. This girl is trying to kill me. She smiled a little at him, "Well it's just that the couch's a little cramped and your bed is huge so…" She trailed off. Sohinki debated it in his head a little. Now he felt extremely uncomfortable because it was one thing to fall asleep with you friend on the couch like they were kids at a sleepover but it was something completely different to fall asleep together in his bed. Half of him knew it was completely wrong and that Mari was probably just not thinking clearly and that he should just firmly say no. But the other half of him told him that it was fine—they were just friends and Mari was just being logical since the bed was bigger. Eventually, the second half won out.

"I think that makes sense." Sohinki said slowly, only making eye contact with her after he said it. They held each other's gazes for a few seconds before Sohinki finally looked down. Mari smiled at him.

"Thanks Sohinki," she murmured, leaning forward to gently touch his knee. She didn't know what she was doing. It was as if she had this part inside of her that allowed her to think about what she was doing and the consequences and she'd just shut it off. After dealing with the stress of the past few days, she just couldn't think anymore, she just wanted to do whatever she wanted. For right now, she just wanted to have fun with her friend because she loved him. She saw no harm in falling asleep together, comfortably in his giant-ass bed. She didn't want to think of anything that could be bad about it, so she didn't.

"No problem," He answered and shrugged, looking down at her hand on his knee. He looked up at her when she pulled her hand away. He felt so…tense. It was normal, he usually felt so loose and comfortable around her. Now, he almost felt nervous, like he was doing something he shouldn't be. He cleared his throat and his stomach growled, extremely loudly. Mari laughed—and God did he love her laugh. It was so contagious, he immediately started to laugh too and suddenly all the tension was gone. He sighed and smiled at her, feeling less awkward, "Do you wanna get some food?" he asked.

"Hell yes." She answered, feeling like she was glowing. He made her so happy and she knew she didn't deserve his kindness, but she loved it anyway. He was everything she needed and wanted and being around him made her so happy… He got up to get his phone from the kitchen to call in food. "Hey Sohinki?" She called out. She felt silly and loose because she was just so damn tired and on the verge of a mental breakdown from stress.

"Yeah?" He answered, poking his head around the doorway from the kitchen.

"You make me almost as happy as food as food makes me." She said, a look of complete seriousness on her face. They paused for a couple of seconds before both breaking out in laughter.

"Jesus Christ Mari, you really are hungry and tired." Sohinki said, trying to control his laughter.

"What can I say?" She answered, leaning back and stretching her arms out across the back of the couch, "I'm the package deal."

"Sounds like it." Sohinki laughed and Mari smiled at him. He disappeared into the kitchen again for about 5 seconds before he reappeared in the doorway. "Hey Mari?"

"What?" She replied, sitting up and rubbing her back.

"You make me almost as happy as Dota makes me." He murmured, copying her total seriousness. They broke out into laughter again to the point where Mari was wiping tears from her eyes.

"That's how you know its true happiness," she said, still somewhat crying from laughter, "If it gets anywhere near Dota." They kept laughing for a while and Sohinki made it over to couch and sat next to her. They found it funnier than they normally would just due to sheer exhaustion and the relief of tension it brought. They finally calmed down enough for Sohinki to order food and to try to find something to watch while they were waiting for food.

"No more scary movies," Sohinki insisted and Mari rolled her eyes, laughing, playing it off that she didn't care. Really she hated the idea of watching a scary movie so she secretly thanked him for being so sweet. Noticing that she had goosebumps all over her legs, he draped a blanket over them and lazily threw his arm over the back of the couch behind Mari. She cuddled into his shoulder a little bit, and he rubbed her arm aimlessly. He told himself that she was just cold, and that friends cuddle all the time, it totally wasn't weird at all.

"Hey Sohinki?" Mari started, just saying what she was thinking without any sort of filter, "I really really lo—" But she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. "Um I really really love food." She finished slowly and unsurely.

"Well, that's good timing then." Sohinki said smiling, and got up to get the door. Mari stayed seated on the couch, trying to organize her thoughts. She wasn't just about to tell him that she loved him, right? Or even if she was, it was just as friends…right? It had to be, there was nothing between them, it was only friendship. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind and stood up, stretching. She went into the kitchen for a glass of water as Sohinki brought the food in. "Alrighty, let's eat." He said.