Micah unlocked the door and stepped inside his apartment, greeted immediately by the warmth of home— the scent of coffee, vanilla, and something vaguely burnt. Someone had tried to cook. Someone had failed.
But the real sight that stopped him in his tracks was the love fest on the couch.
Elle was sprawled across Rosa's lap, her head tucked comfortably against her stomach. Rosa twirled lazy fingers through Elle's hair, her other arm draped over Genesis, who was pressing slow, affectionate kisses to the side of Rosa's neck.
Walking in on the three of them utterly tangled in each other had become commonplace for him now. And, aside from the few close calls when he always saw them getting… too handsy… he didn't mind it. His friends were happy, constantly wrapped in that kind of effortless intimacy that he couldn't even begin to understand.
Still, a sharp and uninvited pant hit him.
He didn't even know what to call it— longing? Envy? Sadness? It was ridiculous, especially when he was the one who ended things with Damian. Sure, it had been necessary for him. But lazy afternoon cuddles were nice and he could use some right now.
He shook the feeling off, dropped his keys onto the drawer next to the door, and deadpanned,
"Oh, great. Lesbians in high definition. Exactly what I wanted to walk into after a long day."
Rosa didn't even look up as she flipped him off. "Close the door before the straight people see us."
Elle laughed from her spot on Rosa's lap, her fingers idly tracing patterns over Rosa's thigh. "I don't think we have anything to worry about, love."
Genesis finally glanced over, her smirk easy and knowing. "I dunno, Micah. Maybe if you stayed home more, you'd get some cuddles, too."
Micah rolled his eyes. "Well, unlike you three, I have school."
Rosa hummed. "Drop out, join the circus."
Micah just shook his head, closed the door, and moved past them into the kitchen. He wasn't really hungry, but he was trying to avoid the death spiral of staying in his room and eating nothing. Eating was a necessary step for survival or whatever and lord knows he'd be cringing in the afterlife if he died of starvation when he had the means to feed himself.
Also, he needed a reason to get his mind off things. Needed something to focus on, something to keep himself from thinking too hard about anything that actually mattered. Can't watch your life implode when you're chewing on a slice of pizza.
His classes today had been… fine. He was rusty in figure drawing. There were talks about partnering with the animation department for their senior project, and Micah was already regretting not befriending more animation students when he had the chance.
But he'd deal with that later.
Right now, he needed food.
Genesis had peeled herself off the couch and followed him, leaning against the counter as she watched him rummage through the fridge. She was wearing an oversized sweater and pixelated heart socks, looking way too cozy for someone who was about to annoy the hell out of him.
Micah grabbed the carton of orange juice and drank straight from it.
Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Straight from the source. Classy."
He shrugged, taking another sip. "What are you, the juice police?"
She glared at him before snatching the carton from his hands and taking a sip herself, completely unfazed.
"So," she said, wiping her mouth, "you spent an awful lot of time on campus today. Longer than usual."
Micah grabbed a Tupperware of leftover pasta and shit the fridge with his hip. "Yeah, that tends to happen when you're given a shit ton of assignments."
Genesis clearly didn't buy it. She narrowed her eyes. "Come on, where were you?"
Good question. He'd wandered around aimlessly for a while after classes, smelling the mossy air, people watching. He had the intense longing to just be and home didn't feel like a good place for it at the time.
He shrugged. "Out. Touching grass. Being a well-adjusted member of society."
"Translation: avoiding your feelings."
Micah froze, the microwave door halfway open.
For half a second, he considered denying it. But then he just sighed, put the pasta in and shut the door. The buttons beeped as he pressed in the input.
"I'm not foolish enough to cry over the boyfriend I broke up with three—four?—days ago."
Genesis folded her arms, watching him carefully. "Maybe you should cry about it," she said softly. "I can tell you're hurting."
Micah was hurting.
But not for the reasons she probably thought.
He didn't regret breaking up with Damian. It didn't feel like he'd broken his heart and it was a necessary step. Ignoring Callum was an equally necessary step. He had school, dreams and a fucking expiration date. He didn't need two wolves circling him like he was a carcass already.
He exhaled sharply. "Aren't we all?"
Genesis tilted her head. "You know I know about the whole reincarnation thing, right?"
Micah should care more. But he didn't.
"Yeah?"
"Callum told me after he almost lost himself in a club."
That sounded like a story worth hearing, but Micah pretended to be nonchalant. "So you understand why I can't be with either of them right now."
"I understand that watching them box in a club on your birthday wasn't ideal but…" Genesis' gaze softened. "You're running away, Micah."
"Yes!" His voice rose sharply, surprising even himself. "Yes, I'm running away! Because I don't have a lot of time left and I don't want to die without having accomplished anything."
"Hey! Don't yell at my girlfriend!" Rosa reprimanded from the living room. Elle's voice followed soon after, "Yeah, Micah. That was uncalled for."
Genesis called, "It's fine, loves!" Micah bit his tongue.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"It's fine," she repeated to him. Her eyes held no resentment, no annoyance. It only made him feel worse.
"Look, I just don't want to focus on relationships right now," he says carefully. "Especially not with those two. I just… I have you guys. That's enough."
Genesis offered a gentle smile. "If you say so."
Micah pulled his leftovers out of the microwave, hissing in pain before he reached over to grab a napkin hanging over the handle of the oven. "What about you? I didn't see you go to work today."
"Oh, they gave us a day off because the board is meeting."
Micah thought about Callum—about the fight, the way it had gone viral.
"You think it has anything to do with what happened?"
Genesis shrugged. "Probably."
He muttered, "I hope he's okay."
Callum really didn't have to punch Damian like that. Now Micah couldn't even tell if the man had done it in his defense or if he'd always wanted to pummel Damian.
Genesis raised her chin at him. "What about you? Are you okay?"
Micah shrugged. "The thing with viral videos is they're forgotten when the next big thing comes around. I think some cringe influencer almost shot their dog, so no one cares about me being in the background of that fight. Some people stared a bit longer than usual, though."
Genesis smirked. "Well, you could always come back to Catalyst and avoid going to school entirely."
Micah scrunched his nose. Come back to Catalyst and endure having to deal with the awkwardness of being around Callum? He couldn't handle that right now. "Hard pass."
Genesis grinned. "Worth a shot." Then her gaze suddenly turned contemplative. "If I'm understanding right, wasn't your internship part of your grade for the semester."
"Yup," Micah replied, popping the 'P'.
"And you're not participating in it anymore."
"That is correct."
Genesis raked her fingers through her dyed purple hair, her eyebrows furrowing so low that her forehead gave birth to wrinkles. "So what are you going to do about it?"
That was one of the things Micah was trying not to think about. The internship at Catalyst had been the opportunity of a lifetime. Working at the company that produced the game that saved his life, meeting his hero. He'd loved every second of it. Loved sitting among like minds, firing off ideas and polishing each other's art. Not to mention it was a good prospect for a future job.
He'd worked so hard for it and now…
"Dunno," He shrugged again. He was doing a lot of shrugging today. "I'll talk to my faculty head. See if I can still graduate without a formal internship."
Genesis peered at him. "And if they say no?"
Micah deadpanned without missing a beat, "Then I fake my death and move to Brazil. Heard its beautiful there in the summer."
The joke had its intended effect. Genesis snorted. Micah smiled. "We'll If you need, like… an official letter or something forged, I got you."
"Thanks Gen. Love that you're so quick to commit crimes for me."
Genesis grinned, "What are friends for?"
Micah's heartwarmed at the sentiment. It was still hard to think about her as his friend when she was his superior at work but, the thing about walking in on your ex boss kissing your best friends multiple times is that they started to feel like your friend too.
Even though it was annoying and they really should get a room.
He plated his warm leftover pasta. "Well, if y'all need me to interrupt your three-way cuddle session, I'll be in my room."
His room was a proper mess. Clothes on the chair, a notebook open on his desk, a pile of snack wrappers he should probably throw away.
Micah dropped the plate of food on his desk and flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
His VR headset sat on his desk, but he didn't touch it. Didn't want to risk seeing Callum online.
Sighing, he pulled himself up from bed and headed over to his desk. Flipping open his sketchbook to an empty page, he hunched over and started drawing, designing.
He'd been itching to make a new game. He'd had fun with the first one… until he discovered he was the reincarnated soul of a deadman. Then it was just depressing.
Nevertheless, if Micah really wanted to accomplish something before he died and art and games were all he knew, he'd work on that.
With one hand, he swirled a forkful of spaghetti and put it in his mouth. It tasted gamey but not bad although it had the texture of… oats.
Micah groaned and the first thing that popped into his mind was how Damian always smiled when he groaned in protest, said it made Micah look like an annoyed puppy.
Micah groaned again, slamming his pencil into his desk.
He had a life! He had hobbies! Why couldn't he just do them without thinking about the two men he was actively avoiding.
His phone buzzed and he snatched it up quickly. He glanced over the message, eager to not think about the two men he'd abandoned specifically so they wouldn't dominate his life.
'Congratulations! Your game 'From the Desk of...' has been vetted by our community… We're pleased to inform you that your game holds the number one spot and—'
The scream erupted from the depths of his very soul. "HOLY SHIESTIES!"
Immediately, his door slammed open.
Elle, Rosa, and Genesis stood there, breathing hard like they'd run a marathon.
Genesis sounded frantic, "What happened?"
Elle sounded afraid, "Is anything wrong?"
Rosa sounded like she was ready to beat him up and throw him out the window. "I told you! Rusty razors are not a good way to kill yourself!"
Micah barely processed their panic. He just grinned, wide and breathless.
"I won!"