Page 105 of Fake Game

“You interrupted my nighttime routine.” She uses her knuckles to remove those bright blue contacts. “And don’t make that face.”

“Looks uncomfortable.”

She snorts, tossing her hair up in a messy bun. “Don’t worry, I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“Well, I do worry. About you.”

Deer’s hands freeze for a moment before she resumes lathering a white foam and massaging it onto her face. A silence stretches out between us, just the sound of running water filling the space. She lets down her hair and grabs some lotion, smoothing it over her hands. A deep brown sugar scent fills the air, that very same one I always smell around her.

I lean flat against the doorframe as she dips past me, her skin grazing mine as she goes to crawl onto her mattress.

“Do you plan to keep watch over me all night, Batman?”

“Maybe.” I move to sit on the edge of her bed.

She runs her tongue across her top teeth, staring at me under her lashes before letting out yet another sigh. “Fine.” She lifts the comforter and wiggles down, getting herself all situated on the side farthest from me, with her back turned.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine. It’s not the first time something like this has happened.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier for you.”

“No. It doesn’t.” She lifts her head and looks at me over her shoulder. “But I can’t let it stop me, either.”

“You’re pretty strong, you know that?”

She smiles. “Pretty? Yes. Strong? Not the first word that comes to most people’s minds when they think of me.”

“I beg to differ.” My hand itches to reach out and touch her. “Will you be okay tomorrow?”

She turns her entire body to face me. “Honestly? I want to cancel the whole damn thing and just hole up in my room.”

“You could camp out in our green room; it’s right by the stage the cosplay competition is on.”

She frowns. “How do you—”

“I looked it up. Wanted to make sure you had somewhere safe nearby to decompress if you needed it.”

She lets out a short laugh and props herself up on one of her elbows, her other arm coming out to tap the space on the bed next to her. “You’re making me uncomfortable looking at you over there like that. Come lie down.”

It’s the same arm with the marks, although they’ve calmed down a fair bit—just a faint pink now.

Deer catches where I’m glaring and quickly shoves the arm back under the comforter. “My offer expires in five seconds. Either you move your butt over here, or you can leave.”

“Wow, no middle ground.” I kick off my shoes and climb over, lying on top of the comforter next to her with my shoulder braced against the wall.

She matches my movements, fluffing the pillow behind her back and propping herself up.

“I’m serious about the green room; you know you can always use it.”

“I know.” She begins fiddling with strands of her hair, smoothing them down rhythmically between her fingers. “But there’s stuff I wanna do. I don’t want to hide away.”

“Mm. Like what?” I reach out and calm her hand, taking it in my own. I press my thumb softly into her palm at intervals, massaging it like my mom did when I was a kid.

“Um, well.” She swallows, eyes glued to our hands. “I sorta wanted to see this artist who’s selling these retro anime art prints.”

“Really? That’s cool.”

---