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Masky was a weird guy.
No offense to them, of course! They let Honey stay in their apartment (though it was dingy), fed them (though the meals were often made with subpar ingredients), and even bought him clothes (even though they were cheap)! They were a wonderful host, even though they had so little to work with.
But they gave him the weirdest look the second he brought up his old status. Even when he was nice about it! Sure, it was warranted at first; he would insult their apartment, food, and clothes frequently when he got there. It wasn’t intentional, of course, he just hasn’t gotten used to the.. ‘lower income’ way of living. So their looks were warranted then. But if he so much as uttered the word ‘my company’ their entire expression shifted. Their eyes narrowed, causing the skin around them to wrinkle, and their nose would scrunch up for the tiniest second before reverting. Every time.
But it felt rude to bring it up! Masky was very low income, and it probably just was frustrating to hear about someone with better things than them. So he decided to just keep his mouth shut about it.
But that was kind of hard for him to do.
Listen, he’s no narcissist, but he did like talking about himself. Well, he liked talking about everybody, but he was the person he knew the most about. And it was a struggle to not bring up the guy closest to him.
So it’s just wrong to blame him for bringing it up again.
The night it happened, he and Masky were on the porch of Masky’s apartment, looking out at the street below. Both were silent, just staring down at the cars. Masky was leaning on the railing, scratching some paint off. Honey felt inclined to point out their bad posture, but resisted. His hadn’t been the best either lately. Not near as bad as Masky’s (no offense to them), but not the perfection he once had.
He stood beside them, hands folded on the railing. He was slouching just a little bit. “I’ve submitted a job application to the restaurant nearby today.” The only restaurant he could walk to. There was only one car, so he couldn’t work anyway far.
Masky turned to him, nodding. “That’s good. Hopefully you’ll get hired. Supporting two people has raised grocery spendings for me monthly.. and since you’re at home all day my electricity bill has gone up. It’s honestly kind of necessary that you get hired. If you don’t either I’m quitting college, or we’ll have to find another way to cut costs.” Honey sometimes wished Masky was more.. placating. He didn’t need to be babied, but their bluntness could be stressful.
Honey nodded despite his worries, his hands squeezing together a bit more. “Yes, I hope I’ll get the job as well.” He let out a slightly dramatic sigh, bringing one hand to cup his cheek. “I’m a bit worried for the job. Being a waiter is highly physical. I mean, at least I have good practice talking to people. Honestly, people don’t understand how much talking you have to do when you’re running a company.” And that’s when he saw it. The way Masky’s eyes narrowed, the way their nose scrunched for just a second. Against his better judgement, he blurted out “why do you make that face?”
Masky raised a brow. “What face?”
Honey felt his cheeks warm a bit from embarrassment. He was good at talking to people, but he wasn’t good with confrontation. “That, uh,” stuttering? Maybe he wasn’t good at talking anymore. “That face you make, where your eyes crinkle, and you scrounge up your nose. You make it every time I bring up my company, or really anything about how I used to be upper class. I understand that it can be frustrating when I do it in a belittling way, but I don’t think I’m doing that here. I apologize if I am.”
Masky stared at Honey for a few seconds, just long enough for regret to settle in. Then they sighed, standing up a bit straighter.
”Honey, I hate everything about how you.”
Oh. Wow.
“You look at my food like it’s disgusting, you always complain about the living situation, and it took over 2 months for you to apply for a single job. But I can at least handle that. I get it. Transition is hard. But I just hate when you bring up your company.”
Honey was silent for a bit, fiddling with his fingers. He’d started to pick the skin off habitually, and right now he was basically tearing them to shreds. “If I may ask, why is that the thing that frustrates you the most?”
Masky shrugged. “Your company was scummy.”
“Yes, I know. I was greedy.” Masky nodded.
“Yeah. Very.”
”But I know you weren’t affected directly by my scams. Why does it make you so angry?”
Masky had to think about it for a moment. Why did it make them so mad? “…Imagine you’re me. Broke. Forced to babysit a bunch of rich assholes and god(?) monthly. And when I’m home, I have to deal with you consistently bringing up that you were a rich asshole. At least if you call me broke, I know I can change that. Every time you remind me of your company, I get reminded of how I can’t change my situation. I just have to wait it out, and deal with the fact I’m teleported every month at a random time to deal with rich people.”
Honey took a few seconds before nodding. “I get it. I mean, I don’t personally, of course, but I can see why. But you can’t expect me to just never being my past up. It did all happen.”
Masky grumbled. “I know that. Honestly, it’s not even totally your fault I’m upset. I’m just kind of dealing with a lot right now, and you’re just.. not making it better.”
”I apologize, Masky.”
“I’m sorry too.”
Another stupidly long silence.
“Can I help at all?”
”I mean, not really? Sure, I could ask you to never bring up your company again, but like you said, that’s stupid of me to do. Just.. don’t take anything I do too harshly. I’m not really mad at you, honey.”
”I mean, you kind of said you hated me a minute ago.” He laughed, but it wasn’t really funny to either.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean that. I mean, I do hate how you act usually. You’re lazy and whiny. But you’re not totally terrible. I was just being whiny and dramatic, I guess.”
Honey laughed. “But I’m the worst when I’m whiny?”
Masky rolled their eyes, but they were smiling a bit now. “You’re always whiny and dramatic. I only do it occasionally.”
Honey pouted. “Not always! I can be very refined.”
Masky once again rolled their eyes, before walking over to the sliding doors. “Uhuh. Sure. Anyways, I’m going to bed. If you stay up late, keep the lights off.”
Honey waved to them, smiling now. “I will. Goodnight, Masky.”