aaron is hunched over on the couch like some kind of gaming gremlin, hands gorilla-gripping a controller tightly as he meanders his character through a tense stroll down a dimly lit hallway. he doesn't really do horror games, but the halloween season has a way of teasing out something masochistic in him. the dark apartment and the unsettling ambiance of the game has him paranoid out of his mind — the sudden rumble of the fridge's ice machine coming to life has him, at one point, jolting from the aaron-shaped imprint on the couch in a flurry of fight-or-flight adrenaline.
[break][break]
no home invaders, he realizes eventually. just ice cubes. [break][break]

aaron sits back down, shoulders tense, to (questionably) enjoy his game. somewhere below the creaking floorboards and disembodied whispering coming from the television, his hypervigilance clues in on muffled sounds coming from another room. 
[break][break]
he pauses the game and turns his head toward the source of the noise, feels a lump grow in his throat when he realizes it's coming from his room. fuck.
[break][break]
he gets up, slow and quiet this time, brandishing his controller as a weapon. the glow of the television casts a long, aaron-adjacent shadow against his door as he inches closer. 
[break][break]
aaron swears he hears a groan coming from inside his room, punctuated by the wobble of his doorknob as though someone has grabbed it. he grows pale, white-knuckles his controller with the intent of beating the daylights out of whatever axe murderer or malevolent spirit is standing on the other side, and anxiously anticipates the moment the door will swing open. [break][break]
come out, you ghost fuck. wait — can ghosts read minds? his brow furrows. fuck, i - i didn't mean it like that. you're probably cool. unless you can't read my mind, in which case: fuck you, man, for real. 
[break][break]

+ mint frost  hehe

Mint for a split second realized that maybe breaking into a friend’s house, who he had only had brief contact during 2 occasions ( one almost fatal, an another at an ice cream social ) that perhaps this was not the best way to make friends. But at this point he was in too deep and if he really rolled with it the guy would think of it as quirky-cute and not stalker-murderer. Still, he didn’t exactly burst out of the room loudly and greet whoever was around. No, no, no. Mint slowly opened the door staring out at the darkened apartment and the lone source of light that was Aaron’s tv. [break][break]

The sudden brightness in the dark made him squint and he inched out of the room, holding out his hands before catching sight of someone in his peripheral. He turned, not expecting someone to be in the shadows around the corner and let out a shriek, stumbling backwards and falling on his ass wit ha loud thump. His hands went up over his face instinctively, still screaming before he dared to give the guy a look. Mint squinted in the dark, trying to get his eyes to adjust. What…what was his name again? “Adam?! I- Uh- A-Avery- no-” he stammered through his words before a lightbulb went off and he cried out with a big grin, dropping his arms from his face. “AARON!! Right?! It’s me, Mint!!” he said as if that made everything better. “I came to hang out! I- I- I brought popcorn?!” FUCK! He sounded so dorky…


[break][break]

+ aaron faust mission prompt: hush [mm] [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

aaron waits near the door, ready to beat the hell out of whatever intruder or ghost is fucking around in his room. his grip on his controller turns white-knuckled at the sound of his doorknob wobbling. he sucks in a breath and cocks his arm back, heart pounding in his chest as the door opens and hands reach out —
[break][break]
— the shriek that follows is drowned out by a scream of his own. the controller slips from his sweaty hand and clatters uselessly, inaccessibly across the floor, unpausing the game in its tumble. at the same time, the intruder makes a loud, unghostly thud as they unceremoniously fall to the floor. the swell of imminent danger music from the television makes his panic tenfold as he weighs whether he should book it for the front door or kick the ever-loving shit out of whoever is sprawled at his feet.
[break][break]
then, they say his name, voice pleasant as a breeze in summer. it's mint, they say. it's hard to forget a guy named after a flavor of toothpaste. oh, and he has popcorn. 
[break][break]
"what the fuck," he spits, not realizing he's been saying it under his breath like a fevered prayer from the moment his own screaming stopped. "what the fuck. mint? the guy from the fucking volcano?"
[break][break]
aaron stumbles away, feeling the wall for a light switch. he flips it on, squints from the sudden brightness that floods the room, and sets burning eyes on the guy sitting on his floor. "no fucking way, dude," he says, voice bordering something between anger and sheer incredulousness. "i was about to beat the shit out of you — why the fuck were you creeping around in my room? and — and — how the fuck were you in my room in the first place?"
[break][break]

+ mint frost  hehe

He’s beyond surprised apparently. Maybe this had been a bad plan after all. But it wasn’t like he could undo all this now! He nodded quickly. “Y-Yup! And the ice cream social that ranger @giselle hosted!!” he added quickly, trying to seem as unthreatening and adorable as possible. Because it was scientifically proven you couldn’t stay mad at someone that was too cute to hit. He winced at the sudden light in the room. [break][break]

“Yeah! Y-Yeah I can see that!” He said before Aaron asked the obvious. Why and how he’d gotten in. “Oh, you know, it’s a long story. Pretty boring really. Not that interesting.” He said waving it of with a small shrug. “In any case, why I’m here?” he gave dramatic pause before pulling out his backpack and revealing the various types of popcorn, soda cans, and candy he’d packed. “I thought it’d be fun to have a movie night! I brought all kinds of snacks! So, I usually have movie nights with my bestie but I don’t wanna overwhelm him so I figured ‘hmm who else do I know that might be free?’…and then I remembered you!” he said unable to hide the childish excitement of it all as he showed his offerings. Food in exchange for company. That’s essentially what this transaction was. “I figured you might want some company. Dunno why, just did.” He added with a small shrug. At this, Mint allowed himself a moment to stand up off the ground and began looking around the brunette’s apartment. He figured if he steamrolled him, he could force a yes. [break][break]

He noted the noise from. the TV, taking a few steps towards it and eyeing the screen. “Oooh, you’re kinda creepy Aaron.” He noted despite being the one tat had broken in.

[break][break]

+ aaron faust mission prompt: hush [mm] [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

aaron opens his mouth, but the words "get the fuck out of my apartment" don't come out. his brain is far too busy trying to process the pile of bullshit mint is heaping onto him. his anger abates, giving way underneath his growing confusion. none of this shit makes sense. his bestie is busy so he decides the next best person to hang out with is a guy he met, at most, twice? a guy he never exchanged contact information with, never mind his home address?
[break][break]
and what did he mean by assuming aaron was free? does he give off a vibe like he has nothing better to do? 
[break][break]
somewhere behind the furrow of his brow, a headache begins to brew. he shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, holding onto the lapse of silence in hopes that he has been hallucinating this whole bizarre exchange. 
[break][break]
when mint speaks again, he sounds further away, prompting aaron to open his eyes. there's no way you're calling me a creep right now, he thinks, but it comes out as a defeated: "just shut up and sit on the couch already."
[break][break]
a scream from the television makes his shoulders jolt. he moves for the remote sitting on the television stand instead of scrambling for his controller. as he passes mint, he hisses, "give me that," and snaps his hand out to grab one of his backpack straps. at the very least, mint owes him unlimited access to his snack cache for entertaining this fever dream scenario.
[break][break]
with his other hand, he stretches forward to grab the remote and swaps to cable. it cuts to a commentator narrating a tournament as aaron turns the remote over in his hand contemplatively. 
[break][break]
"here," he says after a moment, throwing the remote to mint with just enough force that one could argue that he's throwing it at him instead.  "pick something out."
[break][break]

+ mint frost  movie night pog

Aaron's defeated tone is sweeter than honey. Ha! Proving that once again, being cute was an advantage you had to leverage every situation possible. He beamed at Aaron as the taller trainer took away his controller and scurried over onto the couch, plopping down quickly. He didn't seem to mind Aaron rummaging through his things, looking over at the pause screen instead. [break][break]

Despite Aaron's snippiness, Mint is happy enough to try to catch the remote. He doesn't knocking it down and having it fall onto his lap instead. He began flipping through the channels moving to find the movies package. IF they even had that. [break][break]


"Do you like romcoms? Or just comedies?" He began as he pulled up a tv guide, probably faster to scroll through what they could watch. "Horror's fine, but I usually watch that kind of thing on dates only...unless you're ok with cuddling?" Mint asked, flashing a cat like grin at Aaron as he teased him before looking back at the screen. A lot of the channels, as predicted, were pay per view or whatever. He kept skipping trying to find the free shit, hopefully it wasn't that bad. "There's also some fun ones in the bag if you dig." he added.

[break][break]

+ aaron faust mission prompt: hush [mm] [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

mint's smile is so bright it could lighten up the whole room. 
[break][break]
and that's bad, considering it's a direct result of aaron folding. one should never negotiate with home invaders, but here he is, collapsing onto the couch beside mint. he shoves a pillow in the space between them for both their sakes. 
[break][break]"i think—"[break][break]mint flashes him a playful grin and suggests cuddling through a horror movie. aaron stares back, unsmiling, and thinks that the only cuddling he would do with mint, ever, is putting him in a sleeper hold. he doesn't say it out loud, though, because he's afraid he might be open to that. [break][break] "i think we should watch a comedy. romcoms are," he sticks his hand inside the backpack he confiscated earlier, "kinda boring." [break][break]he rummages through the bag with the enthusiasm of a zigzagoon in a garbage can until mint tells him there's some fun ones at the bottom. fun whats? his hand stills over what he hopes and prays is a soda can. 
[break][break]
"fun ... movies?"
[break][break]

+ mint frost  movie night pog

Mint let out a cackle as Aaron put a pillow between them. "Ok, ok!" he relented, immediately switching from leaning towards Aaron to dropping onto the extra throw pillow on the opposite side. He got himself comfortable in the opposite corner, still snickering. "Comedy is fine then." Mint said, perking up as he realized they needed to make popcorn. At this he leaned back onto Aaron shoving his own hand in there until h fished out a bag of extra butter and hopped off the couch in search of the kitchen. [break][break]

"Duh! What else? You've seen 'Spy Kids' right?" he called over his shoulder as he paced slowly in the low light, exploring the stranger's apartment. Because they basically were strangers. But he wasn't all that emotionally stable and this was the closest he could get to a friend hangout with everyone else he vaguely knew busy or out of reach. [break][break]

"Where do you keep the big bowls? And also do you drink your tap water or from water bottles?" he asked, rummaging through cabinets once he found the kitchenette and slapped the lights on.

[break][break]

+ aaron faust mission prompt: hush [mm] [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

mint really has the audacity. [break][break]
aaron's lips press into a scowl as mint leans into his space, little zigzagoon hand diving into the backpack and repeatedly brushing against his own as he searches for something. just as he starts to pull his hand away because fuck that, mint procures a bag of unpopped popcorn. extra butter. [break][break]
maybe he isn't so opposed to this movie night idea anymore. 
[break][break]
mint hops off the couch and scuttles into the dark in search of the kitchen. never mind. 
[break][break]
"obviously," he huffs, elbow deep in mint's bag again. ignoring the dvd-shaped rectangles, he fishes out a candy bar. there's a crinkle of the wrapper, then a crunch. around a mouthful of chocolate that he's eating with the grace of a goat, he continues, "ebewyone's seen spy kids."
[break][break]
aaron balls up his wrapper and tosses it at the coffee table. it falls short and lands on the floor. instead of being a normal roommate, he leaves it there and gets up from the couch to meet mint in the kitchen. 
[break][break]
he makes enough messes on his own without mint tearing through his kitchen in search of bowls or water or whatever.
[break][break] "i'll get the bowls. you just make the popcorn," aaron points towards the microwave. he moves towards the fridge and pulls the door open to gesture to the fancy schmancy water filter pitcher sitting on one of the shelves. "we drink this." 
 [break][break]
well. aaron doesn't drink the filtered water either.
[break][break]
he reaches into a cabinet beside the fridge and takes out a couple bowls. "anything else i can get for you? you keep going through my apartment like this and i'll have my landlord start charging you half my rent."
[break][break]

+ mint frost  movie night pog

"Then! You know its a fun one~" Mint concluded as he paused in his search to look back at Aaron. As Aaron offered to take care of the bowl hunt, Mint tore off the plastic on the popcorn and set up the microwave, listening to the hum as it worked it's magic. "I'll just have that then. I brought a couple of soda cans, but the need to chill for a bit." he added, in case Aaron wanted something other than water. [break][break]

"A cup please!" he said as he leaned on the counter waiting for the popcorn to finish. Without missing a beat he added, "Aaron isn't that a little forward? Take me to dinner before you ask me to move in." he said, grinning wide again as he deigned it an opportune moment to tease the man he had more or less imposed on. Whatever. It's too late to go back on it now right. [break][break]

"Oh and if you have a blanket I could borrow too?" he added as if coming onto an acquaintance was a terribly normal thing to do. It wasn't. But it was ok, if he didn't really mean anything by it. He was actually far LESS smooth talking when it came to people he was into, surprisingly.

[break][break]

+ aaron faust mission prompt: hush [mm] [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

a cup is plucked from the same cabinet the bowl came form. aaron slides it across the counter towards mint, coming to a scraping stop at the end of his wingspan. he releases it and feels irritation rise in his throat as mint insists that he should take their relationship slower with a dinner date.
[break][break]
he swallows it down. 
[break][break]
"i'll do you one better. how about i treat you to an icee before we start the movie? there should be a 24-hour convenience store down the street that we can pop into."
[break][break]
"and then i'll get you a blanket and we can watch the movie and whatever." 
[break][break]

+ mint frost  movie night pog

"Ohh? Really?!" Mint asked, perking up excitedly at the mention. "Yeah, yeah, yeah ok!" he said setting back the dishware he'd asked for. He'd retrieve that later. After Icees. [break][break]

"Sure-! You figured out what we're watching right?" He'd already forgotten. He was far more excited about the movie snacks than the actual move, or Aaron for that matter. "By the way, do you actually live alone?" he asked before gesturing at the cupboards Aaron had been digging through. "Seemed like a lot for one person."

[break][break]

+ aaron faust mission prompt: hush [mm] [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

aaron bites the inside of his cheek to suppress his delight. he would feel bad for mint frost if he hadn't broken into his apartment but — that's exactly what he fucking did. [break][break]"yeah, really," he says flatly, trying not to arouse suspicion by sounding as disinterested-slash-irritated as he's been since mint got here. "i'm kinda craving it myself."
[break][break]
he's being honest, at least. there's something about the bad-for-you artificial flavor of the blue raspberry icee that sits right with him. his organs are already shriveling up on his diet of no water and slightly burnt pudding skin you can only get from gourmet tv dinners like kids cuisine. so what's the harm in an icee once in a while?
[break][break]
aaron shakes his head. focus. "yeah, i did."
[break][break]
he walks through the living room toward the front door, glancing back as mint asks if he lives alone. "oh, uh, nah. i have a roommate. he's just out right now."
[break][break]
aaron opens the front door and gestures for mint to walk through. once he's in the hall, aaron takes a few convincing steps after him, the door trailing in his wake, only to side-step back into the apartment and shut the door unceremoniously.
[break][break]
no quips, no fuck yous, no icees, just the click of the door closing and the rustling of every lock and deadbolt.
[break][break]

+ mint frost  movie night pog