“DJ, you don’t have to do this for me.”

“Yeah, but I want to,” They reply.

“No, DJ, you shouldn’t do this for me,” Peony protests, “I didn’t ask to kiss him.”

“Did you need to?”

“Yes, of course I need to! You don’t just kiss your best friend like that! You have to ask first.”

DJ stops dead in their tracks. “Best friend?”

“Yes, you hothead! Seb’s my best friend. What did you think?”

DJ turns pale. “Oh. I thought you two were dating.”

Peony’s glare is sharper than knives. Her even voice somehow makes it more threatening. “You thought we were dating.”

“Yeah. You two get along a lot better than most people do, you’re good with conflicts. You take good care of each other. You stitched him back up when he got stabbed that one time, and he stayed up all night trying to figure out an antidote when you got poisoned. You always go for him when you get scared and he’s around, and he sticks as close to you when he’s overwhelmed.”

Peony’s glare hasn’t lessened any.

“And I mean,” DJ stalls for words. “You are living together.”

“And what makes any of that inherently romantic?”

“Oh goodness, you think I know? Or at least that I can put it into words? I can say ‘vibes’ and be right, but I know you won’t like that as an answer.”

“Can you at least explain the vibes?”

“Ok, maybe. You probably won’t like it though.”

“I already despise this.”

DJ sucks in a breath, then lets it out. They pause, bite their lip, and stare at her in fear. “So you know in shonen anime when the main guy and his best friend have a dynamic which borders on being outright gay, but they have to throw in a girl that he bickers with sometimes to show the audience he’s het?”

Peony looks somewhere between ready to snap their neck and too disappointed to react. “Name one shonen.”

“Uh,” DJ says, frantically looking around, “Diamond is Unbreakable.”

Her eyes narrow.

“Come on, Peony, we’ve watched DIU together, you know Josuke and Okuyasu kiss each other goodnight!”

“And what about that says romance to you?”

“You know, kissing the homies goodnight?”

DJ finally falters. They look to the ground, close their eyes, and sigh.

“Ok. Yeah, that’s,” they shrug, “That’s understandable.”

“Look, not everything has to be perfect. Sometimes you’re just friends and that’s it.”

DJ raises their gaze from the ground. “Yeah, and that’s alright too.”

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“And besides,” Peony says, “Aren’t friends supposed to be a little in love with each other?”

“How so?”

“Well, you’re friends. You have someone you keep coming back to, no matter what. You saw someone and decided to keep coming back. You walk down the same road because you just want to. Isn’t that love?”

“I guess so.”

“And you’d know that better than any of us, about coming back,” She smiles, “Coming back and keeping your wings open for us to run under and be shielded. You protect us because you love us, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“I love Sebastian, but I love him the way you love me. Does that make sense?”

Peony’s almost lying. Maybe, though, if she lies enough, she’ll believe it too.

DJ teases like an older brother. “You still love him, though. I’ll remember that.”

Peony relaxes as a devilish grin curls across their face. “DJ…”

“And you love him enough to apologize for kissing him.

“DJ”

“Fine, I’ll stop. What flavor of boba do you want?”

“Rose, you big idiot.”

…

“Hey, Seb?”

Sebastian looks up from his pillow and back at Peony. Something’s been eating away at her all evening. Whenever she starts stumbling over her words, he knows, and she hasn’t been talking as well since they split after the performance.

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to apologize for kissing you earlier,” she begins, “I didn’t ask to do that, and I should’ve.”

Sebastian blinks, and the sudden pit of worry digging in his chest transforms into something between anxiety and confusion. She should’ve asked, yes, but he didn’t exactly mind that it was her. He would’ve minded if it was anyone else, but with her he was neutral. It caught him off guard, but it wasn’t too terrible. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to feel.

He shrugs. “I forgive you. I didn’t mind it much.”

“I still should’ve asked.”

“I know. But like,” he pauses, “Oh, how do I phrase this? You’re my best friend, Peony.”

“A best friend ought to know better.”

“Ok, yes, sure, but I trust you enough to know you weren’t doing it to hurt me or anything. We were performing, we got ourselves in a spot where we had to act out a marriage, and we did. If there’s anyone I’d trust to do that with, it’s you.”

Peony doesn’t feel any better. She crosses her legs, then uncrosses them. The sheets are devilishly uncomfortable tonight.

“And besides,” he continues, “If I really didn’t like it, I would’ve pulled away.”

The words linger in her ears. She knows they’ll haunt her for the rest of the night, maybe even longer. He isn’t lying, and maybe that’s the worst part.

Sebastian senses her unease and finds his own growing. “Well, ok, maybe that’s not the right word. What I meant is that if I was really uncomfortable with it, I would’ve gotten out of it. I would’ve seen it coming and moved or held you at arm’s length or something else. We were acting out a scene and we needed to do it. That’s just what actors do. We were actors. If I didn’t like it, I would’ve told you after so you’d know not to do it again, or, I guess, even let us be in that position again. You’re ok, Peony, I forgive you.”

Peony tucks up and rests her arms on her knees. Sebastian looks at her, then looks away. His antennae fall limp in shame.

“Look, Peony, how long have we known each other?”

“Long enough to know better.”

Sebastian laughs nervously, slowly rising from the floor. “Peony, five years is quite a long time to know someone for, especially at our age. I know you well enough to know you did it for the performance, and you know me well enough to know I would’ve done something if I didn’t want you to. It might not make what you did ok, but it makes it so I can forgive you, alright?”

She looks up at him sheepishly. “Alright. You just, I don’t know, you looked dazed afterwards. I felt bad before, but when I looked back, I felt terrible.”

“So did you.”

The two stare at each other. Whether they know it or not, the same question burns the back of their mind.

“So are we good?” Sebastian asks.

“Yeah,” Peony replies.

“Alright then, I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Peony.”

“Goodnight, Seb.”

Sebastian walks back to his bed on the floor and the two of them lie down. Peony reaches over for the light switch, and with the press of a button, the room plunges into darkness.