Thane, with his hands on his face trying to hide it, only heard Nicky say: "Hey, I was right, you are handsome." Which made him choke on his saliva as to why would someone even flirt with him!? He is the worst of his family, at everything! So why should he care about him, he is only flirting to get his guard down, which mom taught him how to do, which is embarrassing to do. "Please don't look at my face!" Thane whispered shouted as he hid his face, he felt ugly being stared down by someone, it made him highly uncomfortable to be stared down. "Hey, it was you who decided to come to give back what you stole, who the fuck does that?"
"I didn't want to seal, steel, shit, steal from you!" When he gets nervous he confuses the words and says similar words to the one he wants to say, sometimes he just repeats the same word over and over until he feels like he said the right word, it was his brain tricking him into believing he said the wrong word, making him repeat it till he got it right, father had the same problem because of his highly energetic brain that was the cause he could use Telekinesis so well. Sadly Thane couldn't use Telekinesis, or else his life would have been a little easier... "What was that? It sounded cute." Seeing the opportunity to strike, Nicky quickly took it, which made Thane highly embarrassed because most of his family thought it was funny how he would get lost in the words and repeat them several times or even say similar words to try and find the right word to say.
"Snug- Slut- Shit, shut, shut, shut, shut up!" He repeated the same word like a broken record until his brain was convinced he got the right word, he hated it happened only when he was nervous! It made him a target for bullying when he was young, and he couldn't exactly put up a fight when he was younger... He was a disgrace when he was younger, an even bigger disgrace than he already is. Nicky, frowned, he knew sometimes people say things they don't want to when they are nervous but he also knows some people have special conditions, his mother was like that before she died not even remembering her family's face.
"Hey, it's okay, take your time." He tried to calm the guy down a little bit. What? Even though the guy did steal from him, he gave it back, and he didn't take the money so it was fine for him because no one got hurt and the guy seems like a good person, he wonders why the guy resorted to robbery? The person who stole from him and this guy seem two different people from one another, that person looked intimidating and hot, this one looked scared and cute, a complete opposite! "It's okay, take your time, you're doing great."
Hearing these words made him feel embarrassed, happy, sad, angry, and a burden. Embarrassed because he was doing it again, after so many times trying not to. Happy because someone didn't judge him or got angry at him for repeating the same word over and over or even say other words to try and find the right one. Sad because no one else ever said that to him, ever. Angry at himself because he felt like he was doing everything on purpose like this was all an act he had stuck to and couldn't leave, and he felt like a burden because he couldn't even speak properly and had to rely on repeating words to find the right one!
"Story, Glory, Shory- Sorry." Finding the right word to use, Thane sighed deeply and tried to calm down, his father had taught him the same exercise he uses to calm down, which was breath in, hold it, count to 5, breathe out, repeat. Thane could feel a panic attack building up but the more he did the exercise, the further and further away from that feeling he got, it faded completely after a few minutes. He was fine... It was then he noticed that the guy, Nicky, was beside him.
This startled him so hard his whole body tensed and his mind was going haywire on ways to get out of this embarrassing situation, and jumping out of the window seemed like a great idea right now! He was ready to bolt out of the window when a hand grabbed his shoulder and stopped him, he froze and heard the voice of the cashier whisper: "It's okay, you shouldn't push yourself... You almost had a panic attack just now, you can't simply just jump out of the window! Stay for a few more minutes and calm down, I know how it feels to have a panic attack and I don't want you to leave while unstable." T-this sounded nice... He slowly sat down on the bed and a suddenly awkward silence filled the room, Thane was badly aware of how awkward it must be for Nicky, who was just robbed by him a week ago or so.
"Well..." Nicky started to speak and soon wanted to curse, what will he do!? He wants ro talk and ask why the handsome purple-eyed man was giving his life to robbery? But he couldn't ask sensitive questions when the guy is unstable!? What if he has some kind of PTSD and he accidentally triggers it!? "Do you want some... water...?" He cringed internally when he heard how awkward his voice sounded, but the purple-eyed man nodded. He wasn't hiding his face anymore, which Nicky considered a win! The man was utterly and hopelessly handsome, how can someone be so fucking handsome!? Why did he want to hide his face so much? No, he must not pry even if he feels very curious about it.
He quickly got up from his bed and just turned around, he looked at the open window and frowned, he had a habit of sleeping with the window open because of his brother... His brother also had powers, but his brother's powers were different from his, his brother could create and control sound, his other brother could control lightning, his sister could bend light, and he was immortal... He sometimes wishes he had a strong power like Telekinesis or something like that. He wondered, do purple eyes have power too? Maybe Telepathy, that moment he got frustrated he lost control and could hear everyone's thoughts around him... Maybe it isn't that.
He turned towards the window and looked at the purple-eyed handsome and said: "I will close the window, okay?" He asked, he didn't want the man to feel like he was trapping him inside his room and freak out, that would be a terrible thing.
Hearing Nicky tell that Thane nodded slowly, he could easily unlock a window or even break through it if he needs to leave this place quickly, and jumping from a story never hurts, unless you are weaker than Thane, if you are then shame on you! Nicky closed the windows and the room was soon in complete darkness, the only light was the one coming from the window, which was a billboard far away from the building. Now that Thane noticed, this neighborhood was pretty dark... He knew a crime was more active around here because his friends told him, someone wannabe hero left this place and went to become famous elsewhere, which made this place unprotected and crime was good here.
A minute later, Nicky came back with a glass of water for him, he thanked him with a smile which seemed to be enough as he watched the young man's cheeks grow a little pink, he was trained from a young age to see even the smallest details in the dark, so he obviously could see that blush without any light! "Ah, yes, the light" As if noticing it now, Nicky quickly light up a small table lamp he had beside his bed, it was a frog table lamp that would be given as a birthday gift for a 5 years old, which was kinda funny. It gave off a slightly green glow in the room. "Better now," Nicky murmured a little embarrassed by the green frog that shone through the darkness, he did his best to try and act casual, but it was not enough for him as he quickly tried to change the subject.
"Are you calmer now?" He saw the purple-eyed man nod slowly, which made him smile... now he could ask him questions that maybe, hopefully, weren't too intrusive. The handsome robber nodded slowly for a second before Nicky smiled and asked: "So... What's your name? It's getting kinda boring calling you 'Handsome Robber' or 'Purple Sin' in my mind, wish I could know your name... And don't worry, I won't throw you to the police if that's what you fear." The handsome man made a thoughtful expression and after a few moments, he opened his mouth and told him his name: "Thane... Just Thane." Thane didn't want to expose his surname to him because he didn't know what he planned but his name was not enough to find information on him.
"Thane huh? I guess you already know this, but my name is Nicky, it's short for Nickerson you can call me Nick or Nicky if you want." Making someone comfortable with you is essential if you want to ask them something, and not like he wants to take advantage of the mentally unstable man, but he just is curious why Thane who has a severe case of anxiety was robbing his place in the first place? "I am 19 years old, and you handsome?" Nick needed to know a little more about him, and he needed to know more about Nick as well so they could connect and form a friendship, or maybe even more...? Who is he kidding, a hunk like Thane would never be interested in his twink self.
"I-i, I am, shit, I, I- I Am 20..." He stuttered and that made him slightly nervous, making him trace back his words and even repeat them till his brain thought he got it right when Nicky wondered why he was nervous, under the green light of the frog table lamp, he saw the slight change in Thane's skin tone, going from a paler to a more rose, pinkier... More blushing. 'No way he is blushing, must be my brain! Yes, certainly my brain.' That thought was going through Nicky's head meanwhile Thane was having a gay panic: 'He called me handsome again, does he think I am handsome? What does that mean? Does he think I am handsome or is he just taking revenge for me robbing him by embarrassing me? I think the latter is more probable than the former.'
"Ergh..." The awkwardness of the situation was a little bad, but Nicky didn't let it slow him down! "So, do you have a phone or..." Mid-sentence when he noticed he was kinda flirting he instantly corrected his sentence: "Do you want ro use mine...? To call for someone to pick you up. I can call an Uber too if you want?" He instantly nodded inside his head, he did well, he doesn't want to leave the purple-eyes handsome beast alone right now because who knows what he would do!? He was someone who wasn't stable mentally, so he should keep him company so he can feel safe at least for now.
"I..." Thane started his sentence but he realized that no one knew he came here, and they would make fun of him to return the thing he stole... They already did make fun of him for stealing a plastic shitty necklace that was worthy of absolutely nothing! No money. He doesn't want them to know he returned it to the owner too! "I don't," Thane whispered, he didn't have a phone with him at the moment, he left his home because he didn't want to receive a random call from his parents... And because it had a tracking chip on it too.
His parents could know where he was 24/7, he sometimes leaves and doesn't come back, so his parents just go and get him back... Not that he isn't happy with his family, he is, is just that sometimes he wants to be alone. And that time can be 1 hour and 1 day, or even a whole month. It just happens...
"Do you want to use my phone...?" Nicky offered as Thane shook his head, saying: "I just... Don't want to go back. I'm sorry..." Nicky gulped, panicking a little for a second, and said before he could think: "Do you want to stay the night?"
"What?" Was Thane's reaction.
'WHAT!?' Was Nicky's reaction.