"Okay wait, shit, I have to dodge your eyebrows—" Eijiro stuck his tongue to the tip of one of his teeth, concentrating hard of moving the applicator around my face.

We sat on my couch, dressed in pajamas and facing each other cross legged. Eijiro had pulled his hair up and away from his face, fastened into a tiny pony tail at the back of his head.

A head band kept fly-aways out of my face as he spread a dark purple substance on my face.

We were giddy, the both of us, maybe from the relief of not having to be professional for once or maybe from the stress about the gala.

Either way; we couldn't stop laughing.

"I can loose my eyebrows, it's fine. I've heard it's a good look," I said, trying not to smile.

The red head in front of me stifled a laugh, trying not to disturb the blue sparkly paste on his own face.

"It's so cold," I mentioned after a long moment of silence, finally starting to laugh at the end of my statement. Eijiro's hand fell still as he leaned forward, curling up with laughter as we tried and failed to keep our faces still.

"Okay. Okay, okay, okay," he said, biting his lip to try to laugh again. "We're trying this again."

"Okay," I muttered as he scooped more of the mask into my face. He spread it across my cheekbone, making me squeak while trying not to laugh.

"Don't laugh," he muttered through clenched teeth, a smile straining on his face.

He concentrated hard as he spread the stuff down the bridge of my nose, making a bit drip down onto my lip.

"Don't laugh," he repeated, on the verge of doing so himself as I screwed my eyes shut, finally bursting out into tear-laced laughter.

Eijiro joined me in laughing, dropping his hands to his lap as we screamed in laughter.

We still didn't know why.

I hit my knee repeatedly in an attempt to a calm myself down while Eijiro just stayed doubled over, hands full and wheezing.

This went on for a while, and finally we had calmed down and finished applying the substance to my face.

"How was today at the office? Any break throughs?" Eijiro asked, a bag of chips in his lap as a movie played in the background.

"Nope, not yet," I groaned, reaching into the bag. "I think everyone is still trying to grasp the Stain angle."

He hummed, glancing back to the screen.

"Understandably so."

I looked back up at him, studying his face while he wasn't looking.

His jawline was sharp, it always had been, ever since U.A., but it still looked soft if you stared long enough. A few brightly colored hairs had fallen from his ponytail, and I cursed myself for only now realizing his roots were showing, a deep black shining through the red.

His eyes though were what caught me.

They matched his hair, a red that was usually rather bright. But here, now, sat in front of my television with a pale blue layer of ick covering his face, they were dull.

His eyes seemed faded as if they were left out in the sun for too long, left out in the spotlight.

He wasn't here, that much was clear. He was in his own head, over thinking things more than he should.

"Are you ok?" I asked, the words escaping my mouth before I realized what I was thinking.

Eijiro turned to look at me, trying not to move his face too much as he did so.

"Yeah, I'm great! Why?"

"Oh nothing, you just looked," I reached out, smoothing out a drop of mask that had accumulated on his cheek, "very occupied in your thoughts."

"No, no, I'm fine," he said, laughing it off, "trust me. I'm hanging out with a friend, it can't get much better than that." He smiled a small smile, the mask around the corners of his mouth seeming to peel up a bit. He reached into the bag, putting a chip in his own mouth.

"Agreed," I smiled back, feeling the bottom layer of the mask on my face stretch.

He still doesn't look right, I thought as he turned back to the screen. His eyes got that look again, like he wasn't really here.

"How's work? Other than the whole... you know." I asked, dodging the subject of the case.

I didn't want to talk about work, but if it made Eijiro feel better then I'd do it in a heartbeat.

"It's been good, catching villains, fighting crime," he turned to me again, smiling the tiniest bit again. "Today wasn't so great, but I'll get over it."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

He stared at me for a moment, our eyes connected.

It's my problems, I shouldn't bother her with them.

"You're not bothering me," I said, chuckling a bit at his shocked expression.

"How did you—" I tapped my temple and he relaxed.

"Right. Quirk."

I laughed a bit, tapping my cheek to check if I was dry yet.

"Yeah, quirk. But I'm serious, you're not bothering me. I'm a friend, friends listen to one another, it's part of the package."

His face softened, mask now peeling around his eyebrows.

He shifted his grip on the bag, making it crinkle.

"Really, it's nothing, everyone has bad days every once in a while, I'll get over it—"

"Eijiro." I said, making him look back at me. "What's your deal? What happened?"

There's no harm in talking right?

He paused for a minute before sighing slightly, back flopping against my couch.

"Today wasn't even that bad honestly. It's just that whenever I have a bad day I always find one good thing about it, and that's what made me happy that day. Today has just been minor inconvenience after minor inconvenience and it's been awful.

"But then I remembered that today I was coming over here and I got excited because that could be my happy thing for today but I'm just so exhausted. And it's so unmanly of me, and I'm sorry, it's just—" he stopped himself, closing his eyes and laying his head back.

"Your social battery is out?"

He was silent for a minute. Then his head turned to look at me, careful not to touch his cheek to the fabric.

"Yeah," he whispered.

"Do you wanna go? We can hang out another time, it's fine." I offered, shifting to get up and grab the plates from the table.

The bag in his lap crinkled again as he grabbed it, standing as he tried to sit me back down.

"No, please, I'm fine, I swear! It's nice to talk to someone." I sat back down, facing him as he did the same.

"Aren't you and Bakugo like... best friends? Why don't you talk to him?" Eijiro threw me a blank look and I nodded, suddenly understanding the stupidity of my question.

"Never mind, don't answer that. What about Mina? why not talk to her?" He simply shrugged like a guilty child, reaching into the bag again.

He didn't want to "bother me."

"Do you not want to bother her?"

"Man, profiling is pretty legit huh?"

I chuckled at his words.

"That was just putting two and two together, but yeah. Profiling is legit."

"I guess I just don't... she has so many more important things to do you know? She doesn't need to worry about me," he said, biting into a stack of chips.

"She already worries about you, it's part of the whole friend thing. If anything, not talking to her probably worries her more," I explained, reaching into the bag as well.

"You think so?"

"I know so. She loves you Eijiro, she's your friend. She cares. Go talk to her." I bite a chip and smiled.

He smiles, wide this time, revealing his teeth in all their glory. His mask, now fully dry, split all the way up his cheeks, making us both laugh.

He reached up, yanking a flap off before regretting it, holding his cheek in pain.

"Holy shit sensitive skin sucks..."

Fun Fact: Eijiro was really excited to use his mask because it said it would give his skin a natural glow.

sorry for the late update, i was visiting family! but i'm back now!

reminder: you will get through this. i know you will. stand up tall, throw your shoulders back and own the place. you are strong and you will get through this. i love you all💞💞

over and out.