Chapter Text
Scara is having the shittiest day.
First, he woke up late. He skipped breakfast, so he was hungry through all of his classes, which he could barely pay attention to as a result. And just as well, he didn’t bring any lunch, so he had to go to the nearby café to buy something. Now, this wouldn’t typically be a problem since he does this quite often. The thing is - someone bumped into him, spilling coffee over his brand new Sethos Delta concert tee and forcing him to change.
All that was enough to make him the most spiteful person during his shift.
He’s been working since the start of the semester, so not very long. Still, getting a little extra cash so he doesn’t have to live on instant ramen like a stereotypical college student is nice. (Especially because he tends to impulse buy merch from his favorite musicians.) School is fine, his professors are very alike last year, but his classes are more interesting, and he has more time between them so that’s why he was able to pick up a job. Working retail, though… is just the worst.
He rants about today’s events to himself, imagining he’s texting his roommate while he works. Scara takes the clothes off of the hanger in the unoccupied fitting room - Why do they just leave clothes here? God, is it so hard to drop it off two feet away? People can’t do–
Someone runs right into the fitting room he’s in, slamming the door and causing him to jump, backing himself in the corner. The panicked man shushes him, a familiar tan face with green eyes and curly brown hair…
Oh.
My.
God.
It’s the real Sethos Delta.
Scara gapes, frozen in place as time ticks and nothing happens. His mind races, because what the fuck? He has no idea why Sethos Delta - the celebrity that Scara ADORES - is in the SAME FITTING ROOM AS HIM.
But oh my god. Why the hell is he bothering me? I’m almost more upset than excited. Actually, this is really annoying. Doesn’t he have more important shit to do than lock me in a changing room so I can’t do my job??
Eventually, the man sighs, relaxing. He addresses Scara with an apologetic look. “I’m really sorry about that. I just wanted to get away from some… persistent fans.”
Ah, makes sense. Alternative clothing stores like these pander to the exact same demographic as his music. Still, what a nuisance.
Scara narrows his eyes, not really wanting to play with this guy’s game. “Fans, huh,” he says with a disbelieving glare.
Sethos Delta blinks, vaguely surprised. “Do you… not know who I am? Sethos? Um… Sethos Delta?”
Geez, the arrogance of this guy. You don’t run the world!
“No. Am I supposed to?” He lies.
“Oh!” The other’s eyes widen, but he still brushes it off. “Of course not! It’s just not very common at this point. I’m getting kind of popular… have you heard, like… um…” He hums a little, very awkwardly, “ Na na, nobody knows what I… no?”
“Never heard of it.” I LOVE THAT SONG.
Sethos laughs, leaning back a bit. “That’s quite alright. Geez, I sound so self-absorbed… That’s embarrassing. Um…”
His phone suddenly starts ringing, and he picks it up. Talking to someone on the other end, he seems surprised, then calls someone else, then another person. This takes a while - How long will I be stuck here? - until he finally gives up with a sigh.
He turns to Scara with some sort of dejected look, and Scara raises his eyebrows, recognizing something about that expression.
“Do you need something? From me ?” He asks, aghast.
“N- Not if it’s too much to ask!!” He backtracks, “I just have a meeting to get to, and I don’t have a ride…”
“Why would I take you there, huh? You’ve had me locked in this waiting room for the past five minutes! I’m supposed to be working! And my shift doesn’t end for another…” He checks his watch - 5:01 PM, “Half hour.” The one time I’m not excited about when work ends.
“That’s okay! I have to be there at six, and it doesn’t take that long to get there.” Sethos frowns, “Sorry I’ve kept you here. You can get back to work, and I’ll wait.”
Scara narrows his eyes, waiting for Sethos to exit first before following. “How do I know you aren’t trying to kidnap or assault me?”
Sethos’ eyes widen, looking like a hurt puppy. “Why in the world would I do that to you?? I hope that’s not your default impression of a stranger.”
Not answering, Scara frowns. He goes back to work as Sethos watches him, sitting on a bench and occasionally getting approached by fans. Seeing him interact with them makes him a little jealous - he should’ve admitted to being a fan. Then he could be treated with that respect.
It’s whatever. I can always tell him the truth as long as I do it soon.
It hits 5:30 PM, and Scara clocks out with Sethos following him like a sad dog. He still doesn’t say anything as he makes his way to his car, until he gets in the driver seat and finally Sethos asks,
“So are you able to drive me there?”
Scara rolls his eyes. “ Yes. Why do you think I let you follow me this far? Get in.”
Immediately, Sethos lights up and hops into the passenger seat, beaming so brightly that Scara can’t get the car to start right away - surely that’s related.
“Where is it?” He asks, opening up the GPS on his phone. Sethos takes it and types in the address, which is the next city over. He groans at the thought of having to drive more than twenty minutes, but just starts going.
He turns on the radio to his usual station. A more generic pop song starts, and Sethos begins humming along. Suddenly, the song sounds much better in the other man’s voice, and Scara can’t help his expression from softening.
The ride is nice and calm, though Sethos seems to find it appropriate to yap on about anything he can think of. This includes his true thoughts about his work, which Scara pretends not to listen to. He’s honestly very interested in this.
“If I’m being honest, it isn’t great all the time. Yeah, I make a lot of money and people seem to love me, but it’s just so much stress that I never thought I’d be able to handle. I really never saw myself going this far, but now everything I do or say could influence a whole population. That’s so… constricting. I feel like I can’t live normally. And that people can’t find out who I really am.”
Sethos turns to Scara, whose gaze finds him for just a moment.
“I guess it’s easy for me to talk to you because you don’t have that image of me. I don’t feel like I have to be someone that I’m not.”
Scara doesn’t respond, keeping his eyes forward as he turns into the parking lot. The weight of this sets on his mind. It seems… very human. But it also means Scara needs to keep pretending.
Ah. I don’t think I can turn back anymore.
When they park, Sethos sits up, chuckling. “Ah, no matter. I’ll live another day, and I have a meeting to get to soon. Hey, do you want to be friends? Could I… have your number?”
Scara blinks at him, his mind racing. There’s no way I can reject his offer to just be friends. But if I don’t, this is going to come back and hit me twice as hard. What do I do, what do I–
Before he realizes, he’s written his number and name on a piece of scrap paper, and is already handing it to Sethos. The latter opens his door, stepping out of the car.
“Thanks so much for bringing me here, dude! And I’m so sorry for the bother, too. I’ll text you tonight, ‘kay?” Sethos grins at him, waving goodbye. Then he’s already gone.
Scara finds himself frozen, his cheeks redden as it finally sinks in.
Oh my god. Did any of that really happen?
.
“There’s no way any of that really happened.” Mona quips, her eyes wide. “You’re kidding. You have to be.”
Scara is on the couch with his roommate, having grabbed her for a gossip session as soon as he got home. “It did, it did!! I- Fuck, I didn’t get a picture! I’ll show you when he texts me. He’ll text me, right?”
Mona shakes him by the shoulders. “He has to! He asked for your number! You gave it to him, right??”
“I did!! Do you think I wrote it wrong? Or he couldn’t read my handwriting? Oh god.” He groans.
Mona grabs his face, “Hey, hey, it’s alright! Come on, let’s eat something. He’ll text you later.” She stands, going over to the kitchen. “What do you feel like? We have leftover curry rice if you want that.”
“Sounds good.” Scara leans back against the couch, staring at his phone with anticipation.
He continues to stare at his phone while he eats, and as the hours tick later and later. Each notification makes him jump, which Mona teases him for - even though she’s just as excited as him. Laying in his bed, he lets his eyes roam around the various posters and singer merchandise decorating the space.
Scara has been a fan since Sethos’ first upload. He still remembers it pretty well, how there were no comments so he decided to leave a small message. Scara himself doesn’t really post on Youtube except for the occasional speedpaint, but a few weeks later, he found that Sethos had followed his other socials.
A fan for a long time, but never a friend. Scara often forgot that Sethos was following him at all, since they never ever interacted. Really, he’s nothing more than one of Sethos’ first fans - He probably doesn’t even remember me .
But now…
“Do you want to be friends?”
God, I didn’t think about this enough.
Suddenly, his phone buzzes and interrupts his thoughts, and he scrambles to pick it up. On the screen is a text from a number he doesn’t have saved…
Oh. It’s him.
He sent a picture of himself. What an idiot.
.
< Hey!! It’s Sethos from earlier today!
< [Image]