Spiderweb

"Hmm?" Antonin cocked his head, unable to understand what she meant. 'He doesn't care? About her body shape or something?' 

"He doesn't care about my presence around him. Whether I'm half-naked, dressed in full garments or staring at him, he wouldn't look back because he doesn't care," Rega muttered, a light chuckle leaving her lips, "even though I'm a murderer who is also his idol, he doesn't care. '"Do I look like I like to make jokes?"' he had said, "put it on now. You can't seriously be worried about changing in front of me, are you? Like I'd do something to you."'

Regan gave a weak smile, "that was one of the things I was thankful about. I didn't have to worry about my image because he didn't care, didn't have to worry about how I looked, how I talked, ate, or stepped on eggshells around him like I did before. I didn't have to do anything to be noticed either because he didn't want to notice me and I didn't have to make useless conversation just to keep the mood going because he didn't want to talk. We would just sit there, not caring about each other's presence but still being present in the room."

Antonin's curious expression settled into a blank face.

Regan gave a long sigh and looked up at Antonin with a smirk, "I didn't know how much I'd appreciated that silence until I met you."

"Hm…" Antonin muttered, he looked up at Regan, eying her up and down before asking, "you sure you didn't like him? It sounds like you did."

"I swear to-" Regan picked up a pillow from her couch and threw it at Antonin. He caught it. "Seriously! I don't. There's a fine difference between appreciating someone and liking them. His personality and overall demeaning presence and attitude is the line."

"Aish," Antonin grinned, peeking from behind the pillow he held in front of his face, "if you make the restrictions that then you're not even given him a chance."

Regan shrugged, "I don't need someone right now."

Antoin's face scrunched up with confusion, "heh? Then what's that ring on your finger? Who gave it to you?"

Regan looked down at the golden ring on her finger and moved her hand slightly so light could bounce off its surface. "It's a replacement. Who gave it is none of your business."

"Replacement?" Antonin's curious gaze switches to her finger, "what was the original? A diamond ring? Haha."

"No…" Regan muttered as her eyes caught sight of a little bit of the plain skin under her finger, "it was a ruby ring. Thank god it wasn't diamond."

Antonin leaned away from the table but still kept his eyes locked on the ring as he rocked back and forth. 'A ring she didn't need and a replacement…' "Why replace it? Did you lose it?" he asked. 

Antonin flinched, his steady gaze wavering, "curious eyes?"

"Hmm," Regan nodded. She pushed away her plate of almost finished spaghetti and placed her elbow on the table, propping her head on top of her hand. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have owl-like eyes?"

"Owl- what?" Antonin stuttered, retrieving a bit from Regan's sudden advance.

"Big and doe but they tend to stare. Eyes so big that they shake you to your core as they stare through your soul, prying for information that they shouldn't have," Regan leaned in closer to Antonin to get a closer look at his eyes, "they almost never seem to blink as their eyes are too busy trying to see through a person to even blink. Curious eyes. Just like yours."

Antonin blushed, turning away from Regan immediately, "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Regan stared blankly before shrugging and turning back to her food, "Nah, I hate eyes like those."

"Wowwwwww," Antonin huffed, "why do you describe it so vividly then?"

"I should be able to describe things I hate well right? So I can avoid them better," Regan shrugged as she swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti. 

"Wow… you really are a rude person, do you know?" Antonin scoffed, his voice twisting in a pouty way.

"Hm… am I? That's what you get for teasing me earlier," Regan chuckled.

"Bruh… that was barely teasing you! All I did keep talking about Vix- ok so maybe I did tease you," Antonin paused for a moment before pouting, "But, it's called forgive and forget, can't you do that for me?"

"For you? Who are you to ask me that?" Regan rolled her eyes, "if not for the sudden change do you think we would have even met? That I would have batted an eyelash at you? Cuz if so… I'm afraid not."

Antonin let out a deep sigh, "You really don't know how to filter huh?"

"And for what?" Regan sighed.

Antonin's eyes searched to room like he was trying to find something before turning to Regan, "C-cuz' I'm your elder," Antonin puffed his chest up confidently.

"My elder?" Regan eyed Antonin up and down, "you?" 

"Yes me!" Antonin huffed.

"You can stop lying now cuz I'm not buying it," Regan turned away, pulling apart the wrapping paper on the straw for her drink and taking a sip of her orange juice.

"Exc- You're 18 right? Just turned 18 anyways," Antonin asked.

"Yes? Why?" Regan raised her eye-brows and eyed Antonin, "you're not asking to check if I'm-"

"NONONONO!!!" Antonin shrieked, bowing his head as he waved his hands frantically in Regan's face.

Regan bit back a chuckle. 'So he's not that innocent now is he?' she thought to herself.

"I-I was just asking because I'm 19! One year older than you hehe," Antonin giggled proudly. 

"19? You're really flexing a 1-year gap? Do you really think that childishly?" Regan murmured through sips of her orange juice.

"Childish?! I am an adult man! Don't call me childish," Antonin yelled, crossing his arms in a fit.

"Yea, yea, baby boy," Rega teased, a smug smile accompanying her smart remarks. 

Antonin frowned, the brightness in his eyes dismissing immediately. "Don't call me that either."

"Baby boy?" Regan muttered purposefully.

"Yea, don't say it again," Antonin warned.

"Why? Is baby boy such a bad thing to call you? It's just a little teasing so why should baby boy bother you since you do seem like a baby boy to me, baby boy, so I don't really know why you'd be so worried over not wanting to be called baby boy-" Regan started, making sure that in each second the word 'baby boy' was mentioned.

"Hey," Antonin called out. He lifted his body up slightly and leaned over the table, stopping a few inches in front of Regan's face. "Stop it," he commanded.

Regan flinched, always retracting from his sudden advance, but she wasn't the same as before and she didn't have anything to lose now. 

"Baby boy," Regan muttered.

Antonin leaned in closer. "Stop it."

"Or what? What will you do?" Regan spat, keeping eye contact with Antonin. She didn't know what was going on but she wasn't one to hesitate.

Antonin's eyes wandered down to her lips again before he turned away and sat back down. "Please refrain from calling me that. It's a bit triggering."

'Oh…' Regan thought to herself, the lingering scent of baby powder from Antonin lingered in the air. It took a second for her to realize he had sat back down. Her eyes dropped down to him, a smile forming on her lips.

"Why?" she asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

"Hmm," Atoin muttered, he looked up at Regan and a light breeze ran down her spine. His gaze was dazed, like he was looking at her but not completely focused on the conversation, his mind was somewhere else but it was about Regan. Something about the look his eyes gave her was a bit threatening, but she had seen worse, she had been around worse for months now.

She couldn't lie though. Whatever change his curious owl-eyes went through was intriguing. She wanted to see it again.

Antonin grinned, "Some things should be left unsaid." With that, the change in his eyes was gone and he went back to his bubbly smile. "I doubt you would give me any details about you if I asked."

Regan stared for a moment, sifting through his eyes before giving up. "Point made," she nodded.

They sat in silence for a moment. One curious and the other on standby, their roles were reversed. 

"You're 19 right?" Regan asked. 

"Hmm," Antonin nodded.

Regan eyed him for a second, considering her next sentence. Although she ruled it as inappropriate, she still asked, "Then why are you here?"

His smile disappeared.