consilian:

As childish as Tarek could be at times, there was definitely some sort of maturity hidden within the young man as well, even if he barely allowed for himself to show that side to anyone, except his family members. Perhaps this particular character trait of the male had something to do with the fact that he had been forced to care for himself from a very early age on, causing much of his infancy to dissolve into nothingness in favor of carrying a foreign indepencene on fragile shoulders.

This was a duty of parents, and not of a small child, but Tarek’s circumstances had been much too complicated to request such a thing from his mother who, at that time, couldn’t have done what she needed to, even if she had wanted to. And still, despite a very cheeky attitude nowadays, he was very well aware of the childhood he had been robbed off, yet didn’t hold it against anyone. Who could be responsible for the stones that life threw in your way? At one point in his life, Tarek had simply decided to move on and leave the bad memories behind.

Still, these sort of memories surfaced during moments such as this one; Jennie’s kind-hearted gesture didn’t just come out of nowhere, and he treasured the fact that she was expressing her gratefulness for their friendship and yet, he hadn’t expected for her to do so in form of handing him a rose, a fragile beauty whose petals could fall off at any given moment. As stupid as that may sound, to Tarek it symbolized something he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but he was thankful.

He had always been someone to care a lot for small gestures.

Going wide-eyed at first, his jaw dropping slightly, it took him a while to regain his composure before he broke out into a grin, cocking an eyebrow playfully. ❝Why does this feel like you’re trying to bribe me into something? What kind of ambivalent meaning does this have, Jennie?❞

Truth be told, Jennie had a knack for showing appreciation this way. Through gifts. She wasn’t an emotionally open person and she was only good with words when the topic wasn’t about her or what she felt. Though, it wasn’t so much as a gift since she’d only picked it out from someone’s garden. She couldn’t say she stole it per se, but the premise was something similar to that since she hadn’t used a penny on it. So was it really grandiose? There was no telling that part of it, but she sure was embarrassed.

For all she knew, Tarek could take her intentions the wrong way like how most people did. And Jennie just wasn’t the type for ulterior motives. Or maybe she did, because she got herself into trouble every now and again that she had to find a way out of it. But she remembers no agenda that concerned romance anyway, since a rose could symbolize for one. It was almost Valentine’s too. So even when she wanted to choke him for thinking it was a bribe, she felt a sense of relief and it shows with how deeply she exhales, lips curling into a pleased smile.

The atmosphere was quick to turn into a playful one once again, always as it is with Tarek. And she truly appreciated this nature of his. She didn’t like when people see through her cheery facade and pointed out her sadness. She had been on a slump for months now and he was just one of those few real chums who respected that she didn’t want the occasional morose to overcome the happiness she kept trying to enforce onto herself, thinking it’ll make it not just seem true but to be the existent reality.

A hand makes a slight impact on the male’s arm, her flushed face now mixed with a tiny hint of spleen that wasn’t meant to be taken harshly. “Yah…! That’s not always the case. I’m not… a bad person, I sometimes do… these… things.” she squints, along the way stumbling on her words. “Just take it… aigoo,” she gives him a sidelong glance, pushing the flower further to him, her head faced away but her eyes discreetly glued to him upon waiting for his reaction. “You’re welcome.”