Guess I owe you birthday drinks with money I don't have, huh?

[ he sniffles. this sucks. he looks like a huge baby but the magic humming inside of him is vibrating. it might feel a bit different, no doubt, to nick. it's not heavenly anymore, barely a glimmer, but cool to the touch. still very much tris, but with an almost hollowed out taste to it. ]

Body shots or something. You like those, right?

[ nick lets go and tris surges forward quickly. he's made his decision, always quick about these sorts of things. he refuses to linger if only because lingering begets doubt, which is not what he needs right now, and it isn't what nick needs either. this is his nick, his nicola. the bones are all there, even if they're a bit different. she's in him and he's in her and the differentiation, while it exists, isn't something he's going to bring here unless nicola decides to magically show up one day.

god that'd be.

weird. and scary. and weird.

he swallows before he says what's immediately on his mind, crushes nick to his chest in an instant and bows over him like a too-tall tree. ]

This place sucks, [ he murmurs ] how long have you been here?