By some miracle, Linx was able to wake up by himself. No screaming or shaking woke him up, just his own body.

He untangled himself from his blanket and went to the bathroom to do his morning routine. As he washed his hands, he looked at his dull, tired eyes. There must of been a time when these eyes sparkled, when they held joy. Where did that all go?

He blankly stared at himself, and then slowly grabbed the corners of his mouth with his wet hands. He pulled them up and down, creating fish faces and curves, and slowly the corners rose by themselves. But his eyes still looked like tree bark: dull and rigid.

He sighed, washed his hands again from his saliva, dried them, and went to his dresser. It was Monday, and today's training with Rose was at 4 to 8 pm because she values her sleeping schedule.

He dressed in grey and black clothes, to not make himself look like a total creep, and soon he was out of his bedroom. Luckily, his bedroom was originally a guest bedroom, since it wasn't near any of the other bedrooms.

He took a small flight of stairs downstairs and came into the living room. As expected no one was present, all either at work, college, or in the office room next to his bedroom.

Linx went into the kitchen, grabbing a cup for his matcha tea and some protein bars. As he waited for the water to boil, a pair of arms snaked his way around his waist. He knew the person entered the kitchen the moment he heard footsteps heading down the stairs and into the kitchen. But he was in a good mood for once, his sleep taking the credit for that, so he played along. just for a moment though.

Linx lightly nudged, by the look of the soft, wavy hair and slightly smaller stature, it was Trevor. Trevor didn't move, so Linx went to plan B. He gently grabbed Trev's arms and pried them away from his body. He escaped his hold, and just in time for the electric teakettle to finish boiling the water.

Linx ignored Trev, knowing he'll seek the attention anyway. He prepared his tea by placing a matcha tea bag in his steaming 'Not your cup of tea' printed in bold gold on the white tea cup. As predicted, Trev got into his personal space again, bumping his hip against Linx's.

Linx gave Trev his 'do you want to ruin my mood ' look. Trev, not understanding the look and only seeing it as an annoyed glare, continued to stand next to Linx. Linx, feeling his anger slowly with down his chest, moved away from Trev and glared at him this time. By some miracle, Trev seemed to understand the death threat and backed off, sitting on one of the stools that was by the island.

The kitchen remained silent, Linx waiting for the tea bag to infuse with the water and Trev thinking. Thinking about whether or not to risk his own mood for the week.

Trev has two options right now. A) Don't talk to Linx, enjoy his company and this rare occurrence or B) talk to him and risk messing up Linx's and his own mood.

Obviously he went with the latter option because this was a rare occlusion. Where Linx is in a relaxed mood, he's in the house while there's still light outside, and he's not running away from them.

"I heard Remi or Austin are going to make dinner tonight but aren't sure what's gonna be the main dish. I think it should be spaghetti with alfredo sauce, but they're thinking some simple chicken noodle soup. What do you think?" Trev bite his lip, wondering if he talked for too long. But the two dishes were Linx's favorite, or at least that's what Linx told them two years ago. But Trev didn't care, he just wants Linx to open up, even if it means using the limited knowledge he know about him.

Because he, and everybody, wants Linx to open up more.

Plus, Linx rarely eats with any of them. Always sleeping in (missing breakfast), going out of the house (usually missing lunch and dinner), or just waiting for everybody to finish up eating, to then grabbing the 'leftovers'. Even though those leftovers are always twice the portion of everybody else's, just to make sure he's eating enough. Yet even those are sometimes untouched for days, it leading for someone to eat it before it goes bad.

Though there was one time when his plate of food just disappeared for a week. Everyone wondered where it went, as it was Linx's plate only. But a week later, his navy blue plate was sitting on the island, clean and dry, with Linx's messy handwriting on a red post-it note, it reading-

Ate outside and forgot to return the plate. Oops.

Trev still smiles at that memory. And since Linx is in a good mood today, and Trev bribed him with his favorite foods, he just might join them for dinner.

He just might open up more.

"Spaghetti with Alfredo. But don't wait for me," Trev's hope broke down, "I might be home after dinner. Just eat without me, like usual." Linx's soft, monotone voice floated in the air. Trev wanted to protest, wanted to fight, but he just quietly accepted it.

"Oh okay, I'll text them then." His voice wavered the slightest in the beginning, but Linx didn't comment at Trev's sudden mood change.

Linx, unaware of Trev's emotions because his back was facing towards Trev, started eating his breakfast.

The silence, relaxing for Linx, tense for Trev, remained until Linx left the kitchen.

The peace remained within Linx throughout the jog to Rooster.

_______

It's already Thursday, Linx thought as he jogged. And these past nine days have been quite annoying.

For some reason the boys, mainly Finn, have been bugging him about some event this week that he'll love to watch. Linx being Linx, he ran out of the house before Finn could even finish a single sentence.

And while he'll love to come with them to watch this event, he knows better. Plus, he needs to take care of Rose's daughter, then head to Rooster for his match, and after the match he really doesn't want to go anywhere.

But right now, he needs to take care of Rose's kid. By take care, he means let her boss him around. But he wouldn't give up this job for the world. Not because this let's him be trained by Rose for free in exchange for him taking care of her daughter whenever she's out, but because Ivy is the only person that doesn't constantly pressure him. Though being five years old and silly might also be a factor to why he likes her so much.

He rounded the corner and entered the apartment complex. He rung room 203 and the door to the building opened. He quickly jogged up the two flights of stairs and jogged to the end of the hallway, to only see a flash of forest green jump on him. He fell on the ground, clutching the giggling child in his hands.

"Ivy, calm down! You don't want your favorite panda pants to rip, do you?" A gasp was heard above him and her tiny hands grabbed her knees to make sure her pants weren't ripped.

He picked her up, a squeal coming from her before tiny hands started to hit his chest on letting her go. Linx, amused, let her down and watched as she ran back inside her apartment.

He followed and soon smelled the food from the kitchen. He locked the door, got out of his shoes and put his coat on the ground, before going in the kitchen.

As expected, Rose was making breakfast, it looking like waffles and eggs. She turned to see her babysitter leaning against the enterence of the kitchen, looking calm as always. She smiled at him and continued to bake the waffles, knowing Linx won't return the smile. Not because he's mean, but because it's just not in his personality.

Linx left the kitchen, knowing he won't be of use there, and turned around to look for Ivy. By the lack of sound in the apartment, they were now playing hide n' seek.

He gladly joined the game and began to walk on his tippy toes. While Ivy is only five, she's already a master at this game. She doesn't giggle too much, doesn't choose the obvious places, and she's small, allowing her to climb and squeeze into small spaces.

Linx already knew the layout of their apartment quite well. A kitchen, a large living room, a master bedroom, a bathroom, and a small walk in closet.

She can't be in the kitchen or living room. The cabinets under the sink in the bathroom are filled with junk, so she can't be there.

He turned towards the closed master bedroom. She may be smart for a five year old, but he's decent for a twenty year old. At least in hide n' seek.

Linx opened the door and closed it. He wasn't letting her sneak past him. He quickly touched or looked at all her usual spots on the bedroom: under the queen sized bed, the curtains, behind the light purple pillows, and in Ivy's toy box. Confirming she wasn't in the master bedroom, he stalked his last location, the closet.

He abruptly opened the door and froze, listening for any giggles or gasps. None came.

Oh, she's serious today.

He closed the door, cutting off her escape route, and began to touch all the clothes laying on the floor. If hide n' seem has taught him one thing, is that looks can be deceiving. And bingo, he felt his arm thump against a body, giggles being muffled by the clothes. Her tuff of auburn hair popped out of the pile of hopefully clean underwear and hoodies, her pretty little teeth beaming at him.

He snatched her and began to playfully shake her, making her giggles louder and more unstable. Her laughter died down and replaced by whines.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Linx surrendered to her whines and wasn't surprised when she pounced on him the moment he let go of her. For a moment he thought of whining to her and see how she likes it, but held in the urge. Instead, he stood up, amused as Ivy held onto his neck, dangling in the air.

He ignored the pain on his neck and walked to back to the kitchen, smelling that breakfast was almost ready. Ivy squealed as her grip slowly slipped away and landed with a thump on the living room's carpet, her curly auburn hair looking like a mop on her.

Knowing she was a tough cookie, Linx left her and went into the kitchen to see if Rose needed any help. She didn't, as three plates with a stack of waffles and an egg were already presented on the small square table in the corner of the kitchen.

He sat down in his usual seat, and waited for the other two to join him, not wanting to be rude. Rose, after filling a cup with orange juice for Ivy, sat across from him. Ivy soon joined them, climbing on the high stool by herself. The chair did wiggle a little as she stepped onto it, giving Linx and Rose a mini heart attack, but she safely sat on it. They began to silently eat, but soon Ivy started to babble away.

"Linksh, when are you gonna teacch me how to beat up the bad guysh?" Ivy asked, still not able to pronounce her s'. Though it does give a cute nickname to both Linx and Rose.

"Beat up the bad guys? Linx, I thought we talked about this." Rose looked up at him, giving him a strained but amused smile. Strained because they have talked about this, multiple times, of how Rose doesn't want Ivy to learn how to fight in case she uses her skills for the wrong reasons. Amused because at this point it was really just an act Linx and her did.

"We did? I don't remember anything, do you Ivy?" Ivy played along and shook her head, even if she didn't know what was going on. If Rose didn't know Linx any better, she would've been convinced with his perfectly confused expression, how his lips puckered out and head titled just enough to make him look like a lost puppy. But she did know him better. She decided to continue to play along though.

"Really? Then why was Ivy beating up her toys, almost ripping off their heads?" She pushed on.

"I don't know. Maybe YouTube recommended her a weird video. Who knows." He stuffed a piece of waffle in his mouth, prematurely ending the conversation. But she was used to his dry conversations and awkward cutoffs. They finished breakfast, Rose cleaning everything up while Linx and Ivy played with one another. Rose went and did some chores around the place, waiting until Linx and herself needed to go to Rooster for his competition.

_______

Back at home, Finn, Orion, and Austin were getting ready to go to their event. Unfortunately, Linx was nowhere to be seen and couldn't come with the three of them. Remi, Kade, and Trev didn't want to come to the event, saying they didn't fancy seeing two people fight in a crowded place.

"So, where's this place again?" Austin looked over to Finn, the initiator of this activity.

"Just type in Rooster, it should be the first one to pop up." Finn lazily told him, leaning against the car's leather seat. Austin typed it into the cars GPS, and true to Finn's word, it was the first one to pop up. Austin began to drive, the GPS' voice the only sound in the car.

Orion broke the silence and asked, "What's the plan once we get there? I heard some matches can go up to half an hour." Finn snorted and looked at Orion who was sitting in the front of the car.

"And here I thought since you're a bodyguard, you wouldn't believe silly rumors. But no, you dummy, the whole match lasts six minutes. And the plan is to watch every match. I paid for the whole event, so we're gonna watch the whole event."

They soon arrived at Rooster, the place bustling with people. Austin, feeling protective of his two lovers, wrapped his arms around their waists, and got in line to get in the building.

After waiting a couple minutes, they showed their tickets and got in the crowd. In the center was a large, square mat it being surrounded by a metal railing. The crowd was luckily not too crazy as it was a Thursday, not to many people were high or drunk. Plus the three of them were in the back, if it ever does become too crazy, they have a quick escape.

The lights dimmed, four spotlights being concentrated on the mat. The event had started.

_______

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