ONE WAY STREET ─ unORDINARY one-shots.

ii - [🌷🌸] matchmaker.

premise: in which isen sets up blyke and remi, despite his own confusing feelings.

characters: blyke, remi, isen. 

posted on ao3

~

Scarlet leaves were scattered throughout the sidewalks of Wellston. The sun was shining and a cool breeze circulated the air. It was your typical Friday afternoon– the shops were crowded, as they were filled with students celebrating another week of school over. Remi had asked Isen to get coffee with him, which he found odd. She'd asked Blyke as well, but Isen was sure she knew he wouldn't have been free. He had a test to make up for their English class, since he was out sick the day they took it. Isen couldn't figure out why Remi had planned this, and it was itching at his journalist brain that he couldn't find any other clues. Was this a weird way of trapping him onto going on a date with her? He didn't see how that was likely. Little did he know it was quite literally the complete opposite.

"Isen," Remi started speaking, but she didn't continue after saying his name. He felt as though he was getting scolded by his mom.

He took a sip of his hot chocolate. He didn't get coffee on purpose, it would make him anxious. He still couldn't figure out why. "Yeah?" he responded way too late; the coffee thought train invaded his brain.

"Okay, so," she took a deep breath. "I've had this... thing in my mind. For a while. And I don't really know who else to talk to about it," she fidgeted with the Hello Kitty keychain on her bag. It was a translucent pink, and very worn. She hadn't gotten rid of it though; it had been a gift from Rei. Isen remembered her thinking it was silly when Rei gave it to her, talking about how she hadn't liked those things since she was nine. Oh, wait, there was a conversation happening. Maybe it was about Rei. But still, why no Blyke...?

"So you're talking to me about it?" he asked in disbelief. "Why not Blyke? I mean, it's obvious you were waiting til he wasn't free?" he questioned.

"It's about Blyke, Isen," she mumbled.

"It's about Blyke?" he repeated. "I don't... What?" he twisted his face in confusion. "Did he do something? Like, something stupid?"

Remi shook her head. She bit her lip and stared Isen right in the eye.

Isen furrowed his eyebrows. It was obvious that she wasn't going to directly tell him what this ominous thing in her mind was. Think... What was there with Blyke? Did he do something? That was unlikely, he thought. Blyke didn't have enough balls to do something stupid to Remi. Maybe it was the opposite, like a good thing? Wait.

Oh.

"You like him," he stated.

Remi nodded. "I do, it's just..." she trailed off. "I don't want it to ruin everything, but I don't want to keep it a secret. I'm worried if I tell him, he'll act weird after. And I don't want it to ruin our friendship," she explained. "Also, if it was awkward between Blyke and I, you would end up dealing with it too."

Isen sighed. He thought back to a conversation he'd had with Blyke the other day. The memory made the hot chocolate taste bitter in his mouth, and he didn't know why.

~

It was 2 in the morning in Blyke's dorm. Isen and Blyke were playing truth or dare, as they were running out of better things to do. It was a bit boring, since they were too tired to do any dares, but they already knew everything about each other.

"Truth or dare?" Isen asked, for the twelfth time.

"Truth."

"How's your mom?"

Blyke threw a Cheeto puff at him. "That's not a– that doesn't count!" he exclaimed. "God, Isen, you suck at this. You'd think you'd have juicier questions than that, being a journalist or whatever you call yourself."

Isen rolled his eyes, but not before eating the Cheeto puff. "Okay, fine," he huffed. He did have a question in mind, but it felt too... on the nose.

Whatever.

It was 2 in the morning, which warranted all questions acceptable.

"Do you like anyone, and if so who?"

Blyke scoffed jokingly. "That's a two part question," he critiqued. "And what is this, the first grade?"

"You're avoiding it," Isen taunted.

"Okay, fine," he sat up on a pillow, facing Isen. "Yeah, I like someone."

Isen raised an eyebrow.

Blyke rolled his eyes, but his face turned serious. "You can't tell anyone . I will skin you," he threatened.

"Woaaah, calm down!" Isen put his hands up. "I won't tell a soul."

"Okay," he muttered. "I... kind of like Remi."

For some reason, that felt like a punch in the gut. Isen didn't know why– he didn't even like Remi or anything. He was pretty sure he didn't, at least. Isen swallowed the sour feelings and nodded. "Solid choice," he commented.

Blyke punched him in the arm. "I'm going to sleep."

"K, 'night."

"'Night."

Isen didn't go to sleep after that. Instead, he spent his night and early morning pondering over that agonizing feeling.

~

His friends deserved to be happy. Whatever dumb feeling Isen was feeling– he could push it aside, it wasn't the end of the world. Isen forced a small smile and looked at Remi. "You should tell him," he said.

Remi looked confused. "Are- are you sure?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah, trust me," he urged her. "If you're really worried about my feelings, you can pay for me next time we get coffee without Blyke to gossip about him," he joked.

She smiled. "Sure," she paused for a moment. "When should I tell him?" she asked, like Isen was an all knowing being who knew the answers to everything.

He took a sip of his hot chocolate and felt that disgusting taste again. He still couldn't figure out the feeling. He held back a sigh as he ignored it. "Whenever you think is best," he offered in response.

"Thanks, Isen."

"Yeah, anytime," he didn't really mean it. He couldn't imagine staying in this coffee shop a minute longer, and he still didn't know why. He stood up. "Well, um, I have an article to finish. Tell me how it goes," he said quickly before heading to the door.

He left without giving Remi a chance to say bye.

~

word count: 1,054