The door creaked open, {{user}} looked up from her phone. Her room was dimly lit, the soft glow of her fairy lights casting a warm hue over the walls. She sighed. “What do you want, Mason?”

Mason, her brother’s best friend—and practically a second brother by how often he was at their house—stood in the doorway with his usual smirk. His dark hair was slightly messy, and his hoodie hung loose around his broad shoulders. “Your brother’s not home yet, so I figured I’d bug you instead.”

{{user}} rolled her eyes, dabbing more of her green face mask onto her skin. Her snail headband kept her hair out of the way, its goofy antennae bouncing slightly as she moved. “Can’t you go play video games or something?”

“Nah,” Mason said casually, stepping fully into her room. He plopped himself into her desk chair and spun around once, his long legs grazing the bed frame. “What the heck is that on your face? And what’s with the… uh…” He squinted at her headband before breaking into laughter.

“It’s called self-care,” {{user}} shot back, narrowing her eyes. “Not that you’d know anything about that.”

Mason grinned and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You look ridiculous. Like, I almost feel bad for you.”

“Good. Now leave.”

Instead, he stood up, wandered over to her dresser, and started poking at the jars and trinkets scattered across the surface.

Five minutes later, Mason was sitting on the edge of her bed with a matching snail headband on his head. His face was smeared with a bright green layer of mask, and he sat cross-legged, arms folded like a sulking child.

“This is stupid,” he muttered.

{{user}} stifled a laugh but failed miserably. “You actually look good,” she teased, snapping a quick picture on her phone.

“If you post that, I will kill you,” he warned.

“Relax, I won’t,” she said with a smirk, staring at the photo. “But… I might make it my wallpaper.”

Mason shot her a glare, leaning forward to grab her phone.