Saturday morning, Matt POV:

 

With a yawn, Matt rubbed his eyes, gradually emerging from the embrace of slumber. As he sat up in bed, he absentmindedly scratched his bare chest, his preference for sleeping in just boxers unchanged, despite his lingering discontent with the scantiness of men's underwear in this world. Glancing at his clock, his eyes widened at the time.

 

12:13

 

Groaning, he quickly got out of bed, rushing to put on a tank top, ‘God damn it, why did I let Sam convince me to have a smoking contest with him last night.’ Sighing Matt shook his head at his bad decision making, ‘Whatever, two hours is enough time to get ready for Blake.’ He thought as he rushed out of his room.

 

Walking down the hallway he stopped in the kitchen/living room, the two rooms only separated by an island table connected to the stove. Looking over he saw his roommate, Sam, sitting on the couch eating potato chips, some random show playing on the holo TV.

 

Sam was an attractive boy, standing confidently at around 5'5". His pitch-black hair was styled in a pixie cut, reaching down to his chin, with a shorter back cut adding an edgy touch. His eyes were partially concealed by the sleek strands that fell over his left eye.

 

Dressed in a dark crop top adorned with a skull design, he shamelessly flaunted his thin midriff. A black choker graced his neck, accentuating his slender throat. As Matt's eyes trailed further down, he couldn't help but sigh at the sight of Sam's short shorts that left little to the imagination. These shorts were complemented by striped thigh-high socks. Basically, he was a scantily clad goth.

 

Looking over Sam smiled slyly at him, “Up nice and early for your date huh?”

 

Scoffing Matt walked over to the fridge, taking out some milk and eggs, “Piss off, whos fault is it that I woke up late anyways. I seem to remember being pestered to have a smoking contest by a particular pain in my ass last night.”

 

Smirking, Sam pointed to the large jar filled with weed sitting on a shelf in the corner, “it’s not my fault you have so much pot. I mean, what is that an ounce?”

 

Sighing Matt threw a bit of butter into a pan, a satisfying sizzling filling the room “It’s five ounces” he grumbled, cracking an egg over the butter “And it's not going to last for much longer if we keep smoking like we have.” 

 

Rolling his eyes Sam crosser his arms, “Oh please, don't act like you're not the one asking me to smoke weed all the time”

 

Matt had to admit Sam was right, he was trying to cut back on smoking but he never lasted long. He could barely fall asleep at night unless he smoked some weed and it was starting to affect his day to day business. He fell asleep once on his shift and Jane had caught him smoking behind the building several times. He wasn't helping himself by keeping his weed out in the open either, at this point he had smoked through about half of the original ten ounces.

 

In his old world he had smoked quite often, however when he got that weed from the gacha he started smoking like crazy. Blake has complained about it several times to him but he still hasn't been able to rein it in.

 

Huffing Matt nodded, “Yeah I know…” he said softly.

 

Out of view from Matt, Sam frowned at his tone ‘So he's insecure about that huh?” the goth thought in his mind, before staring at the back of Matt's head, ‘Fine… I'll help you out, I’ll talk to him about it later.’ He thought resolutely.

Deciding to change the subject, he smiled “So Matt, me and a couple friends are going to the Kingstrum Mall tomorrow, want to come?”

 

Freezing, Matt felt his eyes open slightly. Resuming his actions he started the toaster. “What time? If it's any earlier than two I’ll be with Blake.”

 

“Around five” Sam said.

 

Smiling Matt nodded, “Sure I'll come.” he said as he flipped his eggs.

 

Grinning Sam jumped up and walked next to Matt. Watching the eggs cook the goth smiled like the cheshire cat, “So… tell me more about this Blake woman. She must be pretty impressive if she managed to seduce you.”

 

Matt sighed, resigned that the boy would not leave him alone until he answered some questions.

 

-.-.-

 

Fresh out of the shower Matt looked at his closet, nodding with satisfaction. When he moved in Sam saw his pathetic wardrobe and immediately took him out shopping for more clothes. He had to put his foot down on some of the more risky clothes but eventually he ended up with a bunch of clothes that he liked. 

 

However he did get some risky outfits for Blakes enjoyment. Honestly he’s surprised at how much he was looking forward to showing her them. This world's standards were really affecting him more than he thought they would, and he has found himself adjusting pretty well to the new ‘masculine’ clothes this reality has.

 

The clothing style of the two genders wasn't completely switched, as dresses were still considered feminine, but things like yoga pants and crop tops were now pretty much exclusively worn by men. Suits were considered pretty gender neutral, and were acceptable to be worn by both men and women, however it was typically men that wore them.

 

Shifting his thoughts he refocused on his clothes. What he had was pretty much anything he would have loved his girlfriend wearing in his old world. Things like large hoodies and some darker clothing, all of them modest looking that covered his figure pretty well. He wasn't really a goth, but he does like darker colors so his style of dress usually looked somewhat emo.

 

For his pants he grabbed a black wide legged trouser that went up high on his waist and for his shirt he just picked out a regular white t-shirt. Over the shirt he put on a large maroon hoodie that was way too big for him, with the sleeves going past his hands.

 

Looking in the mirror he turned around and shook his head, taking off the hoodie and shirt. Replacing them with a dark blue shirt with lantern sleeves that he tucked into his pants, he nodded in satisfaction at the new look. ‘Jesus, I really am putting a lot of thought into this. This world has changed me more than I'm comfortable with.’ He thought with a small frown before shrugging, ‘You know what, fuck it. Who the hell cares. Maybe it’s just me subconsciously trying to fit in or something else, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. There's no point thinking about how much I've changed. New world, new me…’ He thought with amusement, before taking a necklace with a bright blue jade shaped like a teardrop and putting it around his neck.

 

Leaving his room he walked to the living room and called out to Sam, “So, what do you think of the outfit?” He asked, doing a spin.

 

Looking Matt over the goth boy brought a hand to his chin, pretending to think deeply he shook his head “You're not showing enough skin boy! Your girlfriend is going to want to show you off and she can’t do that if you're covering up all the good stuff!”

 

Raising a brow in disbelief Matt countered back, “Or it could just make her annoyed at all the stares I'll get. I don’t want her to be jealous.” From his experiences in his old world he was pretty sure Blake would appreciate modesty, as most men he had talked to had admitted that they found modesty sexy. He was pretty sure it was the same in this world, and girls just lied to the boys about it because they didn't want to get called controlling or sexist. He wasn’t completely sure though, as it depended on the person.

 

Throwing his hands in the air Sam looked at him in annoyance, “That’s good though! If they are jealous women will work harder to keep your attention! We thrive as our girls get competitive.”

 

Dumbfounded, Matt crossed his arms as he looked at the goth, “That sounds like a one way ticket to an unhealthy relationship.” he said with a frown.

 

Huffing petulant Sam looked away, “Healthy relationships are overrated.”

 

Eyes shining in amusement Matt sat down next to the boy, “You're just saying that because you're a slut. I’m telling you, you will be happier and feel better about yourself if you find the right girl to settle down with.” What he didn’t say however was how much he would pity that poor woman.

 

Looking unconvinced, the goth rolled his eyes, "Uh huh, whatever you say.”

 

About to respond, Matt stopped as he heard the doorbell. With a big grin on his face he rushed to the door, not seeing Sam's small smile at his excitement.

 

Opening the front door he stuck his head out, feeling his ears twitch in anticipation. Seeing Blake standing there awkwardly brought a grin to his face, his shoulders relaxing subtly, “Blake!” he said happily, rushing up and giving her a hug.

 

Breaking the hug reluctantly, Matt took a step back and suddenly saw flowers being held in front of him. Matt felt his brain stall and looked at Blake questioningly. Seeing her shift awkwardly he sniffed the air, the scent of flowers tickling his nose, “Here Matt, I uh… bought you these.”

 

Matt felt his heart skip a beat before he controlled the feeling. Honestly he couldn’t care less about the flowers themselves, but the fact that Blake went out of her way to buy him something she thought he would like made his day, maybe even his week. ‘This… is the first time someone out of my immediate family did something this nice for me.’ He thought, a big, embarrassed grin spreading across his face “Thank you, Blake.” He said.

 

Seeing her face immediately turn scarlet, he smirked before turning around and heading inside, “Come on in, I'll introduce you to my roommate.” 

 

Walking in Blake pinched her arm to help her focus. Looking around she had to admit the place was nice, with a decent size kitchen that had a beautiful island table separating it from the living room.

 

Hearing a new voice Blake looked at the goth boy poking at a rose, “Oh how cute! She bought you flowers!” He squealed, before walking out of the room “I’ll get you a vase just wait a moment.” he said, his voice fading out into his bedroom.

 

Smiling at Matt, Blake walked up to him and put her arm around his shoulder, “He seems excitable” She said.

 

Grinning slightly Matt shook his head, “He’s not usually this energetic. Never mind that, do you want anything to eat or drink before we leave?” He asked, putting the flowers in a vase when Sam walked back in, then filling it with water.

 

Shaking her head Blake looked around the house absentmindedly. Noticing this Sam walked up to her, “Hey, my name is Sam. So you're Blake huh, Matt has said a lot about you.” he said with a smirk.

 

Smiling awkwardly Blake nodded, “Yeah that’s me, nothing bad I hope.” she said.

 

Laughing Sam shook his head, “No, the opposite actually. He was practically gushing about you.” he said, grinning as he saw Matt’s face flush by the sink. Blake's heart started racing at that, ‘He was gushing… over me?’ She thought, feeling a dopey grin spread over her face.

 

Looking over Matt gave Sam an annoyed look, his face still slightly red “Ok that’s enough. Are you ready to go Blake?”

 

Snapping out of her daze Blake nodded at him. Smiling Sam caught her attention with his hand, “Wait, before you go, what do you think of the apartment? I recently redecorated it and I like hearing people's opinions.”

 

Startled, Blake looked around the room contemplatively, “It’s good, I like the Black and white theme you have going on.” She said, before looking over at a wall full of signs and random crap probably bought on the internet, Blake whistled in appreciation, “I like the wall too” She mumbled, before looking over to the corner of the room. Sitting there was something that made her pause. “Why do you have a gong though?”

 

Sam shrugged, “I buy random shit when I’m sad, but I’m always sad so I have a lot of random shit” he said, as if that answered anything.

 

Furrowing her brows Blake looked at him strangely, “Wait wha-”

 

Quickly getting pulled away by Matt, they hurried out the door, “Ok let's go. By Sam!” He said, slamming the door behind him.

Smiling in amusement Sam crossed his arms, ‘They are so cute.’ He thought with a grin. Turning around he felt the smile melt off his face. Staring at his empty apartment, he felt a strange sense of discomfort. He didn’t know why, but the home just seemed so… lonely all of a sudden.