Mason sat at the edge of his bed, examining the edible Tristan gave him the previous day. Something was preventing him from just going to town like he usually did. Perhaps he just didn't wanna be high in the midst of the situation between him and Tristan, which had been wearing on him.

"Mason?" Domino called from behind the door. "Can I come in?"

"Uhh... Sure."

The door opened slowly as they entered the room. "Is everything alright?"

Mason looked up. "Yeah? Why do you ask?"

Domino scratched the back of their head. "Well, by now you usually have eaten something, but you've just been in here all day. You haven't even left your room to brush your teeth or feed me."

Mason stretched over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone to check the time. His eyes shot open. "Holy shit. Sorry, let me get you something to eat."

     Domino watched Mason try to find a decent place to put the edible before getting up and rushing out the door. Since last Monday, they had noticed Mason acting a bit off. For one, it seemed like he was back to his previous messy self-care habits, or lack thereof. Domino watched Mason accidentally knock his bowl of cereal off the counter, resulting in a shattering sound that caused them to jump back.

"Fuck!" Mason shouted, carefully picking up the larger pieces. "Could you grab me some paper towels?"

"The long roll of white paper, right?"

"Yeah, that one! Should be in the bathroom."

"Why is it in the bathroom?"

"Why is anything anywhere? Please just grab it for me. I would but I'm kinda freaking out right now."

Domino rushed towards the bathroom. "Okay, my bad!"

Mason took a few deep breaths. At least this didn't happen to Domino's food. He saw Domino pull the roll off of the toilet paper holder and walk briskly towards him, carefully placing the paper towels beside him.

"Thanks, Domino," Mason began while pulling off a paper towel and scooping up the cereal. "I gotta get more toilet paper, that way this'd be in the kitchen where it should be."

Domino nodded in confusion. "What's the difference?"

"One of them is for your ass, and the other is for cleaning up mistakes."

"I see!"

Mason got up and dropped the paper towel full of cereal into the trash before clearing the way for Domino, his hands in his pockets. "Here, I don't wanna chance knocking your food over too. I'm gonna head back in the room."

Domino's ears folded back as they took care to step over the mess on the ground and grab their food. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You haven't eaten all day."

Mason sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

Domino sat down with their food and dug in face first as Mason disappeared into the bathroom. They felt like saving some for later, but then considered that Mason might not end up making himself food. They sighed as Mason returned and sat down next to them.

"Sorry for not giving you food sooner. How have you been?" Mason asked while giving Domino scritches.

Domino's ears folded back as they scooted with their paw what was left of their food towards Mason. "Eat."

"Are you sure? I made that for you and I don't wanna-"

"Then fucking make something else!"

Mason's hand shot back. Domino's tail was puffed out and their fur was standing on end. He attempted to respond but nothing came out. Domino saw his expression and slid to the opposite end of the couch, no longer making eye contact.

They hugged their legs to their torso. "Sorry."

Mason blinked and extended a hand. "No no, it's fine, I promise-" 

He was cut off by the sound of muffled crying. Unsure of what to do, he pulled his hand back.

"I didn't mean to shout at you," Domino strained between shaky breaths. "I just hate seeing you like this. You've done so much for me and then you go and treat yourself like your need for food isn't as important as mine. Tristan used to do it all the time and I don't want to see you like that!"

Mason scooted in closer. "I'm sorry. I know I haven't really been taking care of myself. I'll try to do better."

Domino sighed for a moment and leaned their head against Mason's thigh. "Thank you. For everything."

Mason's face warmed up as he gently rubbed under their chin, grabbing a spoonful of their food for himself. "No problem. I'm happy to have you here."

***

     The two stayed there for about an hour. Mason would have gotten up to use the bathroom a bit ago if Domino hadn't fallen asleep on his lap, although he didn't necessarily mind keeping the moment going for a bit longer. That being said, he really needed to go, so he put his phone down and gently nudged Domino.

"Hey man, wake up. I gotta piss."

Domino rubbed their eyes and sat up. "Sorry. How long was I asleep?"

"About an hour."

"Oh. Well, you're comfy I guess."

Mason chuckled as he got up. "Thanks! You too."

His walking speed accelerated as he headed for the bathroom, abruptly cutting off eye contact. Domino eyed their now empty bowl of food and closed their eyes in satisfaction. A little while later, Mason re-entered the room and sat next to Domino again.

"How are you doing?"

Domino brushed against Mason's shoulder. "I'm doing better."

Mason smiled. "I'm happy to hear that."

"Did you still wanna eat that edible?"

"Nah. I've got too much on my mind," he began. "I don't wanna be paranoid and the idea of actually remembering a Sunday evening is nice right now."

Mason's eyes widened in embarrassment. "Like, because I've been trying to get high less, I mean. It'd also just be nice to have a clear head to figure out the situation with Tristan."

"Ah, I see!" Domino replied.

The two sat in silence for a moment. A thought struck Mason out of nowhere.

"Wait," Mason began. "Can you read?"

"Nope!" Domino replied.

"Ah. Do you wanna read?"

"I have to in order to use that phone, right?"

"Technically no, but it's way easier."

"Do you wanna teach me how?"

Mason scratched his head. "Uh... I don't know. Maybe? I'm not sure how to do that."

"Fair enough!"

"I'll definitely try but I can't promise I'll be much help."

"Whatever works! I think it'd be nice learning how to read from you!"

Mason chuckled. "I don't know how to respond to that, but thanks, I guess."

Domino nuzzled Mason in response.

"I really say fuck enough for you to start using it too, huh?"

"Yup!"

"Heh, nice."