Chapter Text
After months of extra nights and extra hours at McDonald’s, Norton was certain he had seen every corner of hell Satan had to offer. Between frying his work headset with the fries, and wiping off children’s goo from the playground, Norton was confident hell was (somewhat) over.
Well, one meal in Singapore and he was proved very, very wrong.
For months Norton had been planning this trip to Kathmandu, to visit Naib on his birthday and surprise the boy. Could Norton afford it? Definitely not, but that’s what would make it extra sweet, right?? Just a few extra shifts at McDonald’s and it would be easy! (Mama Subedar had to pull through and help him a bit with the ticket. He did still have student expenses that sucked his co-)
Everything had been neatly planned. Norton even pulled out his nerd side and made a spreadsheet for his budget. He had read up on things to keep in mind when traveling as this was his first time out of the country, and he had asked mama Subedar various things about Nepal and what to keep in mind when going.
Everything had been planned so, so well, and yet he was forced into an involuntary friendship with the toilet in his hotel room. One meal at the airport in Singapore- one meal, and his stomach felt like the most outrageous battlefield in history, thousand shots being fired in every direction of his tummy.
When talking about traveling to Nepal together, a dream both Naib and Norton held very dear together, Naib did always tell Norton he’d need medication for his stomach because of bacteria. But somewhere in that monkey brain of Nort’s, he had made the link that bacteria somehow meant spice. And as the holy, loyal worshipper of the devil’s foods, Norton had deemed pills unnecessary. Little had he considered those pills weren't meant for spice, they were meant for bacteria that he, who had lived in England from diapers till now, was not used to. And like the lucky bastard he was, Norton suffered the penalty of his idiocy the one night he would spend alone in Nepal.
Just one night was he staying at a hotel before seeing Naib, simply because the plane was whack and he was forced to start his travel two days before Naib’s actual birthday, unless he wanted to get to Naib at eleven pm, spending only one hour with Naib on his birthday. Hence why he arrived one day earlier in Kathmandu with the plan to enjoy a proper birthday celebration.
The entire night had been spent hovered over the toilet or leant against the bathroom door, ready to run whenever another bomb would drop, and by the time Nort mustered strength to check the clock it had already somehow become 11 am. Am. Half the day had been spent with a bad tummy. What happened to the night-
Feeling like the worst was over (hopefully) the walking corpse pulled himself up, feeling his eyes drag down. A restless night assured him people would see him as a zombie, so getting a taxi would be hard.
Actually, getting a taxi would be hard for more than one reason. Ever since he got on the plane from England to Singapore, his signal had completely died. He had tried to get any connection- whether calls or data, but nothing seemed to react. Which was hell during a 13 hour stop in Singapore where he had no chance to contact Naib. He had forgotten a bit about it during his tummy’s thunder storm, but now that he had to get a taxi he realised just how screwed he was. If he couldn't call anyone, how would he call for a taxi?
Right. The reception.
Packing his bags again (he didn't unpack much other than a charger, seeing how the entire night was spent… y’know) Norton left the room, leaving a small tip on top of his unused pillow. Going to the reception he would check out and then ask the clerk for help with taxi, something he was relieved they gladly helped him out with (who would have known it’s part of their job)
By the time Norton had checked out and the taxi came it had already passed something along 12 due to him being unused to these travel things. When he got to the taxi it didn't get much better, as he remembered his phone was still dead signal wise, and the address to Naib’s place he had on messages from Naib’s mom. Curse technology and modernisation of every necessity.
“Where are you going?”
“Huh?.. uh, good question. Uhm..”
Fishing in his memory, Norton tried his best to remember the street address, but not much came.
“I think-.. el centr- fuck, no that’s Spanish-. The center of Kathmandu??”
“Center? Town square or center of the city?”
“Uhhhhh”
The Taxi driver glanced down at the expense count, something Norton took note of. Realising time was money
“Look, I have the address over messages, but my phone refuses to get service”
“Uhuh”
“And it’s been like that for an entire day, even in Singapore-“
“Right”
“And- Can you stop checking the count.”
“You know you don’t need a signal to check old messages?”
“Yeah you do.”
“Don’t think so.”
“If that was the case I would have had it.”
“Check then. We’re not getting any further relentless.”
Huffing, Norton did just that. He would check his phone and show this driver just how- “I have the address.”
“Yeah? Show me and I’ll drive”
The ride went on in what Norton felt was an awkward silence. Perhaps a one sided awkwardness as he was the only one making a fool of himself. As the drive went on Nort was slowly feeling a bit drowsy, a night of little rest catching up with him. He didn’t even realise he had slept before he was called, not quite sure what was being said.
“Road’s blocked, so can’t take you further than this.”
“Wha- Why’s the road blocked?”
“I don’t know, I just drive the taxi. We gotta do a turn”
“No, it’s fine. You can just let me off here and I’ll find my way.”
“Sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, here’s the total”
Norton looked at the counter to check he heard right, making sure he paid up and added a little tip, more so to assure he didn’t pay too little. Imagine if he got arrested over a taxi-drive.
When the taxi took off, and the foreign man was standing by himself, an unsettling realisation dawned in and set in the boy. These were not the streets he knew, nor did he have any phone connection. How did he plan to make it from there to Naib’s place again?
Looking at the street names around he found nothing familiar, nothing he remembered Naib talking about, and checking his phone he would only see time that could be spent with Naib fly away.
Still feeling like utter shit from the day before, Norton only walked for a bit through the busy streets before he found a small store (convenience store, tourist shop or what it was he was clueless on, he didn't know what defined what in Nepal). There he bought a soda to fill his stomach with something, going with the safest considered option after the bacteria had so ruthlessly attacked him. Soda was meant to be good for throw ups, right? So surely it was safe.
When paying, he passed some flowers he also brought along. It was already late (he had spent about 1 to 2 hours searching for Naib’s place before realising how shit he felt) so the least he could do was bring his boyfriend some roses, right?
A pretty man deserved pretty flowers, and he deserved to have them handed in style, and time. Unfortunately, Norton would do neither. As the hours passed, walking became more and more dreary. Shoulders hung low like a set of heavy chains off his torso, and there was little light in his already dark eyes as the light in Kathmandu set low. It was first when he reached a park danger ensued, and the flower bouquet he had dragged along his path were suddenly plucked and torn by a flock of angry birds- Along with himself, when he tried to fend off the angry birds in his half-dead state. After that he wasn't sure what looked worse, him or the flowers?
It was tiring, knowing all day he had been searching for Naib to no avail. Everything he planned went to waste for insignificant things he didn’t plan. From the food in Singapore, to the birds and bouquet, everything that could go wrong. Not even his phone worked with him, although he had paid for international services. Couldn’t even call to complain to the bastard that ripped him off. All he could do now was glance up at the sky that had turned too dark too soon, not even wishing to look at the time on his clock. He would have to beg some hotel to let him rent for the night, not that he had planned for that in his budget, but what was he expecting with everything going wrong?
Taking a deep breath, Norton checked his phone to be faced with the painful realisation of how much of Naib’s birthday he had missed. Glancing at the clock it was a painful jab at his heart to see the day nearly done. Knowing he’d have to get a hotel before all receptions closed instead of looking further (knowing he’d have to search by foot for those too)
With a saddened mind, Norton swiped up to once again try and connect to the data, to no avail of course. The icon lit up, but no connection, and he would never reach Naib, he would ne- wait, why was the airplane icon lit?
“... Ah”
In the blink of a moment, all energy returned to Norton’s body momentraily, a wild man running down through the streets of Kathmandu. Finally, finally he knew where to go.
Now the question was, how would he explain to Naib how flight mode cucked him so hard?