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How did everything come to this? Rather, why did it come to this?
"Vamp.. don't tell me.."
Licorice grimaced at the thought when he awaited for the drunk man's answer, Schwarzwälder sitting comfortably next to him whilst Bat-Cat refused to leave his lap, all snuggled up and comfortable. It was a Sunday, and yesterday's events were a little messy, but it was one of the best outcomes that Licorice could ever expect. It's a rare occurrence for such a miracle like this to ever happen, although he'll have to consider how long he could stay in this house. After all, who's to say Vampire would be this generous without expecting some form of payment?
"... You're drunk again..?"
"Eheh! How did ya -hic- figure it out..?"
Licorice could feel a nerve of his pop out, sighing heavily as he finally got Bat-Cat off of his lap, although it resulted for the once comfortable cat to turn rather sour, a grumpy expression as they jumped off the bed and walked away from Licorice's radius. The amber eyed man sighed, getting up as he prepared to head out, still on the line to make sure Vampire didn't do anything stupid, let alone making him head out alone all stumbled up.
"I'm heading there. Where in the fuck are you?" He grumbled, checking up on the time and the living room. He had to make sure Schwarzwälder does not try to follow him, since he didn't want his dog to either get distracted, kidnapped, or worse even be put into harm's way. Last time he brought Schwarzwälder out for a walk in the park, he had to carry his rather big puppy out of there when his eyes had spotted two familiar faces. The way one of them had locked eyes with him.. That encounter in the park was the last time he set foot there. Well, it wasn't exactly his dog being put in harm's way, but it would have ended rather differently if they were to approach him. And he'd rather NOT have that other outcome, no matter how many times he would wonder about it.
Vampire must have been taking his sweet time pondering to answer him, let alone telling him the location of the place where he had gotten drunk. "Err… What's it called again..? -hic- …. Oh right! Sparkling Bar! Haha!" He finally regained his ability to speak, although his speech was a little messy, slurred even if it weren't for Licorice pressing the phone closer just to hear this stupid drunk man properly. "Don't you have anything to do besides getting drunk?! Geez, and here I thought I was the one who had to worry about the house owner.." He soon closed the door behind him, as he started to head out since it's nearing eight.
"We'll talk later about this, and stay put you dumbass drunk!" Licorice didn't stay in the call any longer than he should, instantly ending it as he made his way down the block. It was a rather chilly night, and there were many people walking around and about, window shopping at some stores that are still open. But Licorice didn't have any time to waste: he has to make sure that Vampire doesn't end up somewhere in the gutter or something. The dark haired male looked around, trying to find the name of the bar that Vampire had mentioned until he bumped into somebody.
"Watch where you're-"
"Licorice?"
Licorice froze. That voice.
He looked at the person he had bumped into, and his eyes weren't mistaking him. Long black hair adorned with long red streaks, stern but rather surprised blue eyes, and a familiar puppy that soon grew into a loveable dog, just like how it was to Schwarzwälder.
Except.. He was that person that locked eyes with him that long ago, the very person that he avoided like the plague. At first, he couldn't tell why other than keeping his pride intact, but it was made clear when he felt a familiar warmth blooming within him. A warmth where it made him unable to sleep for nights on end, but only ending up in heart break when he heard of the news of the person he once felt warm to, having a significant other. He remembered that day, a rather dark one as he almost planned to ruin him and his lover's relationship through checking on their posts. He almost had everything in his hand, but soon stopped himself when he realized how pathetic he was..
No, he won't let his emotions dictate his actions any longer. And he will absolutely not let that past action of his affect him, let alone redirect him to that terrible path. He wouldn't even wish it upon his worst enemy, which is surprising even for himself.
"... Hey.." Licorice looked away from Red Velvet, pretending to look at some shops despite his intent being very clear. Red Velvet was silent for a moment before clearing his throat, petting Chiffon as they barked for a pat. "Heard from Dark Choco you were evicted again?" This struck a chord to Licorice, although not a good one as he chuckled rather sarcastically. "Hah, you too? You're here to just see how miserable I can be at my worst? That's sweet." Red Velvet didn't like that tone, but he remembered Dark Choco's words regarding ever approaching Licorice.
'Don't hold it against him. He's having a rough time as of now…'
Honestly, what does Dark Choco see in Licorice? All Red Velvet sees is somebody who complains a lot, all bark but no bite. He'd keep on yapping and yapping until your ears bleed, your eyes weep crimson, and your brain fried to ashes. He may have tried to keep his feelings for Licorice subtle, but Red Velvet is no fool. In fact, it seemed rather obvious considering how Dark Choco hints at actually caring for this poor excuse of a tenant. "Don't twist it too much, brat. Dark Choco told me about it, and honestly I don't get why he puts up with you." Licorice didn't seem surprised, rather he seemed unfazed when he mentioned Dark Choco's involvement. "Huh, so now he's spreading the word? Great, now everyone will know that I, Licorice, am the most PATHETIC person in this god damn universe!" Licorice could feel the bubbling hot anger suddenly rising, his voice failing to sound civil and calm. (as calm as he wanted it to be, that is.)
Red Velvet was about to retort back until Licorice's phone started to ring noisily, making the amber eyed male snap back to reality and checking as to who is calling at this unlikely time. "Shit, I remembered why I even went out in the first place..!" He cursed at himself, completely forgetting about Red Velvet as he rushed past him, paying no attention to his name being called from the other. Red Velvet could only stare at the direction of where Licorice head off to, pausing for a moment before sighing heavily, Chiffon looking at him rather innocently.
"It's nothing, Chiffon.. Let's head back, yeah? Pastry's waiting for us."
He doesn't know why, but there was a small part of Licorice that seemed to have shown some change… or maybe his brain was playing tricks on him. Which is rare, considering he is never to be tricked.
…
…
…
"Hhhh, where is heeee..? -hic-!" Vampire frowned rather childishly, his head rested on the bar counter while having another glass of his very precious fermented grape juice in his hand. It was his sixth time, and although it wasn't the unusual amount like before, he felt oddly upset that Licorice was taking a little too long to get here. Hell, he tried to give him a call, but he was given a cold shoulder! "Maybe he got caught up in traffic? Who knows?" Sparkling shrugged, cleaning up a glass shot and setting it aside for any further use. "Who's this roommate that you've randomly picked out, though? Is he cute?" Sparkling teased slightly, making Vampire chuckle rather drunkenly as he looked up.
"What's your game, hm? You're -hic- always interested when it's the -hic- cute ones.." Vampire hiccuped, although his voice is that of amusement. He and Sparkling aren't strangers to this type of talk, rather they made sure that they are familiar with it. Sparkling is such a looker, and Vampire isn't going to ever deny that. And because he's such a looker, many people fawn over him, especially when he puts on his smile that gives extra brownie points. Vampire isn't so sure if he's that attractive, but according to Sparkling, he even rivals his level of charm due to some ladies (even men and alike) eyeing him with interested looks on their faces every time he enters the bar.
And that's what made his bar visits here interesting. A bartender and a customer, having a somewhat strange rivalry when it comes to charm. Vampire doesn't really try that hard, especially when it's Sparkling's type. But this time.. he could tell that this was different compared to the others.
"I'm a little curious as to who's your roommate, is all." Sparkling chuckled, although Vampire could gather a lot from those words than what it originally intended to be, for those who don't know him well. "Hmmm… he has pretty yellow eyes.. -hic- amber maybe..?" Vampire moved his wine glass a bit, the fermented grape juice swishing around gently as he took another sip. "Frame is kind of thin, but maybe I could be wrong… Skin's kinda -hic- pale, really dark purple locks I think? Not sure if he had dyed it before or something…" He shook his head softly when he remembered his fingers playing around with those rough strands of hair, downing the glass in one go.
Sparkling hummed in curiosity, although he could tell that this one is quite different. Usually, Vampire could care less about the person's appearance, and even if he did give a slight care to it, it's usually filled with riddles and half-assed guesses. But this one was different, in a way where it seemed like Vampire had taken at least some close attention to this person.
"I never heard you drop the name, Vamp. Who's the lucky victim?" He said rather jokingly, making Vampire chuckle along as he asked for another cup. Sparkling poured his seventh glass and was about to be given his answer, until he heard the door slam open.
"Vampire, you son of a bitch! Where in the flying fuck are you?!"
Vampire' once small smile turned wide, turning to the very familiar voice that sputtered out such profanities. "Ah, there you are! I thought you -hic- had forgotten about me~!" He laughed out rather teasingly, except it doesn't seem that his roommate isn't so thrilled with being in the same mood as he is. "You drunk bat, I thought you got lost or something!" Licorice groaned, not noticing the bartender who seemed to be eyeing him rather intently. "Hehe, sorry..~ I was a little -hic- upset that you were running late though…" Vampire could tell that Sparkling is starting to make his conclusions within his train of thoughts, although he doesn't have any plans to tease the bartender about it anyhow.
"I wouldn't have been running late when you could just stop taking visits in the bar in this god damn-"
"You're not kidding, Vamp. He's really cute.."
… silence.
"... Excuse me?" Licorice blinked, his ears not believing what he had just heard from the bartender. Was he… complimented? "See? Told ya he was -hic- really cute!" Vampire chimed in, agreeing to Sparkling sentiment made towards Licorice. Licorice had never been complimented before, so he wasn't sure as to how to deal with this.. Other than his face blooming a familiar warmth once again.
"Look at him! Red as a cherry!" Sparkling pointed out, chuckling at the other's attempt to turn away. He was actually wondering about something regarding him and Vampire, so he wanted to test it out himself… "Can I get your number? You seem like a fun one to be with." Sparkling asked the rather wide-eyed person, his amber eyes trying to turn away from his deep emerald. He could tell his charm was working, as he couldn't tear himself away from his eyes.
"W-well, uh- I-I-"
"Eh, too much to drink -hic- Sparkling. Let's go, Alico~!" Vampire suddenly interjected, throwing his arms at Licorice to which made the other react rather violently, although it was to be expected. "H-Hey! Don't get touchy, you drunk creep! And it's Licorice, not Alico!" Licorice grit his teeth, whilst Sparkling blinked for a moment before having a realization when his mind finally processed what was going on.
Vampire didn't want him to get any closer to this person, namely Licorice.
Rather, he didn't want Sparkling to snatch him away. Which is rather odd, considering the only time he'd act seriously in his own accord (even if he was drunk he'd instantly turn sober and Sparkling doesn't know how and why), it's usually rare since his sister is never the type to be in much trouble aside from having to deal with bullies.
"Hmmm, I prefer Alico better~!"
"Shut your mouth and get your ass up, or else I am going to leave you alone here in this bar!"
"Ehhh~ so mean..~"
Sparkling couldn't help but smile, as he took a piece of paper and wrote down a quick note for Licorice to take, to which the other seemed to notice as he handed it out to him. "Since you're his roommate, give me a call whenever you need help with his hangovers. It rarely happens, but I'd rather have him not puking near the streets of the bar." Vampire shot a glare at Sparkling, to which he ignored as soon as Licorice took the paper. "Thanks, I guess.." He muttered out.
Before the two left, Sparkling yelled out something to Licorice. "Oh, and about that note! Look at the back of it!" Licorice was a little confused, as he flipped it over and saw the number of this bartender written, a name next to it that was read out as 'Sparkling'. He blinked for a few seconds before turning red once again, as he redirected his attention to helping his drunk roommate go back to the house, as a means to finally get out of the bar and not look like a cherry tomato to that stupid bartender.
Sparkling chuckled as soon as the two left the bar, although he wished he could have talked to Licorice a little more…
"Heh… It seems that we finally have a challenge going on, huh Vamp..?"
Sparkling had never felt this unusual fluttering of warmth before, and now that he had experienced it, he'll make sure to never back down without a fight.
"Come to think of it, he does sound quite familiar.." Sparkling hummed quite curiously, although he was still keeping the bar open as he was cleaning up the glass. He soon heard the door open once again, but this time it's this man again.
"Hey there! What brought you here?"
"... Just here to try out a drink, is all."
Sparkling could only nod, whipping up a drink for the rather talk and somewhat intimidating person. But he could tell that he meant no harm. In fact, he seemed rather new around these parts as well.
"..."
"Something troubling you, bud?" He asked, making the other person sigh as they took a sip.
"I'm just worried about my friend.. he's been evicted from many apartment complexes around four times, and I'm not so sure as to what to do.."
"Hmmm.. what's their name, if you don't mind me asking?" Sparkling asked once again, although he wasn't expecting the answer that came out of this person's mouth.
"His name is Licorice."
…
…
…
Licorice finally managed to reach the house, as he kicked the door open as soon as he and Vampire got close. He settled Vampire down to the couch, sighing as he sat across him, albeit a little distanced away from him. "Jesus fucking christ, were you really looking for a roommate, or are you looking for someone who'd always pick you up whenever you get too drunk to even walk?" He looked over to the drunk as a skunk man, and yet the only reply he ever received from that was a small chuckle. "I mean, you are my -hic- roommate, right? Isn't that what roommates do? Check -hic- up on each other?" Vampire reminded him subtly, to which made Licorice even more annoyed.
"I get it, I get it! Just stop getting wasted too much! What if something comes up and I had to pass it up because of your drunk sorry ass?"
"Hmmm, I mean… you could have ignored me earlier…."
… God damn it.
"Fine, you do have a point there.."
"Woohoo! What's my prize~?"
"There were none to begin with, dumbass!" Licorice blushed, hating himself even more as he kind of.. liked that voice. 'No, stop thinking like that you idiot! He's drunk and he doesn't know what he's doing!' Licorice tried to remind himself, although he didn't expect Vampire to scoot over a little closer the moment he faced him once again.
In fact, maybe too close.
"Hey, Alico… you have really deep eye bags.. you should sleep more.."
"W-Who cares?! Get away from me-!"
Licorice couldn't push him away, as Vampire didn't budge as he kept his ground, his wine purple eyes staring deeply to his own. "H-Hey, I said get away-" He squeaked a bit when he suddenly felt Vampire yank over the note given to him by Sparkling, an expression that he himself couldn't decipher as the other looked over at the back of the note.
"... You don't have to worry about it."
"T-The what? The hangovers?"
"Mmh, maybe..?"
Licorice sighed heavily, trying to take back the note that was taken from him. Vampire noticed it rather quickly, as he moved it far from his reach, as he found it rather amusing that Licorice was trying his hardest to take it back. "You asshat! Take it back!" Licorice yelled, as he tried to reach for it the best he could. Vampire hummed playfully, pretending to ponder for a moment before answering. "How about… nope~!"
"What's your deal?! I'm not your boyfriend or something!"
"Ehhh, I don't like him! He's too handsome…!"
"How's that related to the note?!"
"You might keep texting him and end up with him…~!"
"Yeah, and?!"
Vampire paused, slightly taken aback from Licorice's response. This was enough for Licorice to finally snatch back the note that was taken, standing up as he walked away from the couch. "So what if it might end up that way, huh?! It's none of your business!" With that, he went straight to the showers to give himself some space, as well as some peace of mind.
Meanwhile, Vampire was in the state of dumbfounding silence. He soon snapped out of it and suddenly realized the way he acted. He cursed as he looked at the hand he used to snatch away that note, the very same one that he also used to play around with Licorice's hair.
… it was strange, really. To see himself act quite unusual, almost out of himself..
"... Eh, I don't wanna think. I'm just gonna sleep.."
If only Vampire could keep the first thing true, to which it never did as he still ended up thinking about the events that occurred. Sparkling had only given Licorice that number out of interest that had sparked within, so it shouldn't have bothered Vampire considering how Sparkling is all the time.
But this one is different.
He felt strangely inclined to just prevent Sparkling from ever trying to get close, although this could be just the alcohol talking. But Vampire could feel that this is not the case, since he can hold his liquor a lot better than others. Hell, even if he did sputter out some hiccups here and there, he's still perfectly intact! (To some extent, that is.)
He had only met this guy like what, two days ago? Or is it considered a day and a half ago? Vampire didn't really care, but ever since he had taken in Licorice as a roommate…
.. he couldn't stop playing with his hair whenever he slept.
"... I should have brought a bottle of wine with me.."
…
…
…
"... Hey, are you still awake..?"
"... Shut up…"
Licorice kept his back turned from Vampire, not wanting to face him or even see him at all. Vampire could only look at Licorice silently for a moment before yawning softly, as he started to move a little closer to him, wrapping his arms around-
"Stop. What are you doing?"
"... Holding you like usual?"
"... This isn't supposed to be happening."
… Vampire could tell what Licorice meant. It was also rather strange, really. Odd in a sense where maybe he should have considered his actions much more carefully ever since the first encounter.
"Sleeping with someone in the same bed, being held… I just don't get it..!" Licorice felt rather frustrated, but this time it wasn't towards Vampire. Rather, he was frustrated with himself. He could have pushed him away whenever Vampire does hold him like that, whether it be him doing that half-awake or full on sleeping. He could have, but…
… he didn't.
"... Heh, you're still cute, even if you're a little frustrated.."
".. Shut up, you drunk.."
"Heyyy, I'm not drunk anymore! I'm a little bit sober now~!"
"Still, once a drunk always a drunk."
Vampire's smile. He hated how soft it is. Why is he looking at him like that..?
"... Hey, it's okay."
"H-huh..?"
"Y'know, you don't really have to think way too deep about all of this."
".. That just doesn't make any much sense to me.."
"Either way, better than suddenly becoming awkward with each other, hm?"
… he does have a point. At least, in a weird way..
".. fine.. I'll just get used to your clingy ass arms.."
"Awww, but you'd always snuggle up closer to me for warmth~!"
"S-Shut it, you-!"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence when he was gently pulled to him, his arms wrapped around as his head rested upon him. Licorice could feel his face heating up a bit, although he was lucky that his entirety of his face was close to this drunkard's chest, as he soon made himself comfortable when he felt himself slowly succumbing to sleep.
"... Is it okay if I..?"
"Yeah, don't worry.."
Licorice couldn't keep himself awake any longer, as he soon started to slumber off to dreamland.
Meanwhile, Vampire was once again touching Licorice's hair, except this time his face seemed… troubled.
".. shit."
He never thought he'd be falling this hard, but he knows how weird and downright criminal it can be. He thought him holding Licorice close would be a one time thing, since it was in a time wherein he needed some comfort. But now?
He's just doing this often, like they were…
".. heh, Sparkling must have been improving on that wine… making me think weird things…"
He decided not to think too much anymore, as he let his eyes close and dozed off, still holding Licorice close.
It was a chilly, but somewhat warm evening for the two.