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Loud music and flashing lights all around: the party at its peak. Someone is dancing, someone is laughing while sitting at the table, someone is just wandering from side to side. And cups. Red plastic cups: on the tables and on the floor, neatly stacked on the back of some sleeping guy. A tired looking teen was holding one of those cups in his hand. When he came to this party. No. When he was dragged here for company by his red-haired friend, he swore that he would sit quietly in a corner and wait until it was time to go home. Looking at those mountains of red plastic cups and packages of "Age-appropriate Drinks" when he arrived at the party, he realized with a sigh that he would have to take on the role of a designated driver once again.
But the longer he was here, the more his boredom grew. Could he go dancing? Well, definataly not. Dozens and dozens of curious eyes will be directed at him. Awful. What if his powers fail him again and he falls through the ground? Even worse, what if he freezes in place? Makes a wrong move? The most he can do is nod his head to the blaring music while remaining in his corner. Even better - pull on the hood so no one can see him for sure. He could try to break his record in doodle jump, but the battery is too low.
Sleep? No... Everyone knows what happens to those who fall asleep at parties. He looked at the crowd of people gathered around the sleeping guy. Giggling and talking, they leaned head-to-head over his face. They moved away in fear as the guy murmured sleepily and raised his hand to rub his freshly painted face. The movement knocked several cups off the tower. Luckily, the guy stopped moving again. People around sighed with relief, laughed and continued their work, not forgetting, of course, to repair the Cup Tower.
He shook his head with a faint smile on his face. Perhaps watching what is happening around isn't a bad idea? He turned his gaze to the left, to another room, saw a guy and a girl on an armchair, who were very friendly with each other. Embarrassed, he looked the other way, at the wall, and pulled the hood over his face. Light orange painted walls. The same smooth color throughout the wall, except for this corner. Maybe the painter became lazy and began to apply slack smears. Or did he just run out of paint? He explored the wall, running his fingers along it, feeling for roughness, then looked forward again to a low table on which were several cups and empty packs of crisps. Out of curiosity, he took one of the cups and stared indifferently at the liquid in it. They won't leave soon, will they? Or will they leave at all? What prevents them from staying here for the night? The guys won't mind. He glared at the drink insistently. Do they really need a sober driver?
As if hearing his thoughts on the ceiling in front of him, a plump face of a big-eyed baby peeked out from a snow-white cloud. The ignorant would take him for a little angel. Just like in school educational videos, he furrowed his brows, pressed the Bible to his chest and shook his finger at the dark-haired one.
- The Abstinence Boy says: no alcohol! - the boy nodded confidently, confirming the correctness of his words, then looked back at the other youth at the party and, almost screaming in horror, rushed off to lecture them. - Drinking destroys lives! - he squeaked.
He watched the boy fly into another room. Maybe... he's already drunk? He blinked a few times and shook his head. No... He couldn't let him down. He swore to be the most reasonable in their group.
The gaze crept back into the cup on its own.
But at what cost... At the cost of great boredom.
The guy, giving up, sighed, closed his eyes and drank the whole cup. He winced and coughed, but soon relaxed.
- Hey, William?.. - he heard aside and, out of surprise, dropped the empty cup on the floor. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Vyncent in front of him. The guy was second in stealth in their group, so it was not surprising that he approached so silently.
- Hi...
- Is there room for another one? - the guy asked, patting the wall next to Will. The dark-haired boy chuckled in response and nodded his head as he removed his hood.
Vyncent leaned against the wall next to his friend. He raised hand to the headphones, but then, as if remembering something, he looked around the room. Everyone minds their own business and will definitely not look at two teenagers in the corner of a spacious room. Apparently thinking that, Vyncent took off his headphones, showing his pointy ears.
Will lingered on them. He wondered if the guy was an elf? Or a half-elf? Or what other magical races are there in his world? Or is everyone there with such ears? Or can William just ask Vyncent about it? But better not now. Talking about home understandably upsets Vynce, he probably shouldn't be questioning him here.
- Well, how are you here? Bored?
Distracted from his thoughts, Will looked away from his friend's ears.
- No, no, of course I'm not bored, - he lied, scratching the back of his head. - I'm here... M... Watching. Very interesting.
- Oh really? - Vyncent stretched out these words with such sincere surprise in the voice that one might have thought that this answer not only convinced, but also intrigued him. He looked around the room: the empty walls, the doorway he had passed through, the somehow untouched potted houseplant on the stand, the couch around which most of the people had crowded, the half-empty table of food and drinks. - Well... I may not see anything, but you must have noticed a lot of interesting things here. You've always been very... observant. - He looked at his friend, who continued to stare at him.
- D-do you really think so? - Will had a stupid smile on his face, he swayed slightly towards his friend.
- Oh, of course! – Vyncent replied with a serious look. It was especially nice to hear compliments from him, even such insignificant ones.
- Why aren't you with Dakota? You two seem to be popular. Something wrong?
- Er... We are popular? - He emphasized the word "we" and shook his head. - I'm still new here. No matter how hard Dakota tried, it's still complicated. So I left, decided to visit you. M... Maybe you wanna join us? – He nodded his head towards the exit of the room. – I asked Dakota to leave you a couple of pizza slices.
- Hah, yes ... the temptation is great, - William smiled sadly and shook his head. – But I'll refuse. I don't really like... big groups of people, you know... So don't waste your time. – He looked away and hugged his shoulders.
- You think I'm wasting my time just hanging out with my friend? Will... - Vyncent uttered with a smile, as if scolding him kindly, and because of this a pleasant warmth spread in the chest of the dark-haired guy. His mouth stretched into a stupid happy smile and he couldn't shake it off even if he wanted to. He turned to his friend and looked at him with what can only be called admiration. Nothing could make him scream with joy inside like attention and simple kind words from Vyncent. And the fact that the guy reacted so casually to the actions of the dark-haired one made their awkward silences something special, as if it was their secret language.
In fact, Vyncent has always been oblivious to Will's awkwardness and embarrassment. And although sometimes he wanted to be noticed, most of the time William was happy with this run of things.
- Oh, you... Have you tried this? - the dark-haired one decided to be the first to break the silence and after his question, he went to the table to took two cups. He didn't succeed right away. Because of the excitement, his hands passed through the plastic.
- Is it allowed? - Vyncent asked him as he took the drink.
- Why not? - William replied, although he knew the answer.
- Well... you know... – They silently looked one after the other at the exit from the room. Somewhere there was the angry squeal of the Abstinence Boy. Guys looked at each other.
- You know what... Fuck him! - Will chuckled and waved his hand.
- Yeah! Fuck him! – Vyncent quickly picked up, and both guys showed the middle finger to the ceiling. They laughed and clinked cups. Vyncent took a few sips from his cup while Will drank it all at once again, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and exhaling loudly.
- Whoa, take it easy, Will! Is there any hurry ?
- I just have guts, Vynce, you know! - he grinned cheekily, propped his head on the hand, leaned against the wall, and without any remorse threw the empty cup back against the wall.
- Ah... that's how... I see, Will, I see. - Vyncent, playing along, nodded with a serious face and then burst out laughing. - Just don't overdo it, okay?
- Oh, how thoughtful of you, Vynce. - Will grabbed a new drink.
- I just don't wanna lose our sober driver. - He chuckled and watched as his friend tossed another cup aside. - First time drinking, right?
- I didn't think it would be so... freeing? - He moved closer to Vyncent with his big stupid smile. - And what about you?
- Hah, well, one time... - Will sighed, fixing his eyes on friend's face.
Vyncent was great. He was brave when the situation called for it. He was funny and William enjoyed spending time with him. And Vyncent wasn't the smartest, yes, but he was kind despite the harsh rules of his home world. And how excited his face was, how his eyes shone when guys showed him something new and unusual. He was adorable in those moments. And he had beautiful eyes, bright and blue. They were looking at him right now. Vyncent had finished telling his story and was now silently standing next to him, with gentle smile on his lips. His hair wasn't as wild as his, but it was still messy. He wondered if it was soft? Or coarse? He wanted to raise his hand and pat him on the head.
Oh, he could stand like this for hours, looking at and admiring him. Actually... He could stand closer to him... They could hold hands... They could...
Will grabbed the other by the collar, pulled him closer, and pressed his lips to the other's cheek. It was clumsy, though not surprising, cause his eyes were screwed shut. Immediately, he moved away, not daring to open his eyes, still clutching the other guy's jacket. Despite the ongoing conversations and noise in the room, a dome of tense silence appeared around the two of them. His heart was beating so hard that Will could clearly hear it in his ears.
Finally, he decided to open his eyes.
Red ears. Red face. And blue eyes wide open.
- W-
He closed his eyes. He lowered his head. He put on the hood and tightened the drawstrings. He doesn't want to see anything. He doesn't want to hear anything. He felt himself being swallowed up by the ground. Literally.
- W-W-Will, Will, w-wait! - he heard overhead, before sinking completely through the floor into the basement. Luckily for him, there was no one here, which is rather surprising considering the upstairs rooms were packed with people. Yes, that's right, Will. It's better to get distracted from what just... didn't happen. There was nothing. Of course! He fell on the old armchair down here and raised a big cloud of dust. He pressed his palms to his face, which was usually pale but now flushed with embarrassment. He gasped for breath, feeling his eyes sting.
Will flinched as he heard the basement door open, letting in a cheerful noise from outside for a few seconds before slamming shut again.
- William! - hurried footsteps were heard on the stairs. He cursed under his breath, wiping his face with the sleeve, then fell through the chair to the floor and pulled his knees up to completely disappear from view.
- Will, where are you? Are you here? - Vyncent went down and looked around the cluttered basement. - Come on, man...
- I... I'm fine... - He heard a familiar voice from behind the big shelf. Looking closer, he saw a hooded figure with a wide smile on his face. He stepped closer. It was dark in here, but this part of the room was illuminated by blue light coming from this, to be honest, rather creepy, happily smiling figure. Of course, it was obvious that it wasn't Will at all. The fact that the guy tried to use such an obviously bad copy couldn't help but bring a sad smile to Vyncent's face.
- William, I assumed you were blue, but not in that way.
He went behind the shelf and looked at his friend's copy. After a short silence, he heard a sigh, the fake tilted head, his smile turned into the same unnatural sad face and he shrank, turning into several wisps that continued to illuminate this room.
- Hey, where are you hiding? - He walked over to the armchair from which he had previously heard sounds and patted it. - Here? Didn't know you could possess furniture, haha! - his smile faded slightly as he heard a sob. - Will, come on, I'm not leaving until I know you're all right.
Not immediately, but William did come out of the chair with his head down. His clothes were covered in dust, his eyes and nose were red, and his face was smeared with dirt from tears and dust. He frowned and looked somewhere to the side at the floor, constantly rubbing his face and smearing more dirt on it.
- You... M... Why did you leave? Fell down... Are the wisps messing with you again?
- W-why? - Will pressed his head into his shoulders even more. - You k-know why...
- Do I? - he didn't have time to finish the sentence, when he heard Vyncent's reply.
Will finally lifted his head and looked blankly at his friend.
- I'm eh.. - he started, but was interrupted again.
- You? You fell through the floor. Nothing happened. - William closed his eyes, shook his head and stared at Vyncent with the same incomprehension. - Will. - he put hand on his shoulder and slowly repeated, as if trying to convey some hidden message. - Nothing happened, right? And we don't have to talk about it, right?
What is he trying to do? Will pursed his lips and sniffed. After a short silence, he took a deep breath and gingerly nodded.
- Well, well... You must be tired. I can take you home.
- But it's I who should drive you home... I'm your... Sober driver...
- Well, not so sober anymore, huh?- Will smirked at this, rubbing his face with his sleeve again. - And the driver, to be honest, isn't that good either. Ha ha, I'm sorry! - he immediately added, noticing an instant change in friend's face. - We'll tell Dakota. I think he'll make it home just fine on his own, unless he stays here overnight, of course.
William actually felt tired, maybe from worry, maybe from drinking.
- But I don't wanna... You don't need to... I'll do it myself... You stay here... - he began to mumble.
- Hey, it's all right! I told you. And I definitely won't let my friend sit alone in the basement and... - he looked at the tear-stained pale face and didn't finish. He patted the other on the shoulder. - Well... Whatever! Let's go! I won't accept a no.
- Fineee... - Will sighed. Vyncent smiled and put his arm around his friend's shoulder, in response to which William immediately shoved his head into his shoulders and began to rub his face even harder. To be more precise, he was trying to hide his flushed face behind his sleeve.
They went up the stairs and found Dakota cheerfully yelling songs in a group of people. Vyncent waved, beckoning him, and explained that they were leaving.
- Oh guys... Already?
- Yes, Will seemed to have drunk more than he could handle.
- Haha, William? Seriously? Man, I didn't know you would even take a cup in your hands, haha. - He suddenly became serious. - You know what Abstinence Boy says about alcohol, right?
- Whatever... I don't care... fuck him... - Will muttered with his eyes closed, surprising the red-haired boy.
- Oh my god. He doesn't know what he's talking about! We have to take him home right now!
- You don't have to. Stay, I know how much you wanted to come here. We'll get there.
- Well... - he sighed and frowned. - Fine, you two... - he looked at Will. - No, just you. Do you remember how to get to the base?
- Yeah, sure. - Vyncent nodded confidently. - You're just following... oh... oh...
Dakota smiled and shook his head.
- Exactly! And you wanted to go alone? - He scratched his chin. - Oh, I know! I'll just carry you home and be back in a second!
He immediately began to push his friends to the exit. Outside, they moved a little away from the house so that no one could see them. Dakota easily lifted two guys who were taller than him above the ground. A gust of wind and in a few seconds they were next to their warehouse.
- Oh ... Fuck ... - mumbled Will, falling to the ground, feeling sick.
- Haha, sorry! - Dakota picked up his friend and handed him to Vyncent. - Now all is good! If Tide comes back early, say uh... I went out for pizza or something. Give me a call, I'll be right back. Ok, that's all, good night guys!
- Good night... - muttered William and waved at their red-haired friend. He yawned, hugging Vyncent's arm, and sleepily rubbed his face against it.
- Alright, let's go, let's go... - said Vyncent, seeing how tired his friend was. He led him to the base, down the elevator, and into his room.
Will sat on his bed and stared at the floor.
- Listen... Vynce... - he began to speak.
- If you wanna talk, you'd better wait until you're sober. I'm afraid you'll say something... wrong...
- You know, I didn't drink that much.
- Yeah? I don't think so. - Vyncent responded sharply.
- Listen... - Will clasped his hands tightly. - I'm sorry that I... Um... I didn't mean to.
Vyncent looked at him wearily and nodded.
- Don't worry, let's just forget about it? It was just an accident. For sure... Um... It can happen if you drink. I know it's because of this.
Will suddenly frowned.
- Because of drink?
- Yeah. I know you would never do this if you were sober.
- Are you... Are you so sure about that? - Will raised his head. They already started this conversation, he feels awful, why not make it even worse? Today was definitely not his day. He couldn't believe that Vyncent was so blind. Is he really not seeing anything, or is he just... mocking him? Why? - I've been wondering for a long time. - He paused, still not sure if he should continue. - Do you really not see anything? Doesn't my behavior seem unusual to you?
- I really don't understand what you mean. - He smiled bewilderedly and shook his head.
- Didn't - he sniffed. - Didn't you think that maybe today it wasn't an accident? Maybe I wanted to do it. Maybe I wanted to for a long time, but just didn't dare? - he pursed his lips and looked down at the floor again, hiding his face with his hair.
Vyncent raised his eyebrows in surprise and tilted his head.
- Oh... Ooh! Oh, Will! - He suddenly smiled nervously when it dawned on him. - Will, Will, Will... - he muttered quickly, sat down beside him and put hand on his shoulder. Will raised his head, his eyes and nose had turned red. He winced with bitter resentment and was ready to burst into tears. - Will... - repeated Vyncent again with the same awkward forced smile. - You am... I like you. I really like you. You guys are the closest people I have here. But I like you as... a Friend... - he uttered the last word after a pause, slowly and carefully, sinking his head into his shoulders, as if expecting a punch in response after such an answer.
- Oh... - Will sounded as if he had just been punched in the stomach himself. He forced a smile and blinked several times, trying to calm himself and not cry. - Y-yes... Of course... I um...- he turned his head away and began rubbing his face with his sleeve. - I don't know why I... I don't know what I expected. Hah...
- Yeah... - Vyncent drawled in response and after a pause added. - It's a pity it can't go on like this anymore.
- W-what? - Will jerked his head towards Vyncent.
- Yeah... We can't be friends anymore... ever again..
- What!? - Will yelped and jumped in place.
- Yeah... Now when... We talked about it and I know everything. Um... Yeah... It's kind of weird now.
- No- No, wait, we can still be friends! Fine! Everything is fine!
- Mmm... No... - Vyncent got up and shook his head. - You shouldn't have done that.
- No, no, wait!
- You shouldn't have been drinking.
- I just... What. - William stopped and stared blankly at him.
- If you hadn't been drinking at the party, this wouldn't have happened. - Suddenly Vyncent's voice changed to a squeak and Will found that he was no longer sitting on his bed. He's not even at their base! Around not the silence of an empty building, no. Cheerful voices and loud music roared in his ears. He's at a party.
- WHAT.
- I told you! Drinking destroys lives! - Abstinence boy on the ceiling shook his finger at him and disappeared into a fluffy cloud.
- W-what? What the FUCK was that? - Will muttered startled, looked down and saw a red cup in his trembling hand. He immediately threw it away and shuddered violently, making a frightened sound. He grabbed his head, trying to grasp what just happened. How did he get here? He he had just been in his room next to Vyncent! Where. Where is he?
- Hey Will! - the guy turned towards the sound and saw Vyncent, smiling as if nothing had happened, approaching him and in his hand ...
- NO! - Will screamed and smacked the other on the hand, knocking the same red cup out of it.
- Ouch! Will, what the hell?! - Vyncent started, but was interrupted. Will pulled him by the collar and looked at him in horror.
- Don't you dare drink it! - he howled, shaking his friend. - Never! Don't you dare!
- My God, what have you been drinking? - Vyncent giggled, looking down at him.
- N-nothing... - he answered quietly, then jerked his eyes to the side and back at Vynce. - N-no! Never!
- Well... As you say! - Vyncent fell silent. William continued to stand like that for a little while, clinging to his friend's jacket.
- We didn't talk about anything?
- When? - Vyncent asked. - Um… No, we sort of left you standing here alone. Yeah, sorry about that... - he added with a guilty smile.
- It's... No, it's alright...- he finally let go of his friend and put his hands behind his back. - Vynce, man, you...I really like you. You're cool, okay? I'm glad that we... That we're friends with you.
- Oh, I'm glad about that too, William. And I can say the same about you. - he bumped him lightly on the shoulder as they both chuckled. - By the way, - he lowered his voice as if someone could hear them. - I found a closed door to the basement. Do you wanna... - there was sly smile on his face. - ...Wanna go investigate what mysteries lie behind it?
He prepared to stop him. Prepared to say that they probably shouldn't rummage through someone else's house and open closed doors. But he stopped himself. Past (if you can call them past) events flashed into his head, he shuddered and immediately wanted to forget them.
- You know what? - Will wiped his face with the sleeve, smiled happily, and sniffed. - I want to. And I can't imagine a better offer.
- He-hey! Knew you'd like it, William! So what are we waiting for? - and he held out his hand.
Will hesitated for a second, but then grabbed Vyncent and they ran into the crowd, laughing.
Because breaking into someone else's basement is not as scary as underage drinking.