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It had been years since Tolys had seen Alfred—not since they were roommates when Tolys was studying abroad—but it wasn’t surprising in the least to still be swept into a bear hug and spoken to like they’d only just seen each other the day before. Francis’s party was forgotten as they sought out a quiet corner and caught up with each other.
“So where’s Arthur? I would have thought he’d be here with you tonight.”
“Oh, my ex-boyfriend? Yeah, that ended a while ago.”
Alfred was smiling pleasantly—beaming, really—which was odd when Alfred had been in a committed relationship with Arthur long before Tolys had met either of them. If his ex had been brought up, Tolys would have been depressed, even if he was in a much happier relationship now.
For that reason, Tolys balked at Alfred’s pleasant demeanor. “What—really? He’s your ex now? You two seemed to get along so well, though…”
Alfred’s smile just widened, which was all the more confusing. “Well, you know how it goes. Boyfriend one day, ex the next.”
Alfred had always been carefree and a little tactless in his handling of certain situations, but to have such a lackadaisical response to someone he’d been very openly in love with seemed completely out of character. As Tolys blinked in confusion and attempted to think of a proper response, a very familiar and irritated face appeared behind Alfred.
“Alfred, please stop telling people that I’m your ex-boyfriend.”
“Oh, there you are, sweetheart! Look who I ran into!”
Alfred turned to beam at Arthur, who returned the smile with a frustrated frown. Tolys, meanwhile, looked between the two of them in utter confusion.
“What?”
Arthur shoved his drink into Alfred’s chest, making Alfred’s smile momentarily falter as he struggled to grab the drink, before holding his hand out for Tolys to take. “Hello, Tolys. It’s been some time. I’m a little sorry that Alfred got to you first.”
Tolys shook Arthur’s hand in a daze and continued to stare between the two of them. When his hand was released, he gestured at Arthur and stared at Alfred. “Didn’t you say that he’s your…”
Arthur rolled his eyes and gave Alfred a dirty look, which Alfred responded to with a wink. “I’m his husband now, unfortunately.”
“Making him my ex-boyfriend!”
After a moment of consideration, Tolys’s eyes widened in understanding. It was then, with Alfred holding two drinks in his hands, that he noticed the glint of a ring on Alfred’s finger, which matched the one on Arthur’s finger. As the situation came together, Tolys let out an exasperated sigh—both at Alfred for confusing him and at himself for forgetting that that was exactly the type of thing that Alfred would do. Alfred really hadn’t changed much, which, as he watched Alfred and Arthur bicker over Alfred’s choice of terminology, was comforting in a way.
He just made a mental note not to let Alfred say that when he was introduced to Feliks. The last thing Tolys wanted was his boyfriend getting any ideas.