Chapter Text
“I reckon I made it pretty obvious you just couldnt pick up any hints”
“I did! I just didnt wanna make a fool of myself if I was wrong. That shit would be so embarrassing”
———
Your name is DEYMIN DEUXAY.
You are currently 13 years old hanging out with your close friends and neighbour TEKENT ARTIOS. You and Tekent have been best friends since you were very young. You met eachother in your early years of schooling in absenterra.
You and Tekent are currently at a park just around the corner for your shared street waiting for it to get cold enough to go home.
“So what’s Cece up to today?”
He asked still looking ahead of him at the path you were walking along.
“Cant say I know. Shes either baking something or with Formik you’d think”
You let out a sigh, one that sounded a bit too upsetting which caused Tekent to look over at you.
“What? Is there something bad about her seeing Formik?”
“What? No! Of course not! Formik couldn’t hurt anyone let alone Cece, I just worry about her you know? Like… these parts of absenterra aren’t too accepting of her mutation and she’s my twin sister! I don’t want anything bad to happen to her!”
Tekent stops walking to sit on a bench to the side of the path, he taps the space next to him implying that you sit with him. You sit down next to him and he rests his hand on your shoulder.
“Buddy, don’t worry. One day you, me, Cece and Formik will move somewhere closer to centeral Absenterra and we won’t have to worry about it anymore! But in the meantime your doing everything you can and all of us are thankful for it what your doing is enough, you and Cece are safe and happy plus there’s not many highbloods who live around here anymore so we are safe.”
In the time Tekent had said all that you hadn’t even notice the gold tears forming in the corners of your eyes until Tekent saw then fall under your sunglasses and pulled you into a hug. Moments passed and you were sobbing and couldn’t even put a reason why, it was so stupid, so much had been building up and you felt you could never let it out infront of anyone.
Except Tekent.
“Thank you dude”
You say pulling away from his chest suddenly realising that it had gotten very cold and was beginning to get dark
“I guess we should get going now if we don’t I’ll be too fuckin cold to walk at all”
He smiled at you and let out a small laugh before smirking a bit.
“Race you there?”
You grinned back feeling really competitive.
“Whoever wins gets to pick tonight’s movie!”
“Your on Deuxay!”
You both leaped up from the bench sprinting home laughing at one another seeing who will win.
You both hit the door huffing and trying to catch your breath holding your chest and Tekent doing the same.
“Huff… huff… so, who won?”
Your still catching your breath when you look over at him
“As much as I would love to say me I reckon it’s a draw…”
Tekent pats your back as you both walk inside and go to your bedroom passing Cecelas bedroom on the way. Tekent walks straight to your room and you stand in Cecelas doorway knocking her door to catch her attention, she looks up from her sewing project with a small smile on her face like usually
“Hi Deymin! Whats up?”
Her positive energy radiates on you and you immediately calm down a bit more.
“Tekents sleeping over tonight just wanna let you know and we are going to watch a movie later if you wanna join”
While you were talking she looks back down at her sewing machine still listening to what you were saying but clearly very invested in what she’s doing.
“I’m working on a new cosplay but if I’m done by then I’ll come join! I also made some cupcakes that are in the kitchen, you can have a couple just don’t eat them all!!!”
She’s gets a bit mad over the last part but it’s more of a friendly mad which makes you chuckle a bit as you walk back to your room yelling out
“Maybe! Might eat them all without you!!!”
As you smile walking back to your room you open the door to see Tekent checking out all the posters and Polaroids on your wall
“You better not have gone through all my shit while I was gone!”
He shrieks a bit not realising you had entered the room and turns around to face you
“AH! Jesus you scared me dude, I was just checking out all these new Polaroids I didn’t realise you did a lot of photography these are really awesome”
You smile at the compliment feeling a warm feeling in your chest as you turn towards your closet in you room
“Yeah it’s only somethin’ I started recently so I don’t have much to show yet but one day hopefully I can do something really cool with it.”
Tekent is still staring at the photos as you pull out the spare blankets for his bed tonight.
“These are awesome buddy your a natural”
“Im pretty awesome I know”
A cocky side of you starting to show when you don’t know how else to respond. Tekent rolls his eyes with a smile and pulls out a spare mattress from underneath the bed and you throw the blankets you grabbed on top of it he had been over enough times to know what to do, you end up just chilling out for an hour or two talking and playing games before you start setting up for the movie. Every time you and Tekent watch a movie you always make a big pile of blankets and pillows to rest on.
“Now the hard part, deciding which movie” you sighed
“How about a horror movie? If your not too scared!”
Tekent teased smiling at you as you both continue to set up the movie arrangements.
“I’m not!! You’re an absolute asshole!”
He chuckled before sitting down and grabbing the remote to find a movie and you tossed yourself right next to him shoulder to shoulder as you scrolled through the movies picking one that catches your interest.
———
It is now 3 years later and your in the exact same situation.
Except this time it’s different. You both are now 16 and are watching a movie before going to a party a friend of Tekents was hosting. But now you were teenagers with a lot more feelings then you had 3 years ago, more serious things happening in your lives, more serious things to be considering and thinking about.
And that’s exactly what you were doing now.
In the past couple of months you had caught yourself thinking about potential love interests and Tekent was one you were thinking about, you were so embarrassed but that didn’t stop the thought from coming back and now you were close together watching a movie.
But to him this probably meant nothing!
It was about halfway through the movie and you couldn’t focus for the life of you… You had gotten a lot closer with him in a more romantic way recently but always just thought maybe he does this with all his friends?
He must have noticed you not really looking at the TV because he looked over and asked if you were alright. Your quick response didn’t seem too believable so he looked you directly in they eyes
“You sure your okay? You seem pretty out of it”
The moment you made eye contact the air became warm and you could feel his breath lightly on your face as your mouth hung slightly open unsure of what to say or if you should say anything at all. He looks down at your lips then back up at your eyes and you can feel yourself moving closer so very slowly, his gaze is soft and the movie playing has just become white noise. His breathing is slightly shaky and your heart is beating like crazy and face getting more and more flushed as the seconds pass, Tekent tilts his head to the side slightly as if to say ‘let’s do this’ before…
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!
You both immediately jump apart faster then you thought you could and you look behind you at the door and see Cecela make her way into your bedroom
“Hey! Deymin! Since you guys are going to the party tonight I’m gonna sleepover at Pebbies just letting you know so when you get home I won’t be here!”
You sigh annoyed that the moment was ruined but also slightly relieved that you wouldn’t have to talk about all your feelings.
“Cool. Tell Pebbie I said hi”
“I will! Cya!”
“Later Cece.”
The door slams as Cecela leaves and movie still feels like white noise but the silence being unbearably loud until Tekent said something first.
“U-Uhm should we get going? The next bus should be at the stop in about uhm 15 or so minutes?”
You couldn’t even make eye contact with him after the moment you had just had.
“Uhhh yeah sure let’s get going then”
You got up from where you were sitting and grabbed your bag making your way towards the front door not saying a word on the way to the bus stop. It was awkward at first but it cooled down by the time you got there and it felt normal to talk to him again while waiting for your bus so luckily you didn’t fuck up a friendship or anything,
“So who’s gonna be there? Did Taheya tell you?”
You were curious who you were gonna be spending this night with, it was the first party in a while so anxiety was creeping.
“Dont worry no one that’s gonna cause anything bad, except maybe Hathie… but the ones I know that are coming are; You, me, Taheya, Nevela, Formik, Yereka, Jistir, Juliux and Hathie, and probably just some other mutual friends.”
Relived that everyone there will hopefully get along (maybe not Hathie..) you sigh as the bus comes to a stop infront of you and opens the doors letting you hop on and take you to the stop around the corner from Taheyas house.
When you take your seat you suddenly feel extremely aware of how you and Tekent are sitting so close, knees touching and shoulders against eachother yet again. You feel so stupid for thinking of it as such a big deal and are probably reading this whole situation wrong, suddenly you hear a voice come from a couple seats behind you
“DEYMIN!”
Your head spins around so fast to find whatever it is calling your name and to focus on that instead of how close Tekent is. It is none other then Juliux Tythos.
Juliux waves and grabs his bag walking down the bus isle to sit in the seat infront of you and face backwards to look at you
“I’m surprised you guys are taking this bus this one is supposed to get there like 20 minutes earlier then the time everyone’s expected at.”
Tekent chuckles nervously clearly being reminded of the events from earlier
“Hah.. well you know we’d rather be safe then sorry!”
Juliux doesn’t seem to think anything’s unusual so he looks out the window and replies
“Understandable,”
The rest of the drive was pretty chill small talk with Juliux until we had to get off at our stop and walk over to Taheyas place. Wow. The front of her house had candles lit everywhere it was pretty beautiful, it had been a while since you’d been at Taheyas house so you’d forget how large this place actually was considering she only lived with her lusus.
The three of you waited at the door after ringing the door bell hearing muffled music come from the inside until the door swung up and you were greeted by Taheya.
“Oh hello there I didn’t expect you two to arrive so early, Juliux dear please help me set up the drinks table. Deymin and Tekent please make yourself comfortable the others shall arrive shortly.”
Taheya twirled around before walking down the hallway with Juliux awkwardly following behind her trying not to step on her dress. You and Tekent stepped inside walking down the narrow hallway to the lounge and kitchen, the couches had been moved to the side to create more room but still close enough for conversation, a long table was set up in front of the sliding glass doors that leads to outside. The table already has multiple bottles of alcohol and other beverages to mix in. Tekent reached into his bag pulling out another small bottle of some sort of alcohol.
“Fuck now I look bad for not bringing anything.”
You say under your breath so Tekent can still hear you but to Taheya and Juliux it’s just mumbles.
“How about we say it’s from the both of us? Even so no one will mind if you didn’t bring anything there’s already enough drinks to last everyone a while don’t stress it”
You cross your arms over your chest slouching a bit still feeling a bit bad for not bringing something
“Thank you Tek, I just don’t wanna be THAT GUY that is like bad party etiquette or something…”
Tekent puts his hand on your shoulder and smiles his pointed teeth sort of showing
“Don’t stress it Deymin!”
Right as he said that the doorbell went off again meaning someone was here. Taheya swiftly walked back down the hallway in one quick motion to greet the guests. When she swung the door open it was Hathie and a couple of others that must live around that area of absenterra.
“OH MY GAWDD!! TAYA!!! MISSED YOU GIRLL!!!!”
Hathie said as she threw her arms around Taheya squeezing her tight. Her obnoxious way of speaking, as annoying as it can be, defintely brought a party vibe to the place while we waited for more guests.
As more people arrived Taheya would just leave the door unlocked so they could let themselves in instead of having to get up and greet everyone individually. You sat on the couch with a plastic cup in hand looking around at all the strangers and couple of friends around the room and scattered outside. There was also a big table of snacks, just average party food really. You were wary about talking to some of these people but knew you’d be mad at yourself if you came all the way up here and didn’t even enjoy it, a sigh left your mouth before you got up and went over to the large table to pour yourself a drink. As you stood there kind of awkwardly you suddenly felt a hand on your back and someone come stand next to you.
“AH!! WHAT THE FUCK!”
You screeched almost like a cat and almost dropped your drinking and the bottle you were holding. When you look to the side you notice it’s just Tekent and he’s not a threat to you at all.
“Hey woah dude it’s just me don’t worry!” You catch your breath a bit and calm down.
“FUCK!! Don’t scare me like that asshole!”
You and him both know that anything mean you say to him isn’t really meant as a bad thing and it’s just the way you speak. He begins refilling his cup while you just awkwardly lean against the table
“Haha you’ll be okay, have you caught up with anyone yet?”
The question almost makes you feel bad for not having talked to anyone but you know it wasn’t intended that way.
“…can’t say I have, what about you?”
“Briefly talked to a couple people but the party just started everyone’s a bit awkward right now it will lighten up pretty soon! And I’m pretty sure I heard Nevela outside saying we might start a game soon so that hopefully will get everyone in the mood.”
You look down into your cup at the alcoholic beverage sloshing around. You pray it lightens up before putting the cup to your mouth and tossing your head back finishing your drink.
“Don’t go too overboard on the drinks Dey, I don’t want to have to try carrying you home absolutely hammered”
You roll your eyes behind your shades and smile already feeling a bit less tense because of the alcohol.
“Your one to talk your cup is practically straight liquor!”
A grin slowly forming across your face
“Your an ass, I just don’t chug my drinks like you and prefer slowly making my way through it, is that a problem Deuxay?”
He smirks at you and you just give him an evil grin
“Not at all. Your just a bit of a loser in my books.”
You say walking away not looking back or even listening to hear his response and step outside where a group of people were sitting around a fire pit talking and drinking. You notice Yereka sitting at the edge of the bench and take the opportunity to sit next to him.
“Hello there Deymin, how are you? It has been a while since I last saw you”
His monotone voice makes you thinks he’s not interested in conversation but his expression says otherwise. He has a bit of an awkward crooked smile as he looks at you over his glasses taking a sip for whatever it is he’s drinking.
“Hey I’m cool how have you been? Still fuckin around with chemicals?”
You almost worry that the last part came off as disrespectful but luckily enough it didn’t by his reply
“Fuck off, it’s a very hard thing to work with I doubt you could do anything.”
Even with his monotone voice it was playful teasing back and forth and as much as you wanted to fight back you knew he was right. You didn’t know shit about chemistry. About 20 minutes pass before everyone outside is asked to come back inside for a game of truth or drink, a play on the line truth or dare. Simple rules, if you don’t want to say the truth that you’ve been asked you take a shot.
Everyone sat around a large table in the lounge area getting comfortable while waiting for the game to start. You had taken a seat right next to Taheya and Hathie, Hathie was very excited to get everyone drinking and poured a couple of shots and was eager to get the game started as soon as possible.
“Uhhh… okay so the game is truth or drink please just be careful of how much-“
“TAHEYA GIRLL ITS OKAY!!!! THIS WHAT PARTIES ARE FOR!! OKAY!! RULES ARE PRETTY SIMPLE, GET ASKED A TRUTH THEN EITHER ANSWER IT OR DO A SHOT!!! DONT BE A PUSSY ALSO!!!”
Taheya was interrupted by Hathies extremely loud tone and explanation of the game but she didn’t seem too bothered by it.
“OKAY EVERYONE ILL START!!! I’ll ask… NEVSY!!”
Nevela didn’t seem too surprised that Hathie had picked her and frankly no one else was surprised by it either. The game went pretty smoothly for what it was, people getting more and more intoxicated by the minute and giggles all around the place. All the questions were pretty neutral at the start but as everyone started drinking more the questions got a bit more intense.
“Who was your first kiss?” “What happened between you and ___” “have you ever had/done ___” “what are your opinions on ___” “do you have any black feelings for anyone?”
The last one was when things started really getting intense. Asking about moirallegience was already awkward for some people but getting into calignous feelings was a whole new level, causing more people to drink from not answering the question.
As time passed you had already been asked a couple of questions and taken a few shots and they now were really setting in. You felt warm and giggly all over and it seems others did too, they were sort of getting distracted from the game because of it.
Eventually it was Hathies turn again to ask someone a question, everyone was starting to go off into their only little conversations until Hathie turned to you and basically yelled.
“DEYMIN!!! Do you have flushed feelings for anyone?!”
That was what caught everyone’s attention. Your mouth hung open unsure of what to say while everyone looked at you waiting for an answer. You couldn’t just admit your feelings towards Tekent right here with everybody watching you didn’t even know if that’s what you feeling for him were!
So you grabbed the last shot glass on the table, put it to your lips and chucked your head back allowing the drink to swiftly go down your throat but still causing a slight burn. When you put the glass down everyone was just laughing a bit and going back to there conversations thankfully.
“Okay everyone there’s drinks on that table snacks on that table and please take some water if your leaving.”
Taheya yelled out from her spot on the couch
Leaving?
You fumbled grabbing your phone out of your bag to check the time… 12:30am, it wasn’t too late for you but it was understandable why people were leaving. Everyone had got up from the couch and scattered around the house, you rest your head on a pillow and kick your legs up still feeling super hot and giggly. You were extremely light weight it wasn’t a shock that this amount of alcohol was enough to get you very drunk. You hear your name in the distance and roll over to see who it’s from, Taheya and Tekent were standing a couple metres away from you talking to eachother but still looking at you. When you had rolled around you had rolled completely off the couch and hit the ground with a loud bang. When your hit the floor you just put your head in your arms groaning trying to listen to Tekent and Taheyas conversation.
“Wow I didn’t expect him to go this hard on the alcohol.”
“I know, he’s absolutely hammered. Not sure how I’m gonna get him home.”
Tekent let out a loud sigh seeming a bit stressed over the situation
“You both could stay here for the night. I know some other guest are because of the same reasons. Hathies going to have to stay over she’s absolutely fucked.
“Yeah did you see how much she had? That whole bottle of vodka was practically hers!”
They both let out a small laugh and breath before looking back over at you.
“Fuck he’s gagging”
“First bedroom upstrairs has a bathroom please don’t let him make a mess.”
You didn’t even realise what they were saying until you noticed Formik next you and Tekent rushing over to grab you. Your mouth had begin to water and you just now realised the nausea causing your head to spin even more
“Shit! Deymin! H-Here your gonna be sick!”
Formik placed a large plastic bowl infront of you to vomit in but before you could even process what was happening Tekent picked you up and was running upstairs towards the bedroom and bathroom with Formik following behind. You rested your head on Tekents shoulder trying not to vomit all over him but suddenly he put you infront of the toilet and opened the lid allowing you to throw up absolutely everywhere.
Absolutely disgusting.
You kept puking for what felt like years but you hadn’t eaten much so it was mostly just stomach acid which if anything was more disgusting. The acidic taste was absolutely awful you could barely hand it, it just made you want to puke more. Tears were falling from your eyes because of how gross throwing up made you feel and after it was all out you put your head in your hands and just cried, the alcohol had also just made you extremely emotional.
“You alright?”
Tekent was standing next to you holding back the longer parts of your hair and Formik had got a cup of ice water and mouthwash. You couldn’t even reply, you were still very drunk and emotional, you just rested your head on your arms.
“Here’s some w-water and mouthwash to get rid of the yucky taste vomit leaves”
you took a sip of the mouthwash and sloshed it around before spitting it out into the toilet, you couldn’t even get up to spit in the sink. After a couple minutes pass you start to feel a bit better and you heard the others talking in the bedroom, slightly muffled because the bathroom door was closed.
“Is he feeling better?”
It sounded like a female voice…
“He just threw up… a lot. There’s no mess but… I’ve never seen him drink this much”
“Yeah this I-Isn’t like him at all”
“Was he perhaps stressed about something?”
“N-Not that I know of!”
…
“Maybe…”