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Cathal felt a sense of relief wash over him when he opened the door to the upstairs bathroom and saw that there was no one inside. So, he headed inside, closed and locked the door behind him before he pressed his back against the door and let himself slide to the floor in defeat.
Why did they even come to this stupid party?
He knew he hated parties, especially one with a lot of noise and people.
So why had they been talked into coming here.
His engine stung a bit as he remembered the exact reason.
“Hey, Bravecog, there’s gonna be a party at Brent’s on Friday, wanna come?”
Cathal hummed as he tapped his DS against his chin as he stared at Roy, a Corporate Raider model cog who always wore a red letterman jacket and was his best friend.
“I dunno, me and my folks tend to have family game nights on Fridays.” they said slowly and carefully.
“Aw, come on! Won’t it be more fun to hang out and party then do some stupid game night?” Roy groaned, looking exasperated as he crossed his arms over his chest.
‘Yes.’ he thought to himself.
But, instead, they shrugged as they said, “I’ll come.”
It was better than Roy pestering him until he caved.
“Aw, hell yeah, dude! This’ll be great!” Roy laughed, wrapping one arm around their shoulders.
And yet here he was: miserable, buzzed, and regretting his life decisions.
They should’ve realized that when Roy said “it’ll be great”, that he meant that it would be great for him , not them.
After all…
Cathal watched as his dad’s car drove away, leaving him in front of Brent’s house.
They didn’t even know this guy, why were they here?
He went up to the door and, almost as if he had been awaited for, the door opened, revealing that Roy had opened it, a giant grin on his face.
“Hey, Cathal, welcome! Sit down, relax, have a beer!” he greeted, picking up a beer can from nearby and shoving it into their hands.
“Okay, thanks.” Cathal mumbled, cracking it open.
He was thankful that his face was pretty inexpressive as he took a sip, internally recoiling at the gross taste of the beer plus the metallic tang of the can.
“Aw, come on, why don’;t you chug the entire can? It’s your first can of the night, after all!” Roy encouraged, giving them a sharp pat on the back.
Cathal looked down at the can unsurely.
He knew he could handle a beer, but he didn’t want to drink on an empty stomach.
Especially in a house full of strangers.
But, knowing that Roy wouldn’t stop talking to them about it until they did chug it, they tilted their head back as they chugged the can, finishing it off by crushing the can between their palms.
“There you go, buddy! Now, why don’t you sit down and relax with me and the dudes?” Roy said, patting him on the back as he guided him to the couch.
Cathal tried to protest as another beer was handed to him.
Part of them had this strange feeling that they couldn’t shake, like this was preparing them for something.
But, he ignored it as he cracked open the beer, opting to sip at this one.
They didn’t recognize any of the kids who were at the couches by name, just vaguely knowing that they were classmates of theirs and that they were amongst the more “popular” group at school.
“Hey, guys, this is Bravecog! Bravecog, meet the dudes!” Roy introduced, not even bothering to introduce any of the other kids.
Cathal did a small nod, tapping his fingers on his beer as he took a sip.
Eugh, this beer tasted like shit.
“Bravecog? Like, Allan Bravecog?” one of the guys, a Backstabber model who was smoking a joint, asked, exhaling a plume of smoke.
It felt like all eyes turned onto them at the mention of their dad, making them shift a bit uncomfortably under all the attention.
“Yeah, that’s my dad.” he chuckled nervously, trying not to meet anyone’s eyes.
“Wow, that must be really cool!” a Mingler model giggled, twirling some hair on her finger as she batted her eyelashes.
They awkwardly laughed as they took a sip of their beer.
“I mean, I guess?” he said, feeling a bit confused about the idea of that being “cool”.
Like yeah, they loved their dad, but he was a giant dork who liked to organize his pens by brand name and color and cooed over baby animals like it was an actual child.
He was nowhere near the definition of cool.
Or, at the very least, not in the normal sense of the word.
“Well, I would think so, because doesn’t he tell you a lot about C.O.G.S?” a Short Change model asked, leaning against the couch closer to Roy’s side.
Cathal’s fingers nervously tapped the sides of the beer can he was holding.
They didn’t like the direction this conversation was going.
“Not…really? Dad’s pretty strict about keeping his work life and his home life separate, other than the occasional complaint of work being stressful or complaining about his co-workers.” he shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant as his engine started to race nervously.
“Then why don’t you talk about your dad’s relationship to the tranny that he’s married to? Or would it be considered a faggot?” a Flunky model snickered, not even hiding the contempt in his voice.
Oh.
Oh that’s why they wanted them here.
His fuel tank twisted into knots as everyone present, including Roy, all started laughing.
But they weren’t laughing as they swallowed the lump in their throat.
“I…don’t want to talk about this.” he said, getting up and starting to head into the kitchen.
“Aw, boo!”
“Pussy!”
“Buzzkill.”
They ignored them as they went to go get a snack from the fridge. However, before they could, Roy grabbed them by the arm, pulling them close with a forced smile on his face.
“Hey, Cathal, buddy, pal, can I talk to you for a minute?” Roy asked through gritted teeth.
“Sure.” he said, knowing that he had no choice in the matter.
Roy lead them to one of the hallways that lead to the bedrooms and as soon as they were as close to alone as they could be, he exploded .
“Dude, what the fuck was that?!” Roy screeched, stomping his foot angrily.
“I just answered honestly.” Cathal bluntly replied, shrugging nonchalantly as he took a sip of his beer.
“All you did was ignore questions!” he growled, looking pissed.
“And? It’s not anyone’s business what my dad’s relationship is, and I don’t need to answer questions about that.” they stated, eyes narrowing.
“Are you that much of a daddy’s boy that you can’t even be a little funny?” Roy yelled, arms crossing over his chest.
“It’s not a matter of being a ‘daddy’s boy’ or a ‘stick in the mud’ it’s called ‘I think that being asked about my folks at a party is super fucking weird’.” he sighed, starting to get annoyed at how repetitive this was feeling.
“What, you too much of a pussy ass bitch to talk about it?” he laughed maliciously.
Yeah, this wasn’t going to go anywhere.
So, they did the mature thing and turned around, starting to try to walk away from at least Roy.
“Awww, is the little chicken shit running away? Is it because you’re too ashamed to talk about your faggy daddy?” Roy sneered with a laugh.
A visceral rage filled his chest as, against his better judgement, he turned back around and approached Roy, the smug look briefly flickering on Roy’s face as he seemed to register the actual physical difference between them. He then grabbed Roy by the collar, lifting him a bit off of the ground, and then slammed the can of beer into the side of Roy’s head, both spilling beer all over him and crumpling the can, making Roy yelp.
“Leave. My father. Out of this.” they growled, their speakers spitting out static.
Cathal then dropped him and headed upstairs to go cool his head.
And that led them to where they were now: just sitting on the floor in the bathroom, trying to figure out what they wanted to do.
And then his phone buzzed in his hoodie pocket.
Taking it out in mild confusion, they looked and saw that they had a message from their dad.
<( r u doing ok? i know u probably r but just wanted to check on my fave child <3)
Cathal chuckled, feeling relief wash over him as he slid out the keyboard of his phone to reply.
(eh could be better)>
<(o no!! D: do u need me 2 come pick u up? :( )
Cathal paused.
What…was the point of them sticking around at a party where they were just seen as a way to get more “juicy gossip” and that they weren’t enjoying?
(yea that sounds good thanks dad)>
<(of course!! c u there!!)
Cathal chuckled affectionately at his dad’s palpable enthusiasm as he pocketed his cellphone before he carefully made his way downstairs, making sure to avoid the populated rooms as he slipped outside through the backdoor, looping around to sit on the porch stairs.
Knowing they probably had some time to kill, they pulled out their DS from their hoodie pocket, glad that they ended up bringing it, and booted up the game that he had been working on.
He didn’t know how much time passed until he felt a gentle tap on his head and he looked up to see his father, two arms in front of him while the other two were folded behind his back, beaming as his head was tilted to the side.
“You doing okay, Cathy?” he asked, sounding chipper but with a slight twinge.
“Eh. Could be better, could be worse.” they shrugged, closing their DS as they slid it into their pocket.
He then attempted to get up, only for his knees to suddenly buckle under him, only being stopped by his dad catching him and supporting him.
For a second, they were confused and then remembered that they had drunk a can and a half of beer and hadn’t eaten, so the alcohol was hitting harder.
And his dad seemed to guess this, especially when his face shifted into one of mild distaste.
“Were you drinking beer?” he asked, not sounding judgemental of the fact that they were drinking rather that the alcohol chosen was beer.
“I had a can and a half, and there were no snacks, so that’s all I’ve had.” he mumbled, feeling a little woozy.
His dad’s expression softened as he adjusted his grip on them so that two of his arms were stabilizing them as they walked towards the car, which had been parked right in front of the house.
“Next time you want to try alcohol, ask me or your parent for recommendations instead of random kids at school, okay?” he said, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head.
“I will, i will.” they sighed dramatically, before smiling as they added, “Thanks, Dad.”
“No problem! After all,” his one free arm tapped Cathal’s forehead, “That’s the Bravecog standard!” he said, briefly slipping into his “salesman” voice.
Cathal chuckled as he got into the car, thankful that he hadn’t had more to drink, or he would’ve been in even worse shape.
“Considering you haven’t gotten food yet, how about we get some McCognald’s on the way home?” his father asked, leaning against the door as he smiled.
“That sounds great.” they nodded, their stomach grumbling at the idea of getting some McCognald’s, especially after a shitty night like this.
“Then we’ll do that!” His gaze shifted to something on the other side of the car and a scowl appeared on his face, “Hold on, I need to take care of something.”
Cathal nodded as his father closed the door and went to the other side of the car. Peeking around where his father was standing in front of the driver’s side door, he could barely make out Roy and, by the sounds of it, Roy was yelling something at his dad.
But they didn’t really care as it didn’t seem to bother their dad as he said something back before opening the driver’s side door and getting inside.
And, in the split second of the door being open, Cathal heard Roy yell, “-fags like you are-!”
But, anything else that he had yelled was cut off by his father closing the car door, sighing in exasperation as he started the car, turning on the radio before they pulled out, a popular pop song playing.
“I’m guessing you’ll want copper nuggets, fries, Coolant-Cola, and a parts-fait?” their father asked, briefly turning down the radio so he could hear their response.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Cathal paused as he leaned his head against the window, “I love you, Dad.” he mumbled, his screen flickering as he felt his systems slowly go into sleep mode.
They heard their dad chuckle and felt a hand gently pat the top of their head.
“I love you too, Cathal. Now, get some rest.” he said, his voice soft and affectionate.
Cathal dozed off to a mix of the alcohol in his system, his father’s soft singing along to the radio, and the gentle hum of the car as he drove.
Maybe this night wasn’t a complete disaster.