Chapter Text
It’s raining tonight. I don't really mind the rain, but it's pretty heavy, and it's the sort of rain that's perfect for thinking. I don't really like thinking too deeply, sometimes it doesn't lead to nicest places. It's not gone there anytime recently though. That's good. I'm watching something on the TV with Cade while I work on some game I’m making, and he revises- he has some drama thing to memorise, it's his scripted piece I think? Is that even a thing in uni? I haven't touched drama since I was 16. The show’s not particularly interesting, but I like the characters, and it's funny- some anime he likes I think. He keeps calling it BTR- its an abbreviation, and im not sure what the actual name is, but there's some girls in a band I think, and the music is good.
“aaAAHAHHH. FUCK I hate this. They couldn't have given me a worse script, this is SO corny. Okay, Simon, can I run through my lines with you??” She asks. It's sorta funny, I like how expressive they are.
“Of course man- gimme a second to finish off this code.” I'm not even sure what I'm doing, it's just some dumb rpg I started out of boredom, so it's not really that complex. I hit save and stand up, dusting the crumbs of whatever I ate off my shirt.
“Are we going from the top again? Or later on?” I ask.
“From the top, I need to practice memorising the dumb monologue bit.”
“Alright, I'm the uh..the sailor, right?”
“Yep!” And he hands me the script.
The whole thing is around 15 minutes long, and we manage to knock it out in 16 (he was timing it). I wouldn't say I'm bad at acting- I passed my Drama GCSE with a 7, and I got awards in it a few times, but Cade? DAMN he's good at this. I'm almost scared by how genuine the emotion seems. In the scene, his character kills the other, and TELAMON it was terrifying, actually had me scared of the TV remote she was pretending was a sword.
“Hmmm…I fucked up on the monologue. Didn’t get my face to look right when I pushed you off the boat.” she muses to herself.
“Dude. no you did NOT. I was genuinely fearing for my life what on Robloxia are you talking about.”, I say, entirely sincerely, “I’m sure once facial expression missing won’t dock your grade too far. You’ll be fine. That was Amazing. Capital A.”
They sigh. “Fine, I'll take it. Thank you. You did great too, considering all you have to go off is some scribbled notes on a ripped up script.”
“Hah- thanks. I did get a seven!!” I grin smugly and sit back down on the sofa, Cade then sitting next to me. They’re warm, surprising (and welcome), since we haven’t turned the heating on yet. We keep it off unless we have to to save money- my paycheck and Cade’s odd jobs can only cover so much, but I wouldn't say we’re struggling. It's comfortable.
I never thought I would be here right now. Thought I'd be six feet under before seventeen, but no, I'm still here. I have a job, hobbies, a house, 4 GCSEs, 2 A-levels, and the best friend i could ever ask for as my flatmate. I'm not even committing minor acts of domestic terrorism anymore!..As much. Maybe if there’s a god out there, they decided to cut me some slack for once. There are some ...issues, like my stupid boss, and just..random people at the arcade deciding they hate me because I have a rainbow pin on my lanyard and I dare to work in a place where- Telamon forbid- children can see me, but those are all minor issues. I’m okay now. And I'm happy. Things got better. I'm glad I stayed. Cade hits play on his dumb show again, talking about how “Ryo is the goat” or whatever that means, and I lean back against his shoulder, pulling my laptop out to start coding again. It’s peaceful. The TV is quiet, since last time it was up above volume 20 we got a noise complaint from the old woman who lives upstairs (rich coming from her, she blasts her soap operas at full volume at 7 in the morning!), so I can hear the rain pattering against the window. The episode finishes and he hits go on the next one- yammering on excitedly about how it’s his favourite one, and how the songs in it are super good, and how his 2nd favourite character- some perpetually drunk lady who plays the bass- is in this episode too. I put my laptop down so I can focus on the episode and then- the doorbell rings?
“..you order anything?” Cade asks.
“No…? Also, what delivery driver drops stuff off at 11:30 at night??”
“Dude. What if it's a serial killer. Like… Jack the Ripper's long lost grandkid come to revive his memory- I heard the case was close to reopening recently, what if someone’s recreating it- or what if it's a ghost??? The ghost of Jack the Ripper????”
“Cade, calm down. It’s not Jack the ripper.”
“Slenderman!?!?” I actually can’t tell if he’s fucking with me or not.
“No it's- uugh. I’ll go get it. Wait here you wimp.”
I untangle myself from the sofa cushions and blankets and stand up to open the door. In all honesty, I'm sort of scared too- I mean, who the hell knocks on an upstairs apartment door at almost midnight other than someone with violent intentions?? Oh Telamon. What if it's like..Jeff the killer or something. What if the creepypasta was real and nobody believed it because it was written by a kid, and I'm either about to be killed or recruited by slenderman?? I gulp and open the door, keeping both eyes wide open, just in case it was a weeping angel or something. Turns out it isn’t a serial killer, or a creepypasta, or a ghost- it's just Maverick. He’s dripping wet, shivering with cold, and with only a small bag.
“What the hell- what’re you doing here-? It's 11:30 on a Thursday-?”
“Hey Simon. Doesn't matter- can I come in?” he asks. He seems almost..scared. It's weird, normally he’d come in ranting and raving about some asshat in his class, or something that went wrong somehow, but now he seems…quiet.
“Yeah, of course man, c'mon in.” I say. He’s soaked through, his clothes sticking to his skin.
“Do you want a towel-? You’re soaked.”
He just nods and takes his shoes off.
We’ve known eachother for around half a year now, and I still remember exactly how we met. Around 4 on a friday afternoon, when all the annoying little kids come in to piss away their money on the glorified kids casino I work at. It was raining, not hard, but hard enough to be annoying. There was a group of kids snickering at something with eachother. I thought maybe someone had drawn a dick on the back of the claw machines again, so I went over to check it out, and saw they were pointing at something. Someone. It was some scraggly looking teen sitting by himself at a table with dark red hair that clearly hadn't been brushed and smallish horns poking out of it, bright red skin that’d been covered in plasters, and a tail that flicked like he was perpetually angry at the world. He was doing something on his phone, till it died, seemingly out of nowhere. He threw his phone down on the table and looked up, seeing the kids who were (very unsubtly) staring at him and snickering. He yelled back at them, told em to fuck off, and they did- cackling the whole way. I grabbed my charger from my bag and walked over to him. I sat down and handed him the cable, he thanked me and asked me what I wanted. We talked for a bit, then he went home. But he came back the next day, then the next, and then most days after that. I bought him food when he was hungry, we joked around, and then we were friends. At some point he opened up about his shitty adoptive parents, and how they kinda sucked at…everything to do with parenting, and I said if he needed somewhere to go, he could come to mine. And now he has.
I get him a towel from the airing cupboard and he wraps it around his shoulders as I head to turn the radiator beneath the window on.
“Cade? Can you make some tea?” no response.
“Cade?? Where are you?” I walk around to behind the sofa where Cade is hiding.
“Was it Jack the Ripper??”
Oh my fucking god he was serious. “Really. We’re doing this? No it wasnt fucking jack the ripper! It was Maverick. Now get up, you look stupid.”
“Oh. phew. That's good!” She stands up, looking more chipper now that the apparent fabricated threat of a long dead serial killer is gone.
“What’s he doing here? Especially at this time at night? Isn't he like…nine??”
“Hes fifteen. Also, he hasn't told me yet, so I can't say. Can you go put the kettle on the stove please? we might need something warm, he’s freezing.”
“Ohh close enough, whatever. Will do. You want one?”
“Nah, that's okay. Thanks man.” Cade walks over to the kitchen and I walk back over to where Maverick is sitting on the sofa.
I sit down next to him, seeing if he’ll say something, and he doesn't. Still quiet. Now I'm even more worried.
I test the waters by asking something simple “Are you still cold?”
“A little, but I'll be fine.” His voice is blank, not much emotion, but maybe he’s just tired.
“Thats good. Let me know if you need anything.”
He nods. He looks around the room, just taking in his surroundings, before his eyes land on the TV. “dude, what the hell were you watching?”
I notice that it's still on and chuckle slightly. “Hah- just something Cade had on while he was revising. It's actually not too bad.”
“Cade!? He’s here??” he gasps incredulously. “You live with that loser???”
I laugh- I forgot, him and Cade have some ...tension? Is that the right word? I'm not really sure what it is, but they constantly argue with eachother.
“Yeah? Haven’t I told you? He’s been my roommate for like…years!!”
“How haven't you DIED?? he's so annoying!”
“Honestly, I have no idea myself man. they’re irritating, but they’re...he's great when you get to know him.” I look away slightly, smiling faintly.
“Telamon- the closet is glass.” Maverick says bluntly before giggling evilly.
“Hey- what’s that supposed to mean!?” it’s good that he’s laughing, but that was mean 😓
He stops laughing after a second, and he goes back to being quiet, occasionally attempting to dry his hair with the towel. At least the tension’s been broken, so maybe I'll get some answers.
“Hey, can I ask you for something…kinda big?” He seems nervous.
“Yeah sure. Whether I can get it or not will depend though." He's so damn vague, I'm even more worried- if that's possible.
“Can I stay the night? I really..don’t wanna go home right now.” he asks, and he looks like he’s just asked a homeless man to buy him a Ferrari.
“I mean- if you really want? I don't mind, and I'm sure Cade won’t. Can I ask why?”
Maverick pauses at that. Damn it, probably pushed it too far. Why would he want to tell me? I'm not exactly good at giving advice, or comforting, or….emotions in general.
“Nevermind– you don't have to tell me-” I sputter out, hoping it works to pull the boundary back.
“No, it's fine. I don't care. It's stupid anyway, but I'm here now.”
“..oh. Alright. Go ahead then. I'm listening.” Is that the right thing to say? Im just spouting out the bullshit I saw on a youtube video once.
“Yeah it's…like I said, it's stupid. I got in trouble at school again. Some kid was pissing me off so I smacked ‘em. I didn't mean to, but it just..happened. A teacher came over and yelled for a little, then I was in inclusion and they called my parents. When I got home they were…mad. Really mad. Said I was really letting ‘em down again, and that they ‘can’t keep doing this’ or something. I argued back obviously, cuz im not gonna let some bitch who smokes a pack a day lecture me about letting people down, and then they said ‘well, if you're not gonna start behaving your age, we’re gonna have to send you back!’ which I KNOW is bullshit because they don't wanna miss out on the support money, but it..did kinda scare me. Just a little. And I didn't wanna be there with them for a bit.” he explains angrily, waving his hands around to add emphasis.
I don't really know what to say if I'm honest. Do I give advice? Do I comfort him- somehow? Do I just say..nothing? No, I can't just say nothing, then it’d seem like I wasn't paying attention.
“Huh. so it was just a bit too much? I get it.” I say. Good enough, I hope.
“Yeah. I just needed to go somewhere else, i s’pose.”
“Mm. Why didn’t you just..call me? I could’ve come and picked you up, then you wouldn't have had to walk through the rain.”
“My phone died when I left the house. Also, I didn't walk the whole way- half of the journey was the bus.” Maverick adds smugly.
“Like that makes a difference- you still walked half an hour in the pouring rain!! You could get like..the flu or something!!” I'm playing it up for comedic effect, obviously I know he takes enough care of himself to not get sick- and it works, getting a chuckle out of him- but I am actually a little worried. I’ve come to care for the kid- I think it's because he reminds me of myself when I was his age a little bit. Just a little…a lot angrier.
“Okay UNC whatever you say.” he snorts like he’s just said the most hilarious thing ever.
“What the fuck does that even mean!?? Unc??? I'm literally 23? I'm not that old!!”
Cade walks in not long after, holding 2 mugs- one with some weird herbal stuff he makes himself, and the other with just normal tea. He hands the normal one to Maverick and sits down. Maverick seems a little shocked by the gesture. “Uh. thanks? Why are you doing this? Did you like..poison this?”
“No??? Why would I keep poison in my house? Why would I poison you? You’re like..ten.” Cade responds sarcastically.
“I'm fifteen! And because we like..hate eachother? Or something?” he doesn't seem sure.
“Do we?” asks Cade.
“I mean…I don't hate you? You piss me off but I guess you’ve never really done anything..wrong.” Maverick says, pausing every so often to think.
“Hm. same I’d say. You're irritating, but you’re not evil. You’re alright, kid.”
I’m genuinely in shock. This is the first time they’ve ever had an actual conversation. No yelling. I didn't know they were even capable of this. This is a moment in history. I could cry.
“Truce for now?” Cade offers.
“Alright, fine.”
“Alright!”
There’s a momentary pause, before Cade adds on-
“For the record, well-working poison is expensive. I don't know why you’d think I would waste any I had on an annoying little child..”
“Alright fuck you too nevermind I take it back.”
Theeeere it is. Whatever- at least it's clarified (mostly) that they don't actually hate eachother. This is also genuinely hilarious and I'm trying my absolute best not to laugh.
Around 20 minutes later, we have the sofa set up for Maverick to sleep on. A couple random cushions and some soft throw blankets set up as nicely as we can make them look. It doesn't really matter, it's about to be slept on, but it's a bit of fun, so what?
“Alright- our room is just through there if you need us, and the bathroom is over there” I point towards the different rooms.
“Alright, thanks dude…wait- did you say ‘our’??”
I can feel my face heating up slightly as I sputter out “wh- hey- thats not what- there’s 2 separate beds!!! It's not what you thinkkkkk!” and the others don't even try not to laugh. Whatever. As long as it's entertaining, I'm sure my pride can take the blow for now.
I lay down in my bed after saying goodnight to everyone and stare up at the ceiling, listening to the rain outside. I’m worried about Maverick, yeah, but actually, I'm sorta proud that he came to me for help. Not just because I'm happy I've been useful enough to come to at times like this, but mostly because he went to anyone at all. When I was his age, I would've rather bashed my head in with a crowbar than go to anybody for help unless it was on some anonymous hacker forum, so to see someone so similar actually reach out for help? It gives me genuine hope for the future. It may be silly, and most other kids nowadays may be evil little bastards who write slurs on the laser tag guns, but it does. The living room light switches off, and the rain quietly slows as I drift off to sleep.