Chapter Text
“C’mon, Seiji,” Nicholas pleaded. “You have to wear a costume; it’s Halloween!”
The tacky costume store they were in had a ton of weird, old, off-brand decorations and costumes, but it had exactly what Nick was looking for.
“I’m not wearing CAT EARS in front of Aiden. He’ll make an incredibly unintelligent innuendo about the costume.” Seiji was NOT having it.
“Please? I already picked out my costume and we would match!” He held up a pair of golden retriever ears. “You’re the black cat and I’m a golden retriever! It’s literally our personalities!” He grinned widely, and Seiji sighed. Unfortunately, you can’t say no to a cute golden retriever.
“Fine.”
———
“Is your costume ready?” Nick looked outside of the bathroom as he did a little black nose on his face with an eyeliner pencil Bobby had lent him a while ago.
“What is there to get ready? All I have to do is put cat ears on,” Seiji grumbled as he crossed his arms.
“Come here—I need to do your makeup. You need little whiskers.” Nick giggled, stepping closer with the eyeliner pencil raised like a weapon.
Seiji instantly leaned his head back, his eyes narrowing to sharp slits. “Absolutely not. Keep that away from my face.”
“It’s not gonna ruin your perfect skin or anything, if that’s what you’re afraid of. It’s just a bit of makeup. I’ll make it look great on you.” He smiled and picked up the pencil. “Please?” He gave another one of those wide eyed smiles that always seemed to lower Seiji’s guard.
“I don’t care. Do whatever you’d like.” He let out an annoyed sigh, and felt the scratching of eyeliner on his face.
“Done! You look stunning! Less… angry and distant and cold than usual.” His eyes crinkled; a sure sign that he was truly happy. Seiji liked seeing that. He liked a lot about Nicholas. He might not let on, but there was a lot that he liked about Nicholas. He may not typically show it, but he had a heart. It was just buried under comments that shot like arrows, and advice that hurt feelings and helped technique. It was there. And it had a spot dedicated to Nicholas Cox.
“And we would run around and- Seiji? Are you listening? Earth to Seiji?” He turned his head almost like a confused dog, which really didn’t help, considering the costume.
“Yes; sorry. I was lost in thought. I apologize.” He smacked himself internally for zoning out.
“All good! I was just talking about Halloween parties back at my old schools. Down my block, there were these high schoolers who would invite every kid from the eighth grade to college, and it was CRAZY. That was my first taste of beer.” He smiled at the memory. “Let’s head out.” He stood up, and Seiji followed closely behind.
———
None of the fencing team was at all surprised by Aiden’s costume. He had decided on ‘slutty nurse’.
“How shocking,” Seiji remarked.
The rest of the costumes were better. Harvard was dressed as Albert Einstein, Eugene was dressed as Inigo Montoya, and Bobby was matching with Dante as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Everyone did like Seiji and Nicholas’s costumes. And just as Seiji had predicted, Aiden let out an innuendo.
“Wow, Seiji! Is Nicky the only one you wear a collar for?”
Seiji and Nicholas both went red.
“And what, are you gonna play sexy doctor with Harvard?” Seiji bit back a laugh (and failed) at Nicholas’s retort. Everyone laughed at that one, except for Aiden and Harvard.
Eugene tried lightening up the mood. “I brought some drinks, if anyone’s in the mood to play a game!”
Bobby spoke up. “How about Never Have I Ever?” A chorus of agreement came from the team.
After a few rounds of the game (where Nicholas had been taking shots every round, because he was being targeted), Aiden decided to start asking harder questions.
“Never have I ever… wanted to kiss one of my teammates.” Everyone took a shot except Eugene. Seiji looked at Nicholas, whose face was dusted in pink. Aiden picked up on this, it seemed. “Wow, Seiji. Even you?”
His face burned. He stayed silent. He wouldn’t look at anyone, especially not the incredibly attractive boy with the undercut sitting less than a foot away from him. He wasn’t going to encourage those feelings.
“Okay, next question! Never have I ever had my makeup done by someone.” This came from Bobby as a way to get everyone to take a shot, which everyone did. Bobby had used them all as makeup models at least once, except for Seiji. When Bobby was asked why, he mumbled something about Seiji being too pretty already.
After two more questions (which, for Seiji, was thankfully nothing TOO revealing), Nicholas had gotten drunk. He also had taken the most shots out of the game. A coincidence? Not really.
Aiden suddenly stood up. “I have an idea! Harvard, do you remember that karaoke machine one of the seniors gave us back when we were freshmen? I think I still have it, and I know where it is.” He walked over to the bed and pulled out a large and dusty box with two microphones attached. He plugged it in, and the screen flickered to life and started humming. A collection of tracks came onto the screen. Everyone cheered.
After a few rounds of songs (somehow, Gene had found Under The Sea from The Little Mermaid. He actually had a good falsetto, though. Nick found this hilarious.), Nick decided to scroll down and look at the rest of the songs.
He found exactly what he was looking for.
He let out a loud gasp that was entirely too enthusiastic for 1:00 AM. He ripped the second microphone off the plastic stand, spun around on his heel, and pointed it like an épée directly at his roommate. "Seiji! Get up here! This is our song!"
“We don’t have a song, Nicholas. And no, I’m not getting up there.” He crossed his arms.
“We’re gonna make this our song! Please, Seiji? I swear I’ll never force you into doing ANYTHING else in your life.” He gave Seiji those stupid pleading eyes. The eyes that had gotten through a guard when he was sober with ease would certainly get through a guard lowered by wine.
“Fine. But if anyone records this, I’ll break your phone.” They all cheered; Nick cheering the loudest. His eyes crinkled, and Seiji’s heart fluttered. “What song even is it?”
“The best song of the Halloween season, obviously. ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’!” He pressed play, and the intro started. Thankfully, this was a song Seiji knew. (It was his favorite Halloween song, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone that.)
Nick was surprised that Seiji could sing. He hadn’t really ever sung in front of Nick, but it was to be expected that Seiji was good at everything, he supposed. He was perfect. He sang the first verse with a technical, rigid voice that made Nick’s stomach flutter. He was sure it was just the cheap vodka Eugene had brought.
Seiji had heard Nick hum to songs before, but he had never heard Nick truly belt out lyrics. He was actually very good at singing. Nick had inflection where Seiji was rigid. Seiji had technical precision where Nick was chaotic.
The song finished, and everyone clapped.
The room started spinning before Nick’s very eyes. He stumbled and lost his footing, and then he fell back towards Seiji, who caught him with a panicked look in his eyes.
“We’re done for the night. I’m gonna take him back to our room.” Seiji had to hold him up as he swayed. He mumbled something about wanting to stay a little bit longer. Seiji just shook his head and opened the door.
After he shut the door and it sounded like they were out of earshot, the rest of the team spoke up.
“So, what are we betting? I personally think they’ll get together by the end of the semester,” Aiden remarked. Harvard lightly punched him in the arm. Everyone murmured an agreement, though.
“They do act differently around each other, though. And they’re always finding ways to be right next to each other. Nick even started sitting in the front during Spanish to be closer to Seiji. It’s weird,” Bobby told the others quietly. Dante nodded in solidarity.
———
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Seiji was almost carrying Nick, who was murmuring nonsensical complaints into his neck. Seiji could feel the dog ears brushing against his cheek. Finally, after what seemed like eons of Nick stumbling over himself and Seiji having to hold him steady, they got to their room. He unlocked and opened the door, and carefully laid Nick on his bed, making sure to have him on his side for if he threw up.
But when he tried to pull away to wipe off the eyeliner whiskers, Nick held on with a surprising amount of force for a drunk boy. He tugged Seiji’s sleeve, and had him sit on the mattress. He looked rough. Then he started saying something.
"Hey... Seiji..." Nicholas slurred, his voice losing all its usual volume. "I think... I think I love you? Did you know that? Do you wanna be my boyfriend?? You’re... you're really pretty."
Seiji's heart hammered against his ribs. He stared down at the flushed, smiling face of his roommate, his chest aching with a mixture of intense affection and sharp frustration.
“We’ll… we’ll talk about this in the morning, okay, Nicholas? We’ll talk in the morning. Get some sleep,” Seiji whispered quietly, gently prying Nick's fingers away from his shirt and pulling the blanket up to his chin. He knew full well that Nicholas wouldn't remember a single word when the sun came up, but that was okay. One day, he hoped Nick would tell him when he was sober. One day. And while he was waiting, he decided to fall asleep. Cat ears and all.