The joke curled around bemused veins as Toris found himself laughing as he leaned slightly against the college student beside him.

The rest of the room dimmed and everything became an extension of this moment as Toris leaned in, heard the punchline a second time, and worked to shove his beer farther away from him.

They were more than a little tipsy though the air around them always seemed so full of life especially now despite the dreary atmosphere of the other twenty somethings that found this particular room fascinating filled to the brim with alcohol that would be gone come morning.

Toris had never really been a partier; he preferred the quiet calm of study nights and the sweet joys of meeting up with his friends sometimes at restaurants.

He'd just hit twenty one about seven months ago yet he found himself drinking for once at a party of some sort or another that Feliks had longed to go to since he'd just turned twenty one; Toris hadn't really touched alcohol up to this point yet found himself leaning against an unfamiliar man and laughing, laughing as if the rest of the world had missed out on the best joke in years.

They were just being stupid; Toris figured or would when he sobered up though he savored the delicious joys of this wildly bizarre form of humor as he leaned against the American student that seemed to be everything that Toris was not on first sight.


Toris had never really longed to compare that old form of humor to the days where he played with Feliks and reinvented childish humor and antics when they were both just children.

It seemed odd to find himself stuck on the right words to some probably obscene joke as he carried about with his own day and wished that Feliks wasn't still hungover from the night before.

Toris had thankfully not drinked nearly as much as his friend who had somehow gotten ahold of some vodka off of some Russian kid and now was whining that the world had ended.

The Lithuanian of the two was not particularly fond of these crazy moments that led to headaches and bitter grumblings though he'd probably enjoyed himself too much with the amount of free alcohol the night before coupled with the newfound friendship with the other man at the party; he'd scribbled down his phone number in messy handwriting and crumbled it into Toris's palm as a silent means of speaking when they weren't so drunk.

Toris kind of hoped that the number was the right one and that he'd not be in quite as bad a shape as Feliks was as he placed his groceries down on the island and wondered whether Feliks was still asleep or in some weird form of wakeful nastiness from the night before.

He made a mental note to make sure that Feliks did not go within five feet of another bit of alcohol let alone a college party that Toris didn't really care for though had savored laughing blue eyes and blond hair that dipped haphazardly over the man's forehead when the night grew longer and longer still.

The Lithuanian muttered hopefully to himself as he dialed the number up, cautiously as if it longed to bite him.

The ringing led to a half-drowsy voice that perked up when Toris introduced himself; a part of him wondered whether he should have waited another day, but he couldn't help but be thrilled to hear Alfred's voice over the line with every little bit of gratuitous joy that one human being could muster.


The first time that they'd met up was awkward without the hint of liquid confidence that they'd had before yet Alfred was just as charmingly funny or at least seemed to be as he spoke up and playfully asked Toris how he was doing.

With Alfred, nothing seemed to be casual and mundane; everything on the contrary seemed to be full of live.

Toris had never met anyone like that before, never met anyone who brought with them the joys of life so easily.

He couldn't resist the soft laughter of the moment, probably far happier than it was funny.


Toris remembers that day like he remembers the others in their long list of new beginnings; Alfred had been just as playful then as jokes bit his lips fueled solely by his nerves.

"Toris, will you do the great honor of marrying me?" It was simple as far as proposals went though raked with the nervousness of what the answer could be.

"Yes." Had never before elicited a reaction such as their's; Alfred was laughing and crying in joy all at once as he spun his now fiance around in a tight embrace that managed to make Toris feel more loved than anything else.


Toris remembers their sloppily spoken vows as nerves ate up his stomach and surely Alfred's too as the man whispered bizarrely funny jokes to him.

He could remember now some of the half muttered ones of Alfred's family and friends and every silly moment they'd endured together yet he still remembers the joke of maritial concepts that Alfred muttered as if suddenly the potential difficult times were made to be funny.

Toris was sure that somewhere along the line someone had probably complained of the slow progression of vows and the huge amount of laughter from where they stood as they tried to fight away the giggles that shook their veins.


Now, he knows laugher to be the silly moments together, the five of them; their two sons and one daughter giggling away at the silly jokes and playful actions of their parents.

Alfred though always knew when it was the perfect moment to capture laughing lips in his own even though their kids whined about how gross that all was.

The American though rather playfully savored each and every moment even among the playful whines of obscenity.

Toris already knew as he met those gentle lips while the children played in the living room that he hoped that they'd be as lucky as they were yet longed for his kids to never experience the woes of a college party with layers of alcohol.

The Lithuanian leaned close and still savored the cheerful lips on his own as they bit back waves of laughter from the giddy joy of the moment.