Prologue
Nitz's eyes fluttered open, trying desperately to stay that way. His brain was clouded with sleep and, eventually, his tiredness won the battle with his drooping eyelids. They slid shut once more, blocking out the irritating sunlight and allowing his mind to drift peacefully on that edge of awake but not really. It was a comforting time, his personal favorite from his morning routine. Still groggy, yet aware enough to jump up if there was a fire. Which, with Cal as a roommate, was a possibility.
"Come on wussy! Get your ass up!" A hand curled around his shoulder, giving him a not so gentle shake. He had been dreaming of Kimmy, yet she definately didn't have hands like that. Or a voice that grated on his nerves, this early. He felt the bed dip near his hip, close eyes just able to make out the shadow of someone leaning over him. "Nitz man, come on."
The scent of hard liqour - whiskey, his mind supplied - mixed with stale tobacco invaded his nostrils. He took a deeper breath despite it all, the heavy scent of man and strong wafting below the smell of a hard party. It was soothing, familiar, and even though his mind couldn't place it, his body could. He felt himself settling deeper into his bed, regardless of how hard the hands were shaking him.
It took a particularly painful squeeze of his bicep for Nitz to open his eyes once more. They won the battle, finally, yet before they could focus his mouth was already moving. "Rocko, what the hell do you want?" He souned whiney and bitchy to own ears, instantly regretting the snip. Rocko really was harmless and he didn't deserve to be treated by shit, least of all by his best friend.
"Uuh..." The lug sitting on his bed shifted again, no longer hovering. He looked confused for a second, then rather lost, before he scratched at the back of his head. "Um..."
"Didn't you want to ask Nitz about those," Sluuurp, "tickets guy? Huh? Best buddy Rocko? Guy?" Cal tapped at his keyboard absently, tilting his head and smiling at the high pitched note that strummed through their room.
"Oh, right." Rocko grinned and slapped a hand down against Nitz's thigh, causing the smaller man to flinch. "Oh, and shut up Cal."
"'Kay."
"What tickets?" Nitz interjected, slipping out of his bed before he could recieve another smack. Rocko hit hard, even when he wasn't trying.
"Well, I was drunk the other night and apparently I called into a radio show. I won two tickets to this new resort thing, few hours drive away." Rocko stood, stretching lazilly as he lumbered to the computer chair. "Each ticket lets two people in, so I thought we could go and make a vacation of it. It covers two weeks, some publicity bullshit or something."
"We? As in?" Nitz drawled, snagging a single serving box of cereal from his shelf and popping it open.
"Me, you, Gimpy and that thing." Rocko jerked a thumb towards Cal.
"And just how do you expect to get Gimpy there?"
"I was just gonna tell him it's a Star Wars convention, but the hotel has free booze and hot chicks. That way he'll know why Cal and I are going, and, well, why he's going."
"So, why am I going?"
Rocko's tired expression melted away, becoming serious and just the slightest bit angry. "Because Kimmy's gone away for the summer and you're going to get all depressed and shit. Figure if we get you away from campus for a while, you might not gain ten pounds in ice cream."
"Hey! I'll have you know that -"
"Everytime something goes wrong with Kimmy you over eat then whine and whimper like a girl when your ass gets ten pounds bigger?" Jesse chirped from the doorway, waltzing into the room. She unceremoniously flopped into Cal's bed, nudging the blonds keyboard out of her way as she did so.
"Shut up." Nitz mumbled, shoving his hat onto his head. It was something he did when he was feeling self concious. It was always easier to duck his head and hide under the rim of his cap than actually look someone in the eye. "Well, what if I don't want to go?"
"Then I'm gonna have to hog tie you and shove you in the trunk of the rental car." Rocko said casually, spinning in the computer chair. "Oh, and gag you. Can't have you screaming."
"Wow guy, you sound like you know what you're doing." Cal gave Rocko a thumbs up while Jesse and Nitz snickered over the comment. The other two men looked confused. "What's so funny Nitz?"
"Nothing Cal, nothing at all." Nitz sighed, lowering himself to his bed again. "Okay, so...it's only two weeks right? And you promise not to drink while we're driving?" Rocko was the only one out of all of them who had a licence, surprisingly. Danger alarms were rising in Nitz's head, but he pushed them down. He trusted Rocko - sorta.
"I promise. Scouts honor."
"Rocko you got kicked out of scouts." Nitz reminded.
"Oh, uh. Right. Drunken honor?"
Nitz didn't know if that was a thing, but Rocko had given his word. "So I guess you want me to convince Gimpy to go to this fake Star Wars convention, right?"
Rocko smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, actually."
Nitz sighed - again - "I...thought so. Move over then, I need my computer."
Surprisingly, Rocko moved.
ZZZ
"Why couldn't you just talk to me on the computer or the phone like you usually do?" Nitz complained as he pushed the door to Gimpy's room open. He was the only one who had gone, Rocko and Cal not wanting to mess up the lie. Gimpy was someone who had to be treated in a certain way - in the Nitz way.
"Because, it's been two weeks since you were over." Gimpy responded, typing absently to ShePrime. "Why couldn't you just come over to see me instead of cheaping out?"
"I did just come over to see you." Nitz rolled his eyes and leaned over his friend. "Anyway, Rocko won tickets to some hotel thing that's hosting some Star Wars event. I'm going because Kimmy's gone, and I won't have anything better to do. Rocko and Cal are going for free booze and girls. The tickets said something about the convention being inside the hotel, so you won't have to go outside for long."
Gimpy snorted and slowly spun to face his friend. "Nitz, if there was a Star Wars convention, I would have heard about it."
"No, the hotel resort thing whatever just opened up. They're doing that and free alcohol for publicity. It wasn't even announced on the radio, Rocko just realized it when he was looking at the tickets. So are you game or no?"
"No Jesse or Kimmy?" Gimpy asked suspiciously, rising to stand.
It never failed to amaze Nitz that his agoraphobic, frail looking super best buddy was actually taller than him. "Nope, no Jesse or Kimmy." He sighed, feigning sadness.
Gimpy pondered for a moment, before touching his head piece. "Mump, pack my bags. I'm going away to a convention."
"Yes, sir, Sir!"
Nitz left after reminding Gimpy nearly one hundred times that they had to be packed for the next day at nine. As he walked down the front steps of Tekerson Tech, he imagined that a vacation with his oldest friends might not be a bad thing. No Kimmy, no other random relationships, no other 'friends'. Just four best buddies who had known each other since the beginning of their memories.
Nothing could go wrong.
Right?