Machiavelli didn't get much sleep that night, waking every couple of hours. He eventually came to the conclusion that he was far too frustrated to fall asleep and instead lay watching lights from cars driving on the streets below sneak under the blinds in the window and listening to Billy's soft snores. He wondered why the outlaw was snoring now, when he didn't normally, and finally concluded that it must have been all the alcohol Billy'd had the night before. When filtered early morning light lightened the room considerably, he decided to give up entirely, and slipped out from the covers.
Snagging his phone from the bedside table, he eased open the door to the bedroom, careful to open it only as much as it needed to in order to let his lithe body out. Still, the door squeaked slightly and he cursed silently, looking over at Billy's prone form. The Kid snorted and rolled over, but otherwise did not wake up. Satisfied, he padded down the steps, not daring to dial the phone until he was two floors below.
He really had only one option of who to call, especially at this early hour. He hit the speed dial, listening to the dial tone ring as the call connected. He sighed in relief as a voice spoke on the other end. "Hello?"
"Hey, Scatty." Even he recognized the strain in his voice as he spoke. He coughed, trying to discreetly clear his throat.
"Kid? It's five in the morning." Under the Shadow's normal brash tones was an air of concern. Machiavelli felt or maybe hoped that she was a little worried about him. "Did something happen?" she asked shrewdly. The European immortal nodded, then realized that she couldn't see him and told her yes. He stumbled around the words. "Is Billy awake?" Scatty asked, prodding him.
"No, he's still asleep. I couldn't sleep." Machiavelli looked around the kitchen, noting for the first time that even here, Billy had put up several scantily clad pinups. He shook his head, feeling rather waterlogged from his sleep deprivation and hangover. "I think I'm still a little bit drunk," he mumbled, then realized how bad that sounded. "We went out to a nightclub last night. And Billy-he…" He clamped down his mouth and wondered why he'd called her when he couldn't put this experience into words.
"Did he go home with a girl?" Scatty asked, sounding oddly sympathetic.
"No." Machiavelli gave a nervous little laugh. "Not exactly. I, uhm, he came back with me. We were both pretty drunk, him more than me really, and we, well… I thought I knew what I was doing. But, now?" He ground his teeth. "I kissed him," he admitted abruptly. He heard Scathach about to say something but cut her off, needing to say it all. "And we did some other stuff and he seemed into it, you know," he added desperately, "at least I thought so at the time…" Scatty didn't say anything so he kept rambling. "We didn't do anything serious," he quickly added, "and then, he, well, fell asleep."
The line was silent on the other end for what felt like several minutes and the Italian immortal was beginning to get nervous. He checked the phone to see if the line had accidentally dropped, then heard Scatty's voice at last and pressed it to his ear again. "That's a lot, Mac," she said cautiously. He couldn't make out the emotion behind her voice. "So, do you think you're going to continue this?"
"I don't know," he admitted, sounding miserable. "What if this just happened because we were drunk?"
"Did you want this to happen?" Scatty asked.
Machiavelli was silent, weighing his options. He coughed, fighting his discomfort. "Yes," he breathed at last. Even though she couldn't see him, he blushed and had to fight the instinct to hang up the phone. "But what if Billy didn't want this? What if I ruin our friendship? I've never had a friend before, at least, not in a long time. I don't want him to look at me differently. Billy's going to hate me," he moaned.
Scatty's tone was placating. "I really doubt that, kid. Billy loves you a lot. In fact-"
Machiavelli looked up the stairs, hearing the American immortal call his name. "Scatty, I've got to go," he said. "I'm going to call you back today, okay?" After the Shadow reluctantly said goodbye, he hit the end call button. Swallowing thickly, he called back to Billy, starting up the stairs.