A/N: Chapter two? Chapter two. :D
Charles closed his textbook, the sound of the pages snapping together and a sigh of relief blending together into a single sound.
"Snippy!" Chris exclaimed, "You've joined us for the weekend!"
The teen had taken up Captain's habit of calling the exhausted RA by his last name.
"Yes, Chris," Charles sighed, "the weekend has started." It was technically still Friday, but the RAs' weekend started when Charles' shift would have normally started. No one knew exactly why residents were left to their own devices on weekends, but Charles didn't mind.
"PARTY TIME!" Chris squealed.
"Bwah?" Charles startled. "Party?"
"Ov course a party!" Captain stepped into the common area, "Ees Pilot's nineteenth birthday tomorrow! So we must party until zee morning to geeve heem a vonderful birthday!"
"Of course…" Charles trailed off. The thought of a party didn't sound appealing, but neither did staying in and doing nothing for the weekend. Again.
"So," Captain continued, either not registering Charles' hesitancy or ignoring it altogether, "ve vill go on an adventure most befitting of zees young pilot's nineteenth voyage around ze sun!"
"Adventure?" Charles felt like a dumb, barely animate parrot. Lack of sleep, stress, and the silent acceptance of his weekend's fate rendered him temporarily incapable of independent thought.
"Across town, ov course!" Captain said, "Silly Snippy, vhere else vould ve go? Zees campus haz nothing befitting ov such an occasion!"
"And we'll have fun allllll night~" Chris added.
"All night. Of course. Because your birthday is tomorrow," Charles nodded, assuming that Captain was the type of friend who would go out of his way to make someone feel extra-special. For two days. Because that was the type of thing that would make Chris beyond happy.
"You remembered!" Chris squealed, going in for a hug.
Under normal circumstances, hugs from the freshman weren't much of an event if you could ignore the bone-crushing enthusiasm behind them. But this hug. Man, this one was a flying hug.
The teen hit Charles shoulder-first. Charles wasn't sure how, but the lithe young man had managed to pin him to the couch in his signature, crushing embrace. Charles' books scattered across the coffee table and floor.
""I knew you were an awesome friend!" Chris told Charles as he stood up. Despite the pain, Charles smiled.
"Come, mien Pilot, let us get you dressed for zee night!" Captain signaled for Chris to follow him. The two trotted off towards Chris' dorm.
Charles sighed. He wasn't exactly a social person. He had become an RA knowing it was normal for RAs to be avoided. But he had friends now and, no matter how strange he found them, they were still his friends.
"A party, eh?" Alex's voice pulled Charles from his mild reverie.
"I guess," Charles shrugged, moving to recollect his books. Alex stooped down to help him with the task.
"I feel a little sorry for you," Alex said, attempting to convey some sympathy.
"Only a little?" Charles asked, sighing.
Before Alex could respond, they heard Captain's boots coming down the hall.
"Oh, Snippy, I almost forgot…ALEX! So good ov you to show up. Now vee vill have four people to help Pilot celebrate hees most vondervul birthday!" Captain clapped Alex on the shoulder. Alex flinched a little bit from the force. Before Alex could respond, Captain trotted back to Chris' dorm. "Be reedy at nine!" he called over his shoulder.
"I wonder what he forgot to tell me," Charles shook his head, "Or maybe he ACTUALLY forgot you."
"I don't feel sorry for you at all anymore." Alex grumbled, handing Charles the last of his papers.
Charles laughed, "Well, the worst that could happen is we walk around for a few hours. Or we go on a scavenger hunt. Either way, we have about an hour until we need to get going."
"I didn't think anything was open that late in town."
"You mean after midnight on a Friday? Some bars, maybe, but none of us are old enough to drink. Well, except maybe Captain, but who knows how old he is," Charles shrugged.
Alex glanced down the hallway towards his dorm room. "A tie on the door AGAIN? This early?" he whined.
"Apparently," Charles confirmed. "If he keeps barring you from your dorm, you might want to see about transferring to a singles room. Since it's a well-documented roommate issue, you won't be charged extra."
"You're working again."
"I'm always working," Charles stated." If you want to keep your bag in my room until we get back from where ever we're going, feel free."
"Thanks," Alex smiled a little bit, "I didn't really feel like tossing my bag into that. What if it landed on them?" He cringed. Charles bit back a laugh.
"C'mon," Charles motioned for Alex to follow him.
After assuring themselves their stuff was safe, they resumed sitting around in the lounge, waiting for Chris and Captain to show back up.
"Do you think they got swallowed by Chris' dorm or something?" Alex asked, looking at the clock. It was already after nine, and there had been no sign of either of the other two.
Charles looked in the general direction of Chris' dorm, "I hope not."
"Should we have changed clothes?" Alex was
"Probably not," Charles shrugged.
"Is 'not' your new favorite word or something?" Alex made a feeble attempt to tease the RA.
""It is not," Charles replied without missing a beat.
Alex stared at the other man for a moment before he burst out laughing. Charles allowed himself a self-congratulating grin.
They heard a door open in the direction they were expecting the other half of their party. Sure enough, Chris came bounding down the halls with Captain not far behind him.
"He's wearing jeans," Charles muttered.
"Who know he had anything besides black in his wardrobe," Alex shook his head, "He looks…more sane, somehow."
"That's because a blur of color coming at you always seems less dangerous than a living shadow," Charles sighed.
The teen stopped a few feet from where they were sitting, grinning like mad.
"Captain found my jeans!" Chris beamed
"They were lost?" Charles asked
"Ze eeveel wardrove tries eets best to steal young Pilot's blue jeans, but ve prevailed in zees valiant effort!" Captain explained.
"I, uh, right," Charles resigned himself to a night of strange things and stranger words, "So, where are we headed?"
"Zees vay!" Captain boomed, walking off.
Pilot trotted off after the older man, leaving Charles and Alex to take the cue to follow.
"Where are we going?" Alex whispered to Charles as they stood up.
"I don't think they know, either, honestly."
A/N: I am so sorry that this not only took forever, but is short. D: I've had horrid writer's block. Next chapter will be more exciting, once I manage to type some life into it – it's rather flat and dead-looking at the moment.