Edit: August 01, 2013
After Kristian pretty much pointed out every single yellow light he had ran, Nikolai turned and gave him a look. Most people, when confronted with his look, would have their words wither away and die in a pitiful little heap.
Of course, Kristian wasn't most people.
Unfortunately.
"Would you STOP being such a backseat driver?" Nikolai said, a bit pissed. "I don't need another person telling me what to do."
"I'm sitting shotgun, though." Kristian blinked innocently. Nikolai wasn't sure whether to kick him out of the car or smash his head onto his steering wheel. He settled on neither and continued talking to the other, which was one of the many mistakes he would commit in his life- including not drop-kicking the increasingly irritating pretty boy out of his car the moment he saw him.
"You know what I mean." Nikolai looked at him from the corner of his eyes, watching as the younger drummed his fingers on the dashboard. "Don't you have school or something?"
"Don't you?" Kristian challenged him, raising a silver eyebrow.
"I cancelled them today, because I was supposed to be shipped off to… some island… somewhere." Nikolai, for the love of God, could not remember the hell hole he was supposed to be in. He hadn't expected his mother to send a letter to an island for the magically-unbalanced, but she had also cancelled it in a flash after Kristian begged her not to do such a thing. His mother was eccentric, that was for sure.
"So it's because of me that you're still here?" The words hung in the air for a bit, and Nikolai just stared at him for a long time. Kristian shifted uncomfortably on his seat.
"Green light." He managed to say. Nikolai turned to face forward and revved up the engine once more, filling the silence with the occasional sputter of car exhaust.
"In a way." Nikolai broke the tension in the car.
"In what way?" Kristian asked, tilting his head to the side. His silver tresses caught the glow of the sunlight, making his already pale hair into an impossibly white hue. He had often contemplated just how Kristian had such bleached-white hair without a single drop of hairdye actually changing it for him. Genetics was an odd little thing.
"You know." Nikolai said very eloquently. He swiveled his head to face the front again, stepping on the brake pedal before nearly running into an innocent pedestrian. "Well. I… let's just listen to the radio, shall we?"
"You broke it."
"Your point?"
Kristian decided that Nikolai was a very odd child.
"By the way, I have school tomorrow. I just came and unpacked my stuff today, so…" Kristian stopped abruptly, as though a thought had entered his mind. "Why do you still live with your mom?"
Nikolai grimaced. "Your train of thought astounds me. Just how did talking about school lead to a conversation about my lifestyle?"
"Don't evade the question." Kristian retorted, getting hyped up about weaseling information out of the older one. "Now, let me know your secrets!"
"Calm down, woman, I'm getting there-"
"WOMAN?"
"I'm getting there! Okay? Anyway, school's expensive, and my apartment is close to the school, and I can't just leave my mom alone, she could barely function the last time I left her. She has a weird job to tend to, after all…" Nikolai trailed off and wished for the umpteenth time that he hadn't destroyed his radio. At the very least, country would have filled the awkward silence with guitar twanging and warbling sounds.
"A weird job…?" Kristian said, intrigued. "What kind of job?"
"Well, that's none of your business." Nikolai said snappishly, making the other turn his head over to look at him quizzically.
"Right. Sorry." Kristian kicked at the empty compartment in front of him, feeling a bit apprehensive at staying in the same area as a moody college student. The compartment opened up, only to reveal a bunch of weird animal porn books, complete with muzzles and collars and a million other things Kristian hadn't wanted to know about.
"Are these yours?" Kristian said gingerly, pointing at the offensive pile that was threatening to spill onto his lap. Nikolai followed his gaze and sighed.
"No, that's Ludwig's." He said. He didn't mention that he had asked to borrow it, in the hopes of discovering something exciting for his nonexistent sex life.
It had ended up being the sort of excitement that Nikolai was okay without having.
"The composer?" Kristian asked, looking thoroughly confused. "The famous pianist liked kinky animal sex?"
"NO! Ludwig's my friend's boyfriend!" Nikolai bit his lip, trying to stop the urge to laugh. Images of Beethoven started to overflow in his head, and he quickly swatted away the thoughts before he had to buy brain bleach for his scarred mind.
"Seriously? Your friend must have a tough time…" Kristian said, looking a bit sympathetic and not at all ashamed. "I mean, leashes? Mouth gags?" Kristian flipped through it and then crinkled his nose in disgust. "You know what, I'm not even going to look at it anymore." Without giving any warning, he rolled down the window threw it out the car, the pages fluttering in the wind.
"Holy- KRISTIAN! What if the people behind us think-" He didn't even get to finish his sentence. There was an angry honk, and Nikolai stepped on the gas pedal, trying to avoid the angry honking sounds of very startled drivers.
"I swear that I'll kill you someday." Nikolai said, his eyes trained on the road, completely ignoring the middle fingers that the people gave him and the words that mouthed FAGGOT.
"Of course, Nikkie, of course." Kristian waved to them as they passed by, looking completely unconcerned about the whole thing. Choruses of 'FUCK OFF' were heard and then the scandalized cars sped off into the distance. Kristian stared at the gas fumes left behind by the shiny Audi.
"I don't think they liked us very much."
"It's all your fault."
Kristian's lip quirked up slightly.
"What do you do for a living?" Kristian asked. They were sitting in the parking lot of McDonald's, sipping cokes and eating fries. Nikolai sighed. The silver-haired boy was like a overly studious child, always firing questions here and there and soaking up all the information like a sponge. He had lost count of the number of questions after #67, where he had asked how many relationships he had had and was one of the few that he had refused to respond to.
"I have different jobs." He finally said. "They change around. One time, I was a waiter at my friend's coffee shop. I was also a preschool teacher for a few months. Another-"
"PRESCHOOL TEACHER?" Kristian suddenly cut in, looking a bit incredulous. Nikolai looked at him irritably.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Nikolai asked.
"No, no… just surprised." Kristian scrutinized him carefully. "Sure we're talking about the same person here?"
"Unless you think I'm imaginary, then no. I've been a preschool teacher. All the kids loved me, apparently."
"Apparently?"
"Well, I only heard that from some satisfied other teachers. And parents. Let's not forget parents."
"Maybe they like you because they think you're attractive?"
Nikolai paused, his fry mid-way to his mouth.
"Not that I think you're attractive." Kristian corrected himself. "I mean, it's just a fact. You know. That you're. You know. Not ugly, at the very least."
Nikolai put the fry down. "Wow. Not ugly. What a compliment." He finally said, thoroughly enjoying the embarrassed blush that slowly crawled up Kristian's face.
"I- oh, lord!" Kristian put his face into his hands, mussing up his hair with salt granules left over from the fries. "I'm really bad with words, so let's just pretend that the last thirty seconds didn't happen."
"Kay." Nikolai resumed eating his fries when they both looked at each other, curious lavender staring into unreadable navy, like some sort of synchronized dance move. Somehow he found himself unable to tear his eyes away, but then the other broke it off quite suddenly, looking out the window as though he was very interested in the other cars parked there.
"Well. The sky sure is blue today." Kristian said aloud.
"Oh, yes. Yes it is."
After the (extremely) awkward trip to McDonald's, they ended up at Nikolai's house again, standing around while Nikolai's mother practically fawned over Kristian, as though he was a limited edition Barbie doll. (Which, come to think of it, was a pretty good comparison, considering the fact that he had pristine white hair and had a penchant towards ribbons, if his necktie was any indication.) Nikolai's mom gushed and welcomed him in while giving Nikolai an affirmative, overly excited nod that meant nothing to the older boy. Despite Nikolai saying that they weren't hungry, she gave them buttered popcorn and ushered them into the dining table, watching them both carefully. Kristian was munching on the popcorn. Nikolai gave her a frosty stare.
"Sooooo…" She said, her eyes sparkling. "What did you two do today? Did you go roller-blading? Watch a movie? Any juicy details you want to tell mommy here?"
"Mom." Nikolai said stonily, willing himself not to jump off the stairs. "We're going to watch TV."
"Oh... alright..." She said, almost sounding disappointed. She brightened up within a millisecond, springing up and busying herself in the kitchen. "I'll bring you two some drinks, so you boys just go ahead and enjoy!"
Nikolai nodded his head slowly. "Kristian, let's go…" Kristian grabbed the bowl of popcorn, already having devoured about a half of the portion intended for the two of them. Nikolai grabbed a handful before settling down on the couch, stretching and taking up most of the space. Kristian settled for the carpeted floors, clutching a pillow to his chest while absentmindedly flicking through the channels.
"There's Mean Girls." Nikolai said suddenly, catching sight of blond Rachel McAdams. Not that he was going to admit it to anyone, but he preferred her as a brunette.
"Do you want to watch it?" Kristian asked, his finger hovering over the 'volume' buttons, as though he was going to turn the sound up louder.
"Do you?"
"Not really… kinda… yeah."
"Supernatural it is." This earned Nikolai a slap on the head by a pillow, making him almost yelp in protest. Nikolai grabbed the other pillow and smacked Kristian's head, toppling him onto Nikolai's lap.
"You're terrible!" Kristian slammed his face with his pillow again, smushing him down. At the same time, the remote was clenched tightly in Nikolai's hand. It flicked onto animal channel, and from the corner of his eye, he could see two extremely fluffy and adorable rabbits making out.
Suddenly, he heard stomping sounds from the other side of the room, followed by a slam of the door. "NIKOLAI! LET'S GO THE ARCADE!" Alfred ran into the dining room cheerfully, with Arthur grumbling behind him. They stopped immediately when they saw them, unceremonious gasps sneaking out from their mouths.
Nikolai was positively mortified. The pillow had slipped off, revealing his (hopefully) expressionless face. Their hair was messy, clothes misshapen, and the calm Australian voice narrating the rabbit's mating skills definitely wasn't helping. Kristian swallowed deeply.
"Hey."
This seemed to snap Alfred out of it. "Oh, I'm sorry…" He said, his laughter a bit forced. "I'll just..." He slowly inched out of the room, practically hiding behind Arthur, the British boy coughing and trying not to laugh at the odd predicament.
"Ah, Nikolai." Arthur said awkwardly. "I'm sorry we ran in. Please give our condolences to your… friend. And also, get a room next time. Somewhere where your mom isn't in it." Arthur gave a quick wave, followed by a look that said you have some explaining to do, Nikolai, and pushed Alfred out of the way as he trekked forward. "C'mon, Alfred. I TOLD you you should've bugged someone else."
"Well, Nikolai always said no! So I thought maybe he'd say yes for once!" Alfred whined, following Arthur out of the door. "And don't push me next time! The hero should always walk out first!" There was another long silence between Kristian and Nikolai before the older boy pushed him off, making Kristian yelp in protest. Nikolai took no notice of it and changed the TV channel, his eyes fixated on the screen.
"This is the reason why," Nikolai said stonily, "that I do not know why I have friends."
Have no idea if this chapter was good or not. I did my best to edit it!
Please review if you liked it.