Chapter 4: Halloween Special
October 31, 2014
Being a group of six, Mathias, Lukas, Emil, Berwald, Tino and Nathan very rarely agree on anything. When it comes to the end of October, they all approve of one thing; Halloween is the best holiday behind Christmas. A couple weeks prior, they all decided on a theme for the shop's decorations. Last year, Tino had chosen pirates, the year before, they agreed on a haunted house, and this year Lukas suggested they do a sorcerer's shop.
Berwald strung up multicolored lights and other decorations everywhere, black table cloths were put over the counter and tables along with candles, and everyone wore wizard hats the week of Halloween. The day of Halloween, they decided to close the shop an hour early to enjoy the holiday itself.
As Lukas exited the bathroom, Mathias came out of nowhere. "Hey Lukas!" Lukas instinctively hit him in the gut. "Ow!" He gasped.
"Don't sneak up on me like that," Lukas nagged. "I'm not even sorry,"
"Okay, but are you still going to Francis' party tonight?" he asked, wincing from the enduring pain in his gut. Lukas tilted his head.
"Again, yes," Mathias had begged Lukas to come, though he didn't enjoy parties. "I'm not staying too long, or even drinking. I promised to watch a Halloween movie with Emil tonight, like we do every year."
"Ah?" Mathias frowned. "That sounds more fun than that party actually. How well do you think Francis hosts parties?"
"Are you guys talking about Francis' party?" Tino chimed into their conversation.
"Yeah," Lukas told him. "Are you going?"
"Of course I am, and so is Ber,"
"I guess I'll tag along, too," Nathan called from the counter.
"Great, a night at Francis' place, what can possibly go wrong?" Lukas made a face at them.
"Now that you say that, something will," Tino teased.
"Yeah, something will go wrong anyway, even if I didn't say that. Let's just hope nobody gets stabbed,"
Later, the six of them arrived, on foot, to Francis' house. Lukas was dressed in his handmade sorcerer's outfit, the one he wears every year, Mathias in a simple hooded cape with nothing much else to go with it other than a cheap grim reaper's scythe. Tino and Berwald went with matching police officer uniforms, and Emil dressed in a tux and bowtie that matched Mr. Puffin's, who also came and was sitting on Emil's shoulder. Nathan followed behind, dressed in a normal T-shirt and jeans under his jacket and scarf.
"Are we late?" Tino asked, looking around at the many cars parked in his driveway.
"I don't think so; he said it starts at 7 and its 6:30." Emil replied, looking at his watch.
"Early is the new late," Lukas muttered, looking at Emil. "I don't think you should have brought Mr. Puffin. What if someone tries stealing him?"
"They better be carrying pepper spray, then," Mathias answered. "That bird is vicious."
"Mr. Puffin wouldn't hurt a fly!" Emil protested. "He's the sweetest bird to ever live!"
"How many other birds have you met?" Lukas asked. "That fiend should win an award for being the biggest assho-" He was interrupted by Francis opening the front door for them.
"Welcome! Please come in!" He greeted them before leading them in. Inside was a respectfully big crowd. "There aren't many people here yet but I'm sure they'll be more here soon enough,"
"Oh, wow," Mathias raised an eyebrow. "How many people did you invite?"
"You know," Francis thought for a second. "I don't remember,"
"Did you lose count?" Lukas asked.
"Maybe,"
Lukas was sure Francis invited everyone in Brookdon, and maybe half of Seattle. Francis was fortunate he had a large enough house and yard, or else there wouldn't be any room to walk around. He got separated from the rest and couldn't seem to find them again. He pushed his way through sweaty strangers and went out the back door. Lucky for him, there was more room outside than inside. He sat on a patio chair and removed his hat. I wasn't going to stay this late, he grumbled internally as he looked at his watch; 10:21 p.m.
Why did I even bother coming? He asked himself. He could be at home watching cheesy horror movies already with Emil and the bird. Stupid Mathias and his begging, he shouldn't have invited me if he knew I was just going to sit here and be bored. He's probably not even wondering where I am.
Lukas knew that wasn't true, of course, though he didn't feel like it wasn't the case. He and Mathias have been best friends since 1st grade and living together since that summer. Mathias can be stupid and just plain rude, but he couldn't count how many times he had done something for him that was completely selfless.
But how much has Lukas done for him back? Lukas started to feel nauseated at the thought. Maybe he needs to think about something else. Besides, Mathias probably doesn't keep track of things like that over the many years they've known each other.
"Lukas, hi," If it wasn't for the recognizable voice of Matthew Braginsky, he probably wouldn't have recognized him. He had his hair brushed and under a pirate hat, no glasses on, an eye patch and a pirate's overcoat on. "Did you get lost, too?"
"You're lost, too?" Lukas glanced around him. "Tell me you didn't bring your kids."
"Of course not!" Matthew sat by him. "I know how Francis' parties get. They're with my brother right now."
"Alfred?"
"Yeah, also where can I get one of Tino's cakes? I heard from Alfred that they are amazing," Lukas could tell by his face that he was joking.
"Are we mad that we drugged your brother?"
"No, not at all," Matthew laughed. "I used to bake weed into food and give it to him,"
"Really?" Lukas' jaw nearly dropped. "I don't believe you,"
"Why not? I'm serious. It was a joke when we still lived with our dad but now it's a way to get him to be less annoying when he visits."
"Matthew, that's wrong!"
"Hey, you don't have room to talk. Tino told me it was your idea to put weed in the cake,"
"I wasn't serious about it until he actually did it," Matthew sat back into his chair, trying to contain his laughter. "Are you ever going to tell him?"
"When he realizes that special lingering feeling isn't my cooking skills. Why do you look so surprised, Lukas?"
"I do? I mean, I am surprised. You always seemed to be someone that would stay away from causing trouble."
"I get that a lot, just remember, not everyone can be as innocent as they look,"
"True, and nobody learned that a harder way than Ivan, huh?"
"Nope,"
"Luuuukkkassss," Tino stumbled over to him and grabbed his ear. "What's this? Oh," He let go and Lukas grabbed onto his wrists. It wasn't unusual for Tino to quickly get drunk at parties. Even though for someone that has been a heavy partier for more or less a few years, he gets into his loopy stages like a new drinker. Tino was a fun drunk; he was already energetic and flirtatious, but even more intensely when he was on alcohol. Usually Berwald would stay by him and make sure he wasn't too much trouble, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Tino, are you drunk already?" Lukas asked.
"I'm not Krunk I'm Tino," Tino struggled to get Lukas to let go of his wrists. "Let go! Let go! Let go!"
Lukas ignored his pleas and held onto his wrists tightly as he tried pulling away. "Where's Berwald?"
"Bear was getting water but he was taking too long. I saw a cat and I pet it, but I got slapped."
"Was it a big cat?" Matthew asked, laying his arms and head on the table. Tino screamed and jumped onto Lukas' lap as if he didn't know Matthew was sitting there. Lukas fought to get Tino to calm down and sit still. He ended up having to hold him in a bridal position with Tino's head resting under his chin before he finally settled down. It took a second for Tino to start fighting to get off of Lukas and onto Matthew.
"It's just Matthew, contain yourself," Lukas growled. Tino went limp in Lukas' arms, making him have to sit him back up in his lap. "I think you need to find Berwald again,"
"That takes effort," Lukas shook his head. "Mathias is looking for you,"
"He is? Where did you see him?"
"He's been looking around inside for you,"
"How long ago?" Tino looked down at his hands. Lukas assumed he was counting until he started just playing with his fingers instead. He opened his mouth to ask him again but Tino quickly pointed.
"I don't know, ask him," Lukas turned his head around to see Mathias running towards them.
"You know, never mind,"
"There you are," Mathias hugged him around his neck; he smelled vodka in his breath. "I was looking for you,"
"Me too," Mathias continued to hug him. "Um, where's Emil?"
"I think he's with Nathan,"
"Where's Nathan?"
"I don't know," Mathias' voice went very discreet. "Shh, lemme sleep," without sitting down, Mathias rested his head behind Lukas' and he didn't speak again.
Emil, Francis, Nathan and several others sat in a circle in the living room, passing numerous drinks around.
"Aren't you too young to drink?" Nathan asked Emil as he downed some wine straight from the bottle.
"I don't know," Emil grumbled. He passed the bottle to the person sitting next to him.
"How about you?" Nathan pointed to the guy sitting beside Emil, who looked around his age.
"That's not important, I'm sure you drank when you were underaged." He retorted.
"I was 21, legal age,"
"Oh… How about smoking?" Emil added.
Nathan lifted an eyebrow. "Touché." Emil turned to the guy next to him, who he had never seen around before. He looked quite attractive, even in a panda bear onesie that was too big for him. He subtly smiled at Emil, took a sip from the bottle and passed it back to him.
Emil took a sip and quickly pulled away from the bottle down when he was, again, pushed forward by someone walking by. "Did everyone in Brookdon come here?"
Francis laughed. "Everybody but Arthur,"
"Arthur, your employee, didn't come to your party?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah, he's just not a party person."
"Do you know where he lives?" Francis suspiciously glanced at him.
"I do, why?"
Nathan carefully stood up and stretched his arms. "Let's go,"
"Go… To Arthur's house?"
"Where else?"
"But why?"
"Because why not," Nathan wrapped his scarf around his neck. "Let's give him a nice Francisween surprise. How far away does he live?"
"We can walk," Francis stood up, took another sip from his bottle of wine and set it down.
Berwald headed back to the hallway where he had left Tino standing just a few seconds ago when he got a glass of water. He wasn't surprised to see that Tino had run off. He probably shouldn't have left him alone while he went to get a drink, but he had only taken a few seconds to grab a cup and pour some water into it. Tino shouldn't have gone too far in just a short period of time.
He pushed through the crowd easily, searching. It was hard to see over the packs of familiar strangers. He got tired of looking after a few minutes and sat down in a chair in the kitchen.
He tried to call Tino's number, but he didn't pick up. He sighed and stuck his phone back into his pocket. Tino was already disgustingly drunk and probably on his way to cause trouble. Maybe Mathias or Lukas found him.
Lukas struggled to get to Emil's name on his phone. Tino found it absolutely hilarious to mess him up by touching the screen, and then laughing very loudly in his ear. He finally pressed call on Emil's contact with one arm slung around Tino and his hand over his mouth. Emil finally picked up after a few seconds.
"I can't talk right now," Emil whispered into the phone.
"Why not? Where are you? Are you okay?" Lukas asked. He heard another voice whisper 'hang up the phone, Emil,' "Okay who the fuck was that?"
"That was Francis, chill, I'm alright. I-" A long pause.
"You what?"
"Sorry, I need to go. I'll tell you what's going on later," before Emil hung up, there was a scream.
Emil closely followed behind Francis and Nathan while they walked down the sidewalk. A hand brushed against his arm. He flinched and noticed there was someone by him.
"Hi," it was the guy in the panda onesie from before, taking a hold of his arm. Emil took a deep breath.
"Hi," He replied. "I've never seen you around here before, where are you from?"
"China," Emil gave him a look; he expected a reply like the next town over or even Seattle. "Okay, maybe first Seattle. My family moved here a few days ago. I'll be starting school next Monday."
"Wow, how did you end up at a party?"
"My dad is going to open a restaurant up on Windgate Avenue, next to Francis' store. I heard about it from him."
"I work at the coffee shop on the other side of his shop," Emil told him.
"Really?" Nathan shushed them and pointed to Francis when he got their attention.
"Okay," Francis whispered. "I see his bedroom lights are on, so he's in there. You two are going to hide in the bushes next to his window and knock. Just a few times, make sure he doesn't see you. Nathan, you go knock on the window on the other side of the house, I'll take the kitchen window."
Emil and his new friend went for the bushes as they were told. While Emil began to ease himself under the leaves, the other stood back and watched.
"I don't want to get my kigurumi dirty," he complained.
"Then take it off, here," Emil removed his messenger bag carefully and opened it. "One second," he removed Mr. Puffin, who was asleep, from the bag.
"Is that a puffin, like a real puffin?"
"Yes, shhh, now quickly take off your thing and put it in here. It'll be safe."
"Okay," He removed the bear suit and shoved it into the bag. "Where is your bird going to stay?" Emil slipped Mr. Puffin into his shirt.
"Just hope to God he doesn't wake up,"
"Okay," Francis walked around the corner.
"Stop stalling!" He whispered. "Get in the bushes, count to 10 and knock, okay?"
"Alright," they both whispered back. Emil threw his bag into the bushes and they climbed in with it.
"One… Two…" Emil whispered.
"Three… Four… Five…" The other added.
"Six… Seven… Eight… Nine…" Emil continued.
"Ten," they both said and knocked loudly on Arthur's window. They stuck their arms back down before Arthur aggressively opened his blinds and the window.
"Who's out there?" The two teens down in bushes had to cover their mouths to avoid laughing and getting caught. Arthur let out a deep sigh and closed his window. There was more knocking coming from the other side of the house. Emil let some of his laughter out when he knew Arthur had left his bedroom.
"What's your name?"
"Emil,"
"I'm Leon, and I think we're going to be great friends,"
"Me too,"
"Emil, Panda, come on," Nathan ran up to the bushes.
"Already?" Emil peaked out from the branches.
"Yeah, we're going inside, now hurry." Emil and Leon nodded and grabbed the bag before following Nathan. They met up with Francis at the back door.
"Okay guys, no breaking things or attacking him, okay?" The three others nodded. Francis cautiously opened the door and they crept into the house. "He should be in the kitchen, let's move to his bedroom." On the way to the room, Emil's phone rang loudly.
"Shit," Francis covered his mouth. "Silence that thing,"
"But it's Lukas," Emil answered the phone. "I can't talk right now," Francis covered his eyes in shame.
"Hang up the phone, Emil," he growled. They heard footsteps heading towards the room. "Hide!"
"That was Francis, chill, I'm alright. I-" Emil ran and hid behind the bed with Leon. The footsteps had stopped near the room. Francis got up and peered around the door space.
"Sorry, I need to go. I'll tell you what's going on later," Francis had let out an agonizing scream as Emil hung up the phone and fell backwards.
The light was turned on, revealing Arthur standing over Francis, who had a knife in his leg. "Francis?"
"This was a bad, bad idea!" Francis cried.
"You bet it was," Arthur growled. "What the fuck were you thinking?" He glanced up. "Come out, the rest of you,"
Slowly, Emil, Leon and Nathan all came out from their hiding places. "Get out of here, all of you; I'll handle Francis from here,"
Berwald made it outside after having to almost pick people up to get through the house. He instantly saw what he was looking for, but didn't expect to see; Tino on Lukas' lap, fighting with him over a phone with Mathias hugging Lukas around his neck, probably asleep. Matthew was there, too.
"Bear!" Tino stood up and ran over to Berwald. He had to stop him from trying to climb onto him. "I found you at last!"
"Or I found you, Tino,"
"Shh," Tino grabbed onto the front of his uniform. "We're wearing the same thing, Bear,"
"We are,"
"That's funny,"
"It's time to go home," Tino tried breaking into a sprint away from him.
Lukas dialed Emil's number after getting ahold of his phone.
"Hey Lukas, sorry about that,"
"What the hell are you doing? Are you okay? What was that scream? Where are you?" He questioned.
"Walking back to Francis' house, yes, that was Francis, and we took a stroll down to Arthur's house."
"You know what," Lukas sighed, trying to push his drunken friend to loosen the grip around his neck. "I'm about to leave. Get Francis to walk you back to the apartment."
"I'm only with Nathan and Leon now,"
"Who's Leon?"
"Oh, a new guy, he-"
"Walk him back to his place or back here but make sure you all arrive somewhere safely, including Nathan and your friend. Where's Francis?"
"Still at Arthur's" How inappropriate, leaving your own wild party alone and not coming back, Lukas thought to himself.
"Alright, be careful, okay?"
"Okay, mom,"
"Was that your mom?" Leon asked while Emil hung up his phone.
"No, it was my brother. Where do you live?" He asked.
"A few streets over, why?"
"Lukas said to walk you back to your house or to Francis',"
"I can make it on my own,"
"No, it's fine, plus I promised him I would," The three began walking to Leon's house.
When they got to the driveway, he turned around and hugged Emil. "Thanks,"
"You're welcome," Leon let go of him and ran to his window.
"What a cool dude," Nathan muttered while they were walking to the apartments.
"You think so?"
"Yeah, I think he likes you," Emil gave him a skeptical look.
"What?"
"Either that or he enjoys following some kid around in a tux,"
"Hm, you're a little more observant tonight,"
"I'm always observant," Nathan brushed his messy hair out of his face.
"Then you're being talkative,"
"Hm. I won't tell Lukas about your boyfriend," Emil punched his arm.
"Okay, you're being too talkative,"
"We're leaving," Lukas said to Matthew.
"Guess I actually have to go look for Ivan now," Matthew sighed.
"Good luck getting through the house," Lukas told him. Matthew sighed even louder. He looked up to see Ivan slowly walking up behind Matthew.
"Boo!" Ivan touched both of Matthew's shoulders, scaring him.
"YES!" Matthew yelled. He pinched Ivan's cheek.
"What?" Ivan asked, confused.
"I don't have to go back into that house," Matthew whined.
"Sorry, медведь," Ivan leaned over and kissed his cheek a few times. "I didn't know it'll be that crowded."
"It's fine, I got to chat with Lukas for a while. Did you have fun?"
"I did," Matthew kissed his forehead.
Lukas got up and unwrapped Mathias' arms from around his neck. Mathias slowly opened his eyes and gazed at Lukas, confused. "And everything worked out. We'll be going now."
"Bye," Matthew and Ivan waved as they exited through the gate.
The walk to Lukas' apartment was quiet, strangely quiet. Lukas was too tired to make notice of it until they arrived back to the room.
"Hey Mathias," Lukas spoke up while Mathias went to lie down on the couch. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I just have a headache," Mathias rubbed his head. "Some guy threw a bottle at me, it hurt."
"We could have left earlier if you wanted," Lukas sat down by him.
"You had things to do, and you have to make sure Emil was okay,"
"I could have done that while walking home,"
"Yeah, that's because you're awesome," Lukas remembered how he blamed Mathias for having a bad time earlier that night. He started to feel bad.
"So are you," He whispered. Mathias gave him a look.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah," Lukas looked at him.
Mathias got up and crawled on Lukas' lap and sat down in the same position Tino was in earlier that night. It wasn't a common thing for Mathias to get touchy with him, but it wasn't a rare thing, either, for him or Lukas allowing him to do so. "I'm sorry for dragging you in something like that again, but I'm glad to see you had fun anyway,"
"It's fine, Mathias,"
"You're smiling, Luk," Mathias poked his cheek gently. "People ask me if you ever smile and I used to get upset because I thought you were unhappy,"
"I'm happy Mathias," Lukas assured him. Mathias pressed close to his chest and tucked his legs in, trying to stay balanced on Lukas, who was much smaller than he was.
"I know you are, but you never externally show it like most other people. I also know that when you do smile, it means you're extra happy,"
Lukas sighed, smiling even more. "Go to sleep, Mathias, you're starting your late night talk,"
"I don't appreciate you enough, though,"
"Yes, you appreciate me too much,"
"You don't even make me pay rent,"
"That's because you pay rent in a different way," Lukas brushed the hair from his face. "Now go to sleep,"
"Okay," Mathias mumbled, almost in a whiny tone. He lay across Lukas' lap and grabbed one of the pillows. "Goodnight,"
"I didn't mean on me," Mathias was fast asleep before he had an opportunity to get his point across. Lukas yawned and carefully positioned himself next to him, laying his head half on his back and half on the couch cushion. "Goodnight, Mathias."
Tino was still restless by the time Berwald had dragged him to his house. He had to promise him to take him to eat at Denny's, which he would probably forget in the morning but Berwald would still carry out anyway, to get him to calm down a little. When they got into the house, Tino threw his hands into the air.
"Party at Bear's!" Berwald locked the door and put a finger up to his lips.
"Shh,"
"Oh oh!" Tino said in a loud whisper. "Is he sleeping? How's he doing? How old is he now? Can I see him? Please? Please?"
"Only if you be quiet. Mr. Edelstein is probably asleep on the couch. You shouldn't wake him either."
"Okay," Tino whispered, excited. Berwald took Tino's arm and brought him into the room that was adjacent to Berwald's. He watched as Tino walked up to the small sized bed in the corner and peered down at his 2-year-old son, Peter, who slept silently in the bed. For the whole couple minutes Tino looked at him, not one word was spoken. How he can go from acting drunk and ridiculous to calm when he was around Peter was beyond Berwald.
'What a lovely sight it is.'
He shamefully imagined how it would be if Tino did the same, sober, and every night. Since they were young, he always knew Tino would make a nice parent. He still thought so, even if Tino doesn't seem to settle down for a serious relationship. As long as Tino enjoyed his dating habits, and it wasn't hurting him or anyone else, Berwald was happy, even when from time to time, he would want to ask 'why not me?'.
Tino turned around and quietly walked up to Berwald, in which Berwald took as he was ready to be taken to the guestroom. Instead, Tino stood on the tips of his toes and kissed him. This wasn't the first time Tino tried to kiss him or even successfully kissed him while drunk. He never remembers doing it. This was the first time Berwald uncaringly kissed him back, just like how he's always wanted to since his started having feelings towards him.
Berwald absentmindedly kissed him back before he realized what had happened. "Tino, no, you're drunk," he whispered, trying to not sound angry.
"But," Tino looked at him sadly. Berwald picked him up and quickly took him out of the room. He set Tino down on his feet and closed the door. "Bear,"
"Ber," he silently corrected him, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry," Berwald thought it was silly that he was apologizing. It was dirty and selfish of him consider letting himself give in in the past, and now he actually did it this time. He wasn't proud, he wasn't angry at Tino, he was angry with himself. He knew Tino probably wouldn't feel the same sober, and alcohol didn't mean he actually was consenting. Berwald was basically stepping over a line that would make his beloved mother cry to even think her son would do after he was told the words 'alcohol and clothing are not consent; only sober words are' over and over again all his teen years.
"Ber… Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." He lied. "I'm sorry. Let me get you some clothes so you to change into."
"Okay!" Tino disappeared into the guest room without another word.
Berwald dug one of Tino's shirts and shorts that he kept in one of his drawers, for one of these nights, for him to wear to bed. He replayed the kiss in his head, over and over. 'He does this almost every time, shouldn't it count for something?' he shook his head, almost replying to himself. 'People do stupid things drunk,' He sobbed and wiped the few tears dribbling down from his eyes. He waited a minute before entering the guest bedroom again, where Tino was jumping on the bed. He stopped bouncing when he entered.
"Here's your clothes," Tino stood up and approached him. He took the clothes silently and turned around. Berwald went to leave the room.
"Bear," Tino sounded from behind him.
"Yes?"
"Aren't you going to tell me good night?"
"Good night, Tino, sweet dreams,"
"Sweet dreams," Tino replied, in a sad tone. Berwald stopped in his tracks, turned around and gave Tino a quick, tight hug. "Ber…" Berwald left the room in even more tears and conflicting thoughts.
Emil arrived to the apartment tired, dirty and with leaves and twigs littering his tux. He expected to be questioned when he walked through the door but he had found Mathias and Lukas asleep on the couch instead. "So much for our traditional movie marathon," he yawned. "And even worse, I come home to this. I swear…"
He dragged himself to his room and gently set Mr. Puffin in his bird-bed. "Goodnight, Mr. Puffin," He jumped onto his own bed, letting his bag lay there on his side. He then remembered something.
"Shit, I still have Leon's kigur-I mean onesie," He sat up, reached into his bag and pulled it out. "I'll take it to work just in case he happens to show up there," He stared at it for a second.
He pulled the fabric up to his face. He gently rubbed the side of his cheek and nose against it and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. 'Leon…'
In the car, Matthew reached over and removed the cat-ears headband that Ivan was wearing. "I have an odd question,"
Ivan smiled, but kept his eyes on the road. "What is it?"
"Did you slap Tino Väinämöinen in the face?"
"… How'd you know about that?" Matthew was consumed in laughter. For the rest of the night, Ivan was unable to get an answer out of him. Matthew would just laugh when he tried asking again.
"Hey Nathan," Francis spoke as soon as he picked up the phone. "Can you do me a favor?"
"You want me to watch over your house while you're receiving medical help after being stabbed by a kitchen knife?"
"Yeah, can you do that?"
"Well…"
He sighed. "Of course I'll pay you. Feel free to take anything out of the fridge down in the basement, too and you can sleep on my bed, just don't let anyone else sleep there also,"
"Got it,"
Francis hung up when Arthur entered the room.
"I have to ask again," he sighed, putting a glass of water and a pack of painkillers on the TV tray next to where Francis was on the couch. "What possessed you to think entering my house for a prank on Halloween was a good idea?"
"Simple answer; the alcohol made me do it." Arthur removed the painkillers from the tray.
"I guess I should give you tea instead,"
"I'd really like that. Sorry I snuck into your house,"
"I'm sorry for stabbing you,"
"Sorry I got blood on your floor,"
"I'm sorry I skipped going to your party,"
"Don't be,"
"Take it easy, old man, you've said sorry enough," Arthur sighed. "I did murderously put a kitchen knife into your leg so maybe I should be sorry for somethings, too."
"Thanks for taking care of me,"
"My pleasure,"
The time was 3 a.m. and most of Francis' guests have left. The others who stayed had fallen asleep in the living room or the bathroom. Nathan emerged from the basement, holding an arm full of snacks and sodas while dressed in Francis' finest bathrobe. He got to the bedroom, where he kicked back, relaxed and watched old horror movies on the TV till the morning of the first day of November, 2014.
Important announcement: I might be updating every 2 weeks now. I just don't think I can handle spending every weekend writing to update every week just in case I'm busy one Saturday or something. And I also want to focus on working on other things along with KK, and finally wrap When the Snow Falls up soon. I hope this isn't too much of an inconvenience.
And thank you all, I know I say it every time I update but oh my god, THANK YOU.
I haven't even been writing for a complete year and I've gotten more support from my friends and you guys than I expected. Køhler's Koffee has, by far, gotten more attention quicker than any of my other works and I'm happy to put even more work into making this happen for you guys.
Notes about the chapter: This was a very fun chapter to type up, and I was actually not planning on adding a lot of things that happened in this chapter. I really meant to keep this story mainly for laughs, but yet again I end up writing some serious stuff.
I do not take ownership of the characters that appear in this work, nor do I own any other works mentioned in the text, including Denny's.
1. '"I get that a lot, just remember, not everyone can be as innocent as they look,"
"True, and nobody learned that a harder way than Ivan, huh?"
"Nope,"'
This will be explained in Matthew and Ivan's backstory chapter.
2. About the whole putting weed in baked goods for Alfred, I thought I should restate how Alfred had mentioned that Tino's cake reminded him of the ones Matthew makes in the Starbucks chapter.
Also, Matthew doesn't smoke pot much anymore. He multitasks with parenting and working and getting high doesn't mix well with his schedule.
3. "Was it a big cat?"
Matthew had asked Tino this after he explained that he saw a cat, pet it, and got slapped if the last part with Ivan and Matthew didn't make any sense.
4. I have a huge love for platonic ships. NorFin and NorCan are examples. I also throw in a lot of Franada, though a lot hasn't been shown yet. They were best friends in high school.
5. медведь = bear in Russian.
6. Because I have a lot of DenNor things in progress/already written, I will be referencing some subtly into each other. For example, Mathias' headache is a hint towards Tangents and Asymptotes. (No, Mathias doesn't end up like he did in TaA. Køhler's Koffee was also referenced in that work, too, by the way.)
7. I might be writing the chapter that explains how Mathias started stay with Lukas soon.
8. About Berwald: I apologize for not making his crush on Tino more apparent in the past chapters. More about him and Peter will be shown in his chapter, which might or might not include Tino's, too.
9. How Roderich Edelstein ended up taking a job as a baby sitter will be explained in Berwald's as well as Mathias' chapters.
10. Nathan will get his own chapter, too, of course. He deserves like 10 chapters, I think.
I hope you all enjoyed this long chapter. May you all consider my future chapters and stories. Have a happy Halloween!