Elias started up again. "So, now that you're part of the club," he said, looking around, "we can actually show you the club. Here, watch."
He pushed a part of the wall which seemed to stick out a little. A part of the stone and clay wall by it made a small doorway and grinded against the other walls as it slid to the left. Soon, it revealed a small room with beanbags, pillows and mattresses, as well as bushels and strings of fairy lights, which were strung about the place as if it was Life Day all year long.
Ben's eyes went wide. "Woah," was all he could say.
"Yeah, buddy, 'whoa' is right," Elias said, smirking as he nudged Ben with his elbow. "It's been home sweet home for me and Wolf for... I'd say about two, three years."
Wolf looked over and gave a "hm" and a nod of approval, nothing more.
Ben began looking around the place.There were a couple of lava lamps in the corners, as well as a few speakers next to a small subwoofer.
"Hey, where'd you guys get all this stuff?" Ben asked, hoping he wasn't sounding stupid.
Elias' eyes darted to the left and right as he spoke. "Uhh... we... borrowed them."
Ben knew what he meant immediately, he wasn't stupid. "You mean, you stole them?"
"Yeah, but here, petty theft is par for the course," Elias said with patronizing conviction.
Ben already couldn't stand this guy. "Um, duh! That's like, Life on Tatooine 101!" he said, desperately trying to sound like he had at least two brain cells somewhere in his head. Yet, he was failing, and hard.
At that point, they had nothing more to say to each other. That was where their conversation had reached fever pitch, and it should have ended there. But, somehow, it didn't. They kept staring at each other with squinted eyes and furrowed brows, looking up and down the other's body, almost as if they were sizing each other up. Elias squinted harder as Ben snarled and flared his nostrils.
Then, as quick as the incident started, it ended. The boys walked away from each other as if nothing happened and flopped down on beanbags on the opposite sides of the room, sulking.
Two minutes later, Wolf sauntered over and sat down on a beanbag next to Ben. He looked over to Elias to make sure he wasn't looking or listening, then locked onto the pits of Ben's eyes.
"So, you said you needed a place to sleep?" he asked, his low, husky voice resonating in the small space around them.
Ben thought back to when he was yelling to no one in the streets and quickly responded. "Yeah, I did. Why'd you ask?"
"We've got mattresses, blankets, and pillows. Make yourself at home," Wolf murmured, still watching Elias' every move.
Ben heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks, man," he said as he yawned. "I really owe you one." He then drunkenly shuffled over to grab a blanket and a pillow, then flopped over on one of the mattresses, with his pillow and blanket still in tow.
By that time, Ben had wrapped himself up and was slowly drifting into sleep. He yawned one last time before saying, "Goodnight, guys. See ya in the morning." He then closed his eyes and drifted off into sweet, unconscious oblivion.
Little did he know, he was making a big mistake.
Hours later, Ben was still fast asleep on the mattress, lying on his side with his knees pulled towards his chest and his head bowed. The two boys stood over him on one side, wondering how they were going to pull this off.
Wolf gripped a glass of warm water from the local bathhouse. "So, what are we even going to do?" he murmured.
Elias got in his face and looked at him as if he was stupid. "Of course you know what we're going to do, dumbass. We talked about it for an hour. We get warm water, you stick the new guy's hand in the water, and eventually, he pees himself, he wakes up wet, we laugh and we see how much of a man he really is."
Wolf furrowed his brow and huffed. "This is the dumbest idea for an initiation rite you've ever had. Are you crazy?"
"By your standards, yes, I'm insane," Elias bit back. "Now are we doing this or what?"
Wolf stayed silent, as if to say no.
"Do it or you're out of the club," Elias snapped.
Wolf jumped and turned pale at the sound of his voice. He turned and kneeled as he placed the glass on the opposite side of the mattress, just within arm's reach from Ben. He then looked to Elias for a cue, to which Elias responded with a solitary, expressionless nod of approval. That was the green light to lift up his hand and sink it in the warm water, which he started doing gingerly and without a sound.
As he was doing this, however, his free hand slipped. It was supposed to be firmly planted on the mattress, and for most of what could be called "the operation", it was, as Wolf could feel the gentle ebb and flow of Ben's breath on it. However, in a moment of zen-like focus, the hand lifted and went where it pleased (or so it seemed) and it accidentally brushed off the hair hiding one of Ben's ears.
Elias froze. "Stop, dude. Look. Something's up with his ears."
Wolf looked to Ben, one ear now in plain sight, and then to Elias, who gave him a glare.
"Turn him over on his back," Elias said with conviction. "Brush off the hair hiding the other."
Wolf did as he was told, again, as before, gingerly and without a sound.
As soon as the deed was done, both boys stood over him, staring down in awe.
"He's got jug ears," Elias murmured.
"Yeah. He must hate 'em," Wolf whispered in reply.
Now, as the clock struck four, the two stood silent, wondering what to do with this new information.
"Forget the water," Elias growled back to Wolf. "Dump it outside. For his initiation rite, we'll try something a little more... humane."