Flug had been invited to a party. He. Had actually been invited. To a. Party. By Aurelio Cruz. Flug had to keep saying it to himself or he felt he might start thinking that he imagined the whole thing. He'd been invited to a party by Aurelio Cruz. At his house.
He had a big house.
With a pool.
Not that Flug had ever been there.
He'd just seen pictures.
Yep. Mmm Hmm.
It still blew his mind that he was actually invited to Aurelio Cruz's house. For a party. Hell, the fact that he got invited to a party at all was such a ludicrous happening that Flug considered buying a lottery ticket just to see what other insane things would happen. What was next, was he going to get a date?
Hey, he was already going. That in itself was so unexpected he wondered why on earth he agreed.
Oh wait, he knew why, because it was AURELIO FREAKING CRUZ. The man who made his knees weak and his heart pound and his dick hard and made him feel like a pathetic loser with no chance of ever going beyond jerking off to his Instagram selfies.
Yeah, that was why.
Ugh, he wanted more than anything to just relax. If only he could do something like sleep on it.
Well, he had found one small solace. The hypnosis videos seemed to work.
Flug still had a few hours to go before Black Hat came to pick him up. He was going, because Flug didn't have his own car and Black Hat hadn't had anything else to do tonight. They'd decided to leave around eleven, since apparently that was when things "got good" or something, according to Black Hat. Flug had the afternoon shift tomorrow so it would probably work out. Since he'd gotten home, Flug had occupied his time by making minute ramen (he really craved noodles lately for some reason) and put on hypnosis videos in an effort to relax.
While they too had a mildly annoying repetition of telling him to breathe, they also had a tendency to actually talk him through the process of hypnotizing him, which made following their tedious instructions a bit more bearable. The ones that got descriptive, speaking of his mind as a spiral staircase of consciousness that he himself was walking down, down into his subconscious where the voice needed him to be; or detailing his descent as slipping down into a suggestive state of mind like sinking into a warm bath, held his intrigue enough to keep him listening.
The spirals were eye catching. Especially when he intentionally unfocused his eyes and let it grow like it was going to spread past the confines of the laptop screen and encompass his entire field of view.
Hey, during those nearly hour long hypnosis sessions, it almost seemed it had done just that.
They seemed to have done the trick for him. The ones that were a bit more...suggestive...keeping him interested enough to follow along near-mindlessly, so much so that he had a bit of a hard time recalling the exact things said to him. What exact ideas had been placed in his deeper mind. He could remember basic things, like what the end goal of the hypnosis was meant to be. He was a bit hesitant to actually admit to himself what it was he had been listening to, though. He had found a few audio files that had gotten rather...objectifying. Things that spoke to him about how he was just a toy, just a doll. He was being made into the perfect little doll to be used and abused and he would love every minute of it. He was a slave for his master, he would be obedient and submissive. He was just a puppet being directed on how to act, how to move, what to think. He would think what he was told to think, when he was told to think it. Among other things that scared him a bit to imagine putting into practice, as well as aroused him greatly.
But yeah, he didn't have the greatest memory of what he had put into his brain. Well, he could remember the word "deeper" being said a few times. The memory spurring something in him that made him feel...tingly.
Flug checked the time and saw that it was already past ten. Wow, time sure flies huh? He also found that he was sitting with his headphones on in utter silence. The audio had stopped playing. He wondered how long he'd been sitting there in the quiet, not a care in the world? It was only a 20 minute audio file, but Flug was pretty sure he'd put this on anywhere from between half an hour to an hour ago.
At least he had found something that gave his mind something to do without him having to actually focus on any thing or any thought. Something that allowed him to zone out and lose himself.
Flug stood up and stretched. He felt alright, he was calm and relaxed, and maybe now he could actually bring himself to go to the party.
Oh shit what was he going to wear? Should he try and dress up a bit? Was what he had on alright? Was there some kind of dress code for these types of things?
He currently had on some cheesy old T-Shirt. Pretty dorky, if he did say so himself. Maybe he should wear something a little more age appropriate? Maybe something with a high neck in case anyone else saw and questioned him about those little scabs on his neck from where Black Hat had bitten him?
Seriously, what exactly was he supposed to tell people? Oh, we aren't together or anything but we got drunk and made out once and it turns out he's pretty intense ha ha ha, so anyway you probably figured this out but I'm gay.
He slipped the old thing off his head and chose one of his nicer light blue shirts. Neat, but casual enough. No risk of being overdressed and no risk of looking like a total loser. Well, no more than he already did with his thick frames and general nerdiness.
His jeans were probably fine, although he still wanted to go out and get some tighter pairs this weekend. Maybe he should try skinny jeans. At least blue jeans never went out of style. Same with his chucks.
He also had on white and blue striped panties and matching kneesocks under his clothes, the combo giving him a confidence boost even though literally no one would see them. Hopefully. Oh God it would be so mortifying if someone pulled down his pants and saw what he had on under them! The socks at least would be easy enough to play off, they wouldn't be all that odd on their own so long as no one looked above his calves.
Still, matching his socks and panties made him feel like he was that much more put together. A bonus bit of self-esteem that he was probably going to need tonight. He looked good, he felt good. If only marginally.
Flug thought about maybe making a sandwich or something real quick, to make sure that he had some food in him before he went out and presumably was going to drink a bit, but just wasn't in the mood for one. Black Hat's strange foreign food sandwiches had probably turned him off on them for good. A shame, he rather liked a good torta.
He was NOT going to get drunk and make a fool of himself in front of so many people. In front of Aurelio. Black Hat had already seen him be a drunk idiot so he wasn't all that worried about him.
But seriously, what the hell was Black Hat eating? Half the time the ingredients were completely indecipherable. And why did he put so much mayonnaise?! No one needs that much mayo!
His phone chimed. A new text.
On the way. Bringing Dem.
Dem? Oh, he must mean Demetra, that cafe waitress who got the entire staff betting on what the nature of his and Black Hat's relationship was. He hadn't really talked to her besides the mundane "Hi, how's it going?" since coming back from their little weekend excursion. But she (and a few other staff members) had been giving the two of them knowing smiles ever since.
Oh sweet Jesus had she and Black Hat been talking? Did they talk about him? What did he tell her!? She spread it around to the others didn't she?! What were they all smiling about?!
No way did they just appreciate the continued patronage and their decently sized tips! It had to be something more!
Flug decided he'd just go down and wait for them on the sidewalk. It wasn't going to do him any good to just sit around and panic himself to the point that he bailed on actually going to this party.
Aurelio had texted him (yet another thing he never imagined would happen) his address a few hours back, and it turned out he only lived about 45 minutes away from his apartment. Flug was just now finding this out. Totally. Yeah. He had no idea of this prior to getting texted the address. No sir.
It didn't take much waiting for Flug to spot Black Hat's car pulling up. Demetra was in the front passenger seat, in what Flug guessed was her normal outfit outside of her cafe uniform. Flug promptly greeted his two "friends" (did the guy he would spent the rest of his life working for and the waitress he sort of knew count as friends?) and climbed into the backseat.
"So, where does this guy live?"
Flug told Black Hat the address and they were off and that was about it. No one was really talking besides Demetra who was off on a tangent about her brother Alex and how he was always sticking crap like old leftovers and dead bugs in her hair. Flug wouldn't have found this especially worrying, if not for the fact that as she went on and started getting into how he always did that whenever he was home, although he was hardly home due to his long hours at his construction job, he realized that this Alex, was an adult. He would've understood this behavior if Alex was like, primary or even middle school age but apparently he was nearly ten years older than Demetra herself! And he was doing crap like that? What a man-child he must be.
But that did kind of explain why that gargantuan ponytail was cut so choppy and unevenly. She must've had to periodically cut sticky things out of it. Flug had had to do that sometimes in high school when he'd get gum or half-chewed candy stuck in his hair. He was grateful that he'd only had to do that a handful of times, since that was more of a thing done to harass girls.
Ok now she was talking about reptiles. Apparently her family ran some kind of reptile pet shop thing? And she was moving into her sales pitch.
Flug was gonna lose his shit if she just hung around them hoping to score some customers for her family's business.
"No but seriously we got some really cool snakes and things!" She exclaimed. "You two should totally come check them out sometime! We got a couple that are actually pretty exotic, out of country type things ya know? They're super awesome and there's this new one we just got that makes me think of you everytime I see her!" She poked Black Hat in the arm playfully.
"How so?"
"She's all black and red!" She said with a smile. "Well, sometimes. The red seems to come and go depending on the lighting. It's kind of like if you look at her just right you see a bit of a red tint to her. And I guess she's more a light gray since she's still kind of a baby? She'll get darker when she grows up. But the red is pretty unusual for black mambas, so she's crazy expensive but you can still totally come and see her! And maybe see if there's a lil' snakey snake you like? You strike me as someone who would like snakes."
Flug spoke up at this. "Aren't...aren't black mambas extremely dangerous? Like, in the top ten deadliest snakes on the planet dangerous?"
"Yeah but that's just cuz they're really fast and bite more than once." Demetra happily confirmed. "Trust me man, a cobra or a taipan packs way more venom."
"Do you have any of those?" Black Hat asked.
"Ha ha I wish! But my dad was saying she might be crossed with something, on account of having that red tint I was talking about? Which usually mambas just don't have? Don't know what but she's a real beauty."
"So, you have a mixed-snake. That's at least part black mamba and part something else you don't even know."
"Uh huh!"
"And this is just at your house?"
"Yep! I mean, she's not in our house, she's in the back of the store since we needed a brand new cage for her, special needs and all, but she's close enough!"
"H-How?"
"How what, dork?"
Flug chose to ignore that. "How is there a snake that is half anything? Do snakes do that? Can snakes do that?"
"What, cross breed? Totally! I mean the venomous ones usually don't but they can so long as the aren't totally different species of snake. Like, a carpet python and a woma python can totally make babies, but a python and a cobra? It just ain't happening. Mainly cuz cobras will eat other snakes. It's why we gotta be real careful when putting some of these snakes together, cuz they might breed and make a bunch of little hybrid snakes. Some people...some people, they don't like hybrids."
Demetra laughed a bit, but it seemed kind of...forced.
"Well, is it really safe for them to do that?" Flug asked. "D-Do they have any h-health issues like when other animals interbreed?"
"No no, they're fine. They're even still fertile. Not like those lion and tiger hybrids where they're always sick and can't make their own babies. The snakes are fine."
"O-oh, well then why-"
"Cuz people are dumb, Flug-bug. Ok?" Demetra snapped. "It's misinformation and stupid aesthetics!"
Ok, he apparently hit a nerve there. The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Black Hat spoke up. "I want to see her."
"Huh?"
"This snake you were talking about, the red and black one. I want to see her."
"Oh sweet!" Demetra exclaimed. "When's good for you? You can come by pretty much whenever! We're open six days a week and on most major holidays! You too, Flug! We got snakes, lizards, iguanas, salamanders-" Yeah, this was her sales pitch alright. Flug really didn't have any interest in getting a pet reptile, but they could be cool to see. He'd never really been invited to anyone's house before, not counting today. Maybe it would be fun. Demetra herself seemed pretty knowledgeable about the cold-blooded creatures, which he hadn't expected. So maybe he'd end up actually enjoying himself.
She continued on about the various reptiles her family had until they reached their destination.
As expected, it was packed with cars, loud, populated, and in general was a place where Rocinante Flugslys felt completely out of place. Why was he here? What made him think he could just go to a party like he'd ever actually been to one before? Why had he come?
Why was Black Hat parking on the lawn like he did this all the time? It wasn't as if he was the only one but, still.
"What?" The man asked. "Did you see any other parking?"
Flug didn't so he just dropped it. The three of them exited the car, and aside from a few strange looks here and there no one paid them any attention.
Walking in, the noise only increased and if Flug hadn't spent the last couple nights mindlessly staring at a computer screen blaring out Japanese and soft lulling remedies of the mind, it'd probably be too loud for him to hear himself think. He'd improved his zoning out skills so much that it was little more than a mild inconvenience rather than a huge problem like he'd thought it would be.
Until Demetra said...something. He couldn't hear her over the music blaring from the sound system some guy had set up on the back patio. Flug could just make him out from the doorway to the backyard. She said something and pulled Black Hat away by the arm. He shot Flug a look of Hell if I know either but I'll catch you later, and allowed himself to be led off into the crowd.
Leaving Flug...alone.
Why the hell did he even bother to show up with two other people if they were just gonna bail on him?
Flug looked around, hoping to see anyone else he knew here. The rest of the club was invited too, right? So there should be a couple familiar faces somewhere, right? He just had to find them. And could then cling to one of them the entire night so he didn't spend all his time standing around doing nothing in the middle of a party like a complete loser with no friends.
Even if that was precisely what he felt like.
Wandering around, he saw no one recognizable in the living room. Just a bunch of loud obnoxious guys playing beer pong while a guy and girl made out on the couch next to some other dudes watching futbol on the flat screen TV. In the kitchen he found people taking body shots and mixing drinks. He had no clue what was in that but he took a cup. Not like he didn't have someone driving him home. God he hoped Black Hat remembered he had to drive them home.
Ok that was sour as fuck. What had he just drank? Flug shook his head violently, making the surrounding girls laugh. Laugh at him. He chuckled nervously and left. Well, that could've gone better. Damn his self-consciousness! He continued sipping, not wanting to get too drunk too fast.
Was this a dining room? It seemed like it may have been at a previous point in time; before getting swarmed with boxes of pizza, plates of nachos, a shit-ton of 2 liter soda bottles, and oh damn someone brought tamales? Flug was going to have to come back for those if he got hungry.
Bathroom, with two girls in it. One throwing up, one recording it. Flug silently closed the door again and continued his search for someone to cling to for the night.
Were those guys in the back doing karaoke or some shit? He could hear off key voices screaming loudly, even louder than all the splashing from people doing cannonballs into the pool. Flug wasn't going out there. He wasn't dressed for the pool. He wasn't getting himself wet. He wasn't getting out of these clothes. He wasn't going out to the back if it killed him.
He climbed the stairs to explore the second floor. There were a total of three stories to this house, and it seemed the party had spread to every one of them. Hey, when word got out that Aurelio Cruz was throwing a party anyone who was anyone showed up. Mostly because he had notoriously laid back parents who'd been just as crazy stupid popular in their youth and took luxurious weekend getaways at every opportunity. Leaving their son pretty much to do whatever he wanted. Party on Friday, clean up on Saturday, maybe into Sunday if it got really wild.
Not that Flug had any good reason to know any of that.
He opened the door to one of the first couple rooms down the hall to his right, expecting maybe another bathroom with another drunk girl throwing up and crying into the toilet. Instead he found a bedroom. A very dark bedroom where the only light seemed to be from someone's light up speaker, which was playing soft instrumental music. Around the speaker sat a group of people passing around a bong. He recognized a few people. Natalia, Tesoro, Hector, Miguel, Jose (three other guys from his Engineering Club), and even Manuel.
Flug was surprised to say the least. He hadn't pegged any of these people for stoners.
"F-Flug," Manuel said, coughing a bit from the hit he just took (that was the proper term for it, right?). "Uh, hey man. Wh-*cough cough* what's up?"
"N-not much." Flug said, closing the door. "How's it going?"
"Fine." Tesoro said. She looked...worried. Like Flug had caught her doing something she really really really wasn't supposed to be doing.
"Enjoying the party?"
"Sure, sure."
One of the guys who Flug didn't know spoke up. "You want a hit?"
"Ah, n-no thanks. I'm good." He stood awkwardly sizing the group up. God he felt weird just standing here holding his cup full of mystery liquid.
"Uh, Flug?" Natalia asked. She seemed much more sluggish than usual. By which Flug meant she was moving and talking at normal human speed. "Can you, like, not tell Lio we're smoking in here? He doesn't like when people smoke at his place."
"Yeah sure. You mind if I hang out though?" Flug said, plopping down in front of the door. "You're the first people I've seen here that I actually know."
"That's fine, man. Just don't tell." One of the guys said. "Rather not spend tomorrow picking up shit for Lio."
Well, that made sense. "I got it."
"So, what, did you come here alone?" Hector asked. "Thought you didn't have a car."
"N-No. I came with...some friends."
"So where are they?"
"Hell if I know." Flug mumbled.
"Oh wait, is it that guy? In the top hat?" Natalia asked.
"Is it that obvious I have no other friends?" Flug had a sad sort of smile on his face. "Well, he brought another person. I don't know if she counts."
"Oh c'mon man, we're friends." Tesoro said, mumbling through every word. "I mean we never hang out or talk outside of the club or anything but...where was I going with this?"
"What she means is, like, we're cool, aren't we?" Miguel said. "Like, we'd hang out, but it kinda seems like you don't really wanna hang out. But we'd totally hang out with you, like, if you wanted. Right?"
A few people nodded. A few Flug knew, one or two he didn't.
He could kind of see what they meant. None of them actually disliked him, but they could pick up on the fact that he didn't really have any interest in getting close to them or being one of the group. Back when he first joined, he'd been invited out a few times, he remembered. He went out to eat once or twice, keeping mostly to himself and getting involved in the conversation as little as possible. He had a vague memory that someone suggested they all go to the beach together, but eventually he just kept declining and it got to the point that they just stopped asking. It wasn't that he disliked them either, but he didn't really want to go out and be around so many of them so often. Most anything in groups was not his idea of a good time. So why he came to a crowded party just to sit in a dark room with a bunch of stoners was anyone's guess. What had he been expected? Did he think he'd spend time with Aurelio one-on-one or something? Whatever gave him that idea? He was in his house, with no idea where he was, or what on earth he would say or do if he did see him.
He downed the rest of whatever the hell was in his cup and tossed it somewhere off to his left. He spent a while like that, sitting in the dark and listening in on what everyone else was talking about. Nothing in particular as it turned out. He probably could've joined in the conversation at any time, could've included himself in the little circle. But he really didn't want to. As much as it pained him to be alone, he didn't want to be with them either. It wasn't that he had a problem with smoking, or any recreational drugs really, it was just them. Well, it was probably more him than them, but that was just so trite and overused. Such a cliché.
It wasn't these people specifically, it was just people in general. He wasn't ever going to let them be close enough to call them true friends; the kind that one goes through thick and thin with, staying in contact with for years to come, the kind that one can tell anything too with no worries about consequences or judgements. Flug just couldn't see how he'd ever be comfortable enough with any of the people here to get to that point. There wasn't anyone he thought he could, for that matter.
God, how was he ever going to fulfill his parent's fantasy of a perfectly normal son if he couldn't at least make a friend? C'mon, even workaholic perfectionists make friends! Not counting the person they sold their soul to and bum rides off of or the waitresses they make small talk with!
Flug must've been really lost in thought, because it took him a few minutes to realize someone had been trying to talk to him.
"What's this guys name again?"
"Flug."
"Is that short for something?"
"Yeah, Flugslys, my last name. What's up?" He asked, surprising the high people.
"You sure you don't wanna take a hit dude?" The same guy from before asked. "We usually don't spend more than two hours here and we're gonna pack up soon."
"I've literally never smoked before."
"Oh dang, virgin lungs? C'mere man, this that good shit."
Flug sighed. Fuck it, what else did he have to do? It wasn't as if sitting around getting more of a contact high before they split sounded any more appealing. He crawled over and was about to take the thing out of Manuel's hand when the sound of booming rapid footsteps drew everyone's attention. The door swung open and there was a silhouette in a long black coat with a large ponytail bobbing up and down as she panting heavily. Everyone froze for a second, the group of stoners and Flug and the woman in the doorframe catching her breath as they all took each other in. It took a second for Flug to recognize that mass of fluorescent green hair.
"De-"
"Demencia?" Asked one of guys to the back of the circle. One of the ones Flug didn't know.
Demetra visibly tensed up before slamming the door on its hinges and ran off down the hall. The door swung, it hadn't fully shut, and the woman's panicked footsteps and shoving were heard even in the loud hallway drowned in ambient party noise.
Flug got up and peeked his head out the door. He could see Demetra running from door to door. She was attracting a lot of attention from all the people standing around and talking in the hallway. Apparently whatever room she was looking for, she wasn't finding it. Maybe she really had to go to the bathroom? And was she wearing Black Hat's trench coat? Huh, come to think of it he wasn't sure he'd ever seen the man out of it.
He decided he would follow her. She seemed really worked up over something, and it wasn't as if Flug had anything better to do than find out what. Maybe they'd regroup with Black Hat and Flug could spend the rest of the party with the two people he actually came with.
Flug stepped out into the hall and was about to run after Demetra when he heard a familiar voice call out from the opposite end of the hall.
"Rocinante?"
Flug turned. There was Aurelio, strolling towards him looking like he was trying not to lose his cool. Unusual, typically he kept his cool no matter the issue.
"Oh, um, Aurelio, cool party. Hi." Oh God Flug couldn't even talk anymore.
"Rocinante, what were you doing in there?"
"J-Just exploring. Sorry?"
Aurelio went over to shut the door, but he noticed the circle of stoners in there. They weren't kidding when they said Aurelio didn't like people smoking.
"What the fuck assholes!?" He screamed, cool lost. "You do this every time! Get the fuck out of my sisters room!"
Oh so that was Helena's room? Explains why it was so vacant and they thought they could hide safely in there. Neither Aurelio or his parents ever went in there. Not that Flug knew anything about them or their daughter, who was roughly four years older than Aurelio and shared his dark skin and hair but had hazel eyes like their father.
Said smokers all ran out of the room as fast as their uncoordinated legs could carry them. Leaving Flug and Aurelio standing awkwardly around the door to his meth-head sister's bedroom. Someone else might've booked it down the hall as well, it was starting to get crowded up here and Flug couldn't see all the figures he was hearing.
"I didn't know you smoked, Rocinante." Aurelio said, with clear contempt in his voice. At least the music and chatter was a little less intense on the second floor. So he could make out what Aurelio was actually saying.
"I-I don't." Flug said. "I actually ne-never have. I was j-j-just looking for some people I ac-actually know, heh."
Aurelio hummed, not fully buying it apparently.
"People from the Engineering Club, huh? I thought such smart people would know better than to partake in such a disgusting habit."
Well damn, forcing people to clean your house for you after your parties is a pretty nasty habit too but I'm not bringing that up. Also your range is only five meters so I can't imagine it's all that efficient either.
"I hate it when Natalia pulls this shit. Especially in my sisters bedroom."
"Oh I-I didn't even know you had a sis-sister." Flug expertly lied. It was incredibly easy to lie when one's normal state is already a ball of nervous tics and stutters. It was nothing out of the ordinary to hear Flug stutter or ramble on occasion.
"Yes, Helena." Aurelio mused. "She's off studying abroad in Spain."
"C-cool." Flug said, not bothering to mention how false that was.
Not that he knew anything about that. It wasn't as if Flug had any knowledge about Aurelio's sister Helena. It wasn't like he knew she was currently in rehab for meth and had been there for a few years now and Aurelio in particular didn't like word of it going around or being reminded that his sister was not, in fact, off studying abroad in Spain. Or that he hated pretty much all forms of smoking and drug use because it's a constant reminder of how his sister had wasted away from the addiction polluting her mind and making her hair fall out and her eyes sink in and how weak she had been last time anyone saw her.
Yet alcohol was fine with him. Priorities, am I right?
It wasn't as if Flug knew any of that. How would he have ever found that out? It wasn't as if Flug had spent his high school nights locked in solitude finding out virtually everything possible about him or his family. No sir. That most assuredly was not what he did when he wasn't looking at porn or working on an invention. Nope. No one could prove anything.
"By the way, Rocinante, did you happen to see a woman run through here? Red and green hair, in a black coat?"
"Oh De-Demetra? Yeah, I just saw her. That way." Flug pointed down the hall.
"Ah, gracias hermano." And Aurelio took off, the crowd parting for him like he was Moses come to split the sea of red drunken faces.
Flug followed behind, not really having anything else to do now that Stoner-henge was gone.
He ducked into room after room, trying to catch up to Aurelio, who was trying to catch up to Demetra, and only after the first few rooms did Flug realize he didn't really know why Aurelio was even looking for Demetra. Sure, she seemed to be in a hurry for some reason, but how did he know about it? What did he know about it? Was she in some kind of trouble? Where was Black Hat? Why had they left him? Where had they gone and why hadn't Flug just trailed after them like the lost puppy he was because the only other thing he had to do was wander aimlessly until he found a familiar face and even then all he did was sit outside the circle not talking to anyone because he didn't have anything to say even if he wanted to talk.
Man, he couldn't find Aurelio anywhere. Just how far ahead had he gotten in his search for Demetra? He was so out of practice it was almost pitiful.
Another room, with about three adjacent rooms connected to it. How many rooms were there in this place, it was starting to feel like a funhouse. But it was quieter in here, and Flug could hear two voices speaking to each other. They weren't whispering, but it wasn't quite normal volume either. A man and a woman. They were in one of the adjoining rooms, so Flug could listen in without being discovered until one or both of them stepped out to leave.
"What do you even see in him?" The man's voice asked. Aurelio. "He's a complete freak."
They probably weren't talking about him, but Flug's incessant paranoia made him think they might've been talking about him.
"Oh and how's that? He's always chivalrous, he listens to me, he knows how to dress, and i don't give a damn what you say he is at least a nine and a half." A woman's voice. Demetra.
Ok, they really probably weren't talking about him. No one would ever rate him above a high 6. At least, he didn't think so.
"You have got to be kidding." Aurelio said with an exasperated sigh. "Is your eye fucked up so bad that can't actually see what he looks like? He has the complexion of a burned out house, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually have a nose."
Black Hat?
"I don't think he does either, but damn if anyone can pull off not having a nose it's him. And then maybe Michael Jackson."
"Have you ever asked him about it? You've been out with him haven't you?"
"Oh my god dude you can't just ask people why they don't have a nose." Flug swore he could hear her roll her eyes. "That's really fucking rude you know."
There was another sigh and Flug swore he could sense that Aurelio was rubbing his eyes in his frustration. Although what he was so frustrated about Flug couldn't say. What were they talking about?
"Just, just explain why." Aurelio said. "He looks like a complete creep. He's a fucking weirdo. He's definitely not normal, I don't know why no one's just come out and confronted him about it. His skin is fucking gray and he has sharp teeth and yet he does...nothing. He just walks around and talks to people like it's totally normal." Was Aurelio saying this to Demetra or was he just thinking out loud?
"And it might as well be! No one seems to pay him any special attention. He's a dark creepy freak just walking around like it's no big deal and everyone just lets him. He's always completely covered, he's obviously hiding something, so what is it? What do you know about him? What could he possibly have that makes you and Flug overlook how abnormal everything about him is?"
"Overlook? Ha!" Demetra laughed loudly, making Flug flinch from the sudden noise. "He's high class, not like you Señor Can't-Keep-Your-Hands-To-Yourself! I like him cuz he ain't a single thing like anyone else. And he doesn't give a damn about what you or anyone else thinks of him for it either!"
She was right, Black Hat wasn't anything like anyone else Flug had ever met. Not physically, and not anything else about his personality was quite like anything he'd ever seen before either. Blunt, but not tactless. Oddly dressed, but nowhere near unfashionable. Flug agreed with her as well about Black Hat not caring what anyone thought about him. He couldn't imagine a guy who dressed to the nines as part of his daily attire caring at all about the opinions and views of other people. Even more so because of how different he looked from everyone else. If he cared about how strange he looked to others, he wouldn't be able to walk so confidently, with his head held high and not a care as to the disapproving stares at his back. Flug admired that about the man, he was completely sure of who he was and what he was going to do. He never seemed to doubt himself, or even Flug for that matter. He knew who he was and he wasn't ashamed to be himself. He was someone who didn't care at all about what anyone else thought about him. Flug wished that he could be more like that. He wished that he could be so...free.
Even things like being a supervillain or living in a giant hat, while he admitted they were bizarre and downright crazy notions, he didn't try to justify them exactly. He didn't list the reasons why he was going to do these things or even try convince Flug that he was right to do so. He simply stated that it was what he wanted to do, and that therefore he would do it. He wasn't looking for anyones approval, probably not even their acceptance of his goals. Flug doubted if he cared about even a single other person thinking that he was justified in his quest to dominate the world. So long as it remained his objective, he would do all that he could to accomplish it. He wanted to watch his man grow his ambition, he wanted to help it to thrive if he could.
"So if you don't mind," Demetra spoke again. "He's probably looking for this. So you can stop now." Flug could only assume she was talking about the coat. So she was wearing Black Hat's coat. "Hey, I said to stop."
"Oh but why? It's a party, you should be having fun. What are you afraid of?"
"Aurelio, I said to stop. Let me go now." Oh God this wasn't sounding good. Flug couldn't see what Aurelio was doing but Demetra sounded very angry and he couldn't imagine what Aurelio was doing. Oh Jesus he didn't want to hear this! But it wasn't as if he could just leave.
"Oh, what's the matter? Are you afraid your scary boyfriend will find you?" Aurelio asked. "Are you afraid of what he might see?"
"The only thing I'm afraid of is that I fuck up my nails because you can't handle losing the Best Dressed category in the yearbook." Her voice was beginning to tremble slightly, but Flug couldn't tell if that was from rage or underlying fear. "Now let go before I make you." Oh shit no one ever talked to Aurelio liked that! Not twice anyway…
"No, I don't believe I will." Aurelio said. "I hope he does find you. I hope he finds you right here. With me."
Ok Flug couldn't handle doing nothing and just listening to this! He had to do something before this became something really really really serious and he had no clue what someone weak like him could do so he just did the same thing he'd done weeks ago when Aurelio was making a woman uncomfortable before.
He strolled in on the situation and took in the sight of the two of them with their arms wrapped around each other, their mouths mere inches apart and their bodies pressed flush together. Even if Demetra's eyes were wide and her limbs shook from the force of her trying to reject the way Aurelio puppeteered her body.
Flug didn't even have to fake his gasp of surprise, or the little jump he did. He didn't know what he had been expecting, he knew things were getting bad between them and that Aurelio was probably forcing her to stay still or something, but actually seeing it was just…
"Oh! Uh, I-I-I didn't m-m-mean to, um, that i-is, i, um..." He fumbled his words in the usual way, maybe overdoing it to really play up his shock at "walking in" on the two of them. "Am I interrupting s-something?"
"No, no Flug not at all!" Demetra said, yanking free and booking it out the door. "I was just leaving!" She called back. The coat was falling off her shoulders a bit and she had to hike it up. Hopefully she'd find Black Hat soon. She probably shouldn't be alone right now.
That left Aurelio standing stiffly in place and Flug awkwardly staring at him. He didn't know what he should do now, if he should follow her lead and get as far out of range as he could, or stay and maybe see if talking to the man could prove useful. But how, when he didn't know what at all a normal person says in response to what he just overheard and witnessed?
"So, um," Flug said, still having no clue what it was he was going to say. "We found her." He offered a nervous smile. Ok no, that was awful. Try again, and say something that actually had a point to it this time! "Guess I'll j-j-just…" He pointed away and began gracelessly fidgeting back the way he came and the way Demetra just fled. Because clearly that was the only feasible option now. To leave.
"Rocinante, wait." Aurelio called out. Flug stopped, if only out of some twisted curiosity of what the man would have to say for himself.
"Please give me a chance to explain." Aurelio walked them both out into the open hallway, which made Flug feel a bit safer. If anything happened he'd have some witnesses. They made their way down the stairs, where it was louder and Aurelio had to lean in to be heard.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that. What happened back there was...a complicated situation."
I'm really not sure it was all that complicated. Just unflattering. For you.
"S-so, um, you t-t-two know e-each other?" Flug asked, raising his voice a bit. Which didn't help his stutter any.
"Just met her about two weeks ago when she and that, uh, Black Hat came by the lab to pick you up. Which reminds me," Aurelio led them into the kitchen, where it was considerably quieter compared to the rest of the place. It had cleared out a bit, for whatever reason. That chick on the counter everyone had been doing body shots off of was gone. Maybe she was the main draw.
"I don't mean to pry into your, well, personal business, but I was just wondering." Aurelio got himself and Flug drinks. "What exactly is the deal with you two?"
"M-me and Bl-Black Hat, you mean?" Flug asked nervously, taking the cup from Aurelio's hands. Oh God he could even be a hand model- Stop it stop it stop it get a hold of yourself Flug!
"Yes. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but notice you spend a lot of your time more or less by yourself. Even in your club, surrounded by colleagues, it seems like you prefer to work alone rather than collaborate or just mingle with everyone else."
"Heh, y-yeah I guess. I-I didn't even r-really want to join in the f-f-f-first place. One of my teachers back in high school re-really pushed me to ch-che-check it out and then I guess I k-kind of got roped in and just never left. I was practically in b-before I even en-enrolled." Flug took a swig from his cup. This tasted different from whatever he'd gotten before.
"Do you not enjoy being in the Engineering Club?" Aurelio asked. "You're very good at what you do, and everyone acknowledges your skill."
"Th-thanks." Flug said staring into his cup. "And I d-d-do enjoy building things. I guess I've ju-just never really been interested in hanging out with everyone else."
"Except Black Hat?"
"H-huh?" Flug asked, looking up with wide eyes.
"Like I said, I don't mean to pry, but, well, this guy who no one really knows very well seems to be the only one you actually do talk to. You said you texted him to go get you and take you home at nearly midnight, and no one else in the club besides Manuel so much as has your number or has been to your place." Aurelio sipped from his own cup before he continued. "They would've taken you home, you know. If you had asked. A few of us carpooled together later that night, it wasn't difficult."
"U-U-Uh, um, w-well, y-y-you s-see, th-the thing i-i-is, erm," Flug tried to steady his shaking hands. He really didn't know how to respond to any of that. Of course they would've taken him home, they were nice people. The reason he hadn't asked was because he was caught off guard by Aurelio's presence and hadn't been thinking straight and Black Hat had seemed like a perfect way to escape at the time. Looking back, it would've been just as easy if not easier to make up something about being tired and ask if anyone else was ready to clock out and just not involve Black Hat at all. Maybe it was because they had been talking about him that the man had popped up in Flug's mind?
If he had done that, he probably would've continued ignoring Black Hat's texts for at at least another day or so, he wouldn't have gone with him hours away to see the site of their future evil lair, he probably wouldn't have signed away his soul, and hey, maybe none of them would even be at this party right now. He'd be his normal, able-to-sleep self who was not currently sporting a collar full of fading scabs.
So why was it he had ran towards a man no one, including himself, really knew anything about in favor of those he did? If only just because he had been around them longer. Why had he chosen to go with Black Hat and set himself on this course?
"Just to make sure I haven't misread things, did Black Hat give you those bite marks on your neck?" Aurelio asked. Flug jumped at the mention of them.
"Ah! W-Well, um, you see, uh, a-a-ab-ab-about th-that, well, we-we were both drunk, an-and I ha ha, I, uh, I-I-I, uh, I…" He trailed off, not sure what excuse he was trying to make or even why he wanted to make any excuses. He was an adult, he could make his own decisions. And what he did wasn't anyone's, including Aurelio's, business but his own. Why was he trying to overcomplicate the situation when the answer was so exceedingly simple? He took another swig of his drink to settle his nerves.
"Yes. Yes he did."
"So, does that mean that you are...ehhh...you know." Aurelio skirted around actually saying it as much as possible. "That you...?"
"Am I gay you mean?" Flug asked, quickly chugging the remaining liquid in his cup in a fit of panic, throwing it off to the side because this question required all of his nerve to answer. Some of whatever he just drank dribbled out of the corner of his mouth and he wiped it away with all the fluidity of a dancer. "Yes, I'm gay. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Oh no no not at all!" Aurelio insisted. "I just didn't want to assume anything. Really, Rocinante, I have no issue."
"Good to know." Flug mumbled. He felt a little bit like a weight had just been lifted from him. He didn't think he had said that out loud since he and Julio had gotten together. Black Hat had already kind of known, so he hadn't needed to come out to him exactly, Demetra had just assumed he was gay and he never told her he wasn't, Flug didn't think he'd ever really told anyone else.
So he just came out to Aurelio Cruz. That was unexpected.
"Another?"
"Sure, why not?" Flug took the drink that was offered and took a large gulp. He came to party, damn it. Why the fuck not?
"So, you and Black Hat then," Aurelio started. "You two-"
"Let me stop you there, Lio." Flug said, holding up his hand and continuing to drink. "We went out, we had some fun. That's pretty much it. If you ask me about him and Demetra, I know even less."
"So...that's it? Just fun?"
"Yeah pretty much. I know I enjoyed it. Least I'm pretty sure I did. Night's kind of a blur. I woke up shirtless in the middle of nowhere with my fly down and all these." Flug motioned to his neck. "Pretty sure we had a very good time." Flug said with a lopsided smile. Maybe he should quit while he was ahead. He just barely caught Aurelio mumble "good to know" to himself. Good to know indeed that you find the fact that I like men and am not in any serious relationship good to know. Good to know. He he he he he!
Yeah that was pretty good to know! It's pretty good to know you're so invested in what other people think of Black Hat! And good to know you've apparently been watching me a bit, enough to see me with him and get so concerned! Not as much as I've watched you though! I watched you for a loooong time! But I did it the smart way! I bet you never even saw me before this past year, huh? He he he he hehe he he!
"What's so funny?" Aurelio asked.
Oh damn, had Flug been laughing out loud about all that? At least he didn't say any of it. Hopefully he didn't.
"Pfft, I don't know." He said. "It's cute how concerned you are about my relationship status. Oh, don't give me that look, you know damn well how goddamn hot you are."
Oh shit maybe he should stop now. Maybe he shouldn't be taking that next swig out of his cup. Maybe he should excuse himself and go throw up in the bathroom. Maybe he should eat a little more. Maybe he should stop giggling like some school girl (boy). So many maybes man. And all of them things he probably wasn't going to do.
And all thought went out the window as the music turned up and he could hear a woman's voice rise up and sing.
It was a Friday night and I wanted to go out to
A brand new club in town, a Discotheque I'd heard about through
A friend of mine who told me the place was a circus act for sure~
Well, apparently Demetra was over whatever happened upstairs. She brought the karaoke party from the back porch to the living room. Did she actually have a microphone with her? She seemed her usual cheery and bright self. And was a much better singer than Flug would've imagined. This song choice was a little odd, though. It had gotten on some concerned parents list because of the lyrics and how it "promoted crime and unethical lifestyle choices". It's just a song, guys. Calm down. No one was actually going clubbing with Charles Manson and Chris Brown. Mainly because if Flug wasn't mistaken at least one of those guys was dead. And even if they weren't they didn't seem like they'd be buddies.
I can't keep partyin' 'round, keep partyin' 'round,
Keep partyin' partyin' partyin',
Fuck it, it was a party. Break out ALL the music their parents didn't want them listening to!
Flug just kind of watched her for a bit, forgetting for a second about Aurelio behind him. She really had a lot of passion and energy. She wouldn't be bad as a legit performer. The crowd seemed to think so too, as they were getting pumped up with each passing verse and singing along as well as their drunk and high asses could. Flug took another swig, nearly emptying the cup this time. He had no idea what he was drinking but damn was he getting into it! He was about ready to start singing along too if he could remember the next verse!
Aurelio turned him around, and it took a second for Flug's eyes to focus on him. "Hey, hey!" He snapped in front of his face a few times. "How you feeling Rocinante? You feeling good?" He asked with a grin.
"I'm feeling good!" He declared.
"You having fun?"
"I'm having fun!" Flug threw both of his hands in the air to further emphasize how much fun he was having. Which spilled the remainder or his drink on himself. Not that he really minded anymore.
"You drunk?" Aurelio asked with a laugh.
"I'm drunk!" Flug proudly stated. "And you're...sexy."
Aurelio laughed some more. Hey, maybe he was gay too? He liked to claim online that he was bi or pan, but considering how many lesbians he harassed Flug doubted it. He just thought everyone should want to fuck him and if you didn't want to fuck him well fuck you! Which Flug might take him up on. Hey, maybe he was just drunk. Flug could work with that.
Aurelio handed him another drink, which Flug eagerly took and instantly spilled half of on himself. Ha ha, he was such a fucking mess. But hey, if he wasn't getting shitfaced tonight, why the fuck had he come?
Ooooh...ooh oh oh wow actually he was starting to feel a little...lightheaded. Well, he had already been lightheaded but now he was feeling...drowsy. Huh, the world was spinning. Wait, it was always spinning. That was how the world worked. Did the spinning change? The room felt different and Flug reached out to steady himself on something, the closest thing in front of him just happened to be Aurelio so that was what he latched onto. Ooh his chest was firm. Felt nice. He on the other hand wasn't feeling so hot.
He could feel his eyelids flutter shut and the world started to come and go in flashes of black and white and loud noises and sometimes the world was just gone but he was still conscious that it wasn't there or maybe he wasn't and it was. He had no idea what any of that last sentence meant but it made sense as it was happening. He couldn't think straight and didn't know what was happening.
Ok he got a flash of black, and he knew words were being said but he couldn't really make them out. A face. Black Hat's face. Oh, that was Flug's hand. Ok they were moving. Something had a hold of him and he felt his body moving but he didn't really know what he was doing and he couldn't see. Then everything was black and quiet for a while until his eyes opened for a little bit and he felt like he was still moving but his body wasn't. Huh. There were more voices, and he knew those voices and he knew who they were! He tried to say something, to ask what was going on or what was happening to him or the world but he didn't think any words really got out. Someone was holding him, might've been poking him in the face. Things faded out again.
When things came back into the little bit of focus they could Flug thought that maybe his legs stopped working. He was trying to move them but whatever was in front of him wasn't getting any closer. His arms felt sore, but still numb. Like they were supposed to be sore but sore wasn't really something he felt for really reals anymore so his body was just telling him that if he could feel it, it'd be sore. He heard a loud ding that made him jump a bit, then things were gone again.
He couldn't see, it was hard to open his eyes. But he could hear and by now he was starting to realize what was happening, at least a little. He wondered where he was, who was talking (he knew who it was but couldn't put a name or face to the voice), and what was happening right now. His head was swimming and thoughts were hard to keep straight. Well, he'd never been straight to begin with, ha. He thought he might be laying down, but couldn't really say for sure. It was a bit scary that he had no idea where he was who was with him what either of them were doing and even concrete things like words were getting difficult to think of. He just had...feelings.
He struggled to open his eyes, to look at who was talking to him. He didn't manage to open them all the way, but he managed a quick glimpse of something black. He shot out with all his collective energy and managed to lightly paw at whatever it was. At least, he was pretty sure he did. He could've sworn he felt something on the tips of his fingers. He managed to mumble out one slurred word.
"Quedarse."
He felt something on his forehead that gave him some comfort and he heard soft words, clear and cutting through all the hazy fog clouding his being. He forgot them as soon as they were said but he knew he had to do what they told him. Whatever that had been. His eyelids grew heavier and he could feel himself going limp and fading away again but he felt calmer about it this time. It was something familiar, something he knew how to do it was just he hadn't done in a while and it took a second for his body to remember how. But it was okay, it was going to be okay because this is what that voice told him to do and he had to do it and it was ok.
Flug fell into a dreamless sleep and thought no more.
Translations:
gracias hermano = thanks brother (Spanish)
Quedarse = stay (Spanish)
Notes:
Next chapter will have a link to the song Demetra is singing. I don't really have much else to say. How'd you all like the chapter?