Re: The Disaffected/The Entertainer
"Suppose so," Nicky allowed. Raised his glass to his mouth, like a reminder, another, muted note as it made contact with the piercings in his lips. Were his affectations - the piercings and the jewelry, the halfhearted makeup and the manner of dress - all signs of holding on to his childhood? Or just declarations of his individuality? Would've been hard-pressed to answer, though he'd suspect the former. His general nature would always set him apart from the rest. Truth was you could just enjoy dressing a certain way. He sipped. He swallowed. Wasn't drinking to get drunk, wouldn't risk that loss of control.
"You don't bullshit. That's good," Nicky said, raising his glass a fraction in salute or in toast. He didn't either. Dissemble at times, maybe. That was only natural. "This is where I tell you that I fucked something up, something good, and I'm not sure where it went wrong." Another sip and the drink in his glass was already half-gone. "There was a boy." Slight hesitation. Coming to terms with his sexuality had been a hard process: A private thing he'd been forced to admit in front of someone he didn't trust at the time. Owning up to loving someone he convinced himself he hated. Then realizing he really didn't love them at all. Then the boy, who'd called him "Sunshine." Soft, warm lips, and holding hands by the campfire. Strong, healer's hands. "Went wrong, somewhere. Four years, and then it wasn't right anymore. Pretty sure it was my fault but I'm not sure how it went bad. That sort of thing." Was definitely the sort of thing you talked about at bars, that went better with a drink than bar pretzels. He wasn't here to cry into his drink. But the knot in his chest was slowly forming, and talking eased it.
He considered that. "Makes more sense if they were all together. Less if they weren't. I don't know anything about who is missing, so I'm really reaching here." It almost felt like a game. Which wildly implausible thing could he come up with? Plenty of things were not what they seemed, could hold a human shape and show their real faces when needed. If he didn't want to be obvious about that knowledge, well. "Time travelers. They jumped forward into the future and they'll pop back into the present when we catch up with them."