Who: Lennon and Tobias Where: the kitchen When : toward the tail end of the party
Lennon was trying to resist the temptation of a third drink and had also been getting overheated in the billiard room. He couldn’t decide if feeling too hot went along with the possible fuckery they’d been subjected to or not, but he didn’t guess it mattered. He’d just wandered into the kitchen and taken off his jacket, since he had on a vest and shirt beneath it, and draped it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs before going to one of the freezers to grab a couple cubes of ice. The floor felt good beneath his feet; he was wearing black socks and no shoes since he didn’t really have anything that would go with this suit. Inside parties were good for something after all.
He chewed at one of the ice cubes, idly listening to the muted chatter from the other room, and then used the other to cool the back of his neck. Maybe he could be careful and not get blotches of water all over his collar. That remained to be seen, though.
Tobias had seen Lennon duck out of the room into the kitchen moments before, and once he could, he pulled away from the conversation he’d been having to follow. He felt the need to get some air, and it was getting a little stuffy in the billiards room. “I’m not the only one starting to get uncomfortable in there?” Tobias asked, nodding toward the ice cube Lennon had against his neck. He wandered over to lean against the island, stretching against it for a moment. “Didn’t realize how hot it could get in there with all those people.”
“Definitely not,” Lennon said after he’d crunched up the ice that was in his mouth. “It’s actually been more fun than I thought, but I was melting in this stuff.” He nodded down to his outfit. As much as he was into the jacket, he felt better with it off right now. He could feel water dripping down into his collar, but he really didn’t care. It felt amazing. “I think I ate enough for three people,” he added. “How ‘bout you, you having a decent time?” The food was disappearing and he thought at least a few people had already left. The party would be winding down soon.
“Man, I’ve been eating all day,” Tobias said with a small groan. “I turned into a human garbage disposal. I kind of feel like I’ll regret it tomorrow. But yeah, I had fun. It was kind of a nice distraction. Nothing too weird. People seemed to stick to like, the people they knew, though. Which isn’t surprising or anything. Plus, everyone looked pretty hot.” Tobias laughed a little, his face warm. “Not a bad way to end the night, I guess.”
“We may need to go to town tomorrow just to get rid of all the extra calories,” Lennon said ruefully. He didn’t mind the thought of getting away from here, although he supposed things could happen in town, too. They controlled it all, right? His ice had melted, and he pulled his hand out of his collar, shaking it and watching the drops fly. “I guess it’s like anywhere,” he said. “You stick to your peeps. I did wanna talk to a couple people but I didn’t catch ‘em.” Deciding his hand was dry enough, he opened the refrigerator to see if there was anything to drink that appealed to him. “Oh, yeah, I agree. Everyone looked great.” He saw a bottle of grape juice and took it out; maybe he’d be less tempted by the alcohol in the billiard room.
"Yeah, I guess. But this place doesn't feel like anywhere else anymore," Tobias said, watching Lennon pull open the fridge. Since they were alone, Tobias didn't feel weird asking Lennon, "Hey, do you feel any better?" It seemed like Lennon was in a better mood than he had been when they spoke on the network, but that didn't always mean anything. Some people smiled even when they felt like crap. "Like, for real."
“Well, yeah,” Lennon said when Tobias remarked that the house didn’t feel like anywhere else. “Where else can you get drugged and moved to other places to do weird tests?” He carefully opened the grape juice over the sink and got a glass to pour some into. Once that was done, he moved over to stand next to Tobias. He took a few seconds to think about the question he was being asked, because he didn’t want to blurt out an automatic answer when it seemed like Tobias actually cared about if he was okay or not. “Yeah. For right now, at least. I mean, I feel like normal.” He took a drink from the glass and then lowered it. “I just wish I knew if that was it for today or if I can expect somethin’ else later.”
Tobias wished he knew why he was there. He knew they all did, but it was so frustrating, and scary, not to know the purpose behind these experiments. He kept thinking that the world as they knew it had ended, or was about to, and the Powers that Be had taken them to repopulate the earth or something weird. Determined not to let that line of thinking take him down, Tobias kept his eyes on Lennon. "Guess it's pointless to try and predict stuff anymore," Tobias said. "But I'm really glad you're feeling normal again. I'm sorry it screwed up your day."
“Yep,” Lennon said with a nod. “No point predicting things, no point making plans. Just fly by the seat of your pants is how they roll around here.” He was a fairly spontaneous person, but it could work the nerves to never know if something terrible was going to happen from one day to the next. He’d also wondered about how bad it could get, although he tried to cut that line of thought out of his brain once it got started. “Thanks,” he said with a slight shrug. “Guess I’m not the only one, though.” He paused for another drink. “Are you like, adjusting? I forget sometimes that you weren’t here from the start.”
Tobias had learned pretty early on that he couldn’t live here the way he had back home, for obvious reasons. It was still an adjustment, and something he was having a hard time getting used to. “I’m doing okay,” he answered. “Having you guys around helps. I miss home, though.” Obviously. Tobias was sure everybody did. He frowned and then rubbed the nape of his neck. “I actually feel kind of guilty when I have fun here. Like, it’s totally out of place and why am I here making friends and stuff when my parents are probably freaking out back home, you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Lennon said sympathetically. “I know mine are freaking out too, and especially my little sister. We’re real tight, and I wish there was some way I could let her know I’m okay.” That probably bothered him most of all, because his sister’d had a rough life before being adopted by his family, and he knew what that was like. It seemed like overkill to pile one more thing on her. “But I think we gotta do whatever we can to get through it, and if making friends here helps, we should do that. I don’t think I could make it without you guys.” He was used to having a lot of friends, and it would seem strange not to do so here, even though the circumstances were insane.
Tobias smiled and then felt his skin flush, though he couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it was because Lennon looked really nice in his fancy clothes. And it had been awhile since Tobias had… well, done anything sexual. This place didn’t really make him hot for anything. Although Madison was definitely good for that. Okay, yeah, Tobias knew he needed to stop before he started getting turned on in the freaking kitchen with one of his friends. Tobias licked his lips and slipped his hands into his pockets. “Do you want to maybe go play video games for awhile? I don’t really want to go to bed yet.”
Lennon always noticed Tobias whenever he was in a room. He’d thought about asking that fateful question: so, you into guys too or just girls? but he hadn’t nerved himself up to do it. It never seemed like the right time with all the bullshit they had to deal with on a daily basis. He smiled back, his eyes on Tobias’s lips for a few seconds when he licked them, then slammed down the rest of his grape juice. “Yeah, let’s do that. I think I’m about partied out.” It had been fun and all, but he thought he’d enjoy ending the evening that way. Just hanging, although he wasn’t great at video games. That part didn’t matter so much.
"Should we invite Kiley and Chase?" Tobias asked, glancing back toward the billiards room briefly. He liked them both, but was kind of on board with just hanging with Lennon alone for awhile. Maybe that was weird. But the game room would be quiet - his kind of quiet - and he could change into his jeans and t-shirt and be comfortable again. He had had fun, but now he was ready to withdrawal into his own world again. Hopefully people didn't get pissy with him.
“Let’s just do us,” Lennon said. “They might not wanna leave the party yet.” He didn’t want to go ask and have the two of them agree reluctantly because they didn’t want to say no, or they wanted to spend some time together there. He had a feeling about Kiley and Chase based on how he’d noticed Chase touching her while they’d been sitting at the bar eating, but he didn’t want to say anything in case he was wrong. He snagged his jacket from the back of the chair where he’d left it, then amiably hooked an arm through Tobias’s. “C’mon, we can go upstairs, change and you can beat my ass at some game ‘cause I suck.”
"You don't suck," Tobias protested. "You're not great, but you don't suck." He hoped Chase and Kiley wouldn't be put off that they hadn't been invited, but he didn't think Kiley was much into video games anyway. Either way, it didn't matter. They could track down Tobias and Lennon if they wanted to. He was just ready to get some comfortable clothes on, relax and have a bit of fun that was more his speed. After all, who knew what would happen tomorrow.