i just wanted to give the part 2 since it's short anyway
ELEVEN
Moonshine (2/2)
Marco found the game he was looking for, and he was very, very serious about it.
Elias had never played it before, but apparently all of them played it each time they were all over to spend time together. They called it "family bonding." Elias wondered if they were including him in that now.
"Oh, you shithead," Marco slurred, pointing an accusing finger at Felix, who had rolled a six. He ignored his drunk husband and continued on. "Hey, motherfucker, if you land on that one you gotta â you gotta say yes." He tapped his finger against the marriage box. "If you don't that means you're homophobic."
Felix snorted, pushing at his shoulder. "Shut up, you're so dramatic."
"I'm not," Marco insisted, dropping his head on Felix's shoulder. "Roll for me."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
He rolled a one. Marco started cussing.
Elias chuckled, leaning his back against the front of the sofa. They were all on the floor, surrounding the board, and Elias was pretty sure he and Felix were the only sober ones. It was amusing watching them, but he had a feeling he was going to have a big responsibility once the alcohol caught up to them.
He observed their turns and eventually scooted away to stretch out his legs. Sitting with his legs crossed made his feet fall asleep and his knees ache. Sometimes it felt like he had the body of an eighty year old man.
"Your turn."
Elias looked over at Roman, who held out a dice in his palm. He took it and rolled, watching as it flipped over to reveal three black dots. He hummed to himself and moved his piece three squares, ending up on the marriage spot Marco had been talking about.
He casted a look to Felix. "Am I supposed to do something here?"
"If you choose yes or no, you just go down the corresponding pathway," Felix explained. "That's what the game says. But, unfortunately, Marco made up his own rules."
"Yeah!" Marco shouted, grinning. "My rules... they say you hafta marry someone."
"Not literally," Felix added.
"And it has to be someone in the room."
"It doesn't," Felix corrected. "You can choose, like, a fictional charac â "
Marco shoved his hand over Felix's mouth. "They're my rules," he said firmly. "You gotta follow my rules. Felix is dumb and doesn't know shit."
Elias raised a single eyebrow. He glanced at Roman, who was already looking at him. "I'm afraid I don't have a ring," he joked. "But pretend I'm proposing."
His face turned red, and Elias had to hold back from laughing and embarrassing him further. He instead gave him an encouraging smile, holding out his hand. "Are you gonna reject me? It's okay, I'm pretty sure you're legally allowed to marry yourself. I'll do that."
The Anthonys started cackling, and Marco followed not too long after. The laughter was making Roman even more flustered as he shot glares their way, grumbling something into the rim of his cup. He had switched to water about fifteen minutes ago.
"Why are you even choosing the 'yes' option?" Roman mumbled, awkwardly placing his warm palm on top of Elias'. He looked kind of cute when he was blushing. He was able to see why that girl wanted to ask him out.
Elias shrugged, lifting Roman's hand to mouth, brushing his lips across his knuckles very briefly, then let go. He forgot the part where he was trying not to touch him. He also forgot that sometimes, not everyone could tell he wasn't being serious.
"Sorry," Elias said, ignoring the hollering coming from the three drunkards across the board. "I know you're not comfortable with the touching. And I don't know. It's just a nice idea, I think."
"Oh... But I'm fi â "
"Aw, fuck!" Marco shouted, shaking his hands, droplets of beer flying off. He had knocked over a bottle, and it spilled not only on the board, but also all over his pants. "Shit. Shit, it's cold as fuck."
Felix pinched the bridge of his nose, then got up, grabbing Marco's arms. "Come on, you giant toddler. Get up."
"Why do you kiss a toddler?"
"Marco. That's not â it's â " Felix exhaled in frustration. "I hate you. Get up."
"I'm sorry," Marco sang, clinging onto Felix as he guided him out of the room. "Feli. You're so pretty. I rhymed, did you like that?"
"No. Now go take off your pants."
"I thought you didn't take advantage of drunk pe â "
There was a smack, then a yelp, and finally, a door slammed.
"Geez," Elias said, leaning his head against the armrest. "He's a handful."
"He's got Felix wrapped around his dumbass finger," Thing #2 piped up, raising his glass. "But it goes both ways, so."
Elias nodded in understanding, exhaling through his nose. He closed his eyes for a moment, opening them when Roman spoke.
"Are you tired?"
"I'm always tired," Elias said softly, smiling.
"Do you wanna go home?"
Elias shrugged. "Not really. It's gonna be so quiet. I'd rather stay here for a bit longer."
Roman frowned. "You should lay down." He patted the sofa.
"No, no, I'm okay."
"But it's more comfortable than the floor."
"Then where will you sit?" Elias asked, and Roman looked around the room. The second couch was occupied by the Anthonys, and the loveseat had become a victim of Marco's beer spill, too.
Roman pointed at the carpet. "I can stay here."
"I think you're the one who needs to lay down," Elias responded. Roman shook his head and got up, then, proving Elias' point, almost toppled over if not for Elias reaching out to steady him. "See?"
"I'm fine."
"You're drunk."
"No."
Elias hid a grin behind his hand. "You are. You can't say 'no' to a fact."
"But I'm not."
Elias stood, placing his hands on Roman's shoulders and gently pushing him to sit down. He plopped onto the sofa, watching Elias with a blank expression. Like he was thinking, maybe spacing out or something of the sort. He looked kind of cute, with the flushed face and tired eyes.
He instinctively reached out to swipe Roman's hair out of his eyes, but he stopped himself and took a step back. "Do you want me to get you more water?"
Roman looked at the glass he left on the coffee table. "Um... sure."
Elias took it and went to fill it up in the kitchen. Just as he started, a door opened and closed, and then Felix was entering, too. "Is he okay?" Elias asked, referring to Marco.
Felix laughed. "Yeah, he's fine. He passed out as soon as I made him lay down. Which means, unfortunately, the night is over." He sent Elias an apologetic smile. "Usually this type of thing goes on until midnight. You caught the very rare short one."
"I don't mind," Elias said, holding the now-full glass in both hands. "It was fun. I think it'd be cool to do this again."
"Yeah? That's good to hear," Felix replied honestly. "Everyone wanted you here."
Elias blinked, surprised. "They did?"
Felix nodded, leaning against the counter. "Marco and Roman especially. You should try and get out more often."
"I would, but..."
"Mars," Felix finished. "Yeah, I know. It's understandable. Is there no one to watch her? Not trying to pressure you, just curious."
"I'm, uh, not on speaking terms with my family. And I'm not close enough with anyone to trust them with her." He tilted his head and added, "Though her friend's parents seem nice. Maybe they wouldn't mind every now and then."
"Don't worry about it too much!" Felix assured, patting his shoulder. "Take your time. No pressure. Just know you have some people who like your company."
Elias smiled. "Thank you."
"No problem. You going back out?"
"Yeah."
They went back out there together, and Elias held out the glass of water to Roman. He took it, thanking him in a mumble. Elias sat down on the arm of the sofa, eyes lingering on Roman before looking at everyone else.
"I think I should start heading out," he commented. "I had fun though, so thank you guys for â "
"You're leaving?"
Elias averted his gaze to Roman. He looked disappointed. "Well, I have to."
"Can you... uh, can you drive me home?"
"You're not gonna sleep here?"
Roman shook his head. "Never do. Everyone snores. It's annoying."
Elias grinned. He was brutally honest when he wasn't sober, huh? "I can drive you home. Just you?"
"Just me," Roman confirmed, even though Elias was casting a questioning look over at the two Anthonys. "They always sleep here. So."
"Okay," Elias mused. "Well, are you ready?"
"Yeah."
Roman got to his feet, already making his way to the door. Elias glanced at his shoes he left beside the sofa. "I think you're forgetting something, Roman."
He turned, brows sewn together as he stared at the shoes Elias was holding up. "Oh."
"These are yours, right?"
"...Yeah."
He took them, tried to pull them on standing up, and nearly fell to the floor like a sack. Elias grabbed him by the arms and sat him down. "You're gonna fall."
"Sorry."
"It's okay. Do you have everything?"
"You're treating me like a kid again."
"I'm not, but you have the movement capabilities and the memory of one right now," Elias countered. "And you say you're not drunk."
Roman didn't try to deny that this time.
"Bye," Felix said, looking blatantly amused as Elias guided Roman back to the door. "Take care of my son, will you?"
"Shut up," Roman muttered. The Anthonys lost it.
Elias helped him into the passenger seat once they reached his car. When he got situated, he held his phone out to Roman, the GPS app open. "Put your address in for me."
Roman didn't take it. Elias frowned. "Roman?"
"I don't... actually want to go home."
"Oh. Why not?"
Roman stared down at his lap. "I don't like the quiet either."
Elias hummed. "Are you saying you want to stay at my place tonight?"
He nodded silently. "Okay," Elias assured, backing out of his parking spot. "You're alright using the couch?"
"Mhm."
"Okay."
Roman was quiet during the ride there. Elias wasn't that surprised considering how he usually acted, but he had been more talkative and easygoing during those few hours. Definitely because of the alcohol in his system, but it seemed exhaustion was finally taking over that.
Thankfully, Roman was more than capable of walking on his own. He stumbled here and there, but it wasn't as if he'd trip and drop dead at any second. When Elias got him inside, he beelined it for the sofa and faceplanted. Elias laughed to himself at the sight.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, leaning down, patting his back gently. He was warm â Elias could feel the heat through the fabric of his shirt.
"Cold," Roman murmured.
"Give me a second." He made a sound of confirmation. Elias grabbed two spare blankets from the hallway closet, moving to drape them over Roman's form. He pulled it up over his shoulders, letting his hand linger against his shoulder blade.
"All good?" Elias whispered.
"Mm. Thank you."
"Okay. Goodnight, Roman."
A tiny, tired smile pulled at Roman's lips. "Goodnight."