Chapter Eight #3
“Oh, it’s definitely a dating sim above anything else,” Rus stated. “And right now, I’m torn between my favorite Tiefling muscle mommy or the world’s greatest vampire twink with an ass that could end wars.”
Kaiden tsked. “Only one man has an ass that could end wars, and he belongs to the Bat family.”
Rus nodded. “Fair, Nightwing is glorious, but I’d feed Dick to sweet baby Astarion in exchange for a single snarky one-liner of approval.”
“Wait, you’d feed Astarion a dick?” Dylan raised his brows in disgusted confusion. “Do vampires in this game eat body parts, too? Yuck.”
“No,” Rus said, bursting at the seams, about to break into huge laughter.
Kaiden rolled his eyes at Rus’ fidgety, barely contained snorts of laughter.
“We’re talking about Dick the character,” Kaiden explained. “Comic book superhero.”
“That explains it.” Dylan nodded. “Not ready for my superhero deep dive yet.”
“But yeah, I’d give Astarion pretty much whatever he wanted to hear him tell me he’s happy.”
“Oh, what about the way he purrs, daaarrrrling, at you,” Dylan added with a poor British accent, shoulder bumping Rus. “That’s pretty hot.”
“It’s just a shame the only poly option is with the bear.”
“Wait, what?” Kaiden blinked in confusion.
“Druid. He shapeshifts into a bear a lot,” Rus explained. “I mean, he’s cool and all, but he doesn’t do it for me. I don’t got the daddy issues for it.”
At that comment, Kaiden sank into the bed, locked on his phone while his friends spent the evening lost in a video game. Eventually, it got late, and Kaiden convinced them it was time for something else. Reluctantly, they stopped their game and gave Kaiden free rein in picking a movie.
“I should probably get going,” Dylan said with a stretch.
“Oh, hell no.” Kaiden playfully popped him on the chest and pushed him back onto the bed. “You made me sit through hours of your game; the least you can do is sacrifice a little sleep for a fantastic film.”
“I don’t really like cartoons.”
“Perfect,” Kaiden replied with a slick smile. “It’s Claymation. And it’s almost Halloween, so you were bound to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas sooner or later.”
“Wait, you’ve never seen it?” Rus asked with wide eyes.
“He doesn’t watch much TV,” Kaiden said almost on top of Dylan’s reply.
“I don’t watch much TV,” Dylan said with a sweet smirk as Kaiden read his mind.
There were few people who knew Dylan so well, but Kaiden had learned through Rus that, despite initial protests, Dylan was much more open to new experiences than previously considered.
Kaiden rarely pushed people past their boundaries, figuring if someone showed disinterest, that meant no; however, it seemed they weren’t boundaries, merely reservations with some reluctant curiosity underneath.
“This isn’t scary, is it?” Dylan asked.
“No, it’s for children,” Kaiden replied.
“I don’t know, it gets pretty creepy.” Rus made a face and growled.
Dylan shuddered. “I’m using you as a human shield if it gets freaky.”
With that, Dylan grabbed hold of Kaiden’s bicep and used his friend as a body pillow while he lounged out on Rus’ bed. About halfway through the film, Dylan passed out, which left Kaiden and Rus to enjoy the movie.
“He’s going to kill me,” Kaiden said, slowly adjusting Dylan’s sleeping body in the middle of the bed. “He wanted to go home, and now he’s knocked out.”
“Meh, when aren’t you guys passed out in my bed?”
Kaiden stared at Rus, studying his expression, but finding him difficult to read as he watched the movie.
“Sorry for kind of invading your place.”
“You’re not invading.”
“I mean, kind of. I know it. You were hospitable, and I have definitely taken full advantage of it.” Kaiden paused, doing his best to avoid complaining about his family.
He might’ve relied on his sucky family as a way to persuade Rus into these regular hangouts. It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy Rus’ company. He did. A lot. But the more he crashed here, the more he avoided his family and problems, the more he felt like a leech in his own right.
“If I had a problem with you here, you’d know it,” Rus said, turning his attention to Kaiden. “We haven’t known each other long, but do I seem like the type of person to bite my tongue? To politely avoid confrontation?”
Kaiden snorted in response and shook his head.
“Precisely,” Rus said with a grin. “You’re here because I like your company. I like Dylan’s company. It’s cool that you’re both chill since you’re like a package deal.”
“Yeah, we’ve been friends a while.”
Rus didn’t respond, simply stared silently for a long time. The longest ticking seconds of Kaiden’s life.
“Still, it means a lot, you letting me crash here. Sharing your bed, quite literally.”
“Well, this bed deserves some action.” Rus playfully bucked his hips upward. “At least with a few guys rolling around in it most nights, there’s the illusion of something fun going on in here.”
Kaiden laughed at that, slapping a hand over his mouth when Dylan rustled a bit in his sleep, eyes fluttering before he buried his head into Kaiden’s side.
“Plus, I say pay it forward,” Rus continued.
“My freshman year dormmate was a total douchebag. Thankfully, I made friends with Daysha, who lived in a campus suite and let me crash on her couch for damn near a semester straight. Luckily, my douchebag roommate dropped out, and then I just casually crashed at Daysha’s instead of desperately escaping. ”
“Sleeping on a couch isn’t really the same as giving up part of your bed.”
“It is when Daysha had three suite mates who she had to regularly sweet-talk into not snitching to the RAs about my unauthorized sleepovers,” Rus explained.
“It was a big deal for her to offer me somewhere chill to crash. So, I can offer you the same. I know a little bit of what it’s like to live with someone who is insufferable. ”
Kaiden scoffed. “Surprised you didn’t just hit your roommate and knock some sense into him.”
“Actually, I got stuck with that douchebag after being relocated and threatened to lose my housing because I might’ve sort of maybe just a little bit decked my previous red hat roomie.”
“Jesus Christ, you really don’t believe in using your words.”
“There’s enough folks attempting peace talks with the fascists; I prefer my support methods as a healthy alternative.”
Kaiden smirked at that, honestly wowed by Rus’ brazen and bold behavior. Also, a little intimidated by the fact that someone could act so chill one moment, then rush into conflict at the drop of a hat.
“I am getting better at it,” Rus said, seemingly reading Kaiden’s mind, or registering the slight anxiety on his face. “I just hate evil people with no regard for the well-being of others. But it is a flaw to be controlled by one’s rage—or so my therapist has pointed out.”
“Therapist?” Kaiden asked. “Court-appointed?”
“No. I mean, I do have court-appointed anger management, or I did, but I’ve been going to therapy for years.”
“Why?”
“To get out my rage. Rawr.” Rus grinned. “Now, I try to reserve the worst of it for really awful bigots. That and I don’t need anything else on my record since I barely avoided serious charges the last time I punched an asshole.”
“I guess I’m just surprised you go to therapy.”
“Yeah, everyone should when they need it.” Rus shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve gone off and on since I don’t even know. Probably since I was like twelve or thirteen. My folks are big on that stuff. Exercising the mind, healing the mind, investing in the mind.”
He made a few silly gestures at that with flowy arms, perhaps mocking his parents in a playful manner.
Kaiden had never considered therapy before. It wasn’t something his family did. Talking honestly to each other was an impossibility, let alone a stranger. Still, he sat with Rus’ words during the rest of the film, giving real weight to the conversation.
Heading to the local on-campus coffee shop had sort of become a morning ritual for them.
Since Rus had 8 AM classes three days a week, Dylan and Kaiden needed to get up pretty early to head on out.
Though there was more than one morning Kaiden overslept, and the duo simply left him in bed unattended.
It was an awkward thing, having Rus trust him alone in his apartment with no supervision or accountability.
Even Kaiden’s parents didn’t trust him alone in the house he’d grown up in.
Still, Kaiden ignored his family woes, seeing as there wasn’t much he could do about it, and focused on getting ready for the day.
Rus had allowed him to leave some of his makeup in the bathroom.
It wasn’t like Rus utilized much of his counter space.
He had a few more hygiene products than Dylan, but overall, Rus was pretty basic about his skincare routine.
It was made all the more annoying by the fact that he had damn near perfect skin.
Perfect skin he continued coloring on with his random tattoos.
Kaiden focused on getting ready for work, then joined Rus and Dylan on the walk to the coffee shop.
Neither of them did anything to get ready.
Well, Rus at least changed his clothes and put on a bit of deodorant.
Otherwise, he was done with his morning rituals.
Dylan, on the other hand, wouldn’t even bother getting ready for the day until he returned to his place at Dorothy’s Home.
So, his morning ritual of getting ready for the day didn’t really start up until about ten or eleven, depending on when he wandered home.
“You two could be so put together,” Kaiden sighed as he brushed by Dylan. “If, of course, either of you bothered putting yourselves together with any effort at all.”
“Meh.” Rus shrugged as he held the door open for Kaiden, who waltzed right up to the barista and put in an order for the three of them.