I just had a random idea and wanted to see how it would work out. What do you think so far?
“But seriously, Travis, you need new friends,” Gabe crossed his arms like that was the end of the matter and stalked off.
“What?” The tall, polo shirt-clad man stood watching his friend walk away from him until the purple hoodie whipped back around.
“Follow me.”
“Oh. Right,” He caught up with Gabe in two long strides. “Where are we going?”
“You’re gonna love it, man,” Gabe grinned for an answer and picked up the pace.
It was a nice place and not very far from Travis’s poorly air conditioned apartment. By the time they reached the right address, Travis had a light sheen of sweat on his forehead but only because Gabe energetically took the most obscure route possible as if he were trying to keep their location a secret like in a mob movie. The house itself looked like it could be a hideout for gangsters; it was large and old and the dark curtains were kept firmly shut. Travis couldn’t tell if it was abandoned or not. “This some kind of joke, Saporta?”
“No,” Gabe said simply and jumped up the steps to knock on the door.
When the wooden rectangle swung open Travis’s first thought was ‘Oh.’ Warmth, sound, and light came pouring out of the doorframe like it was attached to an entirely different house.
“Hi Gabe, who’s your friend?” The short man in the doorway grinned like an imp… or a pixie.
“This is Travis. His girlfriend left him because he’s gay,” Gabe made his friend flinch with the bluntness of his description.
“I’m Pete,” the dark-haired man smiled up at them and stepped back to let them in. “I own this place.”
“What is it?” Travis blinked around the room at the boys scattered around, chatting and staring back at him.
“It’s a home for misfits mostly,” Pete’s 100 Watt smile didn’t fade for an instant.
“Peter Pan and his lost boys,” Gabe nodded and scampered off to another room, leaving Travis feeling alone and vulnerable.
“It’s not Peter Pan today. He’s Peter Rabbit,” a hyper young man holding a Capri Sun in one hand and a book in the other ran by chased by an angry looking pretty guy with brown hair that fell in his eyes.
“Peter Rabbit!” Another hyper boy put a Playboy bunny style headband on Pete’s head.
The owner of the house chuckled as he shut the front door and locked it. “Hey Sisky. I didn’t know you were here. I thought you were staying with someone now.”
“William brought me with him,” the skinny boy grinned, and Travis worried about his health. He was just so small. Looking around he noticed a lot of the guys hanging around looked underfed.
Pete’s voice softened and he leaned up to kiss ‘Sisky’ on the corner of the mouth. “Are you feelling better, Adam.”
“Yeah,” Sisky giggled and smiled coyly, moving out of Pete’s range. “Thanks.” For Travis he held up a finger and said, “Rule one: everyone kisses Pete.”
“You know you all want to,” Pete laughed, bright smile back in place. “I’m just that sexy.”
“I don’t,” a shaggy, bearded man said on his way through the room and looked over his shoulder at Pete, running when he noticed the short man chasing him.
“You can’t break the rules, Joe!” Travis’s host disappeared, leaving him totally alone this time.
“Travis? You’re Travis right? I’m Adam T. Siska. You can call me Adam or Sisky or Sisky Business or Sisky Biz,” Travis looked down to see the skinny boy who put the rabbit ears on Pete smiling up at him. “Do you want to meet everyone?”
“Travis McCoy,” Travis nodded. “Sure.”
“The guy with the juice drink was Brendon Urie, sometimes known as Bden, and the pretty guy who wanted his book back was Ryan Ross, sometimes known as Ryro. Um Joe is Joe Trohman. He’s pretty cool. I don’t think Andy’s here,” Sisky mumbled to himself and turned on the spot. He spun to face his new friend again too quickly and got dizzy.
“You okay?” Travis caught him before he fell and held him.
“I-I’m fine,” Sisky rested his head against Travis’s shoulder for a moment, pushing away when he felt ready to stand on his own. “Mike’s in the other-” He was cut off by screams and a book flying through the air.
Travis watched as the person Sisky had introduced as Brendon accidentally threw Ryan’s book. The object made a perfect arc in slow motion, aimed right for Sisky’s crotch. “Watch out,” Travis warned too late.
“Ow,” Sisky rubbed the spot then bent over to pick the book up and give it back to Ryan.
“Sorry Sisky,” Brendon wrapped his arms around his injured friend, looking like a sad puppy. Travis half-expected him to lick the other man. But wait… Something wasn’t right. Why wasn’t Adam doubled over in pain?
“Uh,” Travis felt bad for making the monosyllabic noise when Sisky turned to face him with big, vulnerable eyes.
“I… uh… I,” his eyes filled with tears. “You don’t think I’m some kind of freak too do you? I thought you’d be different since Gabe brought you here.”
“What are you talking about?” Travis searched Brendon’s and Ryan’s faces for clues but found none.
As if on cue, Gabe reentered the room, a group of shorter boys flanking him. He opened his mouth to say something to Travis but when he saw tears he shifted gears, “Hey Siska, what’s wrong?”
A tall and beautiful boy stepped forward and slapped Travis, wrapping long, thin arms around Sisky. He glared over his shoulder at the stranger he perceived to be a threat and cooed to his littler friend soothingly, “Are you okay, Sisky? Did he hurt you?”
Before Travis could mention that he had no idea what was going on Sisky cut in with, “No! Stop it, Bill. He didn’t hurt me. I’m sorry. I usually don’t cry so easily. I haven’t been feeling well lately.”
Travis felt like tilting the younger boy’s chin up so he could look into his pretty eyes but from the way this Bill character was looking at him he was afraid he’d get his hand chopped off. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t have a… you know,” Sisky blushed and hide his face against Bill’s chest.
“Oh,” Travis’s eyes widened in realization as he understood what he was being told. “I never would have guessed.”
“Other than the book thing,” Sisky said in a muffled voice. “I’m going to have a bruise there. What will Butcher think, Bill? What if I forget to tell him what happened?”
“I’ll tell him,” Bill whispered, running a hand through the scared boy’s short hair. “Nothing bad is going to happen to him this time.”
Travis drifted off to the side of the room, uncomfortable because he didn’t know what was going on. He sat down on a chair he found in another room and stared at the ground, utterly convinced that he didn’t belong anywhere now. It would be best if he just gave up what he wanted and just go back to pretending to be fully straight. Yes. That’s what he would do.
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Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:36 pm
