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“I feel numb” He spoke so softly, Peter barely heard him.
Peter thought for a moment, unsure what to say. “That doesn’t make sense,” he finally responded, “numbness is a lack of feeling.”
The man chuckled a little as he accused Peter of knowing what he meant.
Peter did know. Had felt the same thing just that morning, after waking up in Aunt May’s hospital room to find that she had passed in her sleep.
Peter considered the man next to him. He was maybe 10 years older than himself, give or take a few years. His handsome face was mostly blank, save for the small frown tugging at the corners of his full lips. Peter didn’t want to be alone right now, and it looked like the man needed someone as well. Peter took hold of the man’s hand that lay on the arm rest, and slowly rubbed his thumb over the other man’s knuckles.
The stranger didn’t seem to register it at first, but eventually he let a smile spread across his face that meant fuck all. He spoke a bit louder now, admitting not just to Peter, but to himself, “I don’t want to fight it. I want my last breath to be a laugh, not the last gasp of a lab rat.”
Peter was at a loss for words. Instead, he lifted the man’s hand to his lips, and placed a soft kiss. Peter asked if he would like to go for a walk. The man agreed by standing up and leading Peter through the doors of the lobby.
Neither spoke as they walked, and neither seemed to have a destination in mind, just turned the corner and let their feet lead them.
The man’s rough voice broke the silence that had surrounded them since leaving the hospital. He asked Peter if he knew of where to find anything to escape reality for a bit. Peter was a little caught off guard, but not terribly surprised. He had already considered texting a friend of his from college he used to smoke with occasionally. He needed something to cloud the feelings that seemed to be creeping up to swallow him whole. He knew death was inevitable, he just never considered how alone he would feel when his last family member passed.
Peter pulled his phone from his pocket as he nodded. He finally let go of the other man’s hand as he started searching through his contacts. Peter always chuckles a little bit as he scrolls past the names of college friends. Everyone had such stupid nicknames for each other back in school. As Peter hits send for his message to Nightcrawler, he glances up to see where the other man had wandered to.
The other man was sitting on the bench, overlooking the small pond in the park they had wandered into.
The sun was slowly seeping through the clouds, casting gold, red and orange colors across the small trees and surface of the water.
Peter took a couple more seconds to wonder about this stranger.
He still didn’t know his name, but he didn’t really think too much about it since the other man didn’t know his either. Peter watched as the sun rose higher, casting more light on the man in front of him. His short hair seemed to change with the sunlight. Shifting from a medium brown color to a honey blonde. Peter made his way around the bench, keeping his eyes on the man’s face. His brown eyes seemed to flash a bright hazel as he sat down. Peter gave a small half smile as the other man turned to face him. Right before Peter could say anything, his phone buzzed to signify he had received a text. Peter reads the message aloud, “I ran out but if you drop cash now, I can sort you out later tonight”.
“Where to, baby boy?” His companion asked. Peter just shrugs with one shoulder as he tells him it’s about a 20-minute walk from here. Peter points in the direction they need to head as they both stand up.
They admire the graffiti lining the buildings as they make their way to Nightcrawler’s place. “Do I want to know how your friend got the name?” The blonde side-eyes Peter as they get closer, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. Peter lets out a much louder laugh then he had intended. Peter keeps laughing as he covers his mouth a little. “It’s a bit of an inside joke, so it may not make much sense.” Peter just barely manages to say through his laughter.
The other man starts to laugh as well, mostly because the shorter man’s laugh is adorable. They make it to their destination, just as Nightcrawler is about to leave. “Damn, perfect timing,” he says. Nightcrawler has them come in for a bit so they can hand over cash and chat. Peter and Nightcrawler mostly talk over each other, trying to catch the other up on the last couple years as quickly as possible. Peter’s companion just watches with a small grin on his face.
After they leave, Peter turns to the blonde man and announces how starved he is. “Lady’s choice!” Peter says while smiling.
The other man laughs as he places a finger on his chin, to show how lost in thought he is. “Hmmm,” He raises his eyebrows, “Mexican food! Come on, I know just the place!” he responds quite quickly, a laugh forming in the back of his through as he grabs Peter’s hand and dashes down the street.
They both laugh and joke as they eat their breakfast burritos. The men ordered more food than either of them was capable of eating, but they somehow managed to devour it all. The wait staff was amazed and possibly a little grossed out at the amount of food the two men ate.
Nightcrawler texts as they look around the shops and boutiques and they head off to pick up their purchase.
Neither had done ecstasy before but they bought three tabs each. “Fuck it! You only live once, right?” The man says as they each drop the pills in their mouth. “That’s at the most it would seem,” Peter says thoughtfully.
They sang and danced through the streets. Ran in circles around the lamp posts. They laughed and fell in love. It wasn’t real love of course, just a chemical alternative. It was all they needed though. Temporary life-affirming love.
The had sat down to admire a single orange flower pushing its way between the cracks of the sidewalk.
They rediscovered the world through drug-tinted glasses. They found beauty in things they had never noticed before. The rest of the city seemed to move pass them in a haze as they admired each tiny detail about the other person. The small cut in the man’s eyebrow, the curls in Peter’s hair.
The blonde man laughed as he jumped up, yelling “Let’s play a game! If you can catch me right now, I will tell you my name!” With that statement, he took off running. Deep laughter flowed from him as he ran through alleyways. Peter ran after him laughing as well.
The colors of the buildings turned to a blur as he chased after him. Peter caught up with the other man as he ran by a fountain, catching his hand and spinning the man to face him. The blonde man smiled as he leaned down and gave Peter a chaste kiss. “My name is Wade.” He says as he breaks away from Peter’s soft lips. Peter looks Wade in the eyes, seeing so many more colors than before. Green and gold swirl through the warm brown. Wade slowly starts to grin before taking off again.
Peter stood in awe of Wade. Watched as he spun in circles before turning the corner. Peter could hear Wade singing as he continued down the next street. Peter finally came to his senses and gave chase once again. They had made it all the way to the river on the other side of town.
Wade seemed to float and glow as he bounded down to the riverbank. Peter had no doubt it was the chemicals in his system making him see Wade this way. They had been dancing their way through town so long that the sun had set hours ago.
As Wade turned to look at where the younger man was, Peter decided to sit in a patch of grass to pick at the flowers nearby. Wade sent a small smile Peter's way.
Suddenly, Wade hurled himself into the air. Peter watched as if in slow motion, in the blinking sound of a splash, Peter was alone. Peter stood quickly to see if he could find Wade. There was no flailing or splashing, just the first one that broke the surface. Wade was gone.
Peter had met Wade that morning in the waiting room of the hospital.
16 beautiful hours later, he would never see him again.
WeCouldBeImmortalsDaryl_Dixon Tue 13 Jul 2021 05:52AM UTC
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Raeann19 Tue 13 Jul 2021 01:24PM UTC
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WeCouldBeImmortalsDaryl_Dixon Tue 20 Jul 2021 01:26PM UTC
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