Chapter Text
“Oh my god.”
Three words are all it took to tear down a quiet atmosphere the breakroom cultivated for the past hour. The sound of Charlie’s voice disrupting the immersion forced Pim to unbury himself from his phone despite it not being directed at anyone in particular. For assurance, Pim glanced over his shoulder to see if Charlie’s line of sight was set on any specific critter. Allan’s attention was locked onto the sparse drops brewing from their shared coffee pot while Glep had his eyes glued to the ipad—which is nearly a permanent fixture between his hands at this point. After confirmation it was a general statement, Pim redirected his attention to Charlie.
“What’s going on?” Pim asked with an open smile. Charlie only spared a single glance to Pim before his eyes were drawn back to his phone.
“Dude…no way.” He exasperated once more.
“No way, what?” Pim prompted patiently.
“I mean seriously, there’s, like, no way.” Charlie continued on without clarification.
The same patience Pim tried to extend just seconds ago started to chip ever so slightly—that chip being his brows breaching to an uncharacteristic furrow. Pim’s phone that sat limply in his hand now laid facedown on the table. Pim shouldn’t be fazed, this exchange is a bad habit Charlie exhibited since day one. Charlie always begins by verbally reacting to any news he comes across and sits on that information for a painstaking amount of time, adding all sorts of mumbles and grumbles in the process. In turn, Pim eggs him on from the sidelines for an answer until Charlie sooner or later decides to share. In spite of being fairly jaded by this back and forth Charlie created, it still managed to find a way to frustrate Pim nearly each time.
“Charlie, what are you talking about?” Impatience overcame Pim’s mouth that now submitted to a frown.
Like clockwork, Charlie finally revealed what all the fuss was about by flashing his phone in Pim’s direction. Although the phone was only a foot away, Pim needed to lean in to see properly. Out of his peripheral, he could see Charlie itching to reprimand him for not seeing an optometrist like he promised for what felt like years at this point. A post detailing a new club called the ‘The Blue Blurp’ having its grand opening tonight was displayed in loud obnoxious colors—so obnoxious that it forced Pim to squint.
“The…Blue…Blurp?” Pim slowly read aloud. “Why would you want to go to that? I thought you were trying to take it easy on partying.”
The conversation finally interested Allan enough to make an appearance between the two with a freshly poured coffee in hand. He blew gently before taking a sip and leaning down to read the details himself. His intrigue seemed to shift, opting to straighten himself up without saying a word. Or straighten up as much as his chronic slouch allowed.
“Pim, there’s no way you haven’t heard of The Blue Blurp. That’s literally insane, like, actually. It’s the biggest club ever, man. I can’t believe they’re opening one nearby.” Charlie ignored Pim’s concern, opting to press him instead. “I mean, first it’s that you haven’t been to Salty’s and now you tell me you don’t know what Blue Blurp is. Dude, look at any social media or whatever. I’m telling you, literally look right now and I can guarantee there will be at least one post about it.”
Pim felt a twinge of insecurity at how appalled Charlie acts by his lack of knowledge when it comes to the going-ons around them. “I mean, I genuinely never heard of that. You said it’s called ‘Blue…Burp’..? Like I said, no, never heard of it. I can’t be the only one who hasn’t.” Pim looked at Allan who stood with his back against the counter. “Uh, Allan, you haven’t– you never heard of this either, right?”
“I know about it. It’s been all over the internet for months like Charlie said. I get emails about it in my spam constantly.” Allan spoke matter-of-factly as ever.
“Oh.” Pim muttered and looked down at his lap. He shifted his eyes to Charlie. “That whole fiasco on the alien ship didn’t ruin your outlook on drinking? I haven’t been able to stomach the idea of partying since, genuinely. ”
Charlie realized Pim was retaliating by pressing him back until he acknowledged Pim’s previous concern. An internal sigh echoed in his mind, seven years of friendship and Pim couldn’t ever comprehend the idea of letting a subject go—especially one Charlie is so obviously trying to dodge.
“I mean, at first, sure.” Charlie admitted. “But Pim, I’m gonna level with ya’, we deal with so much— and I truly mean it, so much insane shit on the daily, man. If I let that ordeal taint my perspective then, like, any job we’ve ever done would have me indoors forever. One hundred percent, no joke. We live in a scary world, man.”
Pim found no faults in Charlie’s logic but still wore a stern frown.
“Hm, I actually wouldn’t mind going.” Allan chimed in.
Charlie internally thanked Allan for the interjection knowing Pim planned to prod further. “Now that’s what I’m talking about, Allan!” He smiled yet his gut twisted, noticing Pim looking disappointed. Charlie spun his attention to Glep. “You in, Glep?”
All three turned to Glep who remained fixated on his ipad. Feeling lingering stares, Glep glanced up and realized the conversation he had been tuning out was now spotlighted on him. He frowned and simply waved them off while muttering gibberish—clearly not interested despite not bothering to know the context of conversation. Most times whatever played on his screen took priority of his attention and right now was one of those times.
“Whatever dude.” Charlie waved Glep off in return. “So, Pim…” Charlie turned his chair to Pim with an eager smile and leaned in. “You down?”
An obvious hesitation took Pim’s mouth captive. Pim bit the bottom of his lip at Charlie’s expectant smile. Charlie felt a sudden low grumble from below, realizing a hunger brewing in the pit of his stomach.
“Listen, I’m starving and Blue Blurp has some of the best wings ever. Food is on me if you join.” Charlie attempted to entice Pim. One more pause before Pim caved in with a nod and shy smile. It never took much to peer pressure Pim if Charlie was involved.
“Fine, I’ll go.” His smile grew at the sight of Charlie raising a triumphant fist. That same fist was met with the gentle intrusion of a small pink hand, lowering it to force Charlie to meet Pim’s pleading gaze. “But, you have to promise me not to go overboard on the drinking, please?” Pim’s frown made a return.
If it wasn’t for the comical nature of how large Pim’s eyes were, Charlie could have sworn Pim was making some attempt to give him puppy eyes. He bit the inside of his cheek. The earnestness clouding Pim’s eyes made it so easy to pacify Charlie.
He hated it.
“Yeah, yeah.” Charlie nodded dismissively. “Let’s get going though, I’m starving.”
The three had relative ease getting to the club. Pim’s car is usually designated for carpooling—not that he’s given much choice in the matter. He’s the only one between the two that has a vehicle, let alone a valid driver’s license. But to compensate for Pim being the designated driver, at least on Allan’s behalf, decided it was only fair to pay for parking. Getting to the club was the easy part but getting inside was a whole different story. A queue of what looked to be hundreds of people occupied the sidewalk as far down as they could see. The wait definitely dwindled any ounce of excitement Pim managed to stir up on the drive here. But on Charlie’s end, he only looked more excited.
The wait mostly consisted of Charlie and Allan periodically engaging in casual conversation while Pim was left cringing at the overbearing smell of cigarettes circling the entire block. A constant and cold autumn breeze did not help matters, attacking all of Pim’s senses at once with each gust of wind that swept him. The combo of goosebumps rising on his arms and the burning intrusion of second hand smoke made Pim yearn for his bed. After wasting nearly two hours that none of them would ever get back, they finally stepped through the entrance.
“I can definitely see why it’s called the Blue Blurp now.” Pim muttered, still holding himself even with the warmth of the club blanketing them. If a place took commitment to a theme, it would certainly be this club. The entire room was drenched in overbearing blue lighting, seemingly only blue drinks were being served at the bar, and if not for the lighting distorting Pim’s perception of color, he would say even the workers were dressed head to toe in a blue uniform. Though he could not be sure, considering everyone in the room, including themselves, looked like they were dipped in a blueberry slushie.
“Pretty cool, right?” Charlie raised his voice to be heard over the music.
“What??” Pim stood on his tip-toes, attempting to get closer to Charlie’s voice. But even on his tip-toes, their height difference still had a considerable gap.
Charlie leaned down slightly to meet Pim halfway. “I said it’s pretty cool, right?!” He yelled louder.
“What did you say??” Allan now entered the conversation and looked just as confused as Pim.
Charlie darted his head between the two critters as he stood in the middle. Obvious frustration morphed his mouth into a frown. He took a moment to decide if his question was even worth repeating. His eyes landed on the four open seats at the end of the bar that strayed away from the speakers.
“Let’s get a seat over there before someone else takes them!” Charlie pointed.
Allan took charge of being the line leader, pushing through all the busy bodies with no hesitation as Charlie and Pim straggled behind. While Charlie and Allan took their seats, Pim showed more struggle to get on. He managed to settle comfortably despite it taking a few more seconds than the other two. The sight of Pim’s struggle had Charlie try to hide a snicker bubbling at the back of his throat.
“Are either of you gonna drink?” Charlie still had to raise his voice despite the distance from the speakers but it was not to the extent from before.
“I’ll have maybe one or two.” Pim looked past Charlie to see Allan’s plan but found the critter already raising his finger to catch the bartender’s attention.
Charlie glanced over and smiled at the quick initiative. “Yeah man, that’s the spirit..!” His hand patted Allan’s back which was met with an unenthusiastic nod of acknowledgement.
“Mm. I mostly just came to drink. We’ve had too many calls for my liking this week. I’m exhausted.” Allan’s eyes left Charlie and Pim’s direction to stare off at nothing in particular.
“You should be happy about that!” Pim chimed. “That just means you reached more people to put a smile on their face.”
“I like to help people too, Pim.” Charlie lifted his finger to catch the bartender himself. “But sometimes too much is too much, man.”
Charlie noticed a familiar pout creep onto Pim’s features at the disposition from him and Allan. The stark difference in their personalities definitely stood out when it came to bitching about work. Any complaints off Charlie’s chest are refuted by Pim trying to offer a solution — or what irritated Charlie worse, a more positive outlook to his dilemma.
“Listen,” Charlie began. “Work is work no matter how much you enjoy doing it. Like, even for someone like you. Plenty of people are passionate about their jobs but at the end of the day, it’s just a means to get a paycheck. I mean people like me and uh- me and Allan, we’re there to clock in and clock out, dude. I don’t personally like to think about work outside of, y’know, work.”
Allan didn’t add anything to the conversation but his silence conveyed he agreed with Charlie to an extent. Charlie watched Pim bite down on his lip again in thought, preparing some sort of rebuttal. Another hunger pain struck Charlie’s stomach and urged him to make another attempt to flag down the bartender, bringing his finger higher than Allan’s.
“So let’s not talk about work, okay?” Charlie overlooked his shoulder to Pim. He wanted to shut down any argument rising to the surface. “I’m just here to have a good time with my friends which includes you, man.” He smiled and gave a playful nudge in hopes to mollify Pim. It seemed to do the trick as Pim flashed a smile and nudged Charlie back.
After what felt like their tenth attempt in the last half hour, they managed to catch the bartender bouncing back and forth. Several rounds of drinks lifted their spirits considerably given Allan’s smile had been on display for some time instead of disappearing after a single blink. It even relaxed Pim enough to not get defensive at Charlie teasing him for getting a “girly” drink and instead made him chuckle. The overwhelming scorch flooding Charlie’s throat from what was suppose to be a relatively tame drink tipped him off that their drinks were being overpoured. But looking at Allan and Pim, it obviously did not seem to bother either one. At least it would make it easier for Charlie to oblige by Pim’s plea for keeping the drinking to a minimum.
“Aren’t you gonna dance?” Pim looked to Charlie and Allan who were busied downing their third glass.
“Dude, there’s no way you actually want to dance.” Charlie used the back of his sleeve to wipe the alcohol spilling from the corner of his mouth. Pim looked a little dumbfounded by the question and confusion lifted his lips into a hesitant smile.
“Um…yeah?” Pim replied as though it should be obvious. “I mean, it’s a club? Where you dance? I mean, half the people here are dancing right now.” His hand gestured to the floor where people were in fact—dancing.
“Pim, Pim, that’s because they’re all horny and desperate." The statement earned an immediate side eye from Allan. Charlie continued. “You only dance at a club if you’re uh, like, looking to hookup. Dancing takes away the awkward small talk and gets straight to business, y’know? So when you’re out there and dancing, that’s pretty much telling everybody, ‘I’m looking to fuck’, right? I don’t know, I just personally don’t care for the hookup culture in clubs, dude.” Pim and Allan exchanged raised brows.
“No, I think you’re dancing to dance.” Pim negated with furrowed brows. “Right, Allan?”
“Depends on the song.” Allan replied.
“Dancing is an expression. I bet most folks down there right now are simply wanting to express themselves.” Pim looked back to the crowd to reaffirm his stance only to have his eyes land on a couple sloppily making out that teetered on public indecency. Pim ripped away from the sight and stared down at his lap while his face bloomed. “Most.”
Charlie traced Pim’s line of sight and began laughing. “I told you.”
Pim’s naivety, while it grated Charlie’s nerves, endeared him at the same time. He enjoyed witnessing Pim’s inexperience with the world through his rose tinted glasses getting fogged by reality from time to time. Though, that probably fell more in line with Charlie’s insistence on being right than endearment. Regardless, there’s no denying a charm to Pim’s trusting and wide-eyed outlook on life.
Pim’s face remained hot even though minutes have passed since landing on the couple. A grin widened on Charlie at how easily embarrassed Pim gets at PDA despite being in his thirties. His mind wandered a bit too long on the thought before the question of if Pim is a virgin came to the forefront. They never broached the topic of sex and that’s partially because of Pim’s obvious abashment towards the subject but also partially because Charlie is not one to share details about his sex life. Yet curiosity kept creeping in spite of Charlie’s mental pushback. Is Pim even someone interested in sex? Charlie can’t picture it. Or at least not Pim taking charge, he definitely would be on the bottom. An image of a woman on top tried to form in his daydream but it blurred and contorted. He can’t picture that either.
But maybe…
Charlie took an anxious peep at Allan and Pim, as though his thoughts were somehow being projected. His anxiety took a backseat seeing them absorbed in their own conversation and returned his sights to the foam residing at the bottom of his glass. Charlie gave a last ditch effort to picture a woman once more but could not conjure anything. He peeked one last time to his friends just a foot away before indulging.
The thought of Pim laying on the bed returned to his mind. The blur of the woman on top he tried to imagine seconds ago morphed into a man and suddenly the fantasy became crystal clear. Charlie wanted to concede right then and there—simply chalk it up to him drawing the conclusion that Pim with a woman is a bizarre sight. But the idea of Pim underneath Charlie began to loop.
Wait.
Charlie swallowed. Maybe the overpoured drinks were making his head swim but that excuse was thrown to the wind after spotting only a few empty glasses in front of him. Charlie quickly ordered another round of drinks.
“Charlie!” Pim broke away from his conversation with Allan and redirected his attention back to Charlie who got startled just by the mention of his name. “C’mon, let’s go dance!”
“Dude, I told you I’m not dancing.” Charlie frowned.
Pim frowned back at him but his mouth opened into a gasp hearing the next song queued. Charlie’s grumpy demeanor changed to mirror Pim’s expression, his eyes wide and mouth gaped. They began to frantically pat each other in excitement and Allan raised an eyebrow.
“Oh my god, dude!” Charlie exclaimed and stood from his seat. “Dude.” He whipped his head to Allan.
“What?” Allan remained in his seat while staring up at Charlie.
“This is mine and Charlie’s favorite song! Oh my gosh, we played it on loop when I helped you move into your first place!” Pim answered for Charlie, the two practically bouncing at this point.
“Okay, okay. I know–I know, man. I know what I said before but this does not apply to this song. So I’ll dance to this one, and I mean it, Pim—this one song.” Charlie gleamed. “We’ll be right back, Allan. Promise.”
Charlie gave a firm pat to Allan who appeared unphased by their excitement and nodded. “It’s fine, I don’t care.”
With that, Pim and Charlie scrambled as fast as they could to the dance floor. The obstacles of bodies were no match for the nostalgic glee powering their feet through the crowd. Once they spotted a gap in all the congestion, Charlie and Pim wasted no time getting down. Neither of them had rhythm nor did the majority around, considering them and everyone else were intoxicated on some level. Pim and Charlie screamed the chorus at each other, yet it looked like the two critters were lipsyncing to the song from the volume drowning out their voices. Charlie, despite being the younger among the duo, busted out some questionably dated moves, such as performing a very passionate air guitar during the instrumental of the song. Did the song even have a guitar? No. But it earned a laugh from Pim and he followed suit, rocking an air guitar of his own. The crowd began to cave in on Charlie and Pim, forcing the two closer. Pim seemed completely unbothered and carried on moving, meanwhile Charlie’s moves became more rigid. Pim took notice and placed Charlie’s hands in his own.
“Don’t be shy, Charlie!” Pim yelled. The hands Pim had in his custody started to shift back and forth, Pim encouraging the other to start shimmying. Charlie decided to not make things awkward and followed Pim’s lead. He had to admit, Pim’s happiness is infectious, he didn’t realize until now that he had been mirroring Pim’s smile.
The song they quite literally stumbled for had been long over but their hands stayed connected. Pim glanced at the connection and his smile turned coy.
“Um, Charlie.” Pim looked up. “The song is over.”
Charlie’s tipsy haze made him take a second to register the words but when they did, his hands snatched away. “Man, I totally forgot I owe you some, uh, wings for coming along.” Charlie signaled for Pim to follow him back to the bar.
Charlie and Pim returned only to find a woman practically laid up on Allan. She had her head tucked between his shoulder and neck so he could hear her clearly. Charlie and Pim stood in shock, trying to decipher what the exact exchange was but her sleek black hair draped over her lips. Given her body language though, they didn’t need to know the context of the conversation to understand her intentions. However, they weren’t exactly sure how to read Allan. He didn’t move from her touch but his expression looked bored as ever. Whatever conclusions Charlie or Pim were conjuring in their minds halted at Allan glancing from her to them as if asking for permission to proceed. Both enthusiastically nodded with juvenile-like grins that only intensified with every nod. Charlie ushered him off by shooing a hand at him while from the sidelines Pim showed his support through an encouraging thumbs up.
As soon as Allan took off and disappeared into the crowd, Charlie and Pim whipped their heads to each other, mouths still gaped.
Charlie shook his head while chuckling in disbelief. “No way, man. ”
“Glep had mentioned Allan is pretty popular with the ladies but I never thought I would see it in action.” Pim said while slightly stumbling to his seat along with Charlie. Another round of drinks were ordered and shortly made its way into their hands.
“Sorry, Charlie, I know I was the one to nag you but here I am going overboard.” Pim casted his guilt over to the graveyard of empty glasses now piled up around them. “Certainly not leadin’ by example.” He slurred into his drink.
Charlie flippantly waved Pim off, taking a few steady gulps before putting his drink down. “All good. I’m just glad you’re loosening up, dude. You’ve always been, uh, uptight about drinkin’ n shit but I know you can throw down and that's, like, wayyy before the whole alien ship situation.”
During their early ventures, Charlie was surprised to learn that Pim is not the lightweight he appears to be and in fact, can keep with Charlie. Afterall, as of right now Charlie is on his…what is it now? His fifth..sixth drink? And Pim’s motor functions being a little less than uncoordinated are the only thing affecting him that Charlie can notice. However his previous drinks that placed him in a light sway now weighed down on his head more heavily, struggling to keep it upright. He decided to rest his head on his forearm and turn it towards Pim.
Pim laughed and copied him. Now that Charlie is getting a closer look, maybe Pim is a lot more fucked up than he initially thought. His face was flushed all around and he looked at Charlie through half lidded eyes like he would drift off at any given second.
“Did you know that you’re..like, my best friend? The bestest friend ever?” Drunk endearment glazed Pim’s eyes that went unnoticed by Charlie up until now. “And that I love you?”
Charlie swallowed. It isn’t uncommon for Pim to randomly make that declaration, especially to his friends. But the affection spilling out of the words made Charlie shift uncomfortably. “Uh, yeah. Love ya’, dude.” His eyes shifted to an abandoned straw on the table and clumsily unraveled it.
“Gosh, can’t remember the last time I went to a club. Is it always this hot?” Pim fanned himself lazily. Charlie took note that Pim’s accent always gets stronger the more inebriated he gets. Cute is not the word he would like to use but it is the only word that his foggy brain could stir up. Pim took time to undo a few buttons to reveal a small snippet of pink skin that glistened with sweat. A strong growl came from Charlie’s stomach and it snapped him away from the sight. As soon as his eyes met the bartender, he ordered a basket of wings for them.
“Y’know,” Pim now laid the side of his head flat on the table. He grimaced from the unanticipated stickiness but couldn’t be bothered to move. “Just thought about it…for some reason you never talk about it but I was curious, how’re things going with Zoey?”
“Oh, Zoey? No, yeah, we broke up.” Charlie played with the straw he found earlier in his mouth by flicking it up and down.
Pim’s eyes widened in disbelief, breaking away from the gummy residue of the bar.
“You broke up?!” Pim reiterated for clarification. Before Charlie could reply, the wings he anticipated this entire night settled between the pair as the bartender set it down. Pim’s manners overrode his shock momentarily and thanked the waitress along with Charlie before whipping his head back to Charlie who already had a wing in hand.
Charlie went in for a bite but paused at Pim’s dumbfounded stare. “I mean, yeah? We broke up. Not a big deal, it happened forever ago.”
“Forever ago??” Pim exasperated. “What do you mean ‘forever ago’? Why did you not tell me??”
“Like, I don’t know man, it just didn’t seem like something worth mentioning.”
“Not worth mentioning? Charlie, we’re best friends! I would think that’s something you’d tell a best friend!”
“Dude, it’s not a big deal. Seriously.”
“So you're telling me, that you just.. you broke up with your girlfriend of two years?? And ‘tis no big deal??”
“People get divorced after, like, being together forever. Two years isn’t any reason to make so much of a fuss.”
“Charlie.” Pim said in aggravation but it dispelled with a sigh that slumped his shoulders. “I’m uh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make this about me. I’m just…gosh it’s really difficult to think straight, I’m sorry. Just forget all that stuff I said. What I wanted to say is that I’m really sorry you guys broke it off.”
Pim reached out and placed both of his hands on top of Charlie’s, giving him those big earnest eyes Charlie hated. Charlie allowed the touch but did not care for the empathy behind it.
“Dude.” He started off as he does with most sentences. “It’s okay. I don’t need big ol’ pitiful eyes or nothin’. Like I said, ‘happened a while ago.”
“Can I ask what happened?” Pim’s hands stayed steady on Charlie’s while tippiness had the remainder of his body subtly swaying.
“Rather not talk about it.” Charlie slipped his hands from Pim’s touch.
Pim appeared a little disheartened at losing Charlie’s touch but kept to himself. The music serving as background noise during their prior conversations filled in the silence settling amidst the two. Pim glanced at Charlie then back to the bar, then back to Charlie before settling on the bar once again.
“I know you…you, uh, don’t want to talk about it but if you wanted to get it off your chest, or y’know, vent to me, you know you can, right? Cause that’s what friends are for.” Pim nearly mumbled the last part and kept his eyes focused on the condensation dripping down his half-empty glass.
Charlie knows Pim is simply wanting to be a good friend and give a lending ear, he knows it. Yet an anger is bubbling inside him and it starts swelling at the fact that he doesn’t know why Pim’s attentiveness is aggravating him. He grits his teeth.
“Yeah, I know.” Is all that Charlie can manage to get out.
“It just makes me sad because I think you’re great, Charlie. I really hope she wasn’t the one to break up with you, I mean, I can’t imagine why she would.” Pim clearly senses Charlie’s irritation but his words are hurling out at this point. It’s instinctive for Pim to comfort despite being well aware Charlie is quick to decline it.
“Gotta say, Pim.” Charlie aggressively tapped the bar while looking around. “All this talk about keeping things from each other and man, again, gotta say—you don’t talk much about your dating life either.”
“I-”
“I mean there was uh..come on help me out.” Charlie pretended to look in thought then began snapping his fingers. “Oh yeah! There was that chick, what was her name? Shrimpina? Wait, waiiit. No it was, uh, it was Jennifer, right? But that wasn’t really dating, was it? Like you just had some parasocial crush on her or something? Oh my god, that’s right! You didn’t even know her.” Charlie signaled the bartender for another round of drinks.
“You don’t need to be a jerk, Charlie.” Pim’s eyes became glossy, the liquor heightened his emotions and made him unable to mask he was hurt. Though, being sober wouldn’t lessen the sting.
Charlie took the drinks handed to them and passed one to Pim. “Aw Pim, come on, don’t be like that. You brought it up, didn’t you? All I’m pointing out is that you’re, like, way too nosey about my dating life for someone who hasn’t had one.”
Pim couldn’t muster up to say anything because it felt like something was blocking his airway. Charlie became a giant yellow blob from sudden tears obstructing his vision.
“Listen, listen. I’m only pointing it out cause I think it’s a little weird. Like, you have all these fantasies about dating chicks but never managed to score. Seven years, seven years, I’ve known you and not a single date. It’s got me thinkin’..are you gay?” Charlie peered over the brim of his drink to look at Pim.
Pim’s brows narrowed with wide eyes underneath, clearly at a loss for words.
“Hey, all the power to you. There isn’t any shame if you are.” Charlie quickly clarified. “My uncle has dipped his toes in that territory once or twice. So like, again, no shame.”
“Am I…” Pim began to repeat the question only to waver. He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it. I know that I want kids of my own and I wouldn’t really be able to do that with a man. So, I uh, I don’t think I am.”
“All I’m saying is that it would make, like, a lot of sense.” Charlie added.
“Make sense..?” Pim squinted.
“I mean look at you Pim.” Charlie used a single digit from his hand that held the brim of the glass to point at Pim. “The way you present yourself, your mannerisms, the drinks you order, I don’t know, man, it’s definitely signaling gay.”
“That all sounds a bit prejudiced, Charlie.”
Charlie paused to finish off his drink before laughing. “What? Prejudiced? Pim, I’m not sayin’ any of that is a bad thing. I’m just pointing it out ‘tis all.”
Pim bit down on his bottom lip. Were his mannerisms really that flamboyant? Pim lingered on his supposedly “girly” drink sitting on the bar. He immediately dismissed the thought because so what if it was? That shouldn’t dictate his sexuality. Charlie is just drunk and being a massive dick which is exactly why Pim wanted him to take it easy on the drinking tonight.
“And you?” Pim frowned.
“And me, what?”
“Are you gay?”
Charlie raised his brows at the question, somehow surprised that the question was thrown back at him. He practically chugged down his last drink and now felt the consequences of it, feeling so lightheaded that he couldn’t be entirely sure his head was still attached to the rest of his body. Even with that in mind, Charlie made an attempt to exit from his seat which went as well as he expected. Pim quickly stood from his seat to catch the staggering critter.
“Pim, I’m gonna be so honest, I think I’m gonna hurl.” Charlie slumped into Pim’s aid.
“Yeah, no dip.” Pim muttered while struggling to hold Charlie upright.
Having someone less than half Charlie’s size make an attempt to assist him to the bathroom was a humbling experience to say the least. A share of glares and concern were given as they trudged forward through the sea of bodies to reach the bathroom which felt like an entire football yard away at this point. The experience felt less claustrophobic if Pim kept his eyes squeezed shut while squirming through the mass. But at a certain point his eyes were forced open, feeling Charlie slip from his grasp and get absorbed by the crowd. He dug…and dug…and dug until Charlie got hooked back underneath his arm. Pim became defeated by the sight of a long line outside the bathroom. His eyes darted to the front then to the back before sucking in some air.
“Um, excuse me?” Pim looked up at critter manning the front of the line. “I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to cut but would it be possible for my friend and I to jump in front? He went too heavy on drinking and it’s all about to come up.” The critter looked to Charlie who accepted the embarrassment at this point and simply waved. He appeared annoyed by the intrusion but gestured for them to go ahead. Right as he did, the occupant of the bathroom staggered out and Pim looked over his shoulder to thank the other over and over while they entered the bathroom.
Fortunately for their sake, it was a one person stall. Unfortunate for everyone waiting in line though. The stall appeared to be relatively clean. Not the usual scene of paper towels wadded and discarded all over the floor but it being the men’s restroom where most opt out on basic hygiene, that might be the reason behind it. Pim busied himself with collecting paper towels while Charlie got comfortable by leaning against the sink.
“Excuse me, Charlie.” He reached behind the other to turn on the sink and ran water over the paper towels he gathered. Pim spent the next few seconds squeezing and folding the paper towel into a neat square. “How’re you feeling?”
Charlie swallowed, only able to think about how annoyingly considerate Pim was being despite everything. “M’ fine.” He turned his head to look at the graffiti on the wall.
“Not really sure how much this’ll do for you but you look really warm." When Charlie turned back to see what Pim was referring to, he immediately jumped at the sensation.
“Fuck man, that’s cold!” He winced and childishly dodged the paper towel Pim attempted to press onto his forehead. But he quickly conceded when every movement he made almost had him connect to the floor.
“Just stay still and let me know when you’re gonna throw up.” Pim mumbled through exhaustion and tipsiness. An all too familiar guilt struck Charlie. Instead of making any complaints that would further sour Pim’s mood, he chose to stay quiet for once. Charlie couldn’t look Pim in the eyes so they looked everywhere else and eventually landed on that fragment of pink skin Pim had revealed earlier with just a few buttons. The pit of his stomach longed for those wings he didn’t get the opportunity to eat.
The cold of the wet paper towel didn’t do much service with the warmth of Pim’s hand pressing into it—not to mention his small body pressing into Charlie’s own in order to reach his forehead. Charlie bit the inside of his cheek that must’ve been mangled at this point. Pim is always so casual in his affection, Charlie wonders if Pim ever dwells on it. His thoughts then jumped to how far Pim’s affection goes. His favorite display of affection is kissing people on the mouth he considers friends for crying out loud. Charlie can’t imagine what it would even be like if that someone was his girlfriend.
Charlie tests the water by placing a single hand on top of Pim’s head.
“Charlie? Are you okay?” Pim tilted his head to the side, looking genuinely concerned.
Another strike to the inside of Charlie’s cheek as he bared his teeth down hard enough to draw blood. Releasing his cheek from the imprisonment of his molars, Charlie soothed himself by subtly licking his upper lip instead. His hand shifted and slid itself to the back of Pim’s neck.
“I-Is there something you’re trying to say? Do you ,uh, need to throw up?” Pim stiffened when Charlie pushed himself off the sink, now cupping the side of his face. Charlie couldn’t discern whether the thumping came from the surrounding bass or his heart trying to break free of his ribcage.
Charlie parted his lips.
He could blame this on being too drunk.
He leaned in.
He can blame this on being too drunk.
The sight of Pim reciprocating had Charlie dizzy.
He will blame this on being too drunk.
But no sensation came to his lips. What sensation he did receive was a cold sweeping his body when Pim peeled himself away. Charlie opened his eyes to see Pim across from him and backed against the wall, vigorously shaking his head.
“No.” Pim glared up at Charlie. “No, no, no.”
“What do you mean-”
“You can’t–no, you don’t get to do that.” The gloss that glazed Pim’s eyes during their argument now quickly spilled over. But none of those tears even had the chance to reach the bottom as Pim wiped them away with his forearm.
“You don’t get to insult and belittle me then just…then just expect me to kiss you, Charlie!”
“Huh, belittling you? Pim what are you even talking about?”
“Are you serious right now?” Pim laughed lethargically and despite the situation sobering him up considerably, his words still slurred. “You make fun of me for my—essentially my nonexistent dating life then jump to the conclusion it’s because I’m gay?? Not only that but you made all these assumptions based on stereotypes or, I don’t know, that I just don’t fit into your idea of what’s masculine?? Really don’t even know where to start with that. But the worst part is that this all came from you, y’know, my best friend!”
Tears came pouring out of Pim like a broken faucet now. They came so quickly that Pim could not even be bothered to sponge them through the shoulder of his sleeve.
“Why would you even care if I was? If that was the case?” Pim spoke in between sobs. “If you wanted to know that bad, you could– could just skip all the insults and ask like any normal person.”
Charlie started to suspect the urge to vomit came from his guilt boiling to an overflow inside. He made this mess yet hadn’t a clue on how to go about cleaning it up. At this point Pim’s weeping fell like torrential rain and showed no signs of stopping—neither did the words hurling out Charlie’s mouth.
“I mean, are you really surprised, man?” Charlie crossed his arms and his back found the sink once again. “I can’t ask like a normal person when you don’t act like one. I mean, all your hugging and telling me you, like, love me or whatever..kissing my head, or I don't know—when you cling onto me because you can’t not not touch me or something, dude.”
“Really, Charlie?” Pim stood dejected, unsure what to say at this point. “Are you…are you tryin’ to say I lead you on? Is that what you’re getting at..?”
“Yeah, man.” Charlie doubled down.
“Genuinely…I’m not sure what to say.” Pim looked down meekly. “I guess..I’m uh, sorry. For leading you on? Is that all this is about, really? Did I actually hurt your feelings?”
Pim paused.
“Do you…have feelings for me?”
Charlie froze momentarily but melted with a stunned laugh. “Dude, no.” He had to physically wave the notion off. “I just thought you liked me, I didn’t want to make things weird by like, havin’ to reject ya or something.”
“Well, I guess you’ll be happy to, uh, know that I only see you as a friend, Charlie.” The tears finally came to a halt, leaving his eyes swollen and face bright red.
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
Charlie swallowed down the burning sensation building up his throat. “Uh, that’s uh…” He trailed off when the burn shot back up and could barely hold it. “Hold that thought.” Charlie said in a concentrated breath before lunging towards the toilet where he dispelled a night’s worth of drinking. Pim slightly cringed at the sight. Nonetheless, he joined Charlie’s side and provided a few comforting pats. Charlie began a prayer that by God’s good grace, he won’t remember tonight.