Chapter Text
The music was more than loud out there, lights dancing and flashing around.
And tonight, Santa was here exactly for that. In the need of freedom after a charged week at work, he invited some friends to go out in that old place they were always meeting up back in high school.
In the middle of the crowd dancing and singing, Santa was completely free of worries, back in his element, while his friends, Pond and Joong, were holding their drink, vibing on the music beside him too.
On the stage tonight, there were old artists after old artists everyone knew and loved in this place. The music never stopping, and the crowd moving with it hours after hours.
Eyes close, body moving on rhythm, only music played in Santa’s head, letting no space for thoughts. As Pond approached with a new glass, leaning forward to talk to him above the music, he opened them slightly.
Pond : Here’s your drink !
Santa smiled wide with his daily liveliness and wai'ed quickly at him, taking the drink from his hands, and asking back.
Santa : Thanks, Phi ! Did you see P’Joong ? Where did he go ?
Pond only shrugged, not knowing where their third friend disappeared in the crowd, and took his phone from his pocket, texting him.
Santa went back to feeling the music, sipping a bit from his new drink.
Suddenly, the music started to fade slowly, followed by the flashing lights, letting the stage under a dim and foggy spot. The crowd, moved by this unusual moment, was focus on the stage, whispering.
Slowly, a silhouette appeared on stage.
Like an angel, thought Santa, now completely focused on this new person, of whom only the silhouette was visible. And soon the stranger’s voice filled Santa’s mind, soft and just above a whisper, spraining his heart in a way he never felt before.
Stranger : Everyone… Please have me tonight. I hope we will move together for this one night away of time…
When Pond turned to Santa, to say something about this new artist, he found him completely focus on the stage, like the crowd had faded around him. He gently bumped into Santa’s shoulder, making him shudder slightly and turning back to Pond with an interrogation in the eyes.
Pond : Joong answered me, he’s good, just came back home…
He made a knowing smile, indicating that “home” surely wasn’t his own. Santa chuckled and opened his mouth to say something too, but suddenly the music started again.
New music.
New sound.
New lights.
New feelings.
And a new person. Santa looked back at the stage only to freeze instantly.
The music was flowing inside him, wanting to make him dance and lose himself. But instead, he stayed there, looking at the stage, directly into the stranger’s eyes, now perfectly visible.
He, usually restless, was now still like a statue, contrasting with the flow of the crowd.
A completely new feeling washed over him like a tsunami, like he knew this person before, like his music should be IV in his skin, like only the stranger existed in this place.
At this precise moment, everything stopped existing around Santa, the sound muted in his head, his heart beating hard against his chest, throbbing in his ears.
Holding a mic on stage, Perth was giving his all to the crowd, singing his song with all his heart. His body and mind were free of worries. Moving on the stage, he followed the sound and the way the crowd guided him too. The lights were blinding him a bit, but he could still see some faces in front of him.
One face.
He was standing in the middle of the crowd, not moving, not dancing, but looking directly at him like he could read inside him. And everything faded around him, like he was the only person truly listening to him.
In the middle of a crowd dancing and singing, there were now two strangers looking at each other like nothing else mattered anymore.
A spectator and an artist.
An artist and a spectator.
Both and neither at the same time.
Pond was dragging Santa outside, the place closing. He glanced, a bit worried, at his friend who hadn’t said a word since the last artist on stage, like he was lost in his mind. Santa didn’t even hold back against Pond when he pulled him to his car.
Pond : Gonna drive this time. Your condo or mine ?
But Santa didn’t answer, completely lost in his thoughts. More confused, his usually lively and restless friend now mute and still in a way he had never seen before, Pond insisted.
Pond : Santa !
He shook his shoulder.
Pond : Where do you want me to drop you tonight ?
At that movement, Santa suddenly came back to reality and blinked multiple times before answering, his smile and liveliness back like always.
Santa : Oh ! Hum, my condo is fine, thanks Phi.
Raising an eyebrow but saying nothing more, Pond drove to Santa’s place, dropping him off there, and then came back to his own condo.
Santa finally reached his door, opening it quickly.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him or what happened this night, but he knew for sure he needed to shower right now
Inside the bathroom, he quickly removed his clothes and stepped under the water, the cold washing all over him. As the water ran, he found himself wandering back to this silhouette he saw, like in a dream, and those dark eyes staring right in his soul in a soft but devastating way.
He let himself slide against the wall, until he was sitting there, under the water, trying to cool out his mind, but nothing did.
After a while he finally went back to his room, still not better but not wanting to be sick because of a cold shower.
This night, Santa stared at the ceiling, not able to erase this stranger from under his eyelids.
And he was not the only one.
In his bed, his girlfriend sleeping beside him, Perth was staring the same way at the ceiling, wondering about this stranger and the things he felt back there just with a look.
He didn’t know his name, his age, or anything, only the way his eyes looked at him, signaling.
He shouldn’t be thinking about that, in the middle of the night, his girlfriend sleeping peacefully, unaware of the tumult in his head.
But the memories were indelible.