"Alright, now Garroth I don't think you're prepared for the amount of amazingness you're about to experience. The beauty, the glory, the sheer power of this mystic place. The-" 

"It's his shitty bar." 

"I like to describe it as....special," Finn says as if he's unsure while giving the stink eye to Harrison. 

"Anyway, welcome to Sorea, oh hey Bill!" A man from a seat not too far away waves happily before going back to his conversation with his friend. The bar was dimly lit, wooden tables scattered about with a large counter with a great amount of alcohol littered in a display behind it. Garroth had never been much of a drinker but the place made him feel comfortable as he glanced around and Finn ran around, slid on some tables to serve his customers while Harrison tended the counter. "G Ro get over here you can't leave a bar without a drink." Harrison had shouted and immediately everyone in the room held up their drinks with agreement. It felt like such a friendly environment so how could Garroth resist?  

"Alright alright, maybe just one." 

-

It was 11 o'clock now and Laurance had begun to worry. His parents were asleep in his bed while he still paced in the kitchen once in a while glancing at the TV playing some show and hoping it'd give him some magical power to skip time until Garroth got home. Maybe the two actually did murder his boyfriend. Suddenly the door opened and Laurance's eyes lightened up until noticing the blonde's state and the nervous expressions on the other two. 

"Garroth?" 

"Ah! Laurie my beautiful hubby I'm home! I um I had fun." The brunette was quickly pissed as he glared down the two behind him who shrugged apologetically as Garroth ran up and lazily threw his arms around Laurance. 

"What did you two do to him?" 

"We uh didn't realize his tolerance was as low as it was..." Harrison muttered. Laurance sighed before waving them away angrily and they quickly left, not wanting to die tonight. He looked down at the blonde in his arms who was hazily smiling back. 

"Woah, okay Gar just...let's get you to bed." The blonde let go, stumbling backward, his eyes were clouded and the aroma of alcohol tainted the air. Laurance groaned before reaching out to grab the indignant blonde man, who jumped back, playfulness rising in him. 

"You're gonna have to catch me sugar bear~." Laurance scoffed, disgusted by the nickname while shaking his head in response. Why did he trust his neighbors in the first place? 

"Garroth, no. We're not children. Please...just go to bed." Climbing up on the couch, Garroth smirked and giggled. 

"Aw...don't give me such a frowny face Laurie~!"  Laurie dragged his palm down his face with an exasperated sigh, glaring at his drunk boyfriend between his fingers. It was 4 in the afternoon for Irene's sake and the two idiots, of course, had to give him something to deal with. Not like the breakfast this morning wasn't enough craziness for the day. He took a deep breath before walking towards the couch. Immediately, Garroth jumped away to the armchair, still giggling. 

"Garroth, please. I just want a relaxing afternoon." At that defeated statement, Garroth lost all of his playfulness and stumbled up to Laurance, sorry written plainly on his forehead. "Thank you." He gave a pleasant smile and began leading him to the bedroom. His relaxing afternoon was now beginning to look promising before the blonde spoke up again just as he opened the door. 

"Are we gonna play a game, Laurie?" 

"No." 

"Please?" 

"I said no. Go to bed." It was adorable and funny to see him acting like such a child, but he would rather talk to a sober Garroth. He was really tired of acting like a parent. The blonde was giving his best puppy eyes and pouty lip, but Laurance would never give in to such tactics. 

- 

"Okay, your turn!" Garroth had picked up a card that was a double purple card and was getting closer to reaching King Candy. When he said he wanted to play a game, he thought Candyland was the least straining one he could pick out of his closet. He grudgingly picked up a card which was an orange space and only brought him forward two spaces. I can't believe I gave in. The puppy eyes were too strong. The front door burst open, causing the two players to jump and turn to look at what caused it. Dante and Travis stood at the door, panic written on their faces, especially when they saw the two playing Candyland. 

"It's worse than we thought," Dante grumbled before walking over and trying to drag Garroth away with Travis. 

"What in Irene's name are you two idiots doing?" Laurance stood up, rushing to the door. 

"Well, we found out that Garroth got drunk so we have to pull him out of the state," Travis stated, a matter of factly, looking down at the confused blonde. 

"He just needs to sleep then he'll have the hangover and be fine. No need to do uh...whatever the hell you're doing." The two looked at each other with knowing looks before nodding their heads. 

"Laurance," Dante began, "Garroth is different when he gets drunk. He starts acting like a child and he stays like that unless we break him out of it. I know it doesn't make sense but that's how it is." Laurance sighed in response, completely speechless. 

"What do you do to break it hm?" They looked at each other again, unsure of whether to say it or not. 

"Just trust us. I know we're almost always not trustworthy but this time you have to." Travis responded sincerely, pleading to Laurance in his bright green eyes to let them go. He hesitated but shooed them away nonetheless. After all, he could use some peace and quiet after all of the chaos occurring at his apartment anyway. All three left the room while Laurance remained and decided to do some work to get ahead of his job. He never spoke about it much because he didn't find it interesting. It was just a simple office job at a large company's branch where he sat in a cubicle all day long, mindlessly typing words that appeared on the emotionless screen. You know, the stereotypical office job that everyone says they're afraid they'll be stuck with. Then there was Garroth, who got to work for Elppa and test new technologies, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff in Laurance's opinion.

He had gotten a lot of work done that he was slacking on because he would rather be at home, even though he knew he shouldn't. He had just finished that last page to one of his bagillion assignments when the door burst open again. Why could no one just politely knock? Or at the least calmly walk in?

"We're back with a clean and sober Garroth!" Travis shouted excitedly and Laurance chuckled to himself as he stood up from his office chair. When Laurance appeared at the door frame, Garroth was back to his normal self with rosy cheeks of embarrassment.

"How did that even happen Garroth?" Laurance chuckled while Garroth kept avoiding contact. The chuckling ceased and eventually, the blonde mustered an answer that seemed hesitant.

"Well, you know how they are heh. I just got sucked into it, sorry." Laurance could tell there was a hidden lie in there somewhere. Even though he had not known Garroth for years, he could still tell easily when the man was lying. Travis and Dante left after the weird situation and it left the two men to deal with the rest of the night before waking up all over again in the morning.

"So, did you like Finn's bar? Oh, what was it called again? It was something stupid...Soret? Srea? I don't know." Laurance wanted to start a conversation after the incident from an hour ago. The night was beginning to dawn on them while Garroth tried to make a basic meal so Laurance could eat something healthy instead of fast food. He did always get in the bad habit of eating poorly when stressed about his job.

"Um...it was fine. It's Sorea by the way." His hesitation was evident and Laurance wasn't buying anything he was selling.

"What's wrong? Did something bad happen? Besides the erm...situation." He had gotten off the couch to try and meet him face to face because he knew Garroth couldn't lie if he was looking Laurance dead in the eyes. He continued to try and avoid the entrancing death glare of Laurance, focusing on cooking the chicken breast evenly on both sides.

"No. We just...hung out. Well, they did some...things but I kinda stood away from that."

"Garroth." Laurance had enough. He whipped Garroth around, grabbing his cheeks with one hand so he had no way of escaping now.

"I already told you! Would you quit it already?" He panicked yelled, trying to rip Laurance's hand off his cheeks.

"Tell me the truth. What happened?" His demeanor was cold, it was a rare side that Laurance had and it chilled Garroth to the core.

"I...." He started, and Laurance let go while Garroth let out a sigh. He knew there was no escape now. "Can you turn around when I tell you? I don't want to see the look on your face."

"No, you'll probably just try and get out of telling me again." Laurance crossed his arms, demeanor unchanging.

"I promise I won't. Swear to Irene." The brunette sighed, accepting it and turning his back to Garroth. He didn't understand what could be so horrible from a night at Finn's stupid bar. They've told each other awful things in the past and they never had to do this. Garroth moved the chicken breasts to a plate so they wouldn't burn, took a deep breath and began to let it out.

-

"Zaneeeeeee!" Aphmau continued to pound on the emo's door. 

"I said go away Aphmau!" The emo shouted back from within his cave and Aphmau huffed while blowing a piece of hair out of her face. Zane had been hiding in his house more than he normally did and she had had enough. She wanted to make sure he was okay because frankly, she was beginning to become increasingly worried. 

"But I have a new special edition pony I know you'd just loveeeeeee!" This always worked. Zane couldn't ever resist his guilty pleasure so she always knew just how to get him out of the house. 

"I don't care." It was less audible. It sounded dead and cold the words he spoke. Aphmau was left paralyzed in place, unable to react. Yes, Zane was always a bit standoffish but he would never say such words to Aphmau. Ever. He'd grumble and say he didn't care with a mumbly tone of a teenager, but nothing that sounded so cold. What could have happened to her best friend? 

"Z-Zane...please let me come in. I just want to help you." Her rising worry was increasing more and more, her heartbeat beginning to pound faster against her chest. There was no response for a long while, but she stood and waited. She could tell he was on just the other side of the locked door that separated them. 

"Just go home Aphmau." It was the last words he spoke before footsteps and Zane had left the door. His house remained desolate and Aphmau felt colder than ever in the winter wind. The cold air slashed at her face but she remained on the porch for another hour. She eventually stood up, taking careful steps down the street as tears stained her cheeks. 

Well that was interesting! Getting into some serious stuff huh? I've written a lot of short stories and they're normally serious so sorry it just kind of happens. I'm super duper sorry for being gone for so long and that this measely chapter doesn't make up for it. Thank you for anyone still here and willing to read more! I have ideas now and I'm prepared to write them out for you guys and I hope you'll stick around for the ride. I love and appreciate you all. I will try to work on Superior next. If you have any suggestions please let me know, I get writer's block ;-;. 

Much love,

UHW <3