What remains - A collection of Duskwood Oneshots

Fate in a Buried Tub

The look of surprise on his face is mirrored on her features. "It is..you?" "What the hell?" they say in unison.

*******

It was a Saturday evening and people were flocking to one of the last house parties of the semester. Climbing the stairs to the second floor it dawned on Jake that the apartment was packed with people already.

"Ugh. I can't believe I let you drag me here. I should be working on my final project." "Oh come on, " Rob retorted. "We still have two weeks to hand it in. And, unlike me, you don't even need the credit anymore. I still can't believe you talked our Prof into granting you extra credit for your side hustle." Rob was not wrong. Jake had been working at a Cyber Security firm all year parallel to his studies. With his boss and their professor being old friends he could even use one of his recent assignments as his final project.

"But did it have to be a motto party?" Jake asked. "Crooks and Hoodlums!" Rob beamed, waving his plastic Tommy Gun that shot soap bubbles. Everyone around them was dressed up. There were some Blues Brothers, several characters that look like they climbed out of a second grade mafia movie, a few pimps, and so on.

As soon as they made it through the door, they were greeted by Pete, one of the hosts. "Hey guys, good to see you! Help yourself to some beer. We are keeping it cool in the tub." He gestured toward a door. From the looks of it, the bathroom was the most popular room of this party. "There is also some food in the kitchen." Rob patted Pete's shoulder. "Did you invite the entire University?" "Almost," Pete laughed. "There are plenty of people from the Physics and Math department, the weirdos from History and Languages and I think the entire geosciences department showed up. As usual when there is free beer involved."

Pete was called away and Jake and Rob proceeded to the infamous tub, where they ran into a few more familiar faces. A conversation, however, was barely possible over the blasting music. The group drifted back into the hallway and Jake ended up leaning against one of the bedroom doors observing the others playing Singstar on Pete's Playstation. None of the participants would be competing in The Voice anytime soon.

After a while, Jake noticed that the wall next to him, between this and the other bedroom door, was plastered with photos. He moved on to study the images capturing other house parties, dinners in the garden downstairs and various other outings. It looked like this collection spanned many years and must have been inherited and continued by new roommates moving in.

Suddenly, a girl, noticeably also not dressed up for the motto, came storming out of the second bedroom, tailed by a handful of clearly intoxicated friends. "I won't stand here letting you call me a bore, just because I did not feel like dressing up as Patty Hearst or whatever." "Well, this is my party, Maya," one of the girls said, slurring her words. "And I say that the punishment for showing up in civilian clothes is that you have to show your wild side right now." The flock behind her giggled. "I'll show you alright." Maya swirled around, almost colliding with Jake. For a second, they looked at each other in equal surprise. Then he noticed a devious twinkle lighting up in her eyes. And before he understood what was happening, she put her hands to his face, bringing him even closer to her, and pressed her lips to his. Her scent of lilac, citrus and honey was intoxicating and for a moment the blasting music and all the people around them faded to nothing. Jake could not help himself but kiss her back, while the girls behind her gasped in unison. He could feel her lips twist into a smile, followed by a slight nibble on his lower lip. As their kiss deepened even further, she raised herself up to her toes, closing even more distance between them.

They were both gasping for air, when they finally parted. Jake's heart was racing. Maya was flushed as well. Her now rose colored cheeks made her look even more adorable. "Hi" she said with a smile that caused his heart rate to skyrocket even further. "H-hi...," Jake stuttered. Before he could add anything more eloquent, she was dragged away by her friends, raising her free hand palm up and shrugging in an apologetic gesture.