He Was the Air

2: Wet Cigarette

 Fer and Kam had known each other for a good few years working with Omega. It was through Fer that she'd met his brother too. Sven was by far the most put together of the four of them, with something resembling an actual career underway. Fer always figured that Omega could have had one as well, if that's what she was after, but it wasn't his business what someone like her was doing slumming around the nightlife with the likes of them. Kam and Fer though, they were garbage people. And despite their differences, as fellow garbage people, they got along just fine. However, there was this undeniable tension from time to time. Fer had never been entirely sure what to make of it. Some nights were weirder than others. Tonight was feeling like it could be one of the weird ones.

The music lulled for a few between sets. Kam and Fer sat by the picture window with their quiet familiarity listening to the pleasant buzz of chatter behind them.

"Is there anyone you're going to miss?" Kam asked.

Fer took a pensive drag on his cigarette. "Not really, I guess. I'm glad that Sven and I get to go together, and you know..." he trailed off.

Kam smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't have much to leave behind myself. I think that's nice in a way."

"I guess it should be, if there are better things to look forward to," Fer said. "I just can't get out of my head about everything."

Kam half crushed his cigarette in the ashtray as he often did when he was finished. "You were expecting her to come with us, weren't you?" he asked.

Fer wrinkled his brow and ground his own cigarette into the obnoxiously smoldering butt Kam had left between them. "At a point I was, yeah."

"That's got to feel terrible."

"I'm starting to think that's just life, Kam. Everything feels terrible all the fucking time!"

Kam looked into him with those pensive grey eyes. "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Fer snapped.

"Are you gonna be okay? I mean, there'll be someone else. Whatever happened is in the past now."

Fer gave him a bitter look. "I mean, I don't know. Just going to try to be."

Kam took a sip of his drink. "Aliens might be really hot you know."

Fer grinned. "You're such trash, you know that?"

Kam stuck his tongue out in agreement. "Finish your drink. Night's young."

They went back to the bar. The bartender was flying around behind the counter by herself again. Fer checked the time.

Sven came up behind them and interjected cheerfully, "Heya! I've returned."

"Yeah! Everything good then?" asked Kam.

"Good as ever!" he replied.

"Randy said it's on him by the way," Fer said.

"Ooh-hoo!" Sven chortled, "You two are gonna be a hot mess, aren't you?"

Kam laughed. "We do what we can."

The bartender slid over to greet them once more, "Hey y'all. Whatcha got?"

Sven rattled off his own order and Kam took it upon himself to order on behalf of Fer, "Something to cheer this one up."

Fer pushed him playfully and Kam grabbed him by the wrist with a wicked flash in his eye. Fer's terrible knot of emotions was really testing him tonight. Kam made him fucking crazy. Sven wasn't privy to the intense stare between the two as Kam tightened his grip, twisting Fer's arm until Fer snapped free again.