Safespace

Beer and Rum

He was editing this little shit's videos. Aleks, for some reason or another, really loved to go out for drinks a few hours before his videos were scheduled to be up on his personal channel, and this left the only unsociable person, who also didn't like dealing with his drunk friends, alone. After Jordan found him sitting there, picking his ass, he was admitted to the amazing roller coaster of editing his best friend's videos.

The current video he was looking at was a solo video of Aleks playing CS:GO. James squinted, and could see his figure in the background of Aleks' office, spraying the noxious fart spray. He chuckled to himself, after he forgot actually doing that. He would most definitely leave that in there, along with Aleks screaming at him like a small child and throwing something at him.

He quickly finished, really not trying too hard to make the editing good. He started the slow uploading process onto Aleks' channel, adding something to the description along the lines of "I'm a fucking piece of shit." and putting the link to his own channel about twenty times. He quietly snickered, knowing that they could be back anytime to check up on him and then go home. He closed the programs as soon as possible, practically leaping out of the chair and doorway as the numbers on the clock kept rising higher.

By about midnight he was eating cereal. He looked at the box, recognizing a bootleg version of Captain Crunch covered the cardboard. Damn this office and its cheapness.

Intern Joe finally popped in, smelling like margaritas and buffalo wings. He looked around for a moment, obviously somewhat in a buzzed daze. His eyes finally found the Puerto Rican, and he smiled. he jumbled off some stupid shit they did- namely the fact that they filmed a video without him. The fans would probably comment on his absence, especially since James shows up in nearly every video. James could tell his guilty smirk painted his face from ear to ear, but Joe took no notice and quickly went to the bathroom.

The others trickled in slowly, Jordan and Dan carrying in more liquor. The small Russian boy slumped on the old couch outside the kitchen, in James' view, and it became apparent to him that Aleks was most definitely not feeling well. James smirked, not in a menacing way, but in a troublesome sort. Aleks would not find out about his video's description until he woke up again in the morning and looked at the comments. James could hide away from his Communist fury until tomorrow.

Suddenly, Aleks erupted up a deep brown color- a mixture of beer and rum filled the air and James gagged. The pungent odor trickled in his mouth, his nose, and it felt like it was nearly suffocating him. He awkwardly stepped over to the boy- Jordan and Dan were probably getting more wasted, and Joe was taking a shit, unknowing of what happened. No one else could help him, and so James offered him a clean, yet hesitant hand.

Aleks hummed, his stomach calming down from the flaming bile inside. He gripped James' hand, putting his weight into him. Pulling him up from the couch was a challenge, and both boys nearly fell over in the process, but they got up. Aleks stumbled forward, into James' hoodie. James seemed to freeze up completely. He could smell all the alcohol, and it sickened him, but at the same time, Aleks was so warm. It was strange, but after a night of editing, James was so sleepy that he wrapped his arms around the smelly boy carefully, trying to not put pressure on him in any way. After a moment, he backed away, and put Alek's arm on his shoulder, guiding him to the office exit.

Aleks looked sheepish, and blubbered out some incomprehensible words in a panic.

"What?" James whispered, trying not to alert the other boys of what happened.

"I..." Aleks gulped back the vile spit that covered his tongue. "I need to clean it, James."

James was taken back by his consideration, and sat him back down on a semi-cleaner part of the couch, much to Aleks' protests. He could shower later anyway at home.

Now that he thought about it, where was he going to drop him off? Aleks was wasted, 100%. Aleks had a lot of valuable equipment in his house, and he was a somewhat bipolar drunk. James would thank him later.

James grabbed the entire roll of paper towels, a trash bag, and some yellow gloves from the cabinet that was usually used in his more idiotic videos. He scrubbed quickly at the thick fabric of the couch, but to no avail. The smell remained, but luckily it did decrease. He continued for a good twenty minutes until the room was clean enough to pass by his examination. He heard the drunk giggles of Dan and Jordan, and the light clicking of Joe editing videos. James sighed a breath of assurance.

He glanced over, seeing the Russian boy had fell asleep in a sort of fetal position as to avoid a wet splotch on the fabric that was once puke. He chuckled quietly, cleaned up, and carefully shook the boy awake. He woke up smiling, like a little boy on Christmas, and it was adorable to James.

"You did it?" He mumbled sleepily. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, and looked down at the couch. He was sobering up from getting the alcohol out of his system. He grinned at the kinda-clean couch. "Thank you, James." For once, James was surprised at his sincerity.

"Why are you thanking me, you piece of shit?" James held up his hand again, and pulled the Russian up easier than last time.

"That would be embarrassing as shit." Aleks chuckled and stepped drunkenly to the door. James actually had to help him down the stairs. Halfway down, Aleks dropped to his knees, muttering out apologies.

"It's okay, you ass." James smiled warmly, like a patient mother.

"Can I just stay here?" Aleks drooped into the crook of a step. He was red in the face, and looked tired as hell. He looked up at James with gentle, pleading eyes.

"Get up. C'mon." James tried gripping at his arms, and each time the Russian boy would protest and pull away from him. James sighed, embarrassed for a moment, before picking up the boy bridal-style. He tried to hold back his blush as much as possible, but it snuck across his dimples and the apples of his cheek quickly. He looked back at the Russian, but he was snuggled against his chest, completely oblivious to the way James looked at him. James was glad he didn't notice. He never did anyway.

James took the boy home with him. He wanted to keep an eye on him, just in case he got sick again. Truth be told, he also just wanted to keep him for a night. Sleep-overs were rare between the two, so whenever they did happen, James loved every second.

James glanced down again. Now that Aleks was in better lighting, he could see the splotches of vomit on his sweatshirt. He was hesitant to wake the sleeping beauty, but gained enough courage to shake him awake again.

"Fuck you." Aleks said curtly. He narrowed his eyes at James, and stared at him expectantly.

James averted his gaze, not avoiding the glare, but avoiding his blush growing again. "I'm gonna need you to shower." He suddenly thought the wall was very interesting. Definitely not the boy he held in his arms.

Aleks softly slapped at James' chest, trying to get on his feet. He was set down, and he lumbered off to the bathroom. He's been there enough to know his way around.

James stared at the closed door for a while, entranced in his thoughts. His arms tingled from carrying Aleks, even if it was for short periods. He rubbed them thoughtlessly, waiting in the quiet for the boy to come out. He had given him a pair of his own personal pajamas, his favorites; the Ninja Turtle pants and a giant t-shirt. The small frame of the boy was non-existent under the large t-shirt. It dangled past his pelvis gently, and almost looked like a dress. James smirked, earning a slap from Aleks.

"Don't smile at me, asshole." Aleks laughed, and his eyes squinted with his smile. He was processing out the alcohol. and James was relieved at that. Aleks slumped off into the darkness of the living room.

He paused in his steps, hesitant to speak. "Goodnight." He dissapeared from James' sight, and dropped on the couch roughly, making it creak under pressure. "Thank you, James." He barely muttered.

James just hardly picked up what he was saying, but when he understood, he smiled deeply. "No problem, dick-hole."