to all the glowing eyes ✎ joshler

june 25

"yup," josh confirms without taking his eyes off the pan, "take two. i'd give you advil but i ran out of those."

"it's fine. i prefer tylenol anyway."

he does as instructed and takes the pills. hopefully they make the pain go away before the appointment later today... oh god. he almost forgot about the appointment. "could you drop me off at my hotel later?" he sits on the small dining table and finishes the glass of water to make sure the pills go down properly.

"sure. i have to meet ashley somewhere today anyway. what hotel are you staying at?" the sizzling sound of the eggs against the hot pan is music to josh's ears. he makes a mental note to pick up jim from the dogsitter before joining nick and ashley for the ice cream. it'd be cool if the place she picks has dog friendly options for jim, he always misses out on the fun of food.

the pounding headache is definitely his karma for being so confident about downing 6 shots without breaking a sweat. "um... i don't remember the name. i have it on my phone, i think. it's really fancy though, has a huge chandelier on the lobby and a fountain up front," tyler tries to remember the name of the place but it seems to slip off of his tongue. could be another side effect from the alcohol poisoning his veins.

"is it one downtown?"

josh gets a nod as a response, a weak one at that. words are hard when the very act of thinking takes a toll on you.

"damn. you've got money then," he laughs as he splits the eggs between two plates, adding toast on the side. he ran out of bacon on wednesday. "i feel poor by just looking at the buildings when i drive past them."

"my publisher's got the money. i for one, am barely surviving. the starving artist."

carrying both plates and cutlery to the table is as easy as blinking to josh. he picked up a part time job as a waiter on a small italian place back in columbus over summer break back in 2020. he's got his skills down to a science. "don't you live in new york? isn't it expensive there?" he places a plate in front of tyler and one on the side next to him. "coffee or apple juice?"

"i'll take the coffee," tyler takes a bite out of the scrambled eggs. they're probably the best eggs he's ever had. "holy hell. these are amazing. it's a bit expensive, we probably pay more than it's worth."

the mug cabinet is filled with options. josh's got to quite a selection. his favorites are a disneyland mug from his sister ashley, a #1 dad mug from nick for last year's father's day and a singapore mug. he can't remember who gave it to him. it could be from his friend jon, he's always traveling the world. "well thank you. i pride myself when it comes to eggs. do you want any sugar?"

"hm..two sugars, please. i like it sweet."

"coffee with two sugars coming right up."

„"„

after breakfast, they get ready to leave the apartment and go on with their day. tyler's back in his clothes from last night. he can change to a new, fresh outfit in his hotel room. "hey, can i use your bathroom before we leave?" tyler already texted spencer to ask him about the hotel information. it's ridiculous how little he remembered about the place he's staying at.

"yup. it's down the hallway," josh replies while he prepares his backpack for the day.

thanks to his weak stomach he knows where the bathroom is. he still follows directions and arrives at his destination. he does what he needs to do, mostly try not to puke the eggs because of his hangover, and washes his hands afterwards. while getting back to josh's bedroom, tyler notices a door on the opposite end of the hallway. it peaks his interest since josh hasn't mentioned having a roommate or something of the sort at all.