Moonlit Silhouettes

Nightmares.

She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. "Men." Then with a sigh she said. "Well I can't exactly run back home and grab some clothes."

"Oh that's okay, my mom has a whole closet of clothes she's planning on donating to charity. She won't even miss an outfit or two."

They both turned their heads to see Alejandro standing in the doorway, now dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a dark grey T-shirt. His hair was tousled as if he pulled the shirt on quickly and didn't bother smoothing the unruly black curls.

"Speaking of clothes, mind if I borrow some?" Nick asked.

Alejandro made a 'pffft' noise and waved his hand dismissively. "Dude, have you seen my closet? You can have some clothes for all I care." He turned and started walking. "Come on, follow me."

After climbing the winding staircase up to the second floor, and walking down a long hallway, Alejandro opened a pair of double doors into a sprawling master bedroom. He made a beeline for a closet beside the giant four poster, canopy bed. "Feel free to look through and take what you want."

Tala began searching through the clothes as Nick followed Alejandro to his bedroom.

It was set up in the typical teenage boy style, posters on the walls, beanbags scattered in front of the flat-screen TV, various video games and controllers littered the floor, keeping the discarded dirty clothes company.

Alejandro wrinkled his nose at the various food wrappers and remnants of snacks lounging on the bed and nightstand. "I should probably clean up in here..."

Nick tried to hide a smile. "Where's Eula?"

Alejandro pushed a pile of clothes away from the closet door and heaved it open. "Oh, she's on vacation. Apparently my parents thought I was capable of cleaning after myself."

Nick laughed. "Aren't you?"

Alejandro sniffed and leaned against the wall. "Well they can't blame me for not being able to, when you grow up with someone whose job it is to clean after you, you don't really learn basic survival skills."

Nick began to search through the closet as he answered. "Basic survival skills? We're talking about cleaning up your messes."

Alejandro straightened up. "Exactly! Ask wolf-girl, animals have to clean up after themselves, otherwise predators find them easier. Why do you think cats bury their-"

Nick cut him off. "Yeah, yeah! I get it." He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a black T-shirt off a shelf. "These'll work." As he walked out of the closet, he looked at his friend for a moment, and then frowned. "You feeling alright? You're looking kind of pale."

Alejandro shrugged. "I'm fine, just feeling the after effects of that booze."

Nick looked uncertain for a moment.

"Dude, come on! I'm fine. You know what a pre-hangover feels like better than anyone."

Nick chuckled and smacked him lightly upside the head. "Shut up. I'm getting changed."

Alejandro called after him as he walked into the bathroom. "You and wolf-girl take the two guest bedrooms down the hall, they're the ones we keep set up most of the time."

"Got it!" He shouted back.

After changing quickly, he ruffled his brown hair and walked back into Alejandro's room. His friend was sitting in front of the flat screen, headphones on askew as he rapidly clicked buttons on his controller, his character swinging his sword in response.

"I thought you were going to bed?" Nick questioned.

Alejandro shrugged, keeping his attention on the screen. "I'll crash in an hour or two, but for now I'm wired. Might as well use the energy to pass a few levels. Wanna play a few rounds?"