❝ VICES ❞
November 5th, 2020 / November 6th, 2020
WILL WASN'T WEARING SHOES.
It was the beginning of November, and, as Will stated sheepishly, he'd left his shoes at Niki's place in a rush to get to Rory's apartment, meaning he'd run down the street, hailed a cab, and had walked up several flights of stairs (because the elevators were always broken) in his fuzzy, Harry Potter-themed socks their mom had gotten him for Christmas.
Rory had laughed, making fun of his brother's mistake, and then made some hot chocolate for the two to drink when the decided to watch a movie. Newt sat in Will's lap, happily getting pets as Rory laid down on the long part of his L-shaped couch, Will sitting only two feet away with his legs crossed under him.
Tomorrow, when it wasn't nearing 1:00 a.m. and Rory didn't feel like his heart was about to fall out of his chest, he and Eret would stream their 'date.' This also gave Tubbo and Tommy enough time to set up the SMP for a wedding, as Tubbo had excitedly told him twenty minutes before, after the stream had ended. Rory had scolded the boys to go to bed, but he knew they wouldn't listen to him. They rarely ever did.
". . . I was really looking forward to seeing you get Hosted," Will confessed as a shitty Hallmark Christmas movie played on the TV. Rory rolled his eyes, stopping himself from throwing the remote at him when he remembered that Newt was in Will's lap. Will smiled. "Are you okay? From earlier?"
Rory sighed, sitting up. He knew this moment was coming.
". . . I am."
Will glanced at him, clearly not believing Rory's words. ". . . It's okay if you're not. No one is going to blame you."
"I know." Rory took a deep breath. "But I'm tired of being held back by him, Will. I'm tired of panicking whenever I have to see his face, or feeling exhausted whenever we text each other. I got away from him so long ago. I don't want to keep dwelling on him." Will was nodding along, quietly listening to his brother's words. ". . . I'm tired of everyone rushing to make sure I'm okay after something happens," Rory admitted. "And I know everyone cares and that's great, it's so fucking great, but I— I can handle myself sometimes, you know?"
Will frowned. "I know, Rory. No one's doubting that. We just . . . want to keep you safe. You'd do the same for any of us, it's only fair."
Rory shrugged, not meeting his brother's eyes. "I know. It just sucks to be treated differently because of a bad thing," he muttered. Will smiled sadly.
". . . Are you serious about getting a cat?" he asked.
Rory glanced up. He smiled. "Maybe later on, but yeah. I've been meaning to get around to it for a while, but then I went to Florida, then California . . . then Love or Host . . . a lot of crazy things are happening, I need to find time to research and actually introduce Newt to the presence of another animal before I commit to it." Will nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm free whenever and there's an animal shelter right next to my office."
Rory raised his eyebrows. "You know we don't have to do everything together, right?" he teased.
Will rolled his eyes. "Let me have an excuse to play with the cats," he whined. Rory chuckled, leaning back against the couch. ". . . It's getting late, we should both get some sleep," he said, gently encouraging. Rory sighed, nodding.
"Guest room's set up," he told him. Will nodded and stood, holding Newt in his arms. The dog was nearly asleep, eyes half-opened as he felt himself e picked up. Rory and Will walked down the hall to the rooms, reaching the guest room first. "If you're taking him in your room—"
"Leave the door open," Will finished. "I know, I've done this hundreds of times." He gave Rory a quick, one-armed hug, careful not to disturb the sleeping dog. "Night."
"Night." Rory returned the hug before stepping away, heading to his own room. He left his door open slightly, with enough room for Newt to come in if he wanted to. Normally, he didn't sleep well with the door open, but knowing Will and Newt were just down the hall was enough for him to feel safer.
It didn't make falling asleep easier, Rory eventually turning to his phone at 3:00 a.m., even though he felt a little guilty when he remembered that Will would want him to sleep and that his brother was just down the hall.
He turned to Discord and went through a few missed messages for a while before remembering that his status was shown as online. It didn't surprise him, then, when he got a message from Dream and Karl at the same time, just as it shouldn't surprise them that he ignored it. He ignored Eret's message, too, and tried to figure out how he would make his excuse.
(He'd left Discord open, that was it. He'd fallen asleep at two and never left the app. He hadn't stayed up all night following an exhausting 5 hours of Love or Host, and then preceded to livestream on the Dream SMP for the standard two hours livestreams he liked to do. It had been a simple mistake. He'd totally gotten enough sleep.)
(He doubted they would believe him.)
INCOMING FACETIME CALL
techno
ACCEPT | DECLINE
Rory stared at the screen, brows furrowing as he was taken from his Twitter feed to the call screen. His brain stopped for a moment, trying to process the time and the incoming call. Then he sat up, setting his phone on the bed so it faced his ceiling and accepted the call, wondering why Techno was facetiming him at three in the morning. Rory knew timezones were a thing, but Techno surely knew that too, right?
". . . Hello?" Techno asked hesitantly.
Rory fumbled for his headphones. "Hey," he greeted softly, glancing at his bedroom door and wondering if he should get up to close it. "What time is it for you?"
"Eh, half-past seven. What about you?" There was the sound of shifting. Rory realized Techno was probably at his desk. He couldn't see Techno, just as Techno couldn't see him, but that was fine. Rory couldn't hide his face and then expect to see Techno's. "I reckon it's pretty late over there. I saw you were on Discord before you went invisible, decided to call."
Rory hummed, plugging his headphones into his phone and putting the earbuds in as he got up to close the door. "Uh, three," he mumbled. ". . . In the morning."
"Fair enough," Techno sighed. "Can't sleep?"
Rory climbed back into bed, getting under the covers. "No," he admitted, laying down on his side and placing his phone beside him, facing the ceiling once more as it charged. "What are you doing?" he asked when Techno went quiet. It sounded like he was typing something.
"Editing."
"Oh, do we get a new video soon?"
"If I ever get past the intro," Techno joked. Rory chuckled softly. "Great job on the show today. I couldn't imagine going up there and actually rejecting people, never mind my friends," he added, making Rory laugh.
"Still don't know why you wanted me to pick Eret, but I guess it worked out." He smiled softly. "We're getting married tomorrow."
"Oh, am I invited?" Techno asked, catching that Rory's voice was getting quieter. Hopefully that meant the Brit was drifting off to sleep.
"Of course. Should be . . . be in three hours," Rory mumbled as he closed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion of the day finally settle into his bones, weighing him down and anchoring him to the bed. "Or . . . maybe five," he corrected, remembering Eret's message on Discord, still waiting to be responded to. "Hey . . . can you tell Eret that the new time works for me?" he asked softly, not wanting to open his eyes.
"Yeah, give me a second," Techno agreed, typing more rapidly. "And . . . there." A few seconds later, he said, "He says that's fine. I thought his guy was in college, why he is agreeing to stream at midnight?" Techno wondered out loud.
"Holiday for you Californians tomorrow," Rory informed him. "Everyone gets out of school." Techno made a sound of acknowledgment. ". . . Thanks for calling me."
"Of course. Is my typing distracting you?"
". . ."
"Rory?"
". . . No," Rory whispered, drifting in and out of sleep. Techno slowly began typing again, and before Rory knew it, he was pulled into a peaceful, long rest, something he hadn't had the luxury of in the last few months, something he really thought he wouldn't get again.
Maybe in the morning, his ears hurt from having the earbuds pressed into them. Maybe in the morning, Rory felt warm inside when he saw that Techno had never hung up the call. Maybe in the morning, Rory felt more refreshed than he had in days despite getting so little sleep. Maybe he found himself looking forward to the day ahead.
But those maybes were left unsaid, as many things were between the two men.
NOW ON TWITTER!
rory @roarsgold
perhaps one of the funnier moments from last night
(credit to @RORYSBOYS for the captains!!)
VIDEO CAPTIONS:
SCHLATT: I think the fact that I get tons of pussy makes up for that!
RORY: **falls out of chair, fucking dies, idk**
DREAM: **wheezing**
SAPNAP, GEORGE: **nervous laughter**
NIKI: **disappointed but not surprised**
MINX: **loading...**
ERET, QUACKITY: **surprised, shocked laughter**
KARL: **trying not to laugh**
FUNDY: **thinking "why am I here?"**
AUSTIN: **screaming**
rory @roarsgold
on a completely different note, I'm LIVE NOW with @The_Eret on the Dream SMP! getting married today?
NEW NOTIFICATIONS!
roarsgold has gone live! "WEDDING? [DREAM SMP w/ Eret]"
A/N
will probably be making even more
graphics for this book so I might be
making a graphics chapter and then
putting it at the beginning of the book,
probably before the "act one" chap.!