Around two in the morning, Desya and his old group of high school friends went howling out of Tash's apartment. Most of them were stumbling drunk, having to hold onto the stairwell railings or their swaying companions, but they made it to the street. Then proceeded to hurl snowballs at each other, ducking and hollering, like they were fifteen again and at war.
Using a parked car for cover, Akim Nam hunkered by Desya's legs, hurriedly rolling snowballs and passing them up for Desya to fire at unsuspecting faces.
Unlike their friends, Desya and Nam had taken a markedly different path in life. Rather than running around this battlefield in a suit after a day in the office, or having pockets full of lip balm and receipts, they moved with the casual power of a more dangerous life. One accustomed to gunfire, gambling, and beatings in back alleys.
In high school, though, they'd been swimmers. They'd experienced the homework scramble, the occasional late-night parties, and hiding bottles from their parents and coaches. So being here with their old team was like a glimpse of normality. A reminder of a safer world, the sunlit one, since their time was more often spent in its twisted underbelly.
When most drunkards were flat on their backs in the street, Desya joined Dani for a sobering walk to the convenience store. She was one of Alena's roommates back when they lived in the dorms, and she used to bring quite a few girls to bed with her, but after catching sight of Nadia one night, that all ended. These two were still going strong a decade later.
And where was Alena? Giving Ian one hell of the cold shoulder.
Desya scooped bottles of water into a basket, while Tash talked to the cashier about ordering over-the-counter pills for headaches. He was tall enough to see over the shelves, so Nadia and Dani were in sight, jostling each other playfully by the ice-creams.
Suddenly Tash exclaimed: "Haise?"
His gaze instantly shot over.
He blinked at the slender, very pretty man who'd just entered the store with someone else. Haise was looking at Tash with equal surprise, then broke into a wide smile. In a heartbeat, they were hugging, and Haise peppered kisses all over her cheeks.
Tash laughed, squeezing him. "I thought you were still overseas!"
"I got back just two weeks ago." Haise smiled, already glancing around to see who else was here. He spotted the couple by the freezers and bounded towards them. "Nadia and Dani! You're both a sight for sore eyes."
He took Nadia's cheeks in hand and kissed her. Deeply. Then hugged Dani, though he earned a hard thwack on the arm for his teasing, but they were laughing, unsurprised.
Haise was pretty even back in high school, and a notorious player. There was hardly one person in their friend group who hadn't been kissed by him, and he was about the only one to ever steal a few kisses from the inseparable pair, Alena and Ian.
After swinging Dani around in joy, Haise spotted Desya looming by the shelves and paused, blinking slowly. "I thought you were in the slammer, Des."
Desya made his way over, clapping Haise's shoulder in greeting. "But no plans to write me?"
"You need not be jailed to receive my love letters." Haise peered curiously into Desya's basket of about twenty bottles. "Well, dehydration isn't in your future. Are you preparing for the apocalypse?"
"We were having a club reunion, so it must be fate to run into you here of all places," Tash told him. "And it's a good thing Desya could make it. We're going to need him to load all those drunk bodies into taxis home."
"All I am to you is muscle," Desya accused.
She patted his arm solemnly. "Obviously."
"Oh." Haise remembered his own company. "This is Mariam. She's an architect and…"
Uninterested, Desya went to pay with Nadia, since he wasn't overly fond of Haise or whoever Haise was currently fucking.
Of course, once when he was high, Desya had found himself kissing Haise in some dim hallway as a party raved beneath their feet. He was used to hating the sensation of wet warmth, because to him it was as sloppy practice, but when Haise did it, he had learnt sweet, burning pleasure. The sort that pulled him higher, towards some peak, where all he wanted was to tip over the very edge.
But then Haise's hand had snaked lower than Desya expected, and Desya punched him in the face. After being knocked out cold, even Haise was a little reluctant to try his luck again.
Though, admittedly there was something unique about Haise. It always felt like no matter who socked him in the jaw, Haise would bounce back like nothing happened. He kissed whomever he wanted, friends and strangers alike, and tumbled into anyone's bed, but he never once hid those slippery traits.
For someone who'd touched practically every person around him, there was hardly one bridge that Haise had burnt. That spoke volumes of his charm. He was charismatic, and so very good looking, and people fell for his straightforwardness. He put his wants and laughter front and centre, and if anyone failed to handle his everything, then he fell right through their fingers and felt nothing of it.
Despite Ian's frightening possessiveness towards Alena, Haise was likely the closest friend to the couple. The trio spent a lot of time together, especially after high school, even though Haise wasn't a Makken. The dynamic between them always confused Desya. He'd lost sleep and countless bets against Akim Nam trying to figure it out, but labels fell flat when it came to Haise.
Really, Ian's relationship with Haise was rocky, but they'd probably call each other friends. Probably. And, of course, Alena was Alena. Unchanging as always. She shared Haise's humour and enjoyed his company whenever it sporadically burst into her life, but she never clung to him. So while Ian and Alena remained steadfast and calm, like the eye of the storm, Haise was like the hurricane wind churning up stone and sky around them.
It was Haise's deliberate choice to join the Veins rather than the Makkens. But once Ian was out of the picture, Haise left town soon after, and that was that. He was a slippery, loose person, and unless he was directly in front of you, you tended to forget about him.
Dani joined Nadia and Desya at the counter, notably alone, and she shrugged. "Tash always wanted to go a round with him, and he's more than happy to oblige."
Her partner linked arms to hip-bump her. "And what about poor old us?"
"I'd never share you with him!" Dani declared.
Desya jiggled his packet. "This third wheel here would like to change the subject. Do any of you want some water?"
"No thanks, honey," Dani smiled. "We might head off, too. Ignore what Tash was saying, and head home after you toss water to whoever's still there. The wind's already picking up."
Now outside the store, he gave her and Nadia each a side hug, and wished them well.
Nadia mumbled into his arm, "It was really nice seeing you and Nam. You two be careful."
"Sure," he smiled. "We'll see you at the next reunion."
"To the next!" Nadia cheered, and Dani clapped her hands in support.
Desya waved one last time as they got into a taxi, then wandered back to the group. He started handing out water like it was precious rations to starving soldiers in the trenches, and gasped when he was tackled by a few unruly guys who wanted to topple 'the mountain'.
They whooped and wiggled over him like madmen, but he still bumped them into the snow, and stood. He lifted his arms to flex, yelling that he was the strongest, until Akim Nam flew at his knees and helped bury him in the snow.
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