3AM - Strung Out Chapter 9

[miri1984]

 

 

Title: 3AM
Words: 1400
Characters: Andy, Leto, Sorcha, Merrill, Isabela, and other sundries
Summary: After a party hit the red light district. It's fun and educational!
Title Art by the gorgeous Yamisnuffles

Three am in Kings Cross is different from three am in other places. Noisier for one. Smellier too. I mean, the sheer weight of MacDonalds refuse on the pavement would be enough to feed a developing country. And there are lights. And people who make what Andy was wearing earlier look like conservative work clothes.

I've never felt comfortable here. It's not my sort of place, but I love it all the same. I feel a bit naughty for even coming here, but it is the best place to find coffee and nachos after a hard night of drinking and dancing and the six of us Andy, Leto, Isabela, Merrill, Aveline and I, are crowded around a table at the back of the Gnawed Noble watching the one remaining fish in their fish tank stare at us as we shove corn chips and beans in our mouths and drink coffee that will probably only succeed in making me want sleep more…

There are others here too who sort of followed us from the party - Cailan and Alistair and Sigrun are sitting at a table with Nate and I'm pretty sure I can see Cailan's hand is closer to Nate's thigh than his own under the table while Alistair grins goofily at Sigrun and she turns her particular brand of bubbly charm in his direction.

At the moment? I'm sort of high. Not the high I get from pot, because that high for me is all about the crushing weight of nausea (I can never remember not to drink beforehand, it's always been my downfall) but the high I get from having a good night - a night where I've had fun and my friends have all been drama free and my life feels like it actually works.

It helps that Andy is here. It helps that I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans again instead of my Spice Girls outfit and I can lean back and sit without worrying about people looking up my skirt.

Nachos are good too. I love nachos.

At the moment Andy and Leto are leaning over the table talking at each other in serious voices.

"That's not the point," Leto is saying and I know that tone of voice. "The point is that we have our own voices and half the time the social justice crowd says things that we simply don't agree with, and where do they get off putting progams in to help indigenous cultures when half the time they don't even know what it is…"

"I'm not in the wardens any more, you know," Andy says, quite mildly, but Leto is still going and I don't think he even hears him.

"It'll get better when they stop taking the decision making process out of our hands and put it into the hands of the communities instead. And I don't give a shit, frankly. Everyone always assumes that I identify as Aboriginal and I fucking don't… I wasn't brought up even knowing which tribe I'm from and just because it's in my blood doesn't mean I have to immediately become one with the culture…"

Isabela pats the back of Leto's hand. "Sweet thing, I think Andy gets the point."

Andy gives her a grateful look and Leto shakes his head and sits back. "I'm sorry," he says, shaking his head. "I'm just used to…" he shoots a look over at Cailan's table, "certain types tend to just lump us all together under the same umbrella. As though we're only capable of behaving one way."

Andy smiles, but he's obviously uncomfortable. "Were you fostered?"

Leto cocks an eyebrow. "No. My mother was stolen, but she got to keep me."

A tension seems to go out of Andy and he relaxed. "That's something at least."

Leto narrows his eyes at Andy and I get the distinct impression that he likes Andy even less than he's ever liked me, which is saying something. "She didn't get to keep my sister though. Her father took her when he left us."

Andy swallows. "I'm sorry."

"Leto you're being a dick," Iz says and I shoot her a grateful look, until she turns to Andy and points. "And so are you, Andrew. We're drunk, it's late, we should be playing 'I have never' not talking about serious things, or do I have to drag handsome home?"

"I have never?" Merrill brightens and sits forward in her chair. I groan.

"Merrill we need alcohol for that and this place is not a bar."

"Oooh, but I love finding out what everyone's done, it's always so exciting! What about that time you told us all about the boy you met on the internet who turned out…"

Iz clamps her hand over Merrill's mouth and grins as she splutters and attempts to keep talking, while I blush into my coffee and hope like hell Andy isn't giving me the look I think he's giving me. I know Leto is.

"Yes, well, Merrill, that's one reason why the game needs alcohol," Aveline says.

There are no more nachos left. I am suddenly hit with a wave of tiredness so hard that I nearly keel over. Instead I feel Andy's warm hand on my arm and the heat of his breath near my ear.

"You all right?"

I really want to lean into his shoulder and go to sleep. Right here, in the middle of the dingiest cafe in Kings Cross.

"Hey you should probably get home," he says, so the others can't hear. "All that spice dancing's obviously worn you out."

I grin but nod and move to stand up. Aveline is staying at Merrill's tonight - the drive back to Castle Hill too much for her to take, and Iz is almost certainly going back to Leto's - or Leto is going back to hers if he can cope with the accountants, so I'll be on my own in a cab.

Andy walks me outside. The street is still just as noisy and crowded, even though it's nearly dawn. We've just missed changeover time and cabs are trawling the streets looking for people who aren't too drunk to take as fares.

I hope I qualify.

"You… uh… do you want to share a cab? You live near me, right?"

He grins a little lasciviously. "Stanmore," he says. "But… I've still got nachos to eat."

"You should probably get back to them," I say, biting my lip. "Uh… Merrill has this habit of eating everything that isn't tied down if you leave her alone in a room."

"But she's so tiny!"

I shrug. He looks off towards the city and shuffles his feet and I steel my courage. I can almost hear my father's voice - take the initiative, Hawke, it's what we're good at - and I lean up on tip toes to kiss his cheek.

He blinks, looking startled for a moment before cupping the back of my head and pulling me back into a more thorough kiss. It goes on for a while - I'm not entirely certain how long, except that it feels good, and I don't want it to stop.

He breaks it off and I blink, his face above me in shadow as he looks over my head to the road and holds up a hand. I assume he's flagging a taxi, but he looks otherworldly, suddenly - the flashing lights of the nearest adult novelty shop colouring his skin with blue cracks every few seconds. On. Off. On. Off.

He's not smiling any more and I wonder what that means, even though his hands on my shoulder are gentle as he turns me around, even though he kisses the back of my neck softly and gently, making me shiver.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he says and I look back over my shoulder and smile.

"Not early," I say.

"Not a chance," he replies.

The cab driver honks at me, and I barrel into the cab, looking back as it drives off to see Andy still standing there, blue light surrounding him intermittently.

On.

Off.

On.