The House in the Woods

"You don't need to clean up. I'll gladly do that. I... see it as my place, really. I've been visiting it since I was young, so I'll take responsibility for the mess and clean it up. I... I'll be honest, I just want to curl up and get to sleep," he shrugged, biting his lip again. He was surprised by how easily he was lying and the ease in which he spouted the lies - it was something he was proud of, but also scared by. The ease of lying was a quality he put on his other self, after all.

"...Honestly, I'm fine here. I'll get cleaning and... I'll see you all on Monday, I hope. Assuming my mother can sort the details out in time, she's often unreliable, so..."
 
"Are you sure? This place is totally trashed, that would suck to have to sleep on crisp bags. Look, let us at least walk you to your place?" Veronica insisted, as she pushed to her feet and kicked off the excess dirt from her combat boots. "It's almost one, yeah? I mean, fuck. I hope none of you expect me to be doing shit anytime tomorrow. I'm going to sleep and enjoy myself, got it?"

"No, come on..." whined Leo, who ran his fingers through his hair absently. "If Dorian isn't going to stay the night, can't one of you? You know I hate sleeping alone, a-aha... Um... Whatever, it's fine. Whatever."
 
"Your parents hate me, Leo. Your Dad especially. I mean, I did crash into his car, but fuck, you'd think he'd get over it by now, y'know? I apologised and my Dad paid for the damage-- but my Dad also said I should avoid coming round yours, so he doesn't get abuse shouted down the phone from your Dad," shrugged Ezra casually, not appearing too bothered, though of course he was. Up until a year ago, when he'd taken his father's car when drunk and crashed it into Leo's father's, he had stayed over Leo's house dozens of times.

"...I'll come around, I... I didn't think you were entirely serious," blurted Dorian as he nervously got to his feet. "If that's honestly alright. I don't... want your parents being mad at you for bringing strangers home."
 
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"To no one's shock, my 'mother and father' won't be home until December, so I highly doubt they'd care if any of you stayed. It's not surprising that my father was angry, but he took it with him this time, so there isn't even a car to crash into." He assured, though his cool exterior vanished into one of desperation. It was sad, and he'd never admit it, but he was definitely bordering on crying. It wasn't until Dorian decided he'd join that he let out a triumphant grunt.
 
"I'm up for that, then. My Dad's being an ass right now, so I'll happily come crash at yours," admitted Ezra as he cracked his knuckles. He wasn't too happy with Dorian's agreement, but he was clearly in the minority. Veronica and Leo seemed pretty eager to be around the newcomer, and also seemed to be dismissive of every criticism Ezra had. He did hope that, when they sobered up, they would see what he saw: that this stranger was just that; a stranger, and a fucking weird one at that.

"...Will there be enough room? I don't want to be in the way. I... realise I'm much bigger than all of you. I'll gladly sleep on the floor, if need be," smiled Dorian, while casting a fearful glance to his home. This would be the first time in his life he had slept somewhere else and left the place empty... but it was worth it to expand his horizons and venture into the city with Leo-- and the others.
 
"There's four bedrooms, Dorian, we'll be fine," Leo cooed, before curiously moving to touch the man's face, and went as far as to smile gleefully when feeling just how smooth it was. Simple things were always more fascinating to Leo when he was drunk, as opposed to his rather cynical outlook when sober. "You know, you could always sleep in my room if you want~? I have no problem sleeping with another person. Besides, it's goin' to be cold tonight."
 
Ignoring Ezra's unsubtle snort (because he was naive to what it was referencing), Dorian gave a bashful smile in response. Sharing a bed with someone he just met did seem wrong, by his standards. Surely it was something only married couples in love did? At least, in his era they did. His parents had told him enough about the society at the time for him to understand the conventions without having experienced them, but for all he knew, those conventions had changed. He had seen people kissing on the sofas tonight, intoxicated, and they had clearly not been married... so he was pretty sure that things had changed.

"I, uh... yes, that sounds fine. I don't mind that. You said I could borrow some clothes, too? I suppose I need some new ones. I don't have many modern clothes. My... mother says that this style is more respectable, but it isn't very subtle, is it? Everyone's been staring at me all night, it's just made me self-conscious and uncomfortable and--"

"As you should be. Fuck, you go around like someone from the Victorian era. Are you really shocked that people are gonna stare at 'ya? I swear, either you're actually mental or you're a great actor, I can't decide which. Look, can we get a move on, Leo? I want a bath and a smoke," sighed Ezra as he pushed himself up from the grass, shooting his best friend an expectant frown. "You can climb all over Dorian in bed together later, hm?"
 
"What's your damage, Ezra? Don't get pissy with me because I'm going to have a companion tonight. Would you rather sleep with me? Or maybe, Veronica sleep with Dorian~?" He teased, though his tone did hold a tad bit of snark as he reluctantly got to his feet. "I'm not doing anything wronged and you're acting mighty jealous."

"Jeez, will all of you stop?! I just want to go to bed, I have no intensional of any of you doing anything else but sleep, got it?" The girl snapped, while tugging on both Ezra's and Leo's ear hard.@
 
"I'm not fucking gay, I've told you that before. I'm not jealous. I just think you'll regret this because, you know, it's not really wise to get in bed with a weird stranger, is it? Whatever, do what you want. I just want to curl up and sleep," the man admitted while shoving Veronica's hand away, just as irritated with her as he was with Leo. He wanted her to take his side and see that he was speaking logically, but of course she wasn't going to do that when she had bonded with this man and shared a love of history with him. Ezra realised he was just going to be fighting them if he continued to speak out loud, so he promptly shut up and trudged along. "...What's the plan for tomorrow, anyway? Tee's invited us over to her place, if you wanna do that. Her Dad's put in a new pool in the garden, she said it's huge-- and she has a ton of alcohol."
 
"Hm... Well, I'll see in the morning. You know I only like these sort of parties once a month, but hey, maybe I'll be up for another party - what about you, Dorian? You barely even drank! It's weird being the only sober person at a party, huh?" He slurred, while taking his time to lead the other three towards his home.

As stated prior, no one was there. The large home was dark, just as he left it, and there was no noise other than the excited meow of his kitten when he opened the door. Despite his drunken state, he happily lifted the tabby into his arms and buried his face into his fur. He then flicked on the lights and yawned wearily as he tossed his shoes to the side.
 
Rather than answering straight away, it was fair to say that Dorian was completely awestruck by the home. It was everything his wasn't. It was modern and fashioned with most items every house had: a washing machine, a refrigerator, nothing completely extraordinary, but for Dorian? Every little furnishing and item held his interest, because he didn't have a clue what any of them did. Of course, once Ezra stared quizzically at him, he smiled and focused his attention elsewhere - he could always pretend that he was more drunk than they realised if they asked him why he was just staring at a washing machine with an amazed smile.

"Is this your cat? I had a cat once," he absently smiled, leaning over Leo's shoulder to observe the small kitten. "It's adorable, really. I've always loved animals..."
 
"This is Butterscotch, ain't she a beaut?" The drunken Leo cooed, while carefully scratching behind the kitten's ears to receive happy meows and purrs that cheered him up so much. Offering her a careful kiss on the forehead, he set her down and glanced over at the other three.

"Leave your shoes at the door, alright? House rules. I'm going to bed, so do whatever. I can trust you guys not to fuck anything up, right?" He grumbled, while wrapping his long scarf around him once again. "I mean, fuck. I sure as hell hope none of you mess anything up. You're my closest friends, after all."
 
"Chill. I'm just gonna grab a beer and settle down in the spare room, alright? You head up to bed with your new buddy," came the moody response from Ezra, though it was mostly the alcohol talking. He would dislike Dorian when sober, but he would keep his mouth shut about it if Leo liked him that much. He wouldn't stop the doubts he had about the strange man, but he would at least be more respectful about voicing them.

Trailing barefoot after Leo once reminding himself that they would be sharing a bed (assuming Leo hadn't forgotten about that or changed his mind), he absently took in everything he could while strolling up the stairs. "I... I really do like your house, it's lovely. Very... modern. Nothing like my house. Mine's old."
 
"Thank you. My mother and father are gone most of the year, so I'm free to decorated as I wish. I filled it with things I thought would make me happy, like books and pillows. It didn't help much, though." He admitted, while slipping out of his jeans and jacket, until he was down to just his underwear and sweater.... and his scarf. He took the thing off with much reluctance, especially with someone else in the room, but he was too drunk to completely coward out.

With a grunt, he slipped under the large duvet without hesitation, and patted the spot besides him curiously. After all, he knew the man couldn't be as silly as to wear a full on wool suit into bed.
 
As much as he wanted to just tear off his clothes and get into bed beside Leo, Dorian did admittedly hesitate as he fiddled with the buttons of his blazer. He couldn't help being reminded of his mother's words that a bed was for a married couple-- not that she had ever expected him to even court or date a person, let alone go as far as to marry them. Getting into bed with a stranger, practically naked, would give his mother a heart attack if she were alive, and he imagined she would definitely be turning in her grave if she knew what her son was doing. Hell, she would have been horrified that he left the safety of the house--

But he figured he had it all under control. This wasn't the Victorian era. You could now share a bed with someone without it being an issue, couldn't you? And it was incredibly tempting when that person was Leo, someone he thought was his soulmate. Eventually, he trumped for his heart over his head, undressing himself and climbing in beside the human when he had stripped to nothing but pants.

"This is cosy, huh? I mean... I take a lot of room, don't I? I follow my father," he explained, though that was a blatant lie. His father had been of average height, perhaps an inch shorter than average, and had a frame that was so thin that most people assumed he was sickly. Dorian really couldn't have been more different from the man.
 
"You're fine. Besides, I usually only take up about a third of the whole space..." he murmured, while immediately locking on to Dorian's side. Clapping the lights off, he was beyond ready to simply sleep besides a man he found attractive, which was usually not the case. In most nights, he would happily spend the night making love to whoever decided to join him, but he knew Dorian would probably go on about some strange thing and be too flustered. Yeah, he was pretty blitzed, but he wasn't stupid.

"Get some sleep, will you? I mean, jeez - what time is it? Three? God... I'm getting some sleep. You'll stay the whole night, right?" He asked wearily, while peaking a tired and bloodshot eye open. "That's happened before. People leave in the middle of the night, and it's very awkward the next day."
 
"...I'll be right here. I mean, I... wouldn't exactly know how to get home from here, even if I wanted to, so I may as well stay-- I want to stay anyway, obviously, s-so..." He babbled, before deciding to promptly shut up before Leo told him to do so. He didn't want to ruin what was currently happening, or ruin the potential bond he was slowly building up with Leo by continuing to disrupt him when he really ought to get some sleep. It was incredibly weird to be falling asleep next to someone, especially half-naked. He had only ever fallen asleep next to his parents as a child, cuddled up between them-- but this was obviously a completely different situation to be in, but not one he regretted at all.
 
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He didn't need another word, as was proof from the soft snores that followed. Joining them soon after was Butterscotch, who nestled into the small space between the two, and mimicked their owner by purring contently.

By morning, though, Leo was much different. He didn't roll awake until later in the morning, and the pace he woke up took longer than probably any person in the universe. Nonetheless, he reluctantly sat up and winced at the at the sun. His migraine hit almost instantly, and his hunger didn't help much.
 
By that time, it was inevitable that Dorian would have left the bed. He, as promised, hadn't left the house -he wouldn't know how to get home if he did leave- but when hearing Ezra and Veronica move about downstairs, it was inevitable that he head on down to talk some more with them. He hoped he could continue the bond he'd built with Veronica now she was sober, and he equally hoped Ezra would be more welcoming in his sober state than he was in his drunk one.

Turns out, he wasn't. The first thing Ezra did was grumpily scoff when Dorian headed into the kitchen, turning his back to focus on the bacon he'd been cooking up. Fortunately, Dorian was oblivious to that, instead perching on a stool at the kitchen island and smiling warmly towards the two. "...It's nice that you make breakfast for Leo. He looked exhausted last night, I'm sure he would love a nice breakfast. You're both very good friends to him, aren't you? I... well, nobody's looked after me the way you look after him."
 
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"It's become more of a habit and chore than just a nice thing to do," admitted Veronica, who had her head pressed against the island with a heavy yawn. She wasn't all too surprised by how the morning unfolded, clearly, but it didn't make it any less obnoxious.

"I have to go soon, seriously. I have a major chemistry exam on Monday, and I need to study. I could come back, but my mother would probably call the police if I didn't come home. I love Leo, but I need to be able to live in my home."
 
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