meadowlarklogs | one night of magic rush

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one night of magic rush

WHO: Cain, Prompto, Hideki Maeda, and you!
WHERE: The popular Asylum club.
WHEN: Night of October 26.
WHAT: Cain and Prompto's joint birthdays!
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Beyond drinking/smoking, general wild party behavior, and fake friendship, there shouldn't be much. Will update as needed.

[Set deep in the downtown of New Amsterdam's entertainment district is Asylum, arguably the most popular club in the city. The exterior is cool steel beams and tasteful futuristic architecture with a long line down the corridor, suited bouncers posed at the entrance all armed with a virtual guest list. Its interior is fashioned with bright, colorful lighting dynamic to the music of the infamous DJ Semicolon, high ceilings and acoustic sounds to lend that feeling of a constant full-body hum. Any partygoers on the guest list for this event will be funneled toward the VIP section. They will have received an invitation a few days prior via their Cooltalk profiles. Jason is specifically blacklisted, sorry buddy.

DANCE YOUR HEART OUT. Nearly impossible to book without deep pockets or wide-reaching connections, Semicolon is at the top of their game mixing popular contemporary hits with Whitney Houston's classics. From song to song, Semicolon provides a unique and talented contrast of the slow to the energetic, so no matter your dancing style, you'll find something to move you on the dance floor.

DROWN YOUR... LIVER. Courtesy of the party's host, Hideki Maeda, the VIP section's private bar will provide an ever-flowing river of your favorite expensive high-proof alcohol. Pick your poison.

CHILL OUT. Tired on your feet from too much dancing, or just need a break from the packed atmosphere? There are plenty of comfortable areas where you can relax and take it easy until you're ready to get back out there. The lights around this area cycle through different colors in reflection of Semicolon's performance set, so a slower song might lend toward romantic shades of red while a faster-paced song is brighter blue.

SMOKE, EAT & MINGLE. Asylum will be serving real, fresh meat at this party, so enjoy that luxury while it lasts. There is also an outdoor area with a beautiful view over the city itself if you want to take your vape pen out there for a smoke, just get some air, or see who's around for a chat.]

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[It's true that Abel asked himself several times if he was doing them both a favor by making the environment so close to the real thing, and so idyllic in nature. He'd read things about people beginning to prefer VR to the real world, troubling studies, but Abel told himself that it was just a gift. Just something to tide them over until they were home. It wasn't going to get out of hand, it was a toy.]

[A really, really great toy, he thinks as Cain's leather-clad thighs squeeze him. He bites his lip and presses his hips back just a little.] Programmer's privilege. [So he snuck in a few treats for himself into this gift, he's only human. He's about to tell Cain he can change it if he likes, but that feeling of lips against his ear kills that practical sentence immediately. He can definitely still drive a motorcycle, he can do this, Cain in tight leather won't kill all of his faculties.]

[Hopefully.]

[He kicks the stand back and they take off. Abel focuses on the road though the motions are almost automatic now. The simulation matches the road inch-for-inch, and he's driven it enough that it's a meditation. He's not speeding, letting Cain take in all of the scenery he seemed so fascinated by, occasionally whipping them tightly around a corner or leaning hard into a turn. They won't slide out of course, in addition to Abel being a capable driver the program parameters simply don't allow it. Abel could drive with both eyes closed and they would be fine.]

Look right! [Abel shouts at one point as they fly by a space in between homes that frames a beautiful vista, just beginning to be touched by the sun.]

[It isn't his first time on a bike, but the experience feels brand new, and maybe that's another part of the illusion. All of the color and light and nature settles in around him, an enhancement to the simulated reality. He still finds it difficult to imagine this is where Abel has lived for most of his life prior to joining the Alliance. The comparison to Mars is stark: here is life, and vast beauty, and wealth. When the vista is pointed out to him, Cain turns his head, silently awestruck to take in that sun-streaked view.

He knew the people on Earth lived well, but it's another thing to truly see it with his own eyes rather than a video screen. He trusts that Abel's recreated memory true to form.]

People actually live in those houses?

[Cain's voice carries disbelief over the wind, head craning to watch as they pass by a pair of sleek mansions with driveways paved up through a tangle of well-maintained greenery.]

For at least six months out of the year, I'd imagine! Some people have summer or winter homes and a main residence. [The houses up on the hill are a little more posh, it's true, and for a moment Abel feels a little bad for dragging Cain through all of this opulence. But the further they ride up, the fewer houses there are and the more open land peeks through to highlight the sunrise on foliage and empty vistas. That's what he comes up here for, not to admire huge houses with more space than any one family could need that go empty half of the year.]

Hang on! [The road's incline grows a little steeper, and Abel revs the engine to get some decent momentum going so they don't lose any speed. If anything, they zip faster up the next curve.]

[He doesn't linger on it, not with the distraction of their fast pace up the winding road. His arms remain securely fastened around Abel's waist as they bend around each corner with expert handling -- Abel's piloting talents are well-known to him by now, so maybe it shouldn't be a shock he's so good at driving, too. Wind whips at them, Cain's hair blown off his forehead. With his mouth near an ear, Abel will hear a peel of laughter.]

C'mon, you can go faster than this, I know you!

[Voice raised to be heard, he gives Abel's hips a squeeze.]

['I know you'... isn't that the truth?]

[Pure joy arcs through Abel at the realization, and he needs no further encouragement. Cain wants to go faster, Cain knows Abel can do it without losing control, Cain knows Abel wants to. Cain isn't the only one who gets high on adrenaline, Abel just doesn't chase it as recklessly.]

[He revs the engine twice in rapid succession as a response and the bike is only too happy to oblige. The wind tears over Abel's face and across his arms and legs, but he stays at his slight curl to shield Cain from most of it. They're rocketing towards the peak of the hill but Abel doesn't seem to be slowing down and the incline increasing.]

[There's no real danger here, he knows that in some logical part of his brain, but it's hard to fasten onto that when the reality is noisy wind in his ears and the close cuts of every turn, road a blur underneath them, trees in snatches of green that whip past. He's laughing now. Bright and loud. Unfiltered, the bond between them a glow of thrill and pleasure, arms and thighs squeezing around Abel and giddy in the adrenaline.

The rest of the world melts away. No New Amsterdam, no UNA, no Hideki, no Alliance -- nothing but the two of them racing up this incline at breakneck speed, on Earth, in this precious tucked-away fragment of memory. However long it lasts, he's more in the moment than he can remember being in ages.]

Brace your feet, hang on with your legs--

[This is faster than he's ever taken this bit, but he knows what he's doing and Cain laughing in his ear as they flew over the concrete tells him not to slow down for anything. Give him every happy laugh, let him have fun, he deserves it all.]

[The road drops off as they hit the peak of the incline--] Put your hands out!

[The bike zooms up off the road and Abel's hands hover about six inches off the handlebars. They're airborne. Higher than Abel's ever gone thanks to the speed, but not an insane or worrying amount. The height isn't the point, though. For a moment, just a brief moment, they're weightless as they hit the peak of the parabola. The horizon is stretched out in front of them, more houses down below, it's almost like they're flying above the neighborhood.]

[It's exhilarating. It feels like he's flying, far different from how he ever felt in space. There's still the tether of gravity beneath that threatens to pull them back down -- and succeeds after several dizzying seconds of flight. He's breathless with laughter. At the peak of that jump, Cain gives a whooping cry and punches one fist up into the air, keeping the other arm still securely locked around Abel's middle.

As soon as the wheels touch back down, he's back to laughing, whistling a loud holy shit into the wind. Best birthday gift ever.]

Knew you were a good pilot, but fuck. [Still, somehow, it shocks him. Abel's ability to maneuver with expert skill is second to none.] That was kickass!

[The second before they touch down, Abel's hands snap back to the grips and rev the engine until they slide right back down onto the pavement. It's so much more exhilarating than any other time he's done it, probably because Cain is whistling and yelling and holding on tight to him, and the whole thing shifts. It used to be about escape and longing, and with Cain behind him it's like the last piece of the puzzle has clicked in. Who thought that what was missing would be at his back of all places.]

[Abel steers them into a playground at the edge of a vista, puts the bike in park and the kickstand down.] I loved this. It was the only thing that was all mine, the thing that made me feel like I was in control of everything. [Whether that's good or just extremely naive, he doesn't know. Abel turns around and smiles at Cain before patting his arm twice and climbing off the bike.] Come on, one more thing I want to show you.

[The sudden halt as him reeling, equilibrium twisted so that when he climbs off the seat of the bike and stands, he has to set a hand on Abel's shoulder to steady himself. The whiplash of the ride has left his hair a wild mess and the other hand reaches to tame it back down with the flat of his palm.]

Glad you got to come back to it. And that you showed it to me. [And he means that, watching Abel's face through the explanation.] ... What's the other thing?

[Wherever Abel leads him, he'll follow.]

[Oh, his hair. Abel has a good giggle over it, watching Cain struggle to fix it for a moment before getting in on the action. Just an excuse to touch him after the ride.] I wanted to. I could tell you all about my parents or where I went to school, but this is something that actually moved me. You told me about the Frontier... it seemed like it was my turn.

[He smiles and takes Cain's hand before pulling him across the playground, through the play equipment and over to a tree close to the fenced off edge of the park. Abel takes hold of two of the branches and puts his foot in the crux of the tree, pulling himself up into it. There are a number of sturdy branches, though Abel easily navigates to what's probably his favorite one. There's a hole in the foliage-- a perfect view of the city and the sun coming up.]

Edited 2019-06-06 07:05 (UTC)

[Up a tree? Cain's curiosity rises, eyes traveling the height of the trunk. He's never climbed a tree in his life. With gloved hands on the bark, he begins a tentative haul upward, following Abel's ascent until he can claim a spot on the same branch. It seems to support both of their weights, whether a benefit of the simulation or the tree's actual strength.

Once settled, he manages to loop both arms around Abel's waist, leaning his cheek on one slight shoulder with eyes out on the distant horizon. Somewhere back in reality, he is most certainly wrapped around Abel's physical body just the same.]

How often did you come out here like this?

[Abel may have made a few adjustments to make sure nobody crashed their bike, went over the divider, injured themselves on the play equipment, or broke a tree branch. It's his idyllic space, away from responsibility and worry.]

[He watches Cain climb, aware that this is probably his first tree, ready to reach out and grab him if he slips. But he makes it up just fine, of course, his strong arms coming to wrap around Abel's waist in a hold that absolutely feels so real. He rests his head on Cain's and watches the sun with his hands folded over Cain's arms.]

I was here almost every day the week before I deployed. Just reminding myself what it was all for. But before then... I guess it varied. Sometimes I was too busy to come for weeks or months, sometimes I was up here in the middle of the night hiding from my dad's handlers because I couldn't spend another minute in the house. [A far cry from Cain's mother calling him inside from the wreckage of the Frontier...] I had my own room, but it was filled with what I could afford to have them find. Textbooks, computers, motorcycle schematics... This tree listened to everything I felt.

[He listens, watching as the sun begins to crest the rim of the sky in threads of pink, attention rapt on the display of brilliant colors. It never looked anything like this on Mars. He's used to pale muted blues, not this bleed of red and tangerine and colors he's never seen in this context. The morning is perfect, almost cloudless. Only the slightest dewey fog still lingers.]

Mm. Wish I could see your room. [Cain's voice touches a bit of suggestion, against better judgment, nosing up against the curve of Abel's ear where it rests nearby.] I'd climb right under the sheets.

[Maybe not for the most innocent of intentions, but there's more to even that. He wonders if the fabric of the pillowcase would smell like him.]

[The suggestion is noted and Abel's cheeks go bright pink. God, wouldn't that be something? Cain taking him completely apart in a bed he'd been too scared to so much as masturbate in, under his homophobic father's roof. A 'lowlife colonist', balls deep in his screaming, begging son-- it's the most extreme Fuck You Abel's ever fantasized.]

[But that's not what they're doing here, not now.] And that would make them the warmest they've ever been. [Abel turns and leans in to kiss Cain, soft and slow.] This may seem beautiful and perfect, but it was always cold and lonely. I was always hiding. Until I met you.

Alexei I can't give you a fancy party or enough alcohol to fill a canal, but I can tell you that you make my life better. I'm so lucky you were born and I'm lucky I was assigned to you regardless of the reason. I love who I am when I'm with you.

And I told you, I don't want some fancy party.

[Arms squeeze around Abel's middle, struggling not to let those words hit him too hard. He's never juggled his emotions well. They tend to burn too hot, poorly managed, and he's unused to the bare act of vulnerability. It was difficult even around his family, proud and overwhelming as they were at times. Distant, unreachable at others. Cain sighs into the kiss, allowing his eyes to slip briefly closed.]

Crazy to think we could've gone our entire lives without meeting. Unless I got arrested, got blackmailed into Project Thebes... [His own face is warm, so he ducks his head. Words and proclamations like that don't come as easily to Cain as they sometimes seem to come to Abel.] Who knows where we might have ended up.

[Yes, Cain absolutely did tell him, but he's spent all night feeling like he couldn't possibly do enough to express what Cain means to him-- it'll settle soon enough, when he replays the memory of Cain's face when he saw the landscape, his yells and whistles on the bike. It'll settle.]

Who knows. I wish you hadn't gone through all of it, of course. [But he's thought about it. In those few days before they'd talked everything out, thoughts of whether he would have been better off having never met Cain prodded at his brain like tiny malevolent devils with pitchforks. Ultimately just annoying, but so persistent.]

I guess it's selfish of me to say I'm glad I met you, isn't it? It's like I'm glossing over everything that happened to get you there. I'm not happy any of that happened to you, you know that right...?

[Most days, he suspects he's benefited more than Abel has in this dynamic. Maybe that's not fair to say, because he knows they've both had ups and downs through the course of all that's happened, but truth stands somewhere. As much as Abel is proud of who he is when they're together, Cain is certain he's made a better person because of it. He doesn't know how to put that into words so simply. Abel makes it seem effortless. Is a part of him still stuck in cowardly fear of what it could mean if he's wrong?

What it could mean if, deep down, he's not as good a person as Abel believes he is? Apart from what happened with the Alliance, maybe Abel would have gone on to meet some other soft-hearted person who wanted to be open to love and emotions and could draw Abel out of his shell. Cain's not delusional enough to think he's the only person in the world who's suited for Abel. He doesn't believe in soulmates.

But now that he has this, he's too selfish to let it go. Whoever else could have opened Abel's eyes to the world don't matter, because they're not here. Maybe it's another world, one of the countless separate parallel realities that seem to wind like ribbons through the universe, as New Amsterdam has shown him, but it isn't this one they're in now. That matters to Cain. His hold tightens slightly.]

Would've been worse. Would've been stuck in prison for years, who knows how long, if they hadn't offered me that deal. Don't regret taking it either. [He lets out a thin breath.] And I know you're not. But I can be happy it happened to me, right?

[This is a far better future than he thought was laid out for himself.]

You wanna go back to our bed now?

[Abel feels Cain's arms close around him tighter, and it reassures him for the moment that he hasn't been insensitive towards the injustice and blackmail Cain faced. His hands rest on Cain's arms and Abel leans on him.]

You're allowed to feel whatever you want about what happened to you. And I'll always support that, always.

[He turns to look at Cain, his forehead nuzzling into Cain's temple.]

If you're ready. This is your gift, I'll stay here as long as you want to.

[How can someone be this gentle, and good? Sometimes it shocks him. He doesn't fully know how to handle it, but they're taking it one day at a time. No wonder Abel had wormed underneath all of those barriers with such effortless grace -- on top of being gorgeous and perfect in bed, but that is secondary at the end of the day now.

He's so used to the empathy bond at this point, the endless warm tether of affection that bridges between them, sometimes he feels cold and neglected when it isn't there.]

We should get some real sleep. We can come back whenever we want, right?

[It comes out a drowsy murmur, eyes blinking slowly before they close.]

Of course, I'll send you the program so you can visit whenever you want. [Abel checks to make sure Cain's eyes are closed before he ends the program-- so he won't experience orientation dump shock from sitting up to laying down. Abel's used to it by now.]

[When he opens his eyes, they're entwined together. Slightly concerning, maybe he needs to turn up the motion inhibitors just so Cain couldn't roll off the bed or hit a wall accidentally, but he can't stay worried for long. There's something beautiful about Cain reaching for him on every plane. Abel pulls him closer to tuck Cain's head under his chin.] Comfortable?

[The disorientation spins in his mind at first, dumped from a tree into bed in one seamless thread of an instant where it doesn't truly feel like he's moved at all. He's pulled into the embrace and feels Abel tucked around him, humming as the exhaustion of the day makes itself known once more.]

Mmhm.

[He noses his way into Abel's collar and lets out a warm breath.]

Glad you're here with me, y'know. [If it wasn't obvious.] Best birthday I've ever had.

[Abel doesn't want to believe that a little VR excursion quantifies as the best birthday Cain has ever had, but if that's what he says Abel should take his word for it. It hurts just a little though. He'd thought that maybe Cain had never experienced something akin to painful political events disguised as parties for him, the lack of friends who offered to take him out, always being a guest but never really the center-- but maybe it was still tough and just in a different way.]

[Or maybe those two statements weren't unrelated.]

[He blushes lightly at the thought and curls down to put a kiss on Cain's forehead.] I'm glad you're here with me. I'll be right here when you wake up, sleep as long as you want.

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one night of magic rush

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