CHAPTER 1

Token, 10:45 p.m:

Token was in a bar.

Half-drunk.

Miserable.

And currently being assaulted by Roxy.

And the insanity in itself of such a situation was one even poor Token couldn’t get.

Or didn’t want to, anyway.

“Lighten up, emo dude. Get pissed! Life rules. Yeah.” Drawled Roxy with a grin, cheeks a brilliant red and slightly sideways in her swagger.

Most obviously drunk beyond all hell, yes?

Token forced a smile and took another swig from the Smirnoff at his left.

“Yeah. It rules. Woot, and whatever”

At the end of this he slumped slightly over in his seat, leaning heavily on the bottle. Truth of the matter, he was miserable, really. The flashing lights, the too-loud music, and that stupid waitress who wouldn’t stop flirting with him. Not that it all really mattered.

Proper, shy Token. In a bar? Never. Even he would have never thought he’d have come to this.

Then again, it wasn’t everyday a stupid, stupid lemur-guy declared his love for you.

Not that it was the first time; No, Token had had plenty of time to get used to Dezzi’s constant advances. But the afternoon’s scene kept playing in his mind….

Earlier that Day…(Token)

“Tonks! TONKS! If you don’t get your dead ass in here in the following nano-second, your balls will be trophies on my wall!”

Ah, sweet normality.

Token rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed by the fact they’d interrupted “Come on, Come on”. From the Goo-Goo Dolls. A sigh. Then a grin.

Alas! A perfect excuse to start it over!

“Oy! Token! Have you seen my Loofah?!?” blubbered a near-tearing Roxie as she poked her head through his door.

“Second drawer to the left. No, your other left” he answered without looking up from his Cd player. Roxie bounded away happily.

Like we said, Normality.

The Bangs, crashes, and occasional ‘GET THE FUCK BACK HERE SO I CAN FUCKING KILLLLLLLLL YOUUUU!’ echoed from the kitchen.

Token sighed.

“Great, there goes the kitchen. Again. And right after we got the new microwave too.”

He checked the date, then sighed even deeper.

“New record. Grrreeeaattt. It actually lasted longer than 3 hours and 45 minutes this time. Whoop-dee-do.”

He began his mental calculations. Refrigerator? Chained to the wall. Toaster? Still broken, don’t matter. Microwave? Bless it’s soul, gotta go look for the Sears catalogue. Oh,dar- he forgot to put the knives away.

Looking almost longingly at his Cd player, he set it down, and carefully stuck his head out the door.

Then ducked at the cleaver flying in his general direction.

“Oy! You lot! Can you please save the Michael Myers for some other day?!?” he shouted.

“I’LL KILL THE BASTARD!” responded Ace. A little softer, he could hear Tonks protesting in the background: “It isn’t my fault the shit hit the fan, THE COW WAS THERE!”

He didn’t want to know.

Turning to re-enter the sane sanctity of his bedroom, he only managed to come face to face with a most horrifying sight.

He sighed.

“What do you want, Dezmond?”

The large, red eyes of the man opposite him had no sparkle today, and he didn’t get the usual answer of “Aw, why did you have to ruin the mood?”

Instead, Dezzi just stared at him.

Token stared back. The hell…? He wondered, taken aback by the abnormal silence.

Then, without warning, he found himself pinned against the wall, a still blank Dezzi staring at him wordlessly.

Then:

“Token. I love you.”

Blushing with annoyance, Token attempted to extract himself from underneath Dezzi’s arms.

“Yeah, that’s all fine and well, but I told you I’m not intereste-“

“Token. I LOVE you.”

It was Token’s turn to stare.

“De-“

“That’s all I had to say.” With that, Dezzi turned on his heel and walked out the door silently, leaving Token ash-faced and slumped against the wall in shock.

Still Earlier that day, but a little later (Dezzi)

Dezzi walked towards his door, mentally debating whether he should have or shouldn’t have done that.

“So…Did you tell him?” His sister’s voice broke his train of thought.

“Did I really have to do that…He looked—“

“You had to. If you didn’t, you’d still be in the fetal position in the corner of your room.” Dezil said, putting her hands on his shoulders, feeling how tense he was.

“You guys aren’t gonna trick him into doing something are you?” Dezzi asked quietly.

“OF course not…” Dezil grinned sheepishly.

“ Whatever, I’m gonna go lay down. I don’t feel right.” Dezzi said. He opened the door, entered, and locked it.

“ Bro…you’ve got it bad…” Dezil sighed.

“ ROXY!!!”

Even later that day, but still earlier (Roxy)

At the sound of her name, Roxy rushed off to find Dezil, sitting cross-legged in her bedroom and looking troubled.

“Has everything gone according to plan?” she asked with a grin.

Dezil shrugged, then sighed a little. “I’ve never seen my Bro looking so……thoroughly fucked over.”

Roxy shrugged sympathetically, but then shook her head. “If all goes according to the plan, nobody’ll be fucked over.”

“…”

“Wait, kill that thought; Token might be a little sore.” Roxy added as an afterthought.

Dezil stared at her, at first speechless. Then shaking her head, she muttered “Never stop taking the Meds, Rox. Please.”

“But I don’t take meds…..” Roxy mumbled, looking rather confused and offended.

”JOKE, Rox. Joke.” Dezil groaned, lying back on the bed.

At this moment, A headful of Sandy Blond hair dotted with spots of blue blood (Courtesy of Tonks! :D) poked it’s head into the doorway.

“Schnooookiiieeee pooooommms?” tittered Ace, making Dezil twitch involuntarily.

“Yah, love, what?” she answered, still laying on the bed.

Ace walked into the room completely, his eyes immediately narrowing as he saw both girls on what seemed to be a secret conference.

“Don’t you two have anything better to do than plot all day?”

“You’re one to speak, Mr.Abusing-dead-people-fills-my-heart-with-joy.” countered Dezil with a raised eyebrow.

“By the way, How is Tonks?” asked Roxy, grinning.

“Near-death and Butt-naked!” Ace announced cheerfully.

Both girls said nothing, merely rolling their eyes at his customary childish behavior.

“Anyway…back to plotting!” grinned Roxy. “Out, You.” She pointed at Ace. He stuck out his lower lip. Then…A sudden idea came to him.

“Dezil…Shnookie pums…Can I-?”

“Sure.”

“Really!?!”

“GO.”

He threw his arms up in victory “Fear me, thy Cocoa Puffs! Ace’s heeeereeeeeee!!!”

He left, cackling with glee. Both girls watched him go.

“Soooo…..” started Roxy, playing with her wet hair.

Dezil groaned from her position on the bed, arm over her eyes. “You got a plan, Rox?”

Roxy stopped to think for a moment, then, all of a sudden, her face lit up happily.

“A bar!”

Dezil peeked at her from under her arm and sighed. “Your life is a bar.”

“Great, ain’t it?!?” Roxy laughed, unfazed. Dezil didn’t even bother answering.

“No, seriously!” Roxy protested, sounding slightly smarter (A/N: About damn time, too. Poor Rox’s a total bimbo here, lol) “Think about it!”

And she proceeded to whisper her plot in Dezil’s ear.

“Hmm….Yeah, I can see that would…but…NOO….ya think?” Dezil said as the plan was whispered to her.

Satisfied, Roxy leaned back with a proud grin.

Dezil stared. “Do you REALLY think this’ll work?”

Roxy nodded, and punched the air with a rather crazed look. “It’s too stupid NOT TO WORK!”

Dezil stared at her a little longer, then sat up with a defeated sigh….

“Alll-righty then….Let’s do it your way.”

Roxy laughed, maniacally triumphant.

Back to the present

And so, there he was, drowning confusion in a 20 dollar bottle of Smirnoff, ala peach infusion, serving only to remind him of the peach-scented lemur he was trying to forget in the first place.

Roxy, a wide grin on her face, sat down next to him on the bar stool, hiccupping as she did. “Great booze, yeah?” she laughed merrily, ordering another tequila shot. As she did, Token’s bloodshot eyes focused on her drink.

“Wha that?” he slurred.

“Tequila. One of man’s greatest inventions” she sighed. All of a sudden, her somewhat drunken but apparently still active maternal instincts set in.

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you drink this” she warned him with a disapproving glance.

Token glared back defiantly. “Watch me.”

He grabbed the glass before she could reach him and chugged, nearly choking to death in the process.

“Okay, that’s enough for tonight. Waiter! WAITER!” Roxy called, forcing Token to down a couple of glassfuls of water.

“Ma’am?”

“Charge all drinks to Ace Cash, pleaze.”

Leaving the man behind, Roxy began to drag a slumping Token out to the street. It didn’t take long for the Taxi the waiter had ordered to arrive, and she unceremoniously stuffed Token into the backseat before clambering upfront.

“176 Westwood lane. And make it quick” she ordered quickly, the thinking process required of the current situation slowly making her sober…. which was pissing her off. In the backseat, Token protested feebly at the sudden lack of alcohol in the surrounding area,  but a quick ‘Bitch, stfu!” made him go quiet.

As soon as they arrived, Roxy did the only thing someone in her situation would do: She booted his ass out to the curb (literally), gave him the keys, wished him luck, and got her ass back to the bar.

The night was young, after all.

It took the better part of 5 minutes for Token to realize he wasn’t in the bar, or at home; just freezing his ass off with apparently nowhere to go. 5 more minutes allowed him to realize that this, indeed, was the dorm building, and that he, amazingly was right outside!. Another 10 minutes was what it took to get enough coordination to get to his floor without killing himself.

Oh, and another 15 to find the freaking key.

After much bitching, searching, and more bitching, he actually managed to get inside.

Empty.

“Ace?…Dezilllzzz…T-tonks? Aybody?” he called out, his voice slurred as he tried to focus on the spinning living room.

“I’m alooooonnneee” he moaned loudly as he stumbled to the kitchen, holding to the walls for support, and laughing like a maniac as they spun around him.

Swaggering into the lighted kitchen, he came face to face with the last person he wanted to see at that exact moment.

“Y-You.”

Dezmond stared at him, a noodle still dangling between his mouth and chopsticks, as he had apparently been enjoying some late-night Chinese take-out.

Token swayed on the spot, bloodshot eyes making the normal green appear almost like Dezzi’s. He pointed his index finger at him accusatorily.

“You” he repeated. “You did this to me…You-“

And at the last word he nearly toppled forward, stopped at the last moment only as Dezzi sacrificed his takeout to catch him in his arms.

“Easy, easy” Dezzi murmured, trying to lift the boy. With a groan, Token wrapped his arms around Dezzi’s neck, whispering in his ear so softly it raised the soft hairs on Dezzi’s neck like electricity.

“You stupid bastard, you-you smell good.” Token proceeded to bury his face in Dezzi’s neck, making this all the more complicated.

“Aw, fuck.” Muttered Dezzi. Sighing, he grabbed a better hold on the boy, and proceeded to carry him bridal style to Token’s room.

He tried the handle one handed, only to find it was locked.

“Dammit!” he groaned, then gazed at Token.

“Token?”

“Ergh?”

“Do you have the key to your room?”

“What key? I don-I don-“ and at that he nearly passed out in Dezzi’s arms.

Cursing, Dezzi took a split second to decide. Should he take Token to his room? What would Token think? If he-

“Ah, fuck it all” muttered Dezzi, and with a grunt continued carrying Token to his room farther down the hall. He kicked the door open and hurried in, dropping Token on his bed gently before stopping to catch his breath.

“Stupi-stupi bastard” muttered Token from the bed. “Your fault. All your fault”

Dezzi couldn’t help but feel a little offended. “How is this my fault?”

“Just HAD to tell me you loved me, eh? HAD to make it look like you meant it, too, HUH?

Dezzi winced. That had hurt. Turning his back to the figure on his bed, he muttered quietly: “I did mean it.”

Token sat up in the bed, outraged. “Stop that! Stop! You’re not supposed to do that, t’do this to me!”

Dezzi’s eyes widened, and he slowly turned to face Token. “What am I doing to you, Token?”

Token swayed slightly, and blushed fiercely. “Stupi-Stupi-lemur” he groaned, then fell back on the bed with a muffled fwump.

Dezzi sighed. He went over to the boy, and gently pulled the covers over him. It seemed fate had arranged another night on the couch for him.

As he began walking away, he felt something grab the back of his shirt and hold him back.

Turning, he faced Token’s wide eyes, glassy with tears, as they probed his own.

“Why?” Token whispered hoarsely. “Why are you making me feel this way?”

Dezzi stared at him for a second, heart accelerating nearly a hundred fold. Then, with a sigh, he shook his head, and looked away. “It’s the booze talking. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

Token grabbed the front of his shirt, head shaking. “No, dammit, No!” He looked into the red eyes. “I….I-“

Dezzi’s eyes tightened in pain. He started to look away, to walk away, when a surprisingly strong hand grabbed him by the collar, forcing his lips onto Token’s.

Oh, fuck.

With a groan, Token possessed his lips violently, taking Dezzi by surprise. After all, HE’D always been the one to do the controlling. However, as Token gripped his face, moving his lips against Dezzi’s with bruising need, Dezzi couldn’t help but moan, moan and run his hands down Token’s chest, making him hiss. Without missing a beat, Dezzi traced the outline of Token’s lips with his tongue, then nibbled his lower lip, wordlessly asking for entrance. With a groan Token opened to him and they both moaned at that first taste; then, softly, gaining speed, gaining passion, their tongues began a mindless battle, wrestling and wrenching groans and growls from both. His fingers running through Dezzi’s hair in a way that wasn’t letting the other man breathe well, Token moaned heatedly and ground his hips against Dezzi’s, clearly relaying what he wanted, what he needed. Dezzi nipped at Token’s lips roughly in return, wrenching a loud cry from the already-bruised mouth. With nimble fingers, Token slipped of Dezzi’s t-shirt, then his own, though never leaving his lover’s lips.

Token groaned against his jaw, nibbling on Dezzi’s lower lip.

“You taste just like I thought you would. Peaches…” he moaned, tracing Dezzi’s collarbone to his ear with a trail that burnt like fire, hands exploring the contours of the other man’s chest. Dezzi groaned, eager to retaliate. Underneath him, Token was gasping, moaning, head arching against the pillow as Dezzi devoured his lips, his jaw, his neck, before finally marking a trail of fiery kisses down the silky, hairless chest. Dezzi moaned, moving up to capture Token’s lips once more, finally fulfilling at least one of his many fantasies involving Token. Token, wanting. Token, pleading, Token-

Drunk. Token drunk.

He pushed Token away.

Token stared at him, breath heavy, eyes pleading, burning with need, burning into his own and asking him not to stop. But he had to.

“W-why?” Token gasped, sitting up as he watched Dezzi back away slowly.

“N-No. No, Token. This-This isn’t right. It’s the booze. The Booze” he muttered to himself.

Tears began to stream silently down Token’s face, possibly breaking Dezzi’s heart even more than breaking that kiss had done.

“I thought….I thought you wanted me…….you loved me…” muttered Token, staring at Dezzi as though betrayed.

“I do.” Dezzi said.

“Liar! Then why won’t you have me? Why, dammit, WHY?!?”

Dezzi turned around, breathing deeply. This was more than he could bear to hear.

After all, his entire lifestyle consisted of one single thing. Sex. Sex, sex, and more sex. And now, when he wanted it most, with the person he wanted the fucking most, he couldn’t even have him. He’d denied his instincts. He’d denied his culture.

He took another deep breath, and put on a hard front.

“Token.” He murmured softly, walking towards the body, turned away from him on the bed.

“Go to sleep, Token. Sleep off the booze and this crazy talk.”

“I don wanno” Token sniffled, tears still flowing.

“Sleep. I’ll be right here.” Dezzi whispered, stroking the other boy’s cheek. He forced himself to wrench his hand away from the impossibly soft cheek, and instead retreated to the dark corner of his room, where he could watch Token, illuminated in moonlight.

“Dez….Dez…I…love you” Token sighed, then fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, his steady breathing breaking the silence.