e c o t o n e.

[ AARAV LEWIS. 30. MALE. HE/HIM.] is here! He has lived in Silver Lake for [ 6 YEARS ] and  is originally from [ VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA ]. He is currently working as a [ FIFTH GRADE TEACHER ] and in his downtime loves [ SURFING ] and [ PLAYING BOARD GAMES ]. He looks a lot like [ DEV PATEL ] and lives on [ REDCLIFF ST ]. 

alright alright alright, here i am with another dumbass. info below && more to come!!!!! 

ronnie: dude, kombat 11 is summin i need 2 get playing

ronnie: u own it?

ronnie: ite.. i need 2 get cuphead 2 then.

aarav: I just picked it up last week && it's been fucking awesome so far!!

"Okay -- best tv show, or my favourite tv show? Because those are two completely different answers. My favourite tv show is Survivor, bar none. I've seen every episode of all forty seasons. The best tv show? Maybe The West Wing? I don't know. Best is hard. Best is subjective."

"Guess I was raised right. I try my best."

Shoving the drink in their friend’s face isn’t exactly subtle or sophisticated, but it’s going to end up at his mouth anyway. “Right? Riiiight? So wonderful, I can’t stop drinking it. Which leads me to ask what did they put in this besides sugar, because I know the sugar is what’s keeping me very awake and very animated when you look at the ingredient list and it — I’m rambling, oh gosh. It’s rambling time.”

With a small apologetic laugh, the smaller individual pats away the sweat from their forehead with the back of their hand, bobbing to the music as it switches to a new tune. Olivia Rodrigo. Somehow they’ve made it less sad and more of a disco mix, which keeps Davis from turning the conversation into something close to a confessional when Aarav leans in with the look he’s always got when he’s about to solve the case in a round of Clue.

“Who?” they repeat with confusion, processing the question as they sway side to side. “Oh! Cooties. Technically I gave cooties because I had a freak-out. Did you see my ears?” Dramatically, they turn to push their hair back to show off the tiny studs in their earlobes. “Juni and I went to get piercings done. I won’t say where she got hers, she’s so brave, but then I got my ears done and I – had this super big bounce of adrenaline and I just–”

Pausing to use both their free hands, Davis puts each palm on the sides of Aarav’s face to mimic the memory as they stand on their toes. “I went for it, dude. I don’t know why I did, but it was such a rush. I never randomly kiss people.” Their hands drop to take their cup back. “Then I got freaked out for two weeks thinking I messed up our friendship, but I didn’t! It’s a miracle. She still wants to be my friend! No hard feelings.”

When Davis laughed, so did Aarav. He did it sober, but when they were both drunk it was impossible not to be charmed by their laugh, impossible not to join in with added enthusiasm. 

“I didn’t see your ears!” Aarav answered excitedly, giving his head one firm shake back and forth. He lifted his hands and landed them unceremoniously on Davis’ shoulders, keeping them both still as he leaned in to inspect their new piercings. “Don’t tell me you got cooties from the needle. That’s not cooties, Davis,” Aarav said, lowering his voice. “That’s tetanus.” He smiled devilishly at his friend, then shut his mouth just long enough to let Davis tell their story. 

Good thing he had it closed, too. Seconds later, Davis’ hands landed on his face, and if Aarav’s jaw hadn’t been clenched so tight, or his lips locked together, the surprised little noise he made would have been audible. Luckily, it was stuck deep in his throat, buried beneath the vibrations of a funky Olivia Rodrigo remix. 

He was too busy staring into Davis’ face, taking in every detail of how the flashing, colourful lights moved through their eyes and across their cheeks, to actually be listening. Sober Aarav was a multitasker. Four-drinks-Aarav (five-drinks-Aarav?) struggled to pay attention to any one thing. But Davis -- he could watch Davis for awhile. That was no difficult feat. 

Aarav clued back in when Davis reached to take the cup back. He snapped into reality and fought against the music blaring in his ears to place the puzzle pieces of Davis’s story together. 

“Wait --” He said, hands instinctively reaching out to grab hold of Davis’ arms again. Aarav’s brows shot up towards his messy head of hair, his eyes widened with surprise, and his mouth lifted into a smile. “You kissed Juni?”

He had more catching up to do. “And she -- and you guys are--? You’re okay? You’re good?” That was his first concern. “That’s ... wow.” It was hard to cross that line between friends and more. Aarav knew that well. It made things incredibly complicated. At least he thought it did. What real experience did he have?

Aarav pushed his reeling thoughts back one by one, searching instead for a light, easy remark. He smiled. “Tell me you got your booster shot,” He teased. 

Aarav patted his front pockets, then the back, then patted the front again. His face dropped into fear, eyes wide and mouth agape. He kept patting, reaching up around his back to fumble around the outer pocket on his backpack, then all along the bottom of it. Aarav spun on his heel, eyes now tracing the ground. 

“Oh shit,” he laughed, too drunk to clue into the seriousness of the situation at hand. Aarav lifted his head, focus not landing on anyone in particular. “Has anyone seen a set of house keys ‘nywhere? Silver? Bunch of ... keys? Little tag on ‘em. Blue thingy. I don’t know. Says Lewis on it,” he slurred, still turning in slow circles. 

ronnie: i play xbox from time to time, man

ronnie: hit me

aarav: okay okay some obvious picks

aarav: red dead redemption 2, mortal kombat 11, doom eternal!!!!!

aarav: BUT may i also suggest something a lil outta left feild? It's called cuphead. it's fucking amazing to play a little uh, under the influence, if you will.

Putting all of her might into hugging her tall friend, Davis peers up with a lopsided grin. “Was it? I could tell, I feel like I texted you hours ago. Then they started playing Cher… and then it was ABBA hour, and truthfully I forgot to ask if you were okay. But look at you! You’re okay.” And after a whirlwind of a June, Davis felt okay, too. 

Shoulders dropping from a little liquid courage encouraging the week’s tension to cease, the college student offers a scowl at the height joke. “Oh, please. Now that makes me want to try it out. You’d snap in half, but I have the advantage way down – here!” 

She stumbles into the next hug, laughing into his shirt as she finds her balance against him. Davis only pulls away when Aarav lets go, peering around him as he retrieves his backpack. “Mmm? Water — oh, yuck. That tastes boring. This tastes much better.” Standing on her toes, she holds the cup a little too close to his face. “Here! Have some. I don’t have cooties. I mean, I sort of do after the other week, but I think they’re gone now. It’s a Mango… Mango Metro? Booth is past the guy with the cool feather dress who’s been dancing all night.”

“Sorry,” Aarav apologized, shaking his shaggy head of hair back and forth. “It looks like a kaleidoscope threw up all over the place out there. Lived ‘round here almost a decade and I still almost got lost finding this place. I’m glad you survived,” he laughed. “ -- whoa.” 

Aarav leaned backwards, just until his eyes could focus in on the cup Davis had shoved in his face. Mango Metro. Whatever it was, Aarav didn’t really care. The cup felt cold, the drink smelled good, and that was enough. He pulled it out of their grip easily and took a long sip, eyes open wide. 

He hummed happily as he swallowed, then nodded his head enthusiastically at Davis, like a kid after a shot of solid sugar. “This is wonderful!” Aarav agreed, words slightly slurred. He looked over his shoulder to find the booth or the man in a cool feather dress, but Aarav was both nearsighted and drunk enough to spot neither. He was, however, sober enough to process everything Davis said to him. 

Aarav looked back at them with a furrowed brow, cup still clutched in his hand. He lifted one finger off the cup to point at Davis, then began his questioning. “‘M sorry,” he started, burying the twinge of jealousy he felt with curiosity. He leaned in, head tilting to one side. “Who exactly gave you cooties?” 

for: @aarav-lewis​ where: pride!

Maybe she gave terrible directions. Maybe it’d been five minutes, ten, a half hour – truthfully, Davis couldn’t remember. But when ABBA started blaring as she stood in the middle of a dancing crowd, she almost forgot about texting Aarav. Twirling with a cup in the air, she freezes in the midst of her twirl when her eyes paused on a familiar face. “Aarav!” Shouting with pure excitement, Davis rushes through the crowd to offer a hug. “Hoooly smokes, it took you long enough to find me. I almost attempted to participate in Limbo. I missed your face.”

Aarav went to find Davis immediately after they texted, but got stopped more than once along the way. Once by a group of friends, once at the water stand, and a third time by the bubble machine. He just had to stand and watch. By the time he actually made it to the dance party, minutes had passed. Many minutes. He worried that he was too late, that Davis had moved on, but then he heard his name shouted from the middle of the dance floor. 

“Wavey Davey!” Aarav called back, grinning ear to ear. Once Davis was in sight, he began moving his shoulders along to the blaring ABBA. “Let me tell you, that was a mission.” He huffed, then leaned in close to hear what she had to say, to welcome the hug. 

Limbo. Oh boy. “No!” He exclaimed, holding Davis’ at an arms length. “That simply cannot happen.” Aarav smiled, a joke coming to mind. “They’d break their backs tryin’a get down to your level. Wouldn’t be fair.” He pulled them closer after that, into another bone crushing hug. “I missed you, too. Glad I could save the day.” He was always glad when Davis texted him. 

ronnie: so i have $200 just sat here n i think we should just go n blow it on something good before my mom sees it

ronnie: what do u suggest?

ronnie: n yer..i'm holding back buying more dope

Davis: Hey! Are you at Pride?

Davis: I wanted to make sure I saw you before the crazy night dance party kicked off.

Davis: I also think I might have accidentally drank a very big alcohol beverage that only tasted like pineapple so I'm a little tipsy-topsy. 😬 Help.

Aarav: Of COURSE I am!!! Got a little too invested playing with chalk so I'm dusty as all heck

Aarav: But I'm here!!!

maggie: what on earth are you thinking

maggie: should i be scared??

maggie: i am. scared i mean.

aarav: Oh come on Maggie I'm a TEACHER what real trouble could I get you into 😇

aarav: You just need a little something to get your blood pumping.