❛ 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑 –––– 𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 ? ❜ 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 ? maus has to giggle . 𝘔𝘈𝘐𝘕 𝘈𝘛𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕 makes quite the impression : hunched over , clutching both forearms close to his chest like he ’ s 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲 or some-such shit . ––––– –– 𝙴𝙻𝙸 𝙻𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙾𝙸𝙲𝙴 . 𝚂𝙾 𝚃𝙴𝙲𝙷𝙽𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 , 𝙸𝚃 ’ 𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝚄𝙻𝚃 . bile rises up a 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝-𝐫𝐚𝐰 throat but is quickly swallowed back down with a wince . ( wincing at the pain , the bright light , THE TASTE IN HIS MOUTH , et cetera . ) all they asked of him was to sing for 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 , 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 –––––– 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙋𝙄𝘼 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙄𝙍 𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙇 𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙐𝙋 . the very one that they had to change because maus has 𝐍𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋 , because maus is someone who needs to be babysat , 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙼𝙰𝚄𝚂 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙰 𝚃𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺-𝚄𝙿 . while it wasn ’ t specifically discussed that 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 , it could ’ ve been heavily implied , had one read between the lines . maus can ’ t be blamed , though ––––– none of it was premeditated , honest ! & 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 , 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧 ?
an imposing thought occurs : 𝙰𝚃 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝙽 ‘ 𝚃 𝙱𝙴 𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙶𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 . the next band is already playing , probably 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐦 ’ 𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 . it will be very hard to top . . . that. unless , of course , 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 . 𝙷𝙰𝙷 ! samuel , fixing to share the joke , looks reflexively up to meet levi ’ s eyes –––––– bad call , because 𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄 underneath the unfamiliar weight of . . . guilt ? there isn ’ t enough energy left in this 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙇 𝘽𝙊𝘿𝙔 to muster any feelings of 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 , but one has a strong inclination that he would cry if he could . maus doesn ’ t remember it EVER being like this at one of his old shows , 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝚄𝚃𝚂 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙴𝙿𝙴𝚁 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙵𝚄𝙻 . ❛ that was nothing . you , you . . . 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 ’ 𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 . ❜ the glory days , right ? ? ? oh , if someone would just , just turn the lights off . after that musty , dimly lit basement set-up , 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 , pure & simple . it ’ s cold , too ––––– or maybe that ’ s just him . 𝘓𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘋𝘌𝘋 , 𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎 . maus finds himself only 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐈𝐅 𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 ––– 𝐈𝐅 𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓 . & then , maybe , after learning the answer , sam might find a place to nap .