king micha

The night at the concert, after the concert, Endrust had waited. There was no real reason to wait, really, but when Kelter had asked he felt like he had to. He was glad he did, because after-show Kelter was just as sweet as quiet on stage Kelter. He had panicked, when he heard Hestia was a mother, asking about her kids. Endrust offered her his car, to sooth his worry, and when Hestia asked, well how are you going to get home, Kelter offered him a ride. “You live in the dorms? I do too, I could take you. You should at least consider it.” Endrust does, carefully. Kelter could be lying, but he has no reason to. He tosses Hestia his keys to his car, smiling. He has no reason to say no. 

They talk for a while, in the venue as it's being cleaned up. Leftover band shirts packed up, and plastic cups trashed. Equipment being put away. The rest of the bandmates come and go, say their hello’s, and good night as they leave. Endrust waves at them, as they pass by, before turning his attention back to Kelter. Answering, or asking questions. Finally going over what they couldn't mid concert. Endrust tells him about law school, and the mock trial (though not in heavy detail and the stress it’s put him under). He talks about his fight with the insurance, and the slight confusion at his sudden confession for it being his fault, and his preparation to pay for the damages.and Kelter talks about the band, and the aftermath of the crash. They both giggle and laugh over it, at least Kelter does. The things his dad had to say, the reprimand that he’s going too fast on the road. But at least the cute guy tried to pay for another car right?

“You called me cute to your dad?” Endrust smiled, tilting his head to the side, resting it on his shoulder. Kelter waved his hand dismissively. “You’re completely skipping the part where I got in trouble for your mistake. You’re supposed to feel pity for me.” Kelter is smiling, face slightly flushed. Endrust chalks it up to the venue still being hot. “That actually reminds me, how are you paying for all of it? I mean, being a law student is obviously a lot of money, I bet you’re now running low on that. Unless you got some side hustle?” He waggles his eyebrows, and Endrust scoffs. “This isn’t Narcos, I’m not some Kingpin. No, my dad is paying for… well he’s paying for the college, and since I decided to be a criminal defense attorney, I get a hefty allowance from my extended family.” Endrust rolls his eyes at the wealth. “Perks of being a legacy child, since my dad skipped being a lawyer.” He winces, once what he says settles in. “Sorry, I don’t mean to brag about it, it’s really stupid.” Kelter tilts his head. “What, no I get it. My pops said he’d pay for my school too, if I went and actually tried. Not the whole legacy thing, but I guess I understand the not needing to pay for college thing.” There's a sigh of relief. 

Kelter takes Endrust to his, no, he calls it his dads car. It’s a really nice car, a black Cadillac, with golden decals. And despite having been in a car like this, Endrust can’t help but feel like he shouldn’t, he’s too dirty. He sits anyways, because he doesn’t really have any other option. He comments that he didn’t think Kelter would drive something like this, and he laughs. Says he likes the car, and his dad got it for him, but he likes building his own car. This is just a reliable back up, and if he ever needed to impress anybody he could just pull up in this car. Endrust waves it off, saying a built car is way sexier than some Cadillac. Kelter can’t help but agree to the sentiment. He says he’s working on a new car now, but it won't be ready for a while. The way he talks about it, while he stays focused on the road, it has something stirring inside Endrust. He has to tear his eyes away, and remind himself he can’t, and then he’s right back in a clear state of mind again. 

Sure as Kelter said, they both stay in the same dorm complex. Just shy of a few buildings. Kelter stops, parking in front of his building, giving the grand tour right outside. They stand outside for a while, talking more, before Endrust looks down at his watch and he frowns. Kelter offers to walk him to his dorm, since it’s super late, and he doesn’t feel right just leaving Endrust to walk himself. There’s no objection, it's more of a reason for the conversation to continue. They follow the path, and Endrust points out different spots and recalling stories, and Kelter laughs and nods along. He realizes he’s never really spent time on this part of campus, because every other attraction here, Endrust has some sort of story. He also realizes that’s probably why he’s never seen him around, because he finds himself busy with something. Like a practice, or a class, or he’s just hanging out with somebody way off of campus. 

The conversation ends, right when they stop before the dorm building Endrust swears is his stop. “I want to apologize, again. Crashing your car. I shouldn’t have been speeding.” Kelter shrugs. “It’s okay, I guess I’m just curious as to why you were speeding.” He’s smiling. “I was late to court.” The look on Kelter’s face drops, and Endrust waves his hands. “No no, I’m not in trouble or anything. Mock trial in a courthouse.” He clears up, then continues his story. “Me and my boyfriend got into an argument, and he said he wouldn’t take me, so I had to rush to get there.” Boyfriend? Well, that's a shame, Kelter thinks. “He was arguing with you? You okay?” Endrust hums, nodding his head. He knows how bad it sounds, an argument. “It’s fine, we worked it all out. He found out I got into a crash too, and completely dropped the argument.” Kelter relaxes, albeit not much. “Was he at the concert?” Endrust shakes his head no. “He had to work on some essay, so he stayed in. But he’s not a concert person anyways, can’t get him to a Warlock5 concert, let alone a practice.” “Warlock5?” 

“That's my band. Well, not mine, I think Smoke started it, but I had auditioned and got in.” Endrust smiles. “Since you have my number, and I got yours now, I can just invite you to a concert.”

Kelter likes the idea of that. But for reasons he shouldn’t. He finds the idea of hanging out with Endrust more, but he has to remind himself that it’s just as friends, and soon he gets that through his thick skull. He still takes the opportunities to hang out with him though. Endrust has another trial to get to, and he finds himself with free time? He’ll offer a ride, and since he’s already driving there he might as well sit and watch. He thinks lawyer shows are pretty funny, and though watching a mock trial isn't the same as the show, he does find himself interested in the small details. 

He follows Endrust to his concert, and he enjoys the performance too. A basement show that's packed full to the brim. Kelter had asked if there was a shirt or something, for the band, but Endrust shakes his head. Not many fans, so there’s no need. Kelter hates that answer, so he does what his band has been doing. Buys a dollar store black crewneck, and bleaches W5 on it. When he shows up, and is standing off to the side of the stage, he lights up when Endrust notices. He points at him, looking to one of the bandmates, who also lights up. After the show, they pull Kelter to the stage to take a picture. They post it, and Kelter smiles, reposting the picture on his band's page. 

Drinks were another thing they did. It’s where he met the boyfriend, Castien, who was somewhat opposite to Endrust. Somewhat was an understatement, Kelter would come to realize, as the night continues. They bicker constantly, and despite Endrust’s need to try and resolve the issue, Castien huffs and rolls his eyes. Endrust always accepts a peck to the cheek or lips as a sufficient apology, even if he was right. Kelter had offered a round of drinks, on him. A starter before one of his friends got there, and Castien had ordered something for Endrust, which was sweet, but Endrust sighed. When the drink was handed to him, Endrust, instead of drinking it, babysitting it. He took a sip, but smacked his lips like it wasn’t as good. The moment Endrust had a chance to leave the drink, he did. Kelter didn’t mind that the drink was wasted, maybe he wanted to try something new and was too scared to ask, but he apologized for wasting it, and offered to buy Kelter a drink right back to repay. 

“He always tries to get me into white liquors, but they’re really not my favorite. Wine too, I tell him I don’t like it, and he’s always inviting me to wine tasting events.” Endrust laughs, but Castien makes a sort of face that doesn’t look amused. Kelter waves off the bill. “No man, it’s fine! Should have said something, I would have ordered you… what was it, whiskey you liked? Or a beer, since this is casual.” He gets up, getting ready to buy the drink. He pats the table as he remembers something, and he smiles.  “I’ll get you a beer, you liked the one I got you last time.” Endrust smiles, but when Kelter walks away, it drops as Castien is saying something to him.

He knows he should look away, he knows he has a nasty habit of reading people's lips when he shouldn’t, but when Endrust says I’m sorry, I was just making conversation and Castien bites back, he continues to watch as he waits for the beer. It's a nasty spat, from what he can tell, and he nurses the beer for a while until it seems to be resolved. He notices his own friend, Pneuma, and waves him over as he’s walking to the table. “This is Pneuma, he just got here.” Kelter pats him on the shoulder. “The bass player, to  fuck!, right?” Endrust smiles, but Kelter can see it’s a little wobbly. He decides to ignore it for now. “That's my role in the band, yes.” Endrust shoots Kelter a look, who just waves off the mannerisms. “Weird speaking habits, he’s actually a goat. Go ahead and order your drink dude, on me,” he hands Pneuma his card, who nods and goes to order. “You just trust him with your card like that?” Castien finally speaks up. Kelter is surprised, but he doesn’t show it, instead, smoothly replying. “Eh, I trust him to take it. Not like he’s buying a drink drink, he’s not much of a liquor guy, but he can get pretty specific. I let him and the tender deal with that.” Endrust laughs behind the back of his hand, but he stops shortly when he feels a tap on his thigh from Castien. “Seriously though, I’ve known him for a long while, junior high friends kind of thing. He’s like family.” Kelter smiles, and holds his arm out for Pneuma when he gets back. “Hey man, welcome back.” Pneuma nods, holding his drink up. “They had the cherries and syrups, unlike the last bar.” 

“What’s the drink, if you don’t mind me asking?” Endrust looks at the drink, and he can tell it's some sort of soda. The color of it matches a purple, so it must be a sprite, or some other colorless drink. “It’s ginger rail, with blackberry syrup and grenadine. I like mine with cherries on top.” Pneuma looks down at the drink, like he’s never been asked that. He stirs it, before taking the thin straw in his lips and sips. “Sounds tart, I might have to try that next time I order something.” Endrust nudges Castien. “You want one too? I can order us one right now.” he shakes his head in response. “No, it sounds childish. It's a bar, you should drink something." Though it sounds like a joke, it also sounds condescending. Endrust narrows his eyes, frowning. “Oh come on, not everyone has to drink at a bar. It’s a smart idea, since all of us are drinking, not smart for us to drive back, now is it?” Castien rolls his eyes, wrapping an arm around Endrust. “Good thing we didn’t, right? You wanted to walk, so we did.”

“I can’t drive.” Pneuma interjects, and Kelter snorts into the palm of his hand to stop himself from spewing his drink. Endrust also laughs, taking a drink from the beer. He takes another after he takes his first sip, and he looks a lot happier now. 

Castien leaves in an uber, as he doesn’t live in a dorm. He made sure to mention that, if Kelter had ever forgotten (which he hadn’t) saying he lived in the apartments off campus. He stated that he invited Endrust to stay with him too, since he had the space (he had also mentioned it was a three bedroom apartment he was staying in by himself), but Endrust had waved his hands dismissively. “Living in the dorms is all I’ve ever wanted, I’m not giving that up yet.” He smiles, but Castien frowns, and gives Kelter a knowing look that he can’t really return. 

Kelter can’t really say he liked that first interaction much, but Endrust doesn’t really offer to invite Castien much after that. Which, he’s really glad for. 

The mock trial was finally coming to an end, all he has to do is prepare his final witness, which is who he’s defending. The other lawyer, who was taking cheap shots the entire trial, had called the offender to the stand. They hadn’t warned her, so the judge called for it to be dealt with at the next court meeting. Endrust was glad the judge had finally grown a brain, and pulled his teammate to the side. He had a plan, but it required help from another lawyer, an experienced one. He had ended up asking his uncle for help, to test his argument. 

“Are you sure you want me to test you? You know I’m a corporate lawyer, not a prosecutor.” Endrust’s uncle, Uncle Khalil, looked over the defending arguments that Endrust had remembered. “I’m not a prosecutor-” 

“Anymore.” Endrust interrupted. “You’re perfect for this. If I can stun you for a few seconds, I’m sure I can wipe the floor in the actual trial.” Uncle Khalil smiles. “Is this their argument? Do yours counter these? Let me see.” Endrust holds his argument to his chest, shaking his head. Khalil smiles. “Atta boy.” 

Khalil sits the offender at his desk, and starts asking questions, which Endrust argues and counters well. They go back and forth, and Khalil is pleasantly surprised by what his nephew says and brings up. Even if his quick thinking in court were to work, with the evidence he had from the defending, Endrust had everything on lock down. Even things he wasn’t prepared for, curveballs Khalil had found with what he had, Endrust waved it off and showed even more evidence to the invisible judge. Khalil pauses Endrust after a third set of knocks is heard on his office door, and he finally opens it. “Ah, Mr. Vance, my apologies. I had gotten uh, side tracked with my nephew here. Helping him with his own trial coming up.” He turns to his nephew, giving him a wink. “He takes after me, going to be an absolute killer in court.” That makes Endrust smile bashfully. “No worries, Mr. Hakim. Go ahead and finish, I can just give uh… pointers.” Mr. Vance smiles, humor laced in his smooth voice. 

Endrust finishes his argument off, and Uncle Khalil can’t help but clap at his performance. He doesn’t say much, other than a few pointers. For a beginner, someone who is just now taking mock trials seriously, he’s doing exceptionally well, which tickles something inside Endrust. He also compliments the offender, taking the role seriously, and for not faltering when she speaks. Not only is that a good sign as a witness, but not being so nervous in a court is a good skill to have as a lawyer. The offender leaves, and Khalil offers that Endrust can stay and watch the meeting, which he happily accepts. The meeting takes a while, and it leads later in the night. Legal jargon that Khalil Hakim explains to Mr. Vance, giving him advice, and what he as his lawyer can do. The meeting takes a while, Mr. Vance takes no shortcuts and asks as many questions he can. Though he says he trusts Mr. Hakim, and his ability to work around the law, it's for his own sense of security. Khalil has no issue explaining, and is super patient. Near the end after all is explained, and Mr. Vance feels secure enough, they start talking about their kids. Mr. Vance has a couple of kids, one is super young and the other is in college. An engineer, he brags. Both of his kids are super smart. Khalil doesn’t have any kids, he’s the youngest in his family, so he isn’t expected to have any at this time (though soon, Endrust just knows his grandparents are going to start asking him). He does, however, have Endrust. He wraps an arm around his nephew's shoulder, saying that out of all the nieces and nephews he has, this was the one he trusted the most. Legally competent, but also the nicest kid. He’d do really great as a criminal defense lawyer, he’s sure of it. Mr. Vance wishes him well, saying something about knowing a few lawyers like him, and if Mr. Hakim was right, they could all be just as nice as him. Endrust thanks him, bowing his head bashfully. 

It was super late, dinner at the dorms had finished, and Khalil wasn’t just going to send his nephew off without eating. He invites him over, and since it's already late, and he must be so sleepy on a full stomach, he offers a spare bedroom. Endrust can’t say no, he loves spending time with his uncle, and seeing his auntie is also something he’s been meaning to do for a while. He cuddles up on the couch with their dog, laptop propped up as he starts a draft for his closing, before turning in for the night. 

The next morning he has to get to his dorm room early, collect his homework for his next class that he’s got to turn in. He pulls his car into the parking lot, further from his dorm (after having to struggle and come to terms with the fact that there’s just none near his building) and he walks up the stairs two at a time. He’s got a class to get to, and sure, he could make it in time, but he wants to grab a tea first before actually going. He doesn’t bother to knock, as if he hasn’t seen his roommate before, and if he had some sort of fling around, it’s not like it would bother him. He’d just cover his eyes, and blush as he frantically looks for his work. He’s done this song and dance before, but usually not in the morning, so he feels like it's safe to not shield his eyes. He unlocks the door with his fingerprint, pushing it open. 

“Good morning, Ashen.” Endrust greets, looking to his side of the room. He wishes he didn’t, almost immediately, and looks away. But he takes another glance, and takes a third take of the view. He was about to bite his tongue, turn around and act like he didn’t see it, but just as he opened the door, he heard the moan. He just thought it was something else.

He doesn’t know what else to do. The considerate part of him wants to just turn around, to come back and talk about this when they’re decent. But the other part, the part where some hot headed fire genasi mother is telling him to let him have it is winning. He starts to shout, despite it being decently early in the morning. He’s so upset, it’s not even in a language they could understand, his first language spitting insults their common language wouldn’t let Endrust say coherently. He then points to Castien. “The amount of… Bullshit I’ve put up with you, and you fuck my roomate, in my dorm is actually-” Castien butts in. “It’s not, love please understand it's not-” Endrust snaps back, harshly. “It’s not what? From what I see you’re balls deep in my roommate! Don’t fucking call me, don’t bother me after classes, or when you’re bored.” Castien pulls out, and Endrust cringes at the schlick sound. He starts to grab his things, ignoring the pleas of.. Well his ex boyfriend now. “-you've been gone, and we don’t hang out anymore, and I was talking to your roommate, since you weren't here. Lovie please, don’t be mad.” Endrust snaps out of his search, and he throws what he hopes is an empty composition book near their direction. “I don’t bother to text you to hang out any more, because you’ve been shitting on everything I do! You don’t fucking love me. I don’t know what it is you feel, but that’s not it.” Endrust snaps. “You embarrassed me in front of my friend, I was upset. But instead of talking to me like an adult, you fucked my roommate! And good lord, if you love these two, you keep them out of this room when I come back after class, because- oooo.” he closes his eyes, fist shaking in front of his chest, stopping himself from saying anymore. 

He’s grabbed all what he’s felt like he needed, and he gets up from his side of the room. Castien has pulled himself off of the roommate, which Endrust can’t even bother to remember his name right now. He says something else, a sort of threat in his original language, before he slams the door. He’s shaking, the realization of it settling in, and weighing him down. He’s doing his best, trying not to cry in the hallway of his dorm, and he’s doing a pretty good job. All he’s doing is shaking, body trembling as he tries to fully reel in what he’s seen, what he’s done. Then he takes a step forward, and another, and as he’s walking, the gears start turning in his head. His own detective work, a metaphorical cork board in his head as he realizes the past few months, Castien has been doing this with his roommate. He’s just been super unlucky with catching it. The smell of sex in the room, the articles of clothing he doesn’t remember laying on his bed, but shrugging it off. Hell, he knows Castien was a dick too, but he was okay with it. He’s starting to think maybe he shouldn’t have been, spare himself the sudden heart ache. 

There’s a twitch to his head, when he remembers he couldn’t park in the nearby lot by his building, and he has to stop himself from breaking down to cry on the pavement. But he shrugs it off, and stiffly walks to the other parking lot. Then there’s the fact he’s locked the door before he walked away from his car, and he tried opening it, and he tried three times before he realized it’s locked, and he chokes on a sob, but he keeps himself wrapped tightly until he’s in the car. It's when he’s in the car, he lets his papers, and composition books slide off his legs on the floor, and he drops his head on the wheel, ang quietly chokes on sobs. 

He tries to be mindful of his class, so he lifts his head, and puts the key into his ignition. He puts the car in reverse, and he lets his car roll back before he hears familiar shouts, and feels his car tap (and jostle roughly). He turns back, and sees Kelter. His head popped out the window, and a stressed look on his face. Endrust scrambles, throwing his car in park. 

Kelter does the same, pulling his car back into its parking space first. “Dude, I get the first time was an accident, but what the fuck?” He’s bent over,  looking at the small dent in his back bumper. Endrust tries to keep his choked sobs in, but he wails out an apology, blubbering. “I’m so so so sorry, I didn’t mean- I’m just- I tried to reverse, and- I’m just-” Kelter stops him, not collecting anything from the several sentences Endrust had started, but not finished. He was going to say something, about the lawyer being smart, but inept, but now it feels wrong. Instead, he offers a kindness he wasn’t aware he had. “Hey hey, it’s cool, getting a new bummer anyways. What's the matter? Why are you…” the hand gesture waves to the sobbing mess Endrust is. Who in turn, takes a few sniffs, looking up and trying to take a deep breath. “Castien, that evil sniveling… he cheated on me.” Endrust finally finishes a sentence. They both sit with the heavy blow between them, before Kelter furrows his brows together, and frowns. He simmers with it for another minute, looking at Endrust in the eyes, before finally speaking. “Did you kick his ass?” It throws Endrust off a bit, and he snorts, covering his laugh with the back of his hand. “I’m serious.”