#daydream plot

He took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. He was getting caught up in his own head. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone in this situation. He decided to start singing, a upbeat happy song, hopefully that would make him seem more confident. Who goes around singing in the streets in the middle of the night? Someone who’s not scared. Totally not scared. Besides, if Zach heard him he would likely sing back and they would be able to locate each other. Just have to keep it up.

A sharp whistle stopped Axel in his tracks, his song died in his throat as his spine stiffened. Thoughts raced through his head. werewolf, no vampire, werewolves wouldn’t whistle, do vampires whistle? You have to look before it gets you.

He stiffly turned around to see a large figure shrouded in the shadows. The figure stood shrouded in the darkness under a broad brimmed hat, the only features that could be made out were overly wide unblinking orange eyes reflecting the dancing light of the street lamps. squared shoulders were covered in loose fabric that hid all features below the neck.

Axel was frozen in place, his feet stubbornly still where he stood despite his best efforts to force them to move, to scream, anything before the beast in the shadows attacked him. He was a victim too many times in life to have this be how he ends but his mind scrambled in every direction what to do.

Then it clicked, his brain connected what he was seeing. The stuck scream came out as a laugh as his shoulders relaxed. “Babe! You scared the daylights out of me!” He called out, his voice still carrying a shaken edge as he walked to meet his boyfriend.

He held his arms out to give Isaac a hug, but he held out a flat palm from under the shadows of his hat. ‘Stop.’

Axel stopped, slowly lowering his arms. “What’s up?”

His movements were awkward as he leaned forward, bringing his head down to his hand instead of the other way around, to remove his hat. It was hard to tell where he was looking behind the reflective circular orange glasses but he nodded down to his arms where Zach was being held bridal style. Zach was staring up into space, eyes glossed over. The lights were on but no one was home.

Axel snapped his fingers in his face a couple of times, that got his attention but he only looked over without a single spark of recognition.

“How much did he drink?”

Isaac shrugged.

“Well, I’m glad you managed to snatch him up in all that mess.” He put his hands on his hips “found you two, that just leaves Jacob doesn’t it? Since he’s from here there’s a good chance he tried to walk home after all that. Let’s check there first.”

With a nod from Isaac they went on their way. Axel felt significantly better now he was in a group. Sure Zach was likely blacked out with no idea what was even going on and Isaac wouldn’t hurt a fly, but any passing by no-good-doers wouldn’t know that. They would see a group of men with someone who could pass as a creature of the night himself in their ranks.

As they walked Zach managed to focus looking up at Isaac. He reached up and put his hand on the man’s cheek. “I like your face.” He slurred. Isaac shook his head to remove the hand, only to have Zach pluck his sunglasses off his face to put them on himself. “Why you wear these at night anyway? It’s already. It’s already dark.”

Isaac immediately started squinting each time they passed the odd neon sign or street lamp, the light stinging his pale eyes.

“Y’know, if things don’t work out with Axel I’d happily be your. Your rebound.” Zach smiled up at him “Wouldn’t mind me a man that can throw me like a rag doll.”

Axel’s eyes bugged out as they walked and Isaac made a high pitched whine in his throat.

“You’re okay big guy.” Axel reassured him almost automatically just as he did every time he made that noise. Then added, “That is a lot to unpack and in the middle of the street at night is not the time to tackle it.” He snatched the sunglasses off Zach’s face and slipped it into the pocket of his dress shirt for safe keeping.

They turned down bell road. The old factory loomed in the sky above them like a slain Goliath waiting to rot in peace. A stark contrast to the residential housing just across the street that had plants livening up window cills and ghost fire hung in glass orbs from balconies.

In the middle of the street across from the funeral home was a bus stop shelter where Jacob now sat. He managed to sit on the ground curled around the bench so it held his upper body, his red tear streaked face illuminated by his phone screen as he tapped away at the glass.

“Jacob! There you are!” Axel exclaimed as he approached him. He squatted down to his level in front of him. “we’ve been looking all over for you. Are you okay? Did something happen? What’s wrong?”

“I’m a terrible father.” He sniffled.

“What? No you’re not. Why in the world would you think that?”

“Look at me, I’m still running around crashing raves and getting drunk instead of helping around the house or preparing some kind of surprise for when Nattily gets back. I’m almost 40 for fucks sake…”

“You also have an important day job that pays for your family to live comfortably. you should be allowed to have fun every once in a while and if raves are how you do it, then what’s the harm?”

“I’m drunk. I’m just as bad as my dad. I’m perpetuating the cycle of abuse.”

“Yes, you’re drunk, and you’re not going around on some kind of angry rampage. Instead you’re sitting here crying and messing with your phone… what are you doing on your phone anyway?”

“I’m texting Nattily how much I love her and Emma.”

“Nope! Nope nope nope you can text her that when you’re sober and not so emotional.” Axel held out his hand “hand it over, you can have your phone back in the morning.”

Jacob shoved the phone down the neck of his shirt. “No. My phone. If you take it it’s grand theft and I can call the cops on you.”

“Call them on what? I’d have your phone.”

That gave him pause. He stuck a finger in Axel’s face “it’s still grand theft.”

“Okay, you can keep the phone, but no more drunk texting, got it?”

Jacob gave him a lazy thumbs up.

“Thank you. Now lets get you inside, yeah?”

He helped Jacob untangle himself from the bench and held his arm as he wobbled to his feet. He helped him across the road to the funeral home, guiding him as if he were helping an elderly woman walking through traffic.

“Be quiet, don’t want to wake up Pap.” Jacob said in a low voice once they got to the door.

The front room had hardwood paneled walls and matching floor that creaked and squeaked in a symphony each night the building settled. The group ignored the desk covered with papers containing death certificates, supplies orders, and clothing preferences.

Axel accidentally made eye contact with one of the taxidermy animals displayed on the shelf in the back of the room. “Pap’s” ghosts of pets past. He wondered if the man mounted them himself, but now was not the time to ask. The group climbed into the rickety cage elevator and rattled their way down below.

The temperature dropped as they were lowered into the morgue. They stepped out and Jacob flipped on the light. Stark white bulbs in reflective fixtures flickered to life, each above a sterile metal table prepped and waiting for a body.

Axel guided his stumbling friends to the wooden door on the far wall, opening it into the living room of Jacob’s underground 2 room apartment. They were met with gothic furnishings. from a bookshelf that looked like a repurposed old fashioned coffin, to a lamp with a human spine for a stand and a shade made to look like four skulls fused together, to a couch that looked like it was stolen from Dracula himself.

“I swear you make this place creepier every time I visit.” Axel commented as he closed the door after everyone.

“Says the man with an anatomical museum worth of wet specimens.” Jacob teased.

“That’s different! Those are educational!”

“It doesn’t matter how much you can learn from a cow fetus in a jar that doesn’t stop it from staring at you from across the room when you’re trying to sleep.”

“You mean like how that skull lamp is staring at me right now?”

“Look. It’s tasteful.”

“It’s not tasteful you’ve just been living with Edgar for too long.”

Isaac whistled to get the two’s attention. He bounced Zach in his arms a little.

“You can put him on the couch.” Jacob directed.

“No, put him on the floor. Easier to put him in the rescue position down there and easier to clean up if he spits up.” Axel corrected as he pulled a throw blanket off the black couch and spread it onto the floor.

Isaac gently lay the man down. The moment his arms were free he put his fist to his chest and moved it in a circle. ‘Sorry.’

“No need to be sorry big guy, it’s not your fault he’s acting like a clown. We’re okay.”

‘Okay.’ He signed, then added ‘where sleep?’

“Well… I guess we can walk back to my place.”

“That’s across town.” Jacob said “I’m not sending you guys back out there in the middle of the night. You guys can sleep here, it’s no problem. You and Isaac can take my bed and I’ll take the couch.”

“Actually, would you be comfortable with Isaac sleeping in bed with you.”

“…excuse me?”

‘What?’ Isaac signed.

“I want to keep an eye on sleeping beauty here, and I don’t want him to be in the same room as my boyfriend at the moment. So I’ll take the couch and you guys can take the bed.”

“Did I miss something?”

“Yes but I’ll explain it in the morning.”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine with your boyfriend sleeping in bed with another man?”

“Sure I am. It’s not like he’d ever cheat on me after all the times he’s been on the other side of that, and you’re been crying about how much you love your wife all night. Why would I have any reason to not trust you two?”

“Alright, as long as you’re sure.”

‘Thank you for trusting me.’

“Now that that’s settled.” Axel flopped down on the couch and started making himself comfortable “good night guys.”

“Good night.” Jacob gave a small wave as he retreated to his room.

Isaac bent over to give Axel a little kiss on the forehead and signed ‘I love you’ before following suit.

“I love you too. Good night~” he sang after him. The second the door closed he pulled out his phone. He wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight anyway, might as well use the time to browse around the internet.

Hours later the sounds of dawn started in the world above them. Birds started to sing and “Pap’s” mad horse began to stomp hooves on the ground above their heads. Zach stirred and opened his eyes. His head pounded hard enough to make his eyes throb. looking dazed and confused he raked his gaze around the unfamiliar room he didn’t remember entering. His eyes landed on Axel and he relaxed seeing he was calm and collected. “Hey… where are we?”

Axel put his phone away, shifting his full focus on his brother. “We are in Jacob’s apartment.”

“Oh. How’d we end up here?”

“Well, you were carried here and I walked. How much do you remember from last night?”

“I drank so much, man.”

“Yeah, you sure did.” He said curtly.

Zach narrowed his eyes. “You’re mad at me. Why are you mad at me? What did I do?”

He traced the outline of Isaac’s glasses in his shirt pocket. “Well you see, it’s not every day that I have to deal with my brother flirting with my boyfriend.”

“What are you crazy? I would never!”

“Oh but you did. Your exact words were “if things don’t work out with Axel I’ll be your rebound.” Does that ring a bell?”

“…I didn’t.” His voice wavered.

“But you did. I have no reason to lie to you about this, Zach.”

“… I was just drunk. You know I would never do that to you.”

Axel took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. “Do you want in on a little secret? I have a crush on Jacob, I’ve had it for years now. But I chickened out, missed my shot, and now he’s married with a kid. I think about that every day, what could have been if I just swallowed my fear and asked. But that doesn’t change anything.

“Do you know why I stopped drinking? It’s to avoid any drunken confessions like what you did last night. If either he or Isaac knew about that everything will change for the worst and it would break Isaac’s heart. If you can’t hold your liquor then maybe you should consider going without around certain out of bounds people you may or may not have feelings for one way or another. Got it?”

“…got it.”

“I’m telling you all this because I love you, and I don’t want to have to cut you out of my life if this becomes a problem.”

“Understood.”

Axel shifted gears and like the flip of a switch he was his old cheery self “Great!” He grinned “and if you ever flirt with my boyfriend again I’m going to kick your penis up into your body. Would you like some water?”

“Pickle juice is better for hangovers.”

“I’m not waking Jacob up just to ask if we can pillage his pickle jar.” He groaned as he got up off the couch and headed to the kitchen. “You’ll have to live with water.”

On the other side of the thin wall Jacob lay in his bed wide eyed. He had stayed up texting Nattily all night and couldn’t help but listen in to the conversation happening in the other room. He prayed to the god of dreams as he slowly sat up and looked over to the man sleeping next to him.

His prayers were answered, Isaac’s eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and steady. He as fast asleep. He didn’t hear a thing.

Jacob counted his blessings as he slowly laid himself back down. Axel was right, Isaac’s heart would have been broken if he heard that. Sure he’d never seen Isaac heart a fly, but there was nothing more dangerous than a person with a broken heart. There was no telling what he would do. There was Nothing to stop him from taking it out on the person closest by. Sure they were around the same height but he was thin and lean while Isaac was built like a brick shit house. He could easily pick him up and snap him over his knee if it came down to it.