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     High school never ends, not quite.

     Because really, the ever so known moment before you fall asleep and your brain decides to go over recent and ages ago embarrassments, is a very high-school thing to do.

     It's why the next three nights, Morris slept disturbed. If there was something he hated in this world more than bow ties, it was having his sleeping schedule ruined, because really, it was such a happy place to be in!

     That and it caused pimples.

     Luckily, he managed to hide them with his fringe. But then he was fully aware that covering them with hair would only worsen the situation.

     Ah, Morris was grumpy.

     The lunch room didn't lift his mood despite its magnificent design and architecture. (I built it in sims 2, img to the right)

     It was at the very base of the Vex building, with walls made of windows. Outside world couldn't exactly gawk at the people eat since there were nicely trimmed bushes nearly as tall as the walls surrounding the entire floor.

     The tables were arranged in a socially strategic way. They were connected in L shapes or squares, requiring people to sit together and communicate. Pillars seemed randomly placed with nice blue flowers hung by them, matching the light blue chair cushions. To make up for all the bright and sunny, the walls were made of dark stone.

     Morris and his secretary were at a table with some other friends, however conversation remained between them two only.

     "Would he be considered part of an endangered species?"

     Rae looked up from her salad curiously. "Noah?"

     "Vin." Morris corrected grimly. That version sounded more evil, as to fit the evil man.

     Rae pretended to think on it before giving up. "What the hell do you mean?"

     "I'm curious if they'd extend my prison sentence because he's an Albino..."

     Rae laughed dully. "Ah. It'd make sense. Those racist fuçks shorten sentences if the victim is dark skinned, so you might be in bad luck."

     Morris rubbed his eyes, then stared into his black coffee.

     ...As black as those ungodly braces forming that ungodly grin.

     "Rat." he murmured. "He's a white rat. Red eyes, white fluff, lives to screw people up. Source of contamination. He is to be fired." (shout out to polar bear)

     "U-huh, why don't you just cut off the entire IT department while you're at it. The rest are no better."

     Yes. At least they were in a separate building, so to say. The company was two buildings connected by several tunnels every other floor. IT owned the shorter one.

     "Mmm... Tunnel by tunnel. Sh!t Nae, this is no joking manner! My dignity is on the line!" he took a sip from his coffee.

     "I don't know how dignified one can be with pimples at past 20."

     Morris snapped his head up and raked a hand through his fringe. "I am serious. You and Victor. Just make it happen already."

     "If only he weren't gay and I wasn't a strong independent woman."

     Morris rolled his eyes. "You just can't fantasize of anything other than kinky office sex with your boss whom is I."

     A few heads turned their way.

     "I could literally go to HR and report you for that." Rae looked out the window, contemplating whether or not she felt like keeping Morris around any longer.

     "Good luck getting past my secretary, she's a real pain. All you've heard about gingers? It's true."

     Rae mocked the low chuckle Morris let out. "What else could possibly brighten your day other than your own tasteless jokes?"

     "Your tasteless manicure."

     "Sparkles are in the season."

     Morris looked out the window, taking in the dark clouds. "Sure are."

     And what he noticed while dragging his eyes to the window was a suspicious figure stand in the line at the counter.

     Beanie... He was wearing a beanie, but the tips of his hair were left out. It stood loose on his nerdy head and made it look even bigger than it was. Did he realize how ridiculously good he was making himself look or did he just throw on anything in sight? Ah, young, careless people and their attractive careless fashion.

     Thought Morris, still in his twenties.

     "There he is."

     Rae looked over her shoulder at the line. A woman next to Noah was staring at him quite obviously, and so the man, much taller, dully glanced at her. She found interest in her shoes.

     "Why isn't he a model? And I'm not even just saying that, he literally has the potential. You know how hard it's become, finding unique looking people? Mathematically, all variations of physical features put on the covers these last decades are starting to-"

     "Nae, just tell me what the heII to do." Morris had his hand on the backrest of the chair, ready to get up. "Should I give him chocolate?"

     "I keep telling you to stop buying people with chocolate, it won't... well, Monday Milka is the reason I haven't signed my resignation letter yet..."

"Yeah, it gets to people, I've done a research paper on that in college." his foot started bouncing. "He's ordering a lot."

     Rae looked at him again. Noah was just done talking over the counter, and he now surveyed the room with hollow eyes. It was a matter of moments before his gaze met Morris's. Since Rae was turned too and they were both watching him shamelessly, he must've deduced he was their subject of conversation.

     Morris raised his hand from the backrest in a gesture of greet. Noah didn't have time to react because his order was ready.

     6 bags were being aligned on the counter one by one.

     "They must've sent him into the outside world for basic survival materials." Rae commented. "Intriguing."

     "I'll go help him out."

     "Went from murder to offer him chocolate and now you're his lap dog? Just what was on that footage?"

     Morris stood up, straightened his pants and walked there, hands in pockets.

     "Need a hand?"

     Now that they were both standing up, Morris noticed he was considerably taller than Noah. However, the man was nicely built, all flat but not in the unhealthily scrawny way most of his colleagues were. He was probably practicing some sport or other.

     "Thank you, Kent."

     And with that, he proceeded to walk away.

     Morris gawked at him and then at all of the bags, then back at him just to make sure he was really being a straightforward asshoIe.

     Hooking his fingers through three handles in each hand, he followed him. Judgmental gazes watched them approach the elevator, all the while he could hear Rae laugh.

     Noah took his phone out of his pocket and bowed his head. Morris eyed the button of the elevator blankly.

     "Could you maybe call the elevator? My hands happen to be full."

     Noah tapped away on his phone.

     Morris took a breath, smiled, and shakily raised a heavy hand, punching the button. Once inside, he let the bags down and sighed at the sight in the mirror.

     He usually loved getting in elevators just for the privilege of checking himself out, but now that he looked like a mess, especially next to the 'model', it wasn't as fun.

     "Why are you being so mean?"

     Due to the bright light, his eyes took that red tint in them. It was distracting.

     "Why are you pretending to be kind?"

     "I'm not."

     "Pretending, or kind?"

     Morris frowned, crossing his arms. "I'm just intending to approach you."

     "That was such a weird thing to say." Noah shook his head. "Would you act and dress your age, dude?"

     Morris ran a hand down his tie as if to cover it. "The company imposes formal wear, speaking of which, I could get you in trouble."

     Noah glanced down at his clothes. A loose brown hoodie over a black t-shirt and comfortable black jeans. The doors of the elevator opened, offering him a chance to ignore the matter and leave.

     With a huff, Morris picked up the bags and went after him. They were now on the fifth floor, walking past cubicles to reach the tunnel connected to the equivalent floor of the IT building.

     Once they were in the tunnel, Morris stopped to look out the large window. "Did you check out the view?"

     Since the link between the buildings wasn't that spacious, it felt as though he was in a frozen telecabin overlooking the very pretty city.

     When he looked at the end, he saw Noah peek from inside the other building, the door cracked open. "I don't know about you but skin cancer doesn't sound too appealing to me, personally."

     He was rubbing at an eye. Ah, photophobia. Morris glanced out again, noticing the bright crack between the dark clouds. Weird weather, but pretty.

     Morris unglued his eyes from the view and kept going.

--------

     They reached the creepy hallway, vacant as before. Morris was breathing heavily from the effort, the things were quite heavy. He only prayed sweat didn't add to his overall disastrous appearance. Since his hands were occupied, he couldn't fix his tie and it frustrated him to no end.

     "Could you please fix my knot, Vin?"

     The man looked up from his wristwatch. "Vin?"

     "Well, I thought I'd return the favor of erasing 'son' from your name as you did to mine."

     Noah scoffed, moving from the wall he was leaning on and getting on unknotting his tie. "Fine, I like it better than Noah."

     "Why?" Morris asked, curiously watching as the man slid his tie off and put it around his own neck.

     "Because my parents are ridiculous and named me after The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation."

     He looked genuinely pissed about the fact. Morris would be too, if his entire existence resumed to one single feature about himself. It must've been tough on the guy.

     "That's horrible, but I'm sure they were just relieved to have that kind of support."

     "Yeah, yeah." Noah knotted the tie and leaned on the wall. "I'll keep it."

     Morris laughed, mostly at how bad it went with the rest of his outfit. "I don't think you understand how expensive that was."

     "Well, you were the one bragging about formal wear. I have no ties." he was glancing at his watch once again. Morris went to insist that he gave it back, but the man held up an open hand.

     From his five fingers, each went down one by one. When his hand formed a fist, seven doors opened at once and the vacant hallway abruptly got crowded with people chuckling at the success of their sync.

     "Whoa." Morris held up the bags nervously as the people dug into them. He looked at Noah helplessly.

     "It's a thing." was his only explanation, too busy handling the money his coworkers were giving him.

     No one even acknowledged Morris, as if he was a mere hanger, and he felt really intimidated for some reason. Not even the guy that had guided him to Noah's office those days ago paid mind.

     Once everyone was gone and the empty bags swooshed comically in the Morris's grip, the man threw them in a nearby trash and returned to Noah, who was counting the money.

     Then, he took a dollar and slid it into Morris's chest pocket, patting it. "Thank you for your services."

     "Wait!" Morris called as he saw him head for his office and went after him. Once they entered the small, dark, creepy room, Noah sat down at his desk and looked at him questioningly, only lit by the computer screen.

     "Um. What do you take to get home?"

     Noah licked his teeth. He really did look like a rat, Morris couldn't help but ponder. Even his front teeth were a little longer, probably one of the reasons he had braces. Such a weird guy.

     "The submarine."

     Morris chuckled. "No but really."

     Noah rolled his eyes. "I missed the bus today so I took my bicycle."

     Morris nodded. "I see. Want me to give you a ride?"

     The man hummed. "Just to clarify some things: how far are you willing to go in order to get that footage erased? I'm really curious." he spoke factually.

     The man in question sighed, taking a seat on the little couch he couldn't make out the features of in that darkness. "Honestly, far enough to find out whether or not your internal organs are white as well."

     Noah frowned his way inquisitively. "We're all black inside."

     Morris tilted his head. "Black?"

     "Yeah." he said lightly. "Colors are just reflection of the light, and since in a normal situation no light enters our body, all of our internal organs are black."

     Morris leaned forwards, elbows on knees. "Okay, Vin... Thanks for that."

     Noah shrugged.

     "So how about that ride?" Morris said after a few moments of pondering his anatomy.

     The man rubbed his eyes and patted his surroundings until he found his pair of glasses. At least they were rectangular and not square, because next to the beanie it would've been way too much hipster to take in at once.

     "Sure, why not. Now shoo."

     Why not he'd asked.

     Because Morris is genuinely, unmistakably, dangerously forgetful.

     Who forgot to fill in their gas tank? Seriously, a car would make it quite obvious beforehand what with those little screens that no, weren't there just to make it look sophisticated.

     Morris could start it and all, but from the sounds of it, it wouldn't take them past a block or two.

     "Uh..."

     Noah was glaring at the windshield. "Seriously?"

     "Memory loss... it's a condition."

     "Is it really?" he asked just as rhetorically.

     "I let myself believe it is."

     Noah sighed, rolling his head back. "It took us 10 minutes to fit the bike in the car."

     Morris slumped down and watched the passing cars. "Well this is embarrassing."

     "Yeah. Two black dots to you, just you wait until ten."

     "What happens at ten?"

     "I post the footage."

     Morris coughed out a short laughter that, however, didn't sound as nervous as he was. "Do I get stickers if I do good?"

     "Let's cross that bridge when we doubtfully get to it."

     "Why are you so mean, you don't even know me! It's really disrespectful, all of this-"

     "Dude." Noah groaned. "Act your age."

     "Yo." Morris flipped a weird sign with his hands that made it look inhuman. "Why you gotta hate on a brother."

     "Ugh." Noah opened the door and stepped out.

     Morris let his arm down, shook his head at the rear mirror and exited the car. Noah had opened the trunk, attempting to pull his bike out in one piece.

     With the help of Morris, it successfully got out with only a few smudges on the car's ceiling. Noah held the handlebar and sighed, arranging his side bag.

     "Do you want a ride?" he raised an eyebrow.

     Morris laughed and closed the trunk.

     "I'm not kidding. There's a gas station nearby, you can buy a gallon."

     "Ah. Still, it'd be a little..."

     "Fine, whatever." he made to leave.

     "No wait! I'd appreciate it."

     Noah took off his side bag and rummaged through it before taking out a black umbrella. With that, he handed the bag to Morris.

     "You're taller, you pedal."

     The man it pulled the bag over a shoulder. It's weight meant there was a laptop inside. "Okay..." he went unheard because of the umbrella snapping open.

     He locked his car and swung a leg over the bike. It's been... a while since he did this. It could end terribly bad.

     Noah sat sideways on the bar, holding the umbrella above them with an unamused expression.

     "We look like we're announcing an upcoming circus." Morris stated as he got on pedaling wobbly.

     "We look like we're part of that upcoming circus. Mom was right."

     Morris chuckled, getting on the sidewalk and trying his best to avoid people.

     "You should go on the side of the road."

     "I don't know what intentions you have but I refuse to be part of a double suicide."

     "Yeah, you'd rather be part of a massacre." Noah murmured as they barely dodged a little kid.

     Morris tsked and took a left to go on the road. Funny thing how all of a sudden someone decided to randomly place a street sign in their way.

------

     Once he actually managed to get a grip of his inner 16 years old self that would even do bunny hops, barspins, 360s, Abubaca (that one ended badly often times), he managed to pedal in a straight line with no 'technical difficulties'.

     That allowed him to focus on the situation. Yeah, it was as weird as two barely acknowledged male adults riding a bike could get.

     It didn't help how Morris was pretty much leaning over the other guy to get to the handles. His arms were on both sides of his thin frame, and Noah's white hair... didn't taste like cotton candy, despite appearances.

     "Does your shoulder still hurt?"

     "Oh I don't know." Noah rolled his shoulder to make an audible crack. "Nah sounds fine to me."

     "I'm so sorry."

     "That's another two black dots."

     Morris actually flinched. It was probable that ten dots would actually mean the broadcast of that video. Or he was just messing with him. He probably didn't even keep track, what with all the goofs he's had ever since they started riding.

     "What would be the count so far?"

     "Seven."

     Morris wobbled and ran into the curb.

     "Thank you... and... sorry."

     "Make that sorry and thank you." Noah shook his head, leaning on his propped bike.

     Morris sighed, looking up from the gasoline he was pouring in. "So... Still up for getting that ride?"

     Noah stood up and straddled the bike. "Forget it, dude."

     With that, he pedaled away while standing up. He seemed in a rush. Morris couldn't blame the poor guy, he was probably bruised.

     Morris sighed, leaning his head on the car. Now he looked inappropriate with the gallon by his crotch, so he flinched back up.

     Only upon realizing how tough that movement was, did he remember the heavy bag he was wearing.

     Noah had forgotten his laptop.

I like these two :))

And sorry to the two people that suggested an outfit for Noah (as I asked y'all to), they just didn't... :-? suit him. (rainbow attire and darth vader attire... thx guys XD )

The offer is still available. Anyone that wants to dress him up just let me know what clothes you'd want him to wear.

Dedication to HecDaevis because he motivated me into writing his chapter within a few hours without even knowing it. hehe.

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