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     Pages being flipped and steps muffled by the soft carpet could be heard all around, as well as coughs and low murmurs. The tall, old bookshelves towered above Morris as he made his way to the librarian's desk.

     "Hello."

     Victor shushed him, nose shoved into a book.

     "Ugh." Morris said, sitting sideways on the desk and toying with his one of the ornaments, a bobble-head of Abraham Lincoln. Rocking the top-hat as always, Morris observed, longing after his own.

     "I told you to never come here. You just get bored and end up causing trouble." Victor whispered. "Dennis the Menace more like Morris the Menace."

     Morris sighed, continuing his observation of the tiny president.

     Victor looked up from his book. "You didn't laugh at a cartoon reference, what's wrong?"

     Morris shrugged.

     "And what are you wearing?"

     He was wearing casual clothes. As in, a long sleeve t-shirt and... black jeans. Stuff from... this era.

     "I'm so screwed Victor it's not even funny."

     "Shh." Victor sat up. "Come on this side."

     Morris took the bobble-head and did as asked, sitting down on the floor with his back pressed to the desk. Victor pushed his chair back a little and leaned forwards, elbows on knees.

     "I killed Vin's albino rat, then bought him a new one. He didn't notice and it was all okay until we got to the parking lot and he saw the corpse."

     Morris poked the books at the bottom shelf with the tip of his casual shoe. Vans. Ugh, how much more 25 could he get? He looked away.

     "Well?" he said.

     Victor was gazing into distance, fingers covering his bottom lip.

     "So what now?" Victor chose to ask, from all the possible questions regarding Morris's ridiculous statement.

     "I probably have, like, 23 black dots out of 10."

     "What's that?"

     "He- he's given me 7 the day I tried to offer him a ride. It probably meant he'd share that stupid video at 10. Which means he'll now share the video and leave the putrefying rat corpse in flames at my doorstep."

     Victor whisper-laughed. When you've been a librarian for quite some years, you grow to master such techniques.

     "Come on. If it's spread, you can just get him fired. He's in charge of the stuff after all."

     "Please, the IT have no trouble penetrating whatever computer they feel like. He'll just say the one with the footage had been hacked. Even if no one would believe him, he'd get away with it. Lack of evidence."

     "Either way, people will forget of it in a few weeks. It'll just be another passing thing. Remember that broadcasted mail containing high-school photos of the main receptionist? You still think she's attractive, don't you."

     "So hot." Morris sighed. "Still, it's... I'm quitting."

     "Or you could get him to leave."

     Morris squinted at him incredulously and put a stop to Lincoln's head bobble.

     "How didn't I think of that- oh right maybe because I can't just-" he shook his arms around.

     "Shhh!" Victor insisted. "I'm not suggesting that you get him fired." he tilted his head, looking around the place.

     He was actually coming up with a possible solution, and Morris awaited eagerly. While playing with Lincoln.

     "You said something about some Ad company looking into advertising Vex?"

     Morris nodded faintly. "Yeah, corporate recently called about that. Why?"

     Victor nodded. "You also mentioned how Rae said this Vinson could be a model."

     "Not the time to be all jealous. Though I appreciate the fact my OTP is sailing."

     Victor sighed. "Gay. Never met her. You're weird. Moving on. What if you try to give Vinson away to the Ad company? They would never refuse such a model."

     Morris took a few moments to register all of that. "How would I even go about handing out a human being?"

     "I know it's a long shot, it's just a possible idea." Victor patted his knee. "You're a smart guy, figure it out."

     Morris glanced at Lincoln. It seemed to agree, what with the head nod, wink and thumbs-up.

 

     Morris added milk to his black coffee. It slowly turned to brown, which always made him wonder as a kid. Why'd the liquid in his parents' cups turn brown from black if added white? He clearly learned at kindergarten that black and white make grey.

     But now he knew. Add Noah (white) into Morris (black) and it shall equal shit (brown).

     "Whaddup?" a friend asked from the other seat in the rec room.

     Well, it was more of a rec balcony. Tiny, with two glass walls and warm colors. There were three easy-chairs, each of a different kind, that surrounded an interesting shaped glass coffee table of a pink tint. In the corner there was the mascot of the company, a female figure made of simplistic lines, and was barely covered by a metallic room divider with elegant model.

     On the single brown wall there was a tall painting of a thoughtful man, just next to a coffee maker. Beyond that there was the hallway.

     Morris didn't consider answering the man for a second. He worked at Research and Development, the land of pathological gossipers.

     "Nothing, I just..." Morris waved it off and looked at the bridge nearby the Vex building. There was something about bridges that just went well with gloomy weather, and the current one did it justice.

     His friend rolled his eyes and took a bite of his bun, crumples falling onto his suit. "So who're you taking to the Valentine's Day party coming up?"

     "Noah Vinson?"

     His friend arched an eyebrow. "...That doesn't sound right."

     "No, I mean, is that Noah Vinson?" Morris leaned forwards on his armchair, nose nearly glued to the glass. "By the bridge."

     "The albino you and Rae were talking about during lunch?"

     They both tilted their heads.

     "Yeah that's some white stuff there." his friend helped. "What is he..."

     Next to the white little dot there was a brown little dot. The two dots stood close, and then the dots exchanged stuff. Two people by the base of a bridge, hiding in the shadows. Morris doubted they were trading cards.

     "No way." Morris bolted up and away he went.

-------

     Morris's strides were long and confident, his undone coat flapping in the wind. His dress shoes brushed the pale grass with loud swooshes that caught the two punks' attention.

     Next to Noah there was that nameless man with thick curls and dead eyes. He departed, while Noah turned towards Morris almost daringly.

     Upon reaching close enough, Morris glanced at the Vex building and then at Noah, gripping his arm to take them on the other side of the bridge column.

     "Where do I even fucking begin?" he hissed, letting go of him. Noah leaned on the concrete wall and took a drag, looking ever so trashy with his awkwardly shaped hair covering his eyes.

     Morris shook his head and slapped Noah's fringe away, the transparent eyes coming into view, no red dots thanks to the little light. The gloomy weather also let him wear less baggy clothes, as he currently had on a... big hoodie. Well, it was only twice his size and not trice.

     "What's in this?" Morris asked, angrily taking his cigarette from his lips.

     "Acetone, Acetic Acid, Ammonia, Arsenic, Benzene, Butane-" he began, waving a hand covered by black fingerless gloves.

     Morris shook his head, inspecting the stick.

     "Cadmium, Carbon Monoxide-"

     Morris snapped it and let the contents spread onto his fingers.

     "Formaldehyde-"

     "You remember just so much useless crap." Morris grumbled, throwing away the remains. It had appeared to be a normal cigarette and not a joint. "Just, what is your problem? Did you really not expect for people to see you? You were in plain sight! Why do you even- drugs? I was under the impression you're a smart guy!"

     Noah's braces peeked just a little through the crack in his lips that represented a faint smile.

     "Doesn't even matter, I- I don't even know why I'm here! I should've been preparing the files for your dismissal!"

     "Why aren't you?"

     Morris clenched and unclenched his hands, glancing down, head kept high. "Because your might've grown on me a little, and so I felt like saying bye first."

     They've been through enough to make one of those melodramatic slow-mo montages. The moment they met, the moment they gave away the food to Noah's co-workers, the bike ride, the sticky gum situation, the...

     "Did I grow on you?" Noah asked lightly. "That's sweet because you're dead to me. Deader than my rat."

     ...the rat.

     "I said I'm-" Morris paced around, listening to a few cars pass above them. All of the breath he'd butchered while hurrying here suddenly got time to come back since he was no longer talking or yelling. "Sorry. Just."

     This was it. Noah was practically gone. Why was he even here?

     "Ok." Morris sighed, running a hand down his tie. "It's all in the past, there were good times and then there was the rat. All in all I don't regret having met you, you're kind of a cool guy. I hope they treat you well, in, prison. Oh God." he did a double take over Noah's skinny little albino self with the fluffy hair and all. He would get so raped it wasn't even funny.

     Noah chuckled, the dark lines under his eyes accentuating. "I'm not going anywhere."

     Morris sighed in relief, but then shook his head, conflicted. "What?"

     Noah pulled up his black pullover hoodie to dig into the pocket of the one underneath. He took out a transparent bag with dark brown beans. Coffee beans.

     "This is a joke." Morris deadpanned.

     "Kind of, yeah." Noah laughed menacingly. "We do this in obvious places for the laughs. There were some cops nearby but they didn't even notice. You did, however."

     Then, he proceeded to open the bag, take a bean and eat it.

     Morris knitted his eyebrows, arms and shoulders going limp. "You... you... he deals coffee?"

     "Only the best. He has connections." Noah took another bean and, much to Morris's horror, pressed it to his lips. The black-haired man tentatively opened them and munched.

     "Ugh." he scrunched up his face. He didn't know what he was expecting other than the revolting taste. It was like when he was little and would get his hands on the bag of coffee powder. Since it was mellow and chocolate looking, he would bite into it and then have a mouthful of gross.

     "You grow used to it. It's not about the taste, it's about having it in my body." Noah informed, licking his teeth.

     "That's not healthy." Morris whispered, distraught by the mixture of feelings he had upon realizing Noah was not in trouble.

     "So that's why I got in hospital thrice."

     Morris walked to the wall and leaned on it, next to Noah. "Really?"

     "Yeah, coffee overdose is a thing." Noah kept consuming the tiny things. "But everyone has addictions."

     Morris stared ahead thoughtlessly. "Hmm... The only time I overdosed was on memory pills, back in college. I was pretty time pressed..." he murmured while buttoning his coat. Once done, he crossed his arms.

     Noah glanced at him while squatting a coffee bean between two fingers. "Is that why you're fucked in the head?"

     Morris gawked at him. "It has nothing to do with it- I am perfectly healthy! My memory has been foggy ever since I can... well, remember."

     "That's not saying much."

     "Yes that sounded weird." Morris laughed.

     He turned his head towards the albino and contemplated on the fact they'd just shared personal life experiences. That aside, he let himself sink in the fact that his only possible way of getting rid of Noah had just gone out the window.

     ...Well, there was another option.

     "Can I have your phone number?"

     "What for?"

     "I don't know Noah, what are phone numbers for?"

     "Friends."

     Morris let his lips go straight. "Well I wouldn't say we're on bad terms."

     Noah snorted and returned his gaze. He was still under the false impression that Morris had seen that porn folder, and naturally chose to not bring it up in order to keep track of that footage. And yet there he was, asking for his number.

     With a second snort, he paced in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder, by the long collar that hid his nice jaw from sight.

     Morris glanced at him with that look Noah had seen too many times. It was as if every person he spoke to had one eye focused on Noah's current actions while the other was distracted by his condition. Even his closest friends didn't seem to ever adjust.

     Noah budged him a little, enough to gently press Morris's back to the wall. With that, he searched his expression carefully, trying to find a reason behind his request other than the friends deal.

     Morris looked as clueless and gullible as ever. And ever so handsome.

     "Sure thing, buddy." Noah smiled, clenching his fingers to tap his chest with a fist.

     Morris saved Noah's number into his phone and grinned. Only now would his secret plan unfold.

     "Hey, can I get a photo for your contact?"

     No Ad company would say no to a picture of the guy.

     Noah rolled his eyes. "Get it over with."

     Morris took out his phone, then looked Noah over. He reached out a hand and fixed his hair a little, it was a literal mess. Fluffy mess at that.

     "Ok, don't do that." Morris requested when he looked into the screen of his phone to see Noah pulling faces.

     "Ugh, act your age." the guy complained, his expression once again neutral.

     "Good. Three, two, one..."

 

     Giving Morris Kentson his phone number yesterday might just have been Noah's worst decision. Ever.

     The melody he'd chosen for the ring-tone, a creepily cheerful thing from 1929, was now nothing but a bunch of disgustingly repetitive noises that just clawed at his brain inch by inch. He was quite simply going nuts.

     "Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where I'll be, come tiptoe through the tulips, with me..."

     The sound swam through the silence as his coworkers stared expectantly. They were in the old, abandoned parking lot behind the Vex building, for the usual smoke (lunch) break.

     "Ooooh, tiptoe from the garden, by the garden, of the willow tree and tiptoe..."

     "Are you going to get that?" his most disheveled friend, Chester, asked. By the looks of it he was getting just as annoyed by the tune. But then again, everything annoyed him.

     Noah clenched his fists under the long sleeves of his red t-shirt.

     "Yeah." he hissed, then looked at the screen of his phone.

     Hidden number, who could it possibly be?

     "Yes, Kent."

     "Is your fridge running?"

     Noah parted his lips and glanced around with the attitude of a dying fish.

     "Yes, Kent."

     Silence.

     "Oh my God, seriously?" Morris exclaimed, most probably surprised that Noah hadn't heard the joke before. "Holy sh- then you better go catch it, haha! Did you seriously not-"

     Noah hanged up and shoved the phone into his tight pants. His eyebrows were knitted as though the joke left him in pain.

     "Why don't you just block him?"

     Noah played with his long sleeves, glancing into distance. His brain had a hard time adjusting to all of the recent stupid.

     So why didn't he block him? Well, truth be told, he had the hot guy's number. Whenever he was a tap away from blocking/ deleting the number, he'd think of his jaw. Man, that jaw.

     "It might get somewhere at some point."

     "How so?" someone in the group asked. Chester showed his own interest by opening his eyelids halfway.

     "Enough with the girl talk." Noah sighed, waving Chester over. It was their nap time.

     The man followed him into the building. As soon as they stepped inside, Noah's ring-tone made both men cringe. The sound echoed in the empty place, all workers either outside or hiding in their office.

     "Tiptoe through the window, by th-"

     "Yes, Kent."

     "Knock knock!"

     "Come in."

     "Come in who? Wait, no." Morris stuttered. "You were supposed to ask who's there."

     Noah hanged up.

------

     "Girl talk?"

     Noah turned his head to look at Chester. The hallway couches they were lying on formed an L and so their heads were nearly touching.

     Chester glanced back dully. He had major troubles sleeping, and talking helped.

     "You said you two could happen."

     Noah made himself comfortable. "Yeah. He keeps touching my hair, took a picture of me, asked for my number, looks at me funny... I'm pretty sure he's trying to take advantage of my gayness."

     Chester rubbed his stubbly cheek. "Sure he knows?"

     Noah squinted his eyes. "He must've seen the folder. He looked guilty and embarrassed and all that cute stuff. Heh. It's so easy to mess with him. You can see the dumb right through his eyes. Which are really green, holy shit. I'm sure they went better with his natural hair colour. Pretty sure he's dyed it, it's too black and nice looking. Man, we'd be such an aesthetic couple. I mean sex couple. As in-"

     A snore interrupted him.

     Noah sighed, turning onto his belly and closing his eyes. He felt that faint shiver of sleepy coat his muscles and all was great, with the wind blowing in through the barely opened window, covered by thick curtains. A nice place to be in-

     "Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where I'll be, come tiptoe through the tulips, with me..."

 

Oooooooooooh! Tiptoe, from the garden, by the garden of the willow tree and tiptoe through the tulips with meeeee!

KNEE DEEP IN FLOWERS WE'LL STRAY WE'LL KEEP THE SHOWERS AWAY BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEACH *headbang*

I'm sorry you had to witness that :} check out the pictures to see the rec room!

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