[Fanfic] - Any Other City - NYE
Title: Any Other City - Chapter 7
Rating: PG-15?
Characters: Ensemble
Pairings: France/Spain, Austria/Liechtenstein, Germany/Japan, France/Norway, England/fem!Netherlands, Prussia/fem!Romano, Norway/Japan
Summary: Derpy AU where the nations are hipsters.
In This Chapter: Everyone makes out with everyone. Hm, and there’s some dancing, mild Nils/Kiku, a paint war, a lot of drinking, illegal drug usery, and Matthew being a derp like always.
Warnings: Language, drinking, drugs, mild sexual situations.
This entire chapter is basically just blatant fanservice. I only had two plot points, and one of those is fairly minor. The only major plot point I had for this is at the very end. But, oh, is it ever major.
And I dunno if I just have weird friends or what, but the guys do this shit at parties all the time. And then the gay ones make out with girls. O.o
---
NEW YEAR’S EVE
---
Feliks paused outside the front door of the Hjortdonner house, shifting his bag of vodka and cranberry juice to reach for the handle. Gilbert’s voice, coming from the back porch, could be plainly heard. He listened more closely; that may have been Nils with him. Probably smoking, then. Feliks walked right in, heels muffled by the living room carpet. He took in the living room with one glance - Kiku and Ludwig were playing Sonic 2, and Alfred was prattling on to a half-bemused, half-intrigued Ivan about the differences in music between the one- and two-person settings.
“Your decorations suck, Alfred,” Feliks finally stated.
Alfred jumped and turned, then shot up from the floor with a giant grin, saying “Hey, Ludwig and I worked hard on those!”
“Uh-huh,” Feliks nodded. It was clear who had done what - the haphazard streamers taped to walls and doorways were obviously Alfred’s doing, while the balloons and perfectly-placed banner screamed Ludwig. He’d probably used a level to put up the banner, Feliks snorted to himself. “This,” he loosely pointed around the room, settling his bag on his hip, “needs waaaay more glitter.”
“It’s your fault you weren’t here to decorate - oh yeah - you’re here! It’s awesome that you got to come back for New Year’s this year!”
Feliks grimaced. “If I had to spend one more New Year’s Eve with my family in that hick town, ohmygod, I would die.”
Alfred and Feliks made their way into the kitchen, chatting loudly about nothing of importance, in order to stash Feliks’ beverages. Ludwig poked his head in, said hello, and reminded Alfred that they were supposed to be choosing some records for the evening - Alfred bounded off.
Feliks was making his first drink of the evening, admittedly a little heavy on the vodka, when Nils and Gilbert walked in from the back porch. Nils raised an eyebrow and nodded at his getup, then quirked a lip and said “I like the shoulder things,” before continuing to the living room.
Gilbert just stared, a vaguely concerned look on his face. Feliks shifted his weight to one hip and raised both eyebrows. “What the fuck is this?” Gilbert finally demanded, scowling.
“Please, Gil, you’ve seen me in heels.”
“No, not those - the pajamas or whatever.”
“Pajamas?!” Feliks laughed and took a long drink. “You are such a failure at fashion. It’s a jumpsuit, duh.”
Gilbert frowned. “Yeah, well, it makes you look even more like a girl than you already do.”
“Psh, you’re into it,” Feliks waved, spilling his drink on the floor.
“What? No way! I know you’ve got a dick, unless you’re just stuffing those faggy hot pants of yours.”
“Which means you’ve, like, totally been looking at my crotch.”
“Hey, wait a sec - it’s kinda hard not to, since you leave it all...” Gilbert waved vaguely at Feliks’ lower half, “on display, or some shit.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know what? Nevermind. I’m way too cool to deal with this bullshit.” Gilbert reached to grab the vodka from Feliks’ hand, but Feliks snatched it away.
“Ohhhh, nuh-uh,” Feliks teased, and feeling the first effects of the alcohol himself, waved the bottle around while sing-songing “Not until you say you’ve toootally been checking me out.”
Gilbert scowled and crossed his arms, then finally tilted his head up and announced that he was gonna go out and buy his own liquor - which would be way better than fuckin’ gross vodka, by the way - and that Feliks could just shove that bottle up his ass.
Feliks’ wild laughter followed him out of the kitchen.
---
While Gilbert was out on his booze run, Sadiq burst in with a yell and a ton of PBR, closely followed by an exasperated Jens and a chuckling Alonzo.
Sadiq immediately threw himself over Arthur and Eliza’s shoulders; Jens and Alonzo took a second to scan the room. It was early, and the scene in the living room was pretty mild. People were sitting around on the floor, the couch, some chairs, drinks all over every flat surface. A young kid with big glasses was trying to do tricks in place on his skateboard in one corner, laughing to a group playing videogames every time he fell off. A really tall guy was looking up YouTube videos and showing them to Arthur and Eliza on the couch, as well as to the skater. Two kids who looked like they only smiled three times a year between the two of them were standing over a record player, having a very serious discussion, presumably about what to play once “Star Guitar” ended.
Eliza twisted around in her seat when someone draped an arm on her. “Hey, Sadiq,” she smiled. Arthur turned around with a scowl, snorted, said “Oh, it’s you,” and turned back around to watch Ivan’s video.
“Hey, it’s not just me ya know,” Sadiq said, ruffling Arthur’s hair to flailing and curses. “Jenni-boy and Alonzo are here too!”
Arthur turned around to see them and asked “Where’d all your girls go?” as a greeting.
“Hi to you too, Arthur. Well,” Alonzo turned around and looked confused for a moment, “Anja and Mathias were right behind us...” he shrugged and turned back to Arthur. “But the rest of them are out at a bar with Heracles.”
Mathias and Anja crashed in, rendering Jens’ snarky, quiet “Mathias is a girl?” nearly inaudible. He was whining about her interrupting his peeping on some girl who’d failed to close her blinds; she just rolled her eyes and yanked him further in, ignoring it when he slung an arm around her shoulders instead.
Arthur nodded to them and then went out back to smoke. Nils noticed and followed.
Mathias laughed and looked at Anja. “I think the little guy is upset,” he grinned, and used his arm to draw her closer.
“Hm, okay.”
“I meeeean...you should go out and make nice if you’re not gonna sleep with me,” he winked. “But I’d give you a great time - promise.”
She rolled her eyes and shoved him off. “I don’t know how many years I’ve said this now - I’m not sleeping with you, dumbass.”
He just shrugged and laughed, apparently used to this by now. She went outside to join Arthur and Nils.
“Where’s Francis?” Elizabeta asked.
“Comin’ with the boy-toy,” Mathias smirked. Alfred, who had been watching the entire exchange with wide eyes, began laughing at the nickname.
Eliza quirked an eyebrow. “Boy-toy?”
Kiku leaned to her and murmured “I believe he’s talking about Antonio.”
“Yes, he is,” Alonzo smiled. “So...” he lifted two six-packs of beer, “where can I put these?”
“Oh!” Alfred jumped up and began to lead the group to the kitchen - then he realized he didn’t know any of them and made hasty introductions around the room. That over with, he grabbed the closest one - Jens - by the elbow and hauled him off to the kitchen, the other three following and laughing.
---
Matthew looked into the kitchen and smiled a little - found it. Most of the alcohol he was struggling to carry wasn’t his - it was Tina’s and Feli’s - but he was a gentleman, and offered to put their things up for them.
He opened the fridge to find it was almost full already and frowned. He was half-in, shifting things around to make room, when someone asked him if he needed help. He jumped, hit his head on the refrigerator ceiling, and let out a small yelp of pain and surprise. Pulling back and rubbing his head, he looked over to see Elizabeta giggling softly at him and trying to hide it.
“Oh, uh, hey,” he mumbled and tried not to blush. Tried being the operative word.
“Hi,” she smiled. “Did you need help?” she asked again.
“Erm, well...” he looked into the fridge - he was mostly done by now. “I think I’ve got it, now, but, er...do you want a beer? I have plenty.” He held out his unopened can.
“No thanks,” she replied. “I don’t drink.”
“Oh...uh...sorry?” he apologized, meek and embarrassed. Oh, great, more blushing.
Apparently she thought it was funny, because she started laughing. He liked that laugh. Oh, shit, now what to say? Usually he’d just talk about beer or something as an icebreaker.
“I’ve...I’ve got other things to drink, if you want. I mean, non-alcoholic things.”
She was about to reply when Feliks walked in to make another drink and let out a loud laugh and an even louder “Eliza! I haven’t been able to talk to you properly at all yet, girl.” He then threw an arm around her and kissed her cheek with a smirk, then looked over at Matthew. “Oh, hey cutie,” he winked. “When did you come in? Like, totally missed that.”
Matthew’s blush intensified tenfold. Was this guy serious or not? Either way, it was in front of her - it was embarrassing to begin with, but even more so with her standing there, laughing and looking at him. But, then again, Matthew guessed that the two were friends. He didn’t want to make one of her friends angry. She seemed to be the protective type.
“Hey,” Feliks’ snapping in his face jolted him out of his thoughts. “Didn’t mean to scare you stiff, yeesh,” he rolled his eyes. “Just having, you know, a little fun,” he laughed and walked to the counter to make a drink, smacking Matthew on the ass on the way. Matthew jumped with a small eep of shock and embarrassment.
“Oh, God,” Eliza sighed, “you’re drunk, aren’t you, Feliks.”
“Aw, honey, what makes you say that?” he winked at her and continued sloppily making another vodka cranberry.
“Because you’re hitting on strangers just because you want to see them freak out,” she said, tone serious, but eyes betraying her real thoughts on the situation - that it was hilarious. “I’m really sorry about him...uh...”
“Matthew,” he squeaked out.
Feliks turned around and laughed some more before smirking and leaning back against the counter. “Matthew, aw, cute name. Going, like, all old-school Bible huh?” He turned to Eliza and addressed her. “Yeah, okay, so maybe I am a little drunk,” he conceded with an evil grin - then looked Matthew up and down and barked a laugh when he blushed, again.
“Come on,” she muttered, grabbing Feliks by the elbow and pulling him out of the kitchen. “And your next drink is water, or I’ll kick your ass.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever girl, totally.”
Matthew stood, shocked in place. A guy just hit on him. In front of her.
Oh God, oh God.
---
“Jesus, this place is small,” Sadiq commented, looking around the bathroom from his seat on the toilet.
Francis used a foot to move the shower curtain and his expression turned into a mix between a grimace and a sneer. “It really needs a decent cleaning, especially this curtain - no, no, they should simply get a new curtain, this one is-”
“Francis, shut up about the fuckin’ shower curtain. No one cares but you,” Sadiq cut him off with a roll of his eyes and turned to Mathias. “Ey, what’s takin’ ya so long? Not like it takes that long ta get a bump ready,” he grumbled.
Mathias straightened a little and glanced at Sadiq from his position over the sink counter, razorblade paused in the air awkwardly. “Oh, ya just want a bump? Well, shit, just use my keys or something.” He dug around in his pocket and tossed his keys at Sadiq, then handed the bag over with a muttered “Be careful with that.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sadiq rolled his eyes.
“There’s not much,” Francis frowned.
Sadiq paused in getting the perfect amount on the end of the key and scowled at Francis, raising an eyebrow. “How much ya need? A line’ll do ya fine for most of the evenin’ if ya start drinkin’. I’m just gonna do a bump here and there, myself.”
“My dealer would shoot my balls off if we called her now,” Mathias interrupted. “This is what we have for the night, so suck it up,” he smirked, and Sadiq laughed at the terrible pun while Francis just rolled his eyes. “You take the honors,” Mathias grinned to Francis.
“Ohh I like this part - always so classy, this bastard,” Sadiq said with a sneer, then inhaled his bit from the end of the key. Francis pulled out his wallet and rolled up a hundred dollar bill - “Whoa, forgot you do coke like a baller,” Mathias laughed.
---
Alfred and Antonio brought Alfred’s computer from the living room to the kitchen and began playing dance music from the house’s shared iTunes playlist, as well as YouTube when songs they wanted to hear weren’t available.
They’d begun dancing around to Girl Talk (a mutual favorite) when Ludwig came in, looked at the computer on the counter, and moved it to a safer location - a T.V. tray nestled in a sheltered corner of the room. The two of them tried to get him to dance, but he just shook his head and vanished before returning with better, louder computer speakers for them.
As people made the trip to the kitchen for more drinks, it slowly became more crowded. Nils and Roderich paused to watch, Feli, Tina, and Feliks stayed to dance, and Matthew and Jens just tried to make it in and out as quickly as possible. Arthur walked in, smirked, and shoved the kitchen table and chairs against a wall with a loud screech to make more room.
Gilbert came in during the middle of this, immediately let out a whoop, cracked open his rum, and dashed to the computer to put on “Fuck the Pain Away.” Someone turned the volume up, and the noise drew in Anja and Eliza from the living room.
The lights were turned off and a weird flashing kid’s toy was set up for impromptu dance lighting - drinks were spilled all over the linoleum, moving bodies were making the room increasingly warm, the floor was becoming slippery and disgusting, but no one seemed to care.
---
This was the fourth beer Alonzo had given him in an hour. Jens looked up at him from his seat on the couch. “Okay, what do you want?” he frowned.
“What?”
“You’re trying to get me drunk,” he replied, deadpan. “What is it that you want me to do?”
Alonzo smirked. Well. That didn’t bode well. “I’d like a guarantee that I’ll get at least one good picture at midnight, seeing as we’re not out at any bars...”
Jens sighed. “And?”
“I’ll even pay you, if you want...” Alonzo started.
A deeper frown. “Tell me the plan, then.”
---
The kitchen dance party was in full swing when Sadiq sauntered in, saw Antonio, and pounced on him while shouting his name loud enough to be heard over the music. Antonio twisted to see who was slung over his back and let out an odd happy sound when he saw it was Sadiq.
“What the fuck is this shit?” Sadiq laughed into Antonio’s ear. “This song is - Jesus, how old is this song?”
“Hey, I picked it out,” Antonio smiled. “Doesn’t matter if it’s old, it’s good for dancing.”
“Eh, guess you’re right, ya happy bastard,” Sadiq barked, and the two began dancing together to “Take Me Out.”
“Where’s Francis?” Antonio asked between songs, flushed and excited. “He vanished with you.”
“Who knows, that guy,” Sadiq grinned, then scowled. “Another old-ass song? Oiy.” He continued dancing anyway. “But yeah, prob’ly got distracted on the way here - he’s a little coked out.”
Antonio frowned at this and slowed a little. “He was doing coke?”
“Eh? Yeah, with me an’ Mathias - what about it?”
“I just...” Antonio trailed off and shrugged, barely moving by this point. “Yeah, I guess it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he does it a lot, right?” He laughed but looked a little unsure at this last statement.
“Nah, not like he used to,” Sadiq smirked. “Can’t think ‘a the last time I saw him do the shit, come ta think of it.”
Antonio nodded; Sadiq grabbed him and forced him to dance with a wild burst of laughter. “Aw, lighten up - you’re supposed ta be the happy bastard, ‘ere.” Antonio smiled back at him but still wasn’t quite to where he was before the talk of coke started. “Oi, yeesh, I’ll make sure he’s cut off the rest of the evenin’, kay?”
At this, the normal, bright laughter returned. Sadiq nodded and then said he’d be back - he had to go tell Mathias before he forgot. Actually, screw that. The easiest way to keep Francis from doing any more would be to finish the bag off. Or, rather, have Mathias finish most of the rest off. A super-high Mathias was always hilarious.
When he returned to the kitchen, a fast-talking, attention-disordered, wildly laughing Mathias in hand, he found that Francis had found Antonio without his help. He shrugged and let Mathias do his thing, and decided to wind his way through the cramped room and grab a beer - he was only mildly buzzed, and that just wouldn’t do.
He was at the counter, searching for something to open his bottle with, when he heard an almighty yell of “XERXES!” and was nearly tackled by a - what the fuck, this guy was goddamn pale.
“Hoshit,” he exclaimed, “are you that fuckin’ Edward Scissorhands kid?!”
“Fuck me, your piercings are real! Bitchin’! But, yeah,” albino kid tilted his head back with the most cocky smirk Sadiq had ever seen, “I was Edward-motherfucking-Scissorhands. Alias is Gilbert,” he narrowed his eyes and grinned, a smile like knives, and held out his hand.
“Yeah, mine’s Sadiq,” he returned, shaking the hand. Gilbert looked at his beer, grabbed it, and snapped it open with something on his keychain.
“If you want some of my rum, just grab it,” Gilbert said, waving around three-fourths of a bottle of rum. He perked up at the next song that came on. “Backseat! This song fuckin’ rules - almost as awesome as I am,” he winked over at Sadiq, and then yanked him closer to the middle of the dance crew.
“Shit kid, wish I’d seen ya here earlier,” Sadiq shouted over a quieter part of the song. “Ya missed the coke.”
“What?!” Gilbert exclaimed, voice high. “Fuckin’ sucks!”
“Yeah,” Sadiq laughed. “I’d try and get some for ya, but that bitch’d kill us if we tried to get more this late.”
“Dude,” Gilbert started, voice oddly serious. “Next big party - we’re doin’ it, you and me. It’ll be fuckin’ amazing.”
“Heh, well - got any more blood?”
Gilbert paused for a second, hips angled out oddly. “Nooo...” he began, slowly, still dancing but mind obviously elsewhere. “But...I think Al’s got fingerpaint,” he smirked.
“Well, what’re ya waitin’ on?!”
Gilbert laughed and twisted around, making his way out with surprising speed and grace for someone who’d had a fourth of a bottle of rum in, oh, certainly less than an hour.
---
They’d chucked off their top layers and were just in their under-layers - Sadiq in a see-through tee (Mathias saw and laughed over the crowd) and Gilbert in a plain white ribbed tank - and at this point, had fingerpaint smeared all over their faces and in their hair.
They danced and battled in the middle of the crowd - a swipe of blue across Sadiq’s collarbone was met with a smear of purple and green down Gilbert’s arm. Some dancers tried to avoid the increasingly messy men, wary of getting paint on their clothes. Alfred, Feli, Tina, Mathias, and Arthur grabbed little tubs of paint themselves and started a mini dance-paint-war. Eliza didn’t participate, but rather stood to the side and encouraged the entire thing, snapping a few pictures alongside Alonzo.
“Hey!” she called to Gilbert and Sadiq, who were closest to her and closest to each other. As in, they were right up against each other, cackling like maniacs and smearing paint everywhere, equally intense smirks solidly in place.
They looked over at the same time, and she laughed at how annoyed both seemed at the interruption in their bromance. “Make out,” she held up her camera and winked. Gilbert paused, eyebrow up and an “eh?” look on his face. Sadiq barked a laugh and yanked Gilbert over, happy to comply with an order from Eliza.
Eliza let out a cheer that was clear over the original version of “Minimal” pounding over the stereo (she suspected that was Ludwig’s doing, but, huh, where’d he go?) and Gilbert laughed into Sadiq’s mouth upon hearing it. He looked over, still half-attached to Sadiq’s mouth, and asked if she liked it. She just responded with a wink, thumbs up, and an evil smirk. “I’ll kiss both of you at midnight if you keep it up!” she yelled.
Apparently that was the perfect thing to say, because both of them really got into it, though they didn’t stop smiling.
“Too bad ya ain’t a chick,” Sadiq mumbled onto Gilbert’s lips, “you’re a good kisser.”
Gilbert made a noise of agreement and mumbled “Well yeah, of course I’m amazing,” before sticking his tongue too far into Sadiq’s mouth for either of them to say much more. They heard Anja and Arthur laugh and cheer them on.
“What the hell are you two doin’?” Mathias laughed, flinging himself over both of them and looking back and forth with a smirk.
They broke apart and Sadiq snarled “What the fuck does it look like I’m doin’, dipshit?”
“Makin’ out with a dude! Haven’t seen that one in a while,” Mathias shot back, so fast it was hard to catch.
“Ha, yeah, prob’ly ‘cause it’s you I made out with the last few times,” Sadiq answered, rolling his eyes.
Mathias shrugged. “Got us both laid, too!”
“Hey,” Gilbert barked and pointed at Mathias, eager to defend his manliness, “You’re gonna have to at midnight anyway - pretty sure there are only four chicks here.”
Both Mathias and Sadiq laughed a lot at that quip, before Sadiq added “Hey, a mouth’s a mouth. So shut yer trap.”
---
The dance party paused when Roderich came in and reminded a few people that midnight was coming up in four minutes. Everyone piled into the living room to watch the ball drop.
A paint-covered Gilbert was standing between an equally-painted Sadiq and an uncontrollably giggling Feliks, the three of them in a line behind the couch.
“Oh, fuck,” Gilbert scowled. “Who let him get plastered? He gets all giggly and touchy and shit. Ugh.”
“Gillll,” Feliks slurred, “stop being, like, a total bitch.”
This made Sadiq laugh and he congratulated Feliks. Feliks noticed Sadiq’s pants and they began an involved discussion on fashion. Gilbert sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering about “pansies who spend too much time with their noses stuck in teen mags.”
Then Feliks, apparently drunk enough to ignore the fact that paint was getting all over his jumpsuit, put an arm around Gilbert and leaned into and across him in order to better hear Sadiq - but with a smirk that told that he knew exactly what he was doing. Gilbert shouted “Hey!” and tried to push him off; Feliks rolled his eyes and snarked that Gilbert was just making out with a dude, so he didn’t see the problem here.
---
Jens and Roderich were both turned on the couch, passively observing the nonsense going on above their heads. Roderich was making sure to stay clear of any paint that might come near, but Jens didn’t seem to care too much.
The three were bickering so loudly Roderich almost didn’t catch the countdown; he turned to the T.V. right as the ball dropped and an roar overtook the room. The next thing he knew, he was being kissed by - Jens?!
Surprised, he pulled back a bit, but paused at Anja’s “Ow ow, you two! Yeah!” He looked over and she winked and grabbed Elizabeta; Elizabeta waved for them to continue, mid-kiss.
Francis broke away from Antonio long enough to yell that he’d fire Roderich if he stopped now, and a few other people joined in with laughter.
Oh, what the hell.
Roderich grabbed Jens and pulled him in for a real kiss, this time. If he was going to do something so...risqué...well, he may as well do his best. He’d just chalk it up to alcohol and peer pressure, later.
He missed the flash of Alonzo’s camera.
Above him, Feliks and Gilbert were kissing to Sadiq’s laughter and the encouragement of a few people around the room. Mathias grabbed Sadiq in mid-laugh before he continued around the room, giving pretty much everyone a kiss.
---
Elizabeta was doing essentially the same thing as Mathias (and met him halfway around for a very involved kiss that only ended with a knee to the balls) when she came upon Matthew and Tina. She grabbed Tina and they proceeded to have a very intense makeout session right in front of Matthew’s eyes.
He stood there, beer spilling onto his shoe and mouth wide open. Uh. Whoa. This might have been even better than getting a kiss himself. Actually - shit, this was way better than getting a kiss himself. They pressed themselves to each other with a giggle and he dropped the damn bottle.
Goddamn it. He didn’t know when they were going to break apart, and while he was really hoping to be next on Eliza’s kiss list, he...had a kind of serious problem developing. Rapidly developing. Shit. Bathroom it was.
---
“Hey Feliks!” Alfred laughed, stumbling over to his friend. “I think I’ve kissed almost everyone in this room but you -” he looked around to see Antonio and Francis still stuck to each other, Ivan still blushing and stuttering after receiving a kiss from Feli, and Mathias finishing up his rounds, a wildly flailing and protesting Arthur wrapped up tight in his arms while he laughed - “So! Whadda ya say?” Alfred winked.
“Yeah, sure,” Feliks shrugged with a small twist of his lips. It was short and chaste, then they both heard the dance party in the kitchen start up and grinned at each other.
“Hey,” Feliks stopped Alfred with an awkward yank of his arm and looked around. “Where’d Ludwig go? I was totally looking forward to seeing his reaction when I kissed him! It would be - God, it would be, like, the best,” he smirked.
Alfred laughed. “It really would dude! Huh, but, yeah,” he peered into the kitchen. “I dunno. Maybe the bathroom?”
Mathias and Gilbert burst out of the kitchen and between them, laughing like hyenas over something, and made their way down the hall.
Feliks and Alfred watched them go for a minute, confused, then turned to each other and shrugged. “Well, Al, if you find him, you know, bring him to me,” Feliks winked.
“Sure thing dude!”
---
Nils and Kiku snuck out of the living room before the ball dropped and had begun a private celebration on Nils’ bed. A private celebration that was quickly becoming more and more heated. Nils was on top of Kiku, bodies pressed together tight, still-clothed erections grinding together - his shirt was off and he was hurriedly shoving up Kiku’s, letting out a low curse at the feel of heated, sweat-slicked skin against his -
BANG.
Kiku moved under him, distracted by the noise, but Nils just tugged the offending shirt off of Kiku and set to attacking Kiku’s neck with his mouth. He ran his hands up Kiku’s side, hungrily, greedily, a little rough - Kiku’s small noise of pleasure caused him to grind down harder against him and -
BANG.
Nils froze over Kiku, breathing heavily onto his neck. “What the hell,” he muttered in a low growl.
“Hey, Nils, you fucker!”
Nils dropped his head onto Kiku’s shoulder, groaning.
“GILBERT, WHAT!?”
Gilbert simply cackled - Nils heard someone else too - and answered with another loud knock upon the door. Nils lifted himself up on his elbows over Kiku and frowned, looking at the door. That didn’t sound like a knock. It sounded like -
BANG.
- like they were trying to kick the goddamn door down.
Nils got up on his knees with a snarl; Kiku pulled his shirt back on and Nils despaired internally. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Nils shouted at the door.
More obnoxious laughter. “You ~mysteriously disappeared~ at midnight,” Gilbert lilted though the door. “I wanted to give you a kiss!”
“TOUGH LUCK, SHITHEAD,” Nils yelled - he thought he heard someone remark “He sounds pissed!” in an entirely too-cheerful tone.
BANG. Nils swore he heard the door crack on that one.
“Awww, heeyyyy, we didn’t interrupt anything, did we?” Gilbert teased through the door.
“WOULD YOU JUST GO AWAY?”
BANG.
“I just wanted to give my awesome roomie a nice smooch!” The last part was almost incomprehensible due to Gilbert’s laughter.
Nils flung himself from the bed and marched to the door, scowl firmly in place. He yanked it open - Gilbert’s look of pure shock would’ve been hilarious had he not been so pissed - grabbed Gilbert, shoved their faces together over that other dude’s loud “Ha! He gotcha there!”, and slammed the door closed again before Gilbert could react.
He was gonna have to get a better fucking door.
---
Ludwig was sitting on the front stoop, ignoring the chill - he didn’t want to be in the mess at midnight. He heard the door swing open and Alfred’s loud “Aha! Found ya!” before he turned just in time to see Alfred plop down next to him.
“Hey Luddy!” Alfred laughed, then swung an arm around his shoulders and leaned into his side, “you disappeared at midnight - everyone else got a kiss!” At that, Alfred abruptly turned, legs practically on top of Ludwig’s lap and - lips were on his - Ludwig’s eyes widened - what - this - this was Alfred - oh fuck -
Before Ludwig’s brain could catch up with what he was doing, he threw himself into the kiss - leaned forward into Alfred’s heat, hand on Alfred’s jaw, in his hair - captured Alfred’s bottom lip in his and pulled back, carefully, reverently, reveling in the sensation of its softness, the wetness of their mixed saliva as he trailed his mouth lower - let out a small, open-mouthed pant half-over Alfred’s parted lips. Then their lips met again and his tongue invaded Alfred’s mouth with an intensity Ludwig doubted he’d ever kissed anyone with before. His arm around Alfred’s back was pushing them closer, lining their bodies up on one side, hand curling into his hair - he felt Alfred’s tongue respond against his, and it was just like him, reckless and enthusiastic and not quite perfect but still -
Alfred yanked himself back and looked at Ludwig, concern marring his features. “Wh - hey, dude, you okay? You’re shaking!” he exclaimed over Ludwig’s panting breaths. “It’s cold, man, you need a better - “
“Alfred,” Ludwig gasped, screwing his eyes shut, “I like you. I like you a lot.” Oh, Christ, fuck, why was he saying this, he shouldn’t be saying this, that kiss, and his brain was frazzled, he really was shaking, all over, violently, and his mouth was still going, he just couldn’t - couldn’t stop - “I have for - for - I don’t even know,” there was an obvious waver in his voice, he was close to hyperventilating, he was going to ruin everything between them - but - he just - he had to get it out.
“Whoa, dude, just calm down,” Alfred smiled and let out a low half-laugh, then reached for Ludwig’s shoulder -
Ludwig twisted away with a jerk. It irked him that Alfred wasn’t taking this - this - seriously. It hurt. “No, stop,” he breathed desperately. “Stop laughing.” He tried to calm his breathing. Alfred would begin to laugh, or make a joke, or try to lighten the situation, then catch himself and fidget instead.
“I just...” Ludwig looked down and sighed. “I don’t know. You make me happy. Sorry.” His stomach churned. He turned his head slightly and looked over at Alfred. Alfred still looked slightly confused, slightly unsure, a bit hesitant - as if he wasn’t sure he was drawing the right conclusions. The same look he had when he thought he’d done a problem correctly, but he wasn’t quite sure and wanted Ludwig to check. “Alfred. I mean I like you romantically,” he said in a low tone, and grimaced.
“Oh!” Alfred’s eyebrows shot up, then his face went back to his trademark smile. “No way, Feliks was totally right! I mean, that’s awesome, ‘cuz you totally rule, but, uh -” he scratched the back of his head, sheepish - “sorry dude, you know I’m not gay.” Alfred paused, leaned back and looked at the sky with a small grin still on his face. Ludwig’s stomach sank; he’d just fucked up one of the most important relationships in his life.
“But,” Alfred looked over and smiled, genuine, “Feliks could probably hook you up.” Then he burst into loud laughter, and Ludwig was so shocked he jumped an inch or two in place. “Hahaha oh man, Ludwig!” Alfred slapped his arm and Ludwig jumped again, “Literally - he could hook you up - isn’t that a great joke? I rule so hard!”
Ludwig just stared and tried to make himself relax, at least enough to not feel like his heart was going to hack its way out of his ribcage. Alfred...seemed to be acting normal. Kind of drunk, but otherwise, normal...?
“It’s...a pun,” made its strangled way out of Ludwig’s throat.
Alfred’s laughter cut off and he tilted his head. “Eh?”
At that moment the door burst open with a bang and Ludwig jumped again. God, he really was going to have a heart attack this evening, wasn’t he?
“Eyyy you two,” Gilbert drawled, kicking Alfred and Ludwig successively, “bunch of us are all headin’ to a bar. Some Hercules guy called and said it was bitchin’. You’re comin’. So let’s go!” By now most of the party was mingling around the stoop, or in the street, ready to go.
“Did Ivan leave?” Ludwig asked. The man was fairly easy to spot, and Ludwig didn’t see him anywhere.
“Nah, he didn’t wanna go. Stayin’ here, holdin’ down the fort. Already told him he was a pussy for wantin’ to stay in on one of the greatest party nights of the year.” And with that, Gilbert hopped down the steps and joined Mathias, Arthur, and Sadiq in the charge to the bar.
“I think I will stay here,” Ludwig quietly stated as Alfred got up to follow. He just wanted some time to sort out his brain.
“Oh, yeah?” Alfred asked, turning and looking up at Ludwig from the sidewalk. “Well, hey, you’re welcome to crash here tonight too - got that sleepin’ bag in my closet and all - then tomorrow we can have Gil make us breakfast and clean. Oh, hey, you wouldn’t wanna help me clean, would ya?” he winked.
Normally Ludwig would’ve grumbled internally and then reluctantly agreed to help, but he was so relieved he hadn’t caused irreparable damage to their friendship that he immediately, emphatically, agreed.
“Sweet!” Alfred cheered. “Okay dude, I’ll call ya if this bar is the most ballin’ place ever, but yeah, goodnight!”
Ludwig watched him go and heaved another sigh. He really hoped that things would remain normal, come tomorrow morning.
---
AUTHOR’S NOTES + NYE MIX TAPE + SKETCHIES!
---
Okay so on the Kink Meme everyone went all ‘MAMA BEAR RAWR’ over Ludwig (and I squee’d real hard - like, real hard). But lemme just say - Alfred is rash, and he was drunk, and just needs to THINK before he does stuff; but his being cheery is his defense shield against the world. (Well, that and acting oblivious.) The more he’s backed into a corner emotionally, the more ridiculous he gets. So that he shut up when Ludwig asked him to is saying a lot.
So yeah.
JANUARY.
IT IS NEXT.
OH GOD.
MIXTAPE LINK: http://www.med iafire.com/?dlq3b2 j0pkm0e
Early in the night:
Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
Mathias, Francis, and Sadiq do illegal things:
Black Lips - Gung Ho
Kitchen dance party:
Girl Talk - Play Your Part (Pt. 1)
Peaches - Fuck the Pain Away
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Sadiq and Gilbert dance:
Staygold - Backseat - It should be illegal for songs to be this catchy
Matias Aguayo - Minimal
Alfred and Ludwig on the porch:
The Replacements - Unsatisfied
SKETCHES!
Feliks on NYE
I sorta forgot his bag of vodka and cranberry juice. Whoops.
Sadiq and his crazy attire/piercings
It’s kind of impossible to find official art of his face. So, er, whatever.
Rating: PG-15?
Characters: Ensemble
Pairings: France/Spain, Austria/Liechtenstein, Germany/Japan, France/Norway, England/fem!Netherlands, Prussia/fem!Romano, Norway/Japan
Summary: Derpy AU where the nations are hipsters.
In This Chapter: Everyone makes out with everyone. Hm, and there’s some dancing, mild Nils/Kiku, a paint war, a lot of drinking, illegal drug usery, and Matthew being a derp like always.
Warnings: Language, drinking, drugs, mild sexual situations.
This entire chapter is basically just blatant fanservice. I only had two plot points, and one of those is fairly minor. The only major plot point I had for this is at the very end. But, oh, is it ever major.
And I dunno if I just have weird friends or what, but the guys do this shit at parties all the time. And then the gay ones make out with girls. O.o
---
NEW YEAR’S EVE
---
Feliks paused outside the front door of the Hjortdonner house, shifting his bag of vodka and cranberry juice to reach for the handle. Gilbert’s voice, coming from the back porch, could be plainly heard. He listened more closely; that may have been Nils with him. Probably smoking, then. Feliks walked right in, heels muffled by the living room carpet. He took in the living room with one glance - Kiku and Ludwig were playing Sonic 2, and Alfred was prattling on to a half-bemused, half-intrigued Ivan about the differences in music between the one- and two-person settings.
“Your decorations suck, Alfred,” Feliks finally stated.
Alfred jumped and turned, then shot up from the floor with a giant grin, saying “Hey, Ludwig and I worked hard on those!”
“Uh-huh,” Feliks nodded. It was clear who had done what - the haphazard streamers taped to walls and doorways were obviously Alfred’s doing, while the balloons and perfectly-placed banner screamed Ludwig. He’d probably used a level to put up the banner, Feliks snorted to himself. “This,” he loosely pointed around the room, settling his bag on his hip, “needs waaaay more glitter.”
“It’s your fault you weren’t here to decorate - oh yeah - you’re here! It’s awesome that you got to come back for New Year’s this year!”
Feliks grimaced. “If I had to spend one more New Year’s Eve with my family in that hick town, ohmygod, I would die.”
Alfred and Feliks made their way into the kitchen, chatting loudly about nothing of importance, in order to stash Feliks’ beverages. Ludwig poked his head in, said hello, and reminded Alfred that they were supposed to be choosing some records for the evening - Alfred bounded off.
Feliks was making his first drink of the evening, admittedly a little heavy on the vodka, when Nils and Gilbert walked in from the back porch. Nils raised an eyebrow and nodded at his getup, then quirked a lip and said “I like the shoulder things,” before continuing to the living room.
Gilbert just stared, a vaguely concerned look on his face. Feliks shifted his weight to one hip and raised both eyebrows. “What the fuck is this?” Gilbert finally demanded, scowling.
“Please, Gil, you’ve seen me in heels.”
“No, not those - the pajamas or whatever.”
“Pajamas?!” Feliks laughed and took a long drink. “You are such a failure at fashion. It’s a jumpsuit, duh.”
Gilbert frowned. “Yeah, well, it makes you look even more like a girl than you already do.”
“Psh, you’re into it,” Feliks waved, spilling his drink on the floor.
“What? No way! I know you’ve got a dick, unless you’re just stuffing those faggy hot pants of yours.”
“Which means you’ve, like, totally been looking at my crotch.”
“Hey, wait a sec - it’s kinda hard not to, since you leave it all...” Gilbert waved vaguely at Feliks’ lower half, “on display, or some shit.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know what? Nevermind. I’m way too cool to deal with this bullshit.” Gilbert reached to grab the vodka from Feliks’ hand, but Feliks snatched it away.
“Ohhhh, nuh-uh,” Feliks teased, and feeling the first effects of the alcohol himself, waved the bottle around while sing-songing “Not until you say you’ve toootally been checking me out.”
Gilbert scowled and crossed his arms, then finally tilted his head up and announced that he was gonna go out and buy his own liquor - which would be way better than fuckin’ gross vodka, by the way - and that Feliks could just shove that bottle up his ass.
Feliks’ wild laughter followed him out of the kitchen.
---
While Gilbert was out on his booze run, Sadiq burst in with a yell and a ton of PBR, closely followed by an exasperated Jens and a chuckling Alonzo.
Sadiq immediately threw himself over Arthur and Eliza’s shoulders; Jens and Alonzo took a second to scan the room. It was early, and the scene in the living room was pretty mild. People were sitting around on the floor, the couch, some chairs, drinks all over every flat surface. A young kid with big glasses was trying to do tricks in place on his skateboard in one corner, laughing to a group playing videogames every time he fell off. A really tall guy was looking up YouTube videos and showing them to Arthur and Eliza on the couch, as well as to the skater. Two kids who looked like they only smiled three times a year between the two of them were standing over a record player, having a very serious discussion, presumably about what to play once “Star Guitar” ended.
Eliza twisted around in her seat when someone draped an arm on her. “Hey, Sadiq,” she smiled. Arthur turned around with a scowl, snorted, said “Oh, it’s you,” and turned back around to watch Ivan’s video.
“Hey, it’s not just me ya know,” Sadiq said, ruffling Arthur’s hair to flailing and curses. “Jenni-boy and Alonzo are here too!”
Arthur turned around to see them and asked “Where’d all your girls go?” as a greeting.
“Hi to you too, Arthur. Well,” Alonzo turned around and looked confused for a moment, “Anja and Mathias were right behind us...” he shrugged and turned back to Arthur. “But the rest of them are out at a bar with Heracles.”
Mathias and Anja crashed in, rendering Jens’ snarky, quiet “Mathias is a girl?” nearly inaudible. He was whining about her interrupting his peeping on some girl who’d failed to close her blinds; she just rolled her eyes and yanked him further in, ignoring it when he slung an arm around her shoulders instead.
Arthur nodded to them and then went out back to smoke. Nils noticed and followed.
Mathias laughed and looked at Anja. “I think the little guy is upset,” he grinned, and used his arm to draw her closer.
“Hm, okay.”
“I meeeean...you should go out and make nice if you’re not gonna sleep with me,” he winked. “But I’d give you a great time - promise.”
She rolled her eyes and shoved him off. “I don’t know how many years I’ve said this now - I’m not sleeping with you, dumbass.”
He just shrugged and laughed, apparently used to this by now. She went outside to join Arthur and Nils.
“Where’s Francis?” Elizabeta asked.
“Comin’ with the boy-toy,” Mathias smirked. Alfred, who had been watching the entire exchange with wide eyes, began laughing at the nickname.
Eliza quirked an eyebrow. “Boy-toy?”
Kiku leaned to her and murmured “I believe he’s talking about Antonio.”
“Yes, he is,” Alonzo smiled. “So...” he lifted two six-packs of beer, “where can I put these?”
“Oh!” Alfred jumped up and began to lead the group to the kitchen - then he realized he didn’t know any of them and made hasty introductions around the room. That over with, he grabbed the closest one - Jens - by the elbow and hauled him off to the kitchen, the other three following and laughing.
---
Matthew looked into the kitchen and smiled a little - found it. Most of the alcohol he was struggling to carry wasn’t his - it was Tina’s and Feli’s - but he was a gentleman, and offered to put their things up for them.
He opened the fridge to find it was almost full already and frowned. He was half-in, shifting things around to make room, when someone asked him if he needed help. He jumped, hit his head on the refrigerator ceiling, and let out a small yelp of pain and surprise. Pulling back and rubbing his head, he looked over to see Elizabeta giggling softly at him and trying to hide it.
“Oh, uh, hey,” he mumbled and tried not to blush. Tried being the operative word.
“Hi,” she smiled. “Did you need help?” she asked again.
“Erm, well...” he looked into the fridge - he was mostly done by now. “I think I’ve got it, now, but, er...do you want a beer? I have plenty.” He held out his unopened can.
“No thanks,” she replied. “I don’t drink.”
“Oh...uh...sorry?” he apologized, meek and embarrassed. Oh, great, more blushing.
Apparently she thought it was funny, because she started laughing. He liked that laugh. Oh, shit, now what to say? Usually he’d just talk about beer or something as an icebreaker.
“I’ve...I’ve got other things to drink, if you want. I mean, non-alcoholic things.”
She was about to reply when Feliks walked in to make another drink and let out a loud laugh and an even louder “Eliza! I haven’t been able to talk to you properly at all yet, girl.” He then threw an arm around her and kissed her cheek with a smirk, then looked over at Matthew. “Oh, hey cutie,” he winked. “When did you come in? Like, totally missed that.”
Matthew’s blush intensified tenfold. Was this guy serious or not? Either way, it was in front of her - it was embarrassing to begin with, but even more so with her standing there, laughing and looking at him. But, then again, Matthew guessed that the two were friends. He didn’t want to make one of her friends angry. She seemed to be the protective type.
“Hey,” Feliks’ snapping in his face jolted him out of his thoughts. “Didn’t mean to scare you stiff, yeesh,” he rolled his eyes. “Just having, you know, a little fun,” he laughed and walked to the counter to make a drink, smacking Matthew on the ass on the way. Matthew jumped with a small eep of shock and embarrassment.
“Oh, God,” Eliza sighed, “you’re drunk, aren’t you, Feliks.”
“Aw, honey, what makes you say that?” he winked at her and continued sloppily making another vodka cranberry.
“Because you’re hitting on strangers just because you want to see them freak out,” she said, tone serious, but eyes betraying her real thoughts on the situation - that it was hilarious. “I’m really sorry about him...uh...”
“Matthew,” he squeaked out.
Feliks turned around and laughed some more before smirking and leaning back against the counter. “Matthew, aw, cute name. Going, like, all old-school Bible huh?” He turned to Eliza and addressed her. “Yeah, okay, so maybe I am a little drunk,” he conceded with an evil grin - then looked Matthew up and down and barked a laugh when he blushed, again.
“Come on,” she muttered, grabbing Feliks by the elbow and pulling him out of the kitchen. “And your next drink is water, or I’ll kick your ass.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever girl, totally.”
Matthew stood, shocked in place. A guy just hit on him. In front of her.
Oh God, oh God.
---
“Jesus, this place is small,” Sadiq commented, looking around the bathroom from his seat on the toilet.
Francis used a foot to move the shower curtain and his expression turned into a mix between a grimace and a sneer. “It really needs a decent cleaning, especially this curtain - no, no, they should simply get a new curtain, this one is-”
“Francis, shut up about the fuckin’ shower curtain. No one cares but you,” Sadiq cut him off with a roll of his eyes and turned to Mathias. “Ey, what’s takin’ ya so long? Not like it takes that long ta get a bump ready,” he grumbled.
Mathias straightened a little and glanced at Sadiq from his position over the sink counter, razorblade paused in the air awkwardly. “Oh, ya just want a bump? Well, shit, just use my keys or something.” He dug around in his pocket and tossed his keys at Sadiq, then handed the bag over with a muttered “Be careful with that.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sadiq rolled his eyes.
“There’s not much,” Francis frowned.
Sadiq paused in getting the perfect amount on the end of the key and scowled at Francis, raising an eyebrow. “How much ya need? A line’ll do ya fine for most of the evenin’ if ya start drinkin’. I’m just gonna do a bump here and there, myself.”
“My dealer would shoot my balls off if we called her now,” Mathias interrupted. “This is what we have for the night, so suck it up,” he smirked, and Sadiq laughed at the terrible pun while Francis just rolled his eyes. “You take the honors,” Mathias grinned to Francis.
“Ohh I like this part - always so classy, this bastard,” Sadiq said with a sneer, then inhaled his bit from the end of the key. Francis pulled out his wallet and rolled up a hundred dollar bill - “Whoa, forgot you do coke like a baller,” Mathias laughed.
---
Alfred and Antonio brought Alfred’s computer from the living room to the kitchen and began playing dance music from the house’s shared iTunes playlist, as well as YouTube when songs they wanted to hear weren’t available.
They’d begun dancing around to Girl Talk (a mutual favorite) when Ludwig came in, looked at the computer on the counter, and moved it to a safer location - a T.V. tray nestled in a sheltered corner of the room. The two of them tried to get him to dance, but he just shook his head and vanished before returning with better, louder computer speakers for them.
As people made the trip to the kitchen for more drinks, it slowly became more crowded. Nils and Roderich paused to watch, Feli, Tina, and Feliks stayed to dance, and Matthew and Jens just tried to make it in and out as quickly as possible. Arthur walked in, smirked, and shoved the kitchen table and chairs against a wall with a loud screech to make more room.
Gilbert came in during the middle of this, immediately let out a whoop, cracked open his rum, and dashed to the computer to put on “Fuck the Pain Away.” Someone turned the volume up, and the noise drew in Anja and Eliza from the living room.
The lights were turned off and a weird flashing kid’s toy was set up for impromptu dance lighting - drinks were spilled all over the linoleum, moving bodies were making the room increasingly warm, the floor was becoming slippery and disgusting, but no one seemed to care.
---
This was the fourth beer Alonzo had given him in an hour. Jens looked up at him from his seat on the couch. “Okay, what do you want?” he frowned.
“What?”
“You’re trying to get me drunk,” he replied, deadpan. “What is it that you want me to do?”
Alonzo smirked. Well. That didn’t bode well. “I’d like a guarantee that I’ll get at least one good picture at midnight, seeing as we’re not out at any bars...”
Jens sighed. “And?”
“I’ll even pay you, if you want...” Alonzo started.
A deeper frown. “Tell me the plan, then.”
---
The kitchen dance party was in full swing when Sadiq sauntered in, saw Antonio, and pounced on him while shouting his name loud enough to be heard over the music. Antonio twisted to see who was slung over his back and let out an odd happy sound when he saw it was Sadiq.
“What the fuck is this shit?” Sadiq laughed into Antonio’s ear. “This song is - Jesus, how old is this song?”
“Hey, I picked it out,” Antonio smiled. “Doesn’t matter if it’s old, it’s good for dancing.”
“Eh, guess you’re right, ya happy bastard,” Sadiq barked, and the two began dancing together to “Take Me Out.”
“Where’s Francis?” Antonio asked between songs, flushed and excited. “He vanished with you.”
“Who knows, that guy,” Sadiq grinned, then scowled. “Another old-ass song? Oiy.” He continued dancing anyway. “But yeah, prob’ly got distracted on the way here - he’s a little coked out.”
Antonio frowned at this and slowed a little. “He was doing coke?”
“Eh? Yeah, with me an’ Mathias - what about it?”
“I just...” Antonio trailed off and shrugged, barely moving by this point. “Yeah, I guess it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he does it a lot, right?” He laughed but looked a little unsure at this last statement.
“Nah, not like he used to,” Sadiq smirked. “Can’t think ‘a the last time I saw him do the shit, come ta think of it.”
Antonio nodded; Sadiq grabbed him and forced him to dance with a wild burst of laughter. “Aw, lighten up - you’re supposed ta be the happy bastard, ‘ere.” Antonio smiled back at him but still wasn’t quite to where he was before the talk of coke started. “Oi, yeesh, I’ll make sure he’s cut off the rest of the evenin’, kay?”
At this, the normal, bright laughter returned. Sadiq nodded and then said he’d be back - he had to go tell Mathias before he forgot. Actually, screw that. The easiest way to keep Francis from doing any more would be to finish the bag off. Or, rather, have Mathias finish most of the rest off. A super-high Mathias was always hilarious.
When he returned to the kitchen, a fast-talking, attention-disordered, wildly laughing Mathias in hand, he found that Francis had found Antonio without his help. He shrugged and let Mathias do his thing, and decided to wind his way through the cramped room and grab a beer - he was only mildly buzzed, and that just wouldn’t do.
He was at the counter, searching for something to open his bottle with, when he heard an almighty yell of “XERXES!” and was nearly tackled by a - what the fuck, this guy was goddamn pale.
“Hoshit,” he exclaimed, “are you that fuckin’ Edward Scissorhands kid?!”
“Fuck me, your piercings are real! Bitchin’! But, yeah,” albino kid tilted his head back with the most cocky smirk Sadiq had ever seen, “I was Edward-motherfucking-Scissorhands. Alias is Gilbert,” he narrowed his eyes and grinned, a smile like knives, and held out his hand.
“Yeah, mine’s Sadiq,” he returned, shaking the hand. Gilbert looked at his beer, grabbed it, and snapped it open with something on his keychain.
“If you want some of my rum, just grab it,” Gilbert said, waving around three-fourths of a bottle of rum. He perked up at the next song that came on. “Backseat! This song fuckin’ rules - almost as awesome as I am,” he winked over at Sadiq, and then yanked him closer to the middle of the dance crew.
“Shit kid, wish I’d seen ya here earlier,” Sadiq shouted over a quieter part of the song. “Ya missed the coke.”
“What?!” Gilbert exclaimed, voice high. “Fuckin’ sucks!”
“Yeah,” Sadiq laughed. “I’d try and get some for ya, but that bitch’d kill us if we tried to get more this late.”
“Dude,” Gilbert started, voice oddly serious. “Next big party - we’re doin’ it, you and me. It’ll be fuckin’ amazing.”
“Heh, well - got any more blood?”
Gilbert paused for a second, hips angled out oddly. “Nooo...” he began, slowly, still dancing but mind obviously elsewhere. “But...I think Al’s got fingerpaint,” he smirked.
“Well, what’re ya waitin’ on?!”
Gilbert laughed and twisted around, making his way out with surprising speed and grace for someone who’d had a fourth of a bottle of rum in, oh, certainly less than an hour.
---
They’d chucked off their top layers and were just in their under-layers - Sadiq in a see-through tee (Mathias saw and laughed over the crowd) and Gilbert in a plain white ribbed tank - and at this point, had fingerpaint smeared all over their faces and in their hair.
They danced and battled in the middle of the crowd - a swipe of blue across Sadiq’s collarbone was met with a smear of purple and green down Gilbert’s arm. Some dancers tried to avoid the increasingly messy men, wary of getting paint on their clothes. Alfred, Feli, Tina, Mathias, and Arthur grabbed little tubs of paint themselves and started a mini dance-paint-war. Eliza didn’t participate, but rather stood to the side and encouraged the entire thing, snapping a few pictures alongside Alonzo.
“Hey!” she called to Gilbert and Sadiq, who were closest to her and closest to each other. As in, they were right up against each other, cackling like maniacs and smearing paint everywhere, equally intense smirks solidly in place.
They looked over at the same time, and she laughed at how annoyed both seemed at the interruption in their bromance. “Make out,” she held up her camera and winked. Gilbert paused, eyebrow up and an “eh?” look on his face. Sadiq barked a laugh and yanked Gilbert over, happy to comply with an order from Eliza.
Eliza let out a cheer that was clear over the original version of “Minimal” pounding over the stereo (she suspected that was Ludwig’s doing, but, huh, where’d he go?) and Gilbert laughed into Sadiq’s mouth upon hearing it. He looked over, still half-attached to Sadiq’s mouth, and asked if she liked it. She just responded with a wink, thumbs up, and an evil smirk. “I’ll kiss both of you at midnight if you keep it up!” she yelled.
Apparently that was the perfect thing to say, because both of them really got into it, though they didn’t stop smiling.
“Too bad ya ain’t a chick,” Sadiq mumbled onto Gilbert’s lips, “you’re a good kisser.”
Gilbert made a noise of agreement and mumbled “Well yeah, of course I’m amazing,” before sticking his tongue too far into Sadiq’s mouth for either of them to say much more. They heard Anja and Arthur laugh and cheer them on.
“What the hell are you two doin’?” Mathias laughed, flinging himself over both of them and looking back and forth with a smirk.
They broke apart and Sadiq snarled “What the fuck does it look like I’m doin’, dipshit?”
“Makin’ out with a dude! Haven’t seen that one in a while,” Mathias shot back, so fast it was hard to catch.
“Ha, yeah, prob’ly ‘cause it’s you I made out with the last few times,” Sadiq answered, rolling his eyes.
Mathias shrugged. “Got us both laid, too!”
“Hey,” Gilbert barked and pointed at Mathias, eager to defend his manliness, “You’re gonna have to at midnight anyway - pretty sure there are only four chicks here.”
Both Mathias and Sadiq laughed a lot at that quip, before Sadiq added “Hey, a mouth’s a mouth. So shut yer trap.”
---
The dance party paused when Roderich came in and reminded a few people that midnight was coming up in four minutes. Everyone piled into the living room to watch the ball drop.
A paint-covered Gilbert was standing between an equally-painted Sadiq and an uncontrollably giggling Feliks, the three of them in a line behind the couch.
“Oh, fuck,” Gilbert scowled. “Who let him get plastered? He gets all giggly and touchy and shit. Ugh.”
“Gillll,” Feliks slurred, “stop being, like, a total bitch.”
This made Sadiq laugh and he congratulated Feliks. Feliks noticed Sadiq’s pants and they began an involved discussion on fashion. Gilbert sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering about “pansies who spend too much time with their noses stuck in teen mags.”
Then Feliks, apparently drunk enough to ignore the fact that paint was getting all over his jumpsuit, put an arm around Gilbert and leaned into and across him in order to better hear Sadiq - but with a smirk that told that he knew exactly what he was doing. Gilbert shouted “Hey!” and tried to push him off; Feliks rolled his eyes and snarked that Gilbert was just making out with a dude, so he didn’t see the problem here.
---
Jens and Roderich were both turned on the couch, passively observing the nonsense going on above their heads. Roderich was making sure to stay clear of any paint that might come near, but Jens didn’t seem to care too much.
The three were bickering so loudly Roderich almost didn’t catch the countdown; he turned to the T.V. right as the ball dropped and an roar overtook the room. The next thing he knew, he was being kissed by - Jens?!
Surprised, he pulled back a bit, but paused at Anja’s “Ow ow, you two! Yeah!” He looked over and she winked and grabbed Elizabeta; Elizabeta waved for them to continue, mid-kiss.
Francis broke away from Antonio long enough to yell that he’d fire Roderich if he stopped now, and a few other people joined in with laughter.
Oh, what the hell.
Roderich grabbed Jens and pulled him in for a real kiss, this time. If he was going to do something so...risqué...well, he may as well do his best. He’d just chalk it up to alcohol and peer pressure, later.
He missed the flash of Alonzo’s camera.
Above him, Feliks and Gilbert were kissing to Sadiq’s laughter and the encouragement of a few people around the room. Mathias grabbed Sadiq in mid-laugh before he continued around the room, giving pretty much everyone a kiss.
---
Elizabeta was doing essentially the same thing as Mathias (and met him halfway around for a very involved kiss that only ended with a knee to the balls) when she came upon Matthew and Tina. She grabbed Tina and they proceeded to have a very intense makeout session right in front of Matthew’s eyes.
He stood there, beer spilling onto his shoe and mouth wide open. Uh. Whoa. This might have been even better than getting a kiss himself. Actually - shit, this was way better than getting a kiss himself. They pressed themselves to each other with a giggle and he dropped the damn bottle.
Goddamn it. He didn’t know when they were going to break apart, and while he was really hoping to be next on Eliza’s kiss list, he...had a kind of serious problem developing. Rapidly developing. Shit. Bathroom it was.
---
“Hey Feliks!” Alfred laughed, stumbling over to his friend. “I think I’ve kissed almost everyone in this room but you -” he looked around to see Antonio and Francis still stuck to each other, Ivan still blushing and stuttering after receiving a kiss from Feli, and Mathias finishing up his rounds, a wildly flailing and protesting Arthur wrapped up tight in his arms while he laughed - “So! Whadda ya say?” Alfred winked.
“Yeah, sure,” Feliks shrugged with a small twist of his lips. It was short and chaste, then they both heard the dance party in the kitchen start up and grinned at each other.
“Hey,” Feliks stopped Alfred with an awkward yank of his arm and looked around. “Where’d Ludwig go? I was totally looking forward to seeing his reaction when I kissed him! It would be - God, it would be, like, the best,” he smirked.
Alfred laughed. “It really would dude! Huh, but, yeah,” he peered into the kitchen. “I dunno. Maybe the bathroom?”
Mathias and Gilbert burst out of the kitchen and between them, laughing like hyenas over something, and made their way down the hall.
Feliks and Alfred watched them go for a minute, confused, then turned to each other and shrugged. “Well, Al, if you find him, you know, bring him to me,” Feliks winked.
“Sure thing dude!”
---
Nils and Kiku snuck out of the living room before the ball dropped and had begun a private celebration on Nils’ bed. A private celebration that was quickly becoming more and more heated. Nils was on top of Kiku, bodies pressed together tight, still-clothed erections grinding together - his shirt was off and he was hurriedly shoving up Kiku’s, letting out a low curse at the feel of heated, sweat-slicked skin against his -
BANG.
Kiku moved under him, distracted by the noise, but Nils just tugged the offending shirt off of Kiku and set to attacking Kiku’s neck with his mouth. He ran his hands up Kiku’s side, hungrily, greedily, a little rough - Kiku’s small noise of pleasure caused him to grind down harder against him and -
BANG.
Nils froze over Kiku, breathing heavily onto his neck. “What the hell,” he muttered in a low growl.
“Hey, Nils, you fucker!”
Nils dropped his head onto Kiku’s shoulder, groaning.
“GILBERT, WHAT!?”
Gilbert simply cackled - Nils heard someone else too - and answered with another loud knock upon the door. Nils lifted himself up on his elbows over Kiku and frowned, looking at the door. That didn’t sound like a knock. It sounded like -
BANG.
- like they were trying to kick the goddamn door down.
Nils got up on his knees with a snarl; Kiku pulled his shirt back on and Nils despaired internally. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Nils shouted at the door.
More obnoxious laughter. “You ~mysteriously disappeared~ at midnight,” Gilbert lilted though the door. “I wanted to give you a kiss!”
“TOUGH LUCK, SHITHEAD,” Nils yelled - he thought he heard someone remark “He sounds pissed!” in an entirely too-cheerful tone.
BANG. Nils swore he heard the door crack on that one.
“Awww, heeyyyy, we didn’t interrupt anything, did we?” Gilbert teased through the door.
“WOULD YOU JUST GO AWAY?”
BANG.
“I just wanted to give my awesome roomie a nice smooch!” The last part was almost incomprehensible due to Gilbert’s laughter.
Nils flung himself from the bed and marched to the door, scowl firmly in place. He yanked it open - Gilbert’s look of pure shock would’ve been hilarious had he not been so pissed - grabbed Gilbert, shoved their faces together over that other dude’s loud “Ha! He gotcha there!”, and slammed the door closed again before Gilbert could react.
He was gonna have to get a better fucking door.
---
Ludwig was sitting on the front stoop, ignoring the chill - he didn’t want to be in the mess at midnight. He heard the door swing open and Alfred’s loud “Aha! Found ya!” before he turned just in time to see Alfred plop down next to him.
“Hey Luddy!” Alfred laughed, then swung an arm around his shoulders and leaned into his side, “you disappeared at midnight - everyone else got a kiss!” At that, Alfred abruptly turned, legs practically on top of Ludwig’s lap and - lips were on his - Ludwig’s eyes widened - what - this - this was Alfred - oh fuck -
Before Ludwig’s brain could catch up with what he was doing, he threw himself into the kiss - leaned forward into Alfred’s heat, hand on Alfred’s jaw, in his hair - captured Alfred’s bottom lip in his and pulled back, carefully, reverently, reveling in the sensation of its softness, the wetness of their mixed saliva as he trailed his mouth lower - let out a small, open-mouthed pant half-over Alfred’s parted lips. Then their lips met again and his tongue invaded Alfred’s mouth with an intensity Ludwig doubted he’d ever kissed anyone with before. His arm around Alfred’s back was pushing them closer, lining their bodies up on one side, hand curling into his hair - he felt Alfred’s tongue respond against his, and it was just like him, reckless and enthusiastic and not quite perfect but still -
Alfred yanked himself back and looked at Ludwig, concern marring his features. “Wh - hey, dude, you okay? You’re shaking!” he exclaimed over Ludwig’s panting breaths. “It’s cold, man, you need a better - “
“Alfred,” Ludwig gasped, screwing his eyes shut, “I like you. I like you a lot.” Oh, Christ, fuck, why was he saying this, he shouldn’t be saying this, that kiss, and his brain was frazzled, he really was shaking, all over, violently, and his mouth was still going, he just couldn’t - couldn’t stop - “I have for - for - I don’t even know,” there was an obvious waver in his voice, he was close to hyperventilating, he was going to ruin everything between them - but - he just - he had to get it out.
“Whoa, dude, just calm down,” Alfred smiled and let out a low half-laugh, then reached for Ludwig’s shoulder -
Ludwig twisted away with a jerk. It irked him that Alfred wasn’t taking this - this - seriously. It hurt. “No, stop,” he breathed desperately. “Stop laughing.” He tried to calm his breathing. Alfred would begin to laugh, or make a joke, or try to lighten the situation, then catch himself and fidget instead.
“I just...” Ludwig looked down and sighed. “I don’t know. You make me happy. Sorry.” His stomach churned. He turned his head slightly and looked over at Alfred. Alfred still looked slightly confused, slightly unsure, a bit hesitant - as if he wasn’t sure he was drawing the right conclusions. The same look he had when he thought he’d done a problem correctly, but he wasn’t quite sure and wanted Ludwig to check. “Alfred. I mean I like you romantically,” he said in a low tone, and grimaced.
“Oh!” Alfred’s eyebrows shot up, then his face went back to his trademark smile. “No way, Feliks was totally right! I mean, that’s awesome, ‘cuz you totally rule, but, uh -” he scratched the back of his head, sheepish - “sorry dude, you know I’m not gay.” Alfred paused, leaned back and looked at the sky with a small grin still on his face. Ludwig’s stomach sank; he’d just fucked up one of the most important relationships in his life.
“But,” Alfred looked over and smiled, genuine, “Feliks could probably hook you up.” Then he burst into loud laughter, and Ludwig was so shocked he jumped an inch or two in place. “Hahaha oh man, Ludwig!” Alfred slapped his arm and Ludwig jumped again, “Literally - he could hook you up - isn’t that a great joke? I rule so hard!”
Ludwig just stared and tried to make himself relax, at least enough to not feel like his heart was going to hack its way out of his ribcage. Alfred...seemed to be acting normal. Kind of drunk, but otherwise, normal...?
“It’s...a pun,” made its strangled way out of Ludwig’s throat.
Alfred’s laughter cut off and he tilted his head. “Eh?”
At that moment the door burst open with a bang and Ludwig jumped again. God, he really was going to have a heart attack this evening, wasn’t he?
“Eyyy you two,” Gilbert drawled, kicking Alfred and Ludwig successively, “bunch of us are all headin’ to a bar. Some Hercules guy called and said it was bitchin’. You’re comin’. So let’s go!” By now most of the party was mingling around the stoop, or in the street, ready to go.
“Did Ivan leave?” Ludwig asked. The man was fairly easy to spot, and Ludwig didn’t see him anywhere.
“Nah, he didn’t wanna go. Stayin’ here, holdin’ down the fort. Already told him he was a pussy for wantin’ to stay in on one of the greatest party nights of the year.” And with that, Gilbert hopped down the steps and joined Mathias, Arthur, and Sadiq in the charge to the bar.
“I think I will stay here,” Ludwig quietly stated as Alfred got up to follow. He just wanted some time to sort out his brain.
“Oh, yeah?” Alfred asked, turning and looking up at Ludwig from the sidewalk. “Well, hey, you’re welcome to crash here tonight too - got that sleepin’ bag in my closet and all - then tomorrow we can have Gil make us breakfast and clean. Oh, hey, you wouldn’t wanna help me clean, would ya?” he winked.
Normally Ludwig would’ve grumbled internally and then reluctantly agreed to help, but he was so relieved he hadn’t caused irreparable damage to their friendship that he immediately, emphatically, agreed.
“Sweet!” Alfred cheered. “Okay dude, I’ll call ya if this bar is the most ballin’ place ever, but yeah, goodnight!”
Ludwig watched him go and heaved another sigh. He really hoped that things would remain normal, come tomorrow morning.
---
AUTHOR’S NOTES + NYE MIX TAPE + SKETCHIES!
---
Okay so on the Kink Meme everyone went all ‘MAMA BEAR RAWR’ over Ludwig (and I squee’d real hard - like, real hard). But lemme just say - Alfred is rash, and he was drunk, and just needs to THINK before he does stuff; but his being cheery is his defense shield against the world. (Well, that and acting oblivious.) The more he’s backed into a corner emotionally, the more ridiculous he gets. So that he shut up when Ludwig asked him to is saying a lot.
So yeah.
JANUARY.
IT IS NEXT.
OH GOD.
MIXTAPE LINK: http://www.med iafire.com/?dlq3b2 j0pkm0e
Early in the night:
Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
Mathias, Francis, and Sadiq do illegal things:
Black Lips - Gung Ho
Kitchen dance party:
Girl Talk - Play Your Part (Pt. 1)
Peaches - Fuck the Pain Away
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Sadiq and Gilbert dance:
Staygold - Backseat - It should be illegal for songs to be this catchy
Matias Aguayo - Minimal
Alfred and Ludwig on the porch:
The Replacements - Unsatisfied
SKETCHES!
Feliks on NYE
I sorta forgot his bag of vodka and cranberry juice. Whoops.
Sadiq and his crazy attire/piercings
It’s kind of impossible to find official art of his face. So, er, whatever.