Hey! Your prompt inspired me to write, so I had to log back in to lj for the first time in 5 years! Obviously this isn't done since Noah only kisses one person so far, but I was excited to share. I haven't checked it against the books for spelling, so if you notice something is off please let me know!
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Being that he was dead, Noah Czerny didn’t do much sleeping. He didn’t sleep at all, actually. There were times when he blinked and suddenly it was minutes - hours? later. That was the closest he got to sleep, he supposed. Luckily for him, between Gansey and Ronan’s different levels of insomnia there was very often someone awake in the nighttime hours at Monmouth.
But tonight, all was silent in the building save for the soft rustling of Chainsaw in her lovingly constructed paper nest. Noah alternated between sitting silently in the corner of his room, rolling a small glitter bouncy ball back and forth, and flickering throughout the building, occasionally sighing mournfully. The latter was the kind of ghostly behavior he supposed Blue would scold him for, had she been present.
Mid-toss of the glitter bouncy ball, Noah started at the loud thump coming from Ronan’s room. This was not unusual-Ronan often noisily started awake in the middle of the night, and rarely fell back asleep quickly. Soon he would be traipsing about the apartment, grumbling loudly. Maybe he would pull out of the apartment for a night drive. (Sometimes Noah would follow him. Most of the time Ronan’s car pulled across the seat from St. Agnes. Usually all Ronan would do was stay parked there for a few hours and sleep fitfully, then drive back home.) Maybe Ronan would stumble into the kitchen/bathroom/laundry room, grab a six-pack, and mess with his puzzle box. Maybe he and Noah would talk.
But Ronan’s door stayed shut.
Noah eased to his feet, silently floating over to Ronan’s door. He opened it. It wasn’t locked-not that it would have mattered anyways.
“Ronan?” he whispered, a question.
The response was muffled, thick. “The fuck you want, Czerny?”
“Came to check on you.” Noah made it across the room, settling at the food of Ronan’s bed. It barely dipped in response.
Ronan flipped on his back, arm flopped across his forehead, scowl evident even in the deep dark. “You usually watch me sleep? Pervert.”
Noah shrugged. He didn’t know if Ronan saw it. He didn’t know if watching people sleep made him a pervert, either. “What else am I supposed to do?”
Ronan sighed loudly, sitting up and switching on the drabby desk lamp next to his bed. A few feet away, Chainsaw gave an irritable chirp at being awoken. In the dim light, Noah could see Ronan’s eyes, damp and red rimmed. Given that he was dead, Noah decided it was alright if he abandoned tact. “Bad dream?”
To his surprise, Ronan did not snap his head off, but instead laughed sharply. “Yeah, most of the time.”
“Was it about Adam?” Ah, there was the withering look.
“And what the hell makes you think that?”
Noah folded his hands in his lap. “I may not exactly be omnipresent, Ronan, but I see plenty of things that other people don’t.”
Noah was silent for a few moments. Then, “Do you want to kiss him?”
“Alright, I am not fuckin’ having this conversation with you.” Immediately the light was off, and Ronan rolled over to face the wall.
Noah remained nonplussed. “You know, I never kissed anyone before I died.” It was true. There was a time when he wanted to kiss Whelk. Probably a good thing that didn’t happen. “Is it weird to have your first kiss post-mortem?” It was bait-he knew no matter how pissed Ronan was, he was still going to be curious. There were only so many people Noah could have kissed.
“There is nothing not weird about you.” Ronan grumbled into his pillow. Then it was silent. Noah sat and twiddled his thumbs, surveying the dark room. It smelled like musty beer and leather.
“Fine dammit, I’ll bite. Who’d you kiss?”
Noah grinned, it splitting his face. “What if I said it was Adam?”
“You wanna fucking go out the window again?”
Noah giggled. “Actually, I might. No, it was Blue.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “We kissed in Gansey’s bed.”
“No shit,” Ronan mused thoughtfully.
“Yes shit!”
“It was good then?”
Noah nodded fiercely. “I mean, I think? I don’t really have anything to compare it to.”
Silence fell again. Ronan flopped on his back again, looking at Noah.
“Have you ever kissed anyone?”
“Maybe,” Ronan grunted.
“You’ve maybe kissed someone?” Noah guffawed. “How does that work exactly?”
Ronan flipped him off. It was pitch black, but Noah could still see it. He had excellent night vision.
The other boy mumbled something, sitting up again.
“Wait what was that?”
“Jesus-I said do you want something to compare it to?”
Noah didn’t have a heartbeat, and so his heart couldn’t skip a beat, but he felt a funny twinge in the center of his being. “Um, okay?”
Ronan nodded, and Noah felt his hand on his thigh before their lips touched. Ronan was hot-hotter than Blue, his warmth seeping into Noah at their points of contact. The twinge was stronger now, electric, and Noah parted his lips a little like he’d learned last time. Ronan’s tongue rolled over his lower lip and licked into his mouth, searching. Noah hesitantly met it with his own, and heard a satisfying grunt from Ronan. The palm on his leg pressed a little harder. Noah covered it with his own.
Then Ronan pulled back. Noah could still feel the heat radiating off his face. He wasn’t sure if it was always like that, or just when he kissed people.
“There. Now you have a sample size.” Ronan pulled his hand away, laying down and closing his eyes with finality. “Good night, Czerny.”
The electric twinge remained, and Noah struggled to hold his being together. He licked his lip, slowly.
--
Being that he was dead, Noah Czerny didn’t do much sleeping. He didn’t sleep at all, actually. There were times when he blinked and suddenly it was minutes - hours? later. That was the closest he got to sleep, he supposed. Luckily for him, between Gansey and Ronan’s different levels of insomnia there was very often someone awake in the nighttime hours at Monmouth.
But tonight, all was silent in the building save for the soft rustling of Chainsaw in her lovingly constructed paper nest. Noah alternated between sitting silently in the corner of his room, rolling a small glitter bouncy ball back and forth, and flickering throughout the building, occasionally sighing mournfully. The latter was the kind of ghostly behavior he supposed Blue would scold him for, had she been present.
Mid-toss of the glitter bouncy ball, Noah started at the loud thump coming from Ronan’s room. This was not unusual-Ronan often noisily started awake in the middle of the night, and rarely fell back asleep quickly. Soon he would be traipsing about the apartment, grumbling loudly. Maybe he would pull out of the apartment for a night drive. (Sometimes Noah would follow him. Most of the time Ronan’s car pulled across the seat from St. Agnes. Usually all Ronan would do was stay parked there for a few hours and sleep fitfully, then drive back home.) Maybe Ronan would stumble into the kitchen/bathroom/laundry room, grab a six-pack, and mess with his puzzle box. Maybe he and Noah would talk.
But Ronan’s door stayed shut.
Noah eased to his feet, silently floating over to Ronan’s door. He opened it. It wasn’t locked-not that it would have mattered anyways.
“Ronan?” he whispered, a question.
The response was muffled, thick. “The fuck you want, Czerny?”
“Came to check on you.” Noah made it across the room, settling at the food of Ronan’s bed. It barely dipped in response.
Ronan flipped on his back, arm flopped across his forehead, scowl evident even in the deep dark. “You usually watch me sleep? Pervert.”
Noah shrugged. He didn’t know if Ronan saw it. He didn’t know if watching people sleep made him a pervert, either. “What else am I supposed to do?”
Ronan sighed loudly, sitting up and switching on the drabby desk lamp next to his bed. A few feet away, Chainsaw gave an irritable chirp at being awoken. In the dim light, Noah could see Ronan’s eyes, damp and red rimmed. Given that he was dead, Noah decided it was alright if he abandoned tact. “Bad dream?”
To his surprise, Ronan did not snap his head off, but instead laughed sharply. “Yeah, most of the time.”
“Was it about Adam?” Ah, there was the withering look.
“And what the hell makes you think that?”
Noah folded his hands in his lap. “I may not exactly be omnipresent, Ronan, but I see plenty of things that other people don’t.”
“Omnipresent. Alright, Gansey.”
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“Alright, I am not fuckin’ having this conversation with you.” Immediately the light was off, and Ronan rolled over to face the wall.
Noah remained nonplussed. “You know, I never kissed anyone before I died.” It was true. There was a time when he wanted to kiss Whelk. Probably a good thing that didn’t happen. “Is it weird to have your first kiss post-mortem?” It was bait-he knew no matter how pissed Ronan was, he was still going to be curious. There were only so many people Noah could have kissed.
“There is nothing not weird about you.” Ronan grumbled into his pillow. Then it was silent. Noah sat and twiddled his thumbs, surveying the dark room. It smelled like musty beer and leather.
“Fine dammit, I’ll bite. Who’d you kiss?”
Noah grinned, it splitting his face. “What if I said it was Adam?”
“You wanna fucking go out the window again?”
Noah giggled. “Actually, I might. No, it was Blue.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “We kissed in Gansey’s bed.”
“No shit,” Ronan mused thoughtfully.
“Yes shit!”
“It was good then?”
Noah nodded fiercely. “I mean, I think? I don’t really have anything to compare it to.”
Silence fell again. Ronan flopped on his back again, looking at Noah.
“Have you ever kissed anyone?”
“Maybe,” Ronan grunted.
“You’ve maybe kissed someone?” Noah guffawed. “How does that work exactly?”
Ronan flipped him off. It was pitch black, but Noah could still see it. He had excellent night vision.
The other boy mumbled something, sitting up again.
“Wait what was that?”
“Jesus-I said do you want something to compare it to?”
Noah didn’t have a heartbeat, and so his heart couldn’t skip a beat, but he felt a funny twinge in the center of his being. “Um, okay?”
Ronan nodded, and Noah felt his hand on his thigh before their lips touched. Ronan was hot-hotter than Blue, his warmth seeping into Noah at their points of contact. The twinge was stronger now, electric, and Noah parted his lips a little like he’d learned last time. Ronan’s tongue rolled over his lower lip and licked into his mouth, searching. Noah hesitantly met it with his own, and heard a satisfying grunt from Ronan. The palm on his leg pressed a little harder. Noah covered it with his own.
Then Ronan pulled back. Noah could still feel the heat radiating off his face. He wasn’t sure if it was always like that, or just when he kissed people.
“There. Now you have a sample size.” Ronan pulled his hand away, laying down and closing his eyes with finality. “Good night, Czerny.”
The electric twinge remained, and Noah struggled to hold his being together. He licked his lip, slowly.
“Can I-can I stay here?” he asked quickly.
“…Yeah, whatever.”
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