The three men had gone to the bar down in the city center, Naib muttering something about not needing to make it a big deal and that any cheap bar would do just fine.
"Come on what's a celebration without some fanciness in it?"
They ushered him in, the soft buzz of chattering filling the air. The seats on the balcony provided a marvelous view of the city. In the distance, Naib could see the lights from a moving carnival. The Ferris wheel shone with lights as it continued carrying people up into the air. Jack seemed to notice it too.
"Rare that the carnival came here."
Naib shrugged. He'd seen in quite often, just never had the chance to go because of work. By the time he had the free time, the carnival had gone, moved to another country as it normally does. He had already given up trying to go there, and taken to just staring at it from a distance. Norton had come back with drinks and a whole wine bottle. He poured them each a glass and slid some shot glasses to Naib. The male himself however had only ordered a few cocktails.
"Not drinking?"
"Jack do you want me to crash the car while drunk-driving your asses home?"
Jack only chuckled, raising his wine glass.
"A toast to Naib Subedar."
Naib hesitantly raised his glass along with Norton's. They drank deeply, finishing the glass in one go. Naib set his glass down and immediately snatched up a shot glass. Jack would later on match him shot for shot until the shorter male got sick and had to be dragged into the car.
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As Naib had been staring at the Ferris wheel, Joseph had just gotten off, clinging onto a wheezing Fan Wu'Jiu. Bi'An chuckled as Joseph toppled into him. It was only halfway up that Joseph then realised he had a fear of heights, and having always worked on the ground floor at the building as a receptionist, he never had a reason to go to the upper floors. Wu'Jiu was still laughing behind them, much to the crowd's concern.
"Oh! Ohoho- 哥！You should've seen his face!"
"I'm sorry for screaming like a girl then!"
Bi'An choked back a laugh as he smoothed Joseph's clothes.
"Alright Wu'Jiu, you should've had your fill of laughter now. Why don't we get something to eat and... Stay away from these rides for Mr Desaulniers' sake?"
His brother wiped away his tears from laughing so hard and adjusted his hat, still wheezing. Joseph threw a scowl at him, cheeks red from embarrassment. Bi'An noticed the to of them making faces and smiled. He leaned down to Joseph's ear and whispered just loud of enough for Wu'Jiu to hear as well.
"I'll tell you something Wu'Jiu is afraid of. Even until today he has a fear of deep pools."
Joseph snickered, glancing at Wu'Jiu. Sure enough, the other male's cheeks were also reddening, but he quickly turned away.
"And you don't like having anything around your neck... not even a flimsy necklace."
Bi'An smiled to himself and said nothing. Joseph stared at them, awkward silence filing between them. The older of the sworn brothers coughed and pointed at some stalls.
"We should give a try at those. I always wondered if winning something there was truly rewarding like those movies."
Forty minutes and six plushies later Bi'An was finally satisfied, arms full of the soft toys as they stuffed it into the back of the car beside his brother and Joseph. Wu'Jiu grabbed one of them, a Shiba Inu, squishing it and watching it bounce back into shape. Joseph was already starting for feel sleepy, having bought some food to eat. A warm fuzzy feeling spread through him as his eyes began to drift shut. Wu'Jiu looked over to see Joseph's head nodding forward, eyes closed. He reached over and pulled the male to the side. Once his head was settled comfortably on his lap, Wu'Jiu leaned against the window, twining his fingers through Joseph's hair absentmindedly.
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Naib stumbled through his door, trying to peel Jack off him. Norton followed behind, looking around the dim room. The other two had staggered into Naib's bedroom, collapsing on the bed. Jack pulled Naib closer to him, claiming his lips in a frenzied kiss. Norton went behind Naib, kissing his neck. He felt the smaller male pushing against him and paused, looking up. He was startled when he saw how panicked the mercenary looked, his palms pressed flat against Jack's chest. He pulled away, smacking Jack over the head and dragging him away.
"Hey what the hell was that for??!"
Norton nudged his head at Naib. He was gasping for air, nails digging into his thighs.
"Naib?"
"I'm fine. Just, no nevermind."
He was avoiding their gaze, staring intently at the floor. He opened his mouth every now and then, only to swallow his words again and shake his head. Norton assumed he was just drunk, confused, and dragged Jack away towards the door.
"Norton?"
"Yea?"
"I uhm, there's something I've been meaning to ask."
Norton shrugged and leaned against the wall, expecting Naib to just ask. Instead the other male shifted on his feet, still not daring to meet their gaze. Jack seemed to take the hint that he wanted to sit down and talk, not just ask a simple question.
"Shall we move to the living room instead?"
Naib nodded and turned back, not turning to check if they were following. He sat down on the edge of the seat, fidgeting with his fingers. Norton was concerned by his unusual behaviour, but didn't ask. Naib finally took a deep breath and met their eyes.
"About the last time..."
"Last time?"
"What last time? When you put a firecracker under Norton's car?"
Naib didn't laugh.
"The last time we went to a bar and drank..."
The three fell silent for a brief moment, remembering the details of that night. Jack cleared his throat.
"And what about that night?"
"Was what you guys said well, did you actually mean what you said?"
The two looked at each other, clearly still remembering what they had said. When they looked back at Naib, it was with much surprise that they noticed tears pooling in his eyes.
"Naib why are you-"
"I've been thinking about it a lot okay?! I tried not to but its always somewhere in my mind. Every time I see you guys I get reminded."
"Okay but what does it have to do with all of this then?"
Naib wiped at the tears that threatened to spill, but one fell out anyway.
"I don't know if those words were said just because all of us were drunk and stupid or not. I just... I just don't like the thought that you might have taken that night as an advantage because I was drunk stupid."
More tears fell onto his lap despite his efforts to blink them away. This was the first time Norton ever saw the mercenary shed a tear, but Jack had already seen it before. It had been so long ago when Naib had lashed out at the armoury intruders, and guilt had consumed him knowing he killed someone that time. He got up and went to Naib, sitting beside him. Norton dashed to the kitchen to fetch some water.
"I feel so stupid now- *hic* Maybe its just me being a coward, o-or maybe because I'm scared that what you guys said was a lie."
His voice cracked as he broke down. Jack pulled him down to lie on his lap, patting his head gently. So all this time he was avoiding them, was because he didn't want to think about that event? Because he was in constant fear they'd only did it with him because everyone was drunk stupid.
Norton came back with the water, a soft look of concern on his face. They brought him to his bed, lying him down gently. Norton set the glass on the nightstand and sat on the side. Jack pulled the covers up, kissing Naib's forehead before they both left. As Norton drove, he glanced back at the apartment through the mirror.
"Let's just come back tomorrow morning and check on him."
Jack nodded in silent agreement.
