𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑷𝒐𝒆𝒕 • Neil Perry & Todd Anderson

ᴍᴀsǫᴜᴇʀᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ɴʏᴄ

Todd ran his fingers along the back of the telephone. It was cold beneath his red fingertips. Neil sounded fine. Completely unphased. Todd didn't know what he expected. Maybe the phone would ring and Neil would beg him to return to the apartment and he would be at the door to welcome him in his arms.

    It was silent in the booth. Then, the tapping of long fingernails on the door.

    "Hello?" A ragged voice exclaimed impatiently. "You said 2 minutes. I must get in there." The wrinkled face of an old woman was even more wrinkled with anger and eagerness to get in the booth. Todd muttered an apology as he squeezed himself between the booth's opening. He quickly walked away from the woman's muttered curses.

"All go well?" Percy sauntered over to Todd with a warm smile. He exited the ever busy coffee shop and handed Todd one of the coffees in his hand. He casually sipped, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, I guess so." The shivering boy laughed. Percy gave a questioning glance.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"What does what mean?" Percy opened his mouth before he was nudged by an ongoing man, evidently in a rush.

"Move it for Christ sake." The man said before he hurried down the sidewalk.

"I guess that means we should move." He added sarcastically. "Come on. Down the road is my apartment." He carefully placed his hand on Todd's shoulder and pointed down the busy street.

"Are people always so rude around here?" Todd called behind him to Percy.

"It's New York. That is as nice as it will get." The two boys chuckled in unison as they maneuvered their way through the crowd. "Its after holiday season and people have to get to work at some point, I suppose." Todd hummed. "So what I was going to say before we were rudely interrupted was what happened on the phone?"

Todd tried to find words. "I don't know, honestly. It was my friend, Neil. We got into a fight this morning and I just wanted to see how he was doing."

"Fight? What kind of fight? Don't have a black eye." Percy joked.

"No, I guess not." Todd laughed nervously.

"Well, I am sure all will be well between you two. Plus, I am your friend too now." Percy glanced sideways at Todd and smirked.

Despite the cold Todd grew warm. "Are you?" He quipped.

"Only if you want me too."

"Beside Neil, you're my only friend." Todd remembered the dead poets then. He wondered what they were doing now. How life was like at Welton. He missed it. He missed the stability of having his own people that could understand him and what to expect. New York was like constant shock treatment. But Percy was beginning to seem like the good kind of shock treatment.

    "Trust me, when we get to the apartment you'll have plently of friends." The blonde boy made a turn down a narrow alley. Todd grazed his hand along the brick, sheilded from the dying sunlight.

"Where exactly are we going?" He asked.

"Whitman street. My paradise of a shithole." Perseus said bluntly.

"And what do you mean by 'plenty of friends'?"

"You have a lot of questions, don't you?"

"You're the one answering a question with a question." Todd blushed at his forwardness which melted into self consciousness. A deep laugh bubbled in the back of Percy's throat, making his bold adams apple bob. He was beautiful, Todd couldn't help but think.