Operation Falling For The Cover Story

Barbara.

The loud thuds from the closet jolted Oscar awake. He let out a quiet hum, not at all pleased by the early-morning disturbance. Beside him, he heard Lando groan, and he knew that the guy in the closet was awake, making their peaceful slumber come to an abrupt end.

"It's too early for this," Oscar mumbled, burying his head under his pillow, attempting to block out the noise.

Lando, still half-asleep, asked, "Oscar, can you, like, shut him up?"

"Does it look like I want to move from my bed, mate?" Oscar replied, turning to face Lando, who was already looking back at him. Lando's sleepy appearance, with tousled hair and puffy morning face, made Oscar grin.

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a deafening bang. They both jumped, turning around to find the guy on the floor, tied up with his hands behind his back and legs secured. He had a substantial gag in his mouth, a sight that could easily be misinterpreted as something rather different (ahem a threesome), which made Oscar giggle at the absurdity of it.

"What?" Lando inquired.

"Nothing, just..." Oscar laughed, unable to contain himself and falling back onto the mattress.

Lando, his curiosity piqued, joined in the laughter. "What is it?"

"It's just... If anyone walked in right now, they would think something else was going on here," Oscar chuckled.

The realization hit Lando, and his eyes widened while his cheeks turned slightly pink. He started laughing as well, understanding the humor in their unintentional predicament.

"Oh God," the Brit exhaled.

"I know," Oscar replied, still laughing. They were both gasping for air, tears rolling down their faces. After a few minutes, they managed to regain their composure. But when the gagged guy turned his face toward them, the absurdity of the situation sent them into another fit of laughter.

"Oh my God, I can't. This is too funny," Oscar gasped, his laughter uncontrollable. Lando was equally unable to keep a straight face.

"What time is it?" Lando asked once they'd managed to calm down.

Oscar reached for his phone and checked the time. "Oh God, it's 6 am," he mumbled.

Lando groaned. "Mate, he's ruining my beauty sleep."

Oscar finally stood up from the bed and walked over to the silver case. The guy in the closet watched him with fear in his eyes.

"Look, as much as we need info from you and all that, it's way too early for this, and you woke us up way too early. Which means you're going back to sleep, buddy," Oscar mumbled, injecting the guy with the sleeping potion. The man moaned in discomfort before falling back asleep.

"Okay, I used quite a bit. Hopefully, he's not in too much of a coma," Oscar mumbled, looking back at Lando, who was lying in bed and staring at him with his head in his hands.

"Mate, c'mon, help me get this heavy bloke back into the closet," Oscar said, and Lando snapped out of his trance. He stood up and helped Oscar shove the guy back into the closet.

"You know what would actually be funny as fuck?" Lando asked as they both returned to bed, settling in for some more sleep.

"What?" Oscar inquired.

"If he's like... actually closeted," Lando replied, making Oscar snort with laughter.

"Well, I guess he came out, and then we shoved him back in, so..." Oscar shrugged, and they both burst into laughter again.