If Things Should Stay the Same

Chapter 3: Disinhibit

After the averted mishap in the form of a near fall during the equally dreaded party, he felt all the strength in his body as he returned to his room. He groggily lumbered towards the sofa and promptly threw himself on it, landing with an audible thud and slightly displacing it by a few millimeters.

Joshua followed in a few minutes and closed the door behind him.

"Hey, so what's up with that-?" His cheerful attempt to start a conversation was quickly shut off by a dismissive wave of Alex's hand.

"Don't 'what's up' me," Alex said, not even bothering to hide he was angry.

The party was over. There was no longer any need for him to retain any more of that sickeningly unrealistic polite, respectful and considerate demeanor. Maybe he had a little bit of wine to drink during the party but he could no longer contain with how he was not happy at Joshua since he returned from his trip.

"First ya don't come with me to the East for the workshop or seminar thing, then ya look at me like I have three heads and a rotting pig grafted on my face when I ask ya to come with to medical school. Later, ya lift me like some... some... some random lovelorn girl ya could just sweep off her feet from walking down to the markets!" Alex was recounting all the things that had upset him during the night.

A part of him felt he was being too harsh with his choice of words and his tone but it could not be helped. He wanted to Joshua to know what he was feeling. He had always been understanding towards Joshua that it may have been his fault the lines between job and friendship was blurred. But this time was simply too much for him to just put aside and forget.

He also wanted to know if something was indeed coming in between their relationship.

"I... I apologize, Master Alexander." Joshua's gaze immediately dropped towards the ground, his head drooping like a dog being yelled at.

That had always been a habit of his. First to give way more than anything. It kind of ticked him off that Joshua never stood up for himself when they argued.

"I thought I told ya to call me 'Alex'!" Alex shouted.

----

Upon noticing the consistent distinctive change in Alex's speech, he then cocked his head upright and raised his eyebrow. "Wait, are you drunk?"

"Not drunk. I don't drink alcohol to the point of getting drunk, idiot. Lemme tell ya the one time I did..." Alex slumped over sideways as he tried to point a finger at Joshua.

Joshua immediately threw away all traces of the usual butler-master relationship they normally displayed. "Alex, come on. It's not funny seeing you like this." He went over to Alex's side and attempted to get his friend to sit up with much effort.

"Hey, hey! Hands off tha merchandise, buddy." He weakly pushed Joshua away as the latter managed to successfully support him in an upright position. "I didn't give ya the permission to touch me." He once slumped over to the side, his eyes looking glazed and completely unfocused.

Visibly concerned with Alex's well-being, Joshua ignored the former's continued refusal of being handled as well as put up with the feeble uncoordinated attempts of pushing him away which mostly consisted of palms lightly grazing past Joshua's cheeks. In a few seconds that Joshua had not ceased his advancements, Alex had then started to kick back to deter the unwanted physical contact.

Although it looked more like somebody flailing his legs and occasionally a sudden thrust before quickly retracting it, Joshua exercised extra caution, backing off when the kicking got too erratic and only moving towards him again when Alex calmed down, muttering in his drunken stupor.

Eventually he got a good grip and slung Alex's arm over his shoulder, bearing most of the weight to stand him up. Staggering as they navigated the room in the mere luminescence of the moon which was seeping through the curtains, he felt his foot get caught in between Alex's legs which had been mostly lagging behind like a wooden puppet being dragged by a toddler instead of having a wobbly gait he was supposed to be supporting.

Joshua tried to slowly pull his foot free but to no avail. It was stuck and he could feel both malleoli of Alex's ankles poking through the thin fabric of the slacks. He tugged a bit harder and the gap widened by a small margin for his foot although still not enough to get it out.

He thought that at this rate it was going to take them until noon to get Alex sorted out despite being only inches from the wardrobe at this point. Making a loud grunt as he forcefully pulled his foot out, he failed to take into account that doing so would shift his center of gravity, causing him to slam himself against the reflective surface of the wardrobe's door.

As he reinforced his control in maintaining his balance along with the additional load of weight, he could smell the strong fragrance of the red wine that escaped within breaths from Alex's mouth in such a close proximity. The impact briefly alarmed Alex whose eyes rapidly darted around from its previous state of indiscriminate inattention.

"Whoa, ya look like my type, ya know that?" Alex said with a huge cheesy grin forming on his face as his eyes focused on Joshua. Reaching his unsteady hand out towards Joshua's head, he gently ruffled it, dislodging the brown locks from the shiny dried-up restraints of the hairstyling wax applied hours ago. "I like ya hair. Reminds me of foxes..."

Joshua's smile at the compliment only lasted until he realized that Alex had already leaned in and was pressing his forehead against his, causing him to tense up. As he felt his brown strands of hair brush against the vibrant blond locks, he tried to look away from the latter's eyes which shone like pale blue crystals in the moonlight.

Just then, Alex lurched forward, hitting his head against Joshua's as he began to bring up contents from his stomach. First was a bits of red liquid that dripped from the corners of his mouth before spewing over himself, succeeded by a series of intermittent coughs that also came with small spongy bits of cake.

"Hey, you okay?" Joshua asked, both hands on Alex's shoulders to steady him, as he spied a chair at the corner of the room.

"Ughhh, sorry 'bout that." Alex covered his mouth, still sputtering on his saliva. He wiped his mouth with the sleeves of his shirt as Joshua guided him to have a seat before dragging him over towards the wardrobe effortlessly. "Wow, ya really strong..." he exclaimed in childish awe while being transported, the chair easily and seamlessly gliding over the wooden floor.

"Yeah, you're a hopeless mess when you're drunk." Joshua took a folded shirt and a pair of shorts from one of the lower dressers in the wardrobe. He proceeded to unbutton Alex's soiled upper garments and slowly remove them, replacing them with a cleaner shirt. Quickly fitting the shorts on Alex upon taking off the slacks, socks and shoes one after the other, he rolled up the used clothing into bunches before tossing them into the hamper.

Alex, at this point, had already completely closed his eyes and was mumbling incoherently in a presumed state of sleeping. Much to Joshua's luck, Alex did not even put up a struggle whilst being changed. Even though this was the first time Alex had ever been drunk, at least everything was now under control and he could retire to his room after he placed the young master in bed.

"As they say 'a first time for everything', huh," he smirked as he once again lifted Alex in his arms and softly laid him on the bed. "Time for bed, Master. May your dreams be sweet." He made sure the blond was adequately sheltered in the warm comfort under the sheets before brushing a few strands of hair off the latter's face with a finger.

Then, as Joshua turned to leave, he felt his hand being tugged back like it was caught on something. He turned around only to see Alex's hand holding onto his in a weak grasp.

He smiled, shaking his head as if he were accepting defeat. "You never did like me leaving you at night to sleep."