Survive the Monster (Hamilton fic)

CHAPTER 13: LATE NIGHT

It's late that night. Aaron, Charles, Sam, James, Dolly, and Abigail are all sitting around the fire eating dinner that Abigail caught. James is nursing a bottle of whiskey. What did they call it again? Tree sap whiskey? Right, yeah, tree sap whiskey. He wanted to know how to make it, but Charles wouldn't tell.

Dolly might have been drunk, Abigail was fully sober, Charles couldn't handle his drinks and was now leaning on Sam for support, and Aaron was a mystery. But James guessed he was sober. Charles got an empty bottle and started slowly spinning it with two hands, slow and lousy. "Let's play spiiiiiin the booottle!!" He slurred. Sam snickered and shook his head at his boyfriend's drunken behavior.

"Hey that actually sounds kinda fun!" Dolly giggled, "Why not right? It's late, we're all drunk, and spin the bottle is the perfect stress relieving game!" James stared at her.

"I don't think it's exactly a stress reliever," Aaron sighed, "And I don't think we should play it. It sounds a little childish don't you think?" Dolly gave a shrug before taking the bottle from Charles and throwing it at Aaron full speed. He got it in one hand, barely flinching. "Dolly, no." He sighed, putting the bottle on the ground next to him.

James didn't really have an opinion, but he didn't wanna keep sitting her quietly. So he emptied his own bottle out and put it on the ground, spinning it. Aaron sighed in annoyance as Dolly and Charles cheered for James. The bottle landed on Charles, who then proceeded to tackle James over in his wolf form and lick his face over and over. James gagged and shoved him away.

"Why do you have such dog breath if you just got done drinking a bunch of whiskey!" He whined. The group laughed while Dolly spun the bottle next. She spun, and Abigail smirked a little as it landed on Dolly. Dolly pouted.

She kissed her hand and then rubbed her cheek with her hand. "Oh well!" She sighed, leaning on Abigail as Aaron hesitantly took the bottle and spun.

James.

At seeing the bottle land on him, James' face went two shades darker than before, and suddenly he was hoping Aaron was drunk so he wouldn't remember this. The group whooped and hollered as Aaron set down his canteen of water and walked over to James. "I, uh, I'm sorry if-" James was cut off as Aaron pulled him close by his collar and kissed him hard on the lips. An mmph was the only sound that escaped James as Aaron continued kissing him. James wasn't sure whether to return it.

The group whistled and laughed harder as Aaron pulled away and patted his cheek, going back to his seat across the campfire. James pouted and covered his face, not really sure how to react. He felt pressured and overwhelmed and overall just freaked out by the whole mess. James huffed and backed out of the game. He didn't like feeling the way he had felt when he was with his friends back at the village.

Aaron had changed back to his centaur form about two hours ago, and one hour ago everybody had left to go to sleep. Aaron was still at the fire though, unable to close his eyes without having some kind of nightmare to think about. He sighed in defeat as he stared into the fire. It seemed whether he was awake or asleep he was being haunted somehow. The fire had the monster's eyes in it, a bright passionate flame that couldn't be put out too easily. It held his personality in it, scarring and unforgiving and just horrible all together.

James cleared his throat as he sat down on a log next to Aaron's. The other jumped a little, but was quickly relieved to see it was only James. "What're you still doing up?" Aaron asked as he got a bit of tree sap whiskey and poured it into the fire. In response, the flames crackled and flushed, growing brighter and a little bigger than before. "It's..." Aaron waited for the color to change. It was now a dark venomous green and he snapped, "It is three in the goddamn morning. Go to your tent and sleep."

"I-I can't sleep. Nightmares. And why do I have to sleep and you don't?" James wondered.

Aaron sighed, "I am sleeping. Technically. I can sleep with my eyes open, which is something I gained from the horse part of me." James gasped in surprise. Aaron expected the boy to make fun of him.

"That's really cool!" James smiled, "Do you sleep standing up too?" Aaron smirked and took a drink of his whiskey.

"I used to. I actually had severe narcolepsy, so I would fall asleep whenever I was comfortable and the slightest bit relaxed. When I was trying to train myself it was a living hell. I would fall asleep while on the field and then my trainer would just throw a staff at my head." Aaron chuckled a little and then looked a the stars above. "She was insane."

James asked, "Who is she?"

"Dead that's what she is." Aaron shook his head. When he saw James wince Aaron sighed and explained, "She's gone. The monster took her. I don't even know if she's alive, but I really doubt she is... Her name was Theodosia." James scooted closer, listening carefully as if Aaron was about to dive into a story about her. But the centaur stayed quiet, staring at the stars.

James asked, "Do you wanna be alone? I can leave if you don't want me around anymore. It is late after all-" Aaron quickly took James' hand, holding it tightly. So many words rushed into his throat, but none of them escaped to James' ears. So instead he stayed silent, keeping his mouth shut and relaxing as much as he could. But his heart was beating so fast as James squeezed his hand back and moved so they were sitting on the same log.

The fire slowly died out, a dim light shining on them. Aaron felt like he couldn't breath as James asked, "Do you wanna... head to my tent? Can you switch to human form s-so we can..." Aaron's face went red and he stared at him in shock. He was suggesting that? He gulped and nodded hesitantly, following James to his tent and only then changing to his human form.

James' tent had been tidied up by Dolly at this point in the day, and he had also decorated as much as he could. Aaron barely had time to pay attention because James was talking again, and that mattered more to Aaron than anything else in the world. "I decorated a little. Dolly helped. It's just some leaves, some books I borrowed from around the camp." Aaron smirked and leaned on a post.

"Funny." He smiled, "A couple people came to me complaining about missing books." James looked away.

"Weird." James sat on his bed and pursed his lips. Aaron chuckled and sat next to him. His legs felt sore since he had been a human all morning and a little into the afternoon. But if James really wanted to do this now then he wouldn't mind being human for a good twenty or thirty minutes. Oh God Aaron hadn't done this in a long time, would he still be good at it? Did James wanna be submissive?

James cleared his throat and laid down, his head sinking into the pillow as he looked at Aaron. "Hey, um, are you gonna... Lay down?" Aaron stared, dumbfounded. ... He just wants to cuddle.... Not sex... I am such an idiot sometimes. How many drinks did I have? He sighed and laid down next to James, holding his hand. James smiled and wrapped his arms around the other's waist, pulling him close. "Thanks for laying with me," He sighed, "I was having trouble sleeping anyway."

Aaron smiled and closed his eyes. "Any time, but I might have to change back to my horse form. Staying as a human is a little tiring for me." James awkwardly pulled away so Aaron could change. Aaron yawned. "We should head to my bed, there's enough room for me to sleep as a centaur and you can lay down too." James nodded in agreement. So the two went all the way across camp to Aaron's private cabin. It was a lot warmer that was for sure.

Aaron changed to a horse once he got on the bed and laid down, yawning. James asked, "Can I lay down?" Aaron nodded. He patted his side. James blushed a little. He was about to cuddle with a fucking centaur with zero regrets whatsoever. James crawled into the bed and laid next to Aaron. He wrapped his arms around Aaron's waist once again.

"I purposely got a huge bed in here just in case I ever decide to cuddle with somebody." Aaron joked. James chuckled and closed his eyes. Aaron rested his head on James' chest, beginning to doze off. "Goodnight, James." Aaron whispered.

James kissed his head and mumbled, "Night, Aaron."