Black Lotus [Vintaker]

Chapter Five

Vincent slammed his fist down on Lau's door and yelled. "Get out here you little shit!" He knew Lau was behind the door because his Heart Radius went off. Apparently a lot of people had crushes on him that he didn't know about. No wonder Lau never fired him. Why fire the guy you have a crush on?

"I didn't do it! I swear! Okay, well, maybe I did," Lau admitted. "But I didn't post the first video! That was probably Adrian or his friend! I promise you that I am loyal!"

"Adrian?" Vincent stopped slamming the door. "Really? Why would he do that?"

"Yes. I'm sure it was one of those two. The first video came from the R.E.A.P.E.R.S. official youtube channel." Lau unlocked the door and opened it slightly. He assessed whether or not Vincent was angry at him still and then opened the door all the way.

"Do you know where he lives?"

"What?"

"I'm asking you if you know where he lives." Vincent crossed his arms. "Do you?"

"Well, he pays with card sometimes so I know his billing address but isn't that illegal if I give that to you?" Lau paused to think about it. "Hm, well, what do I care? He likes you anyway. I'm sure it's fine," he walked away for a moment to write it down.

"He likes me too?" Vincent's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am. Why else would he Pause his Heart Radius when it going off makes him more profitable for the band?"

"Uhm, maybe he is famous and wants to keep himself from getting noticed?"

"Okay, fair point," Lau handed him the sticky note with the address on it. "It's not too far away. You should be able to find it pretty easily. Oh, and uh," Lau scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry for ringing your Heart Radius. I'll Pause it when you're working..."

"I don't give a shit how you feel," Vincent walked away and lifted his hand to wave goodbye. "Do what you want."

"You're such a heart stealer!" Lau ran out and grabbed Vincent's arm, dragging him inside. "Before you leave at least have a cup of tea or something. It's freezing outside, you know? You have to cool off at least a little bit before beating up that cute man."

"Who said I was going to beat him up? I'm just going to give him a firm talking to with my fists."

"That's the same thing as beating someone up," Lau's eyebrows furrowed. "Please? Just a cup of tea? You came all this way I don't want you to leave after just a minute or two."

"Fine, just one though," Vincent closed the door and sat down in one of Lau's weird chairs. He liked having weird furniture around. Vincent couldn't remember the last time he'd been in the living space of Black Lotus. He'd only ever paid attention to the kitchen and the restaurant. Lau's decorating was as shitty as always, even if it was his home.

"Here you go," Lau placed the biggest mug he owned in front of Vincent.

"This is because I said just one cup, isn't it?" he frowned, taking a sip of whatever this tea combination was. Lau had a multitude of strange habits. Putting two different tea bags in the same cup was one of them.

"Hm, you know me so well," Lau turned his hands into a heart.

"Have you found out which customer was activating your Heart Radius yet?"

"Hm, no, not really. I think whoever it was Paused the account," Lau pondered the memory. "But it's okay, I screenshotted the heart so it will forever be in my memory that someone somewhere activated my Heart Radius," he shed a single tear.

"I see," Vincent placed the mug back down.

"You're really hitting the news hard though. No one seems to recognize you, isn't that a bit strange?" Lau showed Vincent his phone. The first three trending tags on twitter were related to him in some way.

"It's better if they don't. I wish I wasn't in the news at all. Nothing good ever comes of that," Vincent could feel a bundle of anxiety building up in his chest. He wasn't going to get any new information if he continued to sit in one place talking to Lau. "I really need a cigarette..."

"Hm, do you though? You've been smoking a lot more."

"Fuck you," Vincent growled.

"Fuck me when, darling," Lau remade his hands into a heart and winked.

"You're a good for nothing idiot, do you know that?" Vincent downed his giant mug of tea and stared at the sticky note in his hand. It was time to find Adrian.

"Be safe out there," Lau waved. "Don't do anything too reckless. I'll feel betrayed that you had fun without me."

"Yeah, yeah," Vincent slammed the door and went on his way. "I'm using so much data and I haven't had this phone very long..." he grumbled as he searched up the address for Adrian's location. "Guess I should start thinking about what I'm going to ask first..."