Black Lotus [Vintaker]

Chapter Seven

"This was a big mistake," Vincent sat on the edge of the sidewalk and stared out into the street. He smoked his cigarette and then looked at it, realizing he should probably quit if he was going back to singing, then smashed it into the sidewalk and threw it into the nearest trash can. Don't litter folks. That's bad for the planet. 

"Haaaaaaa," he exhaled a long breath, just checking his lungs were still functioning, and then did a few practice runs for scales. He had a perfect pitch. Nothing to worry about there. 

"This is so stupid," Vincent held his head in his hands and sighed again. His phone dinged. He looked at the Love Radius notification and then glanced around. A male waved from across the street. 

"Looks like I'm your match," he smiled. His hair a mixture of pink and purple with star pins in it. He waved and looked both ways before crossing the street. Don't get run over folks. That's bad for you. He sat down next to Vincent and smiled. 

"I don't think I set yours off though," Vincent apologized, sort of, not really. He hadn't caused anyone's Love Alarm to go off. Was it broken? Was he broken? Probably. But he was attracting a lot of men. Why was that? Did they like the punk look or something? 

"Do I...know you from somewhere?" he stared at him carefully, eyeing him up and down, but frowned. "Oh, my name is Blavat by the way," he grinned, holding out his hand. 

"Vincent," he replied, not shaking his hand. 

"Vincent?" he squinted, staring at him too closely, getting into his personal space. "Oh! You're all over the internet right now, aren't you? Something about...hm...what was it? Singing?" he tried to think but wasn't sure what Vincent was famous for. He never actually watched the video. 

"Yeah, something like that," Vincent nodded. His phone vibrated in his pocket so he answered it without checking the caller ID. "This is Vincent, what the fuck do you want?" he growled. 

"Oh, uhm, hi, this is Adrian," muttered the other side. "Did I interrupt something?" 

"No," Vincent glanced at Blavat. "What do you want?" 

"Can I meet you? Uhm. If you aren't busy, that is," Adrian forced himself to talk. 

"Lau kicked me out for being rude to customers, again, so I'm free," Vincent grabbed his box of cigarettes and got one out. He stared at it. Wanting to smoke it so badly. But put it back in the box. 

"Great! I'll text you the details then!" Adrian tried his best not to sound too excited. 

Vincent stared at his phone and opened up Heart Radius. He paused his account, tired of getting unwanted attention, and then looked over at Blavat. "Why are you still here?" he frowned. 

"You looked so happy. Is that you're boyfriend?" he grinned, revealing nothing. 

"No." 

"So you're still single?" 

"Is that any of your fucking business?" 

"Sure it is," Blavat moved his hand to Vincent's lips, forcing something into his mouth. It tasted sweet. What? 

"What the fuc-"

"If you want to stop smoking you have to replace the habit with a different one. Try these," he smiled, handing Vincent a bag of hard candies. "I run a candy shop over there," he pointed. "Feel free to stop by for more!~" he said, standing up to leave. 

...

Adrian stood awkwardly and stared at his phone. This was the day. He'd finally turned his account back on. He was going to confess to Vincent! Finally! He looked, waiting, and saw Vincent get closer and closer. His heart pounded in his chest as he finally stepped into the app's range. 

Nothing? 

Did his phone die?

Adrian looked down. No. His phone was still working so... why? 

"You look out of it," Vincent crossed his arms and sighed. "What did you want to talk to me about? Or do you just need someone to kill time with?" 

"I, uhm," Adrian looked down at his phone again, mystified, and then put it back into his pocket. Was this an error? Was Heart Radius not actually as hi-tech as everyone said? Why wasn't it working? Did Adrian mistake his feelings this whole time? How the hell did people manage this kind of thing without an app to tell them what they felt? Was he not actually into men? Was his whole perception of love completely wrong? 

"Are you okay?" Vincent stared, waving his hand in front of Adrian's face. 

"I-" Adrian.exe failed to work. He couldn't think of anything to say and he certainly didn't know of a good excuse for bringing Vincent out here if his confession was a bust. Should he say it anyway? But the app told him he was wrong. Why did he have to start questioning all of his life choices now? Fuck. Tears began to fall and Adrian wiped them away as soon as he felt them. He was so sure before...so confident in his feelings...just for an app to tell him he was wrong and rock the whole boat? Then who was he supposed to love now? 

"You're clearly having a moment of some kind but I am not good with that sort of thing so," Vincent grabbed Adrian's hand and placed the bag of candy he just got into it. His touch felt so nice. Adrian enjoyed the feeling of his hand holding his. This was so confusing. 

A chime went off and Adrian looked at his phone. He turned his head to see his ex standing there. "Oh my, I didn't expect to see you here again, of all places." 

"Aleister..." Adrian mumbled. 

"Looks like things are still alive between us," he smiled slightly, showing his phone to Adrian. His face turned pale. How could he set his idiot's account off but not the guy he was actually interested in? He glanced over to Vincent and then back to Aleister. Does that mean...he really wasn't over him? But he'd made so much progress...

"Shall I sweep you off your feet again?" Aleister smiled, holding out a rose he pulled out of thin air. 

Vincent stared at Adrian's face and then looked at Aleister. He could tell that this guy made him uncomfortable so he wrapped his arm around Adrian's waist and raised his middle finger to the new guy. "Sorry bitch, he has plans," he snapped, turning them promptly around to walk in the other direction, as far away from him as possible. Vincent didn't realize that he was still holding Adrian the entire way. He also had no idea where he was going. He just knew something was wrong and that he was irritable for no reason. But, then again, he was always irritable for no reason. 

"Vincent..." 

"What?" he growled, after realizing it was just Adrian he apologized. "Sorry," he muttered, removing his arm. "You looked uncomfortable so I-" 

"Thank you." 

"Huh?" Vincent blinked, not used to the phrase. "Oh, uh, you're welcome, I guess?"