And They Were Roommates (4/4)

Ari buckled, and pulled a buckle over Mitch's body as well, rubbing the other male's shoulders gently. "Stupid fuck." He muttered under his breath.

Mitch’s stomach lurched when the car finally went into motion. He lifted his head a little to look at Ari, but images and hallucinations blurred his vision and he pressed his face back into Ari’s thigh with a small groan. He wanted to just skip the car ride and to automatically be home, even if it was impossible. He’d wanted to fly home, even though also impossible—not only because of people seeing him but also because of his short wingspan that wouldn’t be able to keep him in the air long enough to get home easily.

Ari kept rubbing Mitch's shoulders lightly. He wished there was something he could do for Mitch to help with the drugs, but…he wasn't sure what he could do, or how to do it.

Mitch savored Ari rubbing his shoulders—usually after these kinds of parties, Mitch didn’t get any sort of comfort like this. It was typically just getting drunk, finding a random girl, then having sex. None of it had ever been pleasant for Mitch, except for maybe the getting drunk part. Heck, Mitch looked incredibly sickly -not moving much, slightly pale, a thin layer of sweat on his skin- yet this was still better than having unpleasant sex with a random girl. “Can you rub my-“ Mitch cut himself off before he said the word ‘wings’. That was a big no, but the drugs were messing with his head and making his usually tight leash slack. “Can you keep rubbing my shoulders?” Mitch murmured in attempt to cover up his mistake.

Ari raised an eyebrow slightly at the cutoff, but smiled lightly. "Yeah. How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, still rubbing his shoulders gently. He looked down at Mitch, hoping he was going to be alright. He hadn't drunk much of the drugs, but…he didn't know what type it was. It could be nearly harmless, or it could be…Ari shook his head a little.

Kyo started walking home, taking a detour to the ocean, going to sit on the pier. He crossed his legs to make sure no water got onto his legs as he looked down into the water. No one else was on this part of the beach, which was good for him.

“I’m… okay…” Mitch mumbled, though by now he felt sluggish. He turned his head to look around, but his vision was still murky with changing colors and blurs of objects that weren’t there. Whatever the drug had been… it was either a sick prank that was supposed to mess him up for a couples hours, or… or it had been meant to make him easy to take advantage of. Mitch felt too sick to think about it though.

Ari swallowed slightly. He could tell that Mitch was still sluggish, and his behavior…it matched up with…he closed his eyes. Date rape drug? He hoped not…and who could have done it? Who would have done it? He gently ran his fingers through some strands of Mitch's hair, then went back to rubbing his shoulders.

Mitch closed his eyes and hummed a tiny bit as Ari rubbed his shoulders. “How long until we…. get home…?” He mumbled softly, wishing his could go to his room, lock the door, and stretch out his wings and tail. He still wished he could ask Ari to rub his sensitive and sore wings, but he knew no matter how much he wanted it, he couldn’t let himself have it.

Ari shrugged a little, then looked out the window, looking at the scenery they passed. "Uhm…maybe five minutes?" He replied, looking down at Mitch again, still rubbing his shoulders gently. "I'm not one hundred percent sure."

Mitch pressed his face into Ari’s thigh a little more. “That’s… too long…” He mumbled, wanting to home right now. He felt vulnerable, knowing he’d be too drugged to be able to stop someone if they touched his back and felt his wings. He could really only trust the two people in the car with him, and honestly, he didn’t have a problem with that. Mitch knew they’d keep him safe.

Ari sighed softly, rubbing Mitch's shoulders gently. "I know." He replied softly. A pit of anger that he hadn't thought still existed had opened up inside him again, now directed at whoever had done this to his roommate. To this young man now sprawled on the back bench of the car, miserable.

Mitch breathed in the smell of Ari, trying to focus on that instead of how he was feeling. He savored the feeling of Ari’s hands rubbing his shoulders, the gentle action incredibly comforting. However, a few moments later, unconsciousness dragged Mitch away and he passed out on Ari’s thigh.

Ari smelled faintly of cloves, of various spices. Like a middle Eastern market as it might have been a long time ago. Minus the stink of animal waste and human sweat, of course. He looked down at Mitch, and frowned slightly. Probably almost definitely a rape drug. That anger swirled up again, and his eyes glowed. He sent a blast of power out. Hidden from Callista. He sent it to the party, seeking out whoever had done this. And when he found that person? He let that anger, he let his powers, decide what it would do. He was a Djinn, and Djinn weren't known for their morality.

Back at the party, half the people were drunk by now, the other half either at home and asleep, or sleeping with someone. Two people were on the dance floor. One happened to be the girl who had invited Mitch to the party. She swayed, dancing with her boyfriend—probably the only ones dancing. But not a few seconds later, the girl threw herself away from her boyfriend and began puking on the floor—she had too much alcohol. When she looked up though, she saw her boyfriend on the ground, clutching his head in pain and groaning in anguish. “M-Mark…?” The girl asked, and the guy let out a pained whimper and began throwing up as well. He had been the one to drug Mitch, for some reason.

Ari narrowed his eyes as his power ravaged through the man's veins, through his body and through his mind. After a few minutes, he pulled back the reins on his power, taking a deep, slightly shaky breath as the man collapsed onto the floor, unconscious. They had arrived at their home now, and he unbuckled both himself and Mitch.

Mitch was still unconscious when they got home, but he was more at peace than when he’d been awake and had been under the influence of hallucinations and misery. He didn’t stir when Ari took off his seatbelt for him.

(….I feel really annoying for being the one answering so much but…)

Ari sighed softly, and gently picked Mitch up, holding him bridal style. He walked over to the front door, awkwardly unlocking it and trying not to drop Mitch at the same time. The pendant of an old lamp swung, hitting against his upper chest with a thump.

(I feel that way about myself too lol. Your responses are always so good though!)
When Ari picked Mitch up, even in unconsciousness, his overly-sensitive wings reacted. They twitched a little, not enough to be clearly visible or anything but enough for Ari to have felt something on Mitch’s back. It could’ve been dismissed as a very, very weird wrinkle in his shirt or something, but it probably felt more like something different, something unnatural.

(lol thanks. So are yours)

Ari frowned slightly at the twitch. Not my business. He'll tell me, or he won't. Maybe it's just a weird shirt wrinkle. He told himself. Pushing the door open, he slid his shoes off, and carried Mitch to his bed. Not Ari's bed, Mitch's. He wasn't going to be weird. He put Mitch down on the bed, and pulled the younger man's shoes off carefully.

Mitch stirred a little as he was set on the bed, drowsily turning onto his side so he wasn’t squishing his wings nor tail. He was hardly aware of Ari taking off his shoes, blinking his eyes wearily at his surroundings. The shadows in the room seemed the move, forming into hellhounds and other demonic beasts before Mitch’s eyes. It was hallucinations. But Mitch certainly couldn’t distinguish reality from illusion right now, and he wrapped his arms around himself and whispered, “A-Ari?” His voice had a hint of panic and fear in it.

Ari brushed a hand on his shoulder. "Right here, bud." He replied gently. "How you feeling?" He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at Mitch with nothing but gentleness in his eyes.

“N-Not… good…” Mitch replied shakily, his eyes darting around the room. Hallucinations popped out at him, so realistic and lifelike that he actually flinched at one of them. “I-I’m- I’m-“ I’m scared. Incubi weren’t supposed to get scared very often, but Mitch’s vulnerability mixed with the blurry and clear visions assaulting his eyes made him want to hide away in the corner with the lights on.

"What?" Ari asked gently, rubbing his shoulder again gently. "What is it?" He frowned a little. What's wrong with him? Are the drugs having an even worse effect?

“C-Can you turn on the light?” He whispered, reaching up and grabbing at Ari’s hand because he wanted to hold it for some very idiotic reason. Can you stay? Mitch didn’t want to succumb to horrific hallucinations all alone when he waited for the drugs to wear off. He didn’t think he could last.

Ari nodded, and turned on the bedside lamp. He blinked, squeezing Mitch's hand gently. "There you go." he said softly. "What's wrong?" he asked, smoothing a few strands of hair away from Mitch's forehead.

Mitch pointed a shaky hand a the air, “Th-They’re gonna hurt me.” He whispered, his clammy hand gripping onto Ari’s tightly. Please don’t leave me alone please don’t leave please don’t. Mitch certainly didn’t seem like he’d be loosening his grip on Ari’s hand anytime soon unless the other pulled away.

Ari looked at him. "Those are just hallucinations, Mitch." He said gently, squeezing his hand lightly, thumb rubbing gentle circles on the other man's knuckles.

Kyo took off his sneakers and recrossed them on the pier, sighing. The sound of heels clicked against the wooden platform until a tall person sat next to him. "How you doing buddy? You only come here when you're thinking about going into the water." They patted Kyo's shoulder. "I believe you mean suicide." Kyo hummed. If he even touched the ocean, he would die.

“I-I d-don’t w-want-“ Mitch squeaked, tugging at Ari’s hand a little. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the sense of unease and fear didn’t leave him. Normally, he wouldn’t be so afraid of a few shadows and demonic shapes, but he felt much more vulnerable right now.