~ Noah ~

Kyle's blue eyes were rounded, his mouth hanging open for a couple of breaths time, before he leaned closer to his webcam, the image of his face enlarging on my screen.

"Are you serious?" He asked a hint of laughter in his voice. "Mac doesn't have any tattoos? Not a single one?"

I nodded. "Not a single one."

"Oh, man!" Kyle threw himself against the back of his couch and now that he was further away from the camera, I could see almost all of him, save from his ankles. He was topless, but he had a pair of skinny black jeans on and a leather cuff on each wrist. The three silver piercings on his right ear caught the light from his living room lamp and glisten as he shook his head.

"I was sure he had some! Sure of it!" He shook his head again and sighed. "He's still hot as Hell though."

I chuckled. "Glad to see the lack of ink on his skin doesn't remove him from your To Bed list."

"Nah, I'm an open-minded boy; I could go for a guy without tattoos. Mind you, I'd rather him go for me."

"I know, Kyle. I know."

"Then again..." His eyes narrowed in thought and I was sure he was flicking his tongue ring against his teeth. It was a bad habit of his, one I really hoped he'd break because I wanted my friend to keep his pearly whites not chipped.

"Then again..." he repeated and looked straight at his screen, that was to say, straight at me.

"You mean, you want to top Mac?" It was my turn to go all big-eyed. My best friend was almost an exclusive bottom.

"Eventually. It would usually be the other way around, but at some point, I want to switch that up, try something different, you know?"

"I guess..." When he raised one black eyebrow at me, I clarified: "You almost never do that."

"Well..." He shrugged and that seemed to be the end of that.

"Doesn't matter anyway," I said, reaching for my mug of green tea.

"Why not?" He asked, just as I was taking a sip, then reached for his own drink - some fruity, energy stuff, which probably contained more sugar in a single can than a whole cake.

"Because neither fantasy is going to happen," I said.

He choked on the energy drink - a bit of it spilling onto his shaven chin - and began coughing.

"Why..." Another cough. "Why..." A couple of more coughs, and he finally managed: "Why not? Do you think I can't turn him on or something?"

Rolling my eyes, I replied: "I didn't say that. But you are at Hepburry and he's at Plymson, and who knows if you two will ever meet, let alone hook up. Multiple times at that," I added, only now catching on to the fact that Kyle had insinuated he wanted Mac for more than a one-night stand.

"Okay, first of all... Hold up a sec." Kyle got off the couch and even though he was off camera, I'd seen enough of his apartment during our video chats to figure out he'd gone to his kitchen. Sure enough, he returned with another drink, this time a glass of water.

"First of all," he sat back down on the couch and put the glass somewhere to the side of his laptop, "you are in Plymson, which means that I will eventually make my way there to see you. And while I am there to see you, I could also see other people. Big people, by the name of Mac, to be more precise."

He took a swig from his water, then placed the glass back down, the tap against the table loud due to its proximity to his laptop.

"Second," he continued, "When have I not gotten the guy I wanted? As for hooking up more than once: I have too many fantasies about this guy to fulfill them all at one time, so yeah, it will take a few nights. Plus, once Mac has a taste of me, he'd be looking forward to a repeat performance," he finished with a wink.

"Sounds like you have it all planned out," I said, my teasing inflection not lessening the naughty glint in his eyes.

"By the time I'm done with him, he'd want to tattoo my name across his pecks in bold, black letters."

"Sure." I chuckled. "Sounds exactly like what Mac would do."

"So, is he opposed to inking in general or... What? He just doesn't want any ink on himself?"

"Actually, he does want ink. He just wants it to be meaningful, and he hasn't found a design that speaks to him yet."

"I see." Kyle nodded thoughtfully. "I can relate to that. I don't know what to get for my new tattoo either. Maybe flowers? I know it's a feminine design, but maybe it could be a whole scene on my back with a bunch of different flowers and some grass, and maybe a tree, kind of like a picture of a forest or something. Tyler is pretty good with doing whole scenes. Just look at Zack's back; it's epic!"

"Speaking of Zack," I was sure I had a little frown on my face, "have you heard from him lately? I've called him a couple of times in the past few days, but he didn't pick up."

"Let's see." Kyle tapped his chin with one long, index finger. "I texted him to ask him to help brainstorm cocktail names for you, he texted back 'Seriously?', I imagined him looking at me like I'm an idiot, decided to tease him, and texted back 'Yeah, sure'... That was about a week ago and I haven't heard from him since. But you know how easily he gets irritated and he's probably grumpy about me wasting his time. Besides, he'd mentioned he was Beta reading for that crime fiction author he's fanboying over. Well, he's fanboying over the novels, not the author..."

"Are you sure that's it though?" I interrupted his rambling. "I mean, you don't think he's depressed or..."

"Zack doesn't do depressed," Kyle stated with certainty. "He gets upset for about a moment, then he switches right to angry mode."

"That's true," I admitted, but it didn't make me worry about our childhood friend any less. Zack was a good friend, but he had some... Issues.

Mainly, temper issues and the resulting trouble he got into because of them. He usually won his fights, but that wasn't the point. Even as a winner, he'd still end up in the ER multiple times. He was more in control of his rage now that he was in his twenties and no longer a teen, but given how he had been a few years ago, that wasn't saying much.

"Call Helen and ask her to ask Ben about him." Kyle interrupted my musings. "Or skip your aunt, and just call Ben. You know he's Zack's favorite relative; he'd probably know if something's going on."

Once again, Kyle had a point. Being Zack's uncle, and a good guy, Ben often called his nephew to check up on him. Nothing intrusive, not giving Zack the third degree, but a simple 'You doing alright, kid?' and occasionally inquiring after Zack's father, mostly because the latter's gambling problems and the debts they led to were often the reason for Zack's anger.

It had also been the reason Ben had invited Zack to spend every summer with him and my Aunt Helen in Grandfort and away from Zack's father, which was how Kyle and I got to meet Zack in the first place.

"So, are you going to do it or should I?"

"Huh?" I turned to the screen which displayed my best friend's face. While I'd spaced out on him again, Kyle had leaned closer to the camera once more.

"Call Helen. Or Ben." He clarified.

"It's too late," I said. "I'll call tomorrow, on the way to the grocery store."

"Morning shift, right?"

"Right. But Helen has an early class, so she should be up."

Kyle nodded.

"And then you have a shift at Nightfall in the evening?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Tomorrow's going to be a very tiring day."

"I'll let you get some sleep then," he said. "And I'll text you if I hear anything from or about Zack."

"Thanks, K." I smiled at him. "Good night!"

"Night!" He sent me an air kiss. "Sleep tight, dream only of the hottest guys!"

I ended the video call and got up, the exhaustion I hadn't been aware of when we'd started chatting surprising me with its intensity. I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, slumped on my bed, and had barely closed my eyes when my alarm went off.

Disoriented, I patted my nightstand until my fingers brushed my phone, then brought the device to my face. It took me a moment to properly open my eyes and focus on the screen. My silent prayers that I'd mistakenly set my alarm to go off earlier than it should were answered with a big fat 'You are not that lucky. Now get up and go to work.'

I swiped my finger across the screen to turn the alarm off and that was when I noticed a text from a few hours ago.

Kyle: Kyle Cooper, The Perseverance-r. I was on Zack's case until he texted me back to tell me how much he loves me. He mistakenly phrased it as 'Stop pestering me or I'll come to Hepburry and kick your twink ass'. Anyway. Boy's fine. Been on a reading marathon and put the world on ignore. So, Zack being Zack, right? Love ya!

"Perseverant indeed," I muttered, smiling.

-----

Tyler = their tattoo artist friend; Zack = another friend of theirs who got a tattoo by Tyler. And no, I'm not pairing those up with each other, but they have their own love stories. Zack with someone who you've already met, actually.

Speaking of pairings: what do you think Kyle's chances with Mac are?

Do you think a hyper, free-spirited, and bed-oriented Kyle would match with a calm and collected, picky- on-who-he-dates Mac?

Thanks for reading! Like and drop a comment 😽

PS: I just realized that a lot of my boys are dealing with mental health issues. Noah - insecurity which results in bad eating habits; Kyle - trauma from a certain event that hasn't taken place yet so I can't say it without spoilers; Zack - the grumpy and antisocial book lover with anger issues due to neglectful parents... Ash - insecurity due to neglectful parents...

It also reminded me of a time I was very involved in the book community, doing regular reviews and occasional Beta reading. Now I'm just an antisocial book lover like Zack, with Noah's anxiety and also bad eating habits (Noah forgets to eat, I overeat).

Hope you guys are doing better on the mental health front! ❤️️