Page 24 of Keeping Secrets

"Okay, what’s next?" he asked.

Scot’s eyes lit up as he formulated another question, and that alone made the added stress of running trivia night worth it for Travis.

Ever since Scot’s body had started to fail him in small, frightening ways, Travis had hardly seen him smile. He had been too tied up in his own drama lately to give it much thought, but it was an immense relief to see Scot get his spirit back, if only for a while.

"How about the Vandals?"

"The who?" Travis asked.

"The Vandals, in Rome. We can ask which year the Vandals sacked Rome."

"This is… ancient history? Or more recent vandalism?"

Scot looked up at the ceiling as if begging the ancient gods of Rome for patience.

"The vandals were a Germanic group that raided Rome in the year 455. Write that down." Scot hadn’t so much as glanced at the laptop that he had brought to the table.

Travis obeyed. "So they spoke German?"

"They spoke a Germanic language called Vandalic. Closely related to Gothic."

He blinked. "I can’t tell if you’re messing with me."

"I don’t joke about trivia," Scot said seriously. "If you would just assume that every word out of my mouth is true, this would go a lot quicker."

Travis chuckled. "So the next question is… Which year did the Vandals sack Rome?"

"Sure, that works."

"And that was 455… A.D.?"

Scot sighed and reached for his French fries. "Yes."

"Right."

"Next question." Scot brightened. "Who sacked Rome in 410? One point for the name of the group and two points for the name of their king."

They sat like that for half the morning, slowly working their way through two baskets of fries as Travis stacked up enough flashcards to get him through his first trivia night.

He had participated in a few, but he was never very good. Scot never repeated himself, and so the things that he learned one week never helped him the next.

Usually he just kept people's pint glasses full and enjoyed the show. Running things would feel awkward, like a kid walking around in his dad‘s boots, but he would do his best.

The trivia topics ran from ancient Rome to modern-day Tokyo to Dolly Parton songs. There were questions about chemistry and biology and philosophy. Scot only used his computer a handful of times, and even then it was just to check that his answers were correct. They always were.

Whatever was happening in his body that made his hands fumble and his vocal cords shake, it wasn’t having the slightest impact on his mind.

At least not yet.

"That should do it," Scot said with satisfaction as Travis wrote down the last answer and set it atop the stack they had compiled.

Scot reached for his drink and fumbled it, the last swig of red liquid splashing up toward the rim. Travis caught it before it fell off the table. As he set it upright, their eyes met with a shared pain, the acknowledgment of what could no longer be ignored.

"I made a doctor’s appointment," Scot said gruffly. "I go in next week."

Travis let out a breath of relief. "Good."

Scot just glared at him.

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