Page 8 of Haunted Mediation
“You little mensch,” Leon muttered as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. “You googled it to make sure, didn’t you?”
James crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes, I did, because I knew you’d Google it to try and give me grief.” They stared at each other until finally James dropped his arms and looked away. “It was all I could come up with at the last minute.”
Yarmen took that moment to make an appearance, and Leon scooped him up, rubbing his soft, grey fur before stepping forward to deposit him in James’ arms. James had apparently never owned a pet, but he loved Yarmen. That, too, was annoyingly adorable.
“You’re just lucky you look good in suits,” Leon said, turning to head into the kitchen before he had a chance to see if James was going to blush or not.
“Uh…thank you. You look good…too?” James said, staying planted in the doorway with Yarmen in his arms.
The night before, they hadn’t been able to decide what they were going to do tonight. The social at the Rainbow Bean was low-key, mostly focused on unveiling a new line of tea and food featuring pumpkin and fall spices. Leon was sort of itching to go out and do something, like a pop-up bar or maybe aRocky Horrorscreening. Because of that, he’d dressed in something easy and versatile. He’d left his hair down around his shoulders, put on wrist cuffs, and chose his most distressed t-shirt with holes that occasionally flashed his nipple piercing and ribcage tattoo. His pants were red and black plaid, with chains and buckles all up and down the sides, and he’d shoved an old pair of drumsticks into one of the side pockets. In other words, he was dressed punk, as always, but with a bit of added flair.
He’d never claimed to be creative. That was James’ hangup, not his.
Leon opened the fridge door and reached in to grab a pumpkin beer. “I was gonna have a beer while we decide what the plan is for tonight. You want one?”
“I probably shouldn’t,” James said. “I stopped needing to pregame my nights out in my mid-twenties.”
Leon shut the door and turned to look at James. “I forget you’re such a lightweight. You wanna split it?”
James glanced at the bottle. “Is it one of the precious six pumpkin beers you drink a year?”
Leon told James the night before that he only ever bought one pack of the seasonal ale, liking the flavor only enough to get through at most six per year.
“I wouldn’t say precious, but yeah,” Leon said, with an eye roll for good measure.
“Wow, I didn’t know I was special enough to make the cut. Sure, I guess I can have a little bit.”
There were a lot of ways Leon could respond to that, but he chose to lower the bottle to his groin, grab his belt buckle, and use it to flip the cap off the beer. James gawked at him, but before he could say or do anything, Yarmen yowled, clearly not getting enough attention. He began to claw his way up onto James’ shoulder, and Leon laughed as he grabbed them both a glass.
He was pretty sure he heard James mumble something that sounded like “crotch beer,” but he ignored it.
“So, where do you want to go tonight?” James asked as he settled onto one of the seats at the kitchen island.
Leon poured their beers, and they went back and forth, finally deciding to hit up a bar or two. James suggested they walk there and maybe take a rideshare back so they could drink as many candy corn flavored shots as they wanted and not have to figure out what to do with one of their cars. Leon agreed, even though he would probably leave the candy corn shots to James. There was no way Leon would be participating in that. Sounded like a walking hangover to him.
They only made it halfway into their beers before someone pounded on Leon’s door.
James, who was still cradling Yarmen in his arms, this time like a baby, flinched in his seat. “Overeager trick-or-treaters?”
Leon sighed and went to answer the door. “Doubtful. I told you, we don’t usually get any in the building. If I had to take a guess—” He yanked the door open and was greeted by an impressive looking Harley Quinn. “I’d say it’s my annoying next-door neighbor.”
Hailey, said next-door neighbor, immediately put both hands on her hips, somehow making the costume look even more realistic. “Happy Halloween to you, too, Leon.”
“Hi, Hailey,” James called, his voice way too sweet and understanding.
“Hi, James!” she said, dropping her teenage angst-filled stance and waving happily to James.
Why didn’t James get the attitude?!
“Goodbye, Hailey,” Leon said, and he tried to close the door, only to have Hailey press her shoulder into it, stopping it from closing.
“I wanted to see what you two are doing for Halloween,” she said, flashing Leon a smile that was probably supposed to look casual but definitely looked like she was up to something.
For fuck’s sake, not this again. “Why?”
“We don’t have any set plans yet,” James volunteered.
Leon turned to glare meaningfully at him over his shoulder. James’ eyes widened, and he lifted Yarmen up and buried his face in his fur. Leon sighed and turned back to Hailey. She now had a shit-eating grin on her face, and Leon was already too tired for this.
