Zavir left most of his thin weight against Landon, trying to focus on getting to the boy’s car. “What’s funny?” Zavir asked, furrowing his brows as he stumbled, trying to regain his balance before leaning into Landon. “S – Sorry…” he whispered, biting hard onto his bottom lip to try and supress his emotions. He was not going to cry, he told himself. “It’s, uhm – I just .. I don’t know,” was his response. He didn’t want to make excuses for wasting his night and his time acting like an idiot, and then above all having to have Landon save him from a fight that never should have happened. He was just not really in a good enough place to be trying to figure out why he was making the decisions he was.
Landon started rubbing his thumb in a small circle on Zavir’s side, turning his head and smiling at the other boy. “It’s alright, I just made myself giggle with the tortoise and the hare reference. I’m dumb, it’s alright.” He reassured the boy, not wanting him to think he was laughing at Zavir. “It’s alright that you don’t know why you’re here, sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of my kitchen with a few empty GoGurt packets. It’s traumatic and strange.” He giggles, pulling the boy in closer to his own side. He knew that the boy felt uncomfortable by the way he was acting, and Landon was trying his best to make sure that Zav didn’t start feeling embarrassed for this.
“You’ll be fine. I swear,” he assured him. “The Dumbo ride?” Julian raised his eyebrows. “How about Tower of Terror? The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is hands down one of my favorite rides,” he said with a smile.
“That’s what they all say, I don’t trust it.” He joked, before giving the other boy a small nod. “Yes, the Dumbo ride! I just told you I don’t like the dark, and you named off the two rides that put you in pitch black. I don’t think you know how this works.”
Matthew’s mouth hung slightly open in shock of the question. An inexplicable sound escaped his lips, unable to properly react to the sudden mention of his mortifying confession he last saw Landon. “Um.- Excuse me?”,was the best response he could come up with in the moment. He took a deep breath, composing himself once again and thought out his reply carefully. “You’ve been gone for some time,Landon. And I think you made yourself pretty clear when I told you how I felt.”
Landon let out a soft sigh, letting his head fall down, staring down at his feet. “I-I’m sorry. That wasn’t a good question to ask.” He reached his hands up, cupping his cheeks in his hands. “I wasn’t thinking.” The boy mumbled out, shaking his head slowly, mentally beating himself up for the words that had just come out.
“No I-”, Matthew shook his head at the boy’s words. He couldn’t bring himself to say what he wanted to tell him right away, he struggled to find the words in the clouded pool that was his emotions. He thought about how shaky they had been the last time they spoke before Landon left. “I’ve missed you.”
Landon takes a small step forward, giving a slight nod of his head. “Well, uh, I’ve missed you too.” He lets out a quiet breath, not exactly sure how he should react around Matt, after everything that happened. He bites his lip, anxiously looking up at the other boy, continuing to mess with his fingers. “Do you still.. Um, have feelings?” He asked, almost immediately regretting the question as soon as it passed through his lips.
Zavir could tell Landon was crying, which is not what he wanted. His stress level dropped significantly when Landon ran his thumb over Zavir’s forehead and jaw, shutting his eyes to block out the pain still residing. “We can – can go,” Zavir responded, trying to push himself up. He managed to stand, his vision blurring as he looked around, trying to grab a hold of Landon.”
Landon carefully hooked his arm around Zavir’s hips, steadying him as they stood up together. He could tell the other boy was still pretty weak, so he tried his best to help Zav keep steady. “Okay, slow and steady.” He says, with a small chuckle as they start to make their way back to Landon’s car. The boy turns his head to look at Zavir, raising an eyebrow up at him as he starts to speak again. “So, uh, what brought you out here so late?” Landon asked, a little concerned.
Zavir could feel himself being pulled into Landon’s lap, trying to bleed through the blood now in his throat. He was still clutching his stomach when he heard Landon speak, trying to keep his eyes open. He wiped some of the blood off of his mouth as he sat up a little, trying to look at Landon. “I’m sorry,” Zavir said quietly, turning away from him as he felt his eyes sting with tears. He should have never left his flat, he realizes. He should have just moped in his room instead. And now he’d probably get fired at work for showing up with cuts and bruises on the selling part of his job.
Landon felt a few tears escape out of his eye, rolling down his cheek as he reached up to wipe it away. “No, no. You don’t have to apologize, it’s not your fault.” The boy reached down, running his thumb over Zav’s forehead slowly. “Okay, when you’re feeling up to it, we can walk you back to my car and I’ll take you back to my place. And we can clean you up, and then you can just stay there for the night. I’ll even let you pick out a movie for us to watch. Does that sound good?” He whispered down to the other, letting his thumb slip down the side of Zavir’s face gently, continuing to try anything that he could to keep the boy calm.
“Hi.”, the casual essence of their words in such an unusual situation caused Matt shifted his weight from one side to the other uncomfortably as he buttoned up his plaid shirt. “I-When did you get back?”
Landon suddenly began fiddling with his own fingers, staring down at them as he bit down on his lip gently. “I, uh, got back yesterday.” He said, lifting his eyes up so he was peeking over at Matt. “If you want me to go away, I will.”
“ It would, and this park wouldn’t be the same without you, ” she smiles, “ And I missed you too, Landon. ”
“That’s doubtful, I mean, I disappeared for a few months and everything seems to be okay. But, I’m glad you missed me, because it’d be weird if it was a one-sided feeling, you know? How are you and Graham-o?”
Matthew was halfway dressing into his clothes from his Naveen costume when he heard a familiar voice coming from inside the breakroom, he hurried his walk until he entered the room. He couldn’t believe his eyes. “You’re back.”
Landon had been on the phone with his mom, letting out a laugh as she started to reply. He heard someone walk in, causing him to spin around. He tensed up when he saw Matt, immediately hanging up on his call. “Uh- Yeah. Hi Matt.”
Zavir stumbled back as the fist collided with his face, falling backwards onto the ground as he felt thick, hot blood run from his nose. Just as he heard Landon pleading for the man to stop the man kicked Zavir in his abdomen before giving him a disgusting look, walking away. Zavir clutched his stomach in pain, coughing up more blood as his eyes screwed shut. He was convinced that this was all a dream now – he would never go out by himself, get drunk, and confront someone like that. He wasn’t sure what had gotten to him but he regretted every moment of it. The ground was hard and cold as he curled himself into the fetal position, waiting for the the man to come back and finish.
Landon let out a worried sigh as the man walked away, Landon eyeing him as he disappeared into the darkness. He rushed to the boy, sitting himself down, with his legs crossed behind the boy’s head. He carefully slid his hands under the boy’s neck, lifting his head up into Landon’s lap. He moved his hands, lightly playing with Zavir’s hair as he began to speak in a quiet voice, leaning forward so it’d be easier for the other boy to hear. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay. Just try and stay awake, if you have a concussion, I don’t want you falling asleep.” He bit his lip, a wave of anxiety flooding over him as he did his best to comfort the boy in his lap.
Julian couldn’t help but laugh at his response. “You’re afraid of riding it?“ He was slightly shocked. “Ahh, it’s not that bad. I’m gonna make it my goal to have you conquer your fear and by the end of it, you’ll be rushing to go on it again.”
Landon threw his hands up, letting out a quiet laugh as he spoke. “No, no, no. I don’t do well in the dark, it freaks me out. And that’s all that ride is, so I’ll pass. But, hey, if you’re ever feeling a ride with the ol’ Landster, he’s particularly a fan of that Dumbo ride.”
“Yeah, oh god. I know what you mean. I’ll be checking out dat ash if you know what I mean,“ he joked. “But no, it’s great. I always feel bad for the terrified kids whose parents force them to ride it though.”
“Well, I guess I’d rather have you checking out my ass than it getting attacked. So, I’d say it’s a fair trade, and I hope you enjoy the view.” He said, giggling as his cheeks turned bright red. “But, uh, yeah. I’m one of those people who is terrified to ride it, so I can relate. I hate watching kids have to ride it, because I know what they’re going through.”
“It’s ok, we may be strangers but I got your back. And I work at the Haunted Mansion. I like to make sure that no one tries to dump ashes,” he laughs.
“Thank you, my back needs all the protection it can get. There are some crazy people out there, let me tell you. And that sounds like it’s fun, always has to be a good time when your job is to be on ash patrol. I can’t say I’d be good at that job. Freaks me out too much.”
“Ah, nice. I’m sure everyone you do know is glad to have you back. Fresh starts are always nice. I actually started working here a few days ago.”
“I can only hope! I like to think that I wasn’t completely hated by everyone, but who really knows. And that’s cool, I hope you enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun, if you let it be. What exactly do you do?”
Zavir felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket, causing him to look around before realizing he’d gotten a text. It took him a while to unlock his phone since he’d forgotten his password, but eventually he opened it, his long, skinny finger clicking the messages button. He had to squint his eyes to read Landon’s text properly, looking around him. [some treess and a mcdonalds and gas] Zavir managed to respond, hoping to let Landon know he was in Williamsburg without remember that he lived in the tiny town. Just as he slipped his phone in his back pocket, a man shouted, “Clean up yourself, you piece of shit!” Zavir balled his hands into fists as he turned around, shouting back, “Hey, why don’t you shut the fuck up?” Zavir quickly realized what he’d said, his eyes widening as the tall, burly man much bigger than him turned around and began walking towards him. “What the fuck did you say to me?” The man asked Zavir, his breath hot, fanning on Zavir’s face. “I said, why don’t you shut the fuck up?” Zavir had absolutely no idea where this confidence had stemmed inside of his one-hundred and ten pound body but he could hear his own fear as he returned the piercing gaze. He began praying that Landon would get here soon, before realizing that the man had drawn his fist back, aiming for Zavir’s face.
Landon let out a sigh of relief as he felt his phone buzz again, having already made it to the car by the time he’d gotten the text. He quickly read it and had a good assumption as to where the other boy was. There weren’t many places that had a McDonalds and a gas station right next to each other around here, so he thought he’d try the closest one first. Before starting his car, he sent a quick text back to Zavir. [Okay, I’ll be there soon. Don’t worry!] He slipped his phone into his cup holder, carefully pulling out of his apartment complex and headed to where he hoped he’d find the other boy. After a few minutes, he pulled into the parking lot of the gas station, parking his car and getting out. He walked around for a moment, looking for any sign of the boy who seemed to be rather lost, before spotting two figures sitting on the side of the road, seeming to be having an argument. He made his way closer to the pair, recognizing one of the people to be Zav just as the larger man winded up and decked Zavir in the face. Landon gasped loudly, immediately running over to where the two were standing. He stood beside them, not exactly knowing how to handle the situation, he decided to put his hands out in front of him as he felt a few tears roll down his cheeks out of fear. “Stop! Leave him alone.” He pleaded.
Landon:
But, I'm not sorry for eating your sandwich. I saw your name on it and thought it'd be good, but I had to pick the pickles off, so I'm a lil' disappointed.
Zavir wasn’t sure what time it was, nor where he was and in an effort to help himself, in his tipsy state a few miles from his shitty flat, he sent Landon a text. [dnt know where i am? wil u come get me] with his shaky fingers. He can’t remember the last time he’d gotten drunk or why he had this time. Begrudgingly, Zavir sat down on a curb as cars quickly passed by in the night of the busy city of Orlando. A few people made disgusted looks at him, his anger slowly rising. He swished a beer bottle around in his hand, tapping his finger along the top as he hummed a song, waiting for a text back from Landon, if he even replied.
Landon had been curled up on his couch, watching Treasure Planet on his own, not bothering to try and be social on his first day back. He had been relaxing in one of his more comfortable outfits, not really worrying about dressing up to just move in on his own. He heard his phone buzz on the coffee table, so he leaned forward and grabbed it. He saw a text message form Zavir, which caused him to quickly unlock his phone and scan over the text. He sighed, feeling a wave of concern flood over him. He quickly typed back a response, as he stood up and grabbed his keys off his kitchen counter as he headed out of his apartment. [Of course, Zav. Can you tell me what’s around you? That’ll help me find you.] Pressing send, he pushed his phone into his pocket, making his way towards his car.
“I mean, I’ve been trying to explore this place a bit. I get lost way too easily. Maybe you could help me with that? It’s great that you want to meet all the new people though!”
“I’d love to help you out! If I can remember where everything is, but if I forget, I’ll just fake it til I make it. And yeah, I like knowing people. It stresses me out when I don’t know who someone is.”
“Or because you secretly love me. It’s okay, Landon, no one would blame you.”
“You know, I’d totally admit to my love. But, then my facade of being a raging homosexual would be ruined, and I can’t have that shattered before I even start again.”
“Well it’s good that you’re back then! I can totally relate to not being able to just sit around. I’d much rather be involved and have something to do.”
“I’d agree! And if you’d ever like something to do, just let me know. I’d like to start getting to meet the people that started while I was away. I feel slightly out of the loop.”
“Well that is a good point. It does come with a ton of stress and pressure. So, what was it that made you want to transfer back to florida?”
“Exactly, and I’ve never been one to handle stress well. But, the people, mainly. I missed my old friends, and there wasn’t anything to do over there. I’m very much someone who doesn’t like to sit around, so it didn’t do me well to be there.”
“Don’t blame you if you did. At least you have this wonderful thing called an employee discount. Get two as a precaution.”
“Still that bad? That’s very true, those things don’t usually come cheap. They’re very proud of those things. Two doesn’t seem like a terrible idea, actually. Unless you’re just trying to trick me into buying two so you can nab one of them from me.”
“Well it’s good that you enjoy it! It sucks that kids play favorites like that but I mean, they are kids. I’m sure there’s ton that love quicksilver though. It’s hard to be in a group setting like that, a lot of people get mobbed and some people get the short end of the stick, I’m sorry.”
“Meh. It’s not the end of the world, to be honest. Sometimes it’s nice to get a breather when kids could care less about you, because you just have to smile for a few minutes, then pose for a picture. I’d rather that then have the pressure of making every kid’s Disney dreams come true.”
“Ah, Lottie. I can’t run away from you again, so I guess sucking it up is my only option. I’ll just have to get another one of those Buzz Lightyear personal fans. My old one got lost in the move.”
“You’re very welcome. Ohhh quicksilver, that must be fun! Do you get big crowds? You’re right though I should be grateful for my time inside.”
“It’s quite fun most of the time, but everyone likes the hair and costume than anything else. The crowds are big, but they’re mainly there for Iron Man and Captain American.”
“Well welcome back then! I’m so jealous you get to be inside, my positioning depends on the day. It’s nice to meet you too Landon. Who do you play that you get to stay inside all day?”
“Why thank you, it feels good to be back! But, at least you get in somedays, some people aren’t that lucky. I play Quicksilver, so they keep up inside over at Hollywood Studios, except when they let us stray around a bit. But, it’s rare.”
“Woah, Disneyland. I’ve never been, is it nice? I’d imagine they’d have more shade though, and you’re totally right it does get really hot, especially in those costumes. I’m Savannah by the way.”
“It’s nice, but it’s fairly wimpy compared to Disneyworld. I’m much happier to be back here, there is so much to do. Luckily the heat doesn’t affect me much in costume, because I get to be inside. But, yes, nice to meet you, Savannah! I’m Landon.”