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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Arden watched as his friends raced about the store in search of snacks and decorations for the party they planned to host later that day; which was very much out of the blue, in his opinion. He held an array of outfits in his hands and was in search of a changing room when another outfit hung up across the room caught his eye.
He looked at the stack of clothing in his arms, and around the room, noting that his friends are nowhere near him before shrugging, “What’s more item, right?”
He snatched the item off the hanger and spun on his heel as fast as he got the item and went back to his previously planned trajectory.
A strong gust rushed past him, and he raised his arms in front of his face to shield himself from it. As he lowered his arms, stood there, in what previously was an empty space, was a kid with fiery red hair with a red flannel to match, adorned on top a plain white shirt; his friend, Dakota Cole.
Dakota had his head tilted to the side and his eyes twinkled with curiosity. He no doubt ran over with his in-human speed when he saw his friend sneaking about, “What did you get?”
“Just something,” He replied, getting intensely conscious of himself, as he held his clothes close to his chest.
“And what is this something?
“Nothing,” Adren sidestepped and headed past Dakota.
Dakota squinted his eyes, following his friend’s movement, “It can't be both nothing and something.”
“Well then, it’s nothing.”
“Well, if it is nothing you won't mind me seeing it,” Adren shut his eyes tight as the wind blew past him once more. When he opened them, he noticed that his arms were a bit lighter and that Dakota was now a few feet across the room from where he previously stood.
“Dakota!”
“Oh, who’s this for?” Held outstretched in Dakota’s hands was a long article of clothing, it was gray flowy article with some frills on top of the bodice and with flowers made of fabric sewn onto it as well, “Do you have a girlfriend? Are you going on a date?” The red-head’s eyes shone at the prospect.
Adren felt himself freeze over becoming acutely aware of the dryness of his throat, the pounding against his ribcage and blood rushing to his ears, “Dakota, please just hand it over.”
“I just want to know--”
“Dakota.” He commanded, causing Dakota to freeze.
Adren marched up with such intensity that Dakato subconsciously took a step back. The dress was snatched out of Dakota’s grasp, and the two kids locked eyes for a mere second. Without the distance between them, Dakota saw the look on his friend's face clearly and felt his heart catch at his throat as his friend dragged his eyes away and left without another word.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Arden had a moment of contemplation on whether or not to wear the dress before he went for it. He came this far, after all, so he might as well, and he definitely did not regret it. His chest grew warm at the sight of himself in the changing room mirror. His shoulder-length hair let down, where it is normally tied up, a small smile adorned his face, but it was bittersweet when he recalled the scene that transpired beforehand.
With a drawled out a sigh and one more glance at the mirror, Adren changed back to his clothes and walked out of the room. He felt heart hammer at his ribcage as he spotted the familiar redhead sat outside his changing room, causing him to stumble back and catch himself on the door, “Da- Dakota, uh, I--” He looked around to see if Vyncent and William were nearby, “Are we leaving, yet?”
“No, I was just here. Waiting.”
“Oh... for?”
“You.”
Silence hung over the two teens. Not one of them made a move to continue on with the conversation. Dakota’s eyes flickered over the clothes in Adren’s arms, before glancing over to his hair which was still flowing freely, and met his friend’s gaze, “So… was it yours?”
Adren felt the blood rush up once more, and quickly went to tie up his hair. As he did so, his eyes scanned over the store in hopes of finding his other friends, so that he could avoid this conversation entirely. Seeing no sign of them, his shoulders slumped down, exhausted, not ready to have another go at the topic.
His eyes met Dakota’s once more who was watching him intently, and Adren felt his face heat up more if possible. Dakota looked down at his lap, twiddling his thumbs, “I just wanted to know...”
“It.. was.”
“Oh,” Dakota met his friend’s eyes once more, “Uhm, how was it? The dress, I mean”
Adren blinked a few times processing the response. He could tell his friend was trying to thread carefully and that alone made Adren want to respond, “It was nice. The dress was very pretty.”
Dakota smiled at the response before looking down at his hands, “I’m sorry, if I made you uncomfortable, Ren.”
“It’s alright, you didn't mean harm by it.”
Silence befell them once more, and Adren took that opportunity to sit beside his friend who was intensely concentrated on his fidgeting. He looked between the fidgeting and his friend’s face, which was furrowed with such intensity. Before Adren could bring it up, Dakota shifted that intense look up to meet up with Adren, “Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, are you still a guy or?”
He scanned over Dakota, slightly overwhelmed at the intensity under his eyes, but there was no malice behind it, just a want to understand. He sighed, and pulled from the gaze, finding it a bit much for him, “I.. I don’t know.”
Dakota tilted his head to the side.
“I- I mean, I still go by he/him, that didn’t change, but I also go by they/them. I haven't tested she/her, so I don't know-- “
“Would you like me to try using she and her?”
Adren felt the wind get knocked out out of him, as his eyes grew wide.
“I don't have to if you don't want to,” Dakota sputtered, “I just thought that maybe you would want to test it.”
Adren had his mouth ajar. It’s not that Adren expected a fight from Dakota on this, but he didn't expect his friend to dive headfirst into being this supportive this fast. It was also almost overwhelming.
“I would... I would like that. If you don't mind, of course.” He scratched the back of his neck and had a hard time maintaining eye contact, “Maybe not at the party, or in public... But yeah.. at some point.”
“Okay,”
“Okay…”
Silence hung them again, but it was short-lived this time, “Do Vyncent and William know?”
“No, I haven't told anyone...”
“Oh… I’m sorry you didn't feel safe enough to tell us.”
“Hey, It wasn't like that,” He assured Dakota, “I just wasn't ready. So, I didn't say anything. Not that I have anything to say, I don't have a word for whatever this is anyway.” He vaguely motions to himself.
“Well, I don't think that matters. If you feel a certain way, that is enough, isn't it?
“That’s not how most people see it.”
“Well, screw them. If they have something to say about it I can always knock them out.”
Adren snorted, taken aback, “I'm pretty sure threatening them with violence will make them hate me more, but” he jabbed his friend’s side with his elbow, “I get where you're coming from. Thanks.”
Dakota smiled down at them, before staring at that dress he held, “You should wear it to the party. I’m sure it would look great.”
It was now Adren’s turn to fidget as he looked down at the dress.
“If anything goes bad, I’ll have your back.”
Adren looked up at Dakota, and saw at him in his earnestness, “Yeah,” They smiled, “I know.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The pulsing of the music playing can be felt throughout the building, as crowds have formed everywhere and everyone was partying. Frankly, it was too much for William Wisp, so he really can't be blamed for trying to avoid the rowdier side of the party as best he can.
He sneaked off from the crowd with his hood up, trying to find a quieter place to relax at. He tried to make his way through the crowd but was being pushed aside as they did not pay him any mind. He was shoved against the wall, and before he could call out to be given some room, he found himself falling back, and through the wall, as his powers began to act up again.
He was thankful to Tide that he took the time to help him learn to manage his powers, as he stopped just in time before he phased through the ground to the floors below him. Though the world had to balance this act out by having William almost trip over an object that was left discarded on the floor, he managed to not fall, and he thanked his lucky stars that managed to keep himself upright.
But he relaxed too soon, as he still met with the floor by the force of an object being thrown at him from across the room followed by a yell, “The fuck, Wil!? Don't you know how to knock?”
He groaned from his place on the floor, as William saw the familiar face of Adren Holt across the room, hand outstretched in a throwing motion, wearing a graphic tee, jean pants and with their shoulder-length hair tied up, but slightly dishevelled.
“Hey,” William raised a hand to wave at his friend but managed to raise it up a bit before letting it fall to his side.
“Wow, hey,” Adren raced over, “you alright?”
“I'm alright, I had worse hits from Dakota.”
“Th-That’s,” They stammered out, eyes wide, at their friend’s choice in response, “That’s not reassuring, Wil.”
William chose to ignore that statement as he pushed himself up to sit, “I was trying to hide from the party, and stumbled in the room. Sorry for not checking if it was empty or not, Ren.” He paused as something caught his attention, “Who’s dress is that?”
“Not this again,” Adren muttered as they returned to their seating area across the room.
“What?”
“Forget it.” Adren walked over to where the dress was laid out, and grabbed their own hoodie. Though it was different from Williams’s own, as it was sleeveless and a button-up.
William stared at the dress, and at the hoodie, his friend adorned, when something in his head clicked, and there was no harm in asking, “Is it yours?”
“What?”
“The dress, I assume it’s yours. It has the same style and colour as your hoodie so I thought...” He tampered off.
“It.. it is.”
“Oh, you should have worn it to that party then. It really suits you. It’s very pretty as well.”
Adren stared at him, trying to get a read on the phantom kid as he stood up and dusted himself off, but came up empty. They considered Dakota having told William about this, but quickly batted that thought away, knowing that isn't a possibility and shouldn't even attempt to entertain the idea.
Adren decided to lean more on the reasoning that though William hasn’t always been the best at solving mysteries, Adren really hasn't been all that secretive or fast with hiding the dress when realizing the surprise presents in the room. So the mixture of the two simply didn’t add up to their favour.
William caught his friend’s stare, and at first, said nothing, but after a few moments of his friend staring him down, he broke, “Wh- what?”
“You don't have any questions about why I own a dress?
“Well, if you wanted to share, I assumed you would. I wouldn't want to pry.”
Adren snorted out a laugh, “Second one today.”
William raised a brow confused.
“Dakota learned about this earlier today as well, and you two were way too welcoming and understanding. Honestly, I thought I’d have another intense moment with you; having to explain all this and--” They shook their head, pausing mid-sentence. Adren sat down, head in hand staring down William with a gentle smile, “Makes me think that you already knew this way before I did.”
“What? Of course not, we didn’t know or-”
“Hey, hey don’t sweat it. It was just a thought,” Adren waved Wil’s panic off, and stared wistfully, at the dress, “You know, I did want to wear it today, but.. I got too anxious I guess.”
He laughed out as recalled something, “You should have seen Dakota as I walked into the party today. He was all pouty about me not arriving in the dress. He was rather adamant that it was fine for me to do so and that if anyone would have given me the stink eye that he would just deck ‘em. Makes me wonder if he simply wanted to pick a fight with someone.”
William smiled back at them, “Yeah, I understand that.”
“You would’ve deck someone on my behalf too?”
“Wha- no- Well…”
“Wil!”
William chuckled, “I’ll maybe leave that to Dakota.”
The two sat together in silence, allowing the party to go on in the background as they took comfort in each other’s company.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The crowded halls of the party seemed a bit more claustrophobic from when last Adren walked down them. William had offered to go with them, but they knew better than to drag Wil out into a party and decided to let him stay put in the room for his own good.
Adren had their hoodie up, as they walked down the halls, but instead of their graphic tee underneath it, they wore their dress; which is one of the main reasons William wanted to accompany them.
They kept their head low so as to not garner any unwanted attention and were forced through the sea of people. They headed over to the kitchen, hoping to get something to drink, and grabbed a cup and was about to pour themselves some juice when someone leaned on the counter in front of them with a smug smile.
“Hey, I don't think I've ever seen you around before,”
‘And I hope you never will,’ Adren almost said, but held in their tongue, and instead said, in a low voice, it may as well be a whisper with the blaring music, “I don’t go to parties often.”
“Why not? Seems like it would be your crowed,”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don't know, you seem like the party kind,” He gave Adren a once over, which sent a shiver down their spine.
‘I maybe should have taken Wil up on that offer,’
They paused, before adding,
‘Or Dakota’s.’
They looked around the crowd hoping to find a familiar face, and the guy next to them didn't seem to appreciate not having Adren’s undivided attention, “Looking for someone?”
“If he hits me with a pickup line, I swear I’ll beat Dakota to the punch and deck this guy myself,”
“Excuse me?”
Adren froze over, and shut their eyes tight, cursing themselves, “I said that out loud, didn't I?” They opened an eye to glance at the guy beside them, who was rightfully ticked off.
He stared them down, before something clicked in his mind, “Hold on a second,”
Adren felt their blood run cold, realizing what was going to happen next when a figure stood in front of them and the guy. “Hey, Ren, he isn't bothering you is he?”
Adren recognized the voice, and though it didn't free them of their anxiousness, it did help calm them a bit.
“I’m,” They so badly wanted to say something bad about the guy, but did not want to cause a sense, so they bit their tongue once more, “I’m alright. Was just getting a drink.”
“Well, you heard her. She’s fine, you don’t need to keep her company anymore.”
Adren eyes went wide, hearing what Vyncent said. Her. He said, her. Their heart warmed, and though the guy glared their way as he walked off, it didn't stop Adren’s smile from forming.
“Hey, I just wanted to make sure now that he is gone, you are alright, right?”
“Uhm, yeah, I’m fine,” The smile they had still held, “I mean, I would have punched him if you did not arrive, but I’m fine, overall.”
“Okay,” Vyncent smiled back, not quite understanding their glee, not that they did so themself, but their mood was contagious, “Let’s go find William and Dakota. It’s better than staying off in this crowd.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay. Uhm, I left Wil in some room, I’m sure Dakota is not that far though.”
Not far from where they stood, they heard a collection of gasps and hisses as a crowd began to form somewhere around the area, with a few people chanting the word ‘fight’ and rallying up the forming crowd.
“Well okay then, I’m pretty sure I found him, and that he beat me to the punch. Literally.”
Vyncent and Adren made their way through the crowd to meet up with Dakota, when Vyncent spoke up again, “Hey, I don't think you came to the party with the dress. It really suits you.”
Adren looked down at the dress, fidgeting with the fabric a bit before a smile formed on her face, “Thanks. I really think it suits me as well.”