His Tiny Sun

Chapter 34 - Depleted （Beach Saga, Part 6）

CHAPTER 34

Depleted (Beach Saga, Part 6)

“Okay, but you need a good reason for John to be your favorite character,” Alan exclaimed, all but shoving his index finger in Flavien’s face.

Even in the dim light of the fire pit, Flavien’s sudden shift in demeanor was evident. He straightened up, narrowed his eyes, and lifted his chin, before addressing Alan with a confident tone, “I can give you seven reasons why John is the best character in the series.”

Jonah bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing at the expression on Alan’s face. Alan had just found his match in terms of information-collecting and list-making. Jonah presumed it wasn’t a common occurrence.

Alan, having enough alcohol in his bloodstream to stand his ground—but not so much as to hinder his natural quick thinking—mirrored Flavien’s body language. It helped that he was seated on Jonah’s lap, which made him taller, and brought his sharpened gaze to the same level as his opponent’s.

Jonah couldn’t help but perk up slightly. He would never not enjoy seeing Flavien getting beaten at his own games, which Alan had basically been doing since his second drink.

Flavien had fucked around and found out.

Jonah had no idea, before today, just how much of an evil little manipulator Alan could be, and he loved it. Well, as long as Alan only used his talent on everybody else but him.

This time, however, Jonah wouldn’t mind for Flavien to be the winner of their impromptu debate. Jonah disliked agreeing with him, but John definitely was the best character of the whole series, and he was eager to hear Flavien’s arguments.

“First,” Flavien began, “he sees the world exactly as it is.”

Alan huffed. “His worldview skews heavily toward gratuitous pessimism.”

“ He ,” Flavien stretched the word out, “unlike all the others, doesn’t look at the world through rose-colored glasses.”

“Going out of one’s way to cultivate a worldview that’s opposite to everyoneelse’sscreams of personality disorder.”

Flavien shook his head leisurely, but the tension in his neck betrayed his annoyance. As for Alan, nothing in his body language revealed any emotion whatsoever. He looked perfectly calm and in control. Dominating, even. He was far better at this than Eric.

“ Or ,” Flavien stretched the word out again, “he’s a genius. A visionary. A man fit to step up and change the world for the better.”

“All tyrants in history believed themselves to be visionary,” Alan countered without skipping a beat. “Yet, all they did was to oppress their people in the guise of granting them more freedom.”

Flavien let out a derisive laugh. “What good is freedom when people take grateful refuge behind the thick walls of their self-imposed ignorance at the first sign of—”

“—Which is why we must shatter those walls,” Eric interjected fiercely, his eyes burning with a passion like he was suddenly on a quest to save the world. Eric had given up on his resolution not to drink after their walk in the woods, which made him even louder than usual—and left Marina as the sole sober person around the fire pit.

Even Nicco, who’d joined them at Flavien’s request and was now watching food porn videos with Isabel on their phones, had poured himself a few ounces of liquor Jonah assumed was worth the barman’s monthly salary. Nicco and Isabel were in some sort of little bubble of chatter and laughter now, hitting it off under the fire of Sean’s repeated glances.

“Freedom is the single most important thing in life,” Eric continued, sitting so straight Jonah was convinced he was going to stand up to deliver his spiel. “But to achieve true freedom, people must be informed and educated . Only then can we hope to eradicate the greedy giants of this world who’ve been treating us like cattle, and to retake from them what’s rightfully ours!”

Nobody took anything from you, Scott.

Flavien, even though Eric had just metaphorically pissed on his argument, stared at him with stars in his eyes like he was a goddamn messiah. Some things, indeed, refused to change.

“Besides,” Eric said with his signature blasé tone, the same he always used when he was about to be a dick. “That character sounds like a pig-headed douchebag. Giving him the power to change the world would certainly lead to a catastrophe. ”

Jonah opened his mouth to contradict Eric, but a pair of lips were suddenly pressed against his own, swallowing the words he was about to say.

Sneaky little devil.

Jonah ultimately chose peace and wrapped his arms around Alan, tenderly kissing his delicious lips back.

Destroying Eric could wait.

“You’re so right,” Sean slurred. “Jonah always likes the characters that nobody likes because he likes to feel special.”

Alan’s hands came to rest on each side of Jonah’s head and held it firmly in place with remarkable force as he kissed him some more, now with the addition of a whole lot of tongue.

Eric snorted. “The pig-headed douchebag is his favorite character, huh? Why am I not surprised?”

Jonah poked Alan in the ribs, making him jolt and squeal, freeing his mouth at last.

“Eric,” Marina said quietly before Jonah had the time to spit out whatever insult was going to come out of his mouth.

“I’m just joking!” Eric exclaimed, sounding like a five-year-old who’d been ordered to apologize. He sighed, then visibly relaxed and added in a calmer voice, “I mean it. Truly. I love you guys, and I’m happy to be here with you—even Jonah.”

Jonah wrinkled his nose involuntarily. He’d seen Eric get sappy on occasion when drunk, but it had never reached ‘I love you all’ levels before. Jonah refrained from commenting, though; in truth, he no longer had the energy for any of this.

Alan blew Eric a couple of kisses, Sean extended his arm for a fist bump, and Flavien shared a quote—from one of his self-help books or whatever—about the true value of friendship, which led to a conversation about community building and whatnot.

Jonah’s social battery had long been depleted, so he partially paid attention as the conversation segued back into the topic of freedom, which meant Eric basically monologued while the others listened with wildly varying degrees of interest. Sean eventually seized the opportunity to retell the most epic moments of their last hockey game with exaggerated hand gestures, which annoyingly led Flavien to sharing ‘fun facts’ about hockey in other parts of the world, opening the door for himself to once again gush about his recent trip to Japan.

Meanwhile, Alan had steadily gotten limp in Jonah’s embrace, no doubt drained by his taxing day—both physically and emotionally. Jonah tuned out Flavien’s blabbering and poured his full focus on admiring Alan’s serene face, which looked even dreamier in the oscillating glow of the fire. If not for the others, Jonah would have liked to take a picture with his phone, but that wasn’t something he wanted anyone to witness.

If he wasn’t too spent when he returned home, perhaps he’d try to sketch him from memory.

Jonah leaned in, brushing the tip of his nose against Alan’s. “Hey,” he whispered, “wanna go to bed?”

Alan nodded sluggishly. “Yes, mommy,” he said with a tiny devilish smile.

“I see someone still needs a good spanking,” Jonah murmured, his heart melting into a puddle at Alan’s drowsy giggle. He pressed a trail of kisses from the tip of Alan’s adorably freckled nose to his forehead, then nuzzled his hair, inhaling the pleasant scent of ylang-ylang, sunscreen, and seawater. “Want me to carry you to our room?”

Our room.

Alan opened his eyes just long enough to give him a radiant smile.

Jonah was starting to believe Alan had a secret energy reserve just for smiling.

Jonah raised his head, his eyes meeting Marina’s, who happened to be gazing their way. The look in her eyes gave him confirmation that he’d earned her approval. It touched him more than he’d expected.

Jonah grabbed his bag, which he hoisted on his shoulder, then stood up with Alan carefully secured in his arms. “Aight. We’re going to bed.” He nodded a silent goodnight at everyone, his gaze lingering on Nicco’s, who happened to once again be giving him a look .

Jonah knew what those eyes were meant to convey, and although Nicco was annoying as fuck, he’d proven to have a good intuition.

There was no more trace of Flavien’s theatrical self; all was left was an exhausted, lonely dude, who knew he’d fucked up. Not only had Flavien’s chances of luring Eric back into his bed gotten slimmer because of his own shitty behavior, but Jonah had spent the entire day doing everything he could to show him how much of a stupid moron he’d been for having believed Alan was just a pawn.

Eric had joined in on his efforts too, being more affectionate than ever with Alan, and making it clear he was far more important to him than Flavien could ever be. Jonah figured Flavien had been tortured enough…for now.

“Hey, Flavien,” Jonah said, making him instantly perk up and look at him.

“Yes?”

“What time tomorrow?”

Flavien smiled broadly. “How does ten-thirty sound?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I wish you both a splendid night.”

“Thanks.” Jonah took a few steps, then stopped and looked over his shoulder. “And thanks for today.”

“Of course!” Flavien said, audibly flustered. “Any time. You know you’re always welcome here. The both of you.”

Jonah gave him a nod, then resumed his walk toward the bubble of intimacy that awaited him and Alan. He smiled when he realized that the mere thought of being intimate with Alan didn’t send his heart into overdrive anymore. It was, in fact, so relaxed, its beating felt more like a slow, cozy hum.

Alan’s feet and arms dangled from his hold as Jonah followed the path back to Flavien’s home, Alan’s limp body growing heavier as he seemed to fall into a deep sleep. If not for his steady breathing and the serene look on his face, Jonah would have been alarmed, but he was obviously exhausted, so there was nothing to worry about.

If anything, it just meant Alan felt completely safe in his arms.

“I’ll always keep you safe,” Jonah murmured. “I promise.”