“No, sir. We shall get some sleep,” Vas promises swiftly, before closing the door softly behind Coach’s retreating back. He joins me on the bed, eyes narrowed down at his cards lying facedown on the comforter. “Did you peek?”
“Nope. Although,” I muse, “that’s what I would say if Ididpeek.”
He makes an aggrieved noise, but smiles when I nudge his knee with my foot.
“All right. We shall finish this game, and I will remain vigilant for cheating,” he warns.
Vas and I play another couple of rounds, before he tells me that it’s time to go to bed. I argue a little bit, mainly because he expects me to, but don’t give it too much effort. Before he clicks off the light, I shoot a quick text to Micky to make sure he’s doing okay with Max.
Nate
All good over there, Micky Mouse?
Micky
You were right, Max is nice. He said I should call him by his first name, though, and now I feel bad because I’ve always called him Kuemper.
I sigh, unable to imagine how hard it must be to live in Micky’s head, with his brain constantly trying to convince him he’s doing wrong.
Nate
Don’t feel bad. We all go by our last names in the locker room, so it was a safe assumption to make.
Micky
I guess. I should have asked though.
Nate
Well, now we know. Stop worrying—I can feel the anxiety from here.
Micky
How’s it going with Vas? Oh my god, ask him if it’s okay if we call him by his last name. I can’t stop thinking about this now.
“Vas,” I say into the darkness, rolling over to face him across the space between our beds.
“Yes?”
“Micky is stressed-the-fuck-out because Max told him he can call him Max. I have been charged with asking you whether you prefer to go by Henri, Vasel, Vas, or something else hitherto unknown.”
He’s quiet for a moment, apparently thinking. “I amunsure what hitherto is meaning, but I would be happy for you to call me whatever you please. Vas is nice, because a nickname is how people let you know they are fond of you.”
Smiling into the dark, I report back to Micky.
Nate
Call off the anxiety attack, Vas likes being called Vas because it means we like him.
Micky
Of course we like him. Why wouldn’t we like him?
Nate
Oh my god, STOP WORRYING AND GO TO BED.
Micky
