Micah - Snagged Thread
Orange string lights twinkled in the window of Rye’s apartment, and carved pumpkins flanked the step. Music throbbed from inside. Ximena stood on the sidewalk, arms folded, as an older man droned on about something. As soon as she spotted Micah and Cosmo, she exclaimed, “Oh, there you are! Let’s go take a look at that leaky sink, hm?”
Before Micah could ask what she meant, she gripped him by the elbow and pulled him down the sidewalk. Cosmo quickened his pace to keep up with them, then looked over his shoulder. “Gary is still here, huh?”
“Who’s Gary?” Micah asked.
“Dreadful man. He used to live next me,” Cosmo said. “I drastically cut down on my smoking simply because I didn’t want to step outside, knowing he’d inevitably want to talk to me. It got so bad that I begged Ximena to let me move into a different unit. She moved him instead.”
Ximena nodded. “I would not be surprised to learn that he’s stuck in his own personal time loop, because he complains about the same things over and over.”
Micah laughed. “I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I’ve never been roped into one of his conversations.”
After slowing her pace, Ximena looked back and loosenedher grip on his arm. Gary had wandered away from the building, slowly heading toward the one across the parking lot. She said, “It seems safe now. But if he starts heading toward you – run.”
She left their side, enough urgency in her step to indicate she didn’t feel safe quite yet. Micah and Cosmo doubled back for Rye’s apartment, and Micah said, “Who knew the scariest thing you’d encounter this close to Halloween would be a dude named Gary?”
“You kid, but you haven’t had the misfortune of talking to him yet,” Cosmo replied.
They reached Rye’s door without incident, and Rye opened it before they could knock. Their hair was lime green this month, and they had on a tight red bodysuit with a pointed tail and horns, a stick-on goatee, and glittery red eyeshadow. Micah felt underdressed in his jeans and tee shirt, but at least he’d changed out of his sweatpants.
“Cosmo! Glad you could make it.” They pulled him into a hug, then their gaze jumped between him and Micah. They offered Micah their hand. “Hey. Um, sorry I didn’t give you an invitation when I was handing them out to everyone else last week. I figured you wouldn’t have come. Glad you’re here, though. You two know each other, huh?”
Micah shook Rye’s hand, then tugged Cosmo close, hoping it looked intimate but not possessive. “Well, the art world is quite small.”
“True! Come have a drink.” Rye ushered them in, and they waded through pirates, serial killers, pregnant nuns, and presidents. Vibrant violin and organ music filled the room.
Cosmo smiled and waved to practically everyone around them. “This sounds like vampire ballroom music.”
“I knew I was going to need those plastic fangs,” Micah said.
“That sounds fun,” Cosmo purred. He slid his arms around Micah’s waist and shuffled in a circle. Micah thought of their time on Cosmo’s bed, his lips gently savoring Cosmo’s flesh like it was a ripe peach, and he had to keep his knees from turning to jelly.
Cosmo rested his head on Micah’s shoulder as the music wove around them. “Hold me tighter.”
Micah gripped him close. He wasn’t sure if Cosmo was struggling with the same depression Micah was prone to, but his self-worth had certainly taken a hit after what happened with Royce, and it wasn’t fair. “You keep saying you’re fine, and I know you’re not.Iwasn’t. I felt… I felt sofoolishfor ignoring my gut and letting someone who I had a weird feeling about into my place. It made me think I deserved what happened to me. Make bad decisions, get consequences that match.”
Cosmo started to protest, but Micah said, “I don’t feel like that anymore. But climbing out of that guilt was hard. And I want you to know you’re worth more than your negative thoughts. For you, my love, I would stub my toe on a bed frame five nights in a row. For you, my love, I would drink coffee that was slightly too hot. For you, my love, I would dice a pepper and rub my eyes.” He swayed with Cosmo, his lips brushing Cosmo’s ear. “I would do all kinds of specific and mildly painful things for you.”
“You’re a strange man.”
“I want to give you everything you deserve.”
Cosmo’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his gaze searching Micah’s face. “And what would that be?”
Micah wasn’t a poet. He wasn’t a writer. Hopefully his portraits exposed the soul of the person he drew, but they couldn’t say all he wanted to say to Cosmo, and words didn’t seem sufficient. “You deserve love. And respect. You deserve for every secret desire of your heart to come to pass. And I don’t know what those are, but I’d very much like to find out.”
Partiers bumped into them, but Micah barely noticed. Tears had formed at the edges of Cosmo’s eyes, and Micah would have given anything to take them away.
“I want… I want you to eat my baking,” Cosmo said thickly.
“Damn, you’re sexy. I can do that.”
“I want to have late-night conversations with you on the balcony.”
“We can. Tonight even.”
“And I want you to read books to me in bed.”
