the same black line that was drawn on you was drawn on me

[Axel Vasilyev]

That was very comforting. Not really. Then again, he was right, but it wasn't as if all supernaturals were hard to pinpoint; he was, because he spent a lot of time blending into regular-people society, and it wouldn't do if you could see his fangs and catch him talking to nothing a lot. He'd learned to suppress his supernatural-ness, but not all of their number had. Of course, hunters made it relatively difficult to just not, all the same.

Not that Suyis had much trouble with it. It always seemed like Suyis had a way of turning the hunters into the hunted. If Axel was a lesser man, that'd probably be terrifying.

Axel just shook his head. He'd been talking to the ghost, anyway. Wait, seriously? Now Axel just sort of, stared at him, for a second or two. Wasn't that sort of what this conversation was about? Dakota was drunk. Right. He should probably remember that. "... are you even going to remember this conversation in the morning? This is why I said don't do confessions drunk, Oshakota." And... he did it, anyway. In his defence, he wasn't even kinda buzzed when he first said it. But maybe answering was kind of pretty much pointless, right now.

"Maybe this is the part where I tell you to go to sleep," Axel said. Oh, actually, he snapped his fingers on one hand, and stood up, shuffling around the kitchen. He eventually came back and set a glass of water down. "Drink some of that before you knock out, you'll thank yourself in the morning when the hangover's not as bad." It was, after all, the product of dehydration, primarily, and drinking some water along the way would at least dampen the hangover effects, if not stop them outright. Axel wasn't terribly interested in listening to the guy whinge in the morning.

Not that he really thought he'd whinge at him, but you never know. But, who knew? It wasn't like Axel could read Dakota's mind; maybe that was what he wanted, maybe it wasn't. And maybe that was what Axel wanted. He'd never really put much thought to it, mostly because he figured their extra complication was very one-sided. Apparently not so much. He still thought Dakota coulda done better than falling for him. Though, he did have to admit, he was probably a step up from the joy he'd gotten interested in before.

[Dakota Choi]

"Oh yeah..." Dakota's eyes lit up as he recalled Axel saying just that earlier. Not to make confessions drunk. Haha! Well... he wasn't wrong. Dakota may or may not remember what was happening right now and then it would make things weird when he woke up. Would Axel know where he stood? Would Dakota? He waved the thought off with an impish smile. Didn't matter. Right now, he had gotten that off his chest and now Axel knew and... who knew what Axel wanted out of it. At the very least, Axel told him all kinds of secrets. Could be that he didn't expect Dakota to recall any of it.

Could be that he trusted him, though. Dakota's smile grew a little as he lowered his gaze, face heating up slightly. Yeah, well. This feisty speedster could feel bashful over certain things, too, all right?

"Yes, SIR," Dakota said, not even thinking twice about picking up the glass and downing it. Honestly, he was thirsty and a nice cold glass of water was just what the doctor ordered. It was slightly sobering, too, and he looked up at Axel with a growing sense of clarity. As he set the emptied glass down, he tried to perch on his elbow and look cool in front of Axel.

"So..."

[Axel Vasilyev]

Good. At least he'd not decided to argue. It wasn't as if Axel couldn't handle it, if he had, it was just all around much easier if he didn't. Then again, there were few things Axel decided to actually argue with others about. This, most likely, wouldn't make the list. Dakota could've dealt with the resulting hangover in the morning, on his own, without Axel's sympathy, if he had.

... so... what? Axel quirked his eyebrow up, trying to puzzle that one out, and then decided to let it go. It was probably better for his mental faculties if he did, in the end, and puzzling out what was in a drunk guy's head was maybe not the best idea ever. After a few seconds, Axel shook his head, more to himself, then shuffled to the side a bit, and gestured down the hallway with a little flourish (most things Axel did had a bit of flourish).

"You know where the guest room is," he said. "... sometimes, I wonder if I shouldn't just knight it Dakota's room. It's not like anyone else uses it." Axel didn't usually have people stay over at his house, either, besides him, so maybe that was a double-sign. Not that he'd be telling Dakota that. "Hey, which is better for a teenage boy athlete's room, green or blue?" Maybe green would be more energising? He didn't think something like red or yellow would work, they were too vibrant and aggressive. Something lively without being exhausting, so he was thinking green, but blue was calmer and better for sleeping, right? Then again, it was also depressing.

Colours were hard.

[Dakota Choi]

So... were they going to explore any options? So... what did Axel really think? So... what next? There were so many different SOS running through his head, chasing one another and tumbling over one another in a drunken stupor. Oh, he was so right--Axel was--to say that confessions were better left sober. How much had he already spilled? He closed his eyes and let the room spin juuuuust right. Then slid his hand over his eyes, feeling dumber with each passing moment.

"Guest room?" he said, before opening his eyes and lowering his hand. The guest room. Ah, the guest room. That was where he would be relegated. Fine, fine. The guest room it was. He slid away from the counter and started toward the hallway that Axel indicated. Not that he needed the flourish to locate it. Axel was correct; he'd been here so many times that it might as well be his designated room.

"...what?"

Of all the conversations he thought they might pick up on the way to the room, colors? Dakota stared at Axel as if his hair had suddenly been set ablaze. "For an athlete? I mean, what's his team's colors? Probably those."

[Axel Vasilyev]

"Well yes." Where else would he go? (He was drunk, okay? Any other time, maybe that cuddling thing could be arranged, but Axel wasn't even letting him get anywhere near that door, because young hormonal fairies could be very young and very hormonal and we weren't - no - he was drunk and that was absolutely not at all ever okay whatsoever under any circumstances in the universe. It was much safer if he just, sent him to the guest room, you know, the room Axel wasn't going to be in.) ... actually, he wasn't even sure Dakota knew where his room was. Maybe that was for the best. Fortunately, there were a lot of doors in this house, and he had the feeling telling him 'no' was going to upset him, regardless of what his reason was, and it was... it was better to just, side-step that entire thing.

"... his team colours are technically red, white, and blue," Axel answered, wrinkling his nose. No matter which team he skated for, even, Russia or the USA. Most likely it'd be the USA, given he was technically an American citizen now, but if he wanted to skate for Russia, it wasn't like Axel was going to stop him. "That sounds like a terrible combination for his walls, but right now they're kind of an off-white colour." Well, there was a reason that was the default wall-colour, right? You know what, maybe he'd just leave the dang walls alone, and if he decided he wanted another colour, then, they'd figure it out then. Technically, he was probably only going to occupy that room for maybe two or three years, provided he wanted to move out whenever he got to college (and he was damned well going to college, skating be fucking damned, because he couldn't skate forever and he needed something to turn to after), because it was possible he'd decide to stay right here. Axel was okay with that.

Just, you know, don't mind the gunfire...

"Never mind, I'll let him decide," he said, and then reached out and got hold of Dakota's arm. "Hey," he started, quieter. "We'll talk more later, when you're sober, okay?" Axel still had this niggling thought he wasn't serious, and maybe he was okay with all... all of that while drunk, but, sobriety often painted a very different picture. These were things Axel needed to know how he felt about when he was capable of thinking straight, and not just being drunkenly excited Axel might reciprocate. Shit, drunk like that, he might say he was okay with almost anything if it meant getting what he thought he wanted.

Axel just... needed something more concrete than that, that was all.

[Dakota Choi]

Damn guest rooms. Damn big old mansions. Damn this alcoholic haze. Once he had a thought, it faded into the fog a moment later. He couldn't tell if he'd already said things or not but he felt urgently as if he needed to tell Axel things. But then... hadn't he already? No... Yes! No... Maybe..? Fuck. He couldn't remember now. Goddamnit.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to straighten out his muzzy thoughts. Team colors. Right. What a safe topic. But what? Oh, they must be talking an Olympic team, then. Shit. Somebody was big time. Dakota slanted a half amused smile in Axel's direction. Oh, no, no, no. Red, white, and blue would be a shitty combo for home decor. Dakota might not be like Queer Eye status or whatever but even he cringed at the scheme.

"What about..." He trailed off because Axel had decided to let the owner of the room make his own decor decisions. Which was just as well. Dakota wasn't sure he was actually good at that business even when he wasn't half made of alcohol. Damn, why couldn't he just hold it better? Did he have the old Asian flush going on? Fuck. Axel was probably privately snickering at him. Dakota looked over at him with suspicion, almost half expecting him to be doing it not-so-privately.

The warm hand on his arm, though. Dakota felt like the round of blurred thoughts finally stopped in that moment. He leaned somewhat closer to Axel, just to be closer to the warmth of that hand, to his body. He focused oddly on that hand, then laid his other hand over Axel's after a drunken moment of thought. He liked the feel of Axel's hand. Mostly he liked it being on him.

"Wish I wasn't drunk," he said in a mumbly sort of grumble. Why did he need that damned courage from the bottle, anyway? Dumbass. By the time they were in front of the guest room door, Dakota was regretful indeed. "Are you sure this is where it ends?" He asked, looking at Axel with a slightly tilted head, searching his gaze through alcohol filtered eyes. "You can come inside with me..."

[Axel Vasilyev]

Not being drunk might be helpful for communication, and retaining of conversation patterns, yeah. Axel decided, perhaps wisely, not to say that, instead giving Dakota a slightly apologetic look. Hey, Axel sort of had a hand in the whole Dakota being drunk thing, but who knew how much he'd drunk before Axel had gotten to get him at the bar. If he remembered right, he'd only had a beer, but was that beer 1 or beer 6? Axel had no idea. (This is why Dakota wasn't allowed to drive the Charger, seemed like he was always drunk when he was in it, and Axel's insurance premium was high enough, thank ya vury mush.)

Ahmmm.

"I could," Axel answered. "Buuuut it'd be like those sleepovers we had as kids, right, we'd end up running our mouths all night and neither of us would get to sleep, and I have work tomorrow morning." Psh, responsibilities, psh... why Axel even worked so much, he had no idea. Didn't he pay other dudes to work all the time so that he didn't have to? Clearly not. "Besides, I live here, 'Kota, I'll still be here tomorrow." He might be a little bit late to work, though, but usually it didn't terribly matter if he was, so, maybe that was fine.

It also wasn't like Axel had to sleep, it was just a good idea. More likely, he'd spend the wee hours of the morning working from home, so perhaps the office could handle him being a few hours late, because he was spending it talking to (and perhaps a bit of taking care of) Dakota, instead. It wasn't like the office would implode in hot magma if he didn't show up.

... he was pretty sure.

[Dakota Choi]

"Ah, work," he said, making a face as he did. Man, he preferred those days Axel talked about over being an adult. Adults always had to worry so much about everything. When he was a kid, it seemed like being an adult was the thing to be but when it happened... Well, it sucked. Dakota used to motor mouth everything to Axel in those days. So many stupid things to talk about, too. But they seemed so damn important in the moment. He remembered that. How the little things were a big deal then.

Somehow, he felt like tonight, he'd brought that feeling over into adulthood. Blabbering about shit he used to hold close to the chest. But underneath the fog of alcohol, he couldn't for the life of him remember if it was even worth it. Axel seemed... indifferent? Was that the word? Or he seemed like he had a lot more on his mind than maybe he was telling. Dakota grasped onto the things he'd heard. New things. Secrets that Axel himself held close to the chest all this time.

He wondered. Did Axel ever tell him these things before? Did Dakota hear them and forget them because of alcohol?

He wanted so badly to hold onto it all but a part of him was already slipping and sliding under the bubbly warmth of all the drinks he'd consumed and his inability to hold his liquor well.

"You'll be here when I wake up?" If he sounded unsure, it was because he was. Axel talked about work; did that mean he would disappear in the morning and Dakota would wake up wandering the halls and wondering what the fuck he was doing with his life? Oh man. His head just kept swimming. All he really wanted to do now was curl up in a bed and pass out but he kept hanging on for dear life. He couldn't even fully say why.