Bright rays of noon sunlight peeked through the curtains of the room’s window and shone directly on the face of a sleeping Noah Cypress. The persistent brightness eventually nudged the young woman awake, rubbing her hungover self off in all the wrong ways. Letting out a loud groan, she threw a lazy arm over her face and rolled over, hoping to settle herself in the center of her bed to continue sleeping. Her movement, however, was stopped short when she collided with a dense figure laying beside her. Frowning, Noah opened her eyes to find herself staring at the broad, tanned back of a male, still fast and deep asleep as confirmed by his deep, rhythmic breathing.
Noah’s frown became more pronounced as she suddenly sat bolt upright, blue-green eyes darting around the room while actively ignoring an incoming headache. No matter how much she rubbed at her eyes and frantically searched around the place hoping for a sign that this was all a dream, all she found was more proof to suggest it wasn’t. The room she was in was very clearly not hers-- as evidenced by the 90’s band posters on the wall, the masculine clothes on the floor underneath her outfit from last night, the stray empty cans of seltzer, the medium-sized enclosure opposite the bed, and the photo on the wall of an annoyed-looking boy squished in between three older-looking girls. As her brain slowly caught up with her wakeful state, fragments of the past night slowly trickled into the young woman's hazy, foggy memory, piecing together the story of what had occured.
It was Karaoke Night at The Foggy Glass. A tall, handsome man with silky locks of dark hair, kind brown eyes and a charming smile approached her stool out of the blue. They had hit it off instantly-- shared drinks, laughter and spent time together being incredibly touchy-feely in a way that could easily get them confused with being a couple. They had left the bar on her bike and gone skinny dipping at Crystal Lake, where things had started to get so frisky they decided to take things back to his place. Heated kisses were exchanged behind the closed door… And now she was unclothed and hungover in this guy’s bed.
Or was it?
“Shit.”
Trying to be as quiet as possible as to not disturb the date whose name she didn’t remember at the moment (all her hazy brain could recall was calling him by an assortment of cutesy pet names like baby, sweetie, boo bear, etc.), Noah slowly slid off the bed and tried to tiptoe to the bathroom. Doing the walk of shame was already going to be humiliating enough, so she figured the least she could do was try to wash away last night’s sins under a jet of warm water.
Warmth, haziness, comfort, mellow thoughts like a fog enveloping the mind. There was existence and yet there was not. Zeke could not remember the last time he slept so comfortably and yet was so lost to his slumber that it was barely a registered thought. He was simply at peace, until a buzzing tickled the back of his mind like an encroaching swarm of cicadas, thoughts suddenly screaming him back into reality.
“Master! Your concubine is attempting to escape your quarters!”
Zeke’s eyes shot open, abruptly and painfully with a sudden sting, a thousand hammers to anvils clashing against his brain simultaneously. Faster than he intended to, his body shot up in an attempt to lay into the annoying arachnid, “Fuck! Noah, what are you on about? Do you have any idea what time it is?” With an exasperated groan he flopped back into the bed, an arm over his eyes.
“Half the day has passed, Master. The sun is at its peak height.”
“Shit, you’re kidding me: it’s already noon?”
“This is what I proclaimed, yes.”
“Don’t you fucking sass me!”
“Master, I do not mean to interrupt, but what of the concubine?”
Sitting back up Zeke went to look towards the cage, “What are you talking about? What concu- oh…” only to be face to face with a hot, naked and shame-faced chick in his room. “Uhhhh…yo, what’s up?”
Noah had successfully made it halfway across the dorm room when the man on the bed suddenly bolted up into a seating position and began yelling at her about what time of day it was and about her 'sassing' him. The redhead had frozen on the spot as soon as she'd heard her name, confusion settling on her face while the guy seemingly had a conversation with her but with himself at the same time. His attention during the one-sided conversation had been directed somewhere behind her, and it freaked her out the longer it went on. She was starting to seriously question her choices from the previous night when her date's attention finally seemed to focus on her.
"Um, why were you yelling at me?" the young woman inquired with no time wasted, frowning at the man in bed. Sharp and straight to the point: just like she was. "I haven't made a sound since I woke up."
“Yelling at you? What are you talking about? I’m talking to the- wait, hold it, back it up. Why are you even in my room?” His eyes suddenly scanned her pale body up and down, “Like…I’m not complaining that there’s a naked girl in my room, but why and how?” As if reality suddenly hit him like a tsunami, so too did the hangover with it, “Shit, my head,” Flashes of the bar and people go through his mind, “Like did we do something last night?” Zeke tried racking his brain to find the answer, but the increasing pounding in his head wasn’t helping at all.
“I apologize, Master, but I regret to inform you that-”
His attention turned fully from the girl as he stared straight at the glass tank, “Dude, Noah, I love you like a brother, but I really don’t need your opinions rattling around in my brain like an 8-ball in the corner pocket.” He rubbed his temples gently, “Can you just…chill out and not talk until at least tonight? Please. Thank you.”
“As you wish.” With that the tarantula scuttled back into his den, dirt and sand kicking up at the entrance.
"See? You just did that thing again!" Noah cried out, clicking her tongue in exasperation while stretching an accusing hand towards the man on the bed whose name she still did not remember. She could feel her fiery temper start to flare up, fueled by her raging hangover. Was he trying to be funny? Play a prank on her? Because whatever it was, it was far from funny, and someone was going to get hurt if it went on any longer. "You started asking me about last night but then said you didn't need my opinions and wanted me to 'not talk until at least tonight' before I could say anything!"
“Noah! I’m talking to Noah, my tarantula. I don’t even know who you are, let alone why you’re in my room.” As if on cue, his memory returned to karaoke night at the bar last night. She was there singing and then there was some…douche. She left with Zeke instead of him. Suddenly remembering the first night sparked the rest of them: all the karaoke nights he’d attended at the bar during freshman year, she was always there, belting out some 80’s rock song like a true rock goddess. “Wait, I do remember you, from the bar…who…are you anyway?” Dumbfounded was probably the most accurate expression on his face right now, but better than pretending she’s a Sam when she’s actually a Megan.
His pet tarantula is called fucking Noah.
The Cypress girl's amused laughter at the absurdity of the situation soon filled the room. What were the odds that she'd meet someone with a pet who shared her first name? "Noah. My name is Noah too," she clarified in between giggles, pointing at herself in the chest while taking the short steps from the middle of the room to sit back down on the bed. Relief washed over her, and she was glad to find out that the start of this conversation was actually a misunderstanding and not her date from last night having some sort of psychiatric breakdown. While some people might have questioned the whole ‘talking to my pet tarantula’ thing, Noah knew to just go with it. Talking to animals wasn’t a power she hadn’t heard of before. "I'm in your room because we left the bar together last night. The specifics are kind of hazy at the moment, but maybe we can figure out what exactly happened together."
Despite the laughter echoing off the plain walls, rattling against his skull, it was oddly infectious and got Zeke cracking up at the weirdness this morning as well, “OH… Yeah, no, that’d confuse the hell out of anyone. Sorry about that.” He scratched the back of his head embarrassedly and took a moment to take her in. Dyed red hair flowing down to the middle of her back, tatted-up pale skin, near amazonian height and remnants of makeup and mascara faded into her beautiful face. She was certainly a sight, though he probably looked no better and realized at that moment he hadn’t even introduced himself. “Oh, uh, my name’s Zeke by the way,” he half turned on the bed to shake her hand, only for the sheet covering his lower half to fall away and expose his full glory to her. “Maybe we can figure this out after we get our clothes on?”
While Noah stood up and pretended to bashfully look away out of respect for her host, the glimpse she'd had at Zeke’s toned arms, chiseled chest and other precious goods had her smirking and mentally patting herself on the back. You go, girlie! Another excellent selection made! Because she didn't feel like going through the trouble of putting on her jeans, bra, tank top, etc, Noah slid on her underwear and looked around for something to borrow. Thankfully, Zeke appeared to be a few inches taller than her, so she was able to fish out a clean flannel shirt long enough to reach her thighs from the nearby pile of clothes, slide it on and button it just enough to keep it from falling off.
Discreetly watching Zeke out of the corner of her eye, Noah waited until he was finished getting dressed before turning around to face him. "There, fully covered and decent!" The young woman declared, occupying the spot she'd previously had on the bed by laying down on her side. "Now let's try to solve the mystery of last night together."
First confusion, then sudden realization as he hopped to his feet and slid on a pair of jeans, deftly latching the belt shut. She had on his clothes now and damn it all if she didn’t pull off the look just right. He found himself staring as she got comfortable on his bed. A few seconds of awkward silence before clearing his throat, “Right, so what happened last night?” He tried to recall the hazy events, “You were at the bar, karaoke night, some guy was trying to hit on you and I don’t think you were into it. I think I…stepped in and said I was your boyfriend?” Shit, that didn’t sound like him and yet…that’s what he remembered. It wasn’t like he was bold or daring-- he did a lot of his mischievous shit in the shadows or the corner of the room where no one bothered you. He remembered doing that, though. She looked pissed and could use a save and something in him just… “I was already about three drinks in at that point and I’m pretty sure you and I only drank more.”
Zeke's words helped the gears in Noah's mind start turning. Flashes of an unattractive, insufferable, kangaroo-looking man who hadn't stopped harassing her since she'd arrived at the bar came to the forefront, as did the urge she'd had to bust his skull open with a beer bottle before Zeke had stepped in like a heaven sent angel. "Right, yeah! You came over to my stool, wrapped your arm around me and asked if I had missed you while kissing the top of my head and calling me 'honeybee'," she said with a small cackle, remembering how she'd jumped at the life jacket Zeke had thrown in her direction. While Noah was perfectly capable of defending herself, she was adventurous and curious enough to follow the man's lead to see where it would take her. "We played a few rounds of pool, danced for a while, had a few more drinks and after I lost at darts you dared me to go skinny dipping at the lake… I think?"
Shit. They had gone swimming, right in the heart of the campus lake. Felt like they got there pretty quick, too. “I feel like we took someone’s bike to get there. Probably not the smartest, but I never claimed to be a smart person.”
"Yeahhhhh, that was my bike," Noah sheepishly admitted with a grimace. "It was pretty reckless of me to do that. I'm sorry," she apologized in earnest. "At least we made it back in one piece, though, right? So since we’re both safe and sound, let’s go back to the story…" she trailed off, feeling like she was missing something they'd done between arriving at the lake and leaping in with a loud shriek and their hands intertwined. "We went to the lake, jumped in, and…?" A faint memory of strawberry and THC smoke nudged her brain in the right direction. "Hold on… didn't we share a blunt and talk a lot of shit before we got high enough to dive in?"
Oh, yeah: they had. And that shit got him zooted, crossfaded; just fucked up. They had sat under a tree and just shot the shit. He’d gone on about how bees were essential to life, how he wished that some people didn’t just blame their shitty attitudes on `Sagittarius’ Mercury’s rings being in retrograde’ or some bull like that. He remembered feeling comfortable around her-- really opening up. Not ‘my sister is dead’ opened up, but pretty damn close to that. “Yeah we did. Shit was real fire, too.” a dumb grin plastered itself on his face, images of shotgunning smoke into each other’s lungs blasting trough his mind.
"Yeah, it was,” Noah agreed with a smile of her own, her mind momentarily on the same thing. She remembered listening to his tirades and hanging on to his every word, attracted by the passion and emotion with which he spoke of the topics and feeling safe and inspired to share more about herself. In return, she’d gone on a rant about her family’s ridiculous expectations for her, how she was pressured into pursuing a hero education under threat of being disinherited, how she felt like she could probably step up to the plate if she really tried but was scared of royally fucking up and being the one to blame for any lives lost… Which were topics she’d only spoken about with her sister and her closest friends.
It wasn’t long after their sensual smoke exchange that the two had jumped in the lake, though he didn’t remember the skinny dipping part. A quick scan of the floor revealed their attire from the previous night was indeed damp, “After that it was pretty cold and I said my dorm wasn’t too far away. We walked here and clearly things happened.” A dour thought crossed his mind as his stomach sank and he looked around the room for an empty wrapper or its used contents, “Might be kind of bad timing, but you’re not on birth control, are you? I…don’t remember if we used a..and if we had sex-”
“You did not consummate your union with the concubine, Master.”
His head whipped around, “I’m sorry, what? You’re saying we didn’t-”
“You were belligerent, loud, and frankly obnoxious, but you both removed your soaked attire and laid yourselves to rest.”
“Oof, fuck that’s a relief, Noah says we didn’t do it…” Initially there was excitement, but then his face soured, “That’s honestly kind of fucking disappointing…what the hell was the point of waking up naked even?”
"Awwww, that's bullshit!" Noah Cypresses lamented, falling backwards on the bed and regretting her decision when her head started throbbing. "We went through all that and we didn't even do anything?!" A part of Noah was indignant that they hadn't sealed their deal. But in all honesty, the other part was relieved they hadn't. She would've found it embarrassing if they had gone all the way after a night like theirs only to not even remember the guy's name the day after. "I'm guessing the clothes went off because we jumped in with them, they were soaked to hell and we weren't going to die of hypothermia or wreck your mattress by sleeping with them on?"
“Her assessment is accurate, Master. I’m impressed: you actually brought one to your abode that possesses an intellect, nor drivels incessantly about tic-toc-toes.”
Zeke shot a quick glare over to the enclosure before returning it back to Noah the human, “Yeah, that sounds about right. I’m just impressed we even thought that far ahead.”
"For real, though,” Noah agreed with a giggle, surprised that they’d been capable of making such an intelligent decision considering all the questionable ones they had made until that point.
The real question for Zeke now was, what next? Sure, they figured out how they got there, but not where they were going. Well, was that even a thought, really? I mean, sure: he helped her out of a bind, and from what he could tell they had fun, but not ‘fun’. So what did that mean? She was pretty-- hell, stunning, even-- and she spent the night naked in his room. Maybe it was time for a vibe check?
“So what now? I mean, we had a good time, even if we don’t fully remember it. Didn’t have sex, but that’s not a bad thing I think.” Zeke sat down on the bed next to her, his weight creaking the springs underneath slightly.
Huh. Looks like she wasn’t the only one thinking that a blackout hookup wouldn’t have been the wisest of choices. "I don’t think so either. I would’ve hated myself if you gave me the best ride of my life and I couldn’t even remember it,” Noah teased with a knowing smirk and a playful laugh.
“Call me crazy, but… I don’t think I’d mind another night like last night. Maybe less alcohol so I remember, but that’s just my opinion.” His head turned to look at her, his eyes raised in questioning anticipation.
Noah’s blue-green eyes lit up with delight. Since her break-up with Damon Day, most of her interactions had been meeting people at the bar, hooking up with them if they were interested and attracted enough to each other, and saying goodbye without a second thought. Going far enough to share deep conversations, spend time together the morning after and make plans for a future date hadn’t been something she’d done in what felt like forever. It was… Pretty exciting, actually. “I wouldn’t mind it either,” she confessed with a gleeful grin. “I haven’t laughed this much or had this much fun in a long while.”
“Right? I know what you mean, and I think we could have more… You heard about that party at Elysium tonight, right?”
"I sure did,” Noah answered, a giddy feeling settling inside of her as she quickly realized where this conversation was going but waiting to see what it would lead to.
“So lemme paint you a picture.” He bounced to his feet and clapped his hands together before laying it all out on her like some powerpoint, while Noah sat up and posed with her fingers intertwined like a CEO about to listen to the world’s most important business proposal. “You, me, your bike, seven o’clock, party it up, dance tonight and then we dance tonight.” He emphasized the last bit with a few swings of his hips from side to side before thrusting forward. “Think you can handle it?”
The Cypress girl tried hard to keep a straight face throughout his demonstration, going as far as to press her lips together tightly to avoid breaking character but ultimately succumbing to a fit of laughter. "I don’t know, those moves of yours seem preeeeeeetty steamy. I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself around you,” she joked after she’d recovered, batting her eyelashes and biting her lower lip with playful, fake concern.
Zeke laughed and clapped his hands together again before breaking out into another dance, throwing in a few exaggerated hip swings just to be extra ‘cheesy’. He was rewarded with another round of loud laughter from Noah. “Damn girl, if you’re impressed now, you should see the things I’ll do in public.” He spun around and flopped back onto the bed, arms spread out like a bird, “Come on, if nothing else, going out with me is just a guarantee that you won’t get hit on by any other limp dick, shit swizzlers out there.”
Noah raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Because I’m the frail damsel in distress and you’re the intimidating bodyguard that needs to keep her safe from all the big, bad, limped-dicked, shit-swizzling wolves out there?” the redhead teased, laying back down on her side next to Zeke and draping one of her legs over his.
“Actually it’s ‘cause you're a tigress on the hill and all the other big cats want a piece of you. If anything, you’re the intimidating one.” Zeke reciprocated by moving his hand to latch onto hers, “As for me, I’m more of a…fly on the wall if you will.”
"A tigress?” Noah repeated with an amused smile. “I haven’t heard that one before. I’ll give you… Ten brownie points for originality,” she announced with a chuckle. “As for you, though… I guess even the fly on the wall gets all the attention if it buzzes close enough to the predator, right?” the woman asked teasingly, shooting Zeke a complicit wink as she shifted around one more to rest her chest on his and lock their eyes together.
“True,” Zeke smirked, “And yet the tigress hasn’t swatted the fly away, which maybe makes me that she likes him just enough not to eat him alive…yet.” He shifted his eyebrows suggestively.
Noah’s smirk and suggestive eyebrows matched Zeke’s and his energy. It was clear that, just like when they’d first exchanged words back at the bar, they were in sync with one another--and right now, they were both thinking the same thing. The question was, who would make the final move in this game of chess?
"Be careful what you wish for…” she warned in a low, sultry tone, slowly inching her face closer to Zeke’s.
“Careful was almost my middle name, but that’s a lie,” his eyes locked on target, “Too bad this isn’t.” His free hand helped bridge the gap between their lips as he pulled her head towards his. Contact made, sparks flying and bees buzzing, he moved his hand away to let the two catch their breath, “So will I see you tonight?”
The redhead nodded in definitive confirmation. “Absolutely,” she breathed out, staring at Zeke’s face for a moment before locking her lips with his again in another passionate kiss.
“Master, may I remind you that the sun has reached its apex and that you are missing the fair that was scheduled on your yearly curriculum. May I also remind you how much I have expressly shown my detestment for your mating rituals with your concubines.”
As annoying as the tarantula was being, he did make a valid point, as he had completely forgotten about the fair today. He was really enjoying this too, but he had to pull away from it. “Yo, so… there’s that fair today too. Don’t suppose we should at least check that out first? Plus I think my spider has had enough of our shit.”
The fair...
“SHIT!” Noah cried out, bolting upright and away from Zeke. With rising panic, the redhead frantically searched around the room for her purse, found it near Other Noah’s enclosure, and pulled out her cellphone. The battery was almost at the end of its life, and the screen not only read twenty seven minutes past noon, but also alerted her of plenty of missed calls and text messages from the same contact: Little LuLu.
“Shit!” The young woman let out a shriek, resisting the urge to smack her palm against her forehead. “Shitshitshitshitshit!” She quickly began to gather her belongings and zip up her boots while remaining dressed with Zeke’s flannel (her clothes were still damp from the past night’s shenanigans). “I was supposed to meet my little sister at the quad at noon today so we could go to that fair together but I totally forgot about it,” she explained, running her hands through her flaming locks in an attempt to make them presentable.
Suddenly, she remembered a part of their earlier conversation and wanted to scream. “And now I have to walk all the way to the lake to get my bike, which will make me get there even later.” Noah lamented, letting out a frustrated groan. Her custom orange Harley Davidson Fatboy had been a birthday present from her parents earlier that year. If any harm had come to it, she would be heartbroken-- not to mention that her parents would probably cut her off.
Her sudden outburst caught him a bit off guard, but that was probably how she felt when he started freaking out randomly. “Well hey, listen,” Zeke slid off the bed and started sifting through the piles of clothes to find at least a halfway decent shirt and hoodie, “I get it, shit didn’t go the way you expected it to and there’s no use beating yourself up over it. Why don’t I come with you to find your bike? Knowing what we did last night it could take a bit to find it and if nothing else I could always ask the locals if they’ve seen it.”
Just as Zeke spoke, Noah was graced with yet another piece of the last night’s puzzle. “I know where it is!” she declared, grinning in jubilant relief. With the use of her earthly powers, she had left her bike and the matching helmets buried underneath the tree they’d shared the blunt at. Thank God that even under the influence of herbs and alcohol she made some smart decisions. “I can give you a ride to the Academy if you still want to come with me.”
“Fuck it, let’s roll on out,” he grabbed his few belongings, phone, wallet, ‘pen’, essentials and followed the redhead by the hand out his dorm room.
Left alone to silence, Noah Weaver breathed his own sigh of relief. “Finally… Some peace…”
