Why I'm even here, Druig thought as he had the third drink of the night sitting in a corner of the sofa in the living room of Sersi's house, at a party to which Ikaris had dragged him. Which was funny because his cousin as soon as he arrived had abandoned him to his fate to start talking and hanging out with his girlfriend Sersi .
So it was quite normal for him to wonder what he was doing there.
Yes, of course, he knew some of the attendees. There was Kingo and Gilgamesh, who had been Ikaris's roommates back in his uni days, there was Phastos with his boyfriend Ben, who had helped both cousins with some classes during that time, Druig had met them at some meeting or outing that they had forced him to attend. There was Sprite, a teenager who, for some unknown reason, lived with Sersi, and there was Thena, who was Gilgamesh's girlfriend and one of the women Druig respected the most in his life (mostly because the woman infused him with some fear because he had seen training her with her boyfriend and few could stand up to Gil's strength).
Still, Druig wasn't the kind of person to like parties or crowds or people in general. There are very few people that he can put up with and who can put up with him, so he doesn't usually have partying as a hobby. But Ikaris has insisted that he had to go, that it is Sersi's New Years party, and that he had to go, that he won't happen to him by going out for once.
And he had only gone to shut him up because he knew he wasn't going to leave him alone if he said no.
Was he regretting it? Quite a lot, but he hopefully only had to hold out for another hour, do the count like everyone else, celebrate the new year and be able to go home at once.
At least, that shitty year was about to end, not that he had better expectations for the one who entered, but at least it was a new year.
"Druig!" Sersi's voice brought him back to reality. The woman has sat next to her, smiling from ear to ear, her eyes bright with excitement.
"Sersi" he greeted her politely "Did Ikaris send you?" he had the feeling that it was so, that his cousin had asked his girlfriend to try to do something for him to join the rest.
"Nooo, why do you say that?" she asked him puzzled "I haven't seen you all night, have you been here?"
"Yes"
"Alone?"
"Yes"
"Without talking to anyone and doing nothing but drink from time to time?"
"That's the idea"
"But why ...?" Druig is amused at how genuinely puzzled the girl looks.
"You know that this ... is not my...is not something I'm comfortable" he didn't know if it was worth going into more details, that summed it up perfectly "Besides, I don't know anyone"
"That's not entirely true, and you know it" she reminded him "Everyone is here, even Sprite".
"Sprite is here? Isn’t she twelve or something? " now it is his turn to be the one who is puzzled, Sprite is a child, she has just entered her teenager years , what was she doing at a party where there was alcohol? .
"She lives here, remember? It's not like I could kick her out of the house "replied Sersi, rolling her eyes" but don't worry, she 's not drinking, she' s just dancing with my friends and Ikaris, you should come too "
"Nope, I don't dance" he was quick to say.
Sersi sighed resignedly, she seemed to really want him to have a good time tonight, but Druig didn't have the same interests as her or his cousin or even Sprite, so he didn't want her to waste time with him when she could be having fun with Ikaris. Eventually the woman got up from the sofa and looked him in the eye.
"I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to, Druig but who knows, you might still get to know someone tonight" she observed before leaving.
Whatever, Druig thought as he watched her leave and return to where Ikaris was, dancing in a very ridiculous way while Sprite recorded it, possibly to upload to some social network. He stayed a few seconds looking at the scene, perhaps there would be those who believed that he envied his cousin, always so adored by everyone, popular, strong, a born leader who also had a girlfriend who was the dream of any man, but the truth was that he didn’t. Not at all. He liked being who he was, and his life was perfect just the way he was.
He sat in the same spot for a few more minutes until he feels a bit hungry, in fact, he craved something sweet, so he went to see what he found, from what he had seen, Sersi had hired an impressive caterer so he was going to have options to decide.
But in the end, nothing beats a classic, and he decided to opt for a chocolate brownie or rather, fill a plate of these and take it back to its place on the sofa and just be there, eating.
However, before he could carry out his plan, one hand at a time reached for the tray of said brownies.
"Uops, sorry" he quickly said.
He looked at the other person who had taken the tray to see if it was Sprite playing a joke or Ikaris teasing him but after seeing her, and for a second that for him must have been the longest in history, Druig's mind who was always full of thoughts of things he didn't say or wanted to say or opinions that no one cared about, stopped thinking.
Druig didn't consider himself the most romantic guy in the world, he didn't consider himself to be the kind of person who would be enraptured when he saw a beautiful woman walk past him as Ikaris had done the first few months before he started dating Sersi, putting those stupid puppy eyes. And of course, he didn't remember that anyone had had that effect on him, the effect of running out of breath suddenly and his mind stopping... How did some say? Suffering a blue screen like computers?
But the girl who was next to him, smiling at him casually, as if she was glad to see him or knew him from before, was beautiful. No, that was almost an insult, she was breathtaking in a way that Druig didn’t think it was possible for someone. She dressed in a beautiful red dress with golden details, dark braided hair, chocolate skin and the most beautiful caramel eye he has ever seen.
Dude, stop staring, stop being a creep, his own voice told him in his mind.
"I'm sorry" he repeated "take whatever you want"
The girl, still smiling, put the tray on the table, took out her phone, wrote something on it and showed it to him.
"It's okay, we can share, there's plenty for two"
Druig remained confused for a moment when he read that and his gaze must have been a signal for her because she pointed to one of her ears with her free hand and then he understood that it was what was happening, she was deaf.
Contrary to what many people might think of him, he didn't think anything cruel or out of place about it, Druig thought that she must be fed up with comments pitying her, so he decided to shut his mouth and take out his phone to write what he intended to tell her before.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak ASL, but you can take whatever you want and I'll take the rest," he told her.
"You know that I can read your lips, right?" she wrote back and mischievous smile in her face "also I can sense the vibrations of your voice"
"Sorry" he wrote again. God, he was very bad at this.
"Stop saying you're sorry and come with me, we can share the brownies!" she wrote again and then went to sit right on the same couch where he had been for minutes . Druig decided to follow her because...okay, he was interested but also he didn't have anything better to do, so..."I'm Makkari, I was one of Sersi's roommates when she was in college, you?" she wrote when they both took their seats.
"Druig, I'm Ikaris's cousin" and he almost immediately prepared himself to read the phrase they used to say when someone found out that they were cousins.
"Wow, you don't look like family," Makkari wrote. Yes, there it was, just as he had predicted but then she wrote something that surprised him "you're more handsome."
That… that was new, no one thought he was handsome, and even though they weren't comparing him to Ikaris, Druig wasn't the kind of man who made people turn around when they saw him and they hardly ever used to tell him he was attractive and much less say he was more handsome than his cousin.
Makkari was perhaps a bit drunk and didn't know what she was saying, it must be that.
"Don't make that face, I wasn't kidding," she observed. "Ikaris is not my type, not only because he's already taken, but it just doesn't appeal to me at all, besides, I don't think he can stand me, not many people follow my rhythm"
Druig decides not to say much, after all, Ikaris is his cousin and although he knows how he really is, he doesn't want to talk much about him, it is not his favorite topic of conversation. So instead, he decided to write the first stupidity that, to his brain, which was beginning to feel the effect of several drinks on it, he thought.
"I could" two simple words and Druig was instantly sorry.
In response, Makkari looked him up and down with a playful smile and then wrote.
"I mean it, I'm possibly the fastest person you know, I won a scholarship in athletics for that, with those legs that you have you wouldn't even get to the corner" It could have sounded like she was being cocky, but like the expression from her face told him that she was teasing him.
"Whenever you want, I'll show you," he wrote.
"Yeah, so you plan to see me again after this." the wink she gave him made Druig's cheeks turn red, but, like all night, he decided to blame it on the heat.
"If you want to" Druig didn't understood himself in those moments, he didn't go out for coffee with anyone, he didn't usually consider the idea of going out for a walk with someone, but there was something about Makkari that caught his attention. Which was ridiculous because he had known her for… five minutes? He didn't know anything about her , he didn't know why, unlike what happened to many people, Druig genuinely wanted to get to know her again and he didn't have the feeling that she did like his company,it was ridiculous.
"Oh Druig, I'm gonna kick your ass so bad next time we see each other" she wrote, giggling like a child.
The young man went to protest something but, finally the moment that he had been waiting all night had come, the count for the new year began. Someone (Sersi probably) turned on the television to see a couple of celebrities (Druig didn't have who they were, really) who began to count down while everyone who was there began to do the same. Everyone except him, who stared at Makkari, who, with bright eyes, was watching television like the rest and with her hands, seemed to be keeping her own countdown.
Three…
Two…
One…
Happy fucking new year.
Everybody started shouting, clapping, hugging, wishing each other a happy new year and all that. Druig heard some fireworks outside the house and thought that this must be Kingo's doing.
He also saw Ikaris and Sersi kiss out of the corner of his eye, Sprite winced and shrugged. He felt then that someone was pulling his hand, Makkari surely, so when he turned, he saw her point to the outside and he understood that she wanted them to go there.
Just as he had thought, Kingo had brought in some fireworks that had joined those of the neighbors who were also celebrating the new year. There were a few people who were observing the night sky, among them the friends of Sersi and Ikaris, all except Sprite who had stayed inside and with total security, was planning the first prank of that year.
"It's beautiful," she wrote him.
"Yeah ..." although to Druig before the fireworks hadn't seemed like much. He was making a his new year’s resolution, which were reduced to three.
Firs he wanted to try for once to improve a little in her life, the typical thing, find a good job, maybe get a tattoo, learn a new language and all that.
He wanted to learn ASL, because…
He wanted to get to know Makkari better.
"Druig?" Makkari caught his attention again with a tug on his sleeve.
"Hm?" was his answer, not the most eloquent to be honest, but he was quite lost in his thoughts.
"Happy new year, Druig" she wrote, opening her arms.
Like many other things, Druig wasn't a hugger either, but at the time he felt like the right thing to do. Or at least, he seemed right to hug her., he was comfortable with it. So in the end he decided to accept it and hug Makkari.
"Happy new year, Makkari" he said, knowing that she should have felt the vibrations of his voice.
On the other side, at the entrance to the garden, there was someone who had noticed that scene and had taken her phone to record that curious moment.
Sprite thought that this must be a miracle, but decided not to interrupt them, better to record everything to be able to upload it to the internet as soon as possible.
Or to be able to blackmail Druig so that no one would know that he had a soft side.
Time would tell what she would do with that.