Painless//Part 1

Painless//Part 1

"I'm a mess—I guess
It's what I've asked for
It's what I needed—"

Tony sings over the ivory warmth of the piano, voice as full of emotion and melody as it ever is. The sound keeps me still and transfixed in the armchair nearby until a knock comes at the door. Tap tap taptaptap—tap tap in classic comic knocker rhythm. Tony keeps playing, which means he's already lost to the music and didn't even hear the knocker, so I rise and answer it myself.

Through the fisheye lens I catch only a shock of blonde hair and the rim of a pair of glasses. He's standing way too close to the door, as usual. I step back when I open it and this provides us with some initial personal space, though not much. Geof grins and sticks one hand in his jeans pocket.

"I found the place," he says, following me into Tony and Tuesday's apartment. Tuesday is out for a ladies night with Thalia and Vic Merryweather, and so we've commandeered the place for the last few hours. My house won't do; I love Thalia's handmaidens to death, but they are the nosiest women I've ever met in my life. They also like to molest Geof.

"You did. I'm surprised."

"Huh," says Geof, "of course you are. I'd like to see you navigate Boston, though. Glory is a piece of cake in comparison."

"Too bad I don't drive. So where's Dan?" I ask as I plop back down in the armchair. Geof sprawls out over more than half of the couch. Tony hits a sour note on the piano but keeps going.

"I know that there are better days
But to see the light and to feel the rays
Life was always back and forth—"

"Waiting by the car," he says, jiggling his long legs restlessly. "He wants to get going. Arc does too—turns out he could come after all." By the sound and color of his voice, so does he. So do I. The drive from the suburb of Boston where Geof lives to here, right outside the nation's capital, is by no means a short one. They don't come often, but when they do…

A smirk lights up his face, and he adds, "He's waiting for Tony to come out so he can glomp him."

Tony sighs over the piano and stops playing with one last clanging chord. "Let's get this over with, then," he says. He pulls on his Chucks and grabs his keys before storming out the door, Geof and I in tow.

Given that a "glomp" is basically a tackle-hug, it's actually impossible for Dan to pull this off on Tony, who at five-foot-four is a good deal shorter than all of us. He tries, though. They become a mass of flailing limbs, Dan's brown curls, and Tony's turquoise voice for a moment, but pull apart smiling. Tony does like Dan, and they get on quite well. He's just not used to all the attention. Tuesday and I have always been a bit on the quiet side in expressing our feelings for him.

The night is warm and windy. Arc watches the proceedings from against Geof's ancient Buick, giant black boots propped up against the curb. A sliver of moon shines beside his head, but the streetlights bleed out any mysterious blue illumination and turn his short, dark hair orange instead.

"So what, I don't get a Maryland buddy?" he says, glancing from me to Tony.

"Sorry but—"

My phone rings. I answer it without noting the caller, but I already know who it's going to be.

"You dick, why didn't you tell me we had plans tonight?" says Nolan without bothering to say hello. "I just called Vic and she said you guys had 'some friends coming in from out of state.' Like I don't know what that means."

"I didn't tell you because you're a douche, that's why," I reply.

"Asshole. You're at Tony's, aren't you?"

"We won't be in a second."

"You'd better be, or I'm tacking that photo of you and Geof with Cheetohs up your noses on the employee pegboard at The Grace. Or that one of you making out with Tony, I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm almost there."

Beep.

Arc watches me expectantly. "What I meant is," I say, "Danforth's on his way."

"Alright."

A heavy arm lands on my shoulders, and when I glance over, all I see are sideburns. Sideburns and boots are these guys' thing. Like pricking fingers and doing the blood-brothers thing, I guess, but less painful. Geof gestures out at the city with his free arm and exhales dramatically.

"Tonight, we rule these streets!"