Salubrious part nine

Charlie Dompler drove up to the apartment complex where Allan lived. He went the extra mile, taking a long shower, shaving, getting a dapper new lime green hat with a fresh outfit (he just did laundry). He didn’t wear cologne but he didn’t think he’d really need to wear cologne at an outdoor concert.

Pim helped him at the last minute to find a nice, good quality cheese charcuterie board. It had lots of curated cheeses and fancy breads and crackers, blueberries and other fruit, and creamy Brie, nutty Manchego, Chèvre, Point Reyes blue and aged Gouda.

“Like I know what any of this shit is,” Charlie scoffed.

Pim laughed happier than usual, “Allan will just die of joy from these. I promise.”

Funny enough, Charlie could potentially say that was true by the end of the concert. But the night was still young. Charlie was a little early, but he decided to go up to the apartment to give Allan the gift.

“I’m here,” he called Allan who sounded flustered.

“Oh, I’m not ready yet.”

“Can I come up then? I have to give you something.”

He heard a huffing sound and a sigh. “Oh, I guess. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

Charlie frowned, but went upstairs to the apartment and went inside.

“Hey Allan! I’m here. I’ll just sit down on the couch or whatever.”

He heard Allan from across the apartment. “Okay. Why don’t you get yourself a refreshing bev-eraage from the fridge? I have water, distilled and sparkling,” Allan yelled.

Charlie smiled, “Ah, thanks!”

A few minutes later, he saw Allan dressed up in a full goth attire: black baggy pants with chains, a fake nose ring, black eyeliner, and an old Metallica jacket. His shirt was a simple black and white pinstripe shirt. He even had a black emo styled wig on.

Charlie’s eyes widened, and he stood up, feeling like a lemon that was being squeezed for lemonade. He almost dropped the board of cheese from his mouth agape, and he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Like if he should clap or shake Allan’s hand for the insanely cool look.

“Uh, wow. Wow. You look fresh as fuck dude. Great outfit.”

Allan gave Charlie a side smile. “I’m glad you like it. I often get into the spirit of any kind of music event, or artistic thing that may be culturally relevant or unique to a particular genre or group.”

Charlie nodded. “I don’t like to dress up much. Cultural appropriation and all that. Remember what happened with that one crazy Halloween party? Man, that’s why I don’t want to mess with costumes.”

Allan nodded. “Yeah but I’d never do black face like that demon did. I was the Joker. That is highly recognizable.”

“Yeah you were Heath Ledger’s Joker. You did the makeup pretty spot on. It looked great. I just don’t dress up. Usually,” Charlie rambled. Allan nodded in agreement.

“I like to get into the spirit of many things.”

Charlie softly chuckled, “Your enthusiasm can be… uh, somewhat catching. I got a new hat!”

Allan walked over, catching a better look at the board, but mainly looking at the hat.

“Ohh, wow, so fresh like Crème fraîche. I like that lime green color,” Allan exclaimed. “What is this, Charlie?” He pointed to the board.

Charlie laughed, “Oh damn I must look like a idiot standing here. Like a waiter or some kind of person at a cafe or…” he blushed lightly. “Anyway, I got this for you. You might want to refrigerate it. That’s why I brought it to your place first before the concert.”

Allan took it quickly and looked it over. “This is quite a fine assortment of cheese, Charlie. I love it. Thank you.” Allan put it away in the fridge neatly.

Charlie felt a big grin come upon his face. “Really? Is it that gourmet shit you usually like? I was worried it wasn’t like, the best.”

Allan turned, going over to give him a hug. Charlie hugged back this time, feeling a little winded.

“It’s perfect,” Allan said simply. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Charlie took a moment to look over Allan’s apartment. The place was immaculate. It was articulately laid out with some kind of precision Charlie would assume Michelangelo would have.

“Do you need to use the facilities before we go?” Allan asked, noticing him looking at the apartment.

“Uh, no. Your place just looks really nice and clean. Not like mine,” Charlie laughed with a snort.

“It’s just cleaning. It doesn’t take long, since I live here alone,” Allan remarked, getting his boots on and his keys.

Charlie shrugged. “I don’t like cleaning.”

Allan nodded. “I believe that.”

Charlie snorted, as they left the apartment and went to the car. “What’s that mean? I’m busy.”

Allan chuckled. “Busy doesn’t equate to not picking up a burger wrapper.”

Charlie laughed nervously, “I told you that one burger wrapper had a weird aura around it. That’s what I left it there near my bed.”

Charlie opened the passenger car door without thinking, going ahead of Allan.

Allan looked at Charlie with a bemused expression. “What is this? I guess chivalry isn’t dead.”

Charlie felt himself short circuiting as he realized he did something you usually do for a date. Opening a car door for a date was proper protocol but this wasn’t a date… right?

He felt frozen in time as Allan went inside his car.

“Uh? Would you mind closing it? I can’t reach it.”

Charlie heard Allan’s request but still felt frozen.

“Charlie? Is anyone home?”

Charlie suddenly came to, closing the door, walking slowly around to get to the drivers seat.

“You are acting funny,” Allan remarked as Charlie started driving.

“That’s funny coming from you,” Charlie snarkily replied.

“Well, well. Looks like we have an att-it-tudde problem.”

Charlie shook his head. “Why don’t we just listen to music?”

“I thought that is why we were going to the concert.”

Charlie scoffed, “Uh, you can listen to music before a concert.”

Allan relented. “It is your choice as it’s your vehicle.”

Charlie put on an oldies station, not turning it too loud. The rest of the car ride was relatively quiet but a little awkward.

Once they reached the venue, they parked far from the ticket booth and security.

“Um, Charlie, why did we park here? There has to be better parking closer.”

“Uh, well, it’s kind of traditional to get a little blasted here before we go inside. We can smoke a quick blunt here and later we can maybe smoke one more. That’s what I usually do, anyway.”

Allan frowned. “But, what about… oh, I see, the security guards are way up there. That way they won’t smell the smoke or anything. I get it.”

“Want to? I’m not going to peer pressure you. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Allan seemed to be thinking on it. Charlie felt his hesitation and bit his lip.

“Uh, man, don’t even sweat it. I’ll buy you a drink.”

Allan got closer all of a sudden. “No man, I wanna try it.”

“Are you sure? Do you have your inhaler?”

Allan nodded. “I’m nervous though. You said you would teach me.”

Charlie felt the heat rising to his face, “I meant I could show you.”

“I heard teach,” Allan clarified.

“Okay,” Charlie just decided not to argue as he took out the paper to roll the weed in, expertly taking out the weed in the plastic bag and rolling it up, licking it to make it stick.

“Is it that good shit or what are we working with?” Allan attempted to make light of his nerves frying inside of his brain.

“Dude, you’re shaking a little,” Charlie noticed. “Just relax. I won’t let you have a bad trip.”

He placed a hand on Allan’s arm. “Just breathe,” they locked eyes as Charlie got out his lighter.

“My old dealer would give me this shit he tried to sell as good quality. My friend from high school called it Nixon, hehe. It made my throat scratchy. But this shit is fire, I swear.”

Allan shrugged. “So do I just inhale or?”

“Look, just watch me.”

He lit up the end and took a look at the trembling Allan. “Dude, I swear you don’t have to do this. It’s just a traditional thing for me.”

“Okay, okay, you do it first.”

Charlie sighed, taking a brief hit. He let it out slowly, feeling his muscles relax a little.

“God, I needed this. I’ve been waiting all week. Work has been exhausting.”

Allan was watching the whole thing like it was a big TV series finale.

“You looked kinda cinematic just now,” Allan admitted quietly, making Charlie choke on the second hit.

“Oh shit, are you okay, Charlie? I’m sorry,” Allan pat Charlie’s back. After he got his breath back, he laughed.

“I never heard such funny shit. You’re funny,” Charlie commented. “And I am not saying that because of the weed.”

Allan nodded. “It wouldn’t take effect that quickly anyway.”

“See? You know your shit!” Charlie chuckled.

“I guess,” Allan said quietly.

“You wanna hit it now? We should probably start going to get checked in soon.”

“Uh, I don’t know. Can you… help me?”

Charlie’s teeth clamped together tightly as his lip curled in a questioning, nervous manner, “Help you?”

“I don’t want to inhale by myself.”

“Okay, I’m… ummm…” Charlie scratched his head. “I guess…”

“It’s fine. So I just light it up, suck on the tip and inhale?” Allan tried to explain. Charlie cracked up, gently slapping Allan’s back.

“What the hell? Don’t ever say anything like that again,” Charlie teased. “Suck on it… oh man, I can’t believe you said that shit…”

Allan frowned. “Okay. I’ll just not do it then. I wanted to. I wanted to try it.”

Charlie’s mind went through different ideas and potential solutions, but his slightly fried brain could only keep thinking of one main thing.

“Okay, let’s just shotgun it, quickly, before anyone sees,” Charlie took another quick hit and let it out. “This is what we’ll do, since you’re so green on the gills. I’ll take a hit, hold it in my mouth. You will open your mouth, and I’ll exhale the smoke into your mouth. It’ll be super fast. Is that okay?”

“Will our mouths touch?” Allan asked curiously.

“Um, not if we do it right. Ready?” Charlie said quickly. He was already nervous as fuck over Allan being weird with him over making him smile and now this? It was making him feel like he was going to explode.

Allan nodded, but looked around nervously, then at Charlie.

“I trust you,” Allan replied.

“Ok, be ready.”

Charlie took another hit, held it in. Allan came over, grabbed Charlie by the arm, pulling him close, making Charlie almost choke again.

Allan opened his mouth slowly, comically almost as Charlie just thought, “Fuck it,” and got close, opening his mouth to blow in the smoke slowly into Allan’s mouth.

Their lips touched for a moment. It was so brief it could be said it didn’t really happen but both of them knew it did.

“Wow. That was really… that feels… felt really good…” Allan said, dizzy. His smile looked goofy to Charlie, in a way that teased his heart in a strange tickle but he tried to remain stoic.

“You feeling it already?” Charlie countered, trying to deflect how excited and exhilarating it felt to have Allan that close to him. It was exhilarating to think they almost actually…

“No. Not that. It was… never mind,” Allan blew out a little smoke, coughing a little.

Charlie sat up, looking concerned. “You got that inhaler in case you have an attack?”

Allan nodded. “I have it in my pocket.”

“Okay, let’s go. We’re going to miss the opener.” Charlie quickly cleaned up the area where they smoked. Allan helped him too.

Once they got to the venue and checked in, the opener band had started playing but nothing big had happened yet.

They got a few drinks, finding a place to sit. After a few minutes, the opener band was done. They had played, I'm Blue (Da Ba Dee), their gothic metal cover, featuring Violet Orlandi.

“Oh dang I really liked that cover, I missed half of it!”

Allan frowned, “That was my fault because I didn’t want to inhale by myself. Sorry, I’ll make it up to you.”

Charlie glanced at Allan’s apologetic face, feeling bad. “You don’t have to do anything. It’s my stupid tradition. If I didn’t do that before every concert, I’d be on time,” he chuckled, lightly tapping Allan’s arm.

Allan leaned into the touch, using his hips to push into Charlie.

“You like to mosh?” Charlie asked, bumping into Allan’s hip a bit more forcefully but still playfully.

Allan shrugged. “I don’t know. What is that?”

“You never heard of moshing? Oh man, you’re one of a kind. It’s just a bunch of people at a concert that hit each other, push each other, shit like that.”

“Is it fun?” Allan asked, looking unconvinced.

“I don’t know. Maybe. We can try it? If you want.”

Suddenly the audience went crazy as the band members for Dethklok started coming on stage. They started playing and tuning up.

They started with Go Into The Water, making Charlie go nuts as he knew all the words. Allan knew some of the words and sang the chorus with Charlie, both of them headbanging to the beat.

They played some oldies and some new stuff as well, but the crowd was absolutely wild and everyone was getting sweaty.

“Charlie, I need water,” Allan whispered loudly in his ear.

Charlie nodded, “Me too bud.”

He looked at the empty beer glasses and shot glasses they had, realizing they were both probably getting dehydrated.

“I’ll get us water,” Charlie said, and Allan nodded.

“Okay, thanks, you’re absolutely the best-uh friend I eva had,” Allan slurred a bit.

Charlie gave him a thumbs up but felt a slam to his heart when he heard friend. It actually physically hurt. He couldn’t stand for a second, and fell a little on Allan.

“You’re fucking trashed dude!” Allan laughed. “I’ll get it. I’ll get the water.”

Charlie nodded, letting Allan leave.

He saw a pretty, petite lady walk up to Allan, talking to him suddenly. She was playing with her hair, smiling too easily and laughing so fast it seemed to Charlie like it was catching, cause Allan laughed too.

She moved in closer, giving him a piece of paper. Charlie growled involuntarily, moving toward the pair.

“What she is fucking… fucking doing.. talking to Allan?” He grumbled to himself, feeling that sting again.

Allan suddenly was pointing at Charlie, making him feel uncomfortable and conscious of what he looked like. He compared himself to the slender, stylish and handsome Allan, wherein he felt fat, shorter, not as good looking and just less attractive in general.

The girl covered her mouth, laughing.

He looked away, feeling mocked.

They waved goodbye. After a few minutes, Charlie was fuming over that brief incident. Allan came back with two cold water bottles, handing one to an obtuse and now antisocial Charlie.

“Charlie? Are you okay? I got you the water. Please take it. I need to make sure you’re going to stay hydrated.”

Charlie growled, “I don’t need a babysitter man. You don’t need to mother me.”

Allan gave him a dirty look. “Hey don’t be nasty. I am just trying to be nice.”

“Then what the fuck was that earlier? Was that bitch and you making fun of me?” Charlie blurted out. He actually was angry at himself, he had told himself not to bring it up but he felt so emotionally charged, he couldn’t help it.

Allan looked taken aback. “What? Charlie, what are you… oh, that girl,” Allan recollected.

“You trying to score? I get it. She was cute. But why did you have to point at me? I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

Allan raised his brow. “I wasn’t trying to score with her.”

“Oh? Then what was that shit about then? You got her insta or something?”

“She came onto me, but I turned her down,” Allan said quietly in Charlie’s ear.

“What? Why?”

“I’m here with you. I told her that. She said you looked cute, too. I told her we aren’t interested,” Allan explained. “I apologize. If you like her, I’ll make sure she is aware and tell her that. I can be your wingman…” Allan finished in a somewhat concerned way that felt guarded.

Charlie frowned, “She thought I was cute?”

Allan nodded, though he looked a little annoyed. “Are we done talking about her? I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Um, sure. Sorry I was snapping at you.”

Allan pursed his lips, “You can be a real asshole sometimes. You know?”

Charlie nodded. “I know. I really can.”

Allan handed the water bottle to him.

“Now drink this fucking water now. I mean it,” Allan ordered, making Charlie laugh.

“Make me.”

“Don’t fucking start!” Allan rolled his eyes. Intermission started. The night sky was turning dark blue and starry. The night was still young. Charlie felt he could still fuck it up.

But for now, it was all good.