Realistic or Modern espresso { ♪ } yourself

[cellar.]

A D R I A N • L E E

​

“Uhh, no,” Ade responded, glancing around the room but spotted no yellow fur in the sea of partiers. “I’m sure he’s fine though, don’t worry.”

Apparently this wasn’t the thing to say because Sam looked like he was now worrying a whole lot frickin’ more. Backtracking, Adrian stumbled around with his words, looking for some kind of reassurance in what he could say.

“I mean, um, I’ll do a quick look around; he’s probably like hanging somewhere quieter – yeah, be right back!” While he was heading towards the staircase to go search for Barron upstairs, an afterthought popped in his head and he quickly looped back into the kitchen, pushing through the crowds of people who were helping themselves to the array of drinks spread across their counter.

God, those extra shots were really starting to hit now, and the combination of fluorescent lights and sweaty bodies was making his head spin even worse.

“Hey, good game,” Noam said cheerily, spotting Ade as he poured a glass of Zinfandel for someone who looked like a shaky freshman, reaching out a nervous hand to pluck the red cup of cheap rosé from his hands. “What do you want to celebrate your win with?”

“Just some water – also have you seen a dog?”

***

“Ok so,” Adrian started, putting a hand on Sam’s arm to let him know he was here through the chaos of the noise, “Here’s some water.” From the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar face chatting with a group her friends animatedly, her gaze suddenly meeting his before flashing him a dazzling smile.

He could feel himself turning red, a deep flush warming his body in a pervasive flood of embarrassment. He was pretty drunk, but not nearly drunk enough to flirt without a shirt...yet. Ade was beginning to become aware that she’d probably seen the whole strip beer pong game and his inability to, like, use physics – which was coincidentally her major and, thus, utterly fail at impressing this girl frat-boy style. Suddenly extremely self-conscious of being in his underwear, he averted his eyes from her green ones and turned back to Sam.

Ah. Audrey.

“Ahaha we should probably find some clothes. Ahhhh...Anyways, Noam said he saw some people take Barron out. They’ll probably be back sooner or later.” Right now, he was being way too distracted by his dumb marshmallow heart puffing up for his crush.

 

[I I I I]

S A M U E L ☀ S O N G
​

Adrian's words were meant to be reassuring but they only confirmed what he had feared. When Adrian said that he'd go look around and that he'd be right back, Sam just nodded a little. He had moved over, doing his best not to bump into anyone, so that he could lean against the closest wall. It was hard for him to get around inside the house because of all the noise so he felt more comfortable by a wall.

The thought of calling a friend to come get him and help him look for Barron crossed his mind but once again he was reminded that he was missing his clothes and that his phone was still in the pocket of his pants. He couldn't help but laugh a little at his situation, even if it sounded a bit distressed. The first party of the year that he went to happened to be by accident, ended with him practically stranded in his underwear, and he had no idea of Barron was safe or not.

A hand on his arm notified him that Adrian had come back. A cup of water was placed into his hands and he hesitantly brought it up to his lips. He finished off the cup of water as he waited for Ade to speak.

"Noam said he saw some people take Barron out. They’ll probably be back sooner or later."

"What?" He said, nearly choking on his last gulp of water.
Some people.
Out.
Probably be back sooner or later.

That was all way too vague for Sam. "I have to find him." He said, his hand finding it's way to grip onto Adrian's arm; showing the seriousness of what he said.

He wasn't going to just wait around. "The doors that way, right?" He asked, managing to keep himself sounding surprisingly calm as he let go of Adrian (pushing the empty red cup at the guy) and started walking towards the door. He'd eventually get out of here if he just followed the wall in the right direction.

If he hadn't been drinking and his thoughts were more rational, he probably would have realized that this wasn't something he could do by himself safely. Especially without any form of walking aid or... clothes.

 

[cellar.]

A D R I A N • L E E

​

There was a pause – and then a slight choking sound that brought Ade’s attention back to Sam who gasped out a “What?”

“Yeah, I –”

“I have to find him.”

“Oh, uh maybe you should just wait a bit, like there's not much we can do right now –” He was looking longingly over to where Audrey had disappeared, hoping he'd be able to swing back a few gulps of alcohol, slip off his shyness, and let whatever form of flirtation emerge from the abyss that was a tequila blackout. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, the hands were ticking towards midnight, and soon, the party would be starting to slow considerably. Either that, or some cranky neighbour wanting their beauty sleep would come shut them down.

“The door’s that way, right?”

Sam was in some kind of zen-like calmness, a scarily stoic mood as he casually made his way for the exit, pushing the now empty cup at Adrian and trying to make a beeline for door.

Even in his intoxicated state, Ade knew that letting someone who was drunk and blind and not even wearing shoes frolic down the streets in November was a frickin’ terrible idea. If Sam didn't end up hurting himself, he was definitely going to end up trying to explain himself out the clutches of the campus police.

“Hey wait wait wait –” Ah shoot.

His terrible time-management skills were basically the reason why Sam was in this mess anyways, a steady guilt making its way into the bottom of his stomach that weighed down a euphoric irresponsibility. Nope, there was no way he could let Sam wander the neighbourhood in the middle of night partially undressed and super hammered – at least, not by himself.

Tearing himself away from the comfort of his wistfulness, reflexively, Adrian caught him by the arm, holding on to him with the fear that if he let go, then Sam was definitely going to make a break for it.

“Hey, hang on a sec dude, just chill. Lemme find us some clothes first, okay?” With a bit of hesitation and some second thoughts threatening to burst forward in rationality, he piped up again. “...I’m coming with you.”

Ah. Where exactly were they going to go find a dog in the middle of the night though?

 

[I I I I]

​

If it weren't for the alcohol induced flush that heated up his skin, Samuel might have been cold walking around at night in nothing but his underwear. Perhaps it was because he was a bit drunk but his lack of clothing was honestly the last thing on his mind. There were only two things that he couldn't stop thinking about; one being the fact that he had lost his guide dog and the other being that Adrian was a pretty terrible sighted guide.

At this point, Sam had basically no idea where they were. All he knew was that they were making their way towards the third, random convenience store on campus. He was completely unaware though that the last one had reported them. Perhaps ignorance is bliss a lot of the times but that doesn't really apply when the campus police are out looking for you due to indecency.

All Samuel could do, though, was hold onto Adrian's elbow (the opposite of his typical position while receiving guide help) and call out Baron's name whenever they got near a convenience store.

After what felt like an eternity of wandering around while trying not to panic, a familiar bark responded to Samuel's whistle. He stopped walking and tried to listen from which direction the bark had come from and his ears were soon met with the sound of a dog rushing to him- the noise of Baron's leash dragging on the pavement being very noticeable to Sam.

Letting go of Adrian, Samuel knelt down and was reassured by a familiar cold nose on his cheek. Sam almost fell over from relief. He might not have admitted it outright but he had actually been scared- and Samuel Song is not afraid of much.

 

[cellar.]

What a mess.

(Which, to be honest, was his fault)

Three rounds of the whole he-said-she-said thing later, all Ade had gleaned was that a group of people had picked up Baron on their way out for a smoke break and some snacks. Trying to prevent Sam from becoming an unfortunate casualty, they were both out here now in nothing more than their underwear -- his attempt to find clothes for them had been foiled by Sam’s strangely zen-like beeline for his dog. Ade had barely gotten his shoes on, laces still untied, before realizing that Sam was somehow already out the door and teetering halfway down the front steps.

He was still pretty drunk, and some logical, coherent thought that maybe walking around in the dead of night and pressing their faces up on the windows of convenience stores wasn’t the best way to go about their search. Unfortunately, this thought was being sustained by his last three sober brain cells and an inkling of inhibited reasoning that told him he was going to regret this tomorrow morning. So instead, they continued on to the next 7-Eleven.

Nearing the parking lot of the third store, Ade could see a group of vaguely familiar looking people lounging about. And on Sam's whistle, a yellow poof of fur emerged from the legs of the idling crowd, darting in their direction, until he was safely tucked in Sam's arms. A few people turned to look at the commotion, a “what a good boy” was uttered by a stray voice emerging from the cacophony, but no one seemed particularly bothered by their appearance.

Unfortunately, the heartwarming reunion was cut short by the arrival of a black car decked out in flashing lights.

Here was the scene: two hammered, half-naked, underaged boys with a dog in a 7-Eleven parking lot. Not too far away from them, a group of similarly drunk and underage people -- one of them notably carrying a bong, several with cigarettes -- chilling, still basically loitering on campus grounds.

“Oh fuck,” he heard someone say. It took Adrian another second to process the blue and red lights blinding him, his breath catching at the doom of realization.

So was this his destined end, his final few moments as a free man? MIP’ed. Deceased. Mortal form shedded, ascended to another plane of existence where the wrath of his dad couldn’t reach him. He was still so young; he was never going to get Audrey's number or go try that new boba place or --

“Sam, we gotta fucking run!”

 

[I I I I]

​

With it being dark out, what light Sam could detect was limited to the random street or storefront light that was florescent enough for him to see. Though when a black car with bright flashing lights came to a stop just ahead of them, Sam's eyes that always seemed to waver slightly due to not focusing, actually focused somewhat on those obnoxiously bright lights. It forced him to squint a little in discomfort.

"Oh fuck," somewhere nearby said.

Samuel slowly stood up with a firm hold on Baron's leash. "What's that?" He asked in confusion- especially since he couldn't see the colors, all he could tell was that there were flashing lights. Suddenly a deafeningly loud warning siren sounded. After a moment of his ears ringing, he realized that it was the police.

"Sam, we gotta fucking run!"

His hand had already reached out to find Adrian's arm and before he knew it, they were running. It was only then that Samuel realized that he probably should have found a pair of shoes to wear. Luckily, the adrenaline of making a run from the campus police made it to where he didn't really notice any pain from running on the pavement barefoot.

He stumbled a few times- they were running too fast for him to get any sense of where he was. He nearly fell on his face from tripping over a curb; an out-of-breath curse leaving him as he reached out a hand in front of him to catch himself. Baron had barked when Samuel fell.

He had to let go of Adrian when he stumbled forward, so he quickly commanded Baron to follow- pointing in the direction he thought Adrian was. As commanded, the golden dog was pulling Sam in that direction.

Sam was completely caught off guard when he walked into something scratchy, which he soon realized was a bush. "Adrian?" Everything was happening in such a rush though. One moment he was running after pushing his way passed a bush, and the next he was falling. But he didn't hit pavement or grass- he was submerged in water with a splash.

Swimming isn't something that he is particularly afraid to do. However, unexpectedly falling into an unknown body of water was anything but calming. For a moment he was completely disorientated, unsure of which direction was up or down. But when his feet touched the bottom of the pool, he was able to swim upward and break the surface.

After taking a moment to stay afloat and not choke to death on the considerable amount of chlorinated water he had swallowed, he started to swim in the direction that he heard Baron whining at the edge of the pool. He reached out his arm to feel for the edge.

"How- ..are we in a pool?"

 

[cellar.]

The sound of his pulse pounded a quickstep in his ears as if on tempo to their sprint, streetlights all a blur in the dark, his vision a kaleidoscope. The sound of distant sirens wailing followed them, and in split-second, panicked, decision, Ade veered into some stranger’s house, climbing through the bushes in the hopes of evading a citation on his record.

Pushing his way through the scratchy foliage, he found himself one step away from slipping into an illuminated pool, balancing haphazardly on the edge of the aqua glow as he quickly reigned in his momentum. Ade could hear the sound of rustling behind him, turning to look as Baron emerged from the leaves.

“Hey Sam, be careful --”

Oh my god.

They were gonna get fucked.

In a sitcom-like twist of unfortunate events, he felt his heart stuttering to a stop as he watched Sam fall, the sudden realization that things had, indeed, just become much, much worse slowly coming to him after the temporal lapse of disbelief. Ribbons of water burst from the pool, accompanied by the loudest crash in the dead of night, and he stood there for a second, staring in incredulousness at their whole ordeal becoming even more miserable.

That's it. It was over.
He killed Sam. He was going to drown.

A moment of utter panic, and then, with the slightly misplaced hysteria that has was going to have to fish out Sam’s dead body and explain to his family and loved ones how he died because they were playing strip beer pong, Adrian, without thinking, dove into the pool too.

And Jesus, it was cold, all the afternoon heat dissipated into the temperate evening and crisp chill of autumn. Lungs stinging and wet, he was dizzy from the harshness of the water hitting his skin, crashing over his shoulders like tides, still disoriented as he broke the surface and emerged to the cool breeze and stars overhead. Frantically, with water still blurring his vision, Adrian looked around, half expecting to see a lifeless, floating corpse bobbing up to the surface.

“Sam-- Sam, are you okay??”

It took him another moment to realize that Sam was, in fact, alright -- floating idly by the edge of the pool, totally not drowning, completely still alive, a look of confusion across his face.

Oh.
He could swim.

It didn't really occur to him that was a possibility.

His cheeks flushed, feeling a new kind of stupid as he answered “You fell and I...came after.”

But there was no time to dwell on his embarrassment, as the lights to an upstairs window flickered on, and Ade was vaguely reminded of all those summers he’d spent scaling fences and swimming after dark with his friends, drinking cherry colas while skateboarding around the neighbourhood at midnight. Somewhere, sometime ago, he had been shaking on dares underneath a hazy moon, sprinting until his lungs had hurt, breathing in the familiar smell of chlorine and the taste of an autumn to come. He wiped his eyes of water, climbing out of the pool gracelessly before grasping Sam’s hand.

“I think someone’s coming down -- we better go fast.”

 

[I I I I]

​

His lungs burned from the chlorine and chilled air. He tried to ignore the disorientation that he felt, focusing all of his attention on the edge of the pool that he was practically clinging too.

You fell and I...came after." Sam might have questioned how Adrian how they had ended up in this mess but his attention was drawn to the muted sound of a dog barking; it was most likely coming from the very house attached to the backyard they were trespassing.

He felt the movement of the water near him and the sound of Adrian climbing out of the pool. Samuel started to follow suit and was able to climb out with Adrian's help. Luckily, the adrenaline hadn't settled yet or else he probably wouldn't have been able to run anymore.

This time with his hand firmly gripping Adrian's, they took off to find a way out of the yard. Samuel made sure to command Baron to follow so that the dog wouldn't end up getting lost again; the fact that he wasn't holding Baron's leash was causing him enough anxiety.

They hadn't stopped running until they were nearly back to Adrian's place, only then had their pace slowed seeing as they were no longer being actively chased. The party had been shut down in the time that they were gone and it was strangely quiet, which is why Sam wasn't entirely sure where they were. Though the path up to the door was familiar enough.

When his bare feet touched the grass to the yard, he bent down to feel the grass before collapsing onto his back. Being half naked, soaked, and cold wasn't his first concern- catching his breath was. Baron was quick to run up to Sam as if to see if he was okay or wanted to play.

 

[cellar.]

He was heaving for air by the time they got back to his house, calves burning from the ache of sprinting through the streets. And as he collapsed onto the lawn beside Sam, Adrian made a vague mental note to never skip leg day at the gym again.

Oh thank fuck. They made it out alive.

“F-fuck” – he managed to breathe out, holding his chest as the sound of his pulse bloomed red and deep, blood rushing to keep up with the expansion of his lungs pushing up against his ribcage. It was quiet now, just the sound of their breathing filling the emptiness, the grass littered with a few plastic cups as the remnants of their night. Above them, the moon was still big and silver, but the sound of songbirds singing softly in the distance, the beckoning of the dawn, told him that morning was imminent.

Adrian, with a fucking Herculean effort, got up shakily, the grass clinging onto him. He touched Sam lightly on his bare shoulder, skin feeling icy from the pool water and the November breeze.

“Oh shit, you don’t want to get hypothermia,” Ade said, extending a hand out for Sam to take, trying to usher him inside with whatever tiny teaspoon of common sense he had retained after jumping into that pool. “Let’s go get warm! You can probably use Danny’s shower.”

--​

A long, long, hot shower later, Ade emerged from the bathroom feeling soft and tired. The adrenaline of nearly getting caught and having his ass inevitably grilled by his dad was long gone, and all he wanted to do was sleep in the blissful cushiness of his bed. Sam wasn’t back yet, so he dug through the giant pile of clothes perched like the slopes of an active volcano on his chair – that he was definitely going to fold one day – looking for something that his new friend could wear.

Sam was a bit thinner than him, but just as tall, and he managed to extract some drawstring pants and a t-shirt that looked like would fit without toppling the whole pyramid of clothing.

The sky was turning lilac along the horizon, pretty and bright, and as he lay sprawled upside down on his bed, waiting for Sam to come back, weariness tugged on Ade, his eyes struggling to keep open.

 

[I I I I]

​

His chest ached and his throat burned with every inhale he could manage. While he does his best to exercise and keep in shape, he felt like he had just run a marathon. He also felt dizzy and disorientated although that probably had a lot to do with the alcohol.

Hearing Adrian also collapse onto the grass somewhere beside him, Samuel felt a bit more calm even though he wasn't one-hundred percent sure where exactly in the yard he was. His slightly drunken mind not comprehending anything other than feeling comforted when he reached out his hand to the side until it bumped into Adrian, proving that he was right there.

He almost hadn't noticed how cold he felt until Adrian got up, touching his shoulder before mentioning hypothermia. It was a momentary struggle, a typically blind moment, when he had no idea that Adrian was holding out his hand to help him up- until Sam had stuck his own hand up to ask for help and his hand bumped into the others. Gripping Adrian's hand, he hauled himself up.

He inhaled a somewhat hissed breath at the cold, his free hand rubbing at the opposite arm. He nodded in agreement to going inside and getting warm- a warm shower sounded heavenly.

He took his time when he was finally in the shower, letting himself thaw back out and get rid of the chill in his bones. By the time he was ready to get out, the shower had sobered him up at least a little. He carefully found his way back to where he was pretty sure Adrian said his room was, a towel tied around his waist, moving slowly in the unfamiliar surroundings. "Adrian?" He had only taken a few steps into Ade's room before he stubbed his toe on something. He grimaced and bit most of the pained complaints back, "S-sorry," he apologized for kicking whatever he had kicked.

 

[cellar.]

The sky was still lavender when he felt his eyes close. When he opened them again to the sound of a gentle thump, the sun was spilling over the horizon in hazy tones of melted creamsicle, orange and muted and sweet. Blinking, Ade pushed himself up from the bed, his vision focusing on the figure in his doorway.

“S-sorry.”

“Hmm?” Adrian answered sleepily, dropping back down and rolling onto his back. It took him a second before he realized that Sam was feeling his way through his room in tentative steps, bumping lightly into the furniture and piles of stuff he’d thrown around, swearing to clean up later.

“Hey – do you need help?” With some difficulty in dragging himself from the softness of his bed, Ade rolled onto his feet, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder to let him know that he was there. He grabbed the clothes he'd laid out on the chair, placing them into Sam's arms. “I hope these are okay.”

He stood there dumbly for a little longer, dysfunctionally tired, before registering the fact that he would need to vacate his own room so that Sam could get dressed.

“Oh. Uh – I’ll just leave now.” Adrian grabbed the throw blanket off his chair, untangling it to drape across his shoulders. He opened the window, the screen already dislodged from all the times he’d climbed onto the roof before. With practically half his body already outside, he looked up at Sam, remembering that the guy couldn’t see what he was doing.

“Oh, I’ll be on the roof. Let me know when you’re ready!”

 

[I I I I]

SS

As much as Samuel would rather not ask for help, he knew that he'd just make a mess of things or end up hurting himself at this rate; there's a reason that his own dorm room is kept clean and consistent. So when Adrian asked if he needed help, Sam gave an apologetic smile. "Yeah, thanks." He straightened up when he felt the hand on his shoulder and he held onto the clothes that were pushed into his arms.

He gave a quiet thanks. Moving the clothes into one arm, his free hand went to the hem of the towel that was covering him. There was a few moments of pause when Sam wasn't sure if he should get changed right where he was. He couldn't help but laugh a little when Adrian realized the situation and somewhat awkwardly said he'd leave. Though to Sam's shock, Adrian declared that he'd be on the roof. He had heard, what was probably, a window opening. "The roof?" He questioned more to himself than to Ade.

He waited for a moment until it sounded like the other male was outside before dropping his towel and getting dressed; stumbling a little due to natural blind-related balance problems and the alcohol that lingered in his system. Though he eventually got dressed in a pair of drawstring pants that he could tighten around his waist and a t-shirt that was a little loose on him.

He really wished that he hadn't just left his stuff god-knows-where because his white cane would have been helpful in navigating Adrian's room. "Baron," he called quietly. The dog had been sleeping just outside Adrian's door but came when called; nose pressing against Sam's palm to let him know he was there. He gave the command to find an exit, when feeling Baron begin to move towards the door Sam made a negative toned sound, "Not that one, find another." Sam realized that he really should have taught Baron the command for finding a window- but usually, when it is light outside, Sam can do that on his own.

The service dog carefully lead Sam across the room and to the open window. Once Sam had a hand on the windowsill, he got Baron to go lay down.

Without asking for help, Sam climbed up through the window one leg at a time and the ducking his head through.

 

[cellar.]

Ade had spent so many late nights and early mornings sitting on the roof and looking down the streets of the neighbourhood, the clock tower on campus peeking through the treetops, squirrels zig-zagging across the empty roads. He closed his eyes, feeling the rising sun starting to warm his face, an orange glow blooming from behind his eyelids.

A moment later, he heard Sam climbing through the window, a limb at a time, until he materialized completely onto the roof.

"Oh my gosh, be careful," Adrian said, though this part of the roof was flat enough that falling was of no real danger. But after their ordeal with the swimming pool, he wasn't going to take any chances.

He lifted a corner of the blanket that he'd wrapped around himself like a freakin' burrito, offering it to Sam buy gently brushing the cushion-y material against his arm. "Are you cold? We can share."

Ade sucked in a deep breath. He could taste Autumn; he could feel the foliage of his lungs turn different shades of the sunrise sky. He liked being up here, usually by himself, but it was nice to have company once in a while -- someone else who could feel the whole street moving like this, the sound of leaves blowing over the sidewalks, birds chirping in the trees, the feeling of a gentle breeze playing against skin.

"I'm sorry tonight was so wild," He sighed, "I forgot if I ever, like, apologized actually -- so, uh, sorry this wasn't the guitar lesson you probably expected." He shifted slightly to turn to Sam, earnest in his apology. "And I don't wanna like make you walk back, so you can totally crash here, if you want."

 

[I I I I]

SS

The slight panic in Adrian's voice caused a slightly amused smile to grace Samuel's lips; the other male's voice being useful in Sam getting his mental map straight. He felt the roof with his hand and realized that it was mostly flat. He made his way over to sit near Adrian, his attention being grabbed by the soft fabric that was brushed against his arm.

"Are you cold? We can share."
A blanket, he figured.

He scooted closer to Ade and allowed himself to be enveloped by the blanket, taking one end of it in his hand to wrap it around himself. He sighed at the warmth that the blanket and Adrian's body offered. The air was cool in his lungs but the blanket offered a shield against the morning wind. Samuel had never been a big fan of cold weather but he would admit to himself that this felt nice.

Samuel's eyes were drawn to where the sun was rising; the pink and orange glow reflecting off his eyes. It was bright to him in contrast to the long night that they had and the sunshine gave him a slight headache but he couldn't help but look toward it. It was the only thing that he could see, after all. He did eventually close his eyes and listened to the neighborhood around them that was just starting to wake up. "It's nice up here," he spoke up, his voice gentle.

He hadn't expected Adrian's next words to be an apology. He had quite literally walked into this blind but he knew that the outcome of the previous night had not been Adrian's intention. "It was unexpected that's for sure." He agreed, but he didn't appear mad at all. He felt how the other had turned more toward him in sincerity and he offered a small smile. "Yeah, thanks. It's probably too early to call my roommate." He then realized that he didn't even know where his phone was, he was sure that his roommate had probably tried to get ahold of him at some point during the night when he never made it home. "You'll have to help me find my stuff later." He added, only mildly stressed that he didn't have any of his belongings on him.

 

[cellar.]

Sam accepted the blanket, enclosing them into a little burrito of warmth. He was feeling a lot better now that Sam didn’t seem to be mad about the whole situation, despite their fucking wild adventure that probably took off like five years of their lifespans. He nodded, “Yeah, definitely. We’ll find your stuff in the morning -- well, I guess it’s already morning, but whenever we wake up.” He paused, adding “You know what else was unexpected? How good you were at beer pong, like damn.”

The sun had sprouted in the sky like a buttercup, beaming fully now in golden rays. Despite the sleepiness turning over in his bones, Adrian was enjoying this. He wanted a few more moments with the dawn, a few more minutes listening to the birds chirp.

“I still want to learn how to play the guitar though,” he intoned, smiling a little, leaning into Sam. “Will you still teach me?”

Despite his eagerness to soak in the quiet moment, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open; one moment he was staring out at the neighbourhood, and the next blink later, he found himself on the verge of face-planting off the roof. Ade was probably nearing twenty-four hours of being awake at this point. It would be a kind of tragic -- yet ironic -- way for the night to end if he decided to die from some kind of sleep deprivation related accident.

He yawned, brushed his hair from his eyes, and turned to Sam. “Are you tired? Want to sleep?”